In our society obesity is at epidemic proportions. Here is an article on that subject.

Exercise and Obesity Management – 2 Easy Steps to Get You Started By Marcus MacDonald

It has often been seen that exercise and obesity are usually at loggerheads with each other. A person who is obese stays away from exercises and obesity grips those who stay away from exercising! It is somewhat a vicious cycle. Be that as it may, obesity is a major cause for concern in almost all developed countries. But not all fat people can be termed as obese.

There are essentially three categories of obesity: Class One obesity where the Body Mass Index (BMI) ranges between 26 and 30; the second level of obesity, termed as moderately obese where the Body Mass Index ranges between 31 and 40; the last category are people who are called morbidly obese or Class Three. The last category of people has a BMI over 40. Though research says that obesity is genetic, it has also been seen that exercise and obesity are closely linked and the extent of damage caused by the genes can be reduced with the right kind of exercises.

Obese people are usually fully aware of the health complications which arise out of their condition. Not only do they suffer from a sense of low self-esteem but their overweight can also result in various types of psychological problems when they compare themselves with other people and so on. Even being aware of the importance of exercises to control their obesity, not everyone knows how to get started. Most of them feel that exercising may call for severe exhaustion, which they are not prepared to face.

Can exercise and obesity ever be friends? The good news is that exercises for controlling obesity may not always be strenuous and difficult. There are plenty of easy-to-do and user-friendly exercises for the management of obesity which are extremely beneficial for starters. These exercises not only raise the body’s metabolism but are also easy on the joints. Here are some of them:

• Walking is perhaps one of the most stress-free exercises which an obese person can start doing. Especially when he is in awe of exercise and obesity is coming in the way, he can start walking for 15 minutes every day. Gradually, he can increase the duration to 20 to 30 minutes. Of course, this depends solely on the level of fitness. The time should be increased by 5 minutes every week for allowing the body to get used to the routine. After 4 weeks have passed, the obese starter usually finds that he feels fitter by doing this exercise and obesity management is actually possible. He is then ready for the second phase of doing exercise and obesity control.
• The second phase of exercise and obesity management is to alternate between walking and jogging. He does this by walking for about 2 to 3 minutes for warming up the body followed by jogging for about 2 minutes. Of course, depending on the fitness level of the starter, this can always be increased, but the aim should be to end up jogging for about 15 minutes in total. Again, after a month, the starter should be able to jog for about 20 minutes.

Controlling obesity by means of exercising is not difficult, even if you are starting out for the first time. Remember, it takes time to lose weight and get back to shape, but if you are determined, you can definitely achieve your weight loss and fitness goals.

Marc MacDonald, M.Sc., is an independent sleep apnea and weight loss researcher. He offers a free, 7-day e-course on weight loss for sleep apnea sufferers on his blog http://www.SleepApneaWeightLoss.com. To get your free copy of his e-course please click here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marcus_MacDonald

TODAY’S TIP: When trying to lose weight, put together a plan on how you are going to accomplish that and give yourself target dates along the way.

How is your weight?

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Some people use fasting as a method of losing weight. I would not recommend this because in order to keep the weight off one must change their lifestyle. You will not be able to fast for the rest of your life, so how do you keep the weight off after the fast? Here is some information on fasting for weight loss.

Advice For Fasting Weight Lost. By Christopher West

Fasting weight loss isn’t always easy, but as we discussed you’ll be able to eat at a time that it would kind of cheat the process. Fasting weight loss could be a good strategy for your weight loss objective, but there are particular limitations we should follow before participating in it. America has now an immense weight problem primarily due to the foods they eat. Fasting weight reduction may be shrouded with controversies after it became a fad among by ultra-skinny Hollywood celebrities. As a result, some people immediately concluded that fasting to lose weight naturally is often a practice used only by those with eating disorders.

Dieters simply can’t overcome liquid nourishment alone also need some solid food, as nutrition bars, snacks or low-calorie entrees. Vendors report pressure to them by clients to supply the products. Diet plays a crucial role keeping in mind well being. The diet plan offered by a Detox Diet is usually as excellent for skin problems like acne since it is for problems of other body organs.

