Archive for October, 2009

More and more we hear about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, but what does it really mean? Who is affected and how? Jeffrey Matloff, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCSD, and …

It seems like it is exceedingly rare these days to spend some time on the net exploring or researching and not see an offer or advertisement for the latest weight loss craze being publicized as the acai berry diet or acai berry cleanse. Can there be some truth to all these marvelous testimonials or are we just starring at another modern day snake-oil scam? Does this weird sounding exotic berry from a far off land contain any nutritional value worth talking about? And most importantly, can this little purple phenomenon help you reduce weight?

Stroll through your community grocery store and it appears like overnight, the food manufacturing industry has become smitten with a new ingredient; the acai berry. But why? What’s the basis for its sudden and explosive popularity?

Before we start speaking about this berry and the reasons behind its attractiveness, I do need to answer the more important and primary question about whether it can aid with weight loss and that answer is: YES and NO.

Now, do not adjust your screen or hit refresh; I in fact did say “yes and no” and I promise to not leave it at that. By the time you are done with this article, you will understand precisely why I presented you with that answer and more importantly, you will be in a position to make an exceptionally educated choice.

For a really phenomenal and  free article on the Acai Berry, Weight Loss and dieting, check out Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Acai Berry Diet

It will be very easy to elaborate about the “no” part of my response so let’s get that out of the way first and then we can move on to the “yes” piece. If your program for losing weight consists of just downing acai pills (or most “weight-loss” pills for that matter), there is a very small possibility that you will experience any kind of success with short term weight loss and an even more unlikely possibility that the weight loss will be long term. It is going to take plenty more effort than the energy expenditure you put into taking the cap off the bottle and throwing the pills into your mouth.

Let us redirect now and look at why I said “yes” when I responded to the original question from the beginning of the article. I have spent a countless amount of time scrutinizing and personally understanding the sort of results a person can hope to pull off when they assimilate acai or an acai based product into their diet or weight reduction regimen. Before continuing, I want to be clear about something. I am not a lab chemist or a expert scientist. I am a determined and certified personal trainer. So my research wasn’t done in a lab and I am not examining this berry at a molecular level. My results come from real world application. My conclusions are arise from what I have undergone on a personal level and from the dozens of acknowledgements that I have gathered from folks who incorporated different acai based weight reduction products into their diet.

After practically going blind from all the journal articles and lab results I have looked over, I would be doing this little extraordinary berry no justice by only stating that it contains an extraordinarily intricate assortment of nutritional properties. I was absolutely blown away by some of the findings I uncovered and what is even more amazing is that many of the best minds feel it will probably be another few years before we can fully understand the true nutritional capacity contained within that berry. Appropriate and superb nutrition is a key component of any successful diet and nutrition curriculum and as you can imagine at this point, the acai berry is at the head of its class in this department.

So, what is it that makes this berry so special? Let us begin by taking a look at where it is found and go from there. Its location is a crucial factor in understanding its nutritional dominance. You can tour our earth all you want but I will save you the time and expense if you are looking to find where the acai berry grows and prospers. It is indigenous to just one location and that is the Amazon Rainforest in the jungles of Brazil. This fact plays a vital role in grasping why it is that on a nutritional level, this berry is such a powerhouse.

First and foremost, lack of urbanization and industrial advancement have kept this berry pure of so many of the impurities we uncover in today’s fruits (impurities triggered by things like pollution, pesticides, etc…). Second, because of where it grows, it literally has to be hardy in order to endure many of the adversities nature throws its way; hardships like seasonal flooding, strong rays from the sun, and other fruits and vegetation vying for the resources that are needed to grow and flourish in that environment. This resilience is found in the skin of this fruit and that is exactly where so much of the remarkable nutritional properties this fruit possess is stored. The acai berry grows far above the ground in a specific species of palm trees. To give you an idea of how off the chart the antioxidant levels and nutritional properties of this berry are, one of the top scientists that lead some of the initial research on this berry, did not believe the findings he got back when he sent the berry to a lab to be analyzed. He had them re-test it numerous times and at multiple facilities to validate the results. When the pulp and skin of the acai were examined, it was discovered that it contained an remarkable amount of amino acids, trace minerals and essential fatty acids.

