Archive for the ‘Weight Loss diets’ Category

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 Sneaky Hormones That Are Ruining Your Fat Burning! Much has been spoken

recently about the importance of hormones in fat burning and there are all sorts of

pills and potions that claim to be able to manipulate hormones to improve fat

burning but in this article we want to look into the four key hormones that

influence fat burning and weight loss. This will give you all the information you

need to make informed choices when it comes to food and activity. Whether you’re

on a diet or are taking part in vigorous exercise this information will be critical to

your success. The two main hormones we’ll look at first are insulin and cortisol and

we’ll show you how they synergistically work to mess up your weight loss efforts.

After that we’re going to describe the functions of two little known hormones –

leptin and grehlin.

 

Insulin

 

Many of you will have heard of the hormone insulin, perhaps some of you know a

person with type 1 diabetes who has to inject insulin many times a day to keep their

blood sugar stable, or perhaps you may be or know a person with type 2 diabetes

who has been told they have high levels of insulin or that they have insulin resistance.

But what actually is insulin and what does it do?

 

Insulin is a peptide hormone released from the pancreas in response to food being

eaten. Insulin’s job is to carry the breakdown products of carbohydrate digestion

– namely glucose – into the cells to be used for energy. Insulin also carries the

breakdown products of protein digestion – namely amino acids – into the cells for

a number of functions including protein synthesis. It seems that the breakdown

product of fats in the diet – namely free fatty acids – do not have an effect on

insulin. Insulin can communicate with all manner of cells in the body; muscle cells,

brain cells, liver cells and fat cells telling them to take in glucose and amino acids.

This mechanism works perfectly if there is a good balance of protein, fats and

carbohydrates in the diet. The problem arises when there is excess carbohydrate

in the diet, especially carbohydrates that release their glucose very quickly, which

leads to sharp rises in blood glucose levels. Once the liver and muscle cells are full

of the sugar they need insulin can no longer have an effect, however the fat cells

happily take up the remaining sugar from the blood stream and an interesting

thing happens. The glucose in the fats cells is metabolised to a substance called

glycerol 3 phosphate, which in turn can be converted to triglycerides, essentially

turning sugar in to fat.

 

When there is insulin floating around in the blood stream you body shuts off

lipolysis – the signals to burn fat. You see you can’t burn fat and store sugar at the

same time; you can only do one or the other. So keep your insulin low and your fat

burning turned on. This is vitally important for anyone who wants to reduce their

body fat to understand as without dietary modification fat loss will be futile.

Seek a nutrition consultation.

 

Cortisol

 

 
Stress is a major cause of weight gain. We tend to eat more when we are stressed

and use food as comfort, particularly sweet sugary foods. Stress comes in many

forms – food intolerances, alcohol consumption, financial stress, relationship

stress, mental emotional stress, poor blood sugar regulation etc… When you are

stressed you release the stress hormone cortisol. One job of cortisol is to raise

blood sugar by releasing fats and protein that are sent to the liver and converted to

glucose, however if this glucose is not used (as most of us are inactive when we are

stressed such as at work or sitting in traffic) it gets re-stored as fat – particularly

visceral fat that accumulates around the organs. Research has shown that stress

leads to the accumulation of fat stored on the tummy area. So if you want to lose

some weight, you are going to need to de-stress. As you can see both insulin and

cortisol work together to keep you fat particularly if you’re stressed and eat poorly.

This is why it’s vitally important to eat right, exercise and reduce the stress in your

life to get these sneaky hormones on your team.

 

Leptin and grehlin

 

 

Two hormones called leptin and grehlin are important in weight control. Leptin is

produced from white adipose tissue and from cells in the stomach. As you eat leptin

rises and tells the brain that you are full and you stop eating. However, with

conditions such as over eating and obesity leptin levels can become extremely

high leading to leptin resistance, a condition much like insulin resistance, where

lots of leptin is in the blood but your brain doesn’t respond to it any more. Therefore

you don’t feel full and carry on over eating. Increased leptin also causes increased

insulin production and can exacerbate insulin resistance, high blood sugar and the

accumulation of more fat.

Grehlin on the other hand stimulates hunger, increases food intake and increases

fat mass. It is produced in the stomach, the pancreas and hypothalamic arcuate

nucleus in the brain. We know from research that inadequate sleep is associated

with high levels of grehlin and leads to increased appetite and overeating, thus

getting adequate sleep is essential for weight control. So get plenty of sleep and

don’t over eat to control leptin and grehlin. These two hormones can in the right

environment (poor diet, insomnia and stress) team up to halt your fat loss plan.

 

In summary, to offset the downside of these very powerful hormones you need to

eat a good mixture of foods from protein, carbohydrate and fat sources. Taking up

a good fat burning exercise programme that decreases insulin resistance coupled

with good stress reduction measures should allow your body to effectively shed

body fat at a safe and sensible rate. If you’re interested in finding out precisely how

to do this check out this great online resource from our website:

www.peakxvfitness.com/products.

