15 Best Diet Tips Ever

Everyone knows the keys to losing weight: Eat less and exercise more. Sounds simple enough, but in the context of real life and its demands, it can be anything but simple. So how do successful losers do it? To find out, WebMD asked experts across the country for their best diet tips.

Best Diet Tip No. 1: Drink plenty of water or other calorie-free beverages.

People sometimes confuse thirst with hunger. So you can end up eating extra calories when an ice-cold glass of water is really what you need.

"If you don't like plain water, try adding citrus or a splash of juice, or brew infused teas like mango or peach, which have lots of flavor but no calories," says Cynthia Sass, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

Best Diet Tip No. 2: Think about what you can add to your diet, not what you should take away.

Start by focusing on getting the recommended 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

"It sounds like a lot, but it is well worth it, because at the same time you are meeting your fiber goals and feeling more satisfied from the volume of food," says chef Laura Pansiero, RD.

You're also less likely to overeat because fruits and vegetables displace fat in the diet. And that's not to mention the health benefits of fruits and vegetables. More than 200 studies have documented the disease-preventing qualities of phytochemicals found in produce, says Pansiero.

Her suggestion for getting more: Work vegetables into meals instead of just serving them as sides on a plate.

"I love to take seasonal vegetables and make stir-fries, frittatas, risotto, pilafs, soups, or layer on sandwiches," Pansiero says. "It is so easy to buy a variety of vegetables and incorporate them into dishes."

Best Diet Tip No. 3: Consider whether you're really hungry.

Whenever you feel like eating, look for physical signs of hunger, suggests Michelle May, MD, author of Am I Hungry?

"Hunger is your body's way of telling you that you need fuel, so when a craving doesn't come from hunger, eating will never satisfy it," she says.

When you're done eating, you should feel better -- not stuffed, bloated, or tired.

"Your stomach is only the size of your fist, so it takes just a handful of food to fill it comfortably," says May.

Keeping your portions reasonable will help you get more in touch with your feelings of hunger and fullness.

Best Diet Tip No. 4: Be choosy about nighttime snacks.

Mindless eating occurs most frequently after dinner, when you finally sit down and relax.

"Sitting down with a bag of chips or cookies in front of the television is an example of eating amnesia, where you mindlessly eat without being hungry, but out of habit," says American Dietetic Association spokesperson Malena Perdomo, RD.

Either close down the kitchen after a certain hour, or allow yourself a low-calorie snack, like a 100-calorie pack of cookies or a half-cup scoop of low-fat ice cream. Once you find that you're usually satisfied with the low-cal snack, try a cup of zero-calorie tea, suggests Perdomo.

Here's what they said

Best Diet Tip No. 5: Enjoy your favorite foods.

"I think putting your favorite foods off limits leads to weight gain because it triggers 'rebound' overeating," says Sass.

Instead of cutting out your favorite foods altogether, be a slim shopper. Buy one fresh bakery cookie instead of a box, or a small portion of candy from the bulk bins instead of a whole bag.

"You can enjoy your favorite foods, but you must do so in moderation," says Sass.

Best Diet Tip No. 6: Enjoy your treats away from home.

When you need a treat, Ellie Krieger, RD, host of Food Network's Healthy Appetite,suggests taking a walk to your local ice cream parlor or planning a family outing.

"By making it into an adventure, you don't have to worry about the temptation of having treats in the house, and it is a fun and pleasurable way to make it work when you are trying to lose weight," says Krieger.

And for those times you just can't get out? Krieger stocks her kitchen with fresh fruit, which she thinks can be every bit as delicious as any other dessert.

Best Diet Tip No. 7: Eat several mini-meals during the day.

If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. But when you're hungry all the time, eating fewer calories can be challenging.

"Studies show people who eat 4-5 meals or snacks per day are better able to control their appetite and weight," says obesity researcher Rebecca Reeves, DrPH, RD.

She recommends dividing your daily calories into smaller meals or snacks and enjoying as many of them as you can early in the day -- dinner should be the last time you eat.

Best Diet Tip No. 8: Eat protein at every meal.

Protein is more satisfying than carbohydrates or fats, and thus may be the new secret weapon in weight control.

" Diets higher in protein [and] moderate in carbs, along with a lifestyle of regular exercise, have an excellent potential to help weight loss," says University of Illinois protein researcher Donald Layman, PhD.

Getting enough protein helps preserve muscle mass and encourages fat burning while keeping you feeling full. So be sure to include healthy protein sources, like yogurt, cheese, nuts, or beans, at meals and snacks.

Best Diet Tip No. 9: Spice it up.

Add spices or chiles to your food for a flavor boost that can help you feel satisfied.

"Food that is loaded with flavor will stimulate your taste buds and be more satisfying so you won't eat as much," says Perdomo.

When you need something sweet, suck on a red-hot fireball candy for a long-lasting burst of sweetness with just a few calories.

**Use Sea Salt instead of Table Salt. Sea Salt contains 97 minerals. Table salt has had all the minerals removed.

Best Diet Tip No. 10: Stock your kitchen with healthy convenience foods.

Having ready-to-eat snacks and meals-in-minutes staples on hand sets you up for success. You'll be less likely to hit the drive-through or call in a pizza order if you can make a healthy meal in 5 or 10 minutes.

Sass stocks her kitchen with:

• 94% fat-free microwave popcorn (20-25 calories per cup, and you can make it in two minutes or less)
• Frozen vegetables
• Bags of pre-washed greens
• Canned diced tomatoes
• Canned beans
• Whole-grain wraps or pitas
• Pre-cooked grilled chicken breasts
• A few containers of pre-cooked brown rice

Within minutes, she can toss together a healthy medley.

