Why Is The Mediterranean Diet So Popular?

As I have been living in Italy for the last thirty years, I can vouch for the great qualities of the Mediterranean diet. It is well known that the incidence of heart disease is less in Mediterranean countries than in the USA. The same is true for cancer rates. There is a possibility that this diet may play a part in slowing Alzheimer's disease. It has been studied and researched all over the world.

The Mediterranean countries such as Spain, Greece and southern Italy have always had a long dietary tradition of good food based on natural healthy ingredients. This now forms the basis of the Mediterranean Diet which has become famous all over the world. Why is it so famous? Partly because many scientific bodies, such as Harvard University, have carried out extensive research which shows that this diet is effective in reducing the risk of heart attacks and lowering cancer rates as well.

Many people seek to lose weight by means of surgical operations. If that is the road you would like to take, then the Mediterranean Diet is not really suitable for you. The diet is easy to follow and encourages you to make simple delicious meals.

This diet is versatile. You do not have to follow complicated meal plans and recipes. Once you have learnt how to prepare a small number of dishes, you vary and adapt these to make lots of tasty meals. Once you have the great ingredients, it really is quite simple.

The basis of the Mediterranean Diet is that it has lots of fresh vegetables, fruit, legumes, bread and other cereals. Olive oil is an important ingredient too as indeed is red wine which is allowed in moderate quantities. Essentially, animal products consumption such as re meat is limited while fish is preferred to chicken and other white meats. Most dishes are served warm and there is very little raw food as such. This diet has lots of antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids and fibre and there is a reduced intake of saturated fats.

More on red wine as lots of people ask about this. Red wine is recommended at meal times because it contains lots of plant elements such as phytonutrients which are essential for good health. In addition, red wine has flavanoids which are a powerful antioxidant which is a great help in reversing the process of ageing. A less enjoyable alternative (perhaps) is to drink grape juice - it has almost all the same elements as red wine.

What about cholesterol - will a Mediterranean diet really lower it ? There is quite a lot of research which has been done on this and demonstrates that bad cholestrol can be reduced if you follow this diet. That is also why you should always reduce your intake of saturated fats because they are very bad for cholesterol. This is the reason you will never see full-fat dairy and large quantities of red meat in this diet ! Virgin olive oil is also a staple in this diet as it has been shown to lower blood pressure and also reduce blood sugar.

There are many food outlets now which supply all the ingredients you will need to follow the Mediterranean Diet. Delis and restaurants specializing in this type of food are now in many locations. In the link below, you will find that there are tons of tasty recipes which can be easily prepared.

7 Ways How To Lose Weight Fast And Easy

It's pretty safe to assume that most people in the western world have been on a diet of some sort at some stage of their lives. Majority of people want to lose some weight from somewhere on their bodies, though the most common complaints are from women around their buttocks, hips, and thighs. Based on this, the question of how to lose weight fast and easy is widespread. The problem with most diets though, is that they take so long.

Who wants to be deprived of their favourite junk food, alcohol, and takeaway for months at a time? Who wants to be locked into regular exercise? The answer is easy: nobody. So, for the couch potatoes of you who want to know how to lose weight fast and easy, here are seven tips to help make things faster and easier:

1. Drink lots of water. Water fills you up and cleans you out. In fact, the Chinese and Japanese swear by it. They even have a "water diet" which begins the day with drinking half a litre of water before you've even cleaned your teeth! If you get sick of water, you can always eat ice, which can take the edge off hunger for a while, and numbs your mouth so you don't want to eat any real food anyway!

2. Halve your portions. It stands to reason that if you don't consume as many calories, you won't need as much effort to burn them off. Most fad diets or short-term diets are based on a low consumption of calories, around 1300 a day, but who wants to count calories? Pile on your plate the way you normally would, but only eat half. You'll be surprised at how easy it is. You may even discover that you didn't 'need' such a big plate to fill you up in the first place.

3. Eat slowly. It has been proven that chewing your food more times and eating slowly results in you eating less, therefore consuming fewer calories. Most people, particularly if they’re hungry, eat relatively quickly not giving their stomach a chance to feel full when it really is and ending up "over-eating" without intending to. By slowing down your eating habits, you can lose weight without even changing what you eat.

4. No fizzy drinks. Soft drinks are renowned for their high sugar content, which definitely means more calories to get rid of later. In addition, they don't actually quench your thirst, so you need to keep drinking them when you're thirsty. Replace each time you would normally have a fizzy drink, with water and see the difference!