Get fish into your diet

Expert Nutritional Therapist Steve Hines shares how he gets fish into his diet.

As an island nation surrounded by the sea and it’s rich produce you would think we

would be a nation of seafood lovers, however the palate of the British nation doesn’t

extend much beyond fish fingers, cod and chips and tinned tuna. This may in part

be due to the lost art of preparing and cooking seafood or to the fact that people

claim they don’t like fish. But it needn’t be this way. With a little bit of imagination

you can make fish and seafood taste delicious and it takes no time at all to cook.

If you take a trip down to your local fish monger you will see a whole host of

different produce and expanding your horizons beyond cod and tuna can reignite

your interest in this delicious food.

 

Look out for oily fish such as mackerel, sardines, trout, pilchards, herring as well as

salmon. Mackerel for instance is quite cheap, and trout is a cheaper alternative to

salmon. For white fish look out for pollock, sea bass, sea bream, gurnard as well as

cod and haddock. Some other types of fish such as pangasius, snapper, tilapia are

also becoming popular and can be bought at the fish monger. Then of course there

is seafood such as mussels, prawns, crab and cockles.

 

Fresh fish is always better but eating some tinned fish now and then is also a good

way to get more of this food into your diet. For instance as well as tinned tuna

tinned mackerel, sardines, pilchards and salmon can also be bought quite cheaply

in the supermarket

 

If you don’t know what to do with fish just try one of these simple recipes.

 

Mackerel pate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drain then empty a tin of mackerel into a bowel; add a dash of olive oil, some

smoked paprika, salt and pepper and blend together with a hand held food

processor (or mush together with a fork). Spread over two rice cakes for a delicious

snack.

 

Baked salmon with roasted vegetables

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover the salmon fillet in sesame seeds and set aside. Chop up some Mediterranean

vegetables such as courgette, aubergine, peppers and onions and roast them in

olive oil, garlic, chilli and thyme for 30 minutes or so. For the last 12-15 minutes of

the vegetables cooking throw the salmon in the oven and serve the salmon on a bed

of the vegetables.

 

Fish parcels

 

Use Pollock, sea bream, gurnard or mackerel. For a Mediterranean flavour place

the fish on a base of fennel in tin foil, add a dash of olive oil, some thyme and oregano

and some lemon juice. Fold up the parcel and place in the oven for 15 minutes at

180 degrees Celsius. Serve with a garden salad, chopped tomatoes and olives. For an

oriental flavour add the fish to a base of chopped chillies, ginger, garlic and lemon

grass, add a dash of sesame oil and tamari sauce and cook. Serve with whole grain

rice and some steamed bok choy.

 

Fish and chips

 

Dice up some potato or sweet potato into wedges (leave the skin on) and par boil

for 10 minutes, then toss them in oil or butter and place in a hot oven for 20-30

minutes until cooked and crisp on the outside. In the mean time take some white

fish like sea bass or pangasius, season with salt and pepper, bay leaves and a sprig

of thyme and steam bake (place some water in the bottom of the baking tray and

cover with foil) for 15-20 minutes. Serve with the potatoes and some tinned mushy

peas.

 

Welsh mussels

 

Dice up an onion and a leek and sweat down in some butter. Chop up some smoked

bacon back and add to the onion and leeks. Finally throw in your mussels and cover

until the mussels open and then serve. Throw away any mussels that have not

opened.

 

Squid salad

 

Chop up some squid and fry it off in some olive oil with chilli flakes, garlic, salt and

pepper. Serve on a bed of mixed salad.

 

There you go, quick simple and delicious seafood in less than 30 minutes

(often times 15-20 minutes). See below why nutritional therapist Steve Hines believes

we should be eating more protein like fish.

 

 

 

 

Everyone knows the glamour and glitz associated with the Kardashian girls particularly after the recent, albeit, short lived marriage of MTV star – Kim. We’re going to look behind the celebrity curtain and find out how you can get the body of a Kardashian. We’ve gleamed this info from TV shows and magazine articles along with making some assumptions so we can’t claim the information is straight from the girls themselves. The girls are all of a similar age and report the same problems with their body image.

When a woman reaches her late twenties and early thirties, as the sisters have, she may have had children and also have additional family responsibilities that spare her little time to take care of her figure. This situation facilitates gaining weight which suggests that weight loss for women is hugely important at this age.

Also, due to natural hormonal changes at this age she also becomes vulnerable to additional weight gain. As a woman gets older and reaches her thirties, her body metabolism slows down resulting in less calories being burnt and this leads to the gaining of more weight as all three girls regularly complain of. Though the situation starts with weight gain it can progress to various health-related issues such as heart disease and cancer.

