What if I told you that you don't have to rely on diet pill or diet products to lose weight and feel satisfied when you eat? What if I told you that there is an easy way to start eating less while still enjoying your meals - would you want to know?
If you ask your doctor for advice regarding weight loss, he would recommend you to diet, even without batting an eyelid. A healthy diet is undoubtedly the best way to lose weight, what is even more important than diet is how to eat what you eat. In this article I will tell you about one little known food trick that will put all other weight loss tricks to shame!
The trick is to slow down the speed of your eating. Yes! It is that simple.
There is a reason why the percentage of overweight people in other countries is fewer than in America; the reason is that people in other countries eat food slowly.
They would talk over meals and stretch the meal over hours. Not so in the US, where people barely have enough time to devote to eating. They cannot spend more than 10 or 15 minutes on an average meal. Some people eat food even faster than that! The faster you eat, the less satiated your mind is, and the more you want to eat, even when you are not hungry.
It takes a minimum of 20 minutes to start feeling full as you are eating, so if you rush your meals you can easily overeat even before your body has a chance to notice that you are eating.
Now if you eat slowly, and spend a lot of time over your meals, you will lose your appetite and naturally eat less. See how by eating slow you can easily cut down on your food intake without depriving yourself in any way? By eating slow, your mind is satiated completely and you 'feel' full. I say 'feel' because overeating is often associated with feelings. You feel full, or you feel hungry; sometimes hunger has nothing to do with your stomach at all!
On another note, eating food slowly and chewing them properly helps you to digest your food quickly, thereby speeding up your metabolic rate and helping you to burn fat!
Several studies conducted over the recent years have proved that people who eat steadily for a short time tend to eat more than those who take breaks in between meals or eat more slowly. Eating slowly is a surefire way of killing your appetite quicker than it would otherwise. On the hind side, slow eating won't harm your body in any way unlike weight loss supplements; on the contrary, slow eating will help you digest food quicker!
There are many different ways to lose weight quickly but sometimes the basic weight loss tricks are overlooked in favor of fads and pills. I hope this article gives you something else to look at!
One additional tip.
If you drink a glass of water, eat a piece of fruit or have a small salad (without high fat and calorie laden salad dressing) 30 minutes before your main meal of the day, you will naturally eat less yet feel quite content and satisfied.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Want To Lose Belly Fat?
Want to lose belly fat?
If you are like 98% of Americans (and almost 98% of all rich nations) then your answer is yes.
Although it's great to have an abundance of fast food restaurants, easy transportation and jobs that do most of the work for us, there is a downside - our bellies are getting bigger and bigger!
Are you frustrated when you put on a bathing suit and see the belly fat around your middle? Do you see a lumpy, bumpy silhouette when you put on a new dress? When you look in the mirror, do you see a spare tire hanging over your belt? If this sounds familiar, you may be ready to lose belly fat.
You need to ask yourself a few questions to decide if you’re ready to take the steps you need to lose belly fat. First, how do you feel about your situation? Are you frustrated by your body? What are the reasons you want to lose belly fat? Is it so you can wear a bikini this summer? Is it to make your clothes feel better?
If you’ve been thinking about how to lose belly fat for some time, it’s time to take the next step. You’ll need to gather as much information as you can so that you can make a plan. There are many sources of information including books, the internet, weight loss centers, and information from friends and family members.
At this stage you need to put together all the information you can find, and then decide which pieces will work best for you to lose belly fat. You’ll need to set a goal for yourself including how much you would like to lose in pounds or inches, how you will do it, and by what date you will accomplish your goal.
Once you have all the information you need, it’s time to put your plan into action. This is the hardest part of your quest to lose belly fat. You’ll need to arrange your life so that you can begin losing the belly fat right away. That means you may need to make sure you have specific foods in your pantry, arrange your schedule so you can get enough sleep each night, and remove as much stress as possible.
After following your plan for a while, you’ll find that you reach your goals. At this point, you have a critical step to make – maintaining your success. This part of your plan will allow you to continue keeping your body trim after you lose the belly fat. If you go back to your old habits, that belly fat will find its way back to your middle.