5. Sleep early. When you are sleeping, you are not eating. When you sleep early, it means you eat earlier, which gives your body a good chance to digest the food properly.

6. Move more. It's not necessary to spend hours at the gym working out, however you do have to do is more exercise than you do now. It doesn't have to be set exercises though. It could just be walking from the parking lot to the supermarket, but parking further away or it could be walking up the stairs instead of taking the escalator. Small things which, done on a regular basis, make a big change.

7. Eat more often. This is probably the best tip of the "7 ways how to lose weight fast and easy". By eating little and often during the day, you will naturally speed up your metabolism, meaning you will burn calories more effectively.

Of course, it doesn't mean eat a 3-course meal, 6 times a day…snacks such as raisins, an apple, celery or carrot sticks are good options and because you are eating continuously, you are less likely to stray towards foods you should be limiting. So there you have it. These tips can show you how to lose weight fast and easy. All you have to do now is put them into action!

Low Fat Diets- Do Low Fat Foods Promote Weight Loss

Committing to a low-fat lifestyle means making some changes in our kitchens. But what do we mean by a low-fat kitchen? Basically we mean replacing high-fat foods with low-fat foods. So yes, those double-stuff sandwich cookies should be tossed, along with that extra-butter popcorn. But don’t despair, there are so many low-fat products available these days, alternatives are pretty easy to find. So what should we choose and lose?

Low Fat Doesn't Mean No Fat We need certain fats (essential fatty acids), so a low-fat diet doesn't mean a no-fat diet. Also, just because a food is low-fat doesn't mean it's healthy or less fattening. It may be high in sugar which is not good for your health or weight. So whenever possible, choose low fat brands that are also low in sugar. The Science of low-fat diet The calories we consume come from carbohydrates and fats. Carbohydrates release 4kcal per gram whereas fats are calorie dense and release 9kcal. The excess unused calories deposit in the body as fat. Scientists believe that calories from fats are more likely to convert into body fat than calories from carbs. It implies that a restriction of fat in the diet would supply fewer than the required calories to the body. The body would then depend on its fat stores to correct the balance, resulting in weight loss.

Overweight people, intending to lose weight, benefit from low fat diets. The weight loss is gradual and easily maintained thereafter. Low fat diets are healthy Moderate fat restriction is healthy for various reasons. Fats are carriers for many fat-soluble vitamins that are essential to the body; fat free diets may be lacking in these. Certain fats like polyunsaturated fats are heart friendly as they increase levels of good cholesterol. Fats act as insulators and provide a cushioning effect around the body organs.

Conclusion: Low fat diets and exercise have been proven to be effective weight loss strategies. Programs that use these two strategies are on the right track to helping individuals lose weight, and will at least provide a more healthy lifestyle for clients, even it weight loss is not accomplished. There are no negative side effects from eating a low fat diet and exercising regularly, unless they are abused and taken to extremes, in which case the principle of the strategies is lost and no benefits can be expected. When used correctly low fat diets and exercise can prevent disease and high blood pressure, and be an asset to attempted weight loss.

Drink Goji Juice For Weight Loss

Modernization is wonderful, but there are also other factors in the modern life we live in that may subject our bodies to harm. Understanding what can harm us and what will help us will be our best defense.

Goji juice is juice from the goji fruit or berry and is more and more accepted as having a great health potential. You can buy this elixir in health food stores as well as online. However, watch out for more scams! There a many of them out there.

When we say "goji juice scam" we normally mean one out of two very different scams. One of these would relate to the quality of the advertised goji juice. Let's say that an advertisement did not mention Himalayan goji berries. This could be seen as a goji juice scam as only the Himalayan berries have a nutritional profile that includes close to one dozen different ingredients.

While there is at least one goji juice scam that deprives consumers of a good quality goji juice, there is yet a second, no less dangerous form for this kind of scam. The second goji scam concerns the nature of information regarding one mineral in the goji juice. The second scam leaves out all of the available information about a mineral called selenium.

What do you think is their secret?

Introducing goji juice, made from goji berries grown in the remote and unpolluted hills and valleys of Tibet and Mongolia. Experts who want to save the people who live in this modern society studied what must be wonderful about these Himalayan diets and why do they live so long and free from diseases. Their studies prove that their diet perpetually include goji berries.

Further studies on goji berries prove that they are nutritious and contain vital nutrients necessary to combat free radicals.

Goji juice contains potent vitamins, and minerals like no other berry.

