Monday 30 January 2012

The Flexibility Of Medifast Diet Plans

When it comes to the diet plans from Medifast, there is one word that always strike me: flexibility. It doesn't really matter what kind of dietary needs you might have (within reason), chances are Medifast can help you out. In the day and age where we have extremely rigid diet plans like Atkins, it's nice to know that not every plan has to be so "by the numbers".

Are you a vegetarian, because that's not a problem. It would be a problem if you were on the Atkins diet, because the diet plan consists of mostly low carb, high protein meals. These kind of meals synonymous with meat. But with Medifast, they give you a lot of diverse choices in plant based foods. You can relax from both a dietary and ethical choice.

Are you a diabetic? Well, that can be tough, especially with many diet plans. Medifast is not like that. They can cater a specific diet plan that will be diabetic friendly. All you have to do is contact them and speak with one of their dieticians. They can set up a plan within in a hour. All you have to do is follow it.

Another perk that medifast has that it allows one day of freedom to eat whatever you'd like. As long as you are eating the diet, the way it was intended, the other 6 days, you can have one day to eat what you'd like. Don't go nuts with this freedom though. Don't eat an entire 12 pack of donuts, just because you can. Be sensible. But it's great that Medifast allows people this opportunity. However, the food from Medifast is so tasty, you don't feel like you are actually "getting away with anything".

Another bit of good news from Medifast is that there are no age restrictions. I don't care whether you are 5 or 500, you can order from them. They made these diet plans to cater to literally anybody.

Also, the price is relatively inexpensive. When I say that, I don't mean that its free. But if you compare their diet plans to what other companies are charging, you can see for yourself that the price is very affordable. Also, think about the fact that you are getting all of your meals for a month. Think about how much that would normally cost you. You could probably spend half of that in just one meal at a fancy restaurant.

You can learn more about this diet plan by checking out Medifast reviews as well as other reviews from companies in which you can order food online.


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How to Diet: Food Review - Cucumbers

If you are interested in dieting, you may have heard talk of how to diet. I can almost guarantee you haven't heard everything though. In fact, if you read the rest of this how to diet review, you'll discover three features almost nobody is talking about...yet...

Vitamin K

Vitamin K helps to strengthen bones by promoting a kind of bone mass creation activity. This vitamin also helps in the fight against Alzheimer's disease by preventing further deterioration of the neurons in the brain. Vitamin K also works in blood clotting, if you had a cut or a scrape, without that vitamin, you would bleed continuously. Unpeeled cucumbers give you a hundred and fifty percent the vitamin K than do peeled. Vitamin K deficiency affects seventy five percent of all Americans. Without regular exposure to this vitamin, you are more likely to develop bone fractures. Keep in mind that the skin also has more carbohydrates than the flesh.

Low Calories

Cucumbers are ninety six percent water; which explains why the internal temperature of one is colder than the air outside. Cucumbers are low in calories with the average one being only forty calories. It is the cool water content that cucumbers get their refreshing quality. They are popular with people on diets who want to trade in crackers for something else to dig into the dip. Have cucumbers with other products like salads, they add up to being very filling. To lose weight with cucumbers make sure to have a glass of water during breakfast, which should not have more than two hundred calories. Before going to sleep, make sure to eat cucumbers, but nothing more than one hundred calories.

Pickles vs Cucumbers

What are the differences between pickles and cucumbers? Pickles are cucumbers after being conditioned in a jar of vinegar. Depending on the spices used in the pickling process, it may become a sweet pickle, or other variety. While cucumbers have low amounts of calories, pickles have almost zero. There is no such food that has only zero calories, but if there was one, it would be a pickle. Cucumbers do not last as long as pickles because the brining process pickles are put through lengthens their shelf life. Some people prefer cucumbers because they do not like the vinegar taste from pickles. Others prefer pickles because they are so common an ingredient with hamburgers and other fast foods.

More and more people are discovering the "hidden" benefits of this how to diet plan. If you're interested in experiencing these benefits personally, with the added benefit of learning more about this plan, we recommend that you click here: http://www.howtodietguide.com/howtodiet


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Sunday 29 January 2012

Vegan Lunch Ideas

So are you finally convinced to turn vegan? Don't you worry it is not going to be hard at all. There is a huge variety of dishes that you can try out. Given below are some vegan lunch ideas that you can use in your day-to-day life.

