Fasting And Weight Loss

So you would like to fast because, you believe fasting is an effective  way to slim down? Before you start to skip your meals, read what this medical doctor has to say on the potential health implications of losing weight by fasting.

“Prolonged fasting may cause changes in the acid-base and electrolyte balance of the body, and make the blood relatively “acidic” due to the toxins produced by the fasting itself,” wrote Dr. Rafael R. Castillo on what happens to the body during fasting.

Prolonged fasting can be dangerous because it weakens the body’s immune system, thus making one prone to infection. It may also cause muscle tissue breakdown, the good doctor wrote. Since the level of sugar and nutrients in the blood declines sharply with fasting, a breakdown of muscle and other protein tissue for energy occurs. This produces weakness, fatigue, irritability, marked thirst and an overall sick feeling.

Fat - Burning Foods

A lot of women  have now  learned why dieting  doesn’t  work.  Every time you starve  yourself,  your body’s survival  instinct  kicks in and actively tries to preserve its fat stores.  When you go off one of these diets and just about everyone does,  not only do you gain all the weight back, but you likely  end up  heavier than ever.

To get off the “ yo-yo-diet” syndrome of weight loss followed by weight gain,  is to eat fat-burning food and to raise your metabolic rate though moderate exercise, according to  Judy Jameson,  author of Fat-Burning Foods and Other Weight-Loss Secret. Here ‘s some of the amazing fat-burning foods mentioned in her book. These foods are all high in complex carbohydrates and low in fat:

Apples, Bananas, Beans, Broccoflower, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celery, Citrus fruit, Corn, Ginger, Melon, Mushrooms, Pines, Peppers, Pineapples, Spinach, Tomatoes.

Anti - Fat Herbs

 Anti-fat  herbs can help get rid of unwanted layers of fat if combined with common fruits, according to Atty. Romeo R. Ticzon, herbalist and author of a popular book Beauty Aids Cosmetics and Hygienics.  Here are his suggested anti-obesity herbs :

·         Bananas – One must eat 2 bananas  only in each of your three meals , increasing the number to 3 then 4, then 5, per meal up to the tenth day, after which you may start decreasing the number of bananas  taken per meal, until you revert to the original number of 2 bananas taken per meal 3 times a day. One’s blood and entire organism will be cleansed of acidity, said the author.

·         Garlic – Eat 2 cloves of garlic a day. “Garlic helps to give people that full feeling. It dampens their appetite so that it is easier or them to shed unwanted pounds,” says nutritionist Walter Blung of Cologne, West Germany.

·         Citrus fruit – It’s juice is a remedy for obesity.

·         Avocado -  A nourishing, satisfying, low calorific food for slimmers, this fruit is excellent. It contains vegetable protein oil, 11 different forms of vitamins and 17 micronutrients in the form of trace elements.

·         Grapefruit – is the most slimming fruit of all. It has the physiological action or stimulating the appetite and provoking salivary and gastric digestion. Half a grapefruit before each meal means that the food that follows is easily assimilated and does not get all hung up in the process of use or elimination.

·         Tomatoes – for slimmers, they provide the non-fattening, flavored and textured food which is a good raw in salads and are rich in vitamins A,B and C and are the best cleaner and purifier of the blood of all the foods of man and contributes to a very big extent, if eaten raw, in the slimming campaign.

·         Apple cider vinegar – taking this natural drink in combination with avocado is prescribed by Ticzon to reduce extra weight.

Cancer Prevention Tips

Cancer is probably the most dreaded  of all diseases. It is one of the leading killer overall, after heart disease. Thus cancer prevention is a goal that almost everyone would agree is worth achieving. The book, “Changing the Odds : Cancer Prevention Through Personal Choice and Public Policy,” by R. Grant Steen, gives us some tips to avoid cancer :

1. Stop smoking.
2. Learn your familial risk factors and be especially vigilant about those cancers that seem to run in your family.
3. Increase your consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
4. Decrease your consumption of red meat.
5. Exercise at least three times per week, for at least 20 minutes each time.
6. Get vaccinated against hepatitis B virus if at all possible and avoid other viral exposures.
7. Practice moderation in all things. Overuse or abuse of alcohol, prescription drugs, and fast foods takes a very high toll in the modern world, as does overexposure to sunlight.
8. Make a yearly visit to a physician if you are over 40 years old, and make a bi-annual visits if you are over 30 years old.
9. Avoid unnecessary exposure to the hormones used in estrogen-replacement therapy.
10. Learn the 10 warning signs of cancer. These include : (a) a swelling, thickening, or lump in any soft tissue, but especially the breasts; (b) persistent or unexplained coughing or hoarseness; (c) a sore that does not heal or a mole that abruptly changes in size or color; (d) unexplained fatigue; (e) abrupt weight loss or loss of appetite; (f) changes in bowel habits, including pain and bleeding on defecation, narrow stools, or constipation; (g) changes in urinary function, particularly bleeding or difficulty in discharge; (h) changes in menstrual function, especially unexpected or excessive bleeding; (i)difficulty in swallowing or a feeling of bloat or fullness; and (j) pallor or abnormal bleeding.