Therefore, it is highly essential that you take appropriate measures so that you maintain a perfect body weight at this age and also prevent yourself from undesirable health risks. Healthy eating habits and regular physical activities including structured exercise are vital to attain and maintain a healthy weight. One popular technique to lose weight is to try and burn more calories than you consume, however, this is a far too simplistic approach to weight loss. A more important strategy is to look where the calories actually come from. According to the Kardashian’s nutritionist the girls stay slim on lean meats and fish with plenty of green vegetables and salad.

Exercise

The importance of physical exercise in reducing weight cannot be overemphasized. This is one of the best ways to reduce weight. If you are a woman in this age group, you need to do physical exercise to increase the total amount of calories burnt and also to improve your rate of metabolism.

Like Kim and Courtney you need to do plenty of cardiovascular exercise, such as running, swimming, jumping rope and biking etc. for at least 30-60 minutes every day. Chloe prefers regular weight training in her routine and we suggest you do to. Regular exercise will increase your muscle mass and also raise your resting metabolism. You can also improve your naturally slowing metabolism by incorporating short walks at different times in the day. The girls walk for 10 to 15 minutes per day 3 times a week.

Nutrition

Consuming nutritious food has got the greatest impact on your weight loss programme. It is necessary that you consume organic lean meats and lots of green stuff. This will not only add less calories to your body, it will also make your workouts highly effective by giving you the protein to increase your metabolism in order to lose weight.

Planning Meals

At this stage in life, with all your other responsibilities, you need to plan your meals and snacks for the week ahead. You may not have a private chef like a Kardashian but you must eat healthy foods not junk foods like pizza, chocolate and Krug champagne etc. and instead of taking three large meals you must take five to six small meals to keep your metabolism elevated. Fruits, vegetables, lean protein and healthy carbohydrates must be consumed in a balanced manner regularly. You should also curb your emotional craving for food by finding ways to alleviate the cravings through other means.

The Kardashian girls, as far as we can tell, keep their figures with a combination of regular exercise and sensible nutrition.
The above weight loss tips for women will certainly help you to achieve the desired weight loss along with many other health benefits for a gorgeous, lighter and leaner body.

The saying goes you are what you eat; well you are what you can digest, absorb and assimilate. Digestion is extremely important. It is popular to blame food intolerances for poor digestion, and this may be the case in some people, however it may be just as likely that there is a bacterial infection, low stomach acid and digestive enzymes or poor gut micro flora that is contributing to poor digestion. Respected nutritionist Jeffrey Bland came up with the axiom of the 4 R’s when trying to improve digestion.

R – Remove food sensitivities, parasites, fungus and bad bacteria.

R – Replace nutrients needed for digestion.

R – Re inoculate the bowel with friendly bacteria.

R – Repair the gut with important nutrients.

Always start by removing things from your diet and lifestyle that may be irritating the gut. Trying to heal the gut or take probiotcs will otherwise be useless. Remove common food intolerances such as wheat, dairy, soy or eggs if necessary. If you think you are sensitive to a food or several foods, remove them from your diet for 2 weeks. If your symptoms improve you may have a food intolerance, if your symptoms do not improve it could be something else that is affecting your digestion.

Something else that may need to be removed from the gut is parasites and bad bacteria. To test for and remove parasites, fungus and bacteria is beyond the scope of this article. However there are good foods, supplements and herbs that help to kill parasites, bad bacteria and fungus. It is always best to have a stool test done and establish which agents kill the parasites, bad bacteria or fungus you might be infected with, otherwise you may be shooting in the dark. Genova Diagnostics produce a good array of stool tests for parasite infection.

Stress is another major disruption for digestion. Stomach acid secretion is reduced considerably and it draws blood and energy away from the bowels and diverts it to the brain and muscles to either run away or fight. Stress comes in many forms – food intolerances, alcohol, financial stress, relationship stress, mental emotional stress, poor blood sugar regulation etc, so learning what is stressing you and how to manage those stressors is imperative.

Once you have removed all things that are damaging the GI tract it’s time to start replacing things needed for healthy digestion. One of the most important things you can do is to test your stomach acid levels and support your stomach with HCL supplements. I explain in my book exactly how to do this. Other things that need to be replaced are digestive enzymes, water, fibre and foods that help to stimulate bile secretions.

Only after you have removed and replaced should you entertain re-inoculating the bowel with healthy bacteria and use foods and nutrients that repair the gut.

To find out how to remove wheat and dairy, what foods they are found in, what brands and alternative wheat and dairy free products you can eat; to find out how to kill bad bacteria, fungus and parasites; to find out what foods, supplements and lifestyle practices best manage your stress and to find out how to properly repair the gut Steve Hines Little book of nutrition tips is now available at http://www.amazon.co.uk/little-book-nutrition-tips/dp/0956670113

or watch Steve talk about the book on YouTube here

Here is some great weight loss news. A Danish study has recently been published suggesting that the fibre found in flax seeds help to suppress appetite. Participants who ate the flax seeds felt more satisfied and full after eating and their body released less insulin.

