3 Tips for Weight Management Enthusiasts

Many people disdain being overweight as they feel it affects their appearance and how others perceive them. On the contrary, being overweight is more about health rather than looks. Being overweight can have serious effects on one’s health. Excessive weight can lead to problems like diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, sleep disorders, mood swings, a low self-esteem and depression.

How do we define an “overweight” person?
When people consume more calories than they can utilize or burn, the extra calories are stored as fat in their body. These extra calories pose no threat, but when a pattern of consuming these extra calories carries on over a period of time, it leads to a high accumulation of fat in the body. Such people are referred to as “overweight” or “obese”. Over a period of time, such people develop weight-related health issues.

How to tackle the problem?
People often get tempted to try crash weight management diets, which can turn out to be ineffective in the long run. In fact, some of them could do more harm than good. Rather than following a weight loss diet, one should strive for a healthy weight loss program that is more sustaining and effective.

3 Quick Weight Loss Tips:

•  Fats- Lesser the better! Although our body needs some amount of fat in our diet, for obese people, consuming even in moderation can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, heart diseases and more evils. Saturated fats, found in cakes, fatty meat, pastries, fried food must be avoided. People may consume more of unsaturated fats such as those found in fish (Omega-3), Olive oil, avocado and more.
•  Dairy products- It is good to consume low fat dairy products such as toned milk, cottage cheese and skimmed milk yogurt. These boost metabolism too.
•  Protein - Never miss your share of protein, which is a muscle and tissue-building nutrient. However, excessive animal protein can injure some organs, so it must be taken in moderation.

Following the above tips can help one shed excessive weight. Further, one can buy weight management diet products such as fat burners, diet shake powders, or diet capsules. One can search online and find very helpful reference material and weight loss advice. Many online retailers offer effective and reliable weight loss products. It is essential to choose reputed, tested products for effective and healthy weight management.

Delay Hair from Turning Gray

When you first notice your hair turning gray it’s always nerve-racking, whatever your age might be. Maybe you’re in your late teens or you’ve finally reached your 40s. You have to decide whether to dye your hair or wear your grey proudly.

Why Hair Turns Gray?

Color to hair is imparted by a pigment called melanin. This is produced by cells called melanocytes. When these cells die or slow down the cell division, there is less or no melanin and gradually the hair color is lost and it turns gray.

Whether you call it salt and pepper, charcoal or silver; greying happens for a reason. Major reasons contributing to hair greying are as follows:

• Genes or heredity problem
• Stress and psychological worries
• Chronic cold
• Smoking
• Problem with thyroid gland
• Vitamin deficiency

Hiding Gray Hair?

If the hair turns gray at the age of 50 or above you can easily wear it proudly like most people do. But when your hair is graying at an earlier age, you definitely look for a way to cover the grey up. Different options that can help in hiding gray hair are as follows:

Modern haircut: A hairstyle with sharper edges and nice fringes can help.

Hair Straightening: Gray hair tends to get frizzy. Use a flat iron to get a shinier and sleeker look.

Highlights: Putting streaks in your hair helps in blending the gray with the rest of hair.

Hair color: Using hair color is a good option.

Hair products: There are hair products to conceal gray hair. You can use hair spray or mousse that washes out with shampoo.

Add Vitamins, Minerals and Herbal Supplements to your daily plan to overcome the deficiency of certain nutrients that should be increasing your hair health.

Role of Supplements in Preventing Hair to Turn Gray

One cannot ignore the significant role of nutrients contributing to the growth, texture, strength and color of human hair.  The intake of Vitamin B5, B6, B9, B12, biotin, folic acid, zinc and copper may possibly prevent or delay the oncoming of grey hair. Folic acid enhances cellular function and promotes the natural coloring process. Vitamin C and E have antioxidant properties; they protect hair from turning dry or thin.