Free radicals are not our comrades but sadly, the majority of us are continuously exposed to them; day in and day out and our bodies are full of them. Luckily for us, the levels of antioxidants found in this berry serve as a great source of free radical killers.

Each and every time you stroll around below the sun and take in a gulp of air, your body is taking in toxins which assist in the creation of free radicals. Outside of living in a bubble, it is a near impossibility to escape them. Basically stated, the more free radicals in your system, the more damage your cells are experiencing. As free radicals build up in your system, you are not only speeding up the aging process, you are also making yourself a lot more vulnerable to disease and sickness.

Lets take a look at this process in the real world so you can truly grasp what free radicals are doing to your body. Please go and grab an apple. Slice the apple in half and observe what happens. As it changes color, that process is recognized as oxidation. Free radicals do the same thing to your cells; they cause them to oxidize. More antioxidants equals less free radicals in your body… that is how you are going to overcome them. You need to make sure your diet consists of foods that are rich in antioxidants. If you look in a book titled, ‘The Perricone Promise’ (or on Oprah’s website), you will notice that the author, Dr. Nicholas Perricone, lists the acai berry as his # 1 choice for superfoods in the world.

Please keep in mind that there are a large number of advertisments and websites out in cyberspace these days that are promoting the ‘Acai Berry Diet’ as Oprah’s new diet and this is a total fabrication of the truth. At the time of this article being written, there were no acai based weight loss products that she was endorsing or standing behind.

Now that we have finished with the science lesson, let’s swing our focus back to losing weight. The secret is not to squander time looking for that one almighty and all-powerful fruit or vegetable that is going to make it happen for you. Yes, the acai berry has many amazing properties and makes an exceptional addition to most nutritional regimens but if you want real weight loss success (in particular for the long term), you need to make intelligent choices about all the food that is going into your body. It is of the utmost importance that you take the time to comprehend which foods actually support the fat burning process and more importantly, which foods hinder the process. There are lots of notable strategies out there like ‘calorie shifting’, which permit a person to use particular nutritional properties found in various foods to help enhance your metabolism. This enables your body to churn out a greater quantity of fat burning hormones which will, of course, help your body lose weight more speedily.

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So now that we comprehend that free radicals are awful, antioxidants are good, and acai berries hold lots of them (antioxidants); how do we integrate acai into our diet while staying away from all the scams we are reading about each day and what can we look forward to once we are consuming it? This is a long way from being a actual science experiment but I did gather a substantial amount of testimonials from different people consuming acai based products and I have gone ahead and listed them below. One important thing to note is that I have only listed items that myself and least 2 other people experienced or felt:

- Heightened energy levels
– Deeper and sustained sleep in the evenings
– Improvements in my skin and complexion
– Enhanced sexual drive and performance
– Better focus throughout the day
– Almost no occurrence of heart burn or indigestion
– Overall higher stamina

Put the car keys away! I don’t want you driving off to your local farmers market… not unless that market is situated in the Brazilian rain forest or at least within a few hours of it. I am certain I just spoiled the thought you had for acai waffles in the morning but it is exceedingly important that you understand this part. Upon being harvested from the palm in which it grows, the acai berry starts to lose its nutritional propensity virtually instantly and within 24-36 hours, well… you might as well settle for some blueberry waffles.

I know that I have given you a lot of information to digest but this next part is going to be the most important and relevant portion of this article when it comes to acai, your diet and losing weight. It is very essential that you take great care in choosing an acai based product and take extra care if you see the tag-line ‘free trial’ in the offer or ad. Let me lend a hand with the translation; ‘free trail’ is turning out to be another way of saying ‘scam’ with plenty of these offers (notice the words I used. Not ALL of them are scams).

Pills: check; powders: check; liquid form: check… I have tested pretty much all the different forms that acai based products come in and the one that gave me the most physical benefit came in a liquid form. The product name was MonaVie. They are a Utah based direct sales company and aside from the acai berry, their functional health beverage contains 18 other fruits known to contain excellent levels of nutrition and antioxidants. This article is not intended to be a product plug and that is why you are not going to find any links directing you to a specific product. My goal is to share with you what worked best for me, and for a sizeable amount of people I have spoken with. Even though this particular product is not an acai only product, from what I understand, it is the key ingredient in the blend and it also supports my belief in not focusing on just one ingredient to be the magic. If you want to focus on locating an acai only product to incorporate in to your diet, the key is to locate one that preserves the nutritional integrity of the berry once it has been picked from the palm. So, with that being said, concentrate on acai that has been freeze dried in Brazil. If it is processed in the States, I have doubts that it made it to the processing facility within 24-36 hours of being picked. Additionally, make sure they are processing the whole berry. Many facilities abandon the skin and if you have read this whole article, you know exactly why that is a very poor idea.

