Keeping Your Immune System Strong

Posted June 13, 2009 by Viola Morgan
Categories: Nutrition
Tags: , ,

fruit

For the past few days, I’ve been suffering from what I presume to be a mild case of the flu and tonsillitis. It seems like every year around the same time, these two illnesses find a way of digging their claws into me, literally speaking. I’ve been confined to the bed with an achy body, sore throat, runny nose, chills and the feeling that I’m in a room where the temperature is blistery cold. With a pandemic fear of the Swine flu, you can imagine the frenzy I’m in.

Since I’m the type who would rather seek alternative means before opting for medical treatment, I have been taking daily dosages of Vitamin C 2,000 mg, drinking plenty of water, getting an enormous amount of bed rest, and adopting a V8 mixed with Living Fuel liquid diet. The logic behind my self-prescribed treatment, which has worked for me in the past, is that in order to help your body fight against these mild illnesses, you have to help boost your body’s immune system, a network of cell-forming tissues that protects the body from pathogens and other foreign substances, destroys infected and malignant cells, and removes cellular debris.

Everyday when we breathe in polluted air or drink that alcoholic beverage that we tend to crave at the end of a long week, we contribute to the suppression of our immune system. Like a predator, the toxicity of our environment and bad food and beverage choices eats away at our livers and inhibits our bodies from utilizing vitamins and minerals. Whether it’s preventing or treating illnesses, we should be replenishing our bodies daily with fresh vegetables, fruits, vitamins, Green tea and all things similar that contain anti-oxidants.

If you are like me and you occasionally indulge in alcohol, here’s an interesting article I would love to share. If you’re not living a healthy way of life, this is an article that should cause you to “Renew Your Mind” and motivate you to make subtle changes in your life.

boozeHow Drugs and Alcohol Affect Vitamin Absorption

by TC Yeap

Both alcohol and drugs (whether legal or illegal) all have an effect on how your body absorbs and utilizes vitamins. Drugs and alcohol both have an influence on how your body functions and they have an influence on how the vitamins in your body actually functions.

Although those people who enjoy an occasional beer or wine will lose the benefit of many of the vitamins in their system, they won’t completely hinder their body from working properly. However, those people who are chronic alcoholics and who regularly exceed a reasonable amount of alcohol will in fact see the damaging effects of alcohol.

Alcohol interferes with a person’s nutritional process. Vitamins are essential in maintaining the functions of the body, as well as a normal metabolism. Chronic drinking impairs the body’s ability to absorb vitamins and causes a person to become deficient in many of the critical vitamins that the body requires. This is because chronic alcoholics do not eat much. So, not only are they inhibiting their absorption with alcohol, but they are also simply not ingesting the proper amounts of vitamins.

Alcohol also inhibits fat absorption, which means that they do not get the fat-soluble vitamins that they need. Alcoholics are often deficient in vitamins A, D, E, C and K. All of these vitamins are needed for wound healing as well as cell maintenance and this means that alcoholics are more likely to bruise and not heal as quickly.

Drugs also have an effect on the body. Marijuana has been shown to cause many unwanted side effects on nutrition. A recent study has shown us that marijuana users are actually at a greater risk for cancer and heart disease. This is because the drug itself influences negative lifestyle changes, such as a poor diet, increased cigarette smoking and increased drinking. In particular, the body suffers the most from a lack of a well-balanced meal, as marijuana users are notorious for getting the “munchies,” but what they tend to munch on is not fruits or vegetables.

Stimulant use, such as the use of methamphetamine, cocaine and crack, causes a person to have a decreased appetite and significant weight loss. Many of these individuals go for days without eating and often suffer from dehydration as well. This means that they are significantly lacking in the vitamins and minerals that they need.

All individuals need to be taking a daily multivitamin supplement, but users of alcohol and drugs in particular need to be certain that they are meeting their nutritional requirements and utilizing a multivitamin supplement on a regular basis as well.

TC Yeap is CEO of Singaporean company Sainhall Nutrihealth. Founded in 1990, Sainhall Nutrihealth is a leading distributor for health products in SouthEast Asia.