Goji juice also contains 18 amino acids, 8 of which are essential for our bodies, but having all 18 adds to the beneficial characteristic of this wonderful red juice.

Based on studies by numerous health professionals including Dr. Earl Mindell, the author of The Vitamin Bible, goji juice made from goji berries can give your body all the nutrients it needs to help keep a healthy and happy life.

Goji juice aside from the 18 amino acids also has 21 trace minerals, vitamins B1, B2, B6 and Vitamin E. All of these can help give you healthy and active life.

Some of the beneficial effects of drinking goji juice are:

Energy and Strength - goji juice is considered as an adaptogen. It increases exercise tolerance, stamina and endurance. Goji juice may also enhance the recovery of ill patients.

Cholesterol level balance - goji juice may also help manage your cholesterol level because it contains beta-sitosterol, which can help in your cholesterol level balance. It will also help avoid cholesterol deposit in the blood vessels, thus heart problems may be eliminated.

Normal Kidney Function - your kidney is the vital organ that may possibly control the brain and other organs in the body. It is thus essential for better health that you keep your kidneys functioning properly. Goji juice is believed to be helpful in keeping this essential organ functioning properly.

Supports General Health - as mentioned earlier, free radicals harm our body in many ways. Thus, eliminating this natural enemy will help keep our body strong and avoid illnesses. Goji juice is a potent antioxidant that may keep our body healthy.

Other beneficial factors which may come from goji juice are enhanced sexual function, blood sugar level balance and vision problems.

Goji juice is available with several health stores and a lot of these have online shops. The recommended dosage is 2-4 ounces per day; however, there are no known side effects of exceeding the dosage. Most people are able to see and feel the positive effects of Goji juice within one month of regular consumption. The bottled juice sold by health stores should not contain artificial colors or sweetening agents. A one-liter bottle of Goji juice may contain the nutritional equivalent of two pounds of fresh Goji berries.

Ups And Downs Of Atkins Diet Bars

One of the controversies from decades is the Atkins Diet. The Atkins Diet was first released in the 1970's that many people are not aware of this. I'm aware of this because my mother put me on the diet when I was a child. She always wanted me on a diet because my weight yo-yoed up and down throughout my influential years. I was exposed to many diets over a years and this is one of the reason why my weight would rise and fall.

My first diet was the Atkins Diet which was introduced to me when I was ten years old. Yet, this plan had been gone out on the market before I go at it. Protein and water from which eating plan revolves essentially. A lot of water in needed on this plan to any weight loss plan out there. On the Atkins Diet, water is vital because your body loses too much weight so easily that your kidneys have difficulty wash out everything on your system if you are dehydrated. You can probably have run across the specified snack foods and specifically the Atkins bars if you are trying to stick to the Atkins Diet. These bars are of course low in carbohydrates and high in protein, exactly in line with what the Atkins diet calls for.

This was the same to their energy predecessors such as Power Bars, and is very suitable for those who are trying to follow the diet plan while doing a busy routine in their life. Atkins Advantage bars and Atkins Morning Start bars are two varieties of Atkins bars. Atkins Morning Start bars and Atkins advantage bars are great tasting ways to start your day and supplement the daily requirement of vitamins and minerals needed to maintain good health and nutrition. I don't think if there is any distinction in the content and vitamins offered in them, but they offer the same flavors. Advantage Atkins bars come in flavors like peanut butter granola, chocolate mocha, caramel fudge brownie and coconut brownie.

While the Morning Start Atkins bars come in more morning friendly flavors such as cranberry almond, mixed berry and oatmeal raisin. For me Advantage bars is suit for me any time of the day, but as what I have seen from the customers options the typical for them is the morning flavored item. It doesn't really matter because they all end up tasting like a mixture of cardboard and Play-Doh, but at least they tried. Be careful if you are using this as snacks as a substitute, because this bar are like any other high protein bar which are quiet high in calories and may do a harm to you if you are trying to cut back on calories as well as ramping up your protein intake. So if you are using Atkins bar as a replacement you should be in good-looking and in good shape.

You can find those Atkins bars at any larger grocery store, drug store, or health food store to try it out. If you want to try and choose which you like among them, you can find few stores online that offer Atkins bars at a discount if you order it in quantity. Generally, you can save only a few dollars if you purchase at least a dozen, and make it sure you like them before purchasing to save a few bucks. Remember, not all of these bars will taste like a chocolate bar, but they do serve for their purpose. Atkins bars can be an asset to your lifestyle if you are already set this on your Atkins plan.