Posts Tagged ‘weight loss supplements’

How To Lose Your Stubborn Belly Fat And Reduce Your Girth?

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

As we age, it becomes harder to lose fat whether by diets or exercise. Most of the time, we gain weight around our midsection and it can be very difficult to lose this fat. You may have noticed yourself developing a beer belly when you never touch the stuff; you are probably beginning to understand belly fat. This is where fat cells will typically settle in your body.

The body is naturally inclined to store belly fat against the possibility of famine. As human society has progressed, our bodies have not caught up with developments, meaning that our bodies will store fat even when there is no scarcity of food. Although we are at no risk of starvation, we still accumulate belly fat.

What happens when we attempt to lose fat through a diet, our body interprets this as a sign that we are experiencing a famine, meaning that your body will try to hold on to as much of the food energy as it can. It stores this energy in the form of fat. The key is to trick your metabolism by eating a variety of foods so that your body will not think that you are starving.

When you are exceptionally busy or stressed, you may not eat much - but you can still gain weight. This as a result of the metabolism thinking you are experiencing a famine, as well as the effects of Cortisol, an enzyme which is responsible for among other things, storing belly fat.

Many diets do not give the brain enough variety, and it will decrease the fat burning hormones and metabolism to meet the calorie intake. So, if you drop from 2,500 calories a day, to 1,000, your metabolism will drop from burning 2,500 calories to 1,000 and your weight will plateau. If you are trying to lose fat by dieting, then you need to eat a variety of foods, changing every couple days, since it will take a couple days for your body’s metabolism to catch up.

To lose belly fat, you have to fool your brain and your fat burning hormones into thinking that you are still getting ample calories, which will move your metabolism towards using up the food energy stored as belly fat.

When dieting to lose fat, you need to balance your fat burning hormone levels and your metabolism by eating the right amount of nutritional and fat burning calories. This will let you lose belly fat even while eating a lower calorie diet. Since your body will only use stored fat after burning what you are taking in, you will have to have a lower caloric intake while keeping your metabolism high.

The best way to understand belly fat and lose fat by dieting is eating a well-balanced, well-proportioned diet, with a variety of foods that allows you to eat numerous times of the day to keep fueling the body’s metabolism furnace, like the FatLoss4Idiots plan that is highly recommended at the link below.

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The Truth about Antioxidants and Aging

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

Would you like to slow down the aging process? Wouldn’t it be great if one of the anti-aging theories proved to be true? Has anyone actually found the Fountain of Youth? Well, research and studies have been conducted over and over again finding that antioxidants may work to slow down the aging process.

The truth about antioxidants and aging is this: there are benefits from natural antioxidants found in food, and from taking a high quality natural antioxidant supplement. These potential benefits include prevention against diseases and the process of aging is slowed down in your skin, cells, organs and tissues.

Fruits and leafy vegetables are natural sources of antioxidants, which, studies have shown, can protect our cells from damage caused by oxidation. One of the basic effects of this is the strengthening of our immune system, making us less susceptible to viruses and infections. Antioxidants are also known to lessen the risk of developing cancer cells, and lower possible incidence of diseases associated with the heart and bad cholesterol. The threat of macular degeneration, a form of blindness among the elderly, and glaucoma are also lessened. Having a stronger resistance against diseases and overall good health would also preserve our bodies from aging fast.

Vitamins A, C and E are the main antioxidants found in natural food, as well as the minerals zinc, beta-carotene, selenium and all of the phytonutrient carotenoids. As we consume food and breathe oxygen, we suffer from more and more free radicals. The oxygen causes the free radicals to increase. As we get older, it is just harder and harder for our body to fight these free radicals. The free radicals multiply in our body and cause illnesses, disease and generally downgraded health. Antioxidants help to fight these free radicals, giving you a weapon to combat these free radicals from doing further damage to your body.

These antioxidants combat the oxidative damage brought about by free radicals in our cells and tissues. The more antioxidants present in the body, the better our chances for keeping our bodies healthy and diseases away.