When you’re ready to lose belly fat, you need to take action. Once you’ve achieved your goals it’s time to maintain them. You can have the body you’ve always wanted with these two simple steps.
If you are like 98% of Americans (and almost 98% of all rich nations) then your answer is yes.
Although it's great to have an abundance of fast food restaurants, easy transportation and jobs that do most of the work for us, there is a downside - our bellies are getting bigger and bigger!
Are you frustrated when you put on a bathing suit and see the belly fat around your middle? Do you see a lumpy, bumpy silhouette when you put on a new dress? When you look in the mirror, do you see a spare tire hanging over your belt? If this sounds familiar, you may be ready to lose belly fat.
You need to ask yourself a few questions to decide if you’re ready to take the steps you need to lose belly fat. First, how do you feel about your situation? Are you frustrated by your body? What are the reasons you want to lose belly fat? Is it so you can wear a bikini this summer? Is it to make your clothes feel better?
If you’ve been thinking about how to lose belly fat for some time, it’s time to take the next step. You’ll need to gather as much information as you can so that you can make a plan. There are many sources of information including books, the internet, weight loss centers, and information from friends and family members.
At this stage you need to put together all the information you can find, and then decide which pieces will work best for you to lose belly fat. You’ll need to set a goal for yourself including how much you would like to lose in pounds or inches, how you will do it, and by what date you will accomplish your goal.
Once you have all the information you need, it’s time to put your plan into action. This is the hardest part of your quest to lose belly fat. You’ll need to arrange your life so that you can begin losing the belly fat right away. That means you may need to make sure you have specific foods in your pantry, arrange your schedule so you can get enough sleep each night, and remove as much stress as possible.
After following your plan for a while, you’ll find that you reach your goals. At this point, you have a critical step to make – maintaining your success. This part of your plan will allow you to continue keeping your body trim after you lose the belly fat. If you go back to your old habits, that belly fat will find its way back to your middle.
When you’re ready to lose belly fat, you need to take action. Once you’ve achieved your goals it’s time to maintain them. You can have the body you’ve always wanted with these two simple steps.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
4 Weight Loss Facts You Should Know
This blog post will help you lose weight and keep it off. Yes, most of this is obvious, but you must acknowledge it, before you can embark on a weight loss program and then keep the weight from coming back.
1. Obesity is fast becoming a serious illness, and it has begun to take the tendency of an epidemic, especially in the Western countries. People there have all sorts of comforts they could ask for in life: a cushy job, healthy pay packet, and lots of disposable income. However, the price they pay for these comforts is obesity. Most people spend a large part of their disposable income on foods - junk foods, that is. No wonder that they eventually gain weight sometime or later.
2. If obesity were the only problem, then it could have been ignored.
However, obesity is only the tip of the ice berg. Obesity is no doubt a serious disease in itself, but it also brings along with it a group of other equally serious and harmful maladies such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, high cholesterol levels, etc. People who are morbidly obese are more likely to suffer from heart attacks than normal people.
If you really want to save yourself from these killer diseases then losing weight is the only way to go. First of all, you will need to quit smoking and then embark on a journey consisting of a healthy diet program and rigorous exercise routine!
3. Most people who are either overweight or obese are after 'instant weight loss' solutions that promise to offer quicker results than ordinary diet and exercise.
Now, who would not want to grab those pills if they are able to lose weight just by popping a few of them everyday? Unfortunately, the weight you lose with their help is only temporary. These pills make drastic changes inside your body to help you lose weight rapidly, and then, at a later date, you gain back the 'lost' weight almost at the same speed,
People who run after such instant-fix solutions almost always fail to lose weight permanently. Ultimately they get disheartened and disappointed and think that weight loss is impossible. But truth to be told, it is only 'quick weight loss' that is impossible; weight loss is very much POSSIBLE if you are willing to be patient.
4. You may or may not believe it, but you are overweight because of the environment you live in! Many people fail to realize that living in unhealthy environment only results in ill-health. The present day polluted environment is totally detrimental to a healthy lifestyle; it is hardly the kind of environment we human beings are supposed to live in!
