Posts Tagged ‘cholesterol’

What Is The The Atkins Diet?

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

The short name for the ‘Atkins Nutritional Approach’ is the ‘Atkins Diet’, which was the brainchild of Doctor Robert Atkins. Dr. Atkins had gained a lot of surplus weight while he was studying in medical school and after reading about a new diet in a medical journal, he made up his mind to refine it and publish it as his own.

Atkins, in his Atkins Diet book, wrote that he believed that the prevailing theories about putting on weight were completely wrong. First, he dismissed the idea that saturated fats were bad; instead he said it was it was carbohydrates that led to the weight problems Americans have these days. Atkins declared that our obsession with avoiding fat actually aggravated the problem. He pointed out that the low-fat foods that were high in carbohydrates were not helping the nation, which probably meant that people on a diet often ate foods that were worse for them than what they had normally eaten.

The Atkins diet shifted the focus. Atkins said that by cutting out carbohydrates, people would burn their stored body fats. And, of course, if you lose the fat, you lose the weight. He said it was not only a question of eating less. Atkins held that a diet could actually help you burn calories and that The Atkins Diet supposedly burned more calories than were being consumed everyday. But the claims were disputed.

Dr. Atkins also promulgated the positive influence that his diet should have on people with Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a disease you usually get early in life, but Type 2 is more often closely associated with diet and surplus body weight. Therefore, it should follow that any diet that helps reduce weight, will help people with Type 2 diabetes. The Atkins diet is low in carbohydrates, which must be avoided by those with Type 2 diabetes regardless of the caloric intake, which the Atkins diet does, so Atkins claimed that those who suffer Type 2 diabetes would no longer need medication such as insulin. Doctors do not agree with Atkins on this point, although they do agree, that a lower carbohydrate intake helps control Type 2 diabetes, but there is no proof that carbohydrates cause diabetes.

What does one have to do to follow the Atkins diet? Well, it goes in four phases - Induction; On-Going Weight loss; Pre-maintenance; and Lifetime Maintenance. This is a brief synopsis of the first phase - The Induction Phase.

The Induction phase is probably the most difficult of the phases in the Atkins diet. Atkins is rather flexible about how long it should last ” but recommends two weeks. During this time, carbohydrate consumption should be severely curtailed ” up to 20 grammes per day. The goal is to enter a fat burning metabolic process called ‘ketosis’ which is when the body, being starved of glucose, begins to convert previously stored fat into the fatty acids needed to run the body. Weight loss during this period can be large ” some Atkins dieters report losses of 5-10 lbs. a week or more.

The goals of the three final phases in the Atkins diet are the learning of the ideal carbohydrate levels for the next two phases: continued weight loss and weight maintenance. Millions of people are still losing the weight they want to on this diet ” but be aware of the dangers of taking in too much cholesterol.

Do you want to lose those excess kilos rapidly? Well, take a free look at The Atkins Diet, by visiting our website called The Atkins Diet Plan

Is The Atkins Grapefruit Diet Really Genuine?

Saturday, December 10th, 2011

The Atkins Grapefruit diet is a diet plan, not endorsed by the company of Dr. Atkins, that plays on the popularity of the grapefruit diet and the Atkins diet name. A closer inspection of this diet shows that it may not be all it claims to be.

First of all, it’s pretty difficult to find information on the Atkins grapefruit diet plan. Smart people know that when someone is perpetrating a deception, or a con, they will often gloss over facts. This is what the Atkins grapefruit diet seems to do in an attempt to persuade people to associate it with two supposedly effective diets.

Is the Atkins Grapefruit Diet part of the Atkins Diet or endorsed by the firm of the late Dr. Atkins? The answer is no, not only is there no mention of the Atkins Grapefruit Diet on the Atkins website, but there is no fruit of any kind mentioned in the list of allowed foods in the Atkins diet Induction stage.

The induction phase recommends the following foods:

Fish of any kinds. Any fowl such as turkey and chicken. Any shellfish. Any meat such as beef or pork. Eggs cooked in any style, including fried. Cheese. Vegetables. Herbs and Spices. Fats and Oils. Low carbohydrate beverages, including diet soft drinks.

