Friday, October 13, 2006

How To Make Sure You Will Give Up On Your Weight Loss Resolution In 4 Weeks

The art of healthy lifestyles
Every year millions of us make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. Every year millions of us give up before the end of January. Let’s take a look at some of the things we do to set ourselves up for failure year after year.
Super Restrictive Diets
We all like instant gratification. We want to loose 30 pounds in 3 days. That’s what drives us to super restrictive diets that promise immediate fast results. We go on the soup diet, the rice diet or the egg diet. We are bound to give up – who can eat that stuff for 30 days straight?
The Juice Diet
With this particular diet, you don’t have anything other than water and this disgustingly sweet juice for 48 hours. Sure you’ll lose a few pounds of water when you first try it, but it’s obviously not a long-term diet plan.
Diet Pills
Diet Pills are supposed to work by suppressing your appetite and boosting your metabolism by using caffeine and similar stimulants. They don’t work well long term for two reasons. You don’t feel very well if you’re jacked up on caffeine that much. I tend to get grumpy, impatient and jittery. Secondly, their effects tend to wear off over time. Your body just gets used to all the extra stimulants and you loose the intended benefits and are simply stuck with a caffeine addition.
Low Carb Diet
Any diet that cuts out most of a major food group will be hard to stick with. Low carb diets were all the craze a few years ago, but are slowly starting to fade out. The reason is simple. In the long run, we don’t want to give up bread, pasta and rice.
You already know that these quick fix diets don’t work. You’ve probably made the New Year’s resolution to lose weight a few times and given up sooner or later. Make this year different. How? By using a more common sense approach to dieting. Eat healthy, make small changes to consume fewer calories and get more active. Slow and steady changes in what you eat and what you do will get you there. You will still be sticking to your resolution in February, March, and all the way into December.
Source:articlecity
The art of healthy lifestyles

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Vitamins Helpful for Depression