Remember that insulin is the fat storage hormone – normal levels are good, but if you produce too much insulin from eating too much carbohydrate it drives the conversion of carbohydrate to fat.

What this study doesn’t say is that flax seeds help you lose weight, but you can put 2 and 2 together – if you have better appetite control and lower levels of insulin after eating this can only be good for your body composition.

Another great thing about flax seeds is that they are full of something called lignans. Now these dietary lignans are very powerful anticancer nutrients that may help to protect against breast and prostate cancer. They do this by raising something called sex hormone binding globulin otherwise known as SHBG. They may also play a role in PCOS as SHBG is often out of whack in this condition too.

Flax seeds also contain omega 3 alpha linolenic acid which is an essential omega 3. Although it doesn’t convert well to the other types of omega 3 called EPA and DHA, which are found in fish and fish oils, it’s still an important fat to eat. However I’m not a great fan of flax seed oil so stick with eating 2-3 tablespoons of ground flax seeds daily. You can mix them with cinnamon and xylitol and sprinkle over fresh berries, you can grind them with other seeds and mix into porridge or add to muesli or you can chuck them into a smoothie with some fruit and veg – you are bound by your own imagination.

Buy them whole, store them in the fridge and grind them directly before eating so the fats in the seeds don’t go rancid.

Unfortunately we live in a toxic world; there have been thousands of tons of chemicals released into our environment including heavy metals, plastics, pesticides, industrial chemicals, dioxins, phthalates, and xenoestrogens. One hundred percent of new born babies that have been tested have shown positive for traces of rocket fuel, dioxins, DDT and other chemicals in their umbilical cords. Rates of cancer are on the rise with many cancers being attributed to chemical toxicity.

Detoxification is a body wide process involving the skin, kidneys, lungs and liver. Most of this work is carried out by the liver and the liver and bowel work closely to clean and detoxify your body. Once the gut is healed, the liver needs to be supported to do its job of getting rid of all these chemicals we are exposed to.

Overview of the liver’s function

 

The liver is the largest internal organ in the human body and it is often the most overworked. It weighs approximately 1.4kg and filters about 1.5 litres of blood every minute. The liver has five primary roles in maintaining health:

• Digestion

 

• Blood filtration 

 

• Detoxification

 

• Cholesterol synthesis

 

• Metabolism

 

The liver and bowel are integral to the process of detoxifying toxic compounds. There are two enzymatic pathways of detoxification in the liver – phase 1 or the P450 pathway and the phase 2 pathways.

The phase 1 pathway is a set of enzymes that reside inside the liver cells. As blood is filtered through the liver cells these enzymes chemically transform compounds to a less toxic form, making them water-soluble, or converting them into a more toxic form. Making a toxin water-soluble allows it to be directly excreted by the kidneys, whereas the more toxic compounds are ready to be processed by the phase 2 enzymes.

Phase 1 enzymes require a host of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. For each molecule of a toxin metabolised it produces a free radical, thus there is a great demand for antioxidants as a by-product of phase 1 detoxification. The main antioxidant required for phase 1 detoxification is glutathione, which itself requires support from selenium and vitamin E.

The metabolites from phase 1 are then shunted through the 6 different pathways of phase 2 detoxification. Each phase 2 pathway works best at detoxifying certain chemicals, but there is considerable overlap in activity among the enzymes. During phase 2, toxins are attached or conjugated to certain nutrients and amino acids thus enabling the liver to turn drugs, hormones and various toxins into substances that can be excreted.

The six pathways include:

1.  Glutathione conjugation accounts which accounts for approximately 60% of the phase 2 enzymatic activities. This is where toxins are bound to the antioxidant glutathione before being excreted by the kidneys.

2. Amino acid conjugation requires several amino acids including glycine, taurine, glutamine, arginine, and ornithine.

3. The sulphation pathway binds toxins to sulphurous compounds and clears the steroid hormones oestrogen, testosterone and thyroid hormones.

4. The glucuronidation pathway joins glucuronic acid to toxins.

5. Methylation involves conjugating methyl groups to toxins.

6. The Acetylation pathway joins toxins such as sulpha drugs to a molecule of acetyl-CoA.

One of the main routes of elimination for these processed toxins and hormones is through the bile. Gallstones prevent the liver eliminating bile and may be attributed to high fat, low fibre diets and alcohol consumption.

In the bowels the bile is bound up with dietary fibre and eliminated in the stool. Enzymes in the bowel called beta glucuronidase produced by unfriendly bacteria are capable of breaking the “old” or processed hormones and toxins from dietary fibre making them available to be reabsorbed or be “re-cycled” increasing toxicity.

Also consider that it is well known that alcohol and the pill depletes folic acid and, along with diuretic compounds such as caffeine or diuretic drugs, make you pass more urine. This increases the loss of water-soluble vitamins. It is also important to consider that alcohol, tannins in tea, phytates in grains and sugar also affect nutrient absorption in the gut.