Place to Buy Supplements

At any age you can start taking vitamins minerals and herbal supplements. Consult a medical practitioner for the dose you should take. The internet is the best place to buy supplements. You can fetch detailed information and avail the best deals by visiting different online retailers. Enjoy the free delivery of supplements at your door step.

Hair color is one of the factors in determining beauty. Pamper your hair with vitamin supplements.

From Where to Buy Supplements

Balanced diet and exercise lay the foundation of good health but one also cannot ignore the important role that the nutrition supplements play. They are a modernized form of providing essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals to your body. Even those who eat healthy miss some nutrients.  Supplements are a great way of carrying nutrients while you are on the go.

From Where to buy?

You have two options only. Either go to the retail store or buy nutrition supplements online . Buying from retail stores will obviously be expensive. These stores have high overhead expenses such as paying for rent, employees and utility bills. All this cost is covered from the customers. On the other hand, with the ease of technology, usage of smartphones and expansion of the market over the internet has made buying supplements online easy. This results in saving money.

What do you look for when purchasing?

The supplements can help you to achieve your fitness goal while on the diet. You can’t go wrong when buying supplements. Be clear in your mind about your requirements. Prioritize the factors when you focus on buying supplements. The factors generally considered are as follows:

• Detailed information
• Avail offers and discounts to pay the lowest price
• Free shipping
• Exemplary customer service

To your great surprise, online retailers qualify for the all the above mentioned parameters.

Advantages of buying from online stores

Buying supplements online is indeed a great choice. Hundreds of sites offer far more choices. They have a wide range of supplements. The websites properly categorize the supplements on the basis of nutrients, purpose and recommendations. This helps in picking the right supplement. They do provide complete supplement facts to guide your purchase. You can compare products and prices without leaving the comfort of your home.

Which is a Safe Website to buy from?

The internet is a huge resource of information. On surfing, people are simply overloaded with information. It becomes hard to decide which one is legitimate. Do your homework. Use a search engine to check the reputation of the retailer you prefer. Does it have some customer complaints? Go through customer feedback and reviews. If you read a positive response, go ahead with the retailer or look for another online retailer. This process will assure you about your choice of retailer. Once satisfied you can place orders.

Enjoy buying nutrition supplements online and be healthy.

Aloe Vera – A Secret Behind Your Beauty

Aloe Vera is a stemless, succulent plant with green fleshy leaves. The plant is said to have originated from the warm and dry climate of Africa. Still, the plant is adaptable and can grow in freezing air as long as the ground is not frozen and the roots are not destroyed.

The Aloe Vera plant is considered to be a miracle plant and holds benefits for both beauty and health. It makes an important ingredient in numerous cosmetics and medicines. Aloe Vera is a good source of different vitamins namely A, B1, B2, B6, B9, B12, C and E. The minerals found in Aloe Vera are calcium, copper, chromium, iron, potassium, manganese, magnesium, selenium, sodium and zinc. All these nutrients make it a highly beneficial plant. Its products are available in various forms such as tablet, juice, oil, gel, cream, soaps, shampoos and more.


Different properties of Aloe Vera

Anti-inflammatory action: This property helps skin heal wounds, cuts, burns and rashes. It helps in treating acne, blemishes and other skin problems. It removes dead skin cells and leaves the skin with a soothing effect. Its regular use delays the sign of ageing by concealing or removing wrinkles and fine lines from the face.

Anti-bacterial action: The extract of aloe Vera leaves has a high antibacterial effect. For this reason it can be used both internally and externally. One can easily find Aloe Vera infused bandages easily on the market. Several soaps and gels use Aloe Vera due to its anti-bacterial property.


Anti-aging effect: Aloe Vera stimulates the elastin fibres in the skin. This keeps wrinkles away. The cohesive effect sticks the cells together and makes the skin soften. It also cures dry skin. All these properties make Aloe Vera a herb to be widely used in herbal beauty care products. It’s recommended for winter as it hydrates the skin and gives relief from chapped skin. While in summer, its cooling property provides relief from sunburns. So, whatever the season, give your face a flawless glow.