On a final note, I have to highlight this one more time; please be very precautious with all these free trial offers that are floating around out there…. Especially the ones using Oprah’s name. I’m sure some of these free trial offers are legitimate but I have spoken with more than a dozen folks that said they were charged a very small amount and before the product even arrived, they were charged a much larger amount. They then had a very difficult time trying to cancel the service. On top of all that, when they received the product, it was garbage (their language, not mine). If you are considering one of these offers, take the time to understand the fine print contained in the terms and conditions and know what they plan on doing with your credit card number. Also take the time to find out what is being charged and when. One last thing,  try contacting customer service before placing your order and see if you are actually able to speak with a human.

A diet rich in antioxidants is very important if you want to live a healthy or healthier lifestyle and the acai berry is a great addition to just about any nutritional program. Alone, it is not going to reduce the weight for you but properly integrated into your diet, it can help with the overall program by providing more energy, focus and drive. Attributes you certainly need to successfully lose weight.

I trust that you benefited from this piece of writing. I also have an analysis of one of the top weight loss products that I strongly recommend you check out here:  The Fat Loss 4 Idiots Diet Review. This product will reveal a incredibly strategy that allows you to harness the fat burning potential of specific foods. A must read for any individual looking to lose a few (or a lot of) pounds.

Organic food recipes are trendy; it seems really cool to say that you cook something organic than to say that you just cook. The buzz spread about such healthy cooking is due to magazine articles and Internet web sites that publish and promote the so-called organic food recipes. The special part about organic food recipes is that they rely on organic ingredients alone. The meat, vegetables, fats and even spices will be produced according to natural agricultural concepts and will be purchased from special shops that deal in organic food. The truth is that organic food recipes are the same recipes you used to know but they are cooked with organic ingredients: the result will be a healthier and even tastier meal.

Therefore, try to reason for a second and you’ll realize that all recipes can become organic food recipes if you use the right ingredients. It would thus be pointless to spend a lot of money on organic cookery books, when they have little things to offer in additional to what you find in traditional cookery materials. However, we ought to do justice to the web sites and the cooking guides that devote special sections or chapters to tips and suggestions for healthy cooking. The organic nature of the ingredients is not everything, there are some tricks you need to know in order to make food savory and healthy from one end to the other.

Thus, you should always remember that vegetables and legumes lose vitamins and minerals through boiling, therefore try to cook them as little as possible depending on the dish you make. These tips however can be applied only for certain food recipes. Then, the eggs, meat and dairy products should be processed in a certain way to stay safe and healthy, but it also depends on the type of organic food recipe you choose to cook. Do pay attention to those suggestions referring to ways to make meat more tender or tastier. The natural flavor of food is higher when you choose something organic.

Once you decide to cook mainly organic food recipes, you’ll have to go get supplies at least once or twice a week. Local markets are usually the best place to shop for fresh quality products, because in such locations, it is likely that you will find almost everything necessary for cooking organic food recipes. From meat and greens to eggs and dairies, there is everything available. Maybe oil, sugar and spices will be more difficult to get at the market, and then you should try the organic stands in the nearest supermarkets. Bon appetit!

Goji berry is quite famous health fruit and goji in juice orm is a great health drink. Goji berry juice is therefore loaded with nourishment. There are many articles, writeups etc. that are written on this fruit everyday. And the reason for this is the increasing demand of goji. There are so many positives of goji berry. However a small list is here to give you enough details on goji fruit.

Goji berry helps the cells and helps to make immunity better. And the reason is that; it helps to increase red cells, white cells and platelets. Because of increased demand of goji products there are many web based dealers for this. And with this, you will see that there are increasing numbers of reviews written on goji berry health products. Reading goji reviews will be quite helpful and give you more information on this fruit.