Turning vegan does not mean that you will have to say goodbye to French toasts. Simply substitute milk and eggs with soy milk, silken tofu, bananas or apple butter. Prepare yourself a delicious porridge using brown rice and stewing it with rice milk or apple juice. Sandwiches can be made using organic substances like chickpea. You can use spreads like vegan mayo, hummus, vinaigrette, fresh shell bean and sage. You can also use these spreads as dips for crackers, vegetables and pita. Baba ghanoush acts as a delicious spread for vegetable sandwiches and wraps. Couscous is yet another delicious vegan dish to try out. It is a spicy dish of African origin. It contains pasta that is previously steamed along with vegetable stew. There are also a range of salads to try out. You can fill them using organic ingredients like farro, cucumbers and tomatoes. Are you a fan of sushi? Here is how you can prepare vegan sushi. Simply wrap rice and seaweed around cucumber, carrot, burdock and other such vegetables. Japanese buckwheat noodles and Vietnamese noodle salad are other great vegan dishes that you can try. You can have summer rolls filled with vegetables and tofu. If you want a simple no-nonsense meal, you can try baking sweet potatoes as a side dish for lunch. Substitute scrambled eggs with scrambled tofu. Pancakes, wholemeal cereals, fruit smoothies and soy yogurts are very healthy vegan dishes that you can have.

Besides these salad sandwiches, veggie sausages and hot dogs, veggie fried rice, tofu kebabs, granola, marinated tofu, coco wheat, tomato bake and other baked vegetables with rosemary and garlic herbs will keep your body healthy and also provide you with lots of energy. You can also try out non-dairy ice-cream, fresh fruits, pretzels, vegan pies, soy chips, popcorn, dried fruits and nuts for dessert. You can also prepare a whole range of fresh fruit juices and smoothies as a part of liquid food.

As you can see, there are a wide range of vegan food items that you can have for lunch. It will not only work really well for your body in the long run but you will also really enjoy these delicious dishes.

The author writes articles and columns on diet and health for magforwomen website.


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How Many Calories With Medifast?

If you are thinking of getting involved with the Medifast diet plan, you should be aware of your daily calorie intake, so you can't make any excuses before you start the diet.

The diet plan consists of taking on average of 1100-1500 calories on a daily basis. You may be wondering that this doesn't sound like a whole lot to you. I can understand that. After all, you are probably consuming more calories right now.

But you've got to remember it's called a DIET for a specific reason. The good news is the food is very filling. You are getting a lot of nutrient rich food. We're not talking about empty calories, here.

Most of the food you are going to be eating is going to be filled with fiber and protein. There is one caveat to this. You have to drink a lot of water, which will not only help with your digestion due to all the fiber you'll be eating, but will make you feel more full.

Because you are going to have more fiber in your body, as well as more body, you are going to have more bowel movements. The more waste you relieve from your body, the more weight you are going to lose. It's as simple as that. I know it's kind of an unpleasant subject to talk about, but it's a major component of weight loss and overall health.

There will be a bit of a grace period during the beginning when you will have to get used to the idea of eating less calories on a daily basis, so it's possible you might feel hungry during the first week. But if you can persevere through the first week, by the second week, it will feel like second nature to you, and you won't have the cravings.

It may seem daunting when you look at the reduction of the calories. But think about how most people consume calories, and more specifically what they consume them on. A huge portion of our population consists of people eating highly processed foods and fatty foods from McDonalds or Burger King, which is just nothing but empty calories.

When it come to Medifast, you can feel re-assured that every meal you are going to be eating was made with both the intent of taste, and as providing as much nutrition to you as possible.

Give it a test drive, and pick and inexpensive package and see what you think of it.

You can learn more about this diet plan by checking out Medifast reviews as well as other reviews from companies in which you can order food online.


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How to Diet Food Review - Broccoli

If you are interested in dieting, you may have heard talk of how to diet. I can almost guarantee you haven't heard everything though. In fact, if you read the rest of this how to diet review, you'll discover three features almost nobody is talking about...yet...

Cancer Prevention

Studies have confirmed that it takes only twenty two calories or broccoli, or half a cup, to get the desired benefits. While to get the full effects of this vegetable, you would need to eat one and a half cups of broccoli a day. High amounts of broccoli consumption yields greater usability of vitamins such as lutein and beta-carotine. This amount corresponds to consuming three cups of broccoli a day. Remember, however, that three cups of broccoli may be more than many people would want to eat. The best idea forward then would to use broccoli as a kind of spice or topping to put on other foods.

Fiber

There are seven grams of fiber per a three quarters cup of broccoli. This makes broccoli one of the greatest sources of fiber in the natural world. When eating high fiber foods, your body will need a period of time to learn to digest it properly. A good tip in these circumstances is to drink eight cups of water a day while continuing to eat this food. Broccoli possess both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber lowers cholesterol and helps slow absorption of blood sugar. This kind of fiber also helps to make you feel full sooner. Insoluble fiber absorbs toxins as it travels in your digestive system.

Vitamins and Minerals

Many fruits and vegetables have trace amounts of nutrients, but broccoli has more than you think. Broccoli can compete with many citrus fruits with how much vitamin C it possesses. This vegetable has more calcium than even a glass of milk. Broccoli contains substances called isothiocyanates, which are a kind of anti-carcinogenic nutrient which helps to gradually fight cancer. No one ever hears about abdominal cancer, but it is one of the most common forms, and broccoli in particular, helps to fight it. Keep in mind the following, some people prefer to eat broccoli soup with cheese or have it sautéed, if you do this so much of the nutrient value of broccoli will be lost. The problem with much of the above is that people do not like how bitter this vegetable tastes.

