Diet Deception: The After Six Diet

The Premise: 

Not eating after 6 p.m. so that by the time you sleep, most of the body’s intake would have already been converted to energy and used up, efficiently eliminating the chances of stocking up excess calories that might turn into fat.

The Promise: Weight Loss

The Proof: 

Kathy, 26, a former national athlete said “As an athlete, I’ve never had to diet extensively. But when I got married and gave birth, it was much harder. I did the After-six diet for two months and was amazed to find that I fit in my old clothes again. You just have to have the discipline to do it.”

The Prognosis: 

The After-six diet is more of a health tip than a diet. Its two main goals are to create an eating cut-off so you take in fewer calories for the lesser amount of activities ahead of you which is sleeping; and to promote the habit of eating breakfast. We continuously burn calories every second of our lives. Logically, you burn more calories running than sleeping, although you still burn calories even when you snooze. Also, the digestive ability of the body is more efficient when you’re awake. Before your food turns into energy, the body has to transform it to useable forms of energy. By eating way before bedtime, you ensure that the food has been digested and can efficiently be used by the body during slumber.

The theory is almost sound until you figure out what exactly your bedtime is. It takes approximately four hours before the body reacts to the lack of nutrients and you start feeling hunger pangs. After two hours of digesting, your body is efficiently burning calories and by the end of the fourth hour, your stomach produces enzymes for digestion for the food, which it is supposedly scheduled to admit. But what if you sleep at midnight? Two hours would have gone by then and the enzymes in your stomach would have reacted to your stomach lining resulting to ulcers and acid build-up.

The Pros’ Position:

“If you’re not an early sleeper, don’t do it. You can develop ulcers and hyperacidity by not eating way past four hours consistently. The concept of an eating cut-off time can work only if you take into consideration your normal sleeping patterns. If you sleep at midnight, make your cut-off 8p.m. or even 9p.m. instead of 6p.m. remember, hunger is just the body’s way of conveying that it needs nourishment. Deprivation is not the key to good health. Just make sure you eat two to three hours before you sleep. That should be sufficient. Never sleep straight away after eating”, says Ana Cruz, an L.A. nutritionist and dietician who once worked for the Duke University Medical Center.

On the other hand, some nutritionists believe that this is another fad formula which they discourage because of its erroneous and unscientific reasoning. This is because the body’s basal metabolism works 24 hours and does its different functions regardless of the time you feed it. 

The bottom line is: The key to healthy and scientific weight loss and weight maintenance program has no easy formula. Healthy lifestyle changes, good food choices, sustained and regular physical activity, attitudinal and behavioral modification will give us a healthier body.

Diet Deception: Diet Deception: The Blood Type Diet

The Premise:

Peter J. D’ Adamo, author of Eat Right for Your Type, says that in order to optimize the use of your food intake and channel it into the proper caloric expenditures needed to keep the body healthy, you must take into consideration your blood type. The basic premise is that Type Os are the dominant, hunter/caveman types and thus, are mainly carnivores; Type As are docile vegetarians and Type Bs are dairy-eating omnivores. According to D’ Adamo, this fact is supported by the action of lectins, sugar-wielding proteins found on the surface of certain foods that cause various molecules and cells to stick together.

The Provisions:

Type Os should stick mainly to protein-rich foods: meat, fish, tofu, eggs etc; Type As to vegetables and food of plant origins: vegetable oils, peanut butter, wheat-based products like pasta and breads, and should stay away from milk as this blood type cannot process milk. Type Bs can eat all the dairy products they want: butter, creams, etc. and since most of these products come from animal sources, meat and poultry is allowed in minimal amounts.

The Promise:

Reduces the risks of heart disease and steers you away from multi-organ dysfunction. Plus, it can ensure the proper processing of your daily intake and channel it into healthier, more effective means of expenditure.

The Prognosis:

The book contains a lot of scientifically dissatisfying, one-size-fits-all statements such as “Type Os don’t tolerate whole wheat products at all,” which leads one to believe that Type Os can generally die from taking wheat products. How much wheat can Type Os tolerate before it leads to massive heart failure or smoke?

Another argument is that “if a Type A drinks milk, her system will immediate start the agglutination process in order to reject it.” But the author offers no proof to support this statement. No statements are even offered explaining why Type As who drink milk (sometimes massive quantities of it) aren’t rushing to their graves as a result of strokes when their blood agglutinates in their entire system

Agglutination is when the red blood cells (RBC) stick together to form clumps; a process that happens when the surface of red blood cells become coated with fat or other substances that make them adhere to each other’s surfaces. When agglutination occurs, the RBC can block the blood flow in the smaller capillaries and obstruct the flow of oxygen to vital organs such as the brain, the heart and the kidneys. Oxygen deprivation leads to infraction of the tissue or cell death. Again, the whole concept of the Blood Type diet is to eat only foods compatible to your blood type to prevent agglutination. Eating incompatibility can lead to fatal consequences and eventually death.

Most people aren’t even aware of their blood types so one can safely assume that on a daily basis and based on the premise of this diet; a person eats the wrong type of food regularly. According to the author, it’s only a matter of time before it takes its toll on the person’s health causing severe damages to his vital organs.

Search if you will, but you’ll find no pathologist to support the contention that tissue infraction from lectin-induced red cell agglutination causes disease and death in humas.

