09/10/2008

7 Natural Weight Loss Secrets^©

To Jump-Start Your Weight Loss Program

Note:   None of the statements we make in the following report have been evaluated by the FDA.  None of the products we recommend are intended to diagnose, treat cure or prevent any disease. We recommend that you consult a licensed medical practitioner before following any of our suggestions.

Being Overweight is Hazardous to Your Health

If you’re reading this, you probably don’t need anyone to tell you that being overweight is not only bad for your self-esteem, but is downright hazardous to your health.  Pre-mature death as well as many diseases are linked to obesity, including:

• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Cancer
• Gallstones

Have You Been Trying To Lose Weight For A Long Time?

If you’re like most overweight people, you have been trying to lose weight for a long, long time, but have not been successful.  Or perhaps you go on diets and do lose weight, only to gain it back again and then some – the “yo-yo” diet syndrome, that many experts say is more dangerous than simply being overweight.  You may be like many people, who become desperate, and use supplements or drugs that can be damaging to your health in other ways.  Well, we are here to tell you that losing weight and then maintaining that weight in a healthy way can be easier than you think!  And if you do it naturally, like we are suggesting, you will most likely end up far healthier at the same time, with more energy and vitality than you’ve had in a long time*.

Natural Weight Loss Secret #1: 
Don’t Eat Low Fat

Low Fat Diets Don’t Work!

Are you still caught up in the low-fat mantra of the past couple decades?  Do you think you can’t eat much fat if you are trying to lose weight?  These ideas are still so prevalent in our media and in the low-fat products you see everywhere – in the grocery stores and in restaurants – that it’s no wonder you may still believe this.  In fact, even many doctors still believe this.  However, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, in 1999-2000, an estimated 64% of adults in the United States were either obese or overweight.  That’s almost 2/3 of the adult population!  1/3 of our children are now overweight as well, and these figures are increasing.  In the past 30 years, the number of overweight children has doubled.  In just the past decade, the number of obese people in the U.S. has gone up 2 ½ times.   Fifty years ago, only a small percentage of the population had problems with their weight.  Now it’s an epidemic!  All this has happened while we cut back from 40% to around 32% fat as a percentage of our diet.

Low-Fat Diets Tend to Promote Weight Gain

Low-fat diets not only don’t work, but they’re not healthy, not natural, and they tend to promote weight gain!  Research confirms this statement.  The famous Framingham Study that started in 1948 is still going on, and it shows that the more saturated fat, the more calories, and the more cholesterol a person ate, the lower their serum cholesterol!  The results also show that the more fat they ate, the less they weighed!  We are eating less fat as a nation, but are gaining weight.  There are a number of reasons for this.  One is that since fat gives foods much of their flavor, when manufacturers cut out the fat, they add sugar, MSG and other chemicals to the food to enhance the taste.  These can all have adverse effects on both our weight and our health.

Natural Weight Loss Secret # 2:

Consume Virgin Coconut Oil

Many Experts Recommend 2 – 4 Tablespoons
on a Daily Basis

Many Report That Coconut Oil Helps Them Lose Weight More Easily

Perhaps you’ve heard about some of the incredible health & weight loss benefits of coconut oil in Woman’s Day or First magazine.  Many people have reported that consuming Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) helps them to lose weight*.  They often see increased energy levels and fewer cravings for carbohydrates and sweets*.  It’s easier for many people to eat less when consuming 2 - 3 Tablespoons of coconut oil per day, because the fats provide a feeling of satiety or fullness after eating that is not generally experienced when eating a low-fat meal.  Coconut oil can also:

• Increase your energy*
• Increase your metabolism*
• Promote healthy thyroid function*

You Burn Off Coconut Oil 3 Times Faster
Than Other Common Fats

According to a 2000 report published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, you burn off coconut oil three times faster than many other common fats.  This is because it’s so high in Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFAs).  In a 1986 study by T.B. Seaton et al in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who ate meals containing MCFAs like those found in coconut oil increased their metabolic rate an average of 12%, compared to a 4% increase for those eating meals with long-chain fatty acids (LCTs).  The authors concluded that eating MCFAs could “over long periods of time produce weight loss even in the absence of reduced (caloric) intake”.  That means that simply by adding VCO to your diet and doing nothing else, you can lose weight or slow down your rate of gain.