More and more people are discovering the "hidden" benefits of this how to diet plan. If you're interested in experiencing these benefits personally, with the added benefit of learning more about this plan, we recommend that you click here: http://www.howtodietguide.com/howtodiet


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How to Diet Food Review - Asparagus

If you are interested in dieting, you may have heard talk of how to diet. I can almost guarantee you haven't heard everything though. In fact, if you read the rest of this how to diet review, you'll discover three features almost nobody is talking about...yet...

Antioxidants

When it comes to preventing problems like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, nothing works as well as eating foods rich in antioxidants. Some antioxidants target and prevent different kinds of cancers from growing. Asparagus has several different kinds of antioxidants that work especially well together. Compared to other vegetables, the potency of antioxidant activity in asparagus has been impressive. Such vegetables like cauliflower and cabbage have fewer antioxidants while those like spinach have more. Asparagus is unique in the fact that few vegetables have large quantities of the antioxidant glutathione. Glutathione contains sulfur, which helps to get all the bad things in your body to stick to it. This antioxidant is created by the body, but in limited amounts.

Rutin

Rutin is not a vitamin, but sometimes it is called vitamin P. This compound, found in quantities inside this vegetable, helps to make the capillary walls stronger. Specifically, this material improves circulation by making the blood thinner. Rutin has been studied in animals, but no real human test results have been made available. Some test results do show anti-inflammatory traits in the animal results. Also there is a case to be made that Rutin can treat hemorrhoids. This compound is also an antioxidant; tests have shown that it is stronger than most other antioxidants researched. Hemophilia can be reduced because the capillaries have been strengthened.

Vitamin K

The purpose of vitamin K is to help with building bones, blood clotting and protecting the heart. Those taking Coumadin would be advised not to take too much vitamin K as it would lead to too much blood thickening. Vitamin K is a blood clotter, but it is not the case that you have to take over the counter vitamins to get enough vitamin K. One cup of asparagus contains roughly one hundred and fifty micrograms of this vitamin. Per serving asparagus has three times more vitamin K than avocados and so much more than strawberries which only has trace amounts. On the other hand, spinach has two and a half times more vitamin K and the leafy green kale has almost ten times more vitamin K.

More and more people are discovering the "hidden" benefits of this how to diet plan. If you're interested in experiencing these benefits personally, with the added benefit of learning more about this plan, we recommend that you click here: http://www.howtodietguide.com/howtodiet


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How to Diet Food Review - Oats

If you are interested in dieting, you may have heard talk of how to diet. I can almost guarantee you haven't heard everything though. In fact, if you read the rest of this how to diet review, you'll discover three features almost nobody is talking about...yet...

Lower Cholesterol

Consuming three grams of oat fiber a day lowers cholesterol levels by eight to twenty three percent. It turns out that every percentage decrease of serum cholesterol in your body decreases the risk of heart disease by two percent. Cholesterol is bad because the more you have in your body, the more plaque gets stored in the inside walls of your arteries. Good cholesterol heals arteries when damage occurs along artery walls. Men who ate a simple bowl of oat cereal (averaging for age and health level) reduced their odds of heart disease by twenty nine percent. Since oats taste great anyway, what problem is it to incorporate them into your diet?

Beta-glucan

Beta glucan are soluble fiber molecules from foods such as oats, yeast, barley and mushrooms. Scientist have suggested that the continued digestion of beta-glucans helps to normalize the level of blood cholesterol. This yeast-derived glucan proved to treat the conditions of arthritis by lowering the amount of oxidative tissue damage. Oat beta-glucan can be found in breakfast bars as well as in certain whole wheat cereals. Make sure not to cook your oats, tests have shown the effectiveness of Beta-gluten drop considerably. This substance helps the gall bladder and liver to produce more bile, good because the more it produces, the less is in your body. It appears that oat Beta glucan is too big to be absorbed by the body.

Celiac Disease

For those with Celiac Disease, eating foods such as bread causes an immune disorder resulting in abdominal distention and diarrhea. More clinical data samples say that eating oats is fine for those with this condition. Mass produced cereals appear to contain wheat gluten and therefore the oat product is compromised. There are currently attempts at producing oat cereals in plants who do not also produce wheat products. Children with Celiac Disease are found to be accepting of uncontaminated oats. This gives these children more opportunities to eat good foods like some snacks and bakery products, oats have a very distinct flavor and texture. There are already kinds of oat, safe and soft breads on the market.

More and more people are discovering the "hidden" benefits of this how to diet plan. If you're interested in experiencing these benefits personally, with the added benefit of learning more about this plan, we recommend that you click here: http://www.howtodietguide.com/howtodiet


View the original article here