Add to that the fact that nowadays there is an abundance of junk foods like there was never before! Healthy foods are given a snub, while junk foods are consumed in large quantities all over the world. Is it then any wonder that almost three or four out of ten people in the world are overweight?
1. Obesity is fast becoming a serious illness, and it has begun to take the tendency of an epidemic, especially in the Western countries. People there have all sorts of comforts they could ask for in life: a cushy job, healthy pay packet, and lots of disposable income. However, the price they pay for these comforts is obesity. Most people spend a large part of their disposable income on foods - junk foods, that is. No wonder that they eventually gain weight sometime or later.
2. If obesity were the only problem, then it could have been ignored.
However, obesity is only the tip of the ice berg. Obesity is no doubt a serious disease in itself, but it also brings along with it a group of other equally serious and harmful maladies such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, high cholesterol levels, etc. People who are morbidly obese are more likely to suffer from heart attacks than normal people.
If you really want to save yourself from these killer diseases then losing weight is the only way to go. First of all, you will need to quit smoking and then embark on a journey consisting of a healthy diet program and rigorous exercise routine!
3. Most people who are either overweight or obese are after 'instant weight loss' solutions that promise to offer quicker results than ordinary diet and exercise.
Now, who would not want to grab those pills if they are able to lose weight just by popping a few of them everyday? Unfortunately, the weight you lose with their help is only temporary. These pills make drastic changes inside your body to help you lose weight rapidly, and then, at a later date, you gain back the 'lost' weight almost at the same speed,
People who run after such instant-fix solutions almost always fail to lose weight permanently. Ultimately they get disheartened and disappointed and think that weight loss is impossible. But truth to be told, it is only 'quick weight loss' that is impossible; weight loss is very much POSSIBLE if you are willing to be patient.
4. You may or may not believe it, but you are overweight because of the environment you live in! Many people fail to realize that living in unhealthy environment only results in ill-health. The present day polluted environment is totally detrimental to a healthy lifestyle; it is hardly the kind of environment we human beings are supposed to live in!
Add to that the fact that nowadays there is an abundance of junk foods like there was never before! Healthy foods are given a snub, while junk foods are consumed in large quantities all over the world. Is it then any wonder that almost three or four out of ten people in the world are overweight?
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
How To Get A Bikini Body
Summer is right around the corner, so it's time to think seriously about how you want your body to look in 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks and beyond.
One of the best and healthiest way to quickly lose weight is by eating plenty of lean protein (white meat, fish, pulses) and low Glycemic Index (GI) carbohydrates.
This will not only help burn calories but combined with exercise, it will build muscle to replace the fat you are losing.
The beauty of this plan is that it is so easy to follow and doesn't involve lots of calorie counting, starvation or complex recipes. You simply stick to white meats like fish, chicken and turkey, pulses, tofu and low GI wholemeal carbs like brown rice and wholemeal bread.
You will also never be hungry which means you can really stick to it and lose the excess pounds for good. Low blood sugar is what makes you hungry and irritable but if you eat lots of low GI foods, this will keep your blood sugar levels stable and balanced.
You will have plenty of energy all day long and the hunger pangs will be kept at bay so that you don't get tempted to binge on sweet and sugary foods.
Your simple diet rules
Drink six to eight glasses of water a day. This will keep you fully hydrated and flush out the toxins in your body. It also works to keep any hunger pangs at bay. Your body often thinks it s hungry when it is actually thirsty!
Eat five or six small meals, spaced out across the day so that you eat at least every three hours.
Eat slowly and take time to chew your food. It takes about 20 minutes for your body to realize it has had sufficient food, so eating more slowly also gives your body time to recognize this.
Chewing food well aids digestion and that means your body gets all the benefit of the healthy food you are eating.
Try not to eat late in the evening. Have your last main meal no later than four hours before bedtime and if you must eat something later, have a light snack only.
Eat plenty of fibre in the form of fruit, vegetables and wholegrains to keep your digestive system working efficiently.
Swap high GI foods such as white bread and white rice for wholegrain versions such as granary bread and brown rice. This will keep blood sugar levels steady so you don't crave sweet or fatty foods.