Regular fasting weight reduction causes eating disorders plus also other health complications that cripple your entire health of your respective body. It really is as a result greater to choose to regulated diet as well as proper exercise regime to help keep your body weight at bay also to stay healthy in addition to fit. Regular jelly, for example, is concerning fifty calories along with ten to twelve grams of carbohydrates per spoonful. Its low sugar option, in comparison, is 25 calories in addition to only seven or more grams of carbs per spoonful.

Juice fasting is beneficial for weight loss because your liver, your prime detoxification organ, can be your prime weight loss organ. So when you detoxify the body, you’re freeing up your liver’s resources to get rid of fat. Juice fasts might be as effortless or as intense as you would like them according to what we juice. The longest juice fast has only been five days. People are sick and tired with juicing as well as cleaning the juicer. Juice fasting really should not be completed with most of the readymade juice brands. They’re normally loaded with sugar as well as calories, which defeats the purpose of this diet.

Personally, I would prefer fasting for fat loss starting on Friday night after an early dinner, after which it completing on Saturday through an evening meal. By sleeping some extra on Saturday morning as well as staying busy on Saturday afternoon with fun times by running errands, I’m confident to get through a weight loss fast with no hassles. Perhaps one of the big reasons for the eat to avoid eating diet is that it is very flexible. In case you are going on vacation, that’s alright!

You can also drink twelve to sixteen glasses of water throughout the day. This is critical to flushing toxins from the body. Drinking the right type plus temperature of water will even help keep hunger away. Purified water may be the easiest kind of water for you to process.

“I hope this article provided you with the information you were looking for. I have many other articles online that may be of interest to you.” More research for you at: Fasting Weight Loss

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_West

TODAY’S TIP: Fasting can be a tool to use for weight loss, but it should be combined with other lifestyle changes to insure lasting weight loss.

Would you fast to lose weight?

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Fasting is a good way to help cleanse the body from the inside out. Here is information on why you would want to use fasting for that purpose.

Juice Fasting and Detoxification – 3 Reasons to Do it Now. by Deon Du Plessis

Juice fasting and detoxification is something that naturally go together. These days we are inundated with ads for colon cleansers and so-called detox products, but the irony is that most of these products are nothing more than chemicals – designed to get rid of the chemicals in our systems. Strange. Fasting on the other hand is a genuine way to detox. It does not rely on gimmick products and does not come with a heavy price tag.

Fasting is an essential part of most eastern religions. Its seen as a very important process to clean both the mind, body and spirit. Juice fasting and detoxification can have some immense health benefits. Lets look at the 3 biggest ones briefly. Hopefully this will inspire you to do it.

1. Increased Energy

One of the greatest benefits of juice fasting and detoxification is that it leads to an explosion in your physical energy. If you are one of those people who can barely make it thought the day, then this is for you. When you get rid of all the “gunk” that’s draining your energy, you can feel like a new person and have the energy to finally do the stuff you always wanted but never had the energy for.

2. Weight Loss

One of the main reasons most people do juice fasting and detoxification is to lose weight. Its by no means a magic bullet but it is one of the fastest ways to lose weight. Its estimated that the average person carries as much as 10 pounds of toxins in their system. This process will get rid of that and also enable your body’s natural process of eliminating fat to work optimally.

3. Connectedness

Although the physical benefits of juice fasting and detoxification is obvious, it’s the additional and “unseen” benefits that keeps most people doing it regularly. When you cleanse your body, you revive your mind and rekindle your spirit. From this point of view it benefits your entire being and its probably why so many religions practice it.

The good thing is that you don’t need to be religious or spiritual to benefit from juice fasting and detoxification. Its not about that at all. Its about a sense of well being and this is one of the healthiest ways to do it. Although you won’t eat solid food you will have plenty of juices on your diet. These include smoothies soups and a variety of fluids. You will never go hungry and unlike most FAD diets you will actually see the results very quickly. What are you waiting for?