Did you notice something? No fruit is on that list. Later phases of the Atkins diet, however, do recommend limited quantities of fruits such as cantaloupe, strawberries and even lemon juice, and the pre-maintenance and maintenance phases even specifically permit small quantities of grapefruit. But when compared to the quantity of Grapefruit recommended on the Atkins Grapefruit Diet, once more there is a discrepancy.

The Atkins Grapefruit Diet recommends a cup of grapefruit juice or a cup of grapefruit sections, with 8 and 18 carbs respectively. Even the most generous phases of the Atkins diet recommends limiting grapefruit consumption to less than 8 carbs per day. That’s a direct contradiction of one diet with the other.

Most reasonable people would inspect the Atkins website itself the moment they heard of the Atkins Grapefruit Diet. When they found no mention of that diet on the site, a red light would go off and an alarm bell would ring.

In general, you should remember this: any diet that recommend very heavily on one foodstuff, such as grapefruit on a grapefruit diet, is not healthy for all but extremely short periods of time. The Atkins Grapefruit Diet is nothing to do with the Atkins diet, and may interfere with the efficacy of the Atkins diet in its early phases.

Do you want to lose that excess weight rapidly? Well, take a free look at Atkins Grapefruit Diet, by going to our resource called The Atkins Diet Plan

How To Lower Triglyceride And Cholesterol Levels

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

When someone undergoes a cholesterol blood test, there will usually be four numbers returned which refer to the levels for LDL (bad cholesterol), HDL (good cholesterol), triglycerides and total cholesterol. The GP will be looking to see if any of these figures is significantly above the standard for your age and sex.

If they are rather high, then the physician will give one of two recommendations. First of all, the doctor ought to recommend lifestyle alterations but if these do not succeed then it is a lifetime of medication. Some individuals have cholesterol problems for genetic reasons and for these people, medication might be the only answer.

The most common lifestyle alterations that are usually recommended are dietary alterations and exercise. If your readings are especially high, you may have to take extreme measures to lower your cholesterol levels quickly.

Regrettably, once people begin taking anti-cholesterol tablets, they seldom come off them, so it is better to attempt other ways first of all. The predominant methods are reducing dietary saturated fat and increasing the level of exercise significantly.

Most people have an notion what cholesterol is and that it has two facets, yet not many individuals know what triglycerides are. Triglyceride is also a sort of fat and if it is in profusion, it is a frequent indication that cholesterol is high as well, which means that it is an indicator of possible future heart disease.

The quickest manner of decreasing the levels of these fats in your blood is to stop eating saturated fats and trans fats. Red meats and full-fat dairy products are our main source of saturated fat. This means that if you want to engage the emergency brake, stop eating junk food, steak, pork, cheese and cream and stop drinking milk. You ought to also cut out trans fats which are hydrogenated vegetable oils as used in some margarines, pastry and crisps.

Putting an abrupt block on these foods will have an immediate and spectacular impact on your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. If you have to have a spread on your bread, use one of those that actually reduce cholesterol levels rather than elevate them.

The best thing is to begin with breakfast. Forget anything fried; porridge is very good for you as is wholemeal bread. You can eat an occasional boiled, poached or scrambled egg, because it is a myth that eggs are perilous to the sufferer from high cholesterol.

Steak and pork have to be limited to very occasional treats, but chicken without skin is not very bad for you and fish is positively good. Try to boil, grill or steam food rather than fry it yet if you require to use oil, use olive oil.

Fresh fruit, vegetables and grains are great allies in the battle against high cholesterol, but so is exercise. Exercise does not have to be energetic, a half-hour’s walk in the morning and the evening will help a great deal. If you cannot find the motivation, get a dog.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on several topics, but is now concerned with low fat low cholesterol diet. If you want to know more, please visit our site at What Foods Lower Cholesterol?

Some Basics About Cholesterol And Triglycerides

Friday, July 1st, 2011

Cholesterol has a bad press to be certain, but this is because the press does not normally give the full story. It is easier and scarier to leave a few bits out. The fact is that we have to have cholesterol and triglycerides for that matter in order to function properly. The point where these fats are a problem is when we have too high a percentage of them in our blood.