Goji berry has so many benefits because it has antioxidant properties and fights cancer. If there is morning sickness and nausea then even this can be solved with goji juice drunk every morning. Goji berry can help someone lose weight too. There are lots of nutrients and so it is a tasty option to lose weight. Again, it can also be helpful in cold and cough.

There are many where you can get information on goji berry. Goji berry products mainly include fruit in dried form, juice that can be preserved and pulp. There are many goji berry dealers that are there in the market and so you may get confused while shopping. You may get impure products too. So be careful. If you are a drinker of goji juice then you will get superb health results. This drink is fully packed with lots of vitamins and nutrients. There was a time when goji berry was available only in Asia. It was available around China, Mongolia and Tibet. And today, the popularity has spread around Europe and Western region too.

Goji juice is a great drink if you want to have it every morning after work outs. See, what difference you will be having in your life once you get accustomed to having this great health drink everyday. Goji juice is a good for health because, it is full of nutrition and also tastes great.

We all know that black tea is fermented completely while processing. And how is white tea processed? Well, white tea is is not fully fermented. Nature wise there is similarity between white tea and green tea because they are effective for health. Very little processing is done and so there are many vital ingredients still present due to lack of fermentation.Some researches even show that white tea has antioxidant properties than green teas. And so the cancer fighting capacity is higher in this case. There are different names of white tea like golden moon, silver needle, and white cloud. This tea is mostly found in Japan and China.

This tea is supposed to be depression and is su pposed to fight stress. Initially, emperors used to have these teas. And so when you want to have this tea you will definitely feel like a king. White tea is naturally sweeter and so don’t add sugar. However, this tea is mild and subtle and so if you are a strong tea drinker you may not like this one.

Remember, white tea can be used for losing weight. It is a cost effective solution. Also, you will be astonished to learn that like green tea white tea fights with bacteria. It is good for oral health as well as having a good immune system. And the best thing is that it ha s minimum caffeine in it. And so it is good for health.

White tea is helpful in relieving stress. You can truly relax with this one. However, the caffeine that is lower is enough to boost your sensations. And because there is not too much caffeine it will not harm. White tea does not give your teeth the stains. Rather, it helps you to have a better mouth health.

White tea is good for your immune system. Use it as detoxifying drink which Keeps you away from all the possible poisons in the body. And so you must have white tea. The reason is that Caffaine is less in white tea and is quite relaxing.

beauty tips for skincare are usually the same. Keep reading if you want some tips that are different. Most tips focus on how your skin looks and not how it feels. Soft, smooth skin is really inviting.

Smooth, silky skin is definitely an appearance booster whether its just for you and for someone else to touch. Never worry about rough, bumpy skin again.

And don’t worry. It won’t have to cost you very much. These are all home treatments. Its really fun when you can do your own professional work in the comfort of your home.

* Silky Skin Beauty Tip #1: Use natural prevention - There is a reason that cold cream and rosewater are the earliest known beauty products. Actually, they have both been around since way before recorded history. They work wonders. Put a very thick layer of night cream on your face before you brush and floss your teeth. When finished with your teeth, rinse of off with a splash of rosewater. Just use these natural treatments to help keep you skin smooth and wrinkle free.

* Smooth Skin Beauty Tip #2: Try using heat - When it comes to breakouts, heat treatments are great and preventing them. Use heat treatments to prevent breakouts by clearing your pores. This is actually why they put a steamy cloth on your face during a facial. Heat treatments can be used to clear up and relieve existing inflammation literally overnight, in most cases. Using this treatment will get rid of all your bumps and make your skin smoother.

* Beauty Tip #3: Cool and mellow are the key - Go for cold natural produce. You too can use cucumber slices on your eyes at home. You can use cucumber slices or cold, cut potatoes wrapped in cheese cloth to relieve bags and dark spots under your eyes. Then blend some aloe, mashed cucumber and vitamin E together, to really brighten up the area.

Just keep it out of your eyes! You are not going to enjoy these beauty tips it you have cosmetics fogging up your vision.

Dr. Stephen McCurdy of the UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health, Western Center of Agricultural Health and Safety presents the third part…

Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle travels to a firehouse in Dublin, Indiana and a wellness center in Washington, DC to join their health care community discussions.

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Okay so i am 5’4 160 pounds. If i do this master cleanse for about two weeks, around how much weight would i lose? And i usually take vitamins everyday so should i stop taking those?