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Archive for the 'Fitness' Category

Preventing andropause with supplements

May 3rd, 2008 by admin

The word testosterone is a well-known symbol of malehood and even though everyone is aware of its association with male sex drive and reproduction, few know about why it is so important. Testosterone is a hormone (a kind of molecule that travels through the body and has specific effects on certain organs or tissues) which is chemically known as an anabolic steroid. Testosterone is responsible for a number of important functions, such as sex drive, energy levels, immunity, and amount of cellular tissue (which is related to volume and strength of muscles).

Testosterone levels in men are about ten times greater than in women. The amounts of testosterone that are produced and circulated through the body varies with age. It experiences a large increase in adolescence but it starts declining by the twenties and normal levels drop about 10% for every decade after 30. If a man’s testosterone levels are much lower than normal, it results in andropause, which is how male menopause is known.

Pharmaceutical industry offers some products to help slow down the decrease in testosterone levels as we age. Provacyl is a proprietary blend of compounds specifically designed to increase testosterone levels by stimulating testosterone production.

The increase in testosterone levels has noticeable effects in many aspects of health and well-being. Users report increased alert and focus as well as a sharper mind. Memory is also significantly improved. Being testosterone primarily a sexual hormone one of the effects of its stimulation is the restoration of a normal sex life, even after having lost the libido. Provacyl can also help with age-related erectile dysfunctions, helping to get or maintain a natural erection.

Category: Fitness, General health, Seniors, Men's health, Wellness, Aging | No Comments »

For runners: a healthy, homemade sports drink

April 22nd, 2008 by admin

Sports drinks have become very pospular as an easy source of nutrients and energy for people engaging in highly demanding physical activity such as running, biking or swimming. However, many are not comfortable with the available products and prefer other, more natural choices. Here is a recipe for an easy to make, healthy and delicious beverage, equally good for a quick energy source before starting or to replenish your body after a long training day.

Ingredients:

  • Water - 2 cups
  • Lemon tea bag (with or without caffeine) - 1
  • Honey or sugar cane syrup - 2 tsps
  • Salt - 1/8 tsp
  • Orange juice - 4 tsps

Preparation:

Boil 16 ounces of water and steep the lemon tea bag. Add then the honey (or sugar), salt and let cool down. Combine with orange juice and chill.

The nutrition facts: Each 8-ounce serving contains approximately 60 calories, less than 1 g of protein, 15 g of carbohydrates, 130 mg of sodium and less than 1 g of fat.

Category: Weightloss, Fitness, Obesity, Nutrition, Wellness, Sports | No Comments »

Use of obesity drugs reaches new high

February 4th, 2008 by admin

UK’s NHS Information Centre for health and social care informed that prescribed anti obesity drugs reached more than a million a year. This represents an annual cost of £47.5 million. Officials said that the number of prescriptions surpassed for more than eight times the level nine years ago. Most prescriptions are written for two drugs, orlistat (Xenical) and sibutramine (Reductil).

The two drugs work very differently. Sibutramine functions by altering chemical messages that control feelings such as hunger or desire to eat, whereas orlistat reduces absorption of ingested fat.

The NHS also informed that about one fifth of men and nearly one in four women are now at very high risk of developing health problems caused or stimulated by overweight.

Exercise and healthy diet

One of the problems is that many people recur to taking a pill to solve their weight problems instead of focusing on earlier stages of the process. Anti-obesity drugs can help manage weight problems but it is best if they are left as the last resort. Doctors recommend a healthy diet and regular physical activity to manage weight. This way it is possible to reduce serious conditions linked to obesity such as diabetes and heart disease in a more efficient way.

Category: Weightloss, Fitness, General health, Obesity, Medicine, Nutrition | No Comments »

Make smart diet choice

December 23rd, 2007 by admin

Getting healthy and losing weight doesn’t have to mean a dramatic overhaul of your life, spending hour upon hour on the exercise bike, or turning down one party invitation after another. You can lose weight and still have fun. Making small changes gradually makes healthy eating a part of your life. And the good news is that making small and easy changes is a whole lot better for you in the long run than going on a mad diet of only apples that leaves you falling-down hungry and desperate. This is about getting smart with what you already eat. Eat to lose weight. That’s right, if you skip meals you won’t lose weight. Why not? Because then you’ll get so hungry that you snack, or eat more than you want to, or end up feeling miserable and give-up straight away. Don’t wait until Monday and make this smart choice now – choose smart diet program devised by Smart for Life Weight Management medical specialists. The diet is very simple – six smart cookies throughout the day, eight glasses of water or other no calorie drinks and a low fat protein dinner consisting of six ounces of fish, chicken, turkey or shellfish and two vegetables. Smart diet cookies are full of nutrients, amino acids, and fiber which suppress hunger while still supplying the body with the protein it needs. They are also all-natural, with organic ingredients and great taste. So, pick out your party dress and throw away those big pants! It’s time to get gorgeous!

