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Posts Tagged ‘dietary supplements’

Common Health Foods That Aren’t Healthy

February 10th, 2010 No comments

There is a lot to be made in the health and fitness industry. After all, it brings in billions and billions of dollars each year.

Unfortunately, a lot of what is marketed as healthy to the public in reality is NOT healthy at all. In fact, a lot of these products actually decrease health.

So here are some common health foods that aren’t healthy:

1. Fruit juice: You can observe endless fruit juice concoctions being promoted as healthy. Even worse, some companies promote the anti oxidant levels of their formulations. What they don’t tell you is how juice loses the majority of its antioxidants once it is processed. And they really don’t tell you how most of a fruits’ nutritional value is found in its peel and flesh.

2. Caffeine pills: Most energy formulations are simply different combinations of caffeine with other ingredients. And caffeine causes your body to release hormones that energize you. While this is ok every once in a while, chronic use of energy pills can leave you over exhausted.

3. Mega dose multivitamins: More is not always better, and vitamins are no exception here. You see, once you start taking those horse pills, you can reach toxic levels for different nutrients. Moreover, solid food provides much more bio-available sources of vitamins.

4. Cereals: There are a couple good cereals out there, but the majority of them are simply boxes of crunchy sugar. In fact, one study showed that endurance athletes were able to exercise longer by NOT eating cereal before a workout.

5. Energy bars: Most energy bars on the market are one step away from being a snickers. Do not be swayed by the attractive packaging. Instead, always read the ingredients list to see exactly what you are getting yourself into.

The bottom line is that whole foods will always be far superior to any type of supplement. Unfortunately, whole foods don’t have the marketing appeal that one-hit-wonders have. So please don’t fall for the hype and always read labels!

Writer Katherine Crawford, a Harvard fitness physiologist and former arm fat refugee, instructs women on how to get rid of arm fat that hangs from the triceps area. Learn how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her blog about how to get rid of flabby, jiggly and wiggly arms right now!

Fitness Supplements That Haven’t Lived Up To Their Hype

February 9th, 2010 No comments

Deep down inside, who wouldn’t want to find a magic pill that could give them the body of their dreams? Well, the fitness industry is aware of this and as a result, there are an infinite amount of nutritional supplements on the market.

Here is the challenge: how are you supposed to separate fact from fiction? After all, I’m sure you don’t want to waste money on useless pills and powders.

So let me save you some money by shedding light on some dietary supplements that aren’t as good as they say:

1. Arginine: The supplement companies claim two things about Arginine. One, that it increases vasodilation-the expansion of blood vessels. Two, that it increases growth hormone. The problem with taking large doses of a single amino acid is that it can block the absorption of others. Moreover, even if Arginine did increase growth hormone production, the body would decrease its own internal production.

2. Carnitine: In the mitochondria of your cells, carnitine transports fat cells to be oxidized. Taking supplemental carnitine, however, will not significantly increase the amount of fat your body burns. You are far better off spending your money on wholesome foods.

3. Creatine: Now creatine does work, just not nearly as good as the savvy marketers would lead you to believe. You can expect a slight increase in power and a better pump while exercising. But don’t buy into the claims about massive muscle mass gains.

4. Testosterone boosters: ZMA is the main supplement in this category. The problem with this supplement is that you can’t simply take a pill and watch your hormone levels elevate, the body is too smart for that. Once hormones go up, your body will naturally bring them right back down.

5. Protein powders: Protein powders will never be able to rival whole foods. After all, whole foods in the right combinations have the slowest digestion rates you can get. And slower digestion rates translate into better protein synthesis.

The fitness industry is not going to stop promoting supplements. The key here is to not be hypnotized by the marketing and to stick to the facts. In the end, you are far better off spending your money on high quality food.

Obtain free and valuable advice on the best movement and toning exercises for flabby arms immediately by going to Katherine Crawford’s M.S. website Sleeveless in 7. And discover how to get sexy and thin arms in no time by visiting her blog about how to get rid of unsightly arm flab that wiggles right now!

4 Steps To Reducing Your Age

February 5th, 2010 No comments

We all age, there is no way to completely prevent this. However, wouldn’t it be nice if we could at least slow down the effects of time?

Now don’t assume that anti-aging efforts are vain, it’s also about increasing quality of life so that you can get more output per unit of life.

So without further ado, here is how to slow down the effects of aging:

1. Stay active: Now this may seem like common sense, but most people think they have to bust their butts off in a gym to reap the benefits. While exercising hard definitely has its perks, you don’t have to go all out to increase your health. A simple daily walk with minimal exertion can really boost health and mood.

2. Manage stress: Stress is an essential part of life and growth, so don’t try to completely eliminate it. Instead, find your specific ways for reducing it. The best way to do this is by relentlessly experimenting with different techniques.

3. Supplement your diet: But don’t overdo it here or you run the risk of reaching toxicity. Instead, look for multi vitamins that have low doses of each ingredient. In the case of supplementation, less is more.

4. Have lots of fiber: But don’t depend on only one source. Instead, try to get fiber from lots of different sources. You see, getting both soluble and insoluble fiber will give you the best health benefits. Simply make sure you have a wide variety of high fiber foods in your diet.

Notice that none of these solutions are quick fixes. Instead, these are things you want to start incorporating into your routine to notice gradual results. And this is the key: results accumulate over time, don’t expect a radical change from one day to the next.

And remember to take action on this information quickly. You don’t want to forget what you have learned, so apply it!

Obtain free and valuable advice on the top toning flabby arm exercise immediately by going to Katherine Crawford’s M.S. website Sleeveless in 7. And learn how to get sexy and thin arms ASAP by visiting her blog about how to lose arm flab with the best techniques immediately!