Best Diet Tip No. 11: Order children’s portions at restaurants.

"When you are eating out, order a child's pizza or a small sandwich as an easy way to trim calories and get your portions under control," suggest Perdomo.

Another trick is to use smaller plates. This helps the portions look like more, and if your mind is satisfied, your stomach likely will be, too.

Best Diet Tip No. 12: Eat foods in season.

"If you don't love certain fruits or vegetables, it could be because you ate them out of season when they have little taste or flavor," says Pensiero. "When you eat seasonally, fruits and vegetables are more flavorful, at their best, and I promise you won't be disappointed."

At GiGi's Trattoria, her restaurant in Rhinebeck, N.Y., she serves simple fruit desserts, like naturally sweet strawberries topped with aged balsamic vinegar, or low-fat yogurt or fresh berries in a compote.

Best Diet Tip No. 13: Swap a cup of pasta for a cup of vegetables.

Simply by eating less pasta or bread and more veggies, you could lose a dress or pants size in a year.

"You can save from 100-200 calories if you reduce the portion of starch on your plate and increase the amount of vegetables," says Sass.

Best Diet Tip No. 14: Use non-food alternatives to cope with stress.

Sooner or later, you're going to be faced with a stressful situation. Instead of turning to food for comfort, be prepared with some non-food tactics that work for you.

Sass suggests reading a few chapters in a novel, listening to music, writing in a journal, practicing meditative deep breathing, or looking at a photo album of loved ones.

Best Diet Tip No. 15: Be physically active.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, don't use exercise either to punish yourself for eating or to "earn" the right to eat more.

"When you do, it sets up a negative thought pattern, which is why so many people say they hate to exercise," says May.

Instead, focus on how great you feel, how much better you sleep and how much more energy you have when you exercise. Physical activity is good for you whether you are trying to lose weight or not, so keep it positive and build a lifelong habit.

Source: WebMD Contributors

Posted: True Health Is True Wealth

To Succeed at Any Diet, You Must Know Your Metabolic Type: Part 3

By William Wolcott, Founder, The Healthexcel System of Metabolic Typing - Author, The Metabolic Typing Diet (Doubleday)

Part 2 of this series on metabolic typing introduced the idea that whether a given food or a particular diet is good for you or bad for you is a matter of your genes -- not whim, appetite, preference, philosophy, belief or even "expert" opinion.

It is important to realize that the idea of metabolic typing is not new. The roots of the concept of metabolic individuality can be traced to antiquity. The 5,000 year old East Indian system of medicine known as Ayurveda was based on the interaction of the 5 elements and the 7 energy centers in the individual and primary treatment addressed one's dosha (one's metabolic type) before it addressed the symptom or disease.

Similarly, the ancient system of Chinese medicine recognized 5 elemental, constitutional types. Diagnosis and treatment in ancient Egyptian medicine was based on the 7 organ systems in the body. Greek physicians were concerned, as Hippocrates stated, with the patient who has the disease instead of the disease that has the patient, and evaluated the 4 humors (liver-bile metabolic types). The ancient Roman philosopher Lucretius is attributed with the saying, "One man's meat is another man's poison."

The modern background of metabolic typing

In modern times, there have been some well-known and many not so well-known medical researchers who recognized the value of addressing biochemical individuality. In 1919, Frances Pottenger, M.D., published his Symptoms Of Visceral Disease, where he established the autonomic nervous system as the basis of metabolic individuality and correlated the influence of various nutrients on the autonomic nervous system.

Dr. W.H. Sheldon, in the '40's, published his famous Varieties Of Human Physique, providing photographic illustrations of his somatotypes (ectomorph, endomorph and mesomorph metabolic types). In the '50's, Dr. Melvin Page and Dr. Henry Bieler concurrently developed concepts of endocrine types and their relationship to various foods. Dr. George Watson, also in the '50's, in his astounding book, Nutrition And The Mind, published his research on the variable influences of oxidation (glycolysis, beta oxidation, citric acid cycle) in different individuals he classified as fast, mixed or slow oxidizers.

In 1956, the noted biochemist, Dr. Roger Williams, published his genetotrophic theory on biochemical individuality, based on his research which suggested that every human being has, because of his genetic makeup, distinctive nutritional needs that must be met in order to achieve optimum health and well-being. Dr. Royal Lee's extensive writings in the 50's and 60's correlated nutritional influences of the autonomic and endocrine systems.

Dr. Emanuel Revici, in the '60's, recognized the critical necessity to address biochemical individuality and devoted his life's work to the development of an entirely new system of medicine based upon the variances between individuals in their catabolic and anabolic influences.

Dr. James D'Adamo, in the '70's, put forth a system of individual classification based upon ABO blood types. In the mid '70's, Dr. William D. Kelley met Dr. Roger William's call for "metabolic profiling" by becoming the first to apply William's concept of nutritional individuality to computer science in identifying the autonomic types, sympathetic, balanced and parasympathetic.

Further efforts to address metabolic individuality can be seen in current works of numerous other pioneers. Among the more recent who have joined the ranks are Dr. Elliot Abravanel, Dr. Paul Eck, Dr. David Watts, Dr. Rudolph Wiley, and the insightful founder of Nutri-Spec, Dr. Guy Schenker, to name a few.

What exactly is metabolic typing and why is it important?

Metabolic typing is a systematic, testable, repeatable, and verifiable methodology based on research and extensive clinical experience over the last 25 years that combines the wisdom of the ancient systems of medicine with our modern scientific understanding of physiology and biochemistry.

