Health for life

The information you need to avoid foods which will encourage weight gain or promote poor health is required reading on every nutrition label. The problem is many people are unable to decode the gibberish and misleading terms used to disguise the worst food ingredients. It seems as though there should be a special encyclopedia to help the consumer avoid the most dangerous health degrading components of their favorite processed food staples.

Of course, the best rule of thumb would be to eat food in their natural form, easily avoiding all the deadly sugar and processed carbs and chemicals hiding in most foods. Foods which will help you drop weight and promote health don’t have an ingredient list or use names which are difficult to pronounce. The reality is that foods manufactured in a food laboratory are a part of our diet, and we need to become savvy about what is in the foods we eat to preserve health and lose weight.

The results of a study published in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, found that people who want to lose weight are much more likely to read nutrition labels, and note that this may have an even larger impact on weight loss than regular exercise. There is still much confusion about serving size, sugar and carbohydrate content and ingredient listing for many who try to decipher the typical nutrition label. Understanding the buzz words to watch for will help you to drop weight and naturally promote health.

Food manufacturers use very subtle deception to make you think their food is lower in calories at a quick glance. They post unrealistic serving sizes to make the calories appear less, with the knowledge that most people will eat much more than the paltry serving size listed.

Look caully when purchasing at the store and be certain you understand that often the calories listed in bold are most likely half of what you will end up eating. Once you realize how quickly most processed foods add on the calories, you’ll want to substitute fruit, vegetables, or a reduced calorie option to hit your daily target.

The fat category creates much confusion for many consumers. We have been so conditioned by pharmaceutical ads to avoid cholesterol that we end up choosing high carb, low fat foods which ruin health. Saturated fats and cholesterol from foods are not the problem, and do not contribute to poor health or excess weight as long as they are eaten uncooked and accounted for as part of your daily caloric goal. Trans fats should be avoided entirely, and be sure to watch for hydrogenated fats on the label. There is no safe level of these deadly fats which increase your risk of heart disease by 25%.

Many people with an interest in their health are avoiding added sugar and high fructose corn syrup when they read nutritional labels, understanding that these additives cause metabolic imbalance and lead to weight gain. Manufacturers know this and now want to be able to call high fructose corn syrup simply corn sugar on nutritional labels. This is yet another example of the deceitful marketing tactics which are permitted to continue, making it difficult to avoid dangerous chemicals in our food supply.

Reading nutritional labels is becoming an important tool used my many weight and health conscious consumers. Look at every label before you purchase, with a watchful eye for serving size, trans fats and high fructose corn syrup and learn the variety of names these ingredients lurk behind. By eliminating poor food choices, you’ll be able to reach your weight loss target quicker and avoid the health pitfalls of eating a diet high in artificial chemicals.

Our diet has changed significantly over the past half century as the main staples of our diet have quickly shifted from health promoting vegetables and foods eaten in their natural form toward a wide variety of processed foods impregnated with chemicals and created in a food laboratory. Most people eat a diet which consists almost exclusively of ined foods which are nutritionally deficient and packed with sugar, fructose and deadly trans fats which are known to contribute to excess weight.

Junk food has become so prevalent in our diet that the baby carrot industry has begun to package and market their product as junk food in an attempt to increase market share. The industry is spending 25 million dollars to transform their image to a market which thrives on junk food and buys snacks and entire meals from a vending machine.

The industry is packaging baby carrots with artificial preservatives and other unnatural chemical enhancements so they can be sold in school vending machines. While nutritional information is not yet available for prepackaged carrots, calories and nutritional content will likely be similar to eating a candy bar with the same devastating effect on health and body weight.

It’s no secret that a diet high in fresh vegetables and leafy greens promotes good health and assists in weight loss. The anemic and outdated USDA food pyramid recommends that we eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day, and many nutrition and weight loss experts say those numbers should be doubled. In addition to providing a wide variety of essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, vegetables fill you up quickly with plenty of fiber and minimal calories.

