Increase Your Liquidity

Water is not exciting, but its an important element in your Flat abs plan. Drinking about 8 glasses of water a day has a lot of benefits: (a) it helps keep you satisfied (often when we interpret as hunger is really thirst). (b) it flushes the waste products your body churns out when processing protein or breaking down fat. And (c) it transports nutrients to your muscles, to keep your metabolism clicking.

Don’t get sidetracked by imposters such as colas and soft drinks. Even diet colas are not a good idea. New research shows that they don’t help keep weight down, for reasons that are still not clear. So stick with plain water. Otherwise, the best drinks you can have are low-fat milk and green tea.

Another drink you should definitely keep off your list, if you want flat abs, is Alcohol. For starters alcohol won’t make you feel full or decrease the amount of food you’ll eat. Thirdly, it can inhibit your production of testosterone and human growth – two hormones that help burn fat and build muscle. So, nix the Happy Hours.

Plastic Menace

Phthalates, a chemical used in the manufacture of toys, polyesters, PVC pipes and cosmetics, may be linked to the development of lupus, according to recent research using mice.

Researchers from Indiana State’s life sciences department injected mice with phthalates and found the injections triggered lupus, caused development of lupus-related kidney complications and considerably shortened the lifespan of mice with a genetic predisposition to the disease. The injections did not have negative effects in mice that are not predisposed to the illness. In lupus which is a form of arthritis, the immune system engages in friendly fire against the skin, joints, blood and kidneys. Scientists believe there is a genetic predisposition to the disease; it is known that environmental factors – possibly including exposure to phthalates – may also play a critical role in causing this autoimmune disease.

Given the widespread use of phthalates more extensive research is warranted, researchers report. Other experts question the finding and suggest that data from rats cannot be extrapolated to humans.

Vitamin K for Scars?

FADE IT – There’s evidence that vitamin k can deliver a one-two punch to bruises. A double –blind study had patients applying topical vitamin K cream to one side of their face and a placebo to the other side after undergoing cosmic laser treatment. The bruises on the side of the face treated with vitamin K were less severe than those treated with the placebo.
Other (preliminary) studies suggest that vitamin K may have lightening effect on under-eye circles, that pesky  problem that plagues so many of us, as well.
Check out large cosmetic stores for formulations with vitamin K.

Can These Drinks Solve Your Energy Crisis?

LIQUID QUALMS- Those super- potent energy drinks you see on display at your gym- do they really help boost your workout? And are they safe?
The short answer to both question is –Hard to tell. The safety of drinks like Amp, Pimp Juice (no, we did not make that one up), and Red Bull, is still under debate, because so little research has been done on their unconventional combinations of ingredients, says Scott Trappe, Ph.D.’ director of the Human Performance Laboratory of Ball State University. Some of these sugary, high-powered beverages pack up to 80 milligrams of caffeine (about the same amount in a cup of coffee), as well as amino acids and herbal supplements.
If you haven’t had a reaction to downing caffeine and /or sugar before a  work out. You will probably be fine chugging an energy drink. But combinations of ingredients like taurine, guarana, and ginseng have not been studied in depth and could turn these products into a potential witch’s brew. We say stick with water to be safe-100 to 200 ml Every 15 minutes while you exercise, to be exact. Substitute Electral or a sports drink like Gatorade when you work out longer than an hour, or in hot and humid weather. But if you are so exhausted that you need a major jolt to get moving, skip the gym and hit the couch for a nap.

6 ways to Conquer Temptation

Tame The Urges: Recognizing the environmental factors that can encourage overeating may help you rein this problem. Here are some practical suggestions:
Play hard to get: Put the most tempting foods high up in the cupboard, at the very back of the fridge, or in other inconvenient spots. Replace the cookie jar and candy bowl with a fruit bowl.
Downsize: Many small containers are better than a few large one’s because they provide convenient stopping points. Never eat directly out of a large package.
Plan ahead: Decide how much you’re going to eat before an event and do your best to stick with that plan. Set some limits before you go the movies or watch the cricket match. It’s so easy to mindlessly munch when you’re in front of a screen of any kind.
Be a copycat: Look around. Who’s eating the least? Who has the healthiest food on their plate? Model your eating habits on that person’s.
Keep it the same: Don’t put out too many different varieties of the same kind of food. Prime eg: Chocolate in different flavors. You’ll be tempted to sample from each one and eat a lot more than if you were faced with fewer choices.

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Getting a South Beach Diet for free

