Calorie counting? Eating healthy food without restriction? How does a person obtain their ideal, healthy weight?
For those who have asked this question, the video below addresses the ongoing debate between calorie counting and eating nutritious foods.
A recent study that was reported in the New York Times discovered that people who concentrated on eating mostly real, whole foods and vegetables and who cut back on processed foods, sugar and certain grains, lost good amounts of weight during the year-long study. The people in the study didn’t limit their portion sizes and didn’t keep track of the number of calories they ate.
Check out the two-minute video below to see some of the very best foods one can eat.
A healthy bacteria similar to the acidophilus used in yogurt has been found in a Canadian study to help overweight women to lose weight and keep it off.
Known as “probiotics”, these healthy bacteria in the intestine are “pro” or beneficial to the health of the body.
They stimulate the immune system to be stronger, keep the stomach and bowels healthy, and help urinary health.
In addition, an earlier Stanford University study found that obese people have different gut bacteria than normal-weighted people — a first indication that gut bacteria can play a role in overall weight.
The Stanford University research has now spurred a new study, done by a team of researchers at the University of Laval in Quebec Canada. Headed by Professor Angelo Tremblay, the researchers sought to confirm the premise that consuming probiotics could help reset the balance of intestinal flora in favor of those that promote a healthy weight.
It may be that a diet high in fat and low in fiber leads to certain bacteria flourishing at the expense of others. They recruited 125 overweight people to test this theory.
During the first 12-week period of the Canadian study, the subjects underwent a weight-loss diet. This was followed by a 12-week period aimed at maintaining their body weight. Throughout the entire 24 weeks, half of the subjects took two pills daily containing probiotics, while the other half received placebos.
After the 12-week dieting period, there was an average weight loss of 8.8 pounds in the women in the probiotics group and 5.7 pounds for women in the placebo group.
The interesting difference is that at the end of the 12-week maintenance period, the weight of the women in the placebo group stayed the same, but the probiotics group continued to lose weight – a total of 11.5 pounds per person. Upon testing, these women demonstrated having a drop in an appetite-regulating hormone, as well as less of the intestinal bacteria related to obesity.
Professor Tremblay concluded that probiotics may make the intestinal wall stronger and more able to prevent inflammatory substances from passing into the intestine and entering the bloodstream. Those very substances and molecules that can lead to diabetes and obesity. He believes that several types of the probiotics found in yogurts and supplements can have a similar effect. Their study was published in the British Journal of Nutrition.
Yogurt helps weight loss and its also a proven natural sleep aid due to the high amount of calcium it contains. William Sears, M.D. says: “Calcium helps the brain use the amino acid tryptophan to manufacture the sleep-inducing substance melatonin.”
Dr. Sears continues and says: “This explains why dairy products, which contain both tryptophan and calcium, are one of the top sleep-inducing foods.”
Calcium is directly related to our cycles of sleep. In one study published in the European Neurology Journal, researchers found that calcium levels in the body are higher during some of the deepest levels of sleep, such as the rapid eye movement (REM) phase.
One calcium-based supplement shown to be effective for insomnia is Sleep Minerals II from Nutrition Breakthroughs. This formula contains highly absorbable forms of calcium and magnesium, which are the best minerals for sleeplessness and insomnia, menopause insomnia, teenage insomnia, heart health, restless legs syndrome and bone strength.
Sleep Minerals II also includes vitamin D and zinc and is delivered in a softgel form with healthy carrier oils, making it more quickly absorbable than hard tablets or capsules and providing a deeper, longer-lasting sleep.
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This news is provided by Nutrition Breakthroughs. Since 2001, Nutrition Breakthroughs has provided natural health articles and effective natural remedies. Their mission is to provide nutritional supplements that work well and help people to avoid drugs and their side effects.
Since 2009, their natural sleep remedy Sleep Minerals II has been keeping that promise — by soothing even the worst insomnia and helping everyone from teenagers to seniors to get a good night’s sleep. For more information, visit the Sleep Minerals II page.