The Pros’ Position:

“Being that there are no concrete medical studies to back up the author’s assertions. I don’t think this diet holds much water. If milk’s really bad for you, why does entire government launch elaborate campaigns to promote it? Why there has been no documentation on people being hospitalized by the dozen because their blood cells stuck together?” says Ana Cruz, an L.A. nutritionist and dietician who once worked for the Duke University Medical Center. 

Vitamins 101 for your Health

‘Vitamin’ was derived from the root word ‘vitamine’ which means vital amine. So what does it do? Vitamins are very powerful natural compounds that can be found mainly in the food that we consume. These are essential to all of us because they assist the cells in our body and tissues to perform their essential functions. To keep it simple, vitamins are what our body needs in order to grow.

Vitamins have two types. First, there is the water soluble vitamin which is commonly known vitamins of which the ascorbic acid or the we call vitamin C is the most common. Another one is the fat soluble vitamins which are also being called as hormones. It was believed a long time ago that all the kinds of vitamins only belong to one single group called the B complex since they all are coming from the same source but this was later categorized as vitamins that are different from each other. 

Some of these vitamins are Inositol, Choline, Vitamin B9, B5, B3, B1, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, etc. Others are being known by their biological names such as thiamine for vitamin B1 and Biotin for Vitamin H. 

These vitamins are important component of the balanced diet that we have. Some people with persistent diseases are being advised to take different vitamin supplements by their respective doctors. However, there are people who need to watch out their intake of vitamins like women who are pregnant or those who are suffering from a bowel disorder because bowel disorder hinder the absorption of the fat soluble vitamin in the body. While the patients suffering from anemia need to be given with dose of vitamin B12 because of their body’s deficiency from this vitamin. 

To assist our body to function efficiently and stay healthy, we need to take these vitamins on a normal basis. Vitamins assist our body organs to carry out their individual functions. Without the presence of these vitamins, it is for sure that our body will become weak and sick and will suffer from vitamin deficiency diseases. Most of the time, there are sufficient amount vitamins present in our food but if we will not eat a balanced diet, these external supplements like vitamins will do the work for our body.

It is very useful and compulsory for our body to take vitamins. However, as what the old saying goes, “excess of everything is bad”. Vitamins taken in excess can be a cause of harsh damage to our body. For example, our body needs just around 400 to 800 units of vitamin D/day. If our body exceeded this amount, too much calcium will be absorbed by our bloodstream, which will harm our kidneys. In addition, supplements in no way can substitute the healthy diets, so it is still better to take vitamin-rich diet than to take supplements or vitamins.

Lastly, we should not take vitamins by gathering different information from here and there. We have to consult a Doctor. It will not hurt to consult one. Remember, little understanding is a dangerous thing.

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Making it a Good Healthy Habit

Having a healthy body is very essential to all of us. There is a need to be fit, strong and energetic, have uninterrupted sleeping, and be in shape and have an ill-free body, which for sure will provide us with an excellent overall well-being. And for us to always be in shape and fit, we need to put into practice different vigorous lifestyles along with eating the right and healthy food and of course, by doing exercises.

Laziness is a barrier in achieving a good health for the body. Focus, determination and working hard is what we call for both mentally and physically in order for our body to be on top form and healthy. Aside from doing exercises, we must also avoid taking into our body some unhealthy foods that usually make us sluggish and slow such as junk foods and only eat foods that will makes us healthy and strong. Problems relating to health will surely make you suffer in the presence of obesity and overweight. So there is really a need to preserve an optimum body weight to keep in good physical shape.

Having healthy and positive lifestyle is something that you as a person need. It is very vital to keep having a positive mindset in order to be fit. It is best to always clear your mind, eliminate different stressors and negative feelings and fill it up with a ton of positivity. Optimistic feelings like this can be very revitalizing and at all times will lead you to great things in life. You can also be engaged in different activities such as yoga or even meditation to throw out that negativity and strengthen your mind with positive thoughts.

Consuming healthy foods is also essential for you to be healthy and in shape. Food such as fruits, lean meat, nuts, vegetables and even tubers can maintain your body and keep it strong. You should avoid eating foods with preservatives. Taking in improper food is the main reason in getting diseases and ill health. Due to this, a lot of people are being diagnosed to have illnesses like cancer, diabetes, obesity, etc. Effortless change in your lifestyle or diet routine can root a huge difference and can better develop your health significantly. Make an effort to stop consuming alcoholic beverages and smoking.

To ensure a good health, you need to do some exercises daily. Doing some exercise especially in the morning can make you feel refreshed for the whole day. It can set your good mood and it will help you to think positively and only consume healthy foods. Activities such as walking, biking, playing your favorite sports, swimming, etc will surely help to keep you in shape. Go for an activity that you will enjoy. Why not try to have your work outs done in an open air or an open field? This way, your feeling will be refreshed.

In addition to exercises, getting you with a good sleep and rest will keep you healthy. It will refresh your mind and can help you feel healthy if you are getting Sound sleep or quality sleep every time.

Never make sudden severe changes in your life style. Start with the simple changes and just enjoy it. You should try to put together these simple changes into a customary routine for you to achieve a long term health success. It is very essential to make progress into your health for you to be happy and enjoy your life.

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