How to Live a Low Carb Lifestyle (Instead of Just BeingWritten by Henri Schauffler
We’ve all heard a great deal in past year about “Atkins Diet,” Low Carb Dieting,” and so on. I’m here to tell you, however, that “diets” don’t work – we need to turn our eating habits into a lifestyle. Notice word, “habits….” As with many people, I have tried various “diets” over years – some worked, some didn’t. I have found low carb to be most effective - but once I reached my weight goal, I said to myslef, "Now what? Keep on diet?" Or, "Can I 'liberalize' a little bit now?" Here is a simple way to understand issues at hand... There are two basic factors in weight loss and maintenance: 1. Carb/calorie intake 2. Exercise We can increase or decrease weight loss by increasing or decreasing in either of these two areas. Therefore, for maximum weight loss, one should exercise 4+ days per week and maintain a stringent “weight loss” level eating plan (less than 1800 hundred calories and/or 20 grams ofcarbs per day. Once one reaches a weight goal, it might be possible to decrease a little bit in exercise or carb/calorie intake, but not much! Herein lies challenge. Many people reach their weight loss goal and say to themselves. “Oh boy, I can eat desert now.” Or, “Great, now I don’t have to exercise anymore!” WRONG… The key point is that to maintain our weight, once lost, we must adopt a lifestyle, in our case, a “low carb lifestyle.” How does one adopt this lifestyle?
| | Focus On Trans FatWritten by Jon Gestl
There's no doubt--carbohydrates have taken center stage in public discourse about dietary practices. You can't turn on TV, open a newspaper or walk past office water cooler these days without hearing a debate about this nutrient du jour. Recently, however, increasing attention is being given to an all but forgotten part of our diet. Move over, carbohydrates: fat is making a comeback in headlines. More specifically, trans fat.Of four types of dietary fat (monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated and trans), focus recently has been on trans fat. Abundant in margarine, shortening, packaged baked goods and French fries to name a few, trans fat is a widely used ingredient for food manufacturers because it is cheap and contributes to increased shelf life. It is listed as "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" and "vegetable shortening" on product ingredient lists. Hydrogenation is process of heating an oil and passing hydrogen bubbles through it. The fat's density is increased, and food manufacturers use it frequently because it gives products a richer butter flavor. Saturated butter is much more expensive to use, so manufacturers reduce costs by using partially hydrogenated oils. Partially hydrogenated oils, however, have a much different effect on body than even demonized saturated fats. We all know that we need to limit saturated fat in our diets, but specific amounts, although small, have been deemed acceptable, and even help to facilitate a variety of processes for body. Trans fat, however, provides no positive effects whatsoever. Studies have consistently shown that trans fat raises LDL (bad) cholesterol and lowers HDL (good) cholesterol. It contributes to clogging of arteries and type 2 diabetes. Trans fat has also been linked to an estimated 30,000 or more premature heart disease deaths each year. In March 2004, Food and Drug Administration updated their website pages concerning trans fat and regulations concerning labeling laws. Although FDA first proposed trans fat labeling in 1999, it wasn't until July 2003 that Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced new trans fat ruling. Even then, guidelines proved to be less than acceptable to health experts who were pushing for immediate regulations: ruling gave manufacturers until January 1, 2006 to comply. Some food manufacturers, however, have already started listing ingredient on their nutritional labels, and FDA has responded to these changes for consumers with trans fat info and guidance to understanding new labels. See FDA website at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms ransfat.html#unhide).
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