An Early Start to Burn Fat and Lose Weight

Did 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.

For additional information about alternative medicine and other nutrition facts:

Herbal Nutrition Systems

To learn how to optimize nutrition and learn about holistic health:

SC Certified Natural Health Professionals : http://www.sc-cnhp.org

For high quality, all-natural, herbal nutritional supplements:

http://www.herbsexpress.com

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Digestion and Holistic Healthcare

From 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.

For additional information about alternative medicine and other nutrition facts:

Naturopathic-Medicine.net

To learn how to optimize nutrition and learn about holistic health:

SC Certified Natural Health Professionals : http://www.sc-cnhp.org

For high quality, all-natural, herbal nutritional supplements:

http://www.herbsexpress.com

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Holistic Health Insurance for Feet

Our feet are amazing. Each step we take exerts pressure that is as much as 3 to 4 times our body weight. Nonetheless, the nerve endings are so sensitive that we can tell if we have stepped on a small pebble or pin or have experienced a change in elevation.

Over three-quarters of Americans experience problems with their feet at some point in their lives. Primarily due to circulatory issues, diabetics particularly are prone to foot problems. Diabetes affects blood circulation and reduces blood flow to the extremities. The feet often suffer the consequences. Women too, generally experience foot problems. This seems to be due to an overuse or abuse of high heels shoes. Whether it is corns or calluses or more serious problems, we need to take care of our feet to maintain our overall health. Like it or not, our feet are our foundation. Consider these tips below as holistic health insurance for your feet.

1. Practice daily foot hygiene. A daily scrubbing is essential for good foot health. Just like your mom always said. "Wash between your toes and get them good and dry when you're done."
2. Use a foot powder to keep moisture and odor at bay.
3. Never clip your toenails into the corners. Always cut straight across the nail leaving the nail slightly longer than the tip of the toe.
4. Always wear socks with closed in shoes, especially loafers and sneakers. Cotton socks are the best healthy choice as they allow your feet to breathe and air to circulate.
5. Rub tea tea oil on your feet daily to keep feet fungus at bay.
   
6. Don't wear the same shoes everyday! Alternate. Allow the previous day's pair to air out.
7. For particularly dry, cracked feet, slather on an ample amount of foot cream and aloe vera gel at night before bed. Sleep in a pair of cotton socks and your feet will be noticeably smoother in the morning.
   
8. From time to time, soak those tired tootsies! Not only can it soften tough, dry skin, it can deodorize your feet as well. Great additives for a foot soak include essential oils like tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil, or lemon oil. The aromatherapy benefits are an added bonus. Other great choices are herbal teas. The tannin in herbal tea really helps to eliminate smelly feet.
9. Don't go bear-foot. Wear protective footwear to guard against injury and contact with fungus.
   
10. Check your feet regularly for blisters, sores or an other abnormalities. These sources of breaks in the skin or inflamation can breed unhealthy bacteria and fungi. Persistent redness, bruises and/or swelling can indicate that there is a problem.

Hopefully, you can use these tips to insure optimal foot health and overall holistic well-being.


To find out more about natural methods of health and healing with alternative medicine, visit

Naturopathic-Medicine.net

To find out about natural health education, visit

Certified Natural Health Professionals - SC Chapter

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