Natural Weight Loss Secret # 3: 

Avoid All Vegetable Oils

Vegetable Oils Can Cause Weight Gain

Farmers Used Vegetable Oils to Fatten Animals
It Worked to Fatten Them, But The Animals Got Sick!

When farmers were looking for a cheap way to fatten their animals for market, they began using corn and soybean oils.  This should be your first clue about why to avoid vegetable oils if you are overweight – let me repeat – farmers used these oils to FATTEN up their animals for market!  However, they quickly discovered that in addition to fattening up their animals, the addition of vegetable oils to their feed caused problems with the animals’ thyroid glands and they subsequently developed many health problems, including cancer.  The fact that polyunsaturated oils encourage tumor growth is well known among researchers.  It is also well known that consumption of vegetable oils depresses our immune system, so well known that vegetable oils have been used for intravenous injections to suppress immunity in organ transplant patients.

Vegetable Oils Easily Form Dangerous Trans-Fatty Acids

Now it’s people instead of animals that consume these oils.  To further compound the problem, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils that are heated in cooking quickly form trans-fatty acids.  The Institute of Medicine has declared that trans-fatty acids are unsafe to consume at any level.  Most restaurants use these vegetable oils for cooking, and hence consistently and abundantly produce food that is not healthy for us to eat and tend to cause weight gain.  Saturated fats, on the other hand, like coconut oil and lard, are resistant to oxidation, and can safely be used to cook and sauté food with.

Natural Weight Loss Secret # 4: 

Rev up Your Metabolism by

Nourishing Your Thyroid &
Avoiding Thyroid Blocking Foods

Weight Loss and Thyroid Health

Research alludes to the fact that the number one cause of weight problems may be an under-active thyroid gland, especially among women.  That’s because the thyroid gland controls body temperature and metabolism, and when the thyroid is sluggish, body temperature and metabolism tend to slow down.  Some other symptoms of low, or hypothyroid, are fatigue, cold hands and feet, depression, anxiety, constipation, easy bruising, insomnia, dry skin, unhealthy and brittle nails, allergies and asthma, migraines, acne, hair loss and low sex drive.   You can have an underperforming thyroid even if it is undetectable on a blood test.

Low Levels of Iodine Can Cause Low Functioning Thyroids

It’s generally accepted that low levels of iodine can cause low functioning thyroids.  That’s why iodine is added to our salt.  However, refined table salt, with iodine added, may not be the best delivery system.  Some natural sources of iodine that seem to be well used by the body include unrefined sea salt like Celtic or Pink Sea Salt, kelp, bladderwrack and other seaweeds, eggs, butter fat, and most sea-foods, especially cold-water deep-sea fish.  Fish sauce is also a rich source of iodine if properly prepared, and is often used in Thai cuisine.

Iodine Blockers in Soy and More

Besides eating iodine-rich foods, it is important to reduce intake of goitrogens (iodine blockers) like peanuts and soybeans (including soybean oil, which is in most packaged foods including salad dressings, as well as in most restaurant foods).  All raw cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage are also goitrogens.  Make sure and cook or culture them before eating in significant amounts.

Fluoride May Interfere With Thyroid Function

According to Cherie Calboun in The Coconut Diet, a growing body of evidence suggests that fluoride may interfere with proper functioning of the thyroid as well.  This means that if your water is fluoridated, it may be extremely helpful for you to buy a water filter that filters out fluoride.  If you’re not sure, check with your water supplier – about 50% of American’s tap water is fluoridated today.  You can and should buy a water filter that filters out fluoride if you have fluoridated water in your area.

Continued...

¹ Contrary to popular opinion, Asians actually consume very little soy, less than 1-2% of their total calories, and what they do consume is often fermented for long periods of time, which neutralizes most of the toxins, as with miso, tempeh and soy sauce.
 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2000.
 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Carrol, K.K. and Khan, H.T., 1971 “Lipids”.  6:415.
 Mascioli, E.A., et al, 1987.  “Lipids.” 22(6):421.

* This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA.  This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
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7 Natural Weight Loss Secrets^©

To Jump-Start Your Weight Loss Program

Copyright, 2006, EcoViva LLC.  All rights reserved.  This article may be copied in its entirety if all links remain intact.