Even if you already know what to eat, the problem is that people just don’t consume enough natural foods to actually get the amount of antioxidants they need. It is vital that you choose a high quality supplement that contains all of the daily vital antioxidants you need in order to get them to the cells and other parts of the body so that the aging process is slowed down.

The main list of antioxidant rich fruits and veggies are: tomatoes, berries, oranges, pink grapefruit, beets, red peppers, carrots, apricots, plums, peaches, papaya, red grapes, broccoli, spinach, greens, and Brussels sprouts

Try to get as many of these healthy foods in your diet everyday to get you much needed dose of antioxidants. An anti-oxidant supplement will also go a long way in strengthening your body and slowing down the aging process.

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Acai Berry Powder: Where to Buy the Best Acai Powder

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

If you are considering getting into the new acai berry powder craze, you’re not alone. Millions of Americans are discovering the potential behind one of the most nutritious super fruits to hit the market. But there are numerous pitfalls when you start looking for places to buy the best acai powder. If you don’t know what to look for and what to avoid, you may end up getting a vastly inferior product or even getting tangled up in a scam. So make sure you educate yourself about the product before you buy.

What are the common pitfalls?

Knowing what to avoid is difficult given how crafty some companies can be. The biggest thing to avoid is a company which produces an inferior product or skips steps to save money. Often, these products cost the same and are virtually worthless. The biggest offenders are companies which use a spray-drying process to turn their acai berries into powder. The heating process removes the majority of the nutrients from the acai fruit. To make it even worse, they have to add maltodextrin, which the body absorbs as glucose. And it is not required that they list this maltodexrin on the label so you may not even know.

What makes a superior acai berry product?

Since many companies are able to hide their shortcuts, knowing what to look for in a good product can save you a lot of time and money. Since the maltodextrin added in spray-dried products does not have to be listed as an ingredient, the only way to know that you are getting a freeze-dried product is to check that the company specifically says it makes only freeze-dried supplements. You will also want to make sure they use only wild-harvested, organic berries without any additives and fillers. Wild-harvested, organic products will be free of chemical insect repellants and fertilizers.

What is the best source for acai berry powder?

Given the sheer number of companies trying to make money from the acai berry craze, you may be struggling to find one that is high quality and does not make you feel uneasy about giving them your business. The first thing you want to look for in a powder product is freeze-dried acai. The other method of drying the berries is by spray-drying. This method is inferior to freeze-drying because most of the nutritents are destroyed during the process. The second thing you want to look for is wild harvested, organic acai. This will ensure that the product is free from any insecticides and fertilizers.

Going by the best guidelines for determining quality acai berry powder products, you’ll easily be able to spot the best supplements and products for the dollar!

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The New Weight Loss Miracle Is Berries

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

If you looked at the polls that people take every new years eve, the most popular resolution people say they want to do is lose more weight. Everyone wants to shed a few pounds to fit into that bathing suit they haven’t been in for years.

Obesity is a huge growing threat to the American society. More and more people are becoming legally overweight and America is pushing itself as the fattest country yet. Since so many individuals hate exercising, the trend is only going to get worse until a quick fix solution is found.

Recently after the popularity of being featured on large TV shows like Oprah, superfruits are gaining massive popularity. If you could eat a few berries or even pop a pill every morning and lose pounds without changing your diet, wouldn’t you?

American’s and much of the other parts of the world go crazy over crash diets, because they are supposed to be easy enough for everyone. It is also a quick fix to the hard work of hitting the treadmill every day. That is why people can see themselves eating a berry after work, as it is simple and effective.

The two most popular berries that make you look younger and feel healthier available today are the maqui berry and the acai berry. Both of these berries is packed with antioxidants to help you live a healthier life.

Ten years ago, your parents might have told you to eat your vegitables and drink a glass of milk. In ten more years, the common thing to do might be to tell your children to pop the purple maqui berry pill every morning with their vitamins.

With these berries growing in popularity for their powerful benefits, the surplus of them is dropping. As more people want them, the demand and prices for them increase.