This is a comparable situation to having a lot of sugar in the blood on a regular basis, which is otherwise called diabetes. A different word for this is hyperglycaemia and hyperglycaemia can be a cause of having too many triglycerides in the blood as well, which by the way is known as hypertriglyceridemia. ‘Hyper’ meaning ‘too much’.

Cholesterol and triglycerides are the two main fats in our blood system. Cholesterol and triglycerides come from the foodstuffs that we consume, but our own bodies create them too. Cholesterol is crucial for several basic bodily functions like regulating hormones and making bile.

Having said that, there are two types of cholesterol: low and high density cholesterol. The low end can go very low and the lower it goes the worse it is for you. This is a very complicated issue which is better explained in a longer piece, but all you have to keep in mind is that low density or LDL is bad and high density cholesterol is ‘good’.

This is a very simplistic explanation, but it is the one that we are told of in the tabloid press. HDL cholesterol is believed to help mop up LDL cholesterol, which is why it is called good.

If this natural process does not take place or goes out of balance, the LDL cholesterol waxy fat will stick to the walls of arteries making them thinner, narrower. This is known as atherosclerosis (furring of the arteries) and means that the heart has to pump blood harder in order to get oxygen to every part of the body.

This is known as hypertension or high blood pressure and puts the heart at risk of stress and failure - coronary heart disease and stroke are the possible consequences of furred arteries.

There is a great deal that you can do to adjust any issues with your cholesterol levels. Most of our cholesterol comes from eating red meat and full-fat dairy products, so merely by replacing every other steak with a salad could greatly reduce your difficulty. There are other methods of doing this too, like exercise.

Exercise is a useful way of burning up the surplus fats in your blood stream, but it has to be carried out on a daily basis. Not that it takes a lot. If you think about what you consume and reduce the foodstuffs heavy in cholesterol, you might merely need 30 minutes moderate exercise a day in order to be healthy.

The fact is that if you do not do something about your state of affairs, you will be placed on tablets for the rest of your life. You might think that this is a good alternative to diet and exercise, but it is not actually. It is just the easy option.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a lot of topics, but is now involved with the question: what is a triglyceride?. If you want to know more, just visit our web site at What Foods Lower Cholesterol?

How To Use Examples Of Low Cholesterol Diets

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

Although more and more individuals are becoming aware that they ought to follow a low (er) cholesterol diet as they get older, they might not be aware of how to do this. Individuals eat out a great deal more now than ever before or they have food delivered.

Regrettably most of the food eaten at or from these places has a poor record when it comes to controlling cholesterol. You will find it difficult to impossible to follow a low cholesterol diet and eat junk food at the same time.

There are plenty of examples of low cholesterol diets on the Internet and it would be a useful thing for you to look at some of these until you find a chef’s recipes that match your tastes.

For example, one cook may favour vegetarian cooking and so would create a series of low cholesterol recipes containing vegetarian food, whereas another cook might have a penchant for fish and so would create lots of low cholesterol recipes with fish.

Obviously, if you have more varied tastes then the world is your oyster and you can mix and match recipes from all around the world. There are several cultures that do not eat meat at all, for instance, the Hindus. There are thousands of Hindu recipes which are naturally low in cholesterol or which could be easily modified by substituting olive oil for ghee as the oil in which to cook.

Or you might like the Japanese style of cooking, which uses a higher proportion of fish than people eat in the West. Fish is a very useful source for example of HDL, or good, cholesterol. Japanese meals can be of a number of different styles. an unusual one of which is sushi, which has become favourite with the trend-setters.

Chinese and Thai food also contains far less meat that traditional Western recipes. They also tend to cook using soya oil, which is a product known to reduce the level of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. If, when you look at traditional recipes from these countries, you see something you could improve on then go ahead and adapt it.

For instance, if you go to a Chinese restaurant, you always get white rice. Why not substitute brown rice? The same goes for Thai food. Brown rice is fed to prisoners in Thai gaols, so it is coupled with low class, hence Thais eat white rice. But you do not have to.

If you enjoy barbecues, you might have to lay off the steaks, chops, sausages and burgers, but you can still barbecue all kinds of fish, crabs, prawns and lobster. Eels are good for a barbecue too and so is unleaven bread and some vegetables such as sweet corn.