The internet is the right place to buy a product with such soothing and rejuvenating properties. Buy Aloe Vera based herbal beauty care products online. Buying online saves you time and money. After you make your purchase, the product will be delivered directly to your doorstep.

Use and recognize the properties that Aloe Vera provides. Maintain and enjoy your beauty safely.

Is Your Fish Oil Supplement Safe?

A recent study of fish oil supplements found that 21 of the 30 products had omega-3 levels that varied by over 10% off their label claims, and 15 were 25% off the actual versus claimed content.

It was a bitter cold January in Chicago when I attended an invitation-only conference on biological therapies at Loyola University. As I listened to one brilliant presentation after the next, one got my attention more than the others. 

A distinguished professor—who held both MD and PhD degrees as well as being a Jesuit priest—held up a white foam cup, the kind you get for hot drinks at a takeout place, squeezed the amber liquid from several fish oil gel capsules into the cup, set in on a napkin on the table in front of him, and carried on his presentation. 

In three minutes, he held the cup up and turned it sideways so we could see through it. It was like a tunnel. The bottom had dissolved and fallen off! 

I know no one takes a handful of fish oil capsules. But because omega-3s are so important, especially for those who don’t eat fish or shellfish, it’s good to know what’s in your fish oil supplements!

What Happened?

As fish oil spoils, it generates acidic compounds. Weak acidic compounds, but acidic, nonetheless. The over-the-counter fish oil used by the professor was likely rancid, and therefore strong enough to melt through the cup. 

What would that do to your stomach? Fortunately, the stomach lining is built for strong acids that help breakdown proteins and prepare minerals for digestion and absorption. 

The professor’s point was well made: do you know what’s in your fish oil? 

Health Benefits of Omega-3 Fatty Acids 

The main omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). EPA and DHA are precursors for eicosanoids, a molecule necessary for life, and are known to modulate inflammation in the body, as well to deliver other health benefits. 

The US National Institute of Health’s MedlinePlus provides an impressive list of medical conditions for which EPA is considered useful. Most of these are associated with the ability of omega-3s to dampen inflammation.

EPA also has an inhibitory effect on CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 liver enzymes. At high doses, it may also inhibit the activity of CYP2D6 and CYP3A4, important enzymes involved in drug metabolism. Research suggests it improves the response of patients to chemotherapy.

Some Conditions Helped by Omega-3s

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Arrhythmia
• As prenatal supplementation to improve fetal health
• Asthma
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Brain fog
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Depression
• Fatty liver disease
• Hyperactivity syndromes
• Lowers triglycerides
• Reduces incidence of heart attacks
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Schizophrenia
• Stimulates circulation

Tainted Omega-3 Products

No doubt fish oil has health-giving benefits. If you don’t like taking pills, you can eat more fatty fish like sardines, tuna, and salmon. Fish tend to concentrate toxic end products like mercury, however, and so do fish oil supplements. 

A recent New York Times article calls attention to why it’s important to know what’s in your supplements. Not only do supplement consumers have to be aware of mercury-tainted products, but need assurance that they’re getting biologically available—non-rancid—fish oil, and that what’s on the label matches the content in the capsule. 

LabDoor, an internet-based independent supplement testing company, analyzed 30 best-selling fish oil supplements, measuring total omega-3 content, EPA and DHA quantities, vitamin D and CLA amounts, as well as methylmercury concentration and total oxidation value. 

Total oxidation value (TOTOX) measurement is used as an indicator of marine oil freshness. Besides the TOTOX value, a high quality fish oil product should involve more than one set of parameters in determining the quality or rancidity of marine oil. Natural antioxidants, like vitamin E, are often added to maintain stability over the product’s shelf life. 

