Caralluma Fimbriata - A New Natural Weight Loss Aid

You are likely to be seeing a new ingredient in some weight loss supplements by the name of Caralluma Fimbriata. Caralluma Fimbriata is similar to hoodia in that it is a natural appetite suppressant.

Caralluma Fimbriata is said to be a vegetable that is used daily in tribal India. It is eaten in several different forms and it is said that it is used by tribesman in the same way Hoodia is used in other parts of the world – Tribesman will consume it before a long hunt to curb the appetite.

A company named Gencor Pacific USA has created a brand called Slimaluma ™ which is a standardized extract of Caralluma Fimbriata. Caralluma Fimbriata already has some studies behind it that makes it look very promising in the world of weight loss dietary supplements.

If you have tried Hoodia and did not have any success, you may want to try Caralluma Fimbriata before giving up on an all natural appetite stimulant. Currently there are not many products on the market containing Caralluma Fimbriata but I suspect that will change in the near future. We will probably start seeing combination products which contain other well known weight loss supplements such as green tea, Citrimax, and Chromium.

Remember that weight loss supplements usually target different areas. Some are considered fat burners, some inhibit the absorption of carbs or fat, and some are appetite suppressants. Caralluma Fimbriata is for people who want help in controlling their appetite.

We may see Caralluma Fimbriata combined with ingredients designed to burn fat, absorb carbs, etc. Keep in mind what your goal is before purchasing a weight loss supplement and you will probably not be disappointed with the results. It appears Caralluma Fimbriata will be affordable and the dosages will be reasonable. It appears that dosages are going to be around 1 gram per day. The manufacturers will probably recommend divided doses throughout the day but be sure and follow the directions on the bottle.

Are Atkins Diet And Low Carb Diets Safe

Are low carb diets safe? How safe is Atkins diet? Are low carb and Atkins diets dangerous to your health? These are burning questions for dieters all over the world.

I have personally tried low carb diets and Atkins diet and these diets made me lose weight very quickly. However not only did I lose body fat weight, I also lost muscle weight. I had very obvious muscle and fat loss because I can visually see my reduced muscle mass in the mirror.

This certainly isn’t healthy. Furthermore, the more muscle mass that you lose, the less toned your body shape is. The end result is that you will end up thin and yet looked flabby with lose skin.

The frustrating part will be that after you are off the low carb or Atkins diet, you will very probably gain back all the weight that you have loss and even more. This is because your muscles are active and they continuously burn calories. Since you have less fewer muscle mass now, your body’s metabolism or capacity to burn calories slows down tremendously.

In other words, when you put on weight again, you are putting on body fat instead of muscles if you do not exercise. You will be fatter and less healthy than before you went on the low carb or Atkins diet. To compound matters, because of lesser muscle tissues resulting in lower metabolism and thus lesser calories being burnt, you are going to get fatter.

Since then I have stayed off both low carb and Atkins diet. Both types of diets are almost similar as they require you to cut down drastically on your consumption of carbohydrates. Atkins diet went a step further by advocating almost no carbohydrate consumption for 2 weeks before adding some carbs to your meals gradually thereafter.

Besides losing muscles, how safe are low carb diets? This is what Dr Lyn Steffen and Dr Jennifer Nettleton from the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health commentated in a Lancet report, “Low carbohydrate diets for weight management are far from healthy, given their association with ketosis, constipation or diarrhea, halitosis, headache and general fatigue to name a few.”

The doctors warned that the diet increases protein load on the kidneys and alters the balance of acid in the body. This also results in loss of minerals from the bone stores and affect bone strength. The doctors went on to say that, “Our most important criterion should be indisputable safety and low carbohydrate diets currently fall short of this benchmark.”

Dr Atkins, the creator of the Atkins diet died in 2003 after he was alleged to have slipped on an icy road and hurt his head fatally. However his medical report stated that he had a history of heart attack, hypertension and congestive heart failure.

Were Dr Atkins medical conditions related to his low carbohydrates diet is anybody’s guess. Do you want to take the risk by going on a low carb diet? I don’t think I will. If I ever want to lose weight again, I will rather go on the proven method of healthy eating and regular exercises instead of jumping on any fad diets.

Discover All About The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet, created by cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston, is a safe and effective diet that differs from other diets in that it advocates not just a new way of eating but a new way of life.

The South Beach Diet puts an end to counting calories and it puts an end to portion control. The South Beach Diet also avoids putting people in a position where they feel like they’re depriving themselves from eating food that tastes good and satisfies them.

The focus of the South Beach Diet is on fats and carbohydrates, more specifically, the right fats and carbohydrates. With the South Beach Diet, you find that healthy carbohydrates and fats satisfy your hunger and feed you energy while eating the wrong carbohydrates and fats can actually make you feel hungrier than you were before eating them, causing you to eat even more and, as a result, gain weight.

The South Beach Diet works in 3 phases, dieters going through phases 1 and 2 sequentially, each for a particular period of time, then moving to phase 3 where they remain for the rest of their lives.