There are so many examples of low cholesterol diets that eating in this way does not have to become monotonous. In fact, it might just open your eyes to some of the other ways of cooking going on in the world. You may just end up realizing that most of the meals in your life up to now have been fairly similar.

While you are looking for examples of low cholesterol diets, remember that adaptation and substitution are the best strategies - become adaptable and enjoy your new, healthier diet.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on several topics, but is now concerned with lowering cholesterol without medication. If you want to know more, please visit our web site at What Foods Lower Cholesterol?

How To Reduce Cholesterol Without Statins

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Most people think that cholesterol worries just have an effect on older individuals, but this is not true. High degrees of cholesterol can also be discovered in the young. In one study, 75 % of those checked had a yellow waxy substance in their blood - LDL cholesterol - it is thought to be a reliable indication of future heart problems. The astonishing thing concerning this study was that they were all fit American soldiers with an average age of only 21.

Now we do need some LDL cholesterol because it is used by the body to control some important functions and we definitely need HDL cholesterol because it assists regulate LDL cholesterol. The only issue is the volume of these substances. High levels of LDL have been linked to atherosclerosis, which leads to heart disease.

If you want to begin working on your cholesterol levels in a maintenance sort of way, you can do so with the aid of exercise and diet. The exercise element does not have to be arduous. Strolling for an hour a day will do the trick if it is in conjunction with healthy dieting.

The diet should include plenty of fibre and roughage because not only will it reduce LDL cholesterol, but it will also help your bowels to work properly which lowers your chance of getting bowel cancer, the incidence of which is rising these days.

Foods that are rich in fibre and roughage are fruit and vegetables, especially greens; beans, pulses and grains, particularly oats as in porridge; nuts and soya. It is fairly simple to increase your consumption of these foods without drastically changing you main diet, although it is wise to substitute skinless chicken and fish for beef and pork.

For example, you could eat porridge for breakfast and add a handful of barley to your soup. You could add a few leaves of lettuce to your sandwich and eat fruit as snacks throughout the day. You could have beans on toast every now and again. Whole grain bread, obviously.

Some foods have a particularly good reputation for reducing cholesterol levels. Avocado is one because it contains a lot of mono-unsaturated fats which raise the degree of HDL and HDL counteracts LDL. Raw carrots are another one. Raw carrots contain plenty of pectin, which reduces LDL. Pectin is also there in substantial quantities in citrus fruits, apples and berries such as strawberries, raspberries and red and black berries.

Then there are other famously healthy foodstuffs like garlic and shitake mushrooms which are also considered to ward off cancer and boost the immune system as a whole. Ginger is another healthy food that is easily incorporated into dishes.

Nuts, especially walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans and almonds are high in Omega 3 fatty acids which has a beneficial impact on LDL cholesterol. Sesame seeds contain phytosterols, which also lowers LDL. Other foods containing phytosterols are: celery, lettuce, asparagus, spinach and tomatoes.

You should strive to consume mono- and poly-unsaturated fats as they will boost your HDL. You can find these fats in cannola, safflower, soya bean and olive oil. They also hold Omega 3. Other sources of Omega 3 are fish, particularly the fatty fish like tuna, salmon and mackerel.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on numerous topics, but is now concerned with food that lowers cholesterol. If you want to know more, please visit our site at What Foods Lower Cholesterol?

Complex Carbohydrates Diets

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

When many of us decide to follow a diet, we are filled with joy because we are finally going to lose those unwanted pounds. All we need is the necessary diet info. However a few months down the road and not only have we not lost any weight, but we are also disappointed with our diet.

Why does something like this happen you might ask in exasperation? Well, the reply would be that we are not eating the right combination of foodstuffs to burn the surplus fat off. Following a diet that has complex carbohydrates foods which are good for you could be the answer to all whole diet problems.

When you first begin any of these diets, the first thing that will be explained to you, is what food you can eat and what sorts of food are not good for you. According to most low carb diet info, among the many bad foods will be various complex carbohydrates foods which you really need for your body to work well. The best approach to take with those diets is to understand the low carb diet info behind them and use the diet food lists that they provide sensibly.