Metabolic typing analyzes, evaluates, and interprets objective physiological and biochemical indicators along with symptomatology in order to define one's metabolic type -- the specific, individualized, genetically-based patterns of biochemical metabolic individuality that dictate one's physiological and neurological "design limits" and requirements for nutritional substances.

The food that we eat is intended as the "fuel" for our body's cells, our engines of metabolism. Our cells in turn convert the fuel to energy to be used in all the life-supporting processes of metabolism that keep us alive and healthy. But like any engine, our body needs a certain kind of fuel to function optimally. A gasoline engine requires gasoline for fuel. A diesel engine is designed to run on diesel for fuel. But try to run a gas engine on diesel or a diesel engine on gas and not only will the energy output be deficient, but using the wrong fuel for the engine will cause real problems for the engine itself.

Similarly, our bodies have genetically-based requirements for specific kinds of foods and balances of nutrients in order to produce optimal energy and function in a state of optimal health. If we meet these "design requirements," we can expect to be healthy, energetic, fit and trim.

Failure to obtain on a regular basis the kinds of foods our body's are designed to utilize will initially produce sub-clinical health complaints such as fatigue, aches and pains, headaches, indigestion, weight gain, constipation, rashes, dry skin, low blood sugar, etc.

But long-term deficiency of the right foods for the metabolic type will lead to degenerative conditions like asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, etc. In other words, it's not just that the Eskimos can eat up to 10 pounds of meat and huge amounts of fat and almost no carbohydrate, they need to eat that way in order to be healthy because that's what their metabolisms are genetically programmed to utilize as fuel. Similarly, each of us has very specific requirements for nutrients that must be met in order to obtain and maintain good health, energy and well-being for a lifetime.

Without metabolic typing, there is no way to discern one's "medicine" from one's "poison." Without metabolic typing, there is no way to know how nutrients behave in one person as opposed to another. In essence, without metabolic typing, no rational basis exists from which to select proper diet and nutritional supplementation because one's metabolic type dictates individual responses to nutrients.

This gets to the heart of some core premises of metabolic typing that have not only great significance for each individual in identification of a proper diet, but also have profound implications for scientific research. Let's look at two of these core premises of our system of metabolic typing. Here's the first one:

• ANY NUTRIENT AND ANY FOOD CAN HAVE VIRTUALLY OPPOSITE BIOCHEMICAL INFLUENCES IN DIFFERENT METABOLIC TYPES.

The metabolic type defines the way in which the body reacts to nutrients. Different metabolic types react differently to the same nutrient. For example, in one metabolic type 100 milligrams of potassium or eating, say, an orange (also high in potassium), will cause the body's pH to shift alkaline and produce a sedating effect. But in a different metabolic type, the same amount of potassium or an orange will produce an acid shift and a stimulating response. This has been observed tens of thousands of times through both objective metabolic type testing as well as through changes in symptomatology.

Now the second core premise:

• ANY ADVERSE SYMPTOM OR DEGENERATIVE CONDITION CAN ARISE DUE TO VIRTUALLY OPPOSITE BIOCHEMICAL IMBALANCES.

This same principle applies to any adverse health complaint, from simple to complex, from cramps to cardiovascular disease (CVD), from rashes to rheumatoid arthritis. For example, we have seen just as many cases of high cholesterol and CVD resolve through a high carbohydrate, low fat, low protein diet as we have seen resolve through the opposite low carb, high protein, high fat diet. Match the diet to the metabolic type and any degenerative condition has a chance to reverse. But eat the wrong foods for the metabolic type, even high quality, organic foods, and degenerative processes will only worsen.

The implications of these premises are staggering.

If they are true, then allopathic nutrition has no rational basis. Seeking a common therapy for all people for every condition is a wild goose chase and is doomed to failure. Any success with that approach has been and will continue to be by chance -- not systematic, reliable predictability.

If any nutrient or food can have totally opposite influences, biochemically speaking, in different people, how can there be a treatment, for any condition, that can work for all people?

The answer is that there can't be only one treatment. This is precisely why what works for one person can worsen the same condition in another person. This is why what makes your friend thin can make you fat. This is why what improves energy and performance for one person can worsen it in another. As it turns out, metabolic typing explains why Lucretius' adage, "One man's food is another man's poison," is literally true.

And, if it is true that two people with the same degenerative disease can have virtually opposite biochemical imbalances, and that when two opposite biochemical protocols are administered the problem resolves, then this clearly means that it's not the diseases that should be treated but the underlying metabolic type imbalances that have caused the diseases that need be addressed.

From this viewpoint, the diseases are not the problems; they are the symptoms, the manifestations, the expressions of the underlying, foundational imbalances. The reality of metabolic individuality demands that the person who has the disease -- not the disease that has the person -- be treated!

These premises of metabolic typing also explain why scientific research on nutrition is usually so inconclusive and produces such inconsistent results. For example, researchers have been confounded why calcium can lower blood pressure in some but raise it in others. Similar findings occurred with the effect of potassium. Until research on the effect of a given nutrient on a given condition is performed on a like metabolic type subject population, you will always see variable results.

In summary:

• Biochemical individuality is responsible for the fact that nutrients behave differently in different metabolic types
• The variable influences of nutrients on different metabolisms along with the same condition arising from totally different biochemical imbalances make it impossible to treat conditions with a standardized treatment protocol
• Successful, predictable, reliable therapy can only be chosen once you know the metabolic type because only then will you know how nutrients behave in that person's metabolism.