South Beach Diet Phase 1 – For two weeks certain forms of carbohydrates are restricted, based on their glycemic index (a measurement of their affect on a person’s blood sugar). Portion sizes for all other foods are normal. This two week period is the most intense and restrictive of the three phases. Foods emphasized in Phase 1 include chicken and turkey, fish and shellfish, vegetables with a low glycemic index (including salads with light dressing), low fat cheeses, eggs, and nuts. This is the period where drastic weight loss is usually noticed in a short time. This type of weight loss is not sustainable, however, which is why the South Beach Diet then promptly transitions you into Phase 2 where you can adjust your dietary patterns so as to achieve a more sustainable rate of weight loss without gaining back that initial poundage you just shed.

South Beach Diet Phase 2 – Here many of the carbohydrates that were forbidden in Phase 1 are incrementally introduced back into your diet. The desired effect of Phase 2 is to get yourself to a place where you lose between1 and 2 pounds each week, a rate of weight loss than you can easily sustain until you achieve your body’s individual “healthy weight” (generally best determined by your Body Mass Index and percentage body fat to muscle mass). Phase 2 lasts as long as it takes for you to reach your desired weight.

South Beach Diet Phase 3 – Now you begin to establish the balanced diet you aim to maintain for the rest of your life, so long as weight remains where it is. Should you start to gain weight again, you can simply go back to one or both of the earlier phases until you get back to where you need to be.

The South Beach Diet is not a starvation diet. In it, you eat 3 satisfying meals per day plus 2 snacks in-between meals. Your meal plans are not set in stone, so you can still enjoy variety and spontaneity in your diet.

Studies of the South Beach Diet have shown that it not only helps people lose weight, but it increases their “good cholesterol” (HDLs) and decreases their “bad cholesterol” (LDLs) levels, while also improving their levels of insulin.

CLA - Wow give me some of that Stuff

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is quite possibly the supplement of choice when looking for that weight-loss miracle pill. One group of overweight women lost 9% body fat in one year's time even though they didn't change their lifestyle or eating habits in any way.

This is the first time CLA has been researched for it's effects on body composition an the results are clearly remarkable.

Never heard of CLA?

CLA is a naturally occurring fatty acid found in meat and dairy products. It is a popular dietary supplement benefiting people who want to lose fat, maintain weight loss, lower blood pressure, boost their immune system, retain lean muscle mass, and control type 2 diabetes - the type of diabetes that is often associated with obesity.

CLA comes in different concentrations. Products containing 80% CLA are recommended to get maximum weight-loss results.

CLA has been shown to prevent heart disease and several types of cancer. It also appears to enhance the immune system.

One study involving 180 overweight men and women, all between 25 and 30 BMI (body mass index). A BMI -- an indicator of body fat -- over 25 has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and other medical problems, such as diabetes. The volunteers were mostly female -- 149 women and 31 men.

Volunteers were assigned to three groups. The two groups taking CLA got either the typical off-the-shelf pills (4.5 grams of 80% CLA) daily or the syrup formulation (3.6 grams of 76% CLA disguised in a capsule) daily. The third group took a placebo capsule filled with olive oil daily.

Participants were not required to change their diet or exercise habits. However, a nurse did give dietary and exercise advice upon request. Daily calorie intake was similar among the three groups; all volunteers reduced their calorie intake a little during the study. All got about the same amount of exercise.

This strongly suggests that the observed effects of CLA on body composition were independent of diet. The decreased calorie intake may be partly due to the supplements and/or a reduced appetite. Also, because volunteers kept a food diary, they learned to cut food intake.

Several times during the 12-month study period, the study group came to a clinic to have their weight, BMI, and blood checked. They also completed questionnaires on their diet and exercise in the previous two weeks.

At the end of one year:

• Both CLA groups lost weight -- about 4 pounds; the placebo group stayed the same.

• The CLA syrup group had a 9% body fat loss; the CLA pill group had 7% loss; the placebo group had no body fat loss.

• Both CLA groups had similar improvements in muscle mass.

Regarding other risk factors:

• The CLA pill group had slightly higher LDL bad cholesterol.

• The CLA syrup group had slightly lower HDL good cholesterol.

• Both CLA groups had higher lipoprotein levels, a marker of inflammation and heart disease.

• Both CLA groups had higher levels of leptin, a hormone thought to be a heart disease marker.

• Both CLA groups had higher white blood cell counts, which could trigger damaging artery inflammation.

• The CLA groups had only modest changes in blood sugar levels, a marker for diabetes.

The results of this study corroborate and expand on the findings of the previous short-term studies. Results show that the effect is greatest in those with highest body mass index, especially women with a 25 to 30 BMI.

As far as the heart disease risk factors, the variations seen in the CLA groups are within normal physiological range. Increased white blood cells may reflect the heightened immune response that other studies have shown. In studies in Holland, CLA has been shown to prevent some viral infections.

The mechanism(s) by which CLA decreases body fat mass and increases lean muscle mass is not completely understood. CLA is known to accumulate in tissues of animals and humans where it is readily metabolized. CLA may trigger fat cell death, shrink fat cells, or it may speed up metabolism to promote weight loss.