The Health Blog

Many people are now turning to inexpensive and natural green tea weight loss plans to help them in their weight control efforts. It is simple too. Green tea can be drunk like any other tea, usually without milk or sweeteners, or if you do not like the taste you can purchase green tea extract.

Research has shown that green tea helps to reduce weight by stimulating the body’s thermogenesis process, which increases the expenditure of energy and the oxidization of fat in the body. Many compounds found in plants have this effect. The special thing about green tea is that it does not increase the heart rate, and is therefore believed to be safer than diet pills such as ephidrine that also work by stimulating thermogenesis.

A lot of people who are overweight have or are at risk of developing hypertension and other cardiovascular problems, so the fact that green tea does not put pressure on the heart makes it a good choice. Ephidrine is not usually recommended if you are in this group but green tea is considered a safe option. It means that you can gradually increase your exercise levels without increasing your risk of heart problems.

There are only two ways to lose weight: one way is by eating less (consuming fewer calories) and the other is by increasing expenditure of energy (using up more calories). Green tea works by increasing output and this can be by around 4%. Most scientists believe that this is caused by the high quantity of catechin that is in the tea and its extract.

Green tea has the added benefit of containing powerful antioxidants that may be beneficial to your health in many ways, strengthening the immune system and protecting against disease.

Keep in mind that green tea does contain caffeine so you should cut out coffee and other forms of tea while you are taking it. Decaffeinated green tea is not recommended because the chemical processes that are used to remove the caffeine may destroy the beneficial properties of the plant.

At the same time you will need to exercise control in what you eat. If you eat more to compensate for the calories that are burnt by the tea, you will not lose any weight. Keeping to the same calorific intake that you have now and taking green tea should result in gradual weight loss and better energy levels over a few weeks. You can of course increase the speed of this by reducing calorie consumption and/or increasing exercise.

Green tea is a simple, easy and inexpensive weight control aid that can easily be incorporated into any weight loss program. The choice of tea or extract offers something for everybody. Natural and safe, green tea weight loss should feature in your program if you want to keep the weight off permanently.

Winter weight gain is a common complaint of many people. It seems that every winter we add a few pounds, and come summer we don’t lose them all again either. A few of them always stick around, making us a little heavier every year. They seem to be very hard to lose extra pounds! Why does this happen and what can we do?

There are many contributing factors. First, it seems likely that we have a genetic disposition to store more fat as winter approaches. Many animals do this and it was probably vital to survival for our ancestors. Extra layers of fat on the body protect us against the cold and then can be used as fuel in the late winter and early spring when food stocks would historically be very low. We probably have a tendency to eat more in the fall, when food is plentiful after harvest time, to help this process along. We may also unconsciously choose foods that are higher in fat content at this time.

Hormone levels can also influence our weight gain. The interaction of hormones and other chemicals in the brain can bring about variations in appetite and cravings. Some neurotransmitters can also influence the way we eat. People who are overweight often have low levels of these neurotransmitters and the results can include excessive appetite, depression and sleep disorders. At the same time, the lack of daylight caused by the shortening days during late fall and winter can bring on seasonally affected disorder or winter depression. One of the quickest ways to give a boost to the energy levels and emotions is to eat high carbohydrate foods including sugar treats, chips and cereals that give us a fast blood sugar ‘fix’. So people who feel low in the winter will tend to overeat or eat the wrong foods, leading to weight gain, more depression and a vicious cycle that is hard to break.

So altogether there are many reasons why we eat more high carbohydrate foods such as cookies, pies and chocolate in the winter, and of course most of these foods also contain high levels of fats. The best way to handle this is generally to substitute other foods that are also high in carbohydrate so that we get what our body craves, but which have low fat content and plenty of fiber. This means potatoes, wholegrain bread without butter, wholegrain rice, cereals, and fresh whole fruit.

It is also important to take more exercise. Often our physical activity levels drop in the winter and we have a tendency to want to stay home and rest. This is natural when it is cold outside. But we are not cavemen! We have heating in our homes and can be sure that there will still be plenty of food in the stores come February. We do not need to stow fat the way that they did. Sign up with a gym or get a stationary bicycle for the den. Transform those carbs into energy now instead of keeping it on the waistline until spring. Winter weight gain is easily avoidable this way.

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The Atkins weight loss diet is based on one simple principle: Your body burns both carbohydrates and fat for calories. If you reduce the amounts of carbohydrates available, it will burn more fat and you will lose weight.

According to Atkins, calories are unimportant. The key to losing weight is to restrict the carbohydrates that you eat and force the body to turn to its stored fat as an energy source. As proof of this, proponents of the Atkins Diet point to the following facts derived from research:

• When the body doesn’t have enough carbohydrate, it will use ketenes derived from fat as energy.
• You can eat more food and lose more weight on a low carbohydrate diet than you can on a low fat diet.
• You crave less food when you eat fewer carbohydrates.
• By eating fewer carbohydrates, people tend to eat fewer calories without counting them.
• The greater the difference between fat and carbohydrate, the greater the weight loss.

In short, if you restrict your intake of carbohydrates, you will most likely also restrict your intake of calories. By lowering your carbohydrate intake, you will encourage your body to turn to fat for energy.

The Atkins diet has provoked storms of controversy since it was first published. The recommendation to eat a high-protein, low-carbohydrate flew in the face of all the dietary recommendations by established medical institutions. The diet was denounced as unsafe, particularly if used as a life-long weight maintenance plan. Over the past five to ten years, there have been numerous studies that come down on both sides of the equation, and Atkins last version of the diet included the admission that calories do matter, and the advice to ‘eat only enough to satisfy hunger’.

