Holistic, Alternative Medicine Education and Insight

Saturday, January 26, 2008

An Early Start to Burn Fat and Lose Weight

burn fat, lose weight naturally - natural weight loss - boost metabolismDid you know that in the morning before breakfast is considered the best time to exercise if you are trying to lose weight and burn fat?

Besides the cardiovascular and mood-enhancing benefits, exercise helps you slim down and become more toned. However, for optimal fat burning, it's just as important to plan when you work-out as to what exercises you will do.

As it turns out, early morning exercise is best. Studies have shown that working out on an empty stomach forces your body to burn much more fat than it would have later in the day. How does this work?

When you awaken in the morning, your body has gone without food for approximately 8 hours. Your insulin levels are low; your glucose and glycogen levels are low as well. Each of these factors contributes to burning more stored fat and thus losing the type of weight you want to lose. However, if you eat before you workout, your body has to burn off what you just ate before it can tap into your fat reserves.

Early morning exercise appears to also have a metabolism boost as well. This means that you tend to continue to burn calories for hours even after the work out is over. Combining weight training in your morning routine is a powerful one, two punch for weight loss. Weight training builds muscles which dramatically affects fat loss. By doing it in the morning, you have an even more extended metabolic rate increase.

Whether this fulfills some ancient instinct to expend energy before we could have food as our hunter-gatherer ancestors did, morning exercise appears to restore the natural order of things for a holistic balance and normal weight.

For optimal fat loss, consider setting the clock a little earlier and blending when you exercise into your weight loss program.

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Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Digestion and Holistic Healthcare

nutrition, digestion, and holistic healthcareFrom a holistic perspective, it's not that you are what you eat, but that you are what you assimilate. Food passing through your system undigested does not do you any good, but actually causes harm. Bloating, gas, and/or constipation can be an indicator of poor digestion. Let's look at other digestive issues.

Roughly a third of all people over 65 suffer from atrophic gastritis, a condition that without noticeable symptoms, interferes with the absorption of vitamin B12 and very likely other nutrients and minerals as well. It's important to remember that such digestive and malabsorption disorders begin years before any type of symptoms appear and often go unnoticed for years or are misdiagnosed.

It's important to pay close attention to your digestion. You need to make sure that you are actually extracting nutrition from your food. However, after you have exhausted that food of its benefit, it's important to successfully eliminate its byproducts so that you do not have unhealthy build up of toxins in your system.


How do you maintain healthy digestion?
- A holistic approach ...


A holistic approach is best when it comes to your digestion. You should follow basic holistic guidelines for enabling healthy digestion.
  • Chew your food slowly and thoroughly. Take time to enjoy your food
  • Eat sitting down. Focus your energy on the process at hand - digesting your food
  • Don't consume too much liquid while eating as this dilutes your natural stomach acids
  • Finish dinner at least 3 hours before bedtime
  • Always include breakfast as a daily meal
  • Eat at regular intervals
  • Include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet
  • Incorporate daily exercise into your day
  • Get sufficient sleep

But what if I already have digestive problems?

If you are already suffering from the effects of a poor digestive system. First incorporate the holistic lifestyle changes listed above for maintaining a healthy digestive system. Then consider nutritional supplements such as probiotics. Probiotics contain beneficial bacteria that are normally found in the intestinal system. These bacteria break down food and can help re-balance and maintain a normal digestion process. Other digestive aids such as pepsin, betaine hydrochloride can also be helpful.


Remember, digestion is all about absorption and assimilation. Even the best diet and nutritional supplements won't do any good if you have poor digestion. Take care of your digestive system and it will take care of you.

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