Luckily, the most powerful antioxidant filled berry in the world is still relatively young. The maqui berry is still very cheap to acquire, and there are numerous free trial bottles around the web right now. If you are looking to try out this exotic powerful berry, you would be wiser to do it sooner than later as I am sure the price will increase with popularity.

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Acai Roots Review - The Real Deal or Another Supplement Scam?

Friday, July 31st, 2009

In this Acai Roots review, we will not only take a closer look at this brand of acai supplements but we will also get to know what makes for a supplement scam and an inferior line of products. With the many companies touting different health supplements these days, we should be careful that what we are getting is worth the money we are spending. Let’s find out how Acai Roots holds up to scrutiny.

Acai Roots is one of many companies currently selling acai supplements. They have offices in the United States and in South America where the acai grows naturally. They claim to sell a completely pure product grown naturally in Para, northern Brazil. But there are a few things to consider before determining if Acai Roots is a company worth your patronage.

Acai Roots Products

Let’s face it, you are mostly concerned with the product itself. If the supplement is enhanced artificially or loaded with fillers, you may be paying for cheap fluff or even ingredients which could be bad for you. Fortunately, the product you get from Acai Roots is grown naturally and organically in Brazil. It is wilf-harvested so no land is destroyed to farm the berries. It also ensures organic quality since there are no chemicals used on the wild trees.

But the harvesting is only half of the process. The manufacturing process is where many companies get greedy and spoil a good product. It is well-known that the only way to lock in the nutrients of the acai berry and still preserve it for shipping is to freeze-dry it. The acai berry does not ship very well. It spoils within about 24 hours of being harvested. Because of this, many people in the United States will never have a fresh acai berry. But a freeze-dried product can contain as much as 50 times the level of antioxidants as a spray-dried product. Spray-drying is the use of heat to remove the liquid from the berry followed by a spraying of maltodextrin on the product. Not only will the supplement lose nutrients, but the product now contains a chemical which is processed as a fatty sugar by the body. Acai Roots promises never to use spray-dried products.

Acai Roots Business Practices

Acai Roots makes a promise to deliver a quality product. But even a company which sells a good product may still take advantage of customers. In fact, acai scams are quite common and are a big concern for anyone looking to get in on the acai supplement craze. Businesses take many different approaches to get your money. One way is to shove a celebrity endorsement down your throat. Any company which feels it necessary to claim a celebrity is their spokesperson may just be trying to lure in customers without using a good business model. You also need to look out for free sample scams. These are often just a way to sign you up for a newsletter and charge you fees. While you are being charged, the company will delay any attempt to cancel so you end up paying even more. They rely on the fact that most people will not fight the charges and simply pay them.

Not only does Acai Roots let their products speak for themselves, they also have a wide array of products to choose from. You can get the standard capsule, but you also have a choice of smoothies and frozen pulp. Regardless of which product you choose, Acai Roots backs it completely.

The Company

Let’s face it. Even if the product is good and the business is conducted well, you don’t want to support a company that takes shortcuts which may damage the environment or take advantage of local workers. Not only does Acai Roots make sure they don’t endanger the people or the land, they actually give back. It is unfortunately rare that a company gives back to the people, but Acai Roots has a long list of socially and economically responsible activities. From protecting the rainforest in which the acai berry is found to helping the people living in needless squalor in Brazilian slums, Acai Roots shows the social responsibility that too many companies shirk.

In a nutshell, what does Acai Roots bring to the table? It is first and foremost a company that produces a complete line of high-quality pure acai supplements. Secondly, it’s also a business that doesn’t make any exaggerated claims or resort to gimmicks and false endorsements. You don’t see Acai Roots offering any free trials or making specific references to the acai’s weight loss effects. Lastly, Acai Roots is a socially-responsible company that strives to make things better not only for the business but also for the community and environment as well. This Acai Roots review should put all doubts about this brand of acai supplements to rest.