A typical menu for a meal on the Atkins Diet might include:

• Portobello and Ricotta Crostini
• Chicken Milanese over Spring Salad
• Lemon Vinaigrette dressing
• Warm Lentils and Celery
• Raspberry Cheesecake in a Cup

The eating plan recommended by the Atkins diet contains very low portions of carbohydrates, deriving the majority of carbohydrates from vegetables high in fiber and low in carbs, and unrestricted portions of proteins, including high fat proteins like beef, pork and cheese.

Follow up research on people who have used the Atkins Diet to lose weight show a fast initial weight loss that eventually levels off. The Atkins Diet has four phases to account for it:

1. The Induction Phase, which restricts carbohydrates severely.

2. The OWL (Ongoing Weight Loss) Phase, in which you add in limited carbs and tailor the eating plan to your tastes

3. Pre-maintenance, with ten pounds or less to the target goal, deliberately slows weight loss to begin adjusting the body to after-weight-loss diet.

4. Lifetime Maintenance, a long-term eating plan that emphasizes low carbohydrates and healthy, long-term eating

Who should use the Atkins Diet?

While the Atkins Diet seems on the surface to be directly counter to what is recommended by most medical institutions, many of the principles are actually the same. Unless you are under the care of a physician for a chronic medical condition like diabetes, high blood pressure or coronary problems, you can use the Atkins Diet. Do pay attention to the portions recommended in the menus and plans at http://www.atkins.com, despite the reassurances that you can ‘eat all you want and still lose weight.’

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Copyright © 2008 Mark Hyman, M.D.

Ever watch a very large person order a Big Mac, large fries, and top it off with a Diet Coke?

Ever notice that you rarely see thin people drinking diet sodas?

I have. And it made me wonder if could there be a link between diet beverages or artificial sweeteners and obesity.

Research suggests that there is, indeed, a link.

First, our current obesity epidemic has coincided perfectly with the introduction of large amounts of artificial sweeteners into our food supply. While we don’t know that one has caused the other, it is suspicious.

For example, the number of Americans who consume products that contain sugar-free sweeteners grew from 70 million in 1987 to 160 million in 2000.

At the same time, the incidence of obesity in the United States has doubled from 15 percent to 30 percent across all age groups, ethnic groups, and social strata. And the number of overweight Americans has increased from about 30 percent to over 65 percent of the population. The fastest growing obese population is children.

Next, we know that just the thought or smell of food triggers a whole set of hormonal and physiologic responses that prepare the body for food.

Just as in Pavlov’s dog experiment, where he trained dogs to salivate in anticipation of food simply by ringing a bell, diet sodas and artificial sweeteners act as the bell for your physiology.

Your brain prepares for food even before your fork or cup crosses your lips.

This allows you to anticipate and prepare for the arrival of nutrients in your intestinal tract, improves the efficiency of how your nutrients are absorbed, and minimizes the degree to which food will disturb your natural hormonal balance and create weight gain.

Any sweet taste will signal your body that calories are on the way and trigger a whole set of hormonal and metabolic responses to get ready for those calories.

When you trick your body and feed it non-nutritive or non-caloric sweeteners, like aspartame, acesulfame, saccharin, sucralose, or even natural sweeteners like stevia, it gets confused.

And research supports this.

An exciting new study in the Journal of Behavioral Neuroscience has shown conclusively that using artificial sweeteners not only does not prevent weight gain, but induces a whole set of physiologic and hormonal responses that actually make you gain weight.

The researchers proved this by giving two different groups of rats some yogurt. One batch of yogurt was sweetened with sugar and the other was sweetened with saccharin.

They found that three major things happened over a very short period of time in the rats that were fed artificially sweetened yogurt.

First, the researchers found that the total food eaten over 14 days dramatically increased in the artificial sweetener group — meaning that the artificial sweetener stimulated their appetite and made them eat more.

Second, these rats gained a lot more weight and their body fat increased significantly.

And third (and this is very troubling) was the change in core body temperature of the rats fed the artificial sweeteners. Their core body temperature decreased, meaning their metabolism slowed down.

So not only did the rats eat more, gain more weight, and have more body fat, but they actually lowered their core body temperature and slowed their metabolism.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: All calories are not created equal.

The study’s most astounding finding was that even though the rats that ate the saccharin-sweetened yogurt consumed fewer calories overall than the rats that ate the sugar-sweetened yogurt, they gained more weight and body fat.

This helps disprove the conventional view that people will consume fewer calories by drinking artificially sweetened drinks or eating artificially sweetened foods.

Despite their name, these are not “diet” drinks. They are actually “weight gain” drinks!

My bottom line?

Avoid artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, acesulfame, sucralose, sugar alcohols such as malitol and xylitol (pretty much anything that ends in “ol”), as well as natural artificial sweeteners like stevia.

Stop confusing your body. If you have a desire for something sweet, have a little sugar, but stay away from “fake” foods.

Eating a whole-foods diet that has a low glycemic load and is rich in phytonutrients and indulging in a few real sweet treats once in a while is a better alternative than tricking your body with artificial sweeteners — which leads to wide scale metabolic rebellion and obesity.

So, put that teaspoon of sugar in your tea and enjoy!

REFERENCES:

Swithers SE, Davidson TL. A role for sweet taste: Calorie predictive relations in energy regulation by rats. Behav Neurosci. 2008 Feb;122(1):161-73.

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