To learn more about juice fasting and detoxification, visit my site and see how you can lose weight with this time-tested method that’s safe, quick and inexpensive.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deon_Du_Plessis

TODAY’S TIP: Fasting on juices once a week is a very good way to maintain balance in the body.

Are you thinking about detoxification of your body?

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Fasting can be used to improve health, however one should be careful and know what they are doing before attempting to fast for the purpose of healing. Here is information about healing fasts.

Can Fasting Cure Your Illness? By Jane Aslett

Fasting is an ancient practice that has cured hundreds of debilitating diseases and conditions. Could it be the answer you are looking for to cure your cancer, diabetes, lower back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, high blood pressure, sinusitis or any other condition that plagues you? When you think about it – what is the first instinct when you don’t feel well? What was it your Mother told you to do when you didn’t feel well? Go to bed, rest and don’t eat.

According to many more knowledgeable people than me, fasting should be your first treatment when you discover a medical problem. The healing process will be much faster and more effective when you abstain from solid food… Make it easy for your digestive tract. With the growing interest in natural healing and health care, the technique of fasting, as a safe and effective method of detoxifying the body, is being rediscovered.

Fasting has existed since the beginning of life on earth and has been used as a religious ritual as well as for preventing and curing diseases. Fasting is a way of purifying the body of a wide variety of pollutants, pollutants that are so rife in our atmosphere today that we can’t avoid them. Regular fasting will improve the capacity and ability of the body to make full use of the food eaten.

Because of the overload on the body from processing food day after day, with the environmental pollutants contributing to this workload, the body is not always able to cleanse itself efficiently. With the digestive and cleansing systems on full throttle with never a rest, it may be unable to rid itself of all the stored toxins, waste products, body acids, excess proteins and fat deposits that have accumulated. This, over time, can lead to cancer and other innumerable diseases.

Fasting will enable the digestive system to rest, detoxify and heal.

How and When should I Fast?

An Extended Fast? An extended fast would normally be for somewhere between 3 and 40 days in length. This could be something you do only once in your life, or a few times. An extended fast would be used to heal an illness or disease, for weight loss, spiritual awakening or to improve your overall health and wellbeing.

Intermittent fasting? This is something you would do just for a day, once a week for a given period, or it could mean just skipping a meal.

There are several methods that can be used for successful fasting, but whatever method you use, just be sure to have a clear intention of why you are doing it. Read up all you can about fasting so you can determine if it is the right thing for you.

When you embark on a fasting program, it is a good idea to have a ‘fasting buddy’ – someone who can support you and share the process. It won’t be easy, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Don’t do it alone, seek help.

Read how others have done it – you will find some helpful stories here.

Jane Aslett has a down to earth, commonsense understanding of the importance of good nutrition and sensible lifestyle decisions to allow us to experience wellness. She believes that although it takes a constant and deliberate effort to stay healthy and to achieve total well-being, by making some life-style changes where necessary, it is possible to experience ‘true wellness’. A desire to help people make the right decisions in taking control of their own health and wellbeing inspired her to set up her website http://www.wellness-decisions.com which addresses many of the issues that we have to cope with, particularly as we age. She’d love you to subscribe to her FREE monthly Newsletter Choose Wellness.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jane_Aslett

TODAY’S TIP: consider incorporating a fasting program into your lifestyle. It will help to maintain your health and well-being.

Are you learning something new about fasting?

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Many people practice what is called intermittent fasting. Here is an article which talks about the benefits of intermittent fasting.

An Understanding Into What is Intermittent Fasting and Its Benefits. By Brandon Johanson

Intermittent fasting has become quite the phenomenon these days. Recent studies showed that people who tried it have lost weight, increased health, and believed to have a long lifespan. Basically, intermittent fasting is a pattern of eating that alternates between periods of fasting, usually consuming only water, and non-fasting, usually eating anything a person want no matter how fattening. In other words, a person can eat anything he wants during a 24-hour period and fast for the next 24 hours. This approach to weight control seems to be supported by science, as well as religious and cultural practices around the globe. Adherents of intermittent fasting claim that this practice is a way to become more circumspect about food.