Vitamin.sg is an E-Commerce portal created by Sainhall Nutrihealth to offer a whole range of nutritional products and supplements. Visit Vitamin.sg today for exclusive rates! Because staying healthy doesn’t have to be expensive!

Article Source: How Drugs and Alcohol Affect Vitamin Absorption

Comments: 4 Comments

More on Interval Training…

Posted May 17, 2009 by Viola Morgan
Categories: Exercise, Weight Loss
Tags: ,

It’s Sunday and from the weariness of my body, I feel like sleeping the entire day away. Yesterday I ran and walked around the track 8 times, with intervals of 1 minute of walking and 30 seconds of sprinting. I can feel the difference in my shins when I run outside on hard concrete vs the treadmill. I need to find a stretching exercise that will stretch shins, because they hurt! Nevertheless, interval training is working for me; it’s toning up my thighs and buttocks substantially. My lungs feel clear and my breathes seem deeper.

Here’s another article on “interval training” that I wanted to share:

Interval Training For Weight Loss – How to Get Leaner, Faster
By Zack William

Interval training for weight loss has, in recent years, completely superseded old fashioned, long, slow aerobic cardio as the training method of choice. Why is this method favoured above others? how can you start using it today to see fast weight loss?and is there still a place for old school aerobic training? In this article I’ll answer these questions and even give you a sample interval training program. Sorry folks, but pretty soon you’ll have no excuse! you’ll just have to start losing weight today.

What is interval training?
First things first, interval training simply means varying the intensity of your effort throughout your cardio session. In other words, instead of hopping on a treadmill and running at 5 miles per hour for 30 minutes, you would walk at an easy pace for a few minutes as a warm up, before sprinting hard for a short period, then taking the speed down and recovering again. This would constitute one interval. An interval training session therefore will be made up of numerous individual intervals. The amount of time spent sprinting versus resting will vary depending on your goals and fitness level, and can be performed on any piece of equipment.

Why is interval training for fat loss so effective?
Although there are some theories about why interval training is more effective for fat loss than steady state cardio, the truth is nobody is 100% sure why it works so much better. The most widely accepted theory is that interval training causes a greater “afterburn” effect, elevating your metabolic rate and causing you to burn extra calories for hours after you have finished training. With steady state training on the other hand, you are only burning additional fat while you are actually exercising. So, which sounds more efficient to you? burning fat for just an hour or two a week while you are pounding a treadmill, or putting in a couple of 20 minute interval sessions and burning fat while you sleep?
So this is why we think interval training for fat loss is so effective. But really, while it’s nice to know the “why” behind the method, all I really care about is if it really does work or not.

So, does it actually work?
In a word; yes! A study in 1994 comparing interval training over 15 weeks to endurance training over 20 weeks concluded that the interval training group lost 9 times the amount of fat than the endurance training group! That’s 9 times the results in 5 weeks less than the other group, pretty spectacular. I would add to this that I have used interval training for weight loss with hundreds of clients over the years and my clients routinely lose up to 20lbs in their first month. Bottom line; interval training gets the job done!

Enough talk- Give me an example!
Okay then here we go. These workouts can be done on any piece of equipment. If you are just getting started I would not recommend the treadmill however due to the amount of impact it involves. Better choices would be the stationary bike, rower or stepmill. Advanced trainees might try skipping, outdoor sprinting or even punching a heavy bag. In the sample workout we will use the stationary bike.

Sample four week interval training for fat loss workout:

Warm up – 5-8 minutes cycling at an easy pace. You should have a light sweat by the end but not be very out of breath.

Week 1- 1 minute at 9 out of 10 intensity (ie cycle VERY HARD!) followed by 2 minutes of easy cycling at lower resistance. This is one interval. Perform 6 intervals. Do this two to three times a week separated by at least one day’s rest.

Week 2- 1 minute at 9 out of 10 intensity, followed by 1 minute and 50 seconds of easy cycling. Perform 6 rounds, do two to three times a week separated by at least one day’s rest.