Reduce the amount of salt you eat as it causes your body to retain water. Check food labels, particularly of ready made meals.
Sample Menus
Pick one meal from each section every day and have two or three snacks from the list.
These are just a few suggestions to set you off on the right track, but there are lots of other easy combination's that will work just as well.
Breakfast Options
- Poached egg on granary toast.
- Egg white omelet (4 egg whites) with mushrooms with granary toast.
- Tex Mex omelet (4 egg whites) with chopped onion, green pepper, tomato and jalapeno pepper with granary toast.
- Banana smoothie made with semi-skimmed milk and an apple.
- Low-fat yogurt with fresh fruit salad and chopped nuts.
- 6 oz cottage cheese with granary bread or toast.
- Bran flakes with low fat milk.
- Oatmeal porridge sweetened with honey.
Lunch Options
- Grilled chicken breast with a large salad of lettuce, tomato and peppers dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
- Bowl of lentil soup, plus an open salmon sandwich, made with slice of wholegrain bread and tinned salmon.
- Small tuna steak, seared, served with brown rice with chopped up red and green peppers.
- Smoked turkey wholemeal wrap with tomato and
red onion salad.
- Prawn sandwich with low-fat mayo, tomato and salad leaves with a pot of low-fat fruit yogurt to follow.
- Jacket potato with cottage cheese and chopped red pepper.
- Tuna or salmon salad with oriental vegetables and chilli dressing.
- Black bean salad with oz of black beans, lettuce, tomato, cucumber dressed with low fat vinaigrette dressing.
Dinner Ideas
- Cod cooked in foil with a tablespoon of mozzarella, tomatoes and a few basil leaves, served with green beans and asparagus.
- Grilled chicken breast and mixed vegetable stir-fry.
- Tuna steak and large green salad.
- Grilled lamb chop, with steamed broccoli, peas, carrots and tsp of mint sauce.
- Salmon grilled with a drizzle of honey with oven-roasted veg.
- Grilled tofu with mixed salad of lettuce, green pepper, tomato, carrot and red onion dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil (1 tablespoon).
- Small grilled lean pork loin (or chop) with small jacket potato topped with low fat yogurt or low fat sour cream.
- Small grilled sirloin steak with broccoli, asparagus or mushrooms.
Mini-Meals and Snacks (Eat 2 or 3 per day)
- A handful of unsalted nuts.
- Small bowl of raspberries and strawberries.
- Piece of fruit such as banana, apple, pear, peach, orange, mango, papaya, melon slices.
- Low-fat yogurt and a tangerine.
- Carrot sticks with a tablespoon of low-fat humus.
- Fat Free cheese slices
Enjoy your food and experiment with new flavors and ingredients to make your meals enjoyable and tempting.
Remember, most diets fail because they are rigid and difficult to follow. To lose weight and keep it off means a change in lifestyle and eating patterns.
The secret is to take a little time and plan out what to eat each week and then buy only what you will need for the week and keep temptation at bay.
What's great about starting a diet plan now is that fruits and veggies are in season so they are not only less expensive but they are super fresh, and fresh tastes so much better.
Now plan out a few meals, go shopping (plan meals around foods that are on sales) and start getting your bikini body!
One of the best and healthiest way to quickly lose weight is by eating plenty of lean protein (white meat, fish, pulses) and low Glycemic Index (GI) carbohydrates.
This will not only help burn calories but combined with exercise, it will build muscle to replace the fat you are losing.
The beauty of this plan is that it is so easy to follow and doesn't involve lots of calorie counting, starvation or complex recipes. You simply stick to white meats like fish, chicken and turkey, pulses, tofu and low GI wholemeal carbs like brown rice and wholemeal bread.
You will also never be hungry which means you can really stick to it and lose the excess pounds for good. Low blood sugar is what makes you hungry and irritable but if you eat lots of low GI foods, this will keep your blood sugar levels stable and balanced.
You will have plenty of energy all day long and the hunger pangs will be kept at bay so that you don't get tempted to binge on sweet and sugary foods.
Your simple diet rules
Drink six to eight glasses of water a day. This will keep you fully hydrated and flush out the toxins in your body. It also works to keep any hunger pangs at bay. Your body often thinks it s hungry when it is actually thirsty!