There are many different popular intermittent fasts and hundreds more possible variations. There are two kinds of intermittent fasts that are most basic and frequently used. First is the daily fasting in which the person only gets to eat once every 20-28 hours within a 4-hour period. The second is fasting for 1-3x a week, also called alternate day fasting, in which a person eats anything he wants on one day and fast the whole of next day.

Intermittent fasting has many beneficial effects as tested on animals like rodents and primates. One study found that there has been a “reduced serum glucose and insulin levels and increased resistance of neurons in the brain to excitotoxic stress”. In 2008, a study on intermittent fasting showed that lifespan increases of 40.4% and 56.6% in C. elegans for alternate day (24 hour) and two-of-each-three day (48 hour) fasting, respectively, as compared to an ad libitum diet. And a 2009 study showed that intermittent fasting on rats improved long-term survival after chronic heart failure via pro-angiogenic, anti-apoptotic and anti-remodeling effects.

Researchers caution that only a few studies have been done on humans who are practicing intermittent fasts. The effects of exercise and meal frequency on body composition are an interesting but largely unexplored area of research. However, there are some positive results. Just last month, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a study showing that reducing calories 30% a day increased the memory function of the elderly. In 2007, the journal Free Radical Biology & Medicine published a study that showed asthma patients who fasted had fewer symptoms, better airway function and a decrease in the markers of inflammation in the blood than those who didn’t fast.

For even more free tips and advice on What is Intermittent Fasting, come check out what’s inside the number one site for health and fitness on the net:

http://www.fitbuff.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brandon_Johanson

TODAY’S TIP: Fasting is a tool that can be used to lose weight, get closer to God, or to improve health. Try it.

Will you try it?

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This week I want to talk about a tool for health and wellness that is often overlooked. That tool is fasting. There are many benefits to regular fasts.

Fasting not only helps by giving the digestive system a rest but can be useful in healing, weight loss, and gaining more spirituality. Most of the worlds religions teach fasting as a way to become closer with God.

I have been fasting for many years. It has helped me many times deal with health issues and weight management. I fast for 3 days every three months and one day a week.

My longest fast was for 22 days. At the time my cholesterol was up to 330. My doctor wanted to put me on medication, but I told him I would do something about it and come back in 6 months. If my cholesterol was still high I would consider prescription medicine. I went on what is called the master cleanse and when I went back my cholesterol was near 200.

My doctor freaked out and said whatever I did it was too fast. He couldn’t understand how I had done it.

Please note, I do not recommend that you take such drastic actions without extensive research. Fasting can be dangerous if done improperly. Educate yourself to the pros and cons of fasting before embarking on an extended fast.

Also if you are fasting, listen to your body. It will tell you if you are doing it improperly. If you feel discomfort, analyze what is going on very carefully. If you feel that you need to end your fast, do so immediately. If you are not sure what is going on it is better to end your fast and try it another time.

Fasting also helps me when I know that I have been eating too much food and have that bloated feeling. At those times I fast for the day on fruit juice, usually fresh apple juice.

We have several grape vines and each year when we harvest our grapes, I do a three day grape juice fast with freshly harvested grapes. It always feels wonderful afterward.

There are many different techniques for fasting. Do the research and find the technique that is best for you and work it into your routine. I also caution you to be careful and not overdo it.

TODAY’S TIP: Start by fasting for one day and see how it feels.

Have you ever fasted?

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I hope you have gained more awareness about some of the foods you have been eating. Healthy eating not only means eating healthy foods, but also not eating unhealthy foods.

Many aspects of our society have become ruled by greed. Some corporations are more concerned with their bottom line than with public safety. The FDA and other branches of government, which are supposed to be safeguarding our foods, have basically sold out to industry.

We have fallen behind in the regulation of some areas of our society. We allow things that have been outlawed in some European countries. We permit some things to be sold in the mainstream of our society that have not been properly tested because it is more profitable.

When we have incidents where certain processes and medicines have caused harm they are covered up. The courts are full of lawsuits against corporations that have marketed products that have cause harm to the public, some even though they knew of the dangers before hand.

When we take the time to educate ourselves about what is going on in our food industry we realize that there is only one thing for us to do. We must become proactive in deciding what foods we will consume.