Degenerative conditions account for well over 80% of all of the adverse conditions that afflict the peoples of our country. This means that only a little over 1 out of every 10 people that go to doctors has crises or infectious conditions that require and respond to allopathic treatments.

More and more people every year fall prey to degenerative conditions and, sadly, at younger and younger ages. Diseases once viewed as accompaniments to old age are now commonplace in our children. Yet, currently, there is no orthodox cure for nearly any degenerative disease.

So-called alternative practitioners, as a group, fare little better. Even those who meet with "success" often find that when the therapy is stopped, the condition returns and no real, lasting healing has taken place. Or they are baffled by the universal phenomena of failing to help the next patient with the same condition with the very same protocol that worked so well for the former patient.

We find ourselves, practitioners and lay people alike, trying futilely to absorb the avalanche of information and research in nutrition that has descended upon us and only promises to gain speed with ever-increasing volume. We're bombarded with seemingly endless newspaper and magazine articles, health books, interviews on radio and television, internet sites, all touting opposing points of view. What are we to do with the blessing/curse of this information explosion?

The problem is that there hasn't been a reference point or a framework in which to organize and understand the thousands upon thousands of research findings, many of which are outright contradictory in nature. It's like an enormous jigsaw puzzle that arrives without the picture on the box. How do the pieces fit together? How can we possibly make sense and make use of this research? A PDR (Physician's Desk Reference) of nutrition?

Even if it was possible to know the effects of every single vitamin, mineral, fatty acid, herb, etc., and then to organize them item by item, of what practical use would that be? How would we be any further along? We would still have 100's or even 1000's of choices to make for each nutrient. And every day more and more effects are being found for every nutrient known to us.

Even so, it is every practitioner's experience that what works for one patient does not work for another with the same condition. The total body of scientific research is one gigantic pool of randomized information that is only growing in complexity. And yet, this is precisely the path that researchers and practitioners are following. The wrong path was chosen and it is leading us deeper and deeper into the dark forest of confusion. The more that research uncovers, the less clear the picture becomes.

The wrong questions have been and are still being asked. Instead of seeking answers to the effects of biochemical substances on diseases, we need to turn our attention to understanding how nutrients effect individual metabolisms. Instead of thinking in terms of treating disease, we must learn to think in terms of building health and meeting and optimizing genetic functional capacity by addressing the needs of each individual's metabolic type.

The adverse influences in the environment will continue to increase in the years ahead. In order to survive and live a full, productive life in the current millennium, especially if one wants to live a healthy life, it is becoming increasingly important that each individual take responsibility for his own health and address the inescapable requirements of his biochemical individuality, for it is only in so doing that the body will adapt and maintain its defenses against the adversities of the environment and that the joy and exuberance of true good health can be known.

Related Resources and Articles:

• The Metabolic Typing Diet
• Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
• Sanoviv Medical Center
• Big Red Juice - GoChi & Himalayan Goji Juice
• Eating According To Your Nutritional Type – Part 1
• Smear Campaign Aimed Against Anti-Aging Proponents
• Diet Success – Know Your Nutritional Typing – Part 2

Diet Success - Know Your Nutritional Typing - Part 2

By William Wolcott, Founder, The Healthexcel System of Metabolic Typing - Author, The Metabolic Typing Diet (Doubleday)

As a reader of this web site, it is likely that you've reached the point where you think or even know that nutrition is important if you ever want to get well and stay well. It's just common sense, right?

But you may also have come to feel that the field of nutrition is quite baffling. And that even though there is more information available today than ever before, that it's also become harder to find what's really right for you or to decide just what you should do.

In a very real sense, the information explosion over the last 10 years has quite possibly brought more confusion than clarity to your quest for health. As a result, you may have found yourself asking questions like:

• Why is it that my best friend's nutritional supplements work absolute miracles, but make me feel lousy?
• How can one best selling book say one thing about nutrition, and the other bestseller say just the opposite?
• Why will a certain diet give my friend energy and help to lose weight but make me tired and gain weight?
• Why can't I get rid of my candida overgrowth problem, even though I've followed an "anti-candida" diet?
• How can someone eat the best organic foods, take the finest nutritional supplements that money can buy, get plenty of rest, exercise regularly... and still not feel well?

Or maybe your concern is with more serious issues like...

• Why are two thirds of Americans overweight?
• How can so many people be obese when people are more diet-, health- and exercise-conscious than ever before?
• Why is degenerative disease skyrocketing?
• Why are younger and younger people falling prey to diseases of the aged?
• Why are cancer, heart disease and diabetes increasing each year?

And if you're a health professional working with nutrition, you may also be baffled by questions such as...

• Why does a low fat, low protein, high complex carbohydrate diet raise cholesterol in some people instead of lower it like it does in other people?
• Why does taking a nutritional product or protocol help one person with a problem but not another with the same problem?
• If nutrition is so important, why doesn't it work for so many people?

Everywhere you look, there are contradictions. Your friend tells you one thing. You read about just the opposite in a health magazine. And a hot new bestseller at your local book store says something quite different altogether. In fact, that's another problem -- wall-to-wall books on health and nutrition, most of which just contradict each other.

And, maybe you've learned from your own experience that what works for one person, doesn't help a second and can actually make a third person worse! Don't worry, it's not you. Even scientific researchers are confused by their findings because most studies on nutrients conclude that while helpful to a certain percentage of people with a certain condition, the studied nutrients don't help or even worsen the same condition in other test subjects.

So how can there be so much confusion and contradiction about something that is supposed to be so good for you?