The results of the LabDoor’s survey was shocking: 21 of the 30 products of the tested had omega-3 levels that varied by over 10% off their label claims, and 15 were 25% off the actual versus claimed content. Total omega-3 (EPA + DHA) content showed significant ingredient variance, ranging from less than 50% to more than 90% versus stated label claims.

Here’s the really bad news—every product contained mercury, with 3 products recording 50% or greater of the allowable mercury content per serving. 

The good news was that a majority of products passed oxidation (freshness) assays, with only 1 product recording a TOTOX score above the upper limit and 6 more measuring within 5% of the upper limit.

Pharmaceutical Grade “Next Generation” Versus Typical Consumer Products

I try to steer my patients away from the unregulated supplement marketplace. I know consumer clubs and direct sales companies offer lower prices, but are they better or worse for you? 

For my patients, I recommend pharmaceutical grade fish oil using the supercritical extraction process. I want no mercury in the products I recommend. Supercritical extraction boosts biological value and reduces health metals like mercury and arsenic, while guarding against oxidation. Expiration date, and when possible manufacture date, should be labeled on the bottle. 

Environmental Impact of Fish Oil Manufacturing Practices

Sustainable harvesting of non-endangered species like sardines, anchovies, and mackerel are better choices for fish oil supplements. Not only are they high in EPA and DHA, but harvesting these fish creates a lower environmental impact on sea life and ocean health. Other sustainable options include using fish and shellfish by-products from the processing of wild salmon and green mussels.

Next generation fish oil production involves 75% less carbon emissions than other methods of fatty acid extraction and purification. I don’t know about you, but I’ll always purchase a product that has lower negative environmental impact. 

Criteria For Fish Oil Supplements

• Next-generation fish oils produced using advanced green technology
• Solvent-free, supercritical extraction
• High EPA concentrate for advanced biological support
• Low temperature, oxygen-free processing to prevent oxidation
• Stringent purity guidelines
• Full disclosure labeling
• Low acidity
• Low TOTOX value
• No heavy metals

Does Your Omega-3 Supplement Work?

Because omega-3s are important for heart, brain, and joint health, and help modulate inflammation, it’s important to know if your supplement is working. Besides safety and environmental impact, your omega-3 supplement has to be biologically efficient enough to get into your bloodstream. The best way is to test your omega-3 level in the red blood cells. 

In my practice, I evaluate the omega-3 index measured as a percent, as well as the omega 6:omega-3 ratio. For my patients, I want nothing less than optimal. A desirable omega-3 index is greater than 8%, but my patients taking supercritical extracted fish oils are optimal at 10% or higher. 

Are Fish Oil Supplements Dangerous?

High quality fish oil products in dosages less than 3,000 mg daily are considered safe. The higher dosages used to treat a medical problem should be supervised by your doctor. 

There are a few studies suggesting that fish oil supplementation increases the risk for prostate cancer. High dosages over long periods of time, without balancing fish oil with antioxidants like vitamin E and selenium, may have a reverse effect on the immune system. Since omega-3s have an anticoagulant effect, combining fish oil supplements with aspirin or anticoagulant drugs is a concern. Other possible drug interactions include high blood pressure drugs and birth control pills. 

Action Steps

• Always take fish oil supplements with food.
• Add vitamin E to balance the oxidative effect of fish oil.
• If you have GERD or other hyperacidity condition, take less fish oil.
• Use pharmaceutical grade fish oil to assure purity and low acidity.
• Take super critical extracted fish oil for best absorption.
• Take 1,000 mg of mixed EPA and DHA once daily.
• To treat conditions like depression, diabetes, or manage inflammation take 3,000 to 6,000 mg in divided dosages daily.
• Be careful with fish oil supplements if you take blood-thinning drugs. Reduce dosage if you notice easy bruising or reduced clotting time.
• Get your Omega-3 Index tested.

Resource : http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2014/01/31/is-your-fish-oil-supplement-safe