Rise and Exercise

Archive for the ‘Diet and Nutrition’ Category

We all know what tumbleweeds are. Even if you don’t live in an area where tumbleweeds are prevalent, it’s no doubt that you have seen them on movies and tv shows. But not everyone knows what quinoa is. And yet quinoa is a cousin of the tumbleweed! It isn’t technically a grain, but it is commonly substituted  as a healthy alternative for grain in recipes. According to UN Observances, the United Nations have declared the year 2013 to be “International Year of Quinoa.”

Image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Red_quinoa.png

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Low calorie diets have been at the source of major controversy over the years but what do we really know about the safety and usefulness of diets that operate with very low calories?

Many dieters, fitness enthusiasts and even doctors claim that people who participate in low calorie diets will begin to suffer from various conditions due to lack of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other nutrients due to not eating enough of the substances. However with the advent of nutritional supplements, can’t a dieter substitute these products in order to reduce calories?

Another interesting point is that research has actually been done in regards to a very low calorie diet (VLCD) that has shown promising results. The Diabetes Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia conducted a research study of 14 obese diabetic patients of which 7 were insulin dependent to determine the effect of a VCLD. Each patient was allowed less than 500 calories per day for 12 weeks and then evaluated after the study. The results were astonishing, the study showed that all 14 patients lost weight and decreased their waistlines, lowered their cholesterol, lowered their triglycerides and the 7 insulin dependent patients were able to come off the insulin.

Another popular low calorie diet is the hCG diet which combines a 500 calorie per day diet with the hormone hCG. The original ATW Simeons diet specifies the use of hCG shots (not drops) along with a specific low calorie diet plan in order to mobilize fat and also fight off the feelings of hunger. The diet is expected to be followed for roughly 30 days with a 30 day break in case the dieter plans to take the diet again. This plan has been used since the 1950’s and there have been very few reported side effects over 5 decades of use.

The point is that low calorie diets have been proven useful and even beneficial in certain cases. It is also critical to keep in mind that a low calorie diet is intended to be a short term plan in order lose weight as fast as possible before returning to a sensible diet and fitness plan.

About- Pete Kontakos writes for US HCG Injections regarding the hCG diet and other topics.

If you are considering starting a diet, you will probably wonder whether or not you need to cleanse or detox your body before beginning the diet. Many different types of diet call for a few days of fasting (consuming only water or specially formulated diet drinks like the lemonade diet powder) before the diet actually begins.

Photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/967591

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