The unfortunate reason is that the majority of the people talking about nutrition know just enough to be dangerous. They know that nutrition can be the answer, but they don't know how to use it properly. And, yes, it is a two-edged sword: If you use it properly, it can help make you well. But, make no mistake. If you use it improperly, it can help make you sick or keep you that way.

You know. Take this nutrient for that condition. A magic bullet. One standard nutritional remedy for each problem or a universal diet that is supposed to work for everyone.

But, your own experience and all the contradictory books and articles that you've ever read, aside from making the field of nutrition confusing, frustrating and sometimes downright baffling, have already shown you that this approach doesn't work. And your common sense agrees. You know that you are unique! You know one shoe size doesn't fit all. You know that everyone is as unique as their fingerprints. So, why would anyone ever think that one diet is right for everyone? Or, that what works nutritionally for one person would work for another as well?

The fact is, you really can eat the best organic foods, exercise regularly, drink plenty of fluids, get sufficient rest, take the finest supplements that money can buy... and still not feel well, or even start feeling worse than before!

So, what is the answer? The answer is to find out what is right for you!

Not what some book says. Not what a friend says. Not what the latest fad says is right. You need to find out exactly what is right for YOU! A nutritional program that is tailored specifically for your kind of metabolism and that will meet the special and unique nutritional needs of the one and only you.

Bottom line? Unless you match your nutrition to your metabolism, you'll only be wasting your time and money!

So why is it so hard to find right answers? How do you know who to believe or who to trust?

The answer is to this universal dilemma is that for decades, the wrong questions have been asked. Ask wrong questions and you're bound to get wrong answers to your needs.

The problem is that the quest for the "holy grail" in nutrition has been to find that "right diet," that "healthy diet" that is right for all people. And the quest has been to find the one right nutritional protocol for each condition.

But what has been missed is the undeniable fact that on a biochemical level each of us is as unique as we are in our fingerprints. Actually our uniqueness extends far beyond just our fingerprints and encompasses virtually every aspect of ourselves -- personality, behavior, temperament, external physical traits, internal size, shape, placement and efficiency of all of our organs and glands, and rates of our cellular metabolism. Simply put, our DNA is unique.

Standardized nutritional approaches fail to recognize that, for genetic reasons, people are all very different from one another on a biochemical or metabolic level. Due to widely varying hereditary influences, we all process or utilize foods and nutrients very differently. Thus, the very same nutritional protocol that enables one person to lead a long healthy life full of robust health can cause serious illness in someone else. As the ancient Roman philosopher Lucretius once said, "One man's food is another's poison." It turns out, his statement is quite literally true.

What accounts for all this metabolic individuality?

At any given point in time, there are a number of factors that determine peoples' unique nutritional requirements, but none is more significant than a person's ancestral heritage. It's a matter of classic Darwinian principles of evolution and adaptation, natural selection, genetic mutation and survival of the fittest. Over thousands of years of evolutionary history, people in different parts of the world developed very specific dietary needs as an adaptation mechanism, in response to many unique aspects of their habitats and lifestyles -- including climate, geography, vegetation, and naturally occurring food supplies.

As an example, people from cold northern regions of the world have historically relied very heavily on animal protein, simply because that's the primary food source available in wintry climates. Thus they have radically different nutritional needs than people from tropical regions, where the environment is rich in vegetative diversity year round.

In the early part of the 20th century, a brilliant scientist by the name of Weston Price, DDS, demonstrated this in no uncertain terms. He traveled all over the world and sought out all the indigenous populations to study their diet and their health. His discoveries were remarkable and extremely important. What he discovered was that:

• The diets of all the indigenous peoples were tremendously varied (being dependent on geography, climate and the food stuffs naturally available)
• Yet those indigenous people who followed their ancestral diets were robustly healthy.
• But those who moved away or for other reasons strayed from their ancestral diet developed degenerative processes.

What can we learn from this?

• First and foremost, there is no one diet that is right for everyone, i.e., there never has been and there never will be a universally healthy diet.
• Second, the only healthy diet is the one that meets one's genetically-based requirements -- not what some book or diet expert says is right. Eat a diet that is right for your metabolic type and not only can you stay healthy but you can reverse degenerative conditions as well.
• Third, there are no good foods and there are no bad foods, except in terms of foods that are right or wrong for your genetic makeup. Think meat is bad for you? Then how do you explain the Inuit (Eskimo) who eats up to 10 pounds of meat a day, yet there isn't even a word in their language for cancer or heart disease. Think a high carb diet is bad for you? Then how do you explain the Quetchus of South America or the East Indians who have lived for countless generations on a near vegetarian diet? Think dairy is bad for you? Then how do you explain the Swiss whose ancestral diet was largely based on dairy and rye?

Your body is designed to be healthy. Good health is your birthright. The ability to experience radiant health is part of the genetic code built into every cell in your body. What you need to do in order to reclaim your birthright is to understand what your body needs as opposed to someone else's, in order to function the way it was intended it to. In short, you need to eat right for your metabolic type.

In a previous era, before the age of modern transportation, cultures were isolated and peoples' metabolic makeup and corresponding dietary needs were very clear. But in today's day and age, due to extensive intermingling of cultures, we've become a true "genetic melting pot." In the U.S. in particular, most of us have many different ethnic and hereditary influences. As a result, few of us have a distinct ancestral heritage or readily identifiable dietary needs.

Fortunately, however, through the research that has been done over the past 25 years, there is available a systematic, testable, repeatable and verifiable advanced nutritional technology that enables people to discover their own unique dietary needs with a very high degree of precision. This technology is known as Metabolic Typing. Through metabolic typing those often mysterious, seemingly unanswerable questions become perfectly clear and answerable indeed.