Category: Weightloss, Fitness, General health, Obesity | No Comments »

WeightLoss

September 8th, 2007 by admin

Weight Loss Center on the internet - reliable information to achieve weight loss and maintain a healthy weight. WeightAndLoss.com provides free resources on weight loss programs, hoodia balance, weight loss pills and tips, fast and natural weight loss, and more. If you’ve been looking online for weight loss resources and diet pills, you know there are hundreds of different kinds, each promising to make you thinner. There are a variety of different types of supplements on the market, and knowing what they do and how they work is a good way to make sure you choose the right one for you.

For some people, trying to lose just a few pounds can be as big an effort as losing a lot of weight. If you are looking to lose a little bit of weight before swimsuit season or the big reunion, or just to get back into your favorite pair of pants, weight loss herbal diet pills can help. These pills enhance your body’s own techniques to help melt off the excess weight quickly and easily.

One of the best available is Dietrine Carb Blocker. Carb blockers are composed of bean and wheat germ extracts that prevent the carbohydrates you eat from being absorbed by the body. Fat blockers promise to absorb between six and 10 times their weight in fat as they pass through your system, forcing your body to get rid of the fats instead of digesting them. Another good one is Hoodia Gordonii, a cactu which has grown for thousands of years in the Kalahari Desert region. Hoodia has been used by the indigenous Bushmen as a natural appetite suppressant. One of the first studies of Hoodia Gordonii was done in the UK on obese patients. Half of the volunteers were given Hoodia Gordonii, the other half were given a placebo. The subjects were allowed to read, watch television and eat. After 15 days it was found that those taking Hoodia had reduced their calorie intake by 1000 calories a day. Despite having unlimited access to food, the Hoodia subjects lost weight.

Category: Weightloss, Fitness | 1 Comment »

Obesity and the American breakfast

August 29th, 2007 by admin

American food habits are seldom regarded as healthy. In fact, the alarming increase in obesity in the US population (by far on of the highest in the world) is connected with the elevated fat content of many of the typical foods consumed in America, especially at breakfast. Many Americans recognize this fact and are slowly switching to healthier ways to start their day, but many more refuse to change these long-established food habits.
But health companies are looking into more efficient ways to reduce fat intake than convincing people not to eat so many fried eggs or sausages.
Among the most recent developments of the weight loss industry is a type of substances called fat binders. These have the ability to ‘capture’ fat molecules in the stomach and intestine, preventing from being absorbed by the body. One of the most popular is Chitosan, which is obtained from certain shrimp. Chitosan is widely sold, but its effectiveness has not being scientifically assessed. Some labs are now focusing their efforts on a more promising product. It has been found that extracts of the desert plant Opuntia ficus is effective in binding ingested fat and also has appetite suppressant properties. The fibre complex from Opuntia ficus is being commercialized under the name of Proactol.

The difference between this and other fat binders is that Proactol has been subject to many rigorous clinical trials that support the claims made by the company. The manufacturer claims that Proactol is the only product in its kind whose effectiveness has been scientifically proven and medically backed.

And talking about breakfast, one of the studies conducted by the InQpharm laboratory aimed to test the ability of Proactol to deal with a real, fat-rich American breakfast. In their own words, “associated with an American breakfast intake, the patented fibre complex of Opuntia ficus indica absorbs about 23% of total fatty acids compared to a control “
Detailed information about the Opuntia extract can be found in the Weightloss Research website. For inquiries about Proactol consult their website.

Category: Weightloss, Fitness, General health, Obesity, Nutrition | No Comments »

ABC-of-Fitness

August 23rd, 2007 by admin

ABC-of-Fitness.com makes learning easy for individuals, who want to integrate fitness into their lifestyles. If you are interested in doing fitness exercises with your over-all health as the end goal in mind, check out ABC-of-Fitness. Experienced fitness enthusiasts, do not fret. ABC-of-Fitness offers well-written articles that apply to all, regardless of fitness abilities.

Reminiscent of a course outline given at school, ABC-of-Fitness starts with the fitness basics: its definitive meaning, history, and the reasons why one has to do fitness exercises. This section is followed by the different essentials on how to get started, which is particularly helpful for beginners as it contains articles on fitness levels, methods, nutrition, calculations, and weight loss, among others.

Next to getting started, are the sections on fitness exercises and fitness variations. These sections provide a wide range of fitness exercise options. Fitness variations contain the different aerobic exercises you can choose from. Fitness exercises, on the other hand, cover resistance training, aerobic workouts, and stretching methods. The fifth and last section focuses on gear and equipment, which is an essential part of your fitness program.

The five categories on the ABC-of-Fitness website make it easy for readers, who wish to start an intensive online course. Starting from fitness basics and backgrounds to gear and equipment, ABC-of-Fitness offers a systematized learning process for those individuals, who want to incorporate fitness into their lives, or for those who need to get enticed with the various benefits to finally begin doing fitness exercises.