Eat five or six small meals, spaced out across the day so that you eat at least every three hours.
Eat slowly and take time to chew your food. It takes about 20 minutes for your body to realize it has had sufficient food, so eating more slowly also gives your body time to recognize this.
Chewing food well aids digestion and that means your body gets all the benefit of the healthy food you are eating.
Try not to eat late in the evening. Have your last main meal no later than four hours before bedtime and if you must eat something later, have a light snack only.
Eat plenty of fibre in the form of fruit, vegetables and wholegrains to keep your digestive system working efficiently.
Swap high GI foods such as white bread and white rice for wholegrain versions such as granary bread and brown rice. This will keep blood sugar levels steady so you don't crave sweet or fatty foods.
Reduce the amount of salt you eat as it causes your body to retain water. Check food labels, particularly of ready made meals.
Sample Menus
Pick one meal from each section every day and have two or three snacks from the list.
These are just a few suggestions to set you off on the right track, but there are lots of other easy combination's that will work just as well.
Breakfast Options
- Poached egg on granary toast.
- Egg white omelet (4 egg whites) with mushrooms with granary toast.
- Tex Mex omelet (4 egg whites) with chopped onion, green pepper, tomato and jalapeno pepper with granary toast.
- Banana smoothie made with semi-skimmed milk and an apple.
- Low-fat yogurt with fresh fruit salad and chopped nuts.
- 6 oz cottage cheese with granary bread or toast.
- Bran flakes with low fat milk.
- Oatmeal porridge sweetened with honey.
Lunch Options
- Grilled chicken breast with a large salad of lettuce, tomato and peppers dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
- Bowl of lentil soup, plus an open salmon sandwich, made with slice of wholegrain bread and tinned salmon.
- Small tuna steak, seared, served with brown rice with chopped up red and green peppers.
- Smoked turkey wholemeal wrap with tomato and
red onion salad.
- Prawn sandwich with low-fat mayo, tomato and salad leaves with a pot of low-fat fruit yogurt to follow.
- Jacket potato with cottage cheese and chopped red pepper.
- Tuna or salmon salad with oriental vegetables and chilli dressing.
- Black bean salad with oz of black beans, lettuce, tomato, cucumber dressed with low fat vinaigrette dressing.
Dinner Ideas
- Cod cooked in foil with a tablespoon of mozzarella, tomatoes and a few basil leaves, served with green beans and asparagus.
- Grilled chicken breast and mixed vegetable stir-fry.
- Tuna steak and large green salad.
- Grilled lamb chop, with steamed broccoli, peas, carrots and tsp of mint sauce.
- Salmon grilled with a drizzle of honey with oven-roasted veg.
- Grilled tofu with mixed salad of lettuce, green pepper, tomato, carrot and red onion dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil (1 tablespoon).
- Small grilled lean pork loin (or chop) with small jacket potato topped with low fat yogurt or low fat sour cream.
- Small grilled sirloin steak with broccoli, asparagus or mushrooms.
Mini-Meals and Snacks (Eat 2 or 3 per day)
- A handful of unsalted nuts.
- Small bowl of raspberries and strawberries.
- Piece of fruit such as banana, apple, pear, peach, orange, mango, papaya, melon slices.
- Low-fat yogurt and a tangerine.
- Carrot sticks with a tablespoon of low-fat humus.
- Fat Free cheese slices
Enjoy your food and experiment with new flavors and ingredients to make your meals enjoyable and tempting.
Remember, most diets fail because they are rigid and difficult to follow. To lose weight and keep it off means a change in lifestyle and eating patterns.
The secret is to take a little time and plan out what to eat each week and then buy only what you will need for the week and keep temptation at bay.
What's great about starting a diet plan now is that fruits and veggies are in season so they are not only less expensive but they are super fresh, and fresh tastes so much better.
Now plan out a few meals, go shopping (plan meals around foods that are on sales) and start getting your bikini body!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
How To Avoid Acidosis
Faddists of all variety are wont to attribute astounding virtues to particular foods—usually the ones they can doll up in fancy packages under odd names and palm off as "health foods" at inflationary prices.