Once you know your metabolic type and you know what foods are right for you and what foods are wrong for you, then you need a simple to follow, step-by-step plan to help you transition into a healthy lifestyle that you can follow for the rest of your life. You'll find none better than Dr. Mercola's Nutrition Plan.

Related Resources and Articles:

• The Metabolic Typing Diet
• Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
• Sanoviv Medical Center
• Big Red Juice - GoChi & Himalayan Goji Juice
• Eating According To Your Nutritional Type – Part 1
• Smear Campaign Aimed Against Anti-Aging Proponents

Hydroxycut products recalled after one death: FDA

Fri May 1, 2009 3:56pm EDT

 

* Weight-loss products linked to liver damage

* Two supplements can still be sold

By Lisa Richwine

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The maker of the widely sold Hydroxycut weight-loss supplements is recalling 14 products after reports of liver damage and one death, U.S. health officials said on Friday.

The Food and Drug Administration urged consumers to immediately stop using the recalled products, which are made by Iovate Health Sciences Inc and marketed for weight loss, boosting energy and other uses.

"The FDA urges consumers to discontinue use of Hydroxycut products in order to avoid any undue risk. Adverse events are rare, but exist," said Dr. Linda Katz, interim chief medical officer in the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

The agency has received 23 reports of liver problems ranging from jaundice to damage that required a liver transplant, Katz said. One person died.

Other reports also documented seizures, cardiovascular disorders and rhabdomyolysis, a type of muscle damage that can lead to kidney failure, the FDA said.

A message on the voice mail for Iovate Health Sciences in Ontario, Canada said the products were being recalled. Company officials could not be reached for further comment.

The company agreed to voluntarily pull the 14 products even though the FDA has not seen reports of serious harm with all of them, Katz said. Agency officials are investigating which doses and ingredients may be harmful, she said.

Two products with different ingredients, Hydroxycut Cleanse and Hoodia, were not included in the recall.

The recalled products contain a variety of ingredients including herbal extracts. They are sold as dietary supplements, which do not require the evidence of safety and effectiveness needed for medicines before they can be sold.

Critics say supplements need more oversight.

A 2007 law required manufacturers to turn over reports of problems with consumers, helping the FDA better monitor potential side effects, agency officials said.

"These reports are vital in helping FDA identify unsafe dietary supplements," said Vasilios Frankos, head of the FDA's Division of Dietary Supplement Programs.

People who took the recalled products should consult a doctor if they have symptoms of liver injury such as nausea, vomiting, light-colored stools, excessive fatigue, weakness, stomach pain, itching or loss of appetite, the FDA said.

The recalled products include Hydroxycut Regular Rapid Release Caplets, Hydroxycut Carb Control and Hydroxycut Max Drink Packets. A full list was included in the FDA announcement here

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Steve Orlofsky, Leslie Gevirtz)

Source:  Reuters

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A Legacy of Inspiration

~ True happiness is impossible without true health and true health is impossible without rigid control of the palate. All the other senses will automatically come under our control when the palate has been brought under control. And he who has conquered his senses has really conquered the whole world.  … Mohandas Gandhi

In January 1948, Mohandas Gandhi was shot three times by a Hindu assassin as he walked through a garden in New Delhi to take evening prayers. He died instantly.

Today he is remembered as an anti-colonialist, an advocate of non-violence, a pioneer of civil disobedience and the father of the world's largest democracy.

He achieved a great deal as a political leader, working against discrimination, poverty and the caste system. He ended "untouchability." He expanded women's rights, religious tolerance and economic self-reliance.

For all these things, Gandhi is rightly honored. In the long run, however, Mahatma (literally "Great Soul") may be best remembered for his contribution to humanity's inner life.

Gandhi advocated a simple and unassuming lifestyle. He lived modestly, wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, and ate plain vegetarian food. He said it did not require money to be neat, clean and dignified.

He undertook long fasts, sometimes for self-purification, other times as social protest.

And he had a sense of humor. Asked once what he thought about Western civilization, Gandhi replied, "I think it would be a good idea."

Gandhi suffered many hardships in his life. He was imprisoned several times and for many years in both South Africa - where he first employed non-violent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer - and in India.

During these periods, he took the time to write down his key principles. Here are just a few of his thoughts:

~ In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.

~ All of your scholarship, all your study of Shakespeare and Wordsworth would be in vain if at the same time you did not build your character and attain mastery over your thoughts and your actions.

~ A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.

~ The only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still small voice' within.

~ Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

~ I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present.

~ What a great thing it would be if we in our busy lives, could retire into ourselves each day, for at least a couple of hours, and prepare our minds to listen to the voice of the great silence.

~ Experience has taught me that silence is a part of the spiritual discipline of a votary of truth.  Proneness to exaggerate, to suppress or modify truth, wittingly or unwittingly, is a natural weakness of man, and silence is necessary to surmount it. A man of few words will rarely be

 thoughtless in his speech. He will measure every word.

~ True happiness is impossible without true health and true health is impossible without rigid control of the palate. All the other senses will automatically come under our control when the palate has been brought under control. And he who has conquered his senses has really conquered the whole world.

More than sixty years after his death, Gandhi is still viewed as one of the world's great spiritual leaders.

He dedicated his life to the purpose of discovering Truth - something he insisted could only be revealed to those with a deep sense of humility - and believed the most important battle is overcoming our own fears and insecurities.

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing, Gandhi insisted, is sufficient to solve most of our problems.