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Acai Berry Diet as Seen on Oprah: Acai, Oprah, and the Truth

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Many people who know about acai berry supplements first heard about the acai berry diet as seen on Oprah. However, if you are considering buying from a company which claims that Oprah endorses their product, you may be setting yourself up for a scam. As Oprah’s lawyers have recently made plainly clear with their lawsuits, Oprah does not endorse any acai berry products. So why all the hype claiming she does?

What The Scammers Claim

First, you have to understand what some acai berry diet companies are claiming. Some will flat out say that Oprah has used their product and recommends it. Others may claim she recommends it through her guests such as Doctor Oz. There have been rumors that some actors, looking to shed weight quickly for roles, have used acai berry supplements as a standalone weight loss drug. In addition, some companies are touting their supplements as libido enhancers or anti-aging drugs. These companies will claim that Oprah or other celebrities completely back these ridiculous claims.

The Truth

Oprah is simply amazed at the acai berry’s nutritional value and great potential, but that’s the extent of what she has to say about it. No endorsement of any brand of supplements was made. Nor was there even a mention of acai berry as a weight loss product. Any company touting these as factual statements apparently has no qualms of spreading lies and should be avoided at all costs. Oprah’s lawyers are now going after these unscrupulous companies and are bent on making these people liable for such fallacious statements.

Why the Need to Resort to False Claims?

You have to understand the amount of power Oprah has over consumers. The products that she does endorse on her show often experience a huge boom immediately after her support is shown. Some businesses can’t even keep up with the amount of requests they get after Oprah endorses them. For a scam company with a junk product, this presents an amazing opportunity to essentially rob people of their money. They may pay only pennies to produce their product by skipping proper manufacturing processes, then they sell it to you for a competitive price. Even if their scam only lasts a few months before it is shut down, they stand to make hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Other false claims that acai promoters make is when they tout it as a quick weight loss or anti-aging product. While acai berry does have a lot of potential benefits, it does not perform miracles. If you come across a certain company that makes such dubious statements, let that be a red flag for you. And remember, there was no such thing as an endorsement of any acai berry products on Oprah.

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The Health Benefits of Acai Berry and What They Mean for You

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

Acai berry has recently jumped into the health food market with a splash and the health benefits of acai berry are are receiving a great deal of attention. Celebrities and doctors are all promoting the acai berry as the new number one super fruit. There are many different ways in which the ingredients in acai berries are thought to improve quality of life. While the berries themselves are still being studied, they contain many beneficial elements which have been studied for a while.

Your Immune System

Acai berries are known to contain an incredible amount of antioxidants. Antioxidants have long been known to slow the progress of free radicals. Free radicals are atoms which are missing an electron in their standard pair. They make up for this by stealing electrons from other atoms. If you have an overabundance of free radicals in your system, you are at higher risk for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and certain types of cancer. While acai berries do not offer a cure for cancer, anything that could potentially reduce the risk for such diseases is welcomed by consumers.

Does Acai Help in Weight Loss Too?

Even if you have no current medical problems, you still have to work at staying that way. Acai berries are rich in fiber, which has long been known to promote a healthy lifestyle. Fiber can also help with digestive tract issues and can lead to easier weight loss for those looking to shed pounds. The health benefits of acai berry don’t stop there. Acai berries also contain unsaturated fats. These are the good fats which can be a major source of Omega fatty acids, which is essential to the body, but must come from outside sources as the body cannot manufacture it.

The Heart Matters

Acai berries are also being studied for other health reasons. They contain a chemical in the skin called anthocyanins. Found in grapes as well, this pigment was studied as a part of The French Paradox. It was discovered that French people suffer from lower rates of coronary heart disease even though their diet is rich in fats. This is believed to be in part because of the anthocyanins in the red wine they drink often. The vitamin E and antioxidants in acai berries are also thought to help reduce the damage the sun causes to your skin. This could lead to reduced signs of aging. Native Brazilians also refer to the acai berry as “rainforest Viagra.” The potential benefits there are fairly obvious.