To find out what foods and nutrients supper phase 1 and 2 detoxification in the liver, what foods stimulate bile flow and what foods and supplements support healthy gut bacteria and normal transit time Steve Hines Little book of nutrition tips now is available at

http://www.amazon.co.uk/little-book-nutrition-tips/dp/0956670113

or watch Steve talk about the book on YouTube here

A modern approach to weight loss 

 

With the nation getting ever fatter and the burden this will have on our health and economy, the government and health care professionals alike are desperate for a modern approach to weight loss. But there are so many different diet books and weight loss programmes on the market and so much conflicting information in the press that it can sometimes be quite confusing about what to do.

 

The basic premise of eating slightly less (calories) and exercising more does hold some truth and many people will lose weight by being more mindful about what they eat and drink and by exercising a little more. But this is far from a modern approach to weight loss and can often be too simplistic for many people who “diet and exercise” but who still can’t lose weight.

 

The basics for effective weight loss

 

There are four basic “rules” to weight loss that go beyond simply eating less and exercising more:

 

Stop smoking

As simple as it sounds a modern approach to weight loss is to stop smoking. Stopping smoking can be one of the best decisions you make to improve your health as it is associated with cancer, especially cancers of the mouth, oesophagus and lungs and it accelerates aging.

There is some evidence to suggest that if you quit smoking you are more likely to put on weight – and this may be because nicotine acts as an appetite suppressant / or you just tend to eat something when you would have had a cigarette – but this certainly doesn’t mean that you should smoke to lose weight. But there is other research that refutes this claim.

In fact researchers have shown that females who smoke 10 cigarettes a day as teenagers are more likely to be overweight as adults, this trend didn’t apply to males in this study, but in young males smoking tends to accompany alcohol and alcohol as we will see also contributes to obesity.

 

Reduce and modify alcohol intake

Alcohol contains an abundance of calories that often don’t get accounted for when you are trying to lose weight. However a modern approach to weight loss is to modify your alcohol intake rather then quit all together.

London nutritionist food myth part 10 alcohol

Consider that a pint of beer may contain up to 400 calories and simply drinking 4 or 5 pints on a night out may give you your calorie requirement for the whole day, it’s easy to see why excess alcohol can make you fat.

Beers and spirits are also made from wheat which is a common food intolerance that can cause gastrointestinal inflammation, intestinal permeability and immune sensitivity causing symptoms such as IBS, constipation or diarrhoea (but more on this later).

Epidemiological research has shown that drinking alcohol in moderation is however beneficial to our health, but what do they mean as “in moderation”? I would interpret this as one glass of wine a day (it doesn’t have to be everyday either – especially if you are trying to lose weight) and certainly don’t give yourself the excuse of drinking all 7 glasses on a Friday night because you have abstained for the rest of the week as this will just add a whole bunch of calories to your day and play havoc with your blood sugar and insulin regulation.

The best wines to drink are organic as the grapes haven’t been sprayed with pesticides, but also try and pick wines rich in a compound called resveratrol which has many health benefits. These include pinot, merlot and all Spanish wines.

 

Exercise

There is no doubt that exercise can help you lose weight and that not doing any exercise can contribute to you being fat. But there are many types of exercise – yoga, Pilates, bootcamps, running, lifting weights or simply walking the dog – and you need to find what is right for you.

Exercise increases telomere length

From an evolutionary perspective we are designed to be highly active, not designed to sit at desks all day and drive or take the bus everywhere we go. We can get a good idea of how much activity we need to get each day by looking at isolated indigenous communities that still live a very basic lifestyle. It is estimated that these communities may “exercise” in terms of hunt, gather, clean, build shelter, play etc… up to 5 hours a day which seems quite a lot and certainly a lot more than modern Westernised humans get – but just think they get 19 hours a day to sleep, eat, relax and have fun. Wouldn’t that be great?

Most people think that “cardio” be it running, or using the rower or the cross trainer in the gym is the best way to lose weight, and there is no doubt that doing some cardio can help. But a modern approach to weight loss includes the need to build muscle as well and this involves doing some resistance training. As with cardio, resistance training comes in different forms, be it using your body weight, using a TRX or a Swiss ball, kettle bells, dumbbells or resistance machines. I think that all of these things can be used for effective weight loss and they will certainly add variety to your exercise regimen, but the true secret to success is to change things often to prevent your body from adapting. This might take the form of doing cardio for a month, then using TRX or Swiss balls for a month, then doing Pilates or boxing for a month then doing some weight training – just keep changing things up.

Fat melting 100 rep workout

The other secret to success, and this hold true for success in any other industry or in life, is that you need to work hard at what you are doing. If you go to the gym and sit on one of the bikes watching the TV or reading a book you are not working hard enough to get results. 

Eat a low glycemic load diet

 

This is a modern approach to weight loss that involves consuming healthy protein (such as meat, fish, seafood, poultry and eggs) and fats (such as nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocados, oily fish and coconut oil) with low glycemic load fruits, vegetables, grain and legumes.