"He was driven to help the poor, the sick and the downtrodden and to free them from colonialism no matter the cost to himself," writes Archbishop Desmond Tutu. "In the end it cost him his life.  However, he left us a legacy of inspiration that is remarkable in its sincerity and love of humanity."

Albert Einstein agreed. He was moved to say: "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked the earth."

Gandhi asked that his writings be cremated with his body. He wanted his life to be his message, not what he had written or said.

In the end, he believed that words are meaningless. Actions alone show our true priorities. Or, as he famously said:

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

 Carpe Diem,  Alex Green – SpiritualWealth

Posted:  True Health Is True Wealth

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• The Weight Is Over

Mufas - The Trick To A Flat Stomach and to Losing Weight

The trick to a flat stomach and losing weight is having MUFAs at every meal and snack. What is a MUFA? It stands for monounsaturated fatty acid, which is found in nuts, seeds, avocadoes, olives and flax and olive oils, and dark chocolate. So walnuts in my cereal? Flaxseed oil in my smoothie? Tapenade in my turkey wrap? Guacamole with my dinner? Totally doable!

"Jumpstart" your diet for about 4-days by having Mufas at every meal and snack which is designed to not only lower the calories a bit more (an acceptable 1,200), but also reduce belly bloat and gas so you have the visual proof that your gut is deflating.

Add 2 liters of Sassy Water -- a mixture of water with a lemon, a cucumber, grated ginger and spearmint leaves each day, for the first 4-days ,strained of course, and you are on your way!

Add some GoChi and you are on your way to weight loss and good health, which truly is the greatest wealth!!

Source:  Prevention  Magazine!

9-Secrets For Women to a Healthy Diet Thru the Decades

Nutritional needs change with age. Here’s a plan for each stage of your life

By Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D., TODAYShow.com contributor 

A woman’s nutritional needs are as unique as her smile, the color of her eyes or her sense of humor. Those needs change as she ventures through life, navigating the childbearing years, approaching menopause and entering the golden years. Luckily, most of the 40-plus nutrients a woman’s body needs throughout life are met by simply eating lots of wholesome foods, such as whole grains, dark green leafy vegetables, cooked dried beans and peas and nonfat milk products. But we need to tailor these basic good-eating habits to meet the specific nutritional needs of each stage in life. Here's a plan for tackling your needs over the decades: 

The 20s: Folic acid, iron, dieting
No matter what your age, all women need at least eight colorful fruits and vegetables, three glasses of nonfat milk, two servings of iron-rich protein and five or more servings of whole grains. That said, some nutrients are of particular concern, depending on your age. For example, women in their 20s are on the tail end of growing. Their nutritional needs are high, they are still building tissue, and one in every two pregnancies during these years will be unplanned. That means a woman must be on nutritional high-alert. Three nutrition issues are of particular concern:

1. Folic acid: Folic acid-rich foods, such as greens, orange juice and beans, are especially important. Yet while seven out of 10 women know that folic acid helps prevent birth defects, only 25 percent of those women are actively trying to get enough folic acid during the periconception period. (Folic acid is most effective for preventing birth defects if taken at the time of conception and during the first few weeks of pregnancy. Once the pregnancy test comes back positive and a woman starts taking a supplement, it could be too late.)

What to do: Make sure you get enough of this key vitamin by including at least two dark green leafies in your daily diet.

2. Iron: Tired? Can’t think straight? Rather than grab a cup of coffee, you are better off reaching for iron-rich foods. While only eight percent of women are iron deficient, up to 80 percent (studies range from 20 percent to 80 percent) of women during these early years are iron deficient. The deficiency goes unnoticed because most physicians test only for anemia, the final stage of iron deficiency. For months or even years, a woman can be iron deficient and have it go undetected, yet the symptoms are the same — you’re tired, sleep poorly, your work is compromised, you catch every cold that comes around. Women also have cut back on red meat, the best source of absorbable iron, yet up to 30 percent of the iron is absorbed from meat compared to only two to seven percent in beans (which means you need at least four servings of beans for every one serving of meat to get the same amount of iron!). If you drink tea or coffee with your meals, you won’t absorb the iron you are eating.

What to do: Include several servings daily of iron-rich foods, get tested for serum ferritin and, if you are low, take a supplement.

3. Dieting: It is impossible to meet all your vitamin and mineral needs when calorie intake falls below 1,800 calories/day, yet young women are dieting in record amounts, cutting daily calories to 1,000 or less. While restrictive dieting does more harm than good and never results in long-term weight loss, there are some superfoods that can help ensure optimal nutrition, even when calories are too low. So load up on low-cal superfoods that fill you up without filling you out, such as wheat germ (even two tablespoons pack a wallop of nutrients), oatmeal cooked in nonfat milk, salads and vegetable soups.

The 30s: Stress/convenience foods, the pill, calcium
Women in their 30s, whether they are working, mothering, or both, are living on the brink of chaos at all times. Their nutritional needs are high during times of stress, but they don’t believe they have the time to eat well. The nutrition issues here are:

1. Stress/convenience foods: For lack of time, women grab quick-fix foods that typically are high in fat, sugar or calories. According to the latest stats from USDA, women today are averaging 31 teaspoons of refined sugar daily, while fat intake is on the rise. Instead of grabbing the colas and the sweets, grab healthy snacks. And hey, it’s a myth that eating well must take more time. If you have time to pull up to a drive-through window or order takeout, you have time to eat well.

What to do: A breakfast of whole-grain cereal, nonfat milk and fruit takes less than five minutes to prepare. Dinner is as easy as broiled salmon or chicken, a sweet potato in the microwave and a bagged salad.

