To take vitamins or not to take vitamins?

(It's best to eat right, but if you find it difficult, a multivitamin can help)

It's absolutely important that our body gets the nutrients it needs to function effectively and efficiently. However in this modern time it has become more distinct that we tend to supercede health with convenience and instant gratification. In this fast paced world where career and education demands all our time, we learn to favor what's quick and easy to obtain especially when it comes to food.

We turn to fast foods and junk foods instead of the good old balance daily diet. The lack of balanced diet in addition to the daily stress of pollution depletes our body of nutrients. Is it any wonder why cancer and other chronic diseases became rampant during the turn of the century? It's up to us to replace these nutrients. We can do this through healthy nutrition, or better yet, through healthy nutrition and proper supplementation.

For the average person, it's difficult to get the proper amount of nutrients needed from food alone. Have you ever wondered how many people actually eat five to ten vegetables and fruits a day? Or who drinks seven to nine glasses of water each day? Even the healthiest of eaters cannot be assured that they are getting the recommended amount of vitamins and minerals. Mainly because it's hard to judge exactly how much nutrients you are getting from the food you are eating.

In a report printed in 1940 regarding the nutrient content of spinach, it laments the high depletion percentage of iron and other minerals found in the plant mostly due to soil depletion, mono-cropping, artificial fertilization, and lack of varieties. Since that period, nutrients in both fruits and vegetables persistently depleted, not to mention that certain forms of cooking in fact destroy the vitamins and minerals in the food. This is why taking a multivitamin supplement would be so advantageous.

Eating a balanced diet and then supplementing it with a quality multivitamin will be the most logical and sound decision to make. We'll be able to get the nutrients that our body needs from the food and then back it up with the multivitamin for a powerful effect.
There are four forms of mulivitamins available in the market today, that's capsule, tablet, soft gel, and liquid. Liquid multivitamins will be the easiest for our body to absorb because there's literally nothing for our digestive system to breakdown.

Capsules and soft gels are also a good choice when it comes to the forms of multivitamins with regards to absorption rate. While tablets on the other hand, will be the hardest for our body to breakdown and absorb. Remember, that no two individuals will respond similarly from taking any type of vitamin or mineral supplement, because each individual have different metabolisms, eating habits, exercise regiment, or sleeping habits, and are under different amount of stress or even take their supplements differently.

I often heard it say that supplements are expensive, and many feel they cannot afford them. I find it ironic though that those same people who cannot afford to take supplements can afford to buy soda, latte, cigarettes, alcohol, or coffee, why not save your money for your health? There are cheap supermarket multivitamins that are inexpensive however they cannot compare to a quality, more expensive ones. The best way is to decide how much you can afford to spend and then do a research on the net on the multivitamins that fall within your price range.

Multivitamins are probably the single most important supplement you can take. If you aren't taking one, you really should start doing so.

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Common Myths From The Weight Loss Crowd

Myth: You’ll be OK with a high protein/low carb diet
Fact: This type of diet aims to secure most of the daily required amount of calories from protein foods, such as meat, dairy products and eggs, with a very small part taken from foods containing a lot of carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes and fruits). The biggest problem with this diet is that many common and popular foods are forbidden, which makes it easy for the user to get bored or frustrated. When boredom and frustration set in, quitting time is never far off. Another problem is the lack of nutrients that are usually brought in by carbohydrate foods, while allowing the user to eat bacon and cheese that raise cholesterol levels.

The bottom line is that high protein/low carb diets result in fast weight loss in some users, but it’s not just fat that goes away. People also lose some of their lean muscle mass and a lot of water as the kidneys work harder to rid the body of excess waste from protein and fat.

The added stress to your kidneys is not healthy at all and, in the long run, will lead to dehydration, headaches, feelings of nausea and dizziness. Before engaging in a long-term diet, you would do well to discuss it with your physician. And if you are really keen on dieting, try a balanced diet first, because it will help you lose weight without hurting your system.

Myth: Permanent weight loss can be achieved with fad diets.
Fact: This is yet another common myth among the weight loss crowd. Like any other diet that tells you to cut this or that food from your daily meals, fad diets are not healthy for you. The cornerstone of any diet is supplying the body with all the calories, proteins and minerals it needs. Diets that cut out foods without regard for the needs of your body cannot be healthy for you. Fad diets fail to deliver on the promise of permanent weight loss because people will always crave the forbidden foods and will always end up breaking the rules and ditching the diet.