Insulin the fat storage hormone – how to lose weight by controlling insulin

Low carb diets better for fat loss

The glycemic load is a system of classifying carbohydrate containing foods by how quickly the carbohydrate is released into the blood stream. The GL system scores foods as low GL that are less than 10, moderate GL that are 11-20 and high GL as anything over 20.

It is beyond the scope of this article to outline the GL of all carbohydrate containing foods, but a general rule is that thin skinned fruits such as berries, apples, pears and plums and green leafy vegetables are all low GL. Things like potatoes, bread and whole grains are moderate GL and all processed foods such as sugar, sweats, chocolates and white grains are high GL. This may be a bit of an over simplification but you will certainly start losing weight if you eat mainly low GL food, a little moderate GL food and no high GL foods.

Low carb “Boot camp” for rapid weight loss

High protein low GL diets best for weight loss

 

Advanced topics for weight loss

 

There are many people who will follow this advice and who still struggle to lose weight. If you are one of these people you’ll need to think about the following four contributing factors for a truly a modern approach to weight loss:

Gut microbiota

Inside each of us are trillions of cells of bacteria, with up to 2 kg of bacteria living in our gastrointestinal tract known as the gut microbiota. It is believed that the bacterial cells inhabiting our gut outnumber the cells that make up our own body by a magnitude of 10:1! Are you really who you think you are?

High fat low fibre diets alter the gut microbiota leading to an environment that creates lowered gastrointestinal (GI) colonisation of healthy bifidobacteria, this in turn leads to GI inflammation, intestinal permeability and the leakage of lipopolysacchardies (LPS) into the blood stream. It has been shown that LPS creates an immune response in the body that increases the storage of fat, creates inflammation and decreases insulin sensitivity. All of this contributes to being overweight.

If, however, you take prebiotic fibre and probiotics such as bifidobacteria this decreases the releases of LPS into the blood improving insulin sensitivity, decreasing inflammation, decreasing fat storage and decreasing appetite. Simply taking a probiotic supplement and eating prebiotic foods is a modern approach to weight loss that can help you.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is only really obtained by direct exposure to sunlight. Over 3000 genes are affected by vitamin D and beyond the role vitamin D plays in bone and immune health it plays a huge roll in cell signalling and cell differentiation. We know from research that vitamin D deficiency negatively affects insulin sensitivity / glucose tolerance and leads to type 2 diabetes and type 2 diabetes is associated with being overweight.

The sunshine vitamin – D3

So a modern approach to weight loss is something as simple as making sure your vitamin D levels are up to par. This can help improve insulin sensitivity and aid having optimum body composition. You can ask your doctor for 25(O-H)D3 test and supplement accordingly based on the results. A baseline of 2000-500IU is a good place to start.

Methylation

Methylation is a process that happens in many body tissues such as the brain, the liver, the lungs and the heart. It is a set of chemical reactions that turns methionine into something called SAMe. The process requires amongst other things B12, folic acid and B6. Due to our unique genetic make up some of us require much more of these B vitamins than others and if we are deficient we get a build up of homocysteine in the blood. People who have higher homocysteine in their blood are much more likely to suffer from all manner of diseases as well as be overweight.

B vitamins good for the brain

Research done in rats shows that the rats that are hypomethylators (low in B vitamins or have a genetic fault requiring higher levels of B vitamins) are overweight and obese. You can have your homocysteine measured by a simple home blood test kit available from York Test, after which you can supplement with the active forms of B12, folic acid and B6, which is truly a modern approach to weight loss.

Toxins

Thousands of chemicals have been released in to our environment in the past 50 years, many with no knowledge about they will affect human physiology. They range from plastics such as dioxins and phthalates, to pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides as well as heavy metals. Many of these chemicals have an oestrogenic effect in our body and have been termed obesogens by functional medicine experts.

8 pillars to optimal health – detoxify

These chemicals basically screw up human physiology causing DNA damage, depleting and displacing nutrients from the body, altering cellular communication and energy production and placing a toxic burden on the body.

Toxicity testing part 1

Identifying and eliminating these toxins is beyond the scope of this article but you can reduce your exposure to these chemicals by buying organic food. Bob Rakowski, a modern approach to weight loss expert states that if you are not buying organic food you are contributing to an industry that is poisoning every man, women and child on this planet.

Strong case for eating organic food

You can also filter your water and change your personal care products to ones free from parabens. Eating broccoli, cabbage, kale, watercress, onions and leeks can also support the liver detoxifying these chemicals.

8 Skin Moisturizer Ingredients You’d Best Avoid

 

Summary

So there you have it, a modern approach to weight loss involves stopping smoking, reducing alcohol, exercising smartly and eating a low GL diet. Beyond that weight loss can be enhanced by taking B vitamins, vitamin D, probiotics and by avoiding and eliminating toxins.