This way you will definitely lose weight, because the foods that you will be having on your diet are the sorts of food that can make you lose your hunger pangs. By not desiring to eat lots of food, you will not be snacking on junk food and piling on the weight. According to most low carb diet information, complex carbohydrates foods for long lasting energy will release the quantity of energy that you need, slowly, throughout the day.

According to most low carb diet info, these foods also have the necessary dietary requirements that we need for our bodies to develop healthily. You should, however, remember the low carb diet info that the best way to have a great looking figure is to maintain a healthy balance between all of the complex carbohydrates foods in the other groups and to include regular daily exercise into your lifestyle.

When you go shopping for your dietary foods, stop a moment and see if the foods that you have planned for your meals, according to the low carb diet info you have, will help you in the long run or if you will be feeling worse than you do now. The reason is that some of the foods in these different diets don’t take your body’s health requirements into account.

If you don’t eat the right foods, you can end up with various illnesses and other complications that you had no problems with when you used complex carbohydrates foods like fruit and vegetables that were part of your normal eating habits.

Remember that, according to most low carb diet info, you have to take into account the health requirements of your body as well. Including fantastic tasting complex carbohydrates foods that you usually love to eat anyway, make dieting fun, especially since you are not really dieting. What you are doing is making a permanent change for a healthier future.

Do you need to lose those excess pounds rapidly? Well, take a free look at Complex Carbohydrates, by visiting our website called The Atkins Diet Plan

Low Carb Vegetables

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Any diet that asks you to go low carbohydrate and use only low carbohydrate vegetables is saying that you need to hunt for vegetables that are low in carbohydrates. You need to use these vegetables in stead of your regular vegetables. There are many great tasting things that you can do with low carb vegetables.

They can be used in the different diet recipes or used for salads. They are great by themselves as healthy snacks and you can also blend them for a nutritious drink. The many websites that give recipes for low carbohydrate cooking and meals could have some recipes that will allow you to use your low carbohydrate vegetables in meals.

Imagine producing a splendid meal using only low carb foods. You can keep a magnificent side dish full of low carb vegetables that have been transformed into a delicious salad. This salad can be garnished with many interesting foods that are also low carbohydrate but taste great by themselves as well.

For instance, you could make a salad from low carbohydrate vegetables and boneless beef, top sirloin steak, fresh lemon juice, gourmet salad greens, medium plum tomatoes, ranch or blue cheese dressing. You can make a seasoning for this salad with dried oregano, garlic and pepper.

As you can now see, there are many ways that you can combine your low carb vegetables with other foods to make superb meals for you and others to enjoy. The main thing to remember is not to put foods like a heavy French dressing on your low carb vegetables. This will turn your nutritious low carb vegetables into something else entirely.

There are times in your low carbohydrate cooking when you can use only one of the low carb vegetables to create a magnificent meal that looks delicious. This type of low carb recipe will call for only a low carbohydrate vegetable like aubergine. This vegetable is very adaptable and you can cook it in a variety of ways.

When you make up your mind to eat low carb vegetables in this way, you take your cooking experience into another dimension of good food. The many low carb meals that you can find on the Internet, will let you make great dishes with your low carb vegetables. After all, low carbohydrate just means eating other types of vegetables and showing your taste buds low carb meals.

Do you need to lose those excess kilos rapidly? Well, take a free look at Low Carb Vegetables, by going to our website called The Atkins Diet Plan

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Atkins Diet Plan

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

You have decided that you’re going on a diet and you’ve told yourself that this will be the last one that you’ll ever do. The only reason for this is that you’ve already heard so much about the Atkins Diet, that you have total confidence in its ability to help you reduce weight and to keep it off. You know that with the help of the Atkins diet plan you can tailor make your diet to suit your body and your requirements.

When you commence your diet, you’ll get an Atkins diet plan that will get you going on the first leg of your dieting journey. This is phase one, called the induction phase, of the four phases which you will pass through. So, what you’re really getting with the Atkins diet plan is a great way for you to choose the path you take on your diet and how long it will take you to lose the amount of weight you choose to.