While acai berry supplements will not cure everything, they are being studied as an extremely good way to improve your healthy lifestyle. Whether you are looking to lose weight or simply get a source of antioxidants, acai berries may have what you are looking for. The potential health benefits of acai berry are just now being uncovered and are definitely worth adding to your daily diet!

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How To Kill Hunger With This Powerful Homemade Hoodia Shake

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

I’m a big fan of hoodia shake products because they combine two very powerful natural appetite suppressants - protein and hoodia gordonii. Protein powders have been used by dieters as an effective appetite suppressant for years. Not too many people realize it, but protein shakes alone can stop hunger in its tracks. Now combine it with hoodia gordonii’s ability to suppress appetite and you have one hunger-busting product!

Hoodia shakes are a quick and easy product to use, however I do have a few concerns. Firstly, it can be quite hard to find them, and there isn’t much choice or variation in flavours because there are only a few products available. What is available, tends to be very expensive, which means you are paying a top price for something that is basically protein powder which has only a small amount of hoodia gordonii in each scoop.

Almost all of the hoodia shakes I have seen for sale only contain around 500mg of hoodia gordonii in each scoop - some contain much less than this. The shake I’m telling you how to make in this article will contain at least 750mg of hoodia gordonii per scoop, and what’s more, it will be much cheaper than buying any product that is already available.

The advantage of creating your very own hoodia shake is that you have much more control over the ingredients of your drink. You can choose whether you want to use whey or soy protein, and you can also choose your favorite flavor. Many protein powders have interesting flavours, allowing you to be as creative as you can.

The first ingredient you will need for your hoodia shake is your favourite brand of protein powder. You will be able to pick up a 2-pound tub of high quality powder relatively cheaply, and this should give you at least 30 servings. Next, you need to buy a hoodia dietary pill - make sure it contains 100% authentic hoodia gordonii as these supplements will contain around 750mg of hoodia in each pill.

Then what you do is add one scoop of your favorite protein powder to a glass of lowfat milk or water. Then pull apart one hoodia gordonii capsule and add the powder from it to your drink. The capsules will pull apart fairly easy. Then mix the drink well or blend it with ice if you want and enjoy! You’ve just made a tasty and highly effective appetite suppressant for much less than you’d pay for any hoodia shake available today!

What I love about making my own appetite suppressing hoodia shakes is that I am completely in charge of the ingredients. I can add more protein powder, or more hoodia gordonii if I wish, and can make each drink different to match how I am feeling that day. I also have the option of adding other ingredients to change the flavour or offer me more benefits, like the extra hunger suppressing power of fibre for example.

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Those Free Hoodia Trials May Not Be What You Think

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Who doesn’t like free stuff? I know the popularity of free hoodia samples is very tempting to people. After all, hoodia is fast becoming one of the top weight loss supplements available. Who wouldn’t want a free sample of an all natural weight loss supplement that has virtually no side effects?

There are several brands of hoodia diet pills on the market today. In order to be competitive, many supplement companies offer free hoodia samples. The idea behind these free hoodia trials is that you’ll be enticed to try the product and if it works, you’ll buy more. Free hoodia trials can be a win-win proposition because the consumer gets to try hoodia for free and the company selling the product gets an opportunity to make more sales with future purchases.

Yet, there is an ugly side to free hoodia samples that you need to know about. With some people reporting that nearly 80% of the hoodia being sold are actually fakes, trying these products probably won’t do you any good! Only hoodia products that are made with authentic hoodia gordonii work to suppress the appetite. Trying free samples of an inferior or fake product can make you believe that all hoodia doesn’t work - and that’s not true.

Before you enter into these free hoodia trials, you need to make sure that what you are getting is authentic. Since most hoodia diet pills are fake, you need to know what to look for to avoid being scammed. While there are several things to look for before you accept these free hoodia samples, the two most important are CITES certificates and independent lab test results.

CITES is a certificate that is required by all companies who import and sell authentic hoodia gordonii. If a company doesn’t obtain one, they can’t legally import and sell hoodia. Since fake hoodia is so prevalent, companies that sell real hoodia gordonii want to make sure that the consumers know that what they are selling is authentic. To do that, they will have their products randomly tested on a regular basis by independent labs for authenticity.