The secrets to success of weight loss

To find out how you can lose weight click here now

The little book of nutrition tips

 

Check out the summary of my new book here…

Balance your blood sugar with protein, fat and carbohydrates at every meal and snack.

Blood sugar levels are very important for providing the energy we need to go about our daily activities. Blood sugar is defined as the amount of glucose that is in the blood at any one time. All carbohydrates that you consume are broken down into sugar called glucose, which then provide energy to your muscles, heart and brain.

Blood sugar levels should stay fairly steady through the day. However, problems arise when blood sugar levels fluctuate erratically. If blood sugar levels are continually high it may mean that the hormone insulin, which signals cells to absorb glucose may no longer work properly. If blood sugar levels are low or continually up and down this can lead to energy slumps, tiredness during the day or lunchtime dips, if blood sugar levels are particularly low it is known as hypoglycaemia where you can suffer from the shakes, cold sweats and light-headedness.

Here is an example of how poorly controlled blood sugar can affect you. You wake up in the morning and your blood sugar levels are low from overnight fasting. Ideally you eat a good breakfast and your blood sugar levels rise slowly. This causes a little insulin to be released from the pancreas and insulin knocks on the doors of the liver and muscle cells asking if they will take the sugar out of the blood and in to the cells. If you are active and walked or cycled to work the muscles and liver will love the sugar as they will need it for energy. As you burn off the blood sugar and blood sugar levels begin to fall it makes you feel a little hungry so you have a sensible snack and blood sugar gently rises again. Once again as blood sugar levels begin to rise insulin is released from the pancreas, which knocks on the doors of the liver and muscle cells. This cycle of sensible eating and well-controlled blood sugar continues throughout the day and you have sustained energy and feel well.

Consider now that if you eat a lot of sugar at breakfast (the the Standard English breakfast of cereal, sugar, milk, toast and jam and a coffee with more sugar) your blood sugar will go through the roof, this causes the pancreas to release a lot of insulin. You sit on the bus or in the car to work and the muscle and liver cells now tell the insulin they don’t need that sugar from the blood, as they are not burning it for energy. So now the insulin knocks on the fat cells door and the fat cells welcome that sugar with open arms and convert it to fat for storage.

Because you have released a lot of insulin in response to very high blood sugar most of the sugar in your blood has now been stored in the fat cells and your blood sugar is low. This causes your adrenal glands to release the stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin. These hormones mobilise fats and proteins to the liver where they are converted to blood sugar, raising blood sugar levels once more. As you also feel hungry you have a cup of tea and biscuit or chocolate bar and the blood sugar levels get really high again. As you are now sat at your desk at work being inactive the muscle and liver cells still don’t want the sugar and the fat cells mop it up again.

This cycle of high insulin putting blood sugar into the fat cells, followed by low blood sugar and stress hormone release continues throughout the day. By mid afternoon your blood sugar levels are in your boots, your energy lulls and you have a headache, feel sleepy or you’re just starting to get your sugar cravings. This insulin-cortisol see-saw is a sure fire way to get fat, get bad cholesterol scores and increase risk factors for certain disease.

Find out how to balance your blood sugar with protein, fats and carbs at each meal; find out how to choose healthy balanced breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks; find out healthy recipes and ideas and how to eliminate sugar from your diet with Steve Hines Little book of nutrition tips now is available at http://www.amazon.co.uk/little-book-nutrition-tips/dp/0956670113

The dreaded saddle bags

Having had a few conversations with my female boot camp, personal training and nutrition clients’ recently one issue that has been raised is the dreaded saddle bags – the body fat that sits under the buttock on the hamstrings and on the groin. I get asked “what can I do about this”, “what exercises can I do to burn this fat”. I often don’t have the time to go in to a detailed response to these questions so I thought I would write a blog post on it.

The first thing I would say is that there are no specific exercises that are going to burn the fat in those areas. Doing butt exercises, groin squeezes and hamstrings exercises will make those muscles stronger but they will not directly burn fat from those area. You see the deposition of fat in those areas is hormonally mediated (but more on that in a minute).

The exercises you can do burn fat in those areas is what is known as body comp work. This involves doing exercises that uses as much muscle as possible – basically whole body exercises. Another gem you need to know is that when you train you should be working so hard you get a build up of lactate in the muscle to point that that muscle is burning and you can barely move it any more. These types of training will often times make you feel a little nauseous. You should do this type of training for around 30-40 minutes for a good effect. This is the type of training we do at boot camp so just ask some of our regular customers what this involves but here is a sneak preview

The next thing you need to know and much more importantly is that these areas of body fat are hormonally mediated. Basically the more oestrogen you have in your body (either in total – or unopposed by other hormones such as progesterone) – the more fat you will store on the lower body. This doesn’t need to be the oestrogen that your ovaries produce 9as many menopausal women have saddle bags as well) but the oestrogen that is made in your fat cells and the oestrogen you come in to contact with through your environment.