Doctor Thayer's Fertility Secrets

Maintaining sexual vigor is dependent upon the healthy functioning of our glandular system, wrote Dr.

Ronald Thayer in his popular book, “Avoid Premature Aging.” By giving superior nutritional support to the endocrine glands, especially the ovaries, testes, pituitary, thyroid, adrenals, and the prostate gland, you may increase your sexual vigor, postpone menopause, and improve physical health and stamina, the doctor narrates.

Here’s  what comprised Dr. Thayer’s  Gland Stimulating nutritional program :

1.       Take a natural vitamin-mineral supplement daily that contains at least 30 mg. of zinc. Zinc has been found to be of great importance in the functioning of the prostate gland, male genital tract, the eye, and the pancreas. Food high in zinc are : pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, brewer’s yeast, seafoods, oysters, liver, wheat bran, wheat germ, eggs, onions, nuts and lima beans.

2.       Go to a health doctor and request some “beef glandular extracts.” The extracts from the glands of beef , when taken orally, head for their respective tissue or gland. They serve as stimulus to cause our own glands to function more effectively.

3.       Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol)

Vitamin E is called the fertility vitamin. Here’s some of it’s benefits :

a.       Stimulates sperm qualitatively

b.      Helps prevent miscarriage

c.       Aids in reducing menopausal synptoms

d.      Improves circulation

e.      Increases the available oxygen to the tissues

f.        Helps in retarding the aging process

4.       Cold pressed wheat germ oil capsules because of the traces of male and female hormones and their activity, and because it is the richest natural source of vitamin E.

5.       Sarsaparilla root

Sarsaparilla was found to contain traces of progesterone, a female sex hormone and cortin, an adrenal hormone. Sarsaparilla tea can be found in some health food stores. It is one of the few sources of natural hormones.

6.       Ginseng extract

Ginseng has been popular in the Orient for centuries as a rejuvenator, general body tonic, stimulant, anti-oxidant, and aphrodisiac.

7.       Pumpkin seeds

Pumpkin seeds is considered to be the most potent male aphrodisiac and protection of the prostate gland. They appear to contain the building blocks for the male hormones. Pumpkin seeds  contain zinc,  50% unsaturated fatty acids, phosphorous, iron, potassium, vitamins A, B, C, amino acids, and other nutrients. They are 35 percent protein. The seeds are chewed as a snack-food and maybe added to salads.

8.       Physical  activity and exercise helps to maintain virility and sexual longevity.

Doctor Weil's Natural Remedies For Prostatitis

Prostatitis means inflammation of the prostate gland. It is a common ailment of young men prone to urinary tract infections.

Dr. Andrew Weil, a medical doctor with focus on natural health, and author of a popular book, “Health and Healing,” shared some interesting experiences with his patients who got well by alternative means. One such case was that of a young man, suffering from prostatitis, and who seek a second opinion to the good doctor after having been suggested surgery when antibiotics failed. Here’s Dr. Weil’s natural remedies for prostatitis that helped the young man from his illness :

1.)    Drink a lot of water to increase urinary output. Dehydration renders the prostate more susceptible to infection.

2.)    Drink cranberry juice as a urinary tract antiseptic.

3.)    Eliminate caffeine from your diet. Caffeine, especially from coffee, irritates the entire urogenital tract and aggravates inflamed prostate.

4.)    Change the frequency of ejaculation.

5.)    Avoid horseback or motorcycle riding and other mechanical stresses.

Super Foods For A Healthy Heart

Everybody now knows that the nature and quality of what we eat and drink, are the most important determinants of our state of being. That is an old truth that naturopath writers Pierre Jean Cousin and Kirsten Hartvig are bearing message in their book “Vitality Foods for Health and Fitness.” The theme of their book can be expressed in a few words : Food and nutrition is crucial to health.

The two authors have listed their personal choices of “superfoods” they regard as having exceptional health-promoting qualities for the heart and blood vessels :

• Increase your intake of oily fish and fiber-rich foods;

• Eat more potassium-rich vegetables, garlic, ginger, greens, and fruit, as these may      help to lower your blood pressure.

• Bioflavanoids, found in yellow, orange, red, and green vegetables and fruit, are antioxidants that help to reduce the formation of fatty deposits and clots in the arteries.

• Reduce your consumption of red or fatty meat (especially pork), full-fat dairy products, eggs, sugar, salt, and alcohol.

• Eliminate fried and fast foods from your diet.

• Take regular, low-intensity exercise, such as swimming, cycling, walking, or jogging, three times a week for at least one hour at a time.

• If you smoke, it is vital that you make every effort to give up.