The key to making weight loss permanent is more exercise and to avoid eating food that makes you fat without nourishing your body. Our extensive studies confirmed the importance of exercising and of a well-balanced diet.

Myth: Low-fat or no fat food is always a good choice.
Fact: The only low fat foods that are also low in calories are fruits. The rest of the huge low-fat or non-fat group are not a safe choice if you are dieting. These products may have added sugar, starch or flour to make them taste better, which means extra calories that do not belong into your diet. So make sure you check the list of ingredients on packages whenever you decide to buy low-fat.

Myth: Switching to vegetarian food will help you lose weight and stay healthy.
Fact: I know this is a hard pill to swallow, but no food plan will work for you unless you take charge of your eating and make sure that everything that goes past your lips is the right kind of food. The key here is to be absolutely sure that the vegetarian diet will give your body all the nutrients and calories it needs. Eating heaps of foods that do nothing for you from the nutritional point of view, outside maybe of filling your stomach, can bring you a lot of trouble in the future.

Since plants tend to have a lower concentration of nutrients than meat, you will have to eat more food than before to make up for this difference. Not to mention that a strictly vegetarian diet will not get you enough vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, calcium and zinc. These substances are taken mostly from dairy products and eggs in a regular diet, but true vegetarians can’t touch those. You’ll have to rely on the few and uncommon vegetables that can provide these substances.

Myth: Dairy products cause heart problems and make you fat.
Fact: Well, thanks to modern medicine everybody knows that eating a lot of dairy products is a surefire path to high blood pressure and stroke, although a large group of people from France refuse to die despite the large quantities of cheese and wine they consume.

Dairy products are the main source of calcium that keeps your bones strong and healthy. It is absolutely essential for children and can be in no way overlooked by adults. Dairy products also contain vitamin D, which is crucial to maintaining the normal levels of calcium and phosphorus in your bloodstream.

If you don’t want to gain weight from dairy products, then choose low-fat or non-fat brands. There are enough of those around. If you are lactose-intolerant, drink soy or rice milk. It does not taste exactly the same as true milk, but it’s still good and nutritious.

Butter and margarine are the only dairy products you should worry about. They do contain big levels of fat. Still, if you can’t do without them, at least eat butter. Margarine is an over-processed fat that is not particularly good for you. Butter may be a bit fatter, but it definitely is the healthier of these two.

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Exercising – why you should take the trouble to do it

Exercising is a bore for many people. Although workout fans like to claim that others are simply too lazy or too spoiled by the modern sedentary lifestyle to exercise on a regular basis, this is not always the case. Some people have far too busy daily schedules to squeeze in another time and effort consuming activity. Not to mention that a significant number of people find the endless repetition of the same movements more than a little boring. Truth is exercising can only be considered fun by people who love such things, while other manage to focus their entire attention on results and ignore the boring routine. If you are unable to love or ignore the boring part, then you probably find exercising a burden.

However, this attitude is not very good for your health. You may have a highly paid job that takes away all your waking hours and you may think that you can tank it until you’re in the forties and can afford to lay back and relax. But this nice scheme doesn’t always work out the way it’s supposed to. By the time you reach the forties you may not be in a position to lay back and relax and your health may not be in top shape precisely because of neglected exercising. Simple things like 30 minutes of jogging or aerobics per day can go a long way toward reaching old age with a sound heart and a better shape than most.

I know that people are impressed by wealth, but money can’t buy your youthful health back, not to mention the fact that they are also useless when it comes to love. Or so other people say. If your busy lifestyle had brought you high blood pressure and high cholesterol, then money is not going to solve these problems. But just a little exercising everyday could make the difference in your old age. It should also keep you from acquiring a spare tire around your waist. More importantly, if you want that successful young exec look, then you simply have to stay in shape. You can’t afford to look soft and flabby.

So it can be boring and time consuming and doesn’t always help you relax in any way, but it does help your body cope with pressure and it does help your endurance at all levels. Most of the members of the opposite sex will also find a fine shape more attractive that a fat wallet, especially if you’re looking for short-term relationships where long-term financial power is less relevant. So stop crowding your schedule with so many tasks every day and make room for a little exercising now and then.

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What are the Alternatives to Xenical Weight Loss Pills?