Beauty, sex appeal, vigor, disposition and health are benefited by certain quite ordinary foods, as we have seen—but only if the diet has been deficient in the elements they contain.
All of us are likely to fall into dietary ruts. We are particularly skilled in preparing certain foods, so we serve them often. We just "can't stand" particular foods such as liver, oysters, strawberries, cabbage or a hundred others. Men may look upon salads as sissy dishes and thus forego many vitamins. Children may exhibit milk phobias. Women may try to live on lettuce and string beans because they think roast beef will coarsen them. Any of us may (too many of us do) eat excessively of
white bread, sugar, and concentrated foods that supply plenty of calories but scant minerals and vitamins.
As a result, over long periods, we become the victims of dietary deficiencies so gradually that we do not realize it. Our own government, in a praiseworthy effort to build us up physically to meet national emergencies, has time and again stressed the inadequacies of general diets.. The oomph values of ordinary foods arise from their ability to supply factors that correct your hidden deficiencies. Want to bet that you don't have any?
With that point straightened out, it is pertinent to digest some statements by authorities that knock the props right from under some of the country's favorite fallacies about foods.
"Acidosis" is an ugly word, jerked right out of a medical dictionary to frighten the gullible. If you are of normal health and free from such diseases as diabetes, you can comfortably forget all about acidosis after reading a few facts concerning it.
Properly, acidosis is a condition in which the normal alkalinity of the blood is slightly lowered. The blood is always alkaline and never becomes acid in any condition short of death. Theoretically, if you ate nothing but meat or eggs which leave an over-publicized "acid ash," you could develop acidosis. Actually, this bogey practically never troubles healthy meat-eating races, nor even man-eating tigers or other carnivora who would probably be dosing themselves with baking soda if they could read the advertisements.
Fruits (except a few such as cranberries and plums), vegetables, and milk leave an alkaline ash and most diets provide these foods in more than adequate amounts to prevent acidosis. Even if they didn't, the healthy body has efficient protective devices of its own. For one thing, the blood contains buffers that are able to combine with and eliminate acids and bases. The kidneys can excrete acids from blood that is faintly alkaline. Blood proteins, like all proteins, are made up of amino acids that can act both as acids and bases. Moreover, vast amounts of acid-forming products that might otherwise be troublesome are eliminated through the lungs every time you exhale a breath loaded with carbon dioxide.
By taking baking soda you can often "alkalize" the blood to some extent, but this is a temporary measure— if you really have acidosis, soda cannot cure the underlying cause. The minerals sodium and potassium are most active in minimizing acidity and we have already seen how abundant these elements are in ordinary run-of-the-mill diets. Extremely low-calorie reducing diets may tend to cause acidosis because of the by-products from the breakdown of body fat. Fasting will eventually produce acidosis because the body produces acid substances as it consumes itself. Balanced reducing diets at levels of 1,000 calories a day or more are not threats to one's alkaline reserve, as a rule, because liberal vegetable foods are provided.
There is even considerable doubt of the wisdom of confining the diet mainly to alkaline ash foods. A shortage of high quality protein is one likelihood.
Another is that regular consumption of a high-alkaline diet is likely to predispose to the formation of stones in the kidney or bladder. Patients who have lost one kidney by surgery are ordinarily advised to eat acid-producing foods, for if the urine becomes alkaline, calcium phosphate becomes insoluble and there is danger of its being precipitated as kidney stones.
Even in folks with two good kidneys, excess base-forming foods may produce a condition of alkalosis just as undesirable as acidosis.
Unless a physician recommends an alkaline ash diet for specific reasons, there is no reason in the world to be concerned about acidosis unless you get good clean fun from talking about it.
Ordinarily, when people speak of acidosis what they really mean is "acid stomach"—a temporary condition of hyperacidity that can be relieved by a dose of soda following conventional indiscretions. If it is necessary for you to take soda regularly to quiet your stomach, there is probably some disease process—often serious—at work that requires a doctor's diagnosis. All stomachs arc normally acid; if they aren't, the physician frequently prescribes a measured cocktail of hydrochloric acid.