Although you need not follow the Atkins diet plan religiously, if you really want fast results, you will follow it religiously. So, stay away from the carbs and eat your way through high fat, high protein meals. Well, you won’t need to stay away from carbs entirely, you’ll just need to make yours a low carb diet instead of the high carb diet you’ve been following so unconsciously for most of your life.

However, by following the Atkins diet plan and all but cutting out carbs from your diet, you reduce the chances of your diet failing and going to the dogs. After all, this time you’ve decided that this is your last diet and that you’re going to make it work, so it is really no use tempting fate and going, even if slightly, off course from your Atkins diet plan.

Remember that the entire diet is adaptable to suit you, and to help you make your dieting restrictions easier to bear. With that in mind, also remember that you can also eat at least 20 carbs on the Atkins diet plan, but you will have a virtually unlimited variety of proteins and fats available to you. So, you don’t have to be afraid that your Atkins diet plan will deprive you of pleasures of eating well.

On the Atkins diet plan, you’ll find out that you can eat well without noticing the loss of your carbs very much. And even though you might think that cooking and planning meals will be a chore, if you have to stay within the restrictions of the Atkins diet plan, you’ll be pleasantly relieved to find that it is just not true.

There are many fantastic foods and meal plans available on the Atkins diet plan and if you can just make it through reading your Atkins diet plan, you’ll find that you really can get through this diet with practically no sacrifice on your part. Now that’s what I call the diet to end all diets! And isn’t that just what you wanted anyway?

Do you want to lose those excess pounds quickly? Well, take a free look at The Atkins Diet, by visiting our resource called The Atkins Diet Plan

Free Atkins Diet Plan.

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

What is the Atkins diet and what will you need to sacrifice to obtain the results you’ve seen other people get? So, you’re a size twelve, but you want to drop down to at least the size six that you were once, but you’ll settle for a size eight, if you have to. It doesn’t really matter as long you’re not anywhere near your current size twelve!

You’ll need to begin with some working knowledge of what the Atkins diet is all about and what it might entail. On the other hand, if you don’t want to get bogged down in detail, you could always just test an Atkins diet free plan, which might assist you to get an understanding of how Atkins dieting works.

There’s no definite place I can say for you to get an Atkins diet free plan of course, but I’ve discovered that the Internet is a great place for you to find out just about anything and everything you need to learn. Start by turning on your computer, it’s really amazing how many snotty looks I get when I state this blindingly obvious fact! In fact you probably rolled your eyes at me just now!

So, just search the Internet for an Atkins diet free plan, you’ll be surprised at the amount of other free plans that you’ll come up with as well. And if you’re not adamant about testing the Atkins diet way, then you might just test any one of the other free plans. As it suggests, it won’t cost you a penny more than the time spent surfing the web.

So, what can you possibly expect to gain from an Atkins diet free plan? To begin with, you can pinpoint which types of foods you can eat and which type of foods you’ll have to drop. If you’re thinking of going with the Atkins diet then in the induction phase alone, there are some things that you’ll need to give up in order to maintain your diet.

On that list of foodstuffs, that you may eat and still remain on your Atkins diet free plan, you’ll find that you can eat cream, cheese and butter so long as you remain within your moderate daily carbohydrate allowance, but out go the fruits, the breads, the pastas and the pizzas. Basically everything that tastes lovely, you may think.

However, it is not completely true, as you’ll see as you inspect the Atkins diet plan recipes which may or may not come with your Atkins diet free plan. There are plenty of great tasting foods which you can eat and although you might not not it yet they’ll include many of your favourite foods, just not everything high in carbs.

As far as drinks go, the same principles remain true as in the rest of the Atkins diet free plan. That means, you must avoid sugared drinks or sodas like Coke, Ovaltine and sugared tea or coffee. Furthermore, you have to be careful with coffee, because it can be more addictive while on the Atkins diet for some people.

Likewise, caution is required with regard to alcohol. Some types, like lager or sherry contain too many carbs, while others, like Guinness or whisky are all right in moderation. However, you should always refer to your Atkins diet free plan before deciding what you can or can not drink.

Do you want to lose those excess pounds quickly? Well, take a free look at Atkins Diet Free Plan, by going to our resource called The Atkins Diet Plan