In an age of medical break-through, can modern medicine play a role in the battle against today’s obesity epidemic? Xenical has traditionally been a prescription only capsule prescribed to obese patients, and recently, the FDA gave the thumbs up to an over the counter version - Alli. Both products contain the active ingredient Orlistat, a lipase inhibitor that helps prevent fat being absorbed into the body.

Is Xenical safe?

When taken at meal times, Orlistat reduces the amount of fat that is broken down in the stomach and absorbed into the body by about 30%. Instead, fats are expelled naturally in faces, thus helping towards weight loss.

Xenical sounds ideal for those of us who struggle to keep to a healthy diet. However, the active ingredient, Orlistat, is usually only prescribed to obese people with a body mass index in excess of 30kg/m². So if you are not dangerously overweight, Xenical/Alli may not be the right option for you. In either instance, you should always consult your doctor. There are also some worrying side effects:

What are the Xenical's and Alli's side effects?

Brace yourself. Some rather unpleasant side effects have been reported from use of Orlistat products. Users have reported uncontrollable anal discharges, so taking this drug could well result in embarrassing situations. Other possible effects are oily stools, loss of bowel control, diarrhea rectal pain, liver inflammation and fatigue. So Orlistat based products may not be the shining ray of light overweight people have been hoping for.

Are there any safe, effective alternatives?

There are hundreds of weight loss products on the market, but few have been clinically proven to be effective. There are products on the market that are proven to have very similar benefits to Orlistat in reducing fat in take, but with out the nasty side effects. Proactol™ is a relatively new weight management product that also reduces fat from the food we eat by around 30%, butin a different way.

Proactol™ - Safe, Clinically Proven Fat Binder

Proactol™ is based on a patented fiber complex, that rather than just preventing fat from being broken down, pulling in fat molecules and binding them into a viscous solution in the stomach. So fat is prevented from entering the body without the embarrassing side effects of Xenical and Alli. Initial user feedback of Proactol™ is extremely positive, and as well as reducing fat intake.

Proactol has the following associated benefits:

• Helps to suppress appetite
• Helps to reduce cholesterol levels
• Decreases food cravings

With hundreds of "miracle pills" on the market, Proactol™ is one of the few that lives up to its claims of effectiveness. In several pre-clinical trials it has proven to be a highly effective alternative to Orlistat based products. As with most weight loss supplements, Proactol™’s best results come when used in combination with a healthy diet and active lifestyle.

To learn more about safe, visit Proactol™’s official site today.

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Free Diet Plans Can Work for You

Dieting web sites and dieting plans are so successful that it's almost a given that anybody can find the perfect free dieting scheme on the internet. Free diet plans are, well, free - you don't pay anything upfront. But many people don’t trust them having a good reason. The famed "cabbage soup diet" or the "3 days diet" are just two random examples of diet plans that will never work and can even be downright dangerous.

So how can you find a sound free diet plan? Is there any such a thing?

The keyword when you're looking for a diet plan is common sense. Use your knowledge and your intuition to pick between the various diets, it's not that hard. For example it would be a good thing to find out right from the start what the right amount of calories you need based on your current weight and daily activity. It's worth noting that even if you are 100 lbs and a complete couch potato, you still need about 1300 calories per day just to stay alive and well.

For most of us, a good dieting plan would do nothing more than give some guidelines on what to eat to stay within the daily limits for calories. And any plan that attempts to tell you that 500 calories per day is good for you won't help you at all.

After decades of dieting, many people have become more knowledgeable and it's easier to say when we are eating something we shouldn't. Any scheme, be it a free diet plan or one especially made for you by a dietician, will take into account that you will be faced with having to eat some no-so-healthy food sooner or later. You never know what will be on the menu at your cousin's wedding party or at that very important dinner meeting with out of town customers.

The next very important thing is to find a diet that can accommodate your favorite foods, even if they are pork chops and fries. You won't be able to diet and feel happy about it if you have to give up everything you like. Incorporating foods you like is beneficial in the long run and it will drastically decrease the danger of binge eating.

And another tricky part you have to take into account when you try a free diet plan is during the day you are most likely to eat. I am yet to find a person who likes to eat very early in the morning and needs to diet. Hey, maybe I'm on to something here!

A good diet plan will make the transition from a dedicated evening eater to a healthy morning eater seem easy and enjoyable. And the whole purpose of a diet plan is to make life and food enjoyable even when it's served in small, healthy bites. Dieting is supposed to be fun, to make you feel happier, healthier and ready to try even more nice new things in your life!

For more information on dieting, visit my officialsite

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