Is Coffee Keeping Me Fat?

November 17, 2011 By

Billions of cups of coffee are consumed around the world every year and people often wonder if all of the coffee they are drinking is doing something to their body that keeps them from being fit.

The answer to this question would depend on what you are putting into the coffee. If you require whole milk in your coffee and a massive amount of sugar, or one of those fancy creamers then this will add to your calorie intake for the day.

People often forget to account for the things that they drink when they start to consider their calorie intake, especially when they are trying out a new diet. This often means that they are essentially putting syrup into their coffee and lots of sugar in order to make it as sweet as possible.

These additional things will significantly increase the amount of calories that you take in when consuming this cup of coffee. If you make your coffee the same way every time you are probably taking in a large portion of your daily allowance in coffee alone.

If you do not want to waste all of your calories on a coffee drink you will need to make better choices.

Putting no milk or sugar into your coffee would help you to eliminate almost all of the calories that it contains.  However if you cannot drink your coffee this way use a sweetener and a low fat milk that will eliminate a lot of the fat you are currently drinking.

Coffee in and of itself does not make you fat, it just depends on the way that you drink it. Adding a lot of sugar and high fat milk would make it very unhealthy for you.

There is one good thing about all of this though.  The fact is, coffee alone can boost your metabolism and help you to naturally burn more calories.  It also allows you to stay fuller for an extended period of time. For those who needed something to add to their diet for the purpose of weight loss it has been found that an HCG supplement works well for many people.

Cindy is a health and diet blogger who focuses with clients on the hcg diet protocol, with special attention on hcg drops.

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What Are Chickpeas and Why Are They So Healthy?

November 17, 2011 By

We don’t grow chickpeas in the United States, so you might think about them as some sort of exotic vegetable. The fact is that chickpea remains were found in the Mideast more than 7500 years ago, so they have been around for quite some time.

Not quite so exotic either. They have been used in the ancient times of Italy and Greece as a staple in vegetable soup recipes, flour, roasted snacks and desserts.

They were used around the world to make coffee, curry dishes and even for medicinal purposes. Our closest encounter and most common way of tasting chickpeas in the United States is in hummus. They are also know as garbanzo beans.

So whether you call them peas or beans, legumes or vegetables, they have been used for a long time in the rest of the world. Maybe because they are healthy for you. They are high in fiber and plant based protein.

One half cup of chickpeas will contain 4.5 grams of insoluble fiber and 1 gram of soluble fiber. Research has shown a link between a low intake of fiber and a greater risk of colon cancer. There is also evidence that dietary fiber has decreased the risk of breast cancer in women by decreasing the circulating estrogens linked to breast cancer.

Even if they are not so common, they are still easy to find. Look for them in the grocery store aisle with the canned vegetables. For those of us trying to eat less meat and find our source of protein in plant based vegetables, this is a great alternative.

Italian and Indian cuisine recipes offer you a lot of variety in the way that you use them. If you are cooking for two, soups are a great way to incorporate them into your diet because the leftovers are easy to store and use for another day.

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The Cayenne Pepper Diet: Is It Good For You

November 17, 2011 By

The controversy of cayenne pepper diet started when actress Beyonce Knowles loss weight quickly in a short span of time. It has been reported that she lived only on cayenne pepper and water and lost more or less 20 pounds while filming the movie “Dreamgirls”.

Basically the diet focuses on fluids alone and uses cayenne pepper simply to add taste to it as it appears to some. However, aside from simply taste, cayenne pepper has some recorded benefits.

Health benefits of cayenne pepper

Cayenne pepper indeed has a strong taste but it also has health benefits. In fact, it is a good aid in digestion, acts to strengthen the heart and a treatment for mild pain.

Furthermore, there have been reports that cayenne pepper is also being used as wound dressing technique. However, despite of the many gains you can get, it is not enough to cover all the daily nutrients you need.

The diet

The cayenne pepper diet that actress Beyonce Knowles is more likely a food starvation and a water flush diet. It may have stemmed from The Master Cleanser which does salt water flush to eliminate impurities in the body. It is believed that weight loss happens when all impurities are removed from the body.

Salt water flush

In doing the flush with salt water, it is best to do it in the morning before you do anything else. For most people who do it, it makes them visit the bathroom within 30 minutes to an hour after the drink. It is therefore advised to be close to the toilet if this happens.

Recommendation from The Master Cleanser says a quarter of the water preparation is ideal. However, if you think you can only tolerated 16 ounces, just start from there. It is no good drinking the whole solution and vomiting it all. Small amount that remain in the body is better. This is good in cleaning the entire digestive tract.

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The Best Protein Powder: Whey

November 17, 2011 By

If you go to any health store you will see that there are various brands and protein supplements available. There are three types of protein powders sold today.

We have casein and whey protein from cow’s milk, soy protein from soya beans and vegan protein from pea, hemp and various other vegetables sources. Experts and doctors today say that the best protein powder today is whey protein. Whey protein is great for athletes, bodybuilders and even regular people.

There are different forms or sub-categories of whey proteins too, whey isolates and whey concentrates. Whey isolates are absorbed and digested easily by the body. It is recommended that whey isolates are taken after workout sessions. This is the best protein powder for building muscle. However, whey isolates are not good options for other parts of the day. This is because of the fact that when the body does not need amino acids, it will use it as energy instead of using it to build muscles.

Whey protein is an example of milk protein. Milk proteins are proteins with high BV value. This means that it is very easy for the body to absorb, digest and utilize the protein. Aside from helping people who would like to build muscles, whey protein also contains glutathione. Glutathione fight free radicals and prevents certain cancers from wrecking havoc on the body. Glutathione not only prevents cancer also prevents heart attacks and Parkinson’s disease.

An intake of whey protein does not have any effect on your kidney if you have a perfectly functioning kidney in the first place. You just have to consult your doctor first prior to including protein in your diet and also remember to follow your doctor’s instructions or the instructions on the label itself. Never exceed the recommended amount of protein powder to be taken daily.

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Protein Bars and Whey Protein Powder Shakes

January 7, 2011 By

Protein bars have become much more available in recent years. Starting with the invention of the famous Clif bar, these supplements have spread like wildfire across the States and much of the Western World.  Indeed, Clif is now a worldwide brand, as is MuscleMilk.

Protein shakes and whey protein powder have gained popularity as well, partly due to the general trend of increased fitness awareness in America and also by piggybacking on the success of products such as protein bars. Whey protein powder has been crowned the most important dietary supplement in bodybuilding by world-class champions time and time again. And yet there is much that is still misunderstood about these simple protein supplements.

At the ground level, protein bars and shakes are both merely high protein foods. They work by giving your body a big helping of the perfect medicine – protein – without a lot of other ingredients to get in the way.

So even though a lot of people are afraid of whey protein powder and anything that contains it, or anything associated with brands which produce it, their fears are mostly baseless and should not be heeded. You can definitely hurt yourself by eating too many protein bars or by drinking a protein shake every hour of the day, thinking that this will help you to lose weight fast, but what food could you do that with and still be healthy?  There aren’t many.

Whey protein is not to blame for many of these issues, though it can play a role if misused, just like anything else. The key is in your hands however, to do what you want with it.  Many people include this as part of their diet plan to go along with their working out at home program.

Just remember that even though something might be completely natural, even completely legal, that doesn’t make it automatically healthy for everyone.  When in doubt, check with a medical professional and play it safe by starting with small doses to measure their effects.

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