Revealed - Soy Protein Increases Energy and Aids in Weight Loss!

Are you concerned about the nutritional content of your food? If so, you're not alone. Many people are becoming concerned with their health and wellness. A 1999 survey indicated that 87% of consumers reported changing their eating habits due to specific health concerns.

Among the greatest worries were heart health and dietary cholesterol intake. The major dietary concern (reported by almost half of those surveyed) was reducing fat. Animal protein is a major contributor to the fat in the average American diet.

Americans eat plenty of protein, but it is mostly from meat, eggs, and dairy sources, which are usually high in saturated fat and cholesterol. In contrast, many soy products are high in protein, naturally low in fat, and naturally lactose and cholesterol free.

Soy also provides all the amino acids, including the nine essential ones your body needs but cannot manufacture itself. Using the newest methods for assessing the quality of protein, soy protein was given the score of 1.0, the highest rating possible and equal to that given animal proteins such as those from eggs and milk.

Soy products are also good sources of calcium and iron. In addition, soy protein provides naturally occurring beneficial plant compounds that are being extensively studied. Soy contains isoflavones, especially genistein and daidzein.

These are intriguing to researchers because they are phytoestrogens and may be related to soy's ability to regulate hormonal balance and deliver long-term health benefits. Some soy protein products are alcohol-processed, which removes isoflavones.

High quality soy protein is water washed to retain naturally occurring isoflavones such as genistein and daidzein and uses only non-genetically modified (GMO) soy protein certified through an Identity Preservation Program (IPP). This program assures that the soy we use is tightly monitored and controlled from planting and harvesting to processing.

The tremendous benefits of soy protein include sustained energy, vitality, and stamina, plus the benefits of naturally occurring isoflavones compounds not present in meat or dairy foods.

Who might benefit from taking a soy protein supplement? Anybody concerned about heart health. People interested in reducing their intake of the typically high-fat, high-cholesterol animal sources of protein and supplementing their diet with a plant-based protein source that is naturally low in fat and lactose and cholesterol free.

Vegetarians or vegans looking for a high-quality protein source that contains no animal products. People interested in the health benefits associated with consuming soy Anyone interested in supporting the body's natural ability to ward off hunger and maintain energy for hours.

How does a soy protein supplement work to sustain energy? The key to any good soy protein supplement is glycemic response. Glycemic response describes the effect a food has on blood sugar. Foods like a hot-fudge sundae can cause your blood sugar to spike and then plummet rapidly.

A short time after you have finished the last spoonful, you feel tired, irritable, and surprisingly hungry considering the number of calories you have just consumed. This is exactly the opposite of how you feel after a serving of high quality soy protein.

In a clinical study, subjects consumed 110 calories from carbohydrates alone and their blood sugar was measured every half hour. As expected, blood sugar shot up immediately and then quickly crashed. It is this rollercoaster response that can lead to feelings of jitteriness, irritability, and hunger.

However, when subjects consumed 110 calories of high quality soy protein, the results were significantly different. Blood sugar did not spike, nor did it plummet. Instead, it remained essentially level. The body's natural metabolic balance was undisturbed.

When choosing a soy protein supplement it should be made of or include the following: it should have at least 12 grams of protein per serving, and the protein itself should come from a natural vegetarian protein source, it should be naturally cholesterol free, it should not contain any saturated fat, and it should only contain 1 gram of total fat per serving.

Your high quality soy protein supplement should meet 50% of your daily needs for calcium and your soy protein supplement should not have any artificial flavors, sweeteners, colors, or preservatives added to it. And finally your soy protein supplement should also be kosher certified and come with a money-back guarantee.

To Your Health,

Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com

The Secrets of Effective Weight Loss Plans

65% of adults in the United States are overweight or obese. If you are like most people, you have struggled to lose weight at one time or another.

You have been on every fad weight loss plan diet. Initially your weight loss is quick, but then you gain it back and find yourself heavier than before.

This is the dreaded cycle of yo-yo dieting. Yes, in the short term you can lose weight, but every time you do this you may be doing more damage than good because your body thinks it's experiencing a famine.

In response to that famine, your body goes into survival mode and conserves energy by slowing down your metabolism. Your body does its best to hold on to the fat you have for as long as it can.

So, with many diets the weight you initially lose is from fat and muscle. And that loss of muscle slows down your metabolism even further because muscle burns calories. Muscle=Metabolism.

There are also common challenges, emotional and other physical ones that come along with dieting. Many diets or weight loss programs are too restrictive or monotonous, or leave you feeling deprived and don't teach you how to permanently change your eating and exercise habits. They leave you feeling hungry, tired, and craving the foods you miss most.

