General Diet And Health Information

General Diet And Health Information (II)

I.     U.S. Diet And Lack of Exercise Increase Obesity!

II. ZORBA^TM Super Fat Sponge^TM Blocks Fat Calories!

III. Why Reduce Dietary Sugars And Refined Carbs?

IV. Even Mild Regular Aerobic Activity Helps Fight Fat!

III. Why Reduce Dietary Sugars And Refined Carbs?
The average adult person in the USA consumes from 2400 to 3600 total calories, which is far above recommended calorie needs for modern adults (male: 2200-2600 calories) and (female: 1600 to 2000 calories). Excess calories are from all three sources dietary calorie sources fats, protein and carbohydrates. Cheaper manufacturing methods over the past 15-20 years have contributed to increased consumption and excess carbohydrate calories. Primary culprits are simple sugars in sodas, "sports" and "health" drinks, and simple deserts (include one or more of table sugar, high fructose corn syrup, modified food starch, etc.) as well as refined flour, rice, refined pasta, and potato products.

The body can make fat from ANY excess calorie source and can store these excess calories as gained fat weight, including excess carbohydrate calories. Excess calories from simple carbohydrates can overwork the body’s insulin machinery and lead to diabetes, or aggravate existing diabetes.

Since the brain only uses carbohydrates as its energy source, drastically restricting total carbohydrates as in the Adkins Diet is also not a good idea. This can lead to mood swings and constant sensations of hunger that can lead to periods of “binging” and “fasting” that are very unhealthy and can break down muscle tissue. Remember that complex carbohydrates are your body’s friend and non-digested carbohydrate fiber is very healthy to reduce the risk of colon cancer. Reducing the amount of simple carbohydrates and emphasizing complex carbohydrates is the main idea as recommended by the USDA, while limiting total daily calories consumed.

Substituting excess protein to replace eliminated total carbohydrates (very low carbohydrate levels) as in an Adkins Diet can be very unhealthy. This is essentially a “high protein diet” craze from the 1970’s that uses dietary protein instead of the “liquid protein” (soy protein) of the 1970’s diet. Research showed that such a diet was a bad idea for the long term and needed to be closely supervised by doctors. It was criticized as leading to gout, liver disease and kidney disease (or aggravating these conditions) from long term high protein consumption.

Strong evidence also suggests that it is a good idea to reduce simple carbohydrates (while increasing the percentage of complex carbohydrates while watching total calories) and reducing caffeine to help lower the appetite. Appetite increases can be a serious side effect from low blood sugar when caffeine levels drop about 90 minutes after caffeine is consumed with sugar. In fact, some evidence suggests that the caffeine and sugar cycle can lead to weight gain rather than weight loss. Read labels carefully since the most popular “coffee shop” drinks are loaded with both caffeine and sugar…even when “fat free” advertisements are posted in the coffee shop.

Appetites and cravings for simple carbohydrates may increases dramatically from taking “fat burners” or using "ephedra free" metabolic stimulants that are dietary supplements. This can strongly contribute to feelings of constant hunger or weight gain from a blood sugar/caffeine cycle effect. This is the opposite of the effects suggested by popular media that advertises these products. Careful reading of the label will show such products are often loaded with caffeine from green tea extracts, coffee extracts, Kava and other sources. Such products may actually be harmful and can lead to weight gain if combined with a high carbohydrate diet. For caffeine to be effective as a “fat burner” carbohydrates must be restricted (and total calories reduced), but this can cause a person to feel jittery, agitated, anxious and nervous from low blood sugar in combination with high blood caffeine levels. Remember that no matter what the source of caffeine…(coffee, green tea, Kava, or other natural sources) its effects of on the body are about the same…essentially, the body reacts in the same way to caffeine regardless of its source.

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IV. Even Mild Regular Aerobic Activity Helps Fight Fat!
Stored fat is burned ONLY with aerobic activity (aerobic exercise program and daily aerobic activities of working, walking, breathing, etc.). Regular aerobic activity (even mild regular activity) is strongly recommended by experts as the exercise of choice for heart health and weight loss.

Other than risky surgery to remove or reduce part of the digestive system, there are only four ways to avoid excess high calorie fats from dietary fat calories (very concentrated, loaded with excess calories) that can lead to rapid weight gain. These are: (i) cut back on fat consumption, (ii) use a fat blocker (this can be uncomfortable and can cause oily stool side effects), (iii) use a fat sponge that soaks up fat and eliminates it from the body before it can be digested and stored as fat weight, or (iv) a combination of all three of these methods.

Contrary to popular misconceptions from muscle magazines and Adkins diet enthusiasts, the body can make fat from ANY excess calorie source. Excess calories from any source are turned into fat (metabolized as fat) and stored as gained fat weight. This stored fat will now require aerobic activity to remove it. So FAT IS MADE from excess protein and carbohydrate calories. Such stored fat CAN ONLY BE REMOVED by calorie restriction and aerobic exercise. Remember that excess protein over a long period of time can lead to gout, liver and kidney disease, so a diet that is really high in protein is not recommended as a long term diet. During short periods of vigorous exercise mainly carbohydrate calories are used, hunger increases, and this can lead to weight gain.

As you can see from Section II, above, a gram of fat has twice as many calories (9) as either a gram of protein (4) or a gram of carbohydrate (4). The recommended percent of dietary fat calories by the AMA is only 20% to 30% of the total daily dietary calories. This is easily exceeded by an average obese USA diet, which includes about 40% fat calories. Excess fat calories cause other diseases that go well beyond the aesthetics of weight gain and appearance. So, cutting fat calories, removing fat calories, or both are good places to start when restricting calories to lose weight.

Along with a less active lifestyle, the western diet in the USA leads to Obesity and is simply too high in dietary fat. Thus, it is very important to increase the levels of aerobic exercise to remove consumed or stored fat. About 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 3 to 4 times each week are recommended by experts. Any sensible diet or weight loss program will require reduction of calories (particularly fat calories due to their harmful effects on the heart and increased risk of other diseases from a high fat diet) and an increase in physical activity. This is a gradual lifestyle change, and it requires some sensible understanding of the effects of eating and exercise.

Exercise gradually and frequently in an aerobic way to burn fat calories aerobically and to avoid carbohydrate cravings due to insulin exercise responses that can temporary lower blood sugar. During short periods of vigorous exercise mainly carbohydrate calories are used, and the body releases more insulin and stored starch from the liver (glycogen). This vigorous exercise and excess insulin response can have the effect of temporarily dropping blood sugar levels shortly after exercise is ended. Such an insulin/exercise cycle can increase hunger and appetite (a ravenous, empty feeling) and this can lead to weight gain. Anaerobic exercise (from shorts burst of vigorous activity less than 20 minutes) is where there is not enough circulating oxygen in the blood stream due to a lack of conditioning or from overexertion.

Regular aerobic activity or exercise can help remove stored fat when total calories are reduced and dietary fat is restricted by either calorie elimination, lowered by use of a strong fat sponge, or both.

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