Avoid Very Low Calorie Diet for Permanent Weight Control

Avoid very low clorie diet unless there is a medical need that is recommended and supervised by physicians, if you think about permanent weight control.

People are faked by the simple fact that extra weight is gained through foods we eat, yet cutting all foods largely may present some unpleasant side effects (gall stones), as well as it may represent a health risk.
Children, adolescents, pregnant or breast feeding women, should not follow very low calorie diet plan unless as a part of a specialized obesity treatment program.

The only candidates for very low energy diets are those suffering from moderate to severe obesity, who are at risk from weight-related illness and these risks are worse than the potential side effects of a very low-calorie diets, and this is when doctors prescribe them.
The problem comes when only mildly overweight people begin to use them as a quick fix. Sudden dietary changes forced upon your body can wreck havoc, and more often than not you can end up back where you started.

Very low-calorie diet is also compensated for by the body by burning muscle (since starvation represents a crisis for the body). People on this type of diet who revert back to their old eating habits end up gaining back some, if not all the weight they have shed off. This would consist mainly of fats. And since fats have more volume per mass than muscle, they end up having the same weight as before but more bulkier. In losing weight, one should keep in mind that they should lose excess body fats only.Muscle loss is extremely unhealthy (do you afford to lose heart muscles?)

These diets do not change long established bad eating patterns and cause the body to slow down their metabolism significantly, so when the dieter returns to a more normal eating pattern - which is unavoidable - their slower metabolism generally leads to increased weight gain.
They are also accompanied by some side effects like fatigue, nausea, constipation and diarrhea, and of course gall stones.

In the absence of a special factor, successful treatment of obesity requires a long term commitment to improved dietary and exercise habits. SO these very low -calorie diets are not likely to be effective.
Fad diets, unbalanced diets, diet pills, diet supplements, weight loss surgery and other short term weight loss methods are not recommended for permanent weight control.

The best way to lose excess fat and maintain a healthy weight in the long term is to
take regular aerobic exercise and follow a balanced calorie controlled diet - slightly less than your basal metabolic rate, i.e.about 2000-calories/day-(more details here)

On Atkins? South Beach? Make a Gall Bladder Cleanse.

Among the reasons of gall stone formation is rapid weight-loss that is induced by diets like Atkins, South-Beach..etc.

Actually, the big changes that have happened in our nutritional habits have changed other settled principles we accustomed to, like the people who may get gall bladder stone who were females, fertile, fat, and flatulent, as well as patients with cirrhosis, Crohn's disease, pancreatic disease, hyperthyroidism, and diabetics. With that said,these are still the most important risk factors for gallstones formation.

Gall bladder is the place where bile secreted by the liver is stored in.
Its importance is to secrete the sufficient amounts of bile on demand, rather the liver would drip insufficient amounts of bile into the gut, which can lead to indigestion and flatulence, as well as decreased absorbed amounts of fat soluble vitamins ( A, D, E, and K).

Bile is needed to dissolve fats in the meal so that they can be digested and absorbed. this is made when bile interrupts the continuity of the oil phase turning it into minute droplets. Bile is composed mainly of water which contains Cholesterol, Bile salts, and Lecithin (phospholipid) with some fatty acids, blood pigment, inorganic salts. They are kept in balanced liquid phase until bile is supersaturated with cholesterol due to low levels of bile acids and bile lecithin, then bile salts or cholesterol(in 90% of cases) is precipitated to form gall stones.

The gall bladder cleanse is a good way to help prevent problems, and in most cases, solve current gall bladder problems that people have developed.
The process is as follows:

Begin with an apple juice fast.

# Start at 6:00 am by drinking 1 cup(8 oz.) of apple juice. Do this every half-hour to an hour until 6:00 pm (12 hours). Freshly juiced organic apples is best. Apple juice is high in malic acid, which will soften the stones.

# At 6:00 pm, stop drinking the juice. Wait one hour.

# At 7:00 pm, drink 1/2 cup( 4 oz.) of good quality, organic olive oil and a 2 oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice chaser. Some people have problems with drinking the olive oil. Putting a few drops of peppermint oil will help make it more palatable.

# Wait 15 minutes and repeat step 3.

# Go to bed. At about midnight, you will have to go to the bathroom, and more than likely you will see little green things ranging in size from pieces of sand to chicken eggs, commonly called "gall stones."

# This whole procedure should be repeated about one week later. Sometimes the gall stones will not come out the first time around.

In fact, every one should do this cleanse at least once a year.This cleanse is more accurately a "liver" cleanse. Even if you do not have gall stones, this is a good way to cleanse the liver. If the liver is functioning properly, it will produce bile with optimal composition and the gall bladder will not have problems often.

Some other helpful ways to keep the liver healthy is to eat foods that are known to have lipotropic effects like Artichoke, Dandelion, Turmeric, Barberry, foods containing glycoproteins here , and supplements containing lipolytic enzymes (lipase) and bile.

Eat these Healthy Fatty Foods to Lose Weight

The synonym of obese and over-weight is fat. This synonym together with the terms used heavily in weight-loss industry like "low-fat", have created the false feeling that "fatty food is all that matter". We can get the same amount or more calories from other foods through the guilt free feeling.

Apart from long chain fatty acids, trans-fats, and cholesterol dense foods we need to correct the concept of fats in our food for the following reasons:

1- When people understand they need to cut saturated fats, they tend to steer clear of meat and dairy foods which are both filled with healthy nutrients.

2- Without eating fats, absorption of fat soluble vitamins like A,D,E, and K is greatly diminished.