Beauty, sex appeal, vigor, disposition and health are benefited by certain quite ordinary foods, as we have seen—but only if the diet has been deficient in the elements they contain.
All of us are likely to fall into dietary ruts. We are particularly skilled in preparing certain foods, so we serve them often. We just "can't stand" particular foods such as liver, oysters, strawberries, cabbage or a hundred others. Men may look upon salads as sissy dishes and thus forego many vitamins. Children may exhibit milk phobias. Women may try to live on lettuce and string beans because they think roast beef will coarsen them. Any of us may (too many of us do) eat excessively of
white bread, sugar, and concentrated foods that supply plenty of calories but scant minerals and vitamins.
As a result, over long periods, we become the victims of dietary deficiencies so gradually that we do not realize it. Our own government, in a praiseworthy effort to build us up physically to meet national emergencies, has time and again stressed the inadequacies of general diets.. The oomph values of ordinary foods arise from their ability to supply factors that correct your hidden deficiencies. Want to bet that you don't have any?
With that point straightened out, it is pertinent to digest some statements by authorities that knock the props right from under some of the country's favorite fallacies about foods.
"Acidosis" is an ugly word, jerked right out of a medical dictionary to frighten the gullible. If you are of normal health and free from such diseases as diabetes, you can comfortably forget all about acidosis after reading a few facts concerning it.
Properly, acidosis is a condition in which the normal alkalinity of the blood is slightly lowered. The blood is always alkaline and never becomes acid in any condition short of death. Theoretically, if you ate nothing but meat or eggs which leave an over-publicized "acid ash," you could develop acidosis. Actually, this bogey practically never troubles healthy meat-eating races, nor even man-eating tigers or other carnivora who would probably be dosing themselves with baking soda if they could read the advertisements.
Fruits (except a few such as cranberries and plums), vegetables, and milk leave an alkaline ash and most diets provide these foods in more than adequate amounts to prevent acidosis. Even if they didn't, the healthy body has efficient protective devices of its own. For one thing, the blood contains buffers that are able to combine with and eliminate acids and bases. The kidneys can excrete acids from blood that is faintly alkaline. Blood proteins, like all proteins, are made up of amino acids that can act both as acids and bases. Moreover, vast amounts of acid-forming products that might otherwise be troublesome are eliminated through the lungs every time you exhale a breath loaded with carbon dioxide.
By taking baking soda you can often "alkalize" the blood to some extent, but this is a temporary measure— if you really have acidosis, soda cannot cure the underlying cause. The minerals sodium and potassium are most active in minimizing acidity and we have already seen how abundant these elements are in ordinary run-of-the-mill diets. Extremely low-calorie reducing diets may tend to cause acidosis because of the by-products from the breakdown of body fat. Fasting will eventually produce acidosis because the body produces acid substances as it consumes itself. Balanced reducing diets at levels of 1,000 calories a day or more are not threats to one's alkaline reserve, as a rule, because liberal vegetable foods are provided.
There is even considerable doubt of the wisdom of confining the diet mainly to alkaline ash foods. A shortage of high quality protein is one likelihood.
Another is that regular consumption of a high-alkaline diet is likely to predispose to the formation of stones in the kidney or bladder. Patients who have lost one kidney by surgery are ordinarily advised to eat acid-producing foods, for if the urine becomes alkaline, calcium phosphate becomes insoluble and there is danger of its being precipitated as kidney stones.
Even in folks with two good kidneys, excess base-forming foods may produce a condition of alkalosis just as undesirable as acidosis.
Unless a physician recommends an alkaline ash diet for specific reasons, there is no reason in the world to be concerned about acidosis unless you get good clean fun from talking about it.
Ordinarily, when people speak of acidosis what they really mean is "acid stomach"—a temporary condition of hyperacidity that can be relieved by a dose of soda following conventional indiscretions. If it is necessary for you to take soda regularly to quiet your stomach, there is probably some disease process—often serious—at work that requires a doctor's diagnosis. All stomachs arc normally acid; if they aren't, the physician frequently prescribes a measured cocktail of hydrochloric acid.
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