Companies that are on the up-and-up will display their certificates and lab test results. It is there way of assuring consumers that they are using authentic hoodia in their products. If you find yourself on a website and you can’t locate a CITES certificates or lab test results, you can be guaranteed they are not dealing in authentic hoodia. Agreeing to receive free hoodia samples from them is a bad idea.

The other thing to be cautious of with these free hoodia trials is the actual cost of accepting them. When you sign up for these free hoodia samples you are usually charged a small shipping and handling fee. You are given a certain amount of time to sample the product. If you don’t do anything after the trial period ends, you are charged for the products and are automatically enrolled in an autoship program.

When you are signed up in an autoship program, a company may ship you a 30 or 60 day supply of their hoodia every month or so. These programs can be cost effective and convenient if you are dealing with a company that is producing authentic hoodia gordonii supplements.

If you sign up for free hoodia samples, make sure you understand how to cancel out of the trial and that you know whether you are being enrolled into an autoship program. Many companies will try to make you believe it’s easy to get out of these programs. But, in many cases it’s not as easy as they would have you believe.

There are many people who have had their credit ruined simply because they accepted some free hoodia samples. They were unable to cancel their trials because they couldn’t get in touch with representatives of the company, or their requests to cancel were ignored. But, charges were made like clockwork to their credit cards for the hoodia they were automatically being shipped.

Be smart before you accept any free hoodia samples. Make sure you have read all the information involved in receiving the samples. Make sure you have a telephone number for the company. Before you agree to the samples, call the number and see if there is a person on the other end who can answer your questions about the free hoodia trial. Talking with someone can help you determine if the company is on the up-and-up.

If you are given an email address, you can do the same. Send an email to see if you get a response. Do they respond in a timely fashion and do they answer all your questions? If you can’t get through to a live person or if they don’t respond to your emails, then don’t accept the free hoodia trial!

Yes, free hoodia samples and hoodia trials are a wonderful way to save money while you sample hoodia products. Just be very cautious about who you hand over your credit card information to and make sure they are a reputable company that isn’t full of loopholes. These guidelines should help you find legitimate free hoodia samples without wrecking your credit in the process!

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Things You Should Know Before Selecting An Acai Berry Product

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

If you haven’t heard about the benefits of Acai Berry you must live under a rock. Lately a lot of suppliers have started selling this product and because of that it can be difficult determining the best one to use. Because of this sudden increase in the availability of the manufacturing of acai berry it is imperative that you know what how to find the best acai berry products on the market.

First it’s important to note that though many people use acai for it’s ability to help them lose weight a top notch acai berry product will give excellent results for your overall health.

An acai product that has all the right ingredients will help with weight loss by acting as an appetite suppressant. It will speed up your metabolism, it will have tons of antioxidants that are good for fighting radicals which cause aging ,it will also provide much needed protein, vitamins, and fiber this is truly a superfood.

Just because a product states that it has acai berry doesn’t necessarily mean that it has enough acai in it to be useful. Some manufactures mix in too many fillers within their product therefore this can create a reverse effect or no effect at all.

Therefore making sure your product has the highest levels of pure acai available in it should be amongst one of your top concerns. The more acai present in the supplement you decide to take the more benefits your will experience.

In addition to selecting a product that has a large percentage of acai berry, you must also ensure that the acai product you select includes properly harvested acai. Because after all there is no sense of having a large amount of useless acai berry, and if this berry isn’t properly harvested it will lose a lot of the nutrients that are inherent in this superfood.

The last question, which is not quite as important as the other factors is,”Does the supplement you’re looking at have a free trial?” Because not all acai berry products are created equal and not all people are created it equal. It’s definitely a plus to select a product with a free trial so you can try before you buy.

Because acai is so powerful it shouldn’t take longer than your free trial period before you decide if the product you’ve selected is going to work for you.

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