3- There is evidence that cooking vegetables in oils enhance absorption of Lycopene the red pigment in Tomatoes that helps fight cancer and heart disease.

4- We need the correct fats to supply us with the essential fatty acids (polyunsaturated fatty acids).

5- Weak heart muscles( like in angina pectoris) need medium chain fatty acids that produce a surge in energy, and are present in coconut and palm-kernel oils.

6- For people on diet, they need something to hold food for a longer period of time in the stomach, so that they do not feel need for eating over a longer time. Fats create this effect through slowing gastric motility.

In addition to nuts, seeds, avocado which can be taken as snacks, you may introduce these 2 fats into your food regimen:

1- Coconut oil and Palm-Kernel oil which are rich in medium-chain triglycerides.

2- Tahini or Sesame paste which are very delicious foods rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Tahini sauce which is made by mixing with some lemon juice or vinegar, garlic and salt and then thinned with water is one the most delicious known foods, and is a popular condiment for meat and vegetables in the middle east. It is extremely appreciated by tourists.

Keep your intake of fats around 50 grams based on pure fat content so that they supply about 450-500 calories. Example , if food A contains 30 per cent fat and food B contains 20 per cent fat, then you may eat 100 grams of food A and 100 grams of Food B through the day.

Extracts other than Apple Cider Vinegar for Weight Loss

Extracts of many plants have been used for their health benefits knowingly or unknowingly, since long time ago. Among these are Tea extract, Celery extract, Grape fruit extract, Mustard extract, Apple cider vinegar, in addition to many other extracts which will be dealt with in this article.

1- Apple cider Vinegar :
Well branded variety should be used to ensure it is natural and pure.You will add 1 tablespoonful of this vinegar to 1 cup of water, mix and take it directly after meals. It is said that it interferes with digestion of foods, but probably the dissolved indigestible carbohydrates (pectins) may hook some nutrients so that they will not be absorbed , yet they are excreted.

2- Grape Leaves :
The extract is prepared by boiling the leaves with water. To make the extract, put 50 grams of washed grape leaves in 1 Liter of water over a quite heat, and leave until boiling, then put it down and leave to cool, clear or filtrate, and take 1.5 cups after meals.If you have the grape leaves powder, you can use 35 grams powder through the same procedure.

3- Fennel :
Extract of the powdered whole plant except seeds is used for weight loss. To make the extract, add 36 grams of the whole plant powder (except seeds) to 1/2 Liter water and put on quite heat until boiling,put down, clear or filter, leave to cool and then take 1 cup after meals

4- Rhubarbs
The extract is prepared by adding 1 teaspoonful of the coarse powder of Rhubarbs with 1 cup of boiling water, and taken as a whole without filtering after directly after meals.

5- Cumin seeds :
The extract is prepared by adding 1/2 teaspoonful of powdered Cumin seeds, and added to a cup of boiling water, stir, add a whole cut Lemon without discarding peel or seeds, cover and leave for 12 hours.The extract is taken before breakfast.

6- Evening Primrose
The extract of this plant is the evening primrose oil, which is a fixed oil and can be taken 1/2 teaspoonful 3 times daily. Thanks to its content of Linolenic acid, Primrose oil is very good for skin health,inflammatory disorders and women health in general.

7- Meadow sweet ( Filipendula Ulmaria) :
It contains flavonoidal and phenolic glycosides, as well as volatile oils. Its extract is prepared by immersing 1 tablespoonful of the plant in 1 cup of boiling water, leave over night , and drink 1 cup of the extract before breakfast.

8- Pineapples
We all know that the extract of the plant is its juice, yet it is better if you eat the whole fruit ( at least 1 fruit day). It contains Bromelin which facilitates digestion of foods.

8- Onions
If you want to take its extract , take 1 tablespoonful to be mixed with fruit or other vegetable juices. Nevertheless, eating onions as a whole may present the same effect.

9- Lady's Mantle :
The whole plant powder is used to prepare the extract.Add 1 teaspoonful to 1 cup of water and boiled , leave to cool, and drink 1 cup after breakfast and another cup after dinner.

10- Celery :
The extract is prepared by making it into juice, yet you can take the whole plant raw with other vegetables, unless you suffer indigestion.

11- Pyres Pears :
I t is the richest fruit with Potassium which can regulate diuresis apart from the harmful laxative and diuretic herbs. Is there a need to make an extract? it is better if enjoy its delicious taste.

As that is said about extracts, we can mention some other plants that are not necessarily taken as extracts, they can be eaten as raw, or added to other foods, they include :

1- Red Pepper :
It is said to boost metabolism. A study was conducted in Oxford, where 1 teaspoonful of red pepper and 1 teaspoonful of Mustard were added to every meal of obese people who eat balanced diet, and the result was that they boosted metabolism by 25%.

2- Chickweed ( Stellaria Media ) :
It contains triterpenoid saponins, coumarins, falvonoids, and vitamin C.It is commonly known to reduce weight. It can be boiled or eaten raw.

3- Walnut :
It is fat rich plant (polyunsaturated fats), yet it contains Serotonin,a key neurotransmitter responsible for satiety feeling, and it is added to marketed supplements of weight loss. One handful of walnut makes you feel not hungry and you do not eat too much, this simple technique was tried for thousands of people successfully.

4- White Radish :It is well known and tried for weight loss.

5- Marrow Courgette :You can eat a lot of this plant without gaining any weight.

6- Plantain :
Plantago ovata - Plantago - Plantago psyllium.
It is well known as a filling material, thanks to its content of mucilaginous substances. Many pills are made containing its seeds and husks.