Week 3- 1 minute at 9 out of 10 intensity followed by 1 minute and 40 seconds of easy cycling. Perform 6 rounds, do three times a week separated by at least one day’s rest.

Week 4- 1 minute at 9 out of 10 intensity followed by 1 minute and 40 seconds of easy cycling. Perform 7 rounds, do three times a week separated by at least one day’s rest.

As you can see, the rest is lowered progressively and the number of intervals increase. Try this for 4 weeks coupled with an effective metabolic weight training program for best results.

Zack William is a Personal Trainer and expert in fast fat loss for busy professionals. For everything you need to lose weight and look good naked go to http://www.fatbodyslim.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zack_William
http://EzineArticles.com/?Interval-Training-For-Weight-Loss—How-to-Get-Leaner,-Faster&id=2306689

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How Interval Training Works

Posted May 13, 2009 by Viola Morgan
Categories: Exercise, Weight Loss
Tags: ,

running

My experience at the gym today was undeniably exhausting! After recent bouts of fasting, changing my diet, jogging and engaging in Pilates and Yoga, I find that although I have lost a moderate amount of weight, I am still not as toned as I want to be; therefore, I have taken up ”interval training” . No longer am I walking or jogging for 30 – 60 minutes on a treadmill or in the park, when I can easily burn the same amount of calories in 15 – 20 minutes via interval training. I am amazed at the budding transformation of my body after only 2 days of training.

For those who are not familiar with the specifics of interval training, here is an article that you should read:

Interval Training Workout to Lose Belly Fat

By Craig Ballantyne

If a trainer tells you there’s a best way to do interval training, they are lying.

Research shows that intervals are powerful for fat loss, but there’s never been a “head-to-head” study comparing different lengths of interval workouts.

But that’s good news. It means that all types of interval training workouts will work to help you burn your belly fat.

In addition, for distance runners, intervals of 2-5 minutes are very helpful for improving performance. But for fat loss workouts, I tend to use a nice simple 30 second interval length for fat burning benefits.

Plus, if you do intervals on a cardio machine, its very easy to stick to a 30 second interval timing, followed by a 60-90 second recovery at a much slower pace. If the intervals were any shorter, it would be tough to change the settings on the machine fast enough.

Any type of this interval training for fat loss is likely better than slow cardio, and allows for faster workouts.

Despite what you may read on the Internet, no one has proven that one type of interval is best for fat loss. That is why I use different Intervals for different phases of a fat loss program.

For example, if you have been doing 30 second intervals for the last 2 months, you might kick-start your results by moving to 1-minute intervals or even, gasp, 2-minute intervals.

As you change the interval length, you change the way your body responds to the training.

- It is recommended that the stationary cycle be used for interval training because it allows for an easy transition between work and recovery.

- Finish each interval workout with stretching for the tight muscle groups only.

- Perform the interval sessions 3 times per week.

- Use a different interval duration in each 4-week phase of the TT programs.

- Each set-up provides a different stimulus to your body, so you might identify one that works the best for you.

- You may also use a different interval duration in each workout. For example, short intervals in Workout A and longer intervals after Workout B.

- Here is a sample interval workout.

-Warm-up for 5 minutes.

- Work at an 8/10 level of intensity for 60 seconds.

- (A 10/10 intensity is running for your life, so adjust accordingly).

- Your heart rate should be near maximal by the end of the interval.

- Follow that with active rest for 60 seconds at a 3/10 level of intensity.

- Active rest means walking or pedaling at a very slow rate.

- Repeat for 6 intervals.

- Finish with 5 minutes of cool-down exercise at 3/10 level of intensity.

Discover how to immediately put interval workouts to work for you, so that you lose fat and gain muscle in less workout time than ever before with the interval training program.

You should do interval training 3 times per week, no more. Get rid of the marathon cardio mentality when it comes to fat loss and building a better body. You want to focus on fewer, shorter, more intense workouts to get ripped abs and burn your belly fat.

