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Carbohydrates and Weight Loss

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Carbohydrates are a tricky subject. When you hear people talking about a low-carbohydrate diet, they are undoubtedly speaking of starchy carbohydrates. Even on the lowest carbohydrate diet, the Atkins Diet, you are still required to eat plenty of fibrous carbohydrates every day. That’s right. It isn’t all bacon and mayonnaise. With that being said, I’ll discuss the two types of carbohydrates, starchy and fibrous. Starchy carbohydrates are from grains such as oats, wheat and corn. Root vegetables like carrots and potatoes are also starchy carbohydrates. Oatmeal, flour and the bread made from it, corn and corn tortillas, as well as … Continue reading →

Do Diet Supplements Work and Do You Need Them?

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Unless you’re sitting down to three square, home cooked meals a day and eating at least two healthy snacks between them, chances are you could use a supplement or two. Following are just a few you may want to consider. Healthy Fats In our diet conscious world, we tend to avoid any fat as if it were The Plague. That isn’t exactly what we should be doing. Believe it or not, our bodies need some special fats that we just cannot create ourselves. Supplements like Omega-3 Fatty Acids (fats derived from fish) are important for heart health so if you … Continue reading →

Weight Doesn’t Matter

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Sometimes we get so wound up in the numbers that we forget that weight isn’t everything. What really makes a difference in how we look and feel is the amount of bodyfat on our bodies. You could weigh 98 pounds but still look fat if you had 40% bodyfat. Then again, you could weigh 180 pounds and have 20% bodyfat and be a knockout! No matter what you weigh, if your bodyfat is within a healthy range, you’ll look fantastic. The only real way to reduce bodyfat is to start a regular and productive exercise regimen and to eat healthy … Continue reading →

Carbohydrate Blockers Do Work

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I am a carboholic. I have a major problem with starchy carbohydrates. The problem is that I love them. They are comfort food. Cookies, bagels, homemade bread, if it starts with flour then I love it. The problem for me is twofold: 1. These sorts of things do terrible things to my blood sugar. (Raising it and then dropping it to unheard of lows to the point where I need to take a nap.) 2. Whenever I eat starchy carbohydrates I retain lots of extra water so that my body can process and digest them. (A single bagel can show … Continue reading →

Mitigating Diet Damage

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“Do you have any tips for “mitigating” the damage from all the heavy meals during summer barbeques and parties? I’m talking more in terms of exercise, other meals, supplements when you know you will overeat, not avoiding all the great food with my family.” When it comes to overeating, there is only one way to mitigate the damage and that involves an eating disorder of another color. Let’s just not go there. Here are some thoughts on how to handle holidays and family celebrations in a diet conscious way that will still allow you to enjoy good food with friends … Continue reading →

What Are Low-Carb Diets?

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Low carbohydrate diets aren’t new. They have been around for for decades. The Atkins Diet was introduced in 1972 but, even before that, bodybuilders were using low carbohydrate diets to get ripped before competitions. Since the Atkins Diet is the most common low-carb diet, we’ll start with that. Essentially, the Atkins Diet is done through a series of phases. The first phase is the weight loss phase and is used to get the body into ketosis, a state in which the body burns fat for energy rather than glucose (blood sugar). During the first phase of the Atkins Diet, you … Continue reading →

What’s The Fuss About Carbs?

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Carbohydrates are a macronutrient. The three macronutrients are carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Carbohydrates supply our bodies with their main source of fuel: glucose (also known as blood sugar). Yes, we run on sugar but before you head to the cupboard to down a sack of sugar, read on. Our bodies create glucose by breaking down the carbohydrates we eat throughout the day. Our bodies can also create glucose from proteins and fat but it is much more difficult to do and requires a great deal more energy in the form of calories. (It is easy for the body to make … Continue reading →

Not the Fat but the Carbs!

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Gary Taubes has written a new book entitled Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease . He does indeed challenge the conventional wisdom. He contends that it isn’t fat making Americans fat and causing cancer, heart disease and other terminal ailments but it is refined carbohydrates. I am inclined to agree with him. Ever since American started eating fat-free foods (which happen to have even more carbs than the fat containing versions), they’ve been gaining even more weight! Needless to say, Taubes’ position is pretty controversial. Unlike the doctors, dietitians and nutritionists of … Continue reading →

Waiting for the Numbers to Drop

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Sometimes we think we’re doing everything right to lose weight. We eat right and exercise just like the pros tell us to but nothing seems to happen. I’ve been there. I know how frustrating it can be. You feel as though you are starving yourself and know that the workouts you are doing should be making your butt melt off but every morning you end up staring at the very same numbers on the scale. Nothing is happening and you’re about to dive into some ice cream to get over your feeling of inadequacy. Well, don’t touch that spoon! Here … Continue reading →

A New Study: Will Oligofructose Be the Answer to Weight Loss?

Fifty healthy but overweight residents of Calgary, Canada will have a chance to test oligofructose. It is a natural fiber found in certain plants and vegetables like chicory, onions, leeks, garlic, and tomatoes. Researcher, Dr. Raylene Reimer and her colleagues at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Kinesiology will require participants in the study to take a dietary supplement containing the fiber for three months. They will not be asked to change any other aspect of their diet or lives. The researchers will be documenting the participants’ body fat ratios over the course of the study. In a related study … Continue reading →