The art of Healthy Lifestyles
For millions of people living with depression there may be a simple, yet very effective, non-medicinal treatment for their depression. There are a number of vitamin deficiencies that can be responsible for depression. Likewise the addition of these vitamins and/or minerals to the diet of a person suffering from depression can be just what they need to start down the path to a happy, balanced life. Before I go any further it's necessary that I mention vitamin supplements are not a cure-all for all types of depression. For some people prescription drugs are necessary to manage their depression. However, vitamin supplements can still be very beneficial to those people, as well. It is always best to discuss the addition of any vitamins to your diet with your physician prior to making any changes. The balance of vitamins in your diet can sometimes be a delicate one. Add to that the fact that some vitamins may have an adverse reaction with certain medications and you can see why it's imperative to discuss the matter with your doctor. Below is a list of vitamins that can be very beneficial for people suffering from depression. * Vitamin B1 (thiamine): The brain uses this vitamin to help convert glucose into fuel, and without it the brain rapidly runs out of energy. This can lead to fatigue, depression, irritability, anxiety, and even thoughts of suicide. Deficiencies can also cause memory problems, loss of appetite, insomnia, and gastrointestinal disorders. The consumption of refined carbohydrates, such as simple sugars, drains the body's B1 supply. * Vitamin B3 (niacin): Pellagra-which produces psychosis and dementia, among other symptoms-was eventually found to be caused by niacin deficiency. Many commercial food products now contain niacin, and pellagra has virtually disappeared. * Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid): Symptoms of deficiency are fatigue, chronic stress, and depression. Vitamin B5 is needed for hormone formation and the uptake of amino acids and the brain chemical acetylcholine, which combine to prevent certain types of depression. * Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine): Aids in the processing of amino acids, which are the building blocks of all proteins and certain hormones. It's necessary in the manufacture of serotonin, melatonin and dopamine. Vitamin B6 deficiencies, although very rare, cause impaired immunity, skin lesions, and mental confusion. A marginal deficiency sometimes occurs in alcoholics, patients with kidney failure, and women using oral contraceptives. * Vitamin B12: Because vitamin B12 is important to red blood cell formation, deficiency leads to an oxygen-transport problem known as pernicious anemia. This disorder can cause a variety of symptoms including mood swings, paranoia, irritability, confusion, dementia, hallucinations, or mania, eventually followed by appetite loss, dizziness, weakness, shortage of breath, heart palpitations, diarrhea, and tingling sensations in the extremities. Deficiencies take years to develop, since the body stores a three to five year supply in the liver. When shortages occur, they are often due to a lack of intrinsic factor, an enzyme that allows vitamin B12 to be absorbed in the intestinal tract. Since intrinsic factor diminishes with age, B12 deficiencies are more common in older people. * Folic acid: This vitamin is needed for DNA synthesis and is also necessary for the production of S-adenosyl methionine. Poor dietary habits, illness, alcoholism, and various drugs, including aspirin, birth control pills, barbiturates, and anticonvulsants all contribute to deficiency of Folic acid. It is usually administered along with vitamin B12, since a B12 deficiency can mask a folic acid deficiency. It's advised that women take this vitamin prior to and during pregnancy to prevent neural tube defects in the developing fetus. * Vitamin C: Subclinical deficiencies of this vitamin can produce depression, which requires the use of supplements. Supplementation is especially important if you have had surgery or an inflammatory disease. Stress, pregnancy, and lactation also increase your body's need for vitamin C, while aspirin, tetracycline (a common antibiotic), and birth control pills can deplete the body's supply.
Vitamins Helpful for Depression
For millions of people living with depression there may be a simple, yet very effective, non-medicinal treatment for their depression. There are a number of vitamin deficiencies that can be responsible for depression. Likewise the addition of these vitamins and/or minerals to the diet of a person suffering from depression can be just what they need to start down the path to a happy, balanced life. Before I go any further it's necessary that I mention vitamin supplements are not a cure-all for all types of depression. For some people prescription drugs are necessary to manage their depression. However, vitamin supplements can still be very beneficial to those people, as well. It is always best to discuss the addition of any vitamins to your diet with your physician prior to making any changes. The balance of vitamins in your diet can sometimes be a delicate one. Add to that the fact that some vitamins may have an adverse reaction with certain medications and you can see why it's imperative to discuss the matter with your doctor. Below is a list of vitamins that can be very beneficial for people suffering from depression. * Vitamin B1 (thiamine): The brain uses this vitamin to help convert glucose into fuel, and without it the brain rapidly runs out of energy. This can lead to fatigue, depression, irritability, anxiety, and even thoughts of suicide. Deficiencies can also cause memory problems, loss of appetite, insomnia, and gastrointestinal disorders. The consumption of refined carbohydrates, such as simple sugars, drains the body's B1 supply. * Vitamin B3 (niacin): Pellagra-which produces psychosis and dementia, among other symptoms-was eventually found to be caused by niacin deficiency. Many commercial food products now contain niacin, and pellagra has virtually disappeared. * Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid): Symptoms of deficiency are fatigue, chronic stress, and depression. Vitamin B5 is needed for hormone formation and the uptake of amino acids and the brain chemical acetylcholine, which combine to prevent certain types of depression. * Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine): Aids in the processing of amino acids, which are the building blocks of all proteins and certain hormones. It's necessary in the manufacture of serotonin, melatonin and dopamine. Vitamin B6 deficiencies, although very rare, cause impaired immunity, skin lesions, and mental confusion. A marginal deficiency sometimes occurs in alcoholics, patients with kidney failure, and women using oral contraceptives. * Vitamin B12: Because vitamin B12 is important to red blood cell formation, deficiency leads to an oxygen-transport problem known as pernicious anemia. This disorder can cause a variety of symptoms including mood swings, paranoia, irritability, confusion, dementia, hallucinations, or mania, eventually followed by appetite loss, dizziness, weakness, shortage of breath, heart palpitations, diarrhea, and tingling sensations in the extremities. Deficiencies take years to develop, since the body stores a three to five year supply in the liver. When shortages occur, they are often due to a lack of intrinsic factor, an enzyme that allows vitamin B12 to be absorbed in the intestinal tract. Since intrinsic factor diminishes with age, B12 deficiencies are more common in older people. * Folic acid: This vitamin is needed for DNA synthesis and is also necessary for the production of S-adenosyl methionine. Poor dietary habits, illness, alcoholism, and various drugs, including aspirin, birth control pills, barbiturates, and anticonvulsants all contribute to deficiency of Folic acid. It is usually administered along with vitamin B12, since a B12 deficiency can mask a folic acid deficiency. It's advised that women take this vitamin prior to and during pregnancy to prevent neural tube defects in the developing fetus. * Vitamin C: Subclinical deficiencies of this vitamin can produce depression, which requires the use of supplements. Supplementation is especially important if you have had surgery or an inflammatory disease. Stress, pregnancy, and lactation also increase your body's need for vitamin C, while aspirin, tetracycline (a common antibiotic), and birth control pills can deplete
the body's supply.
The art of Healthy Lifestyles