You've about had it, so you return to your old eating habits and gain the weight back. And the sad part is, the weight you put back on is fat weight.

If you really want to lose weight you need a weight loss plan that is powered by leucine to help preserve muscle while you lose weight from fat. Leucine is an amino acid that heads straight to the muscle where it initiates protein synthesis (the process of building muscle). That is why many professional and Olympic athletes take it as a supplement. Preserving muscle mass also prevents your metabolism from dropping.

But how do you know which weight loss plans with leucine are the best? A good weight loss program that contains leucine should be scientifically formulated to help you lose weight, lose inches, and break the cycle of perpetual dieting. That means they should have scientific studies and tests that are published in scientific journals to show the effectiveness of their product.

To get published in a scientific journal, your findings must be agreed upon by the scientific community as a whole. Many companies hire their own scientists to perform tests on their weight loss products, come up with bogus results that they release themselves.

A good weight loss plan is designed for real life, so it should also addresses the physical and emotional challenges that come along with your weight control efforts. Proprietary formulas, should also be provided with your weight loss products so you can control your hunger, boost your energy, and keep you feeling satisfied. Plus, you should also get healthy personalized menus, specific to your body's needs and your individual preferences.

Along with any diet or weight loss plan that includes leucine, you should also exercise regularly, and eat as many raw fruits and vegetables as possible. If you follow these recommendations, you should be able to naturally, and safely lose weight and keep it off.

To Your Health,

Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com

Discover The Medicinal Benefits of Acai Juice

Although it is hard to pronounce and only found in the amazon rain forest, the juice of the acai berry is renowned as being the healthiest on the planet. The acai berry is very small and purple colored, resembling a blueberry or grape. It is now most commonly consumed as acai juice, which can be found at your local health food store or online.

Acai juice is the best way to get the health benefits from the acai berry. The acai berry is a concentrated source of a type of flavonoids that is known as anthocyanins. These anthocyanins are a phytochemical that is found in red wine. The French have the lowest occurrence of heart problems in the western world.

This is attributed to these anthocyanins that are in the red wine that they drink so heartily. The good part about acai juice, however, is there is no alcohol content and it gives you energy instead of make you tired like wine can.

Medicinal Properties Of Acai

Acai juice has shown to have many medicinal qualities. One of these amazing potential effects is treating fibrocystic disease of the breast and diabetic retinopathy.

The fatty acid proportion of the acai berry is very similar to olive oil which many explain the low occurrence of heart problems in the Mediterranean regions. Acai juice also possesses phytosterols.

These sterols are the parts of plant cell membranes that deliver many benefits to the human body and decreases blood plasma cholesterol. Sterols are currently being used to treat symptoms connected to BP.

Acai juice has been used for generations by the natives of Brazil and many researchers feel their longevity and strong immune systems are attributed to the Acai berry. Acai juice has 10 Times the antioxidant benefits of grapes and 2 times that of blueberries

More health benefits of Acai juice include:

* Improves digestive function
* Improves mental clarity
* Promotes sound sleep
* Boosts natural energy levels
* Provides all of our vital vitamins
* Contains many important minerals that are needed in our bodies
* Cleanses and detoxifies the body of infectious toxins
* Strengthens the immune system
* Enhances your sexual desire and performance

Acai juice also fights cancerous cells and slows down the aging process. It promotes healthier and more youthful looking skin and will alleviate diabetes and regulates cholesterol levels. This juice will minimize inflammation and improve circulation.

Acai juice can prevent arthrosclerosis and help you to maintain a healthy heart function. Acai juice is not widely known, however, it is one of the most important berries found to enhance our health.

As you can see the health benefits of the acai berry are worth making it part of your diet. Try taking acai juice every morning for one month and you should notice a difference in your energy levels and overall health.

To Your Health,

Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com

Secrets Bottled Water Companies Don't Want You To Know About

As a rule of thumb you should drink at least eight cups of natural or purified water daily. 90% of our body is made of water. Water is the key ingredient to life, without it we will perish in a very short time span. Yet most of the time people drink soda, alcohol, and fruit juice, instead.

Unfortunately, all of the drinks I just listed are incredibly dehydrating, so if you are drinking those you need to be drinking even more purified water than someone who is not drinking soda, alcohol, or fruit juice.

You should not drink tap water because most tap water, other than a few select places, is loaded with flouride and chlorine in order to kill off many harmful types of bacteria caused by environmental pollution.