Dieting has become a multi-millionaire dollar venture, if not multi-billion. There are a host of people who will gladly shell out a fortune just to lose weight and gain a measure of self-respect in the process.
The South Beach Diet is one of those that have gained popularity in the country. The reviews are good. It really does work… if you have the money to enroll under the program. But South Beach Diet can be availed for free. One needs only to have the determination to see the diet through.
South Beach Diet involves three phases. The first phase is the strictest of the three, where dieters are asked to cut off carbohydrates. This will mean eliminating fruit, bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, alcohol, cereals and especially baked goods from your diet for two weeks. You are only allowed to eat meat, chicken, turkey, fish and shellfish as well as vegetables eggs, cheese, nuts and salads. During the second phase of the South Beach Diet, you can already incorporate carbohydrates in moderation. The second phase can last until you reach your desired weight. The third phase is the least restrictive. Having gone through the first two phases, the South Beach Diet will have changed the way your body craves for food. Your eating will become not only a diet program but a way of life. With the third stage of the South Beach Diet, you can actually eat whatever you want but the catch is… what you want will no longer be the food that you wanted before the diet!
Be committed. Getting the South Beach Diet for free to work will mean having the self-control to actually follow with the plan especially during the challenging first phase of the program. You can actually do it yourself and make it work if you are really committed.
Know your diet. Another thing that you can do to get a South Beach Diet for free is to know all about the diet. Research over the Internet or read up books in the library. Get to know the different strategies that the program employs. More importantly, know what foods you can and cannot eat when on a South Beach Diet.
Get another to monitor. Have a friend or a member of your family monitor your free South Beach Diet program! It would be easy to revert back to your original pre-diet if you do not have someone at home who can work with you.

The Candida Diet: What You Can and Cannot Eat to Get Rid of that Yeast

Not all types of diets are meant to help a person lose weight. There are some specialized types of diet that a physician may require a patient to undergo to help the treatment of a certain medical condition. An example of this particular diet is the candida diet.
Candida diet, or sometimes pertained to as the anti-candida diet, is a food restriction process for people who have the candida albicans. A stable amount of candida is found in the body to help maintain the immune system. But when candida becomes a yeast infection that mutates to its fungal form, it irritates the lining of the intestine that can lead to a series of health problems. When a person is afflicted with candida, he or she may experience bladder infections, energy loss, cravings for different types of food, insomnia, hyperactivity, migraine, mouth infections, rashes, sore throat and thyroid problems.
Anti-fungal drugs are usually administered to patients with this problem. Even so, patients who went through the candida diet found it beneficial and effective. After two to four weeks of following the candida diet, patients observed and experienced significant changes in their over-all health. The candida diet is mainly an elimination diet based on the severity of problems brought about by the infection to the person. The goal of the candida diet is to restrict the patient from ingesting the types of food that promotes the growth of candida in their body. A person’s menu is usually restricted to certain types of food that he or she should strictly follow. The candida diet may be difficult to practice for a while for people who are not used to eating a restricted food list but they need not to worry. After laboratory tests have proven that they are free of the fungus, they can bring back the foods that have been controlled from their menu by the candida diet.
There are a lot of foods which are not allowed in candida diet, because elimination of yeast and food that will heighten candida growth in the body is the main and foremost objective if this diet. One need not to fret because other alternatives are available and offered in the absence of these candid diet restricted foods.
The candida diet restricts a person from drinking alcoholic drinks because they too contain sugar. Coffee and tea are also not allowed in the candida diet. During a candida infection, a person needs all the energy from its immune system to deal with this health problem. Processing these beverages causes burden to the body’s stress-coping mechanisms thus weakening the immune system. A healthier option to these beverages that is suggested by the candida diet is water. Aside from helping the body to detoxify, water does not contain any sugar or yeast whatsoever. Vegetable broth, fresh vegetable juice and herbal teas, can also be drank instead of water.

Who is at risk for Gallstones?

There’s no clear-cut reason why some people are prone to gallstones and others aren’t, but there are clear-cut risk factors. Simply being female is one: Women between the ages of 20 and 60 are twice as likely to develop gallstones as men. According to a study in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, a waistline larger than 40 inches for men or 35 inches for women; high blood pressure; and insulin resistance, a pre-diabetic condition boosts your odds of developing gallstones.
Other risk factors include smoking, low intake of dietary fiber, and high intake of carbohydrates, typically the fatty, sweetened junk food variety, not good-for-you complex carbs such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Here are some more risk factors:
Cholesterol lowering drugs: Drugs that lower your cholesterol actually increase the amount secreted in bile, which increases your risk of gallstones.
Diabetes: If you have diabetes, it’s likely that you also have high levels of triglycerides. These fatty acids increase the risk of gallstones.
Estrogen. Excess estrogen from pregnancy, hormone replacement therapy, or birth control pills appears to increase cholesterol levels in bile and to decrease gallbladder movement, which can lead to gallstones.
Heart Disease: People with heart disease are three times more likely to have gallstones than those free of heart disease, recent research suggests.
Frequent Fasting: Since fasting decreases gall-bladder movement, it causes bile to become over concentrated with cholesterol, another risk factor.

Weight Gain Speeds Aging

Extra pounds can literally age your DNA. That’s the latest from the Bogalusa Heart Study – an ongoing 32-year research project at the Tulane School of Public Health. Scientists analyzed blood samples from 49 adults in 1988 and again in 2001, recording weight, height and blood sugar, as well as the length of their white blood cell telomeres, strands of DNA on the tip of each chromosome that typically shorten with age.
They found that as people gained weight and became more insulin resistant (a common side effect of being overweight), their telomeres shrank more than those of people who didn’t add pounds and develop greater insulin resistance, a clear sign that the aging process was accelerating in the overweight volunteers.
Researchers believe that the stress caused by weight and insulin resistance generates inflammation and free radicals that damage cells. “Losing weight can slow telomere erosion, “says study coauthor Abraham Aviv, MD. Preliminary research shows that exercise and a healthy life style can help keep your DNA younger, too.

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