We realize that our government agencies and our industries will not necessarily do all they can to protect us. Many out of ignorance, but some deliberate.

We can no longer ignore what is happening around us. We as a society are sicker now than at any time in man’s history. One of the biggest contributing factor is our diet. Not only are there things in our food that is killing us but we also overeat.

If you are not eating as you know you should, stop making excuses and start to make the changes that will improve your health and well-being. You don’t have to make major changes right away. Start with small incremental changes.

Start reading labels and regularly read materials that will further your education about nutrition and healthy eating habits.

Plan your meals weekly. This will help to keep the discipline necessary to ensure you are eating a healthy diet. Have you ever come home with no plans for dinner and just throw something together? This is a part of the problem. You are less likely to have a balanced meal when you cook whatever is available.

TODAY’S TIP: The best diet plan is to eat 4 or 5 meals a day at 3 or 4 hour intervals. Eat small portions; 3 meals and 1 or two snacks, healthy snacks.

Have you learned anything?

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Many people think that drinking diet drinks will help them lose weight. Often while drinking these diet drinks they gain weight. Here is an article on the possible dangers of sugarless diet drink.

Lose Weight Naturally – The Untold Dangers of Nutrasweet By Dr. William Berkowitz

If you knew of an FDA approved and natural product, wouldn’t you assume it was safe to eat? Maybe not, if that product was NutraSweet. How about its ability to help you lose weight naturally? Wouldn’t you think that if it were an artificial sweetener that it would help you lose weight? Not really, some experts are saying. Yet there are millions of us who use aspartame, also known as NutraSweet, on a daily basis.

NutraSweet is found in a number of products, including sugar-free gum, cereal, instant breakfast, ice creams, juices, laxatives, yoghurt, tea, whipped topping, shake mixes, some milk products and a variety of tabletop sweeteners. NutraSweet is everywhere, especially in that low calorie soda you’re drinking.

Whether or not you can lose weight naturally consuming NutraSweet, you need to know that its FDA approval was tainted and that there are likely toxic components to the sweetener that are harmful to you. In addition, it is believed to actually increase the appetite. What you may not know is that 85 percent of complaints received by the FDA are related to problems incurred with the use of this sweetener.

Some of the risks associated with using NutraSweet include birth defects in infants, including mental retardation. It appears to be associated with brain cancer as well with research on rats supporting this statement. In fact, in the middle of the 1970s, it was found that those who manufactured aspartame falsified their data by cutting out brain tumors from rates and putting them, cancer free, back into the mix. They apparently didn’t include those animals that died in the study.

NutraSweet has been related to those who are developing diabetes. Rather than lose weight naturally, the individual who consume the artificial sweetener are getting fatter and are developing diabetes as a result. In addition, NutraSweet interferes with a diabetic’s ability to respond to oral anti-diabetic agents. It also seems to contribute to diabetic complications, like diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy and cataracts.

In one study on NutraSweet, those with mood disorders developed more serious symptoms on aspartame or NutraSweet. The study needed to be stopped early because of the seriousness of the findings. It was concluded that aspartame should not be used by those with mood disorders like bipolar disorder or depression. Some patients indicated that they felt “poisoned” by aspartame. Other studies link aspartame to low serotonin levels, a common cause of mood disorders.

Seizures seem to be triggered by aspartame or NutraSweet. There was a study out of MIT that looked at eighty people who ate NutraSweet and then got seizures. Many magazines related to aviation have published stories on the dangers of drinking or eating aspartame and the dangers of seizures in pilots. There have been pilots who have reported having grand mal seizures while flying-all due to consuming NutraSweet.

There is a general lack of awareness by US persons, trying to lose weight naturally but consuming this hazardous product instead. Unless you read a specific article, you assume that aspartame is safe and believe it will help you lose weight. You don’t realize how easily a pharmaceutical company can get a product approved by the FDA through the use of bad studies and bribes.

Several have looked at how aspartame got approved and have found many irregularities. Even today, the FDA is doing nothing to protect us from the dangers of this product. NutraSweet is currently being sold in more than seventy countries.