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training for Fat Loss have helped thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. Turbulence Training for Fat Loss workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. Craig’s bodyweight workouts for fat loss help you lose fat without any equipment at all.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_Ballantyne
http://EzineArticles.com/?Interval-Training-Workout-to-Lose-Belly-Fat&id=1170817

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The Importance of Protein

Posted April 9, 2009 by Viola Morgan
Categories: Nutrition
Tags: , ,

While browsing the internet on the latest health findings, I came across this great article that defines what “Proteins” are and what occurs when we are lacking them in our diet. This information is especially important to those coming off the Master Cleanse Diet trying to adopt a better eating lifestyle.

What Happens When You Get Too Little Protein in Your Diet

Author: Charles Carter

Copyright (c) 2008 Charles Carter

Proteins are composed of long chain like forms of amino acids. Amino acids are basic and fundamental to life. As a chemical compound, it is made of amine and carbonyl functional groups. To put it simply, they are made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen and on some rare occasions, sulfur. These four or five materials build themselves into various chain-like structures and form different types of protein. Protein is the life line of human health.

Human cells, muscle tissue, and the organs of the body are made up of protein. Long chains of amino acids are structured to make different types of proteins. There are 22 types of amino acids and the human body needs all of them to be healthy.

Different types of proteins in our body execute different body functions. Our body’s strength, its flexibility and elasticity are taken care of by a protein called collagen, and our hair and skin are composed of the same protein.

Proteins we consume through food are broken down into amino acids in the process of digestion and absorbed by the body only to be rebuilt into different types of proteins that are the requirement of the body. There are twenty two kinds of amino acids essential for the human body. And in that 14 are produced by the body and the remaining 8 are to be obtained though food.

Complete and incomplete Proteins

A protein that can be obtained through one food source like a meat or dairy product is called a complete protein. A complete protein is obtained generally though meat, dairy products, eggs, fish and poultry. Vegetables, fruits and nuts do not contain all the essential proteins in one food items and so it is termed as incomplete.

Importance of Proteins

For proper growth, sustenance and repair of body cells, for the health of muscles, tissues, organs and for body function like metabolism, digestion, transportation of nutrients and oxygen through blood circulation, proteins are imperative.

Apart from that more importantly for the production of antibodies, or in other words, antibodies are little soldiers who fight any infection that invades into our body and fights diseases and makes us healthy. The healthy skin and shining hair of which we are proud of is due to the proteins.

Too little Protein means ill health

Like our grand mothers say often, ‘anything too much or too little is harmful’ is absolute truth in case of protein. Too much protein intake leads to many uncomfortable physical complications just as too little of protein intake can lead to complications.

Protein is needed to repair and create new cells, tissues, hormones, enzymes and muscles and lack of protein would impair these important body functions leading to grave situations. Many foods which supply protein do contain certain other minerals and vitamins like iron, a lack of which creates an eternal tiredness and fatigue. The person who lacks iron feels weak and becomes listless with lack of energy.

Physical activities consume protein daily, and so it is essential to give regular supply of protein to the body daily. And too little protein can cause severe skin ailments and would make you look lusterless and pale.

Children need a lot of protein as they are in the phase of growing and insufficient protein in children hampers their growth very much.

For a period of time if the body fails to get sufficient amount of protein through food, it starts breaking the muscles which contain large amount of protein to fulfill its need. This means eroding of the muscle and it is generally known as muscle wasting. And prolonged such situation leads to a vicious cycle of protein energy malnutrition where in when the body does not get any other source of energy, body’s muscles and organs a re broken down for energy. The digestive system suffers with the loss of cell lining which is important for absorption of nutrients from the digested food. Thus a vicious cycle of poor diet and insufficient absorption of nutrients from food lead to severe body wasting.

So, too little protein intake is dangerous and very harmful to health.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/what-happens-when-you-get-too-little-protein-in-your-diet-616905.html

About the Author:
Liveleantoday.com offers low prices on protein bars , low carb protein , and more.

