We all know that herbs and spices are used with cooking to varying degrees, and of course primary reason for doing so is to make food much more tasty and interesting.

I suspect however that you might be surprised at considerable health benefits that can also be gained by using them. In saying this I am referring to those everyday items that can be found in most larders, and not necessarily those exotic and probably not so well known varieties.

I happened to discover many benefits of herbs and spices and fact that they can be most beneficial to a weight loss program, when I was doing extremely detailed research for my latest book. The results of that research were so extensive, that it could be basis in itself for a complete publication, and much more detailed therefore, than I could possibly include in this short article.

However I have been able to include a fair amount of information below about various herbs and spices which are known to particularly help to speed up weight loss, and that is also in addition to their excellent overall health benefits by way.

You should find that you will be able to purchase these herbs from any good Herbalist supplier.

Garcinia: (Garcinia cambogia) is a herb which is sold primarily for enhancing weight loss and boosting amount of lean muscle. This is also known as hila or brindell berry.

One of major benfits of Garcinia is that it acts as an appetite suppressant and stops body from storing fat.

Pysillium: (Plantago spp.) This cheeky little herb has quite a few health benefits. Physillium is known to help lower cholesterol, and another major benefit is that it also helps to prevent constipation.

If you use it as part of your weight loss program, it can help you to eat less calories and yet still feel really full.

This is because of amount of fiber that it contains.

I mentioned earlier that it does help in preventing constipation, but in order to achieve this you should make sure that you drink plenty of water.

Siberian Gingsing: (Eleutherococcus senticosus) If you are going to start regular exercise as part of your health and weight loss routine, which is normally to be highly recommended, then this is a really useful herb.

It can help your body adapt to stress of unaccustomed changes, and it will help to make you feel less tired even when you are doing simple exercises like walking for example.

"I have successfully lost 15 of 25 pounds that I want to lose, but now I am stuck at same weight even though I am faithfully controlling my food intake and doing my exercises. What happened? Is diet not working anymore?"

Yes, many women over 40 start off their weight loss programs full of excitement and determination, and indeed you do see pounds dropping off over first few weeks.

That's great, of course.

However, next thing you know is that your progress has come to a dead stop...

...and you have just hit dreaded weight loss "plateau."

But don't despair -- you are _not_ only one experiencing this.

Hitting a plateau is a common experience for most women over 40 on a weight loss program.

And it can be one of most de-motivating things to happen.

Thankfully, overcoming it is easy... IF you know simple steps you can take.

Today, I'm going to show you some very simple and specific steps you can take to overcome your plateaus:

1. Be careful of little things: It's easy to lapse into complacency over time, so I suggest that you keep a food diary. Writing down what you eat each day can help you to spot those times when you might be taking in more food than you realize. A little snack here and there can (and will) add up to a lot of extra calories.