In order to learn how to lose weight naturally and begin your own natural weight loss program, download your very own free copy of “An Experts Guide to Weight Loss – 7 Red Hot Secrets to Turbo Charge Your Metabolism and Boost Your Weight Loss” by clicking the link below.

Get access to Dr. Berkowitz’s FREE “Experts Guide to Weight Loss – 7 Red Hot Secrets To TurboCharge Your Metabolism And Boost Your Weight Loss”. Learn the 7 secrets to boost your weight loss.
Click here to download your FREE copy of the “Experts Guide to Weight Loss” at [http://RapidNaturalWeightLoss.com/]

Frustrated by the confusion in the Weight Loss marketplace, through his research Dr. Bill developed a Weight Loss program founded on the Laws of Human Physiology.

He has also developed a companion Exercise Program that turns up the metabolism in just minutes a day. Click on this link to download your FREE copy of the “Experts Guide to Weight Loss – 7 Red Hot Secrets to Weight Loss” [http://RapidNaturalWeightLoss.com/]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._William_Berkowitz

TODAY’S TIP: For more information on NutraSweet and Aspartame visit the websites: http://www.dorway.com and http://www.dorway.org.

When is the last time you drank a diet soda?

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As I mentioned yesterday some of the things in our food is believed to be harmful. Here is an article which talks about some of those things.

4 Food Additives to Avoid By Ruthan Brodsky

If you have ever purchased a bag of low calorie candy you will be dumbfounded after looking at the list of ingredients. We all want to keep our calories down, we want our food to taste good, but we have no idea about all those chemicals we are putting in our digestive system.

Sodium Nitrate and Nitrate.

If you become distended when you eat hotdogs or baloney it is a very good indication that there are nitrates in the product. Nitrates are preservatives added to processed meat products such as ham, and lunch meats. They prevent the growth of bacteria and give the meat a healthy looking pink hue which can be deceptive at times. These compounds become cancer causing agents called nitrosamines in the stomach. Nitrosamines are among the most powerful carcinogens known and even small amounts can cause cancer. Nitrates are considered dangerous by the FDA but they are not banned because they do prevent botulism. Side effects include headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and for me, a distended stomach. Health food stores offer a variety of nitrate/nitrate free meats.

BHA and BHT

The longer names for these preservatives are butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydrozyttoluene preserve many foods. They also increase the risk of cancer and accumulate in body tissue causing liver enlargement. Animal studies link BHA with cancer. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services considers BHA to be considered as a carcinogen but they do not block its use. The additives are important to the food industry because they block the process of oil going rancid which can happen when oil is exposed to light. These additives are associated with changing moods, and they affect sleep and appetite. They have also been associated with liver and kidney damage, behavioral problems, and fetal abnormalities.

MSG

MSG is associated with Asian cooking but food companies and restaurant cooks use the additive in everything. Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is an amino acid used as a flavor enhance in soups, salad dressings, chips, frozen entrees, and restaurant food. Using MSG allows cooks or companies in processed foods, to reduce the amount of real ingredients in their foods such as the chicken in chicken soup. MSG reduces costs.

Since 1960 the use of MSG has caused some concern when it was discovered that large amounts of MSG fed to infant mice destroyed nerve cells in the brain. This research forced baby food companies to stop adding MSG to their products. Even so, MSG may be hidden in infant formula, low fat milk, candy, drinks, over the counter medications, as a finder, as filler for nutritional supplements, and in prescription drugs.

Children are more sensitive to MSG than adults. Neonatal exposure to MSG can cause a permanent reduction in the secretion of growth hormone. Other reactions, by both children and adults, include headaches, nausea, weakness, wheezing, changes in heart rate, and difficulty breathing.

The following ingredients on a label also indicated MSG:
•    Hydrolyzed protein, soy or any type;
•    utolyzed yeast;
•    Monosodium glutamate;
•    Free glutamate;
•    Yeast extract;
•    Caseinate.

Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners are a combination of chemicals that make foods tast2 sweeter without the sugar calorie. Most of these have side effects and their chemical breakdown in the body may be harmful. If this were not enough, when artificial sweeteners are combined with other food additives, like artificial colors, they can have a more potent effect on your nerve cells. For instance, in a research project a few years ago, the application of a specific additive alone stopped mouse nerve cells from growing and also interfered with proper signaling systems. When the artificial color yellow and aspartame were combined, the effect on the nerve cells was seven times greater,

Interestingly, there is an increasing number of products that are low in calories but more people are getting fatter. How can this be? It happens that when you eat something sweet but do not take in the calories, your body will crave more calories than if you had eaten real sugar. That means the more artificially sweetened anything you eat the more weight you are likely to gain because you will crave more sweet foods. Besides, most of the foods that contain artificial sweeteners are of poor nutritional value causing your body to starve itself if that is all you are eating. You are still hungry all the time because your body is not getting the nutrients it needs.

Aspartame, also known by the brand names Nutrasweet and Equal, is one of the sweeteners frequently researched. It is found in low-calorie desserts, gelatins, drink mixes and soft drinks. It comes in individual packages used in place of sugar and has been the focus of hundreds of studies. Conclusions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization, say the additive is safe. However, the Center for Science in the Public Interest gave it a very low ranking in a review of food additives suggesting there may be a link with aspartame and cancer but more research needs to be done.

If you define food additives as a substance not normally consumed as a food itself and not an ingredient of the food, then we humans have been adding additives to our food for centuries just by adding salt. Most of us tolerate these food additives and many of the artificial additives. However, some are considered toxic and may even be carcinogenic. To be on the safe side, consider reducing the amount of food additives and artificial sweeteners you include in your diet.

Ruthan Brodsky specializes in health and business topics targeted to the baby boomer population. As an author, copywriter, speaker and coach she is highly regarded for her ability to take a complicated subject and make it understood by the non medical and non technical reader. I invite you to claim her short report, 15 Steps to Challenge Your Brain at http://www.secretstohealthandaging.com/welcome

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ruthan_Brodsky

TODAY’S TIP: Treat your body as a temple, the temple of your soul. Remember you only have one.

How do you think about the food you eat?

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Hope you had a great Easter. Easter was one of my favorite holidays growing up because of two things. First, just before Easter each year I used to get a new suit. The suit was for church on Easter day.  We had to look our best. The other thing was the ham for Easter dinner.

My Mother was a single parent with limited resources, so the food on holidays was a real treat. The food was always Delicious and wholesome.

That was many years ago. Have you read the labels on our holiday foods lately. In both our turkeys and hams you will see listed, sodium nitrate and/or nitrite.

As far as I am concerned all that needs to be in turkeys and hams is turkey and ham. Why are there nitrates in them? When they first started using them it was because of the lack of proper refrigeration.These are chemicals which are recognized as carcinogens.

We now have modern refrigeration, so why do they still add them to our meats? The answer is simple, money. It is no longer necessary and you can find meats without them. You may have to look for a specialty store but it is worth it. Besides not having sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite in the meats, they taste better. They taste like meats should taste.

Of course they tell you that there is not enough in them to harm you. But, could this be one of the contributing factors for the appalling state of our society’s health? There has been at least one reported death from sodium nitrate.

Of course, this death was accidental, sodium nitrate looks like salt and was mistaken for salt and put on food which resulted in death. But, this does show the potential hazards.

There are over 3,000 chemicals in our foods. Many are recognized carcinogens. We Are told there is not enough of any one of them present in food to cause us harm. But, what of long term ingestion or combination’s of chemicals. These have not been studied by the government or the industry.

There was a study done some years back by an independent food safety advocate organization that showed when certain of these chemicals were combined the toxicity was increased by over 1000%.

Just because the government says something is alright you should be proactive about what you eat. Take the time to educate yourself about what is in our food and eat accordingly.

There are somethings in our food that has been banned in some European countries. What does that say about us?

This week is devoted to the food we eat.

TODAY’S TIP: Notice what is being talked about with regard to our food chain. Make sure the food you put in your mouth is safe.

Are you poisoning yourself slowly?

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