Comments: 2 Comments

Life After the Master Cleanse Diet

Posted April 9, 2009 by Viola Morgan
Categories: Master Cleanse Diet, Weight Loss
Tags: , ,

It’s been four days since I completed the Master Cleanse Diet and once again, I feel great! My thought processes are clearer and I am able to tackle problems in my personal life with more ease and patience. There’s an inner peace that one tends to acquire when the colon and organs have been partially cleansed from toxins.

In following the diet’s procedures, for the first 2 days after the Master Cleanse Diet, I drank nothing but freshly squeezed orange juice and vegetable broth. The freshly squeezed orange juice and vegetable broth prepares the digestive system to once again break down food and absorb nutrients.

On the 3rd day, I continued the consumption of freshly squeezed orange juice and vegetable broth; however, I added vegetables such as Parsley and Scallions to the broth.

Finally on the 4th day, in addition to the freshly squeezed orange juice and vegetable broth with vegetables, I consumed fruits such as grapefruit and strawberries, along with seeds and nuts. Later for dinner, I ate a Caesar salad minus salad dressing.

The objective for the 5th day is that you begin to adopt a high protein eating style, excluding coffee, white flour, white rice, junk food and anything with a high glycemic level. On this day, many people experiencing this diet have complained about gas or other digestive distress. The remedy for that is to repeat days 2, 3, and 4 after the diet, until your digestive system is back to normal.

The idea of this diet / fast is to reduce damage in the body brought about by our polluted environment and poor eating habits. After the diet, our aim should be to maintain our weight by making wise food choices, and to focus on becoming more active, engaging in positive things to keep our mind in a state of tranquility or serenity.

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Last Days of Master Cleanse Diet

Posted April 3, 2009 by Viola Morgan
Categories: Master Cleanse Diet, Weight Loss
Tags: , ,

relief

The 10 day fast is finally coming to an end, and thus far, I lost 10 pounds. I could have lost more but I had this fixation on consuming the Maple Syrup to give my stomach the feeling of “fullness” and the calories added up.

Throughout the week, I forced myself to walk in the park everyday for 30 – 50 minutes. According to many, one of the downfalls of losing weight rapidly is the loss of muscle mass resulting in hanging loose skin with stretch marks; thus, it’s recommended that light strength training becomes a daily regimen. Exercises such as push-ups, brisk walking, jogging, Pilates and yoga help keep muscles intact and the skin tight and supple.

On the 5th day of the diet, I experienced slight acne on my right cheek. Skin breakouts during a fast are usually signs of the body trying to rid of its toxicity. In addition to the acne, I found myself wanting to sleep longer, but my energy levels were always high and not once did I ever feel weak.

As of now, I am highly excited that this fast is coming to an end because I can’t wait to taste food again!

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Days 3 – 4 of Master Cleanse Diet

Posted March 30, 2009 by Viola Morgan
Categories: Master Cleanse Diet, Weight Loss
Tags: , , ,

Despite the testimonies of many, I believe days 3 and 4 to be the hardest of the Master Cleanse Diet. Throughout both days, all I could think about was food as my mouth salivated and my insides bellowed out the weirdest noises. It was a toss between going out in the evening to hang out with friends and curling up like a baby in my bed to sleep off the desire to eat. No amount of water, lemon juice or Maple Syrup can replace the feeling of “fullness” in your stomach.  However, without losing focus of my goals, I continued to forcibly drink the lemonade mix and water. In a struggle to keep my mind occupied, I engaged in activities at home, which included a mini session of Windsor Pilates.

Many times I found myself reflecting on Jesus and how he was able to fast for 40 days in the wilderness, as the Bible states, with no complaints or will to give up. His goal was to clearly hear God by not giving into the demands of the flesh. Because Jesus set the standard for us by resisting temptation and sin, in turn, we should resemble him and push ourselves to pursue and accomplish all goals in life.

As of now, I am 6 pounds lighter than I was when I first started the fast.

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Day 2 of Master Cleanse Diet

Posted March 27, 2009 by Viola Morgan
Categories: Weight Loss
Tags: , , ,

physical-activity

As Day 2 of the Master Cleanse Diet winds down, I’m finally getting over my cravings for pizza pies. The idea is that once you’re physically active, you don’t even think about food so as long as you’re keeping yourself hydrated with water and the diet’s lemonade mix.  Although being physically active is definitely recommended, you don’t want to overdo it because when you’re fasting you’re not receiving enough proteins and carbohydrates to keep you going for long so keep your physical activity light.