2. The pill: The birth control pill can affect the absorption and use of several nutrients, including vitamin B-6. This vitamin is important in the regulation of the nerve chemical serotonin, so a low level of B-6 might help explain some of the emotional ups and downs women experience on the pill.

What to do: You don’t need to take another pill, just add more vitamin B-6-rich foods to your diet, such as chicken breast, bananas and nuts.

3. Calcium: A woman builds bone tissue until her mid-30s. After that, she gradually begins to lose bone. The more bone density she builds now, the greater her bank account and the less likely she is to develop osteoporosis later in life. This is her last chance to put calcium into that bank account with calcium-rich yogurt or calcium-fortified orange juice, yet many women are still averaging one-half to two-thirds their calcium needs.

What to do: Three servings a day, girls! If you can’t drink that much orange juice, then consider supplements. 

The 40s: Middle-age spread, the calorie drop, premenopause

1. Middle-age spread: After 40, women start losing approximately one to two percent of muscle mass every year, which equates to a five- to 10-pound loss of muscle every decade. The loss of muscle slows metabolism, so you’re likely to notice excess weight. If you don’t nip this trend in the bud, it will progress until you not only can’t lift the grocery bag, you can’t get out of the easy chair without help. This is the time to start a muscle-building program, if you haven’t already. In addition, studies show that people who divide their food intake into little meals and snacks have an easier time managing their weight. 

What to do: That doesn’t mean adding more food to your daily intake, but rather spreading your food intake out so you have the toast, peanut butter and orange juice for breakfast and save the yogurt and blueberries for a mid-morning snack. Or you have the turkey sandwich and milk for lunch and save the apple and nuts for a mid-afternoon snack.

2.  Heart disease: While most women list cancer at the top of their health concerns, a woman’s greatest health threat is actually heart disease, which escalates in the middle years. Low saturated-fat and cholesterol diets are more important than ever, as are high-fiber foods such as beans (they contain a host of heart-healthy compounds such as saponins, phytosterols and phytoestrogens), the omega-3 fats in fish and foods fortified with the omega-3 fat DHA, and the monounsaturated fats in olive oil. 

3. Premenopause: Some women also may be experiencing premenopause.

What to do: To help curb hot flashes, you must exercise every day, watch out for foods that aggravate the flashes, and increase your intake of foods that might help curb symptoms. Avoid coffee and spicy foods, both of which alter blood flow and can increase the symptoms of hot flashes. Be careful of the herb teas you drink. Some herbs, such as black cohosh or dong quai, cause blood vessel dilation and could aggravate a hot flash. On the other hand, while the research is sketchy at best, some women swear that increasing their intake of soy has helped curb their hot flashes.

By:  Elizabeth Somer is a registered dietitian, the author of “Age-Proof Your Diet,”and a regular contributor to TODAY.

Hunger Hormome Research Break-Through...

Researchers Suppress 'Hunger Hormone'

Minimally invasive procedure in pigs produced effect similar to bariatric surgery

-- Robert Preidt

TUESDAY, Sept. 16 (HealthDay News) -- A minimally invasive procedure successfully suppressed levels of the "hunger hormone" ghrelin in pigs and led to appetite reduction results similar to bariatric surgery, say Johns Hopkins researchers.

They chemically vaporized the main vessel carrying blood to the top section (fundus) of the stomach. About 90 percent of the body's ghrelin originates in the fundus, which requires a good blood supply to make the hormone.

The study was published in the Sept. 16 issue of Radiology.

"With gastric artery chemical embolization, called GACE, there's no major surgery. In our study in pigs, this procedure produced an effect similar to bariatric surgery by suppressing ghrelin levels and subsequently lowering appetite," Dr. Aravind Arepally, clinical director of the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design, and associate professor of radiology and surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in university news release.

Bariatric surgery involves removal, reconstruction or bypass of part of the stomach or bowel to suppress appetite and help people lose weight. However, there are potential major risks and complications associated with the procedure.

"Obesity is the biggest biomedical problem in the country, and a minimally invasive alternative would make an enormous difference in choices and outcomes for people," Arepally said.

In this study, the Hopkins team used 10 healthy pigs, which have human-like anatomy and physiology. After an overnight fast, the pigs were weighed and blood samples were taken to determine their baseline ghrelin levels.

The researchers used X-ray for guidance as they threaded a thin tube through a large blood vessel near the pigs' groins and into the gastric arteries that supply blood to the stomach. They injected sodium morrhuate (a chemical that destroys blood vessels) into the left gastric arteries of five pigs and injected harmless saline into the other five pigs.

Blood samples collected for a month after the procedure showed that ghrelin levels in the GACE-treated pigs were up to 60 percent lower than baseline levels.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about adult obesity.

SOURCE: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, news release, Sept. 16, 2008

Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews, LLC

'Good' Fat Is A New Weapon in the Obesity Fight

A new understanding of brown fat cells -- the "good" kind of fat that burns energy and keeps you warm -- could lead to new treatments for obesity. Researchers managed to use a single molecular switch to turn immature muscle cells into brown fat cells in the lab, suggesting that brown fat may be more akin to muscle cells than conventional white fat cells. Another team has discovered that a protein important for bone growth helped promote the development of brown fat tissue in mice. Both teams said their new findings lend understanding about the origins of brown fat, which releases energy, in contrast to conventional white fat, which stores energy. Researchers believe that if they can coax the body into making more calorie-burning brown fat, this might help obese people lose weight. Sources: Reuters August 20, 2008 Nature August 21, 2008; 454(7207):961-7