According to the results of a comprehensive nationwide behavioral study issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vegetable and fruit consumption over the past decade, only 26% of adults ate vegetables three or more times per day. The number had not changed over the past ten years, indicating the marketing efforts of the CDC were ineffective compared to the billions spent by fast food and processed junk food companies to promote their unhealthy fare.

Vegetables are packed with vital nutrients which are known to influence our cells on a genetic level to reduce the risk from many diseases while promoting natural weight loss. Junk food has the opposite effect as the synthetic chemicals which have been used to manufacture these foods are released into the body creating a toxic overload every time you eat.

Chemicals in processed foods are broken down by the body and must be stored in our body fat to prevent the risk of immediate disease. Over the course of many years these chemicals accumulate to dangerous levels and can initiate an array of potentially deadly conditions including heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Chemical overload from excessive junk food consumption also provokes metabolic dysfunction leading to uncontrollable blood sugar levels, insulin resistance and weight gain.

Packaged food represents a significant health hazard to the millions of unsuspecting consumers who eat these foods several times each day. They are a significant factor in the explosion of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorder and obesity. Plan your menu to include at least ten servings of fresh vegetables and healthy greens daily, while minimizing or eliminating processed foods, sugar and ined carbs from your diet. Natural weight loss, optimal health and longevity will be your reward.

As the rate of overweight and obese individuals continues to rise with no end in sight, there’s good news emerging about the power of natural nutrients such as pomegranate that act on a genetic level to halt the accumulation of abdominal fat. Many people are aware that they need to lose weight but can’t seem to make the necessary lifestyle and dietary adjustments that will help them achieve their goal. Pomegranate and other natural nutrients may provide the key as they can be used to compliment healthy diet and physical activity toward your weight loss goal.

Pomegranate is truly a super nutrient as it has been shown to clear dangerous blood fats known as triglycerides before they are converted to a form of fat which can be stored in our fat cells. This is important because lowered triglycerides have been shown to reduce the risk for heart disease and death from a heart attack.

Excess triglycerides form in the blood in response to a diet high in ined, processed carbohydrates and hydrogenated fats. The results of a study performed at the University of Edinburgh and reported by the Daily Mail confirms that pomegranate consumption for a period of 30 days was sufficient to lower the risk of developing fatty cells around the abdomen. Researchers note that this type of fat accumulation is the most dangerous type as it causes the release of stress hormones which fuel inflammation and promote heart disease.

Resveratrol has gained acclaim as a super nutrient that has been shown to function at the genetic level by influencing genes known as SIRT’s which we have evolved through a sophisticated mechanism designed to keep us alive during times of famine. Our survival genes have the opposite effect when we overeat, as they fuel the aging process and no longer effectively protect us from disease.

Resveratrol is one of the few nutrients which can directly regulate the SIRT genes and mimic calorie restriction without having to eat less. This powerful compound found in the skin of red grapes switches the genes that control the release of dangerous chemical messengers from our fat cells in response to excess weight, and naturally promotes weight loss when combined with a reduced calorie diet.

The fat cells of overweight and obese individuals is metabolically active and releases a steady stream of chemical messengers known as cytokines which circulate throughout the body and lead to chronically elevated levels of inflammation. This dangerous condition makes weight loss much more difficult and also is a known risk factor for heart disease and cancer.

Quercetin is a natural agent found in many fruits and vegetables that has a demonstrated ability to lower inflammatory cytokines by acting directly on the genes that produce these damaging compounds. By damping the flames of inflammation, quercetin is able to reduce the risk of many deadly diseases and assists natural weight loss by creating an environment which encourages fat metabolism.

Nature has provided a host of natural nutrients which we can combine with healthy diet and physical activity to improve health and achieve our weight loss goals. Pomegranate is the latest addition to the list of powerful nutrients that have been shown to regulate our genes and influence our ability to burn stored fat.