 

Fat cells

Fat cells contain an enzyme called aromatase. Its job is to create oestrogen from testosterone. This mechanism is perfect for post menopausal females as fat cells and the adrenal glands produce oestrogen as the ovaries slow down production. However this mechanism goes awry when you are overweight. You basically have more fat cells with more aromatase activity releasing oestrogen in to your system. So the best thing you can do is lose weight and reduce the activity of aromatase.

The best way to lose weight is to eat a Palaeolithic style diet. The basic premise of this is so easy it’s insane. Before you eat a food ask yourself – “was this food around 10,000 years ago?” if you answer “yes” then eat it, if you answer “No” don’t eat it! For example was a chicken, nuts carrots or an apple around 10,000 years ago – yes so eat them. Was a doughnut, snickers, pasta or bread and jam around 10,000 years ago – no so don’t eat them. Eating Paleo means you basically eat protein in the way of meat, fish, seafood or poultry with lots of vegetables and snack on nuts, seeds and fruits. I have written on this before so read these blog posts

Low carb “Boot camp” for rapid weight loss

Staunch Paleo diet enforcers also suggest we avoid grains, legumes and dairy. I would be a little bit more moderate on this. I suggest avoiding all gluten containing grains (see below) and eating other grains like rice, corn, millet and quinoa infrequently.

Go gluten free

It is a good idea to avoid dairy if you are dairy intolerant, however if you are not intolerant probiotic yoghurts can be enjoyed. I would also not eat too many legumes – you may enjoy some humus of falafel from time to time but I would not eat soy products

The truth about Soy

The liver’s job is to detoxify chemicals that we come into contact with, and it also has to detoxify steroid hormones such as oestrogen. The liver has 3 ways to do this – through methylation, glururonidation and sulphation. Bear with me on this, but the take home point is to eat foods that provide you with a host of B vitamins (this is not grains – the best source of B vitamins is animal protein and vegetables), foods that contain sulphur (which is eggs, onions, leeks, garlic) and foods that contain glucuronic acid which is broccoli, apples and grapefruit.

There is another group of foods that are “super foods” for the liver packed full of indoles, sulphur and other nutrients that help oestrogen detoxification – cruciferous vegetables. These include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, radishes and chard. Watercress is also particularly good and is packed full on these nutrients. However these vegetables must be eaten raw or lightly steamed as boiling or microwaving them destroys all the active cancer killing nutrients.

Another area where women constantly fall down with their diet is that they don’t eat enough protein. Women MUST eat enough protein, especially vegetarians, as liver detoxification is also determined by amino acids not just vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Once again mat, fish, seafood and poultry provide amino acids – so doing things like juice fasts as a detox is a bad idea as juice does not contain any protein.

 

Take home point: Eat protein at every meal (yes including breakfast)  then fill up on cruciferous and other vegetables, which contain indoles and sulphurophane that detoxify oestrogen. Snack on fruits, nuts and seeds.

Healthy breakfasts

The high protein breakfast

Breakfast cereal = Junk Food

 

Chemicals in our environment

Unfortunately we are bombarded with chemicals in our environment such as our drinking water (traces of Prozac and the pill have been found in our water), pesticides, plastics, cosmetics, HRT and the pill and industrial chemicals and heavy metals. These xenoestrogens chemical shape is identical to the shape of bodies own oestrogen and can bind on to oestrogen receptors in the body. However these chemical oestrogens are much more powerful than our bodies own oestrogen and send the cells haywire. Here is a link to an extensive series of articles on the topic.

The growing tide of oestrogen related problems

 

Decrease sources of xenoestrogens

• Filter your drinking water with a Britta filter.
• Use a shower filter (Aki water filter).
• Eliminate plastics by storing your food in parchment paper, glass jars and cook in stainless steel.
• Eat organic food
• Reduce medications (especially the pill – it depletes folic acid – consider the coil)
• No spray / fake tans (yes I know you will hate this one, but do you want to be brown with fat legs for the rest of your life?)
• Avoid parabens found in creams, shampoo, moisturisers, toothpaste, cosmetics and deodorant.

 

Supplements

There are certain nutrients in supplement form that can help you get rid of the saddle bags as well. These include DIM, sulphurophane, calcium D glucurate and fibre. DIM and sulphurophane are concentrated extracts of the nutrients found in cruciferous vegetables, where as calcium D glucurate is a concentrated form of glucuronic acid found in apples, broccoli and grapefruit – it is not a form of calcium. You could also consider doing an oestrogen based nutritional cleanse

Rapid fat loss – a case study

 

Summary

1. Do high intensity interval type exercise including using resistance equipment
2. Lose weight. Eat protein at every meal (yes including breakfast) then fill up on cruciferous and other vegetables. Snack on fruits, nuts and seeds
3. Decrease sources of xenoestrogens
4. Use foods and supplements to detoxify oestrogens or do an oestrogen based cleanse