Flouride, even though they use it at the dentists office, is horrible for you to ingest, and can lead to certain cancers. Chlorine ingestion can also lead to cancer, and weight gain, both chemicals are dangerous toxins to have in your body.

The problem does not stop at tap water, however. Most bottled water is a scam and is awful for you to drink.

Why? Because there are hardly any regulations on the bottled water industry. Almost all of the bottled waters are merely acidic tap water from one region, barely filtered, then bottled and shipped somewhere else.

Ever wonder why some bottled waters are more expensive than the others? There is a reason. Did you think that your local grocery store has a natural spring out back so they can produce their own brand of great spring water for $3.00 a case? It's tap water.

Why should you believe me? I have a very close friend who worked for a reverse osmosis water filtration company, which performed independent tests on all of the kinds of bottled water to find out which were the healthiest and which were not.

So what water can you drink?

Dasani and Aquafina, although ironically made by soda companies, are the least expensive of the safe bottled waters. They are still made with tap water, but the tap water is filtered using a reverse osmosis filtration system, which removes harmful chemicals, such as flouride and chlorine and makes it less acidic. Reverse Osmosis is hands down the best way to purify tap water.

Better still is completely natural spring, or artesian water. Why? Because it is untouched and pure, right from the source and requires no filtration. This water is also loaded with essential minerals to keep your body healthy and naturally has an alkaline pH.

Here are the top bottled water contenders; Fiji, Evian, Voss, Volvic, Penta, Evamor, and Poland Spring. There are also several smaller bottled water companies that produce very healthy bottled water as well. You can usually find them at your local health food store. If you have any more questions on what bottled water you should buy, I am sure someone at your local health food store can help you.

Why is most fruit juice bad to drink? Because most fruit juice that is sold is anything but fresh juice that is healthy for you. The stuff you think is healthy juice is basically soda. Pick up a soda and pick up a sports drink, or a bottle of juice and compare the ingredients. Usually the only difference between them is the carbonated water and the flavoring.

Fresh juice goes bad in about two or three days. Compare that with most juice you can buy at the grocery store, which can last up to a month after you buy it.

Basically the only way to drink really healthy juice is to make the juice yourself at home with a juicer, or go to your local health food store, they usually make fresh juice daily.

Even though fresh juice can provide you with essential vitamins and minerals, it still it not enough to hydrate your body on its own. Most fruit juice is loaded with sugar, which is dehydrating, so you don't want to consume too much juice anyway.

Water, water, water, is really all you need to drink. It will give you more energy, make you more tolerant to exercise, make your mind clearer, and can reduce hunger cravings. Water reduces hunger pangs by 98%, so if you are dieting or trying to lose weight, drink more water. I think that you will be surprised by the results.

To Your Health,

Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com

Do Americans Know What Nutrition Is?

The state of your health depends largely on your lifestyle and the food that you eat. If you do not eat well, your body will not be able to function perfectly and you can easily become sick.

According to studies, more than 50% of the people in the United States do not eat a balanced diet. It's not that Americans do not know what nutrition is, it's that most Americans choose junk food and processed foods because they are cheaper and more convenient than healthy food.

In other words, knowing about nutrition is not really the problem, but rather the way we choose our food. What people need to realize is that your health is the most important thing in your life.

Life is not meant to be lived at the frantic pace many people follow. An important aspect to getting the right nutrition and being healthy is trying to find ways, such as yoga or meditation, to slow yourself down and reduce stress.

How To Learn About Nutrition

Eating right is very important if your want to stay healthy and strong. Your understanding of nutrition should start with getting acquainted with the difference between whole foods and processed foods.

Then learn about the nutrition benefits of organic food as opposed to "grocery store" food as well. You will be able to find all of this information at a book store or online by looking the info up on Google or yahoo.

Plan Your Meals

Having a good grasp of what nutrition is all about will help you plan out your meals. If you are one of those people who is always on the go, than you need to take the time to plan your meals in advance. You will not be able to find healthy food at the mini-mart or the drive-thru so plan ahead.

When planning your meals, make sure that your diet consists of primarily organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, and/or meat if you choose. You can find these at your local health food store. Some chain grocery stores are also starting to carry organic food so keep an eye out for them there too.

Our society has become so out of touch with health and the importance of proper nutrition. Most of the processed food people eat on a daily basis has no nutritional content whatsoever and is contributing to the absurd rates of disease, obesity, and sickness in this country. It needs to stop. Start making the right choices when it comes to your health and nutrition.

To Your Health,

Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com