After having agonizing intestinal cramps last night, I decided to stir away from Senna tea today so I can decipher whether it’s the tea or the sea salt that’s giving me the nightly cramps.  On several blogs, I’ve read about many people having similar reactions to this diet and most agreed that it had to do with the tea.

I just finished weighing myself and once again, I’ve dropped another 2 pounds in weight. This diet tends to make you lose about 20 lbs in 10 days, and most of the weight loss includes water, waste, toxic fat and some muscle mass.

For free information about the history of this diet, here’s a link that I would like to share: History of Master Cleanse

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Day 1 of Master Cleanse Diet

Posted March 26, 2009 by Viola Morgan
Categories: Master Cleanse Diet, Weight Loss
Tags: , ,

nail-biting

I woke up today with one of the worse stomach aches but that was likely due to the loosening of plaque in my colon brought on by the Senna laxative tea I drank last night. When I went into the bathroom, of course, I had a pleasant surprise.

Following, it took me an entire hour to consume the sea salt water concoction. Some say that after about a day or two, your taste buds will become immune to the awfulness of sea salt, but I highly doubt that because when I fasted in the past, I substituted sea salt for Epsom Salt and it never grew on me.

In addition to the lemonade mix, I never forget to take my herbal supplement called Milk Thistle. This herb is essential for the maintenance of the liver. The liver is one of the most important organs in our bodies responsible for breaking down nutrients and cleansing the body. Milk Thistle aids in detoxifying and protecting the liver from damage brought upon by alcohol and toxins ingested from food, and breathed in from the environment. This herb is also great help in the treatment of cirrhosis and hepatitis.

Thus far, after a day of fasting, I lost 2 pounds of weight. Religiously, I am drinking the lemonade mix to prevent hunger pains.

Despite the imaginary Little Caesar pizza pies I see floating pass me, I see this fast as a test of will. :-)

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Binge Eating & The Master Cleanse

Posted March 25, 2009 by Viola Morgan
Categories: Master Cleanse Diet, Weight Loss
Tags: ,

guilty_pleasures1

Over the weekend, I went into a feeding binge that involved an entire pizza pie with extra cheese, a 2 liter Pepsi, an entire bag of Wise chips, Chocolate Chip ice cream, and strawberry shortcake that had my name on it, literally speaking. All I can say is “be careful who you surround yourself with” because if it wasn’t for my sister bringing these guilty pleasures into my apartment, and most of all, putting them before my eyes like bait, I would never have indulged. It goes to show what kind of will power I have. Hey, it’s still in development.

Anyhow, I decided to go back onto the Master Cleanse Diet today. I went out last night and bought all the necessary ingredients again: the organic lemon juice, cayenne pepper, 100% Grade B Maple Syrup, Organic Sea Salt that doesn’t contain iodine and Senna tea, which is known to speedy up the detoxification process. My purpose of going back on this diet is to kill the craving for bad carbohydrates and drop a few more pounds that I have been struggling to get rid of.

The difference between this fast and prior fasts is the introduction of Sea Salt and Senna tea. Although Epsom Salt worked fine in eliminating waste buildup in my colon, I’ve decided to try Sea Salt after hearing rave reviews about it. Sea Salt will flush your entire digestive tract and colon within an hour, eliminating plaque, parasite and waste buildup; Epsom salt took about 6 hours before it started working. Because of Sea Salt’s ability to keep you in the bathroom, it’s best that you drink the 1 tablespoon of sea salt with 32 oz. of lukewarm water in the morning right before heading outside to begin your activities. Senna tea, a laxative tea, is to be sipped in the evenings so your body can discard any additional waste before bedtime.

Since this is a 10 day diet, I will regularly post my progress on this fast up until April 4, 2009. As of now, I weigh 153 lbs.

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