Category: Fitness, General health | No Comments »

3 best muscle growing supplements

August 16th, 2007 by admin

Creatine

We’ve espoused the benefits of creatine too man times to count, but for good reason: Most guys’ strength increase by at least 10% after just a few weeks of consistent creatine use. The supplement elevates the level of creatine phosphate in your blood, which boost levels of ATP ( the energy source muscle use to contract) in the muscle. Take 2-5 grams once on rest day and immediately before and after workout on training days. Almost every supplement company sell creatine, but the better one include cell-tech by muscle Tech, nitrobolic by vyotech and cellmass by BSN

Gakic

Gakic is composed of three common amino acids; ingested together, they have synergistic effects on your strength. When taken with arginine, glycine can boost growth hormone levels and creatine synthesis in the body. It also enhances the firing of nerves that stimulate muscle contraction, which in turn improves strength. Arginine increase level of growth hormone and nitric oxide (NO), the gas that helps deliver more blood to exercising muscles. Alpha – ketoiso caproic acid is a form of the amino acid leucine that is readily converted to hydroxyl beta methylbutyrate, a substance that can build muscle mass and prevent muscle breakdown. KIC helps remove ammonia from the body during exercise , which decrease muscle fatigue. Gakic has been proven to increase muscle force and inhibit fatigue, meaning it may increase your strength by allowing you to lift more weight and complete more reps with a given weight

Green tomato extract

This supplement increase the number of blood vessels and thus oxygen, nutrients and anabolic hormones – that supply muscle. In terms of training, this means greater strength gains and muscle growth. A recent unpublished study reported that men who weight trained three times per week and consumed GTC once per day gain two time more strength than the placebo group on the bench press and more than three times the strength on the leg press over a six week period.

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Category: Weightloss, Fitness, Obesity, Nutrition, Men's health, Wellness, Sports | 2 Comments »

The South Beach Diet

August 14th, 2007 by admin

Among the large and ever-increasing variety of slimming diets, the South Beach Diet stands out as one of the most controversial. Some people really love it while others mock it as a fad diet, some of them probably because they found hard to stick to the obligatory induction phase. Followers of Arthur Agatston’s creation loyally claim that it is not a fad diet and that it is much more reliable and healthy than the Atkins diet.

After choosing the South Beach Diet, dieters will see their food intake restricted principally to meat (lean), eggs, seafood, some dairy products (low fat), nuts and a wide range of vegetables. Artificial sweeteners instead of sugar and completed with low glycemic carbohydrates. The first phase of the South Beach diet (some call it the ‘shock phase’) bans most fruit and vegetables, just like the rest of carbohydrates. Some people cannot really cope well with this low level of energy intake, so fatigue and nausea are usual ‘side effects’ at this point, but not everybody experiences these symptoms.

After this comes the core of the program, whose main principle consists of replacing carbohydrates like sweets, pasta and bread with healthier complex carbohydrates from wholegrains and vegetables.

Finally, the dieting program includes advantages such as eating advice and very good recipes. There are also pre-packaged South Beach foods for those who don’t have time or lack the inclination to cook for themselves. Although this diet sounds like a good idea, but reading additional South Beach Diet reviews will help making a wise choice when starting an effective slimming program.

Category: Weightloss, Fitness | No Comments »

Whey Proteins for Gaining weight

August 13th, 2007 by admin

Whey proteins continue to dominate the muscle building supplements industry and it seems the more we know the better whey proteins look. There’s been a tremendous amount of tips for gaining weight information, some valid and some purposely deceitful presented to you over the past five or more years with respect to whey proteins. We thought you could use some solid information to make a sound purchase the next time you’re ready to buy your protein powder.

Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC), when processed properly, is among the very best dietary proteins known to man. A WPC that hasn’t been properly produced may contain high levels of live bacteria and “dead” protein. The potentially treacherous path from whole cow’s milk to finished WPC can make or break the protein product sitting on your health food store shelf and it’s absolutely imperative that you choose the right one. How do you do that and what should you look for?

Whole whey begins as the remaining portion of serum after cheddar cheese is produced. Thus, it is commonly referred to as cheddar-whey or sweet whey. During processing, the mother whey is 93 percent water, 6 percent lactose, .10 percent minerals, .10 percent fat and .80 percent whey proteins. It is these proteins that we as health-conscious individuals are truly most interested in. At this stage the lactose is too high and the protein concentration is too low. This arrangement must be reversed!

Through a unique ultrafiltration and diafiltration process, the watery whole whey is concentrated, leaving most of the lactose, fat and water behind and the native proteins intact. Honest Whey(TM) Natural will typically yield analytical results of 80% protein, 4-5% lactose as a part of total carbohydrates in the 6-7% range, 4% fat and 8-9% moisture and ash.

Category: Weightloss, Fitness, Nutrition | No Comments »

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