Are Meal Replacements A Good Idea For Weight Loss?
Think about the number one reasons why people are overweight nowadays. Overweight people fall into one of two different categories.
Either they have an unhealthy lifestyle working long hours, eating out all the time, not getting enough exercise or they simply eat too much, often in a compulsive way.
This type of eating eating when one isnt hungry, for example, or eating for emotional reasons rather than physical hunger is really a type of addiction. It should be understood as an addiction, and it often is.
For example, the group Overeaters Anonymous functions on many of the same principles as AA or other twelve step programs. Excessive eating is treated like an addiction because thats exactly what it is.
But if thats the case, its easy to see why this addiction might be harder to treat than some others. The way to deal with an addiction is to stay away from the behaviour thats out of control alcoholics cant touch alcohol, for example. The idea is to not do it at all until the addiction becomes a thing of the past in fact, for many addicts, they can never indulge in their addictive behavior again, not even once.
With food addiction, though, thats obviously impossible. People have to eat theres no getting away from it. Thats why food addiction, though its an addiction to a non-lethal substance, may be the hardest of all to deal with. And thats also why companies such as Slim-fast, who produce and market meal replacements for people to use while dieting to lose weight, actually do succeed in helping some people.
The idea behind meal replacements is that you dont really eat at all for a good part of the day instead, you have a special shake or other product that gives you all the nutrients you need, and stops you from feeling hungry. This works in two ways: first, it controls the calories you take in, because the meal replacements are quite low calorie. Second, it breaks the cycle of addictive behavior because youre not really eating. You can get away from the behavior much as an alcoholic can (and must) get away from alcohol, and that gives you a better chance of breaking the addictive process.
Though most meal replacement plans do recommend that you eat one normal meal per day, some people who are serious about losing weight dont do even that. Thats precisely how Oprah Winfrey once lost a lot of weight about fifty pounds. She said that she found it easier not to eat at all (subsisting on meal replacement shakes and bars) than to control her eating. When you know that you wont be eating real food at all for a while, it takes the guesswork out of it. Everything becomes very straightforward, and its a fact that many people have lost weight using this method of weight loss.
There are drawbacks, though. For one thing, while a weight loss program is supposed to teach you about how to eat for the rest of your life to establish healthy habits, in other words using meal replacements clearly doesnt do so. Once you go back to eating real food, you might find that your problems with controlling your food intake are still there. Though you will have lost weight, you are more likely to gain it back if you havent learned healthy eating habits.
Also, theres a danger that some people will keep on using the meal replacements for extended periods of time, just because its easier and more convenient. Thought they re designed to give you a minimum level of calories and nutrition, meal replacement bars cannot substitute for real food over an extended period.
However, if you know or suspect that your problem with food resembles an addiction or compulsion, it may be worth your while to think about using meal replacements for a while in order to lose some weight. Try to make the time you spend using them as productive as possible, though. Really come to terms with your past behaviour, and learn what it feels like to be full but not stuffed. Figuring out the answer to these and other aspects of healthy eating will help make your weight loss permanent.
The latest dieting craze has no doubt been the low carb high protein diets. Those of you on Atkins, South Beach etc will no doubt have noticed a number of changes since you took up the diet. And no Im not talking about the remarkable weight loss I am talking about your bad breath. Now it may not have been noticeable to you but I suggest you ask your friends or relatives whether there has been a detioration and you may be surprised by the answer. In fact you may even find your friends moving away from you when you speak which is always a sure sign of bad breath.
So whats the cause of all this bad air? Well depending on which medical speak you speak with there are a number, yet similar, reasons for the problem. One of the reasons is directly related to the increase in protein which most of the low carb diets advocate.
Basically, we all have a large number of useful bacteria living mainly on our tongue and at the back of our throat. These bacteria are supposed to be there, because they assist humans in digestion by breaking down proteins found in specific foods, mucous or phlegm, blood, and in diseased or “broken-down” oral tissue.
When these “beneficial” bacteria come into contact with these compounds, the odorous and “lousy-tasting” volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) are released from the back of the tongue and throat, as Hydrogen Sulphide, Methyl Mercaptan, and other odorous and bad tasting compounds.
Since the bacteria are meant to be in our mouth there is no way we can remove them permanently. So, no amount of brushing or tongue scraping will get rid of the VSCs. The only scientifically proven way of curing your bad breath (Halitosis) is by attacking the bacteria’s ability to produce VSCs and by converting the VSC into non-odorous and non-tasting organic salts.
There are a number of ways in which the problem is worsened and the most common way is with dry mouth. This generally occurs while you are asleep and hence the reason you sometimes wake up with morning breath.
Although some cases of dry mouth are naturally occurring, most cases are caused by one of these factors:
1. Prescription Medications (usually prescribed for high blood pressure or depression)
2. Antihistamines
3. Adult Beverages
4. Mouthwashes with alcohol in them
When your mouth is dryer, you have less Saliva. Saliva naturally contains Oxygen, which keeps your mouth healthy and fresh. These bacteria are anaerobic, which simply means that they will thrive and make more sulfur in the presence of little or no oxygen. Thus if you have less Saliva, you have less oxygen, thereby creating an anaerobic environment, perfect for the bacteria to produce more of these odorous and sour/bitter compounds.
Because of the increase in higher protein foods, on an Atkins type diet, especially dairy products, the amount of Volatile Sulfur Compounds increases dramatically and as such your breath gets worse accordingly. The only way to fight the problem is to try and supply oxygen to the bacteria causing the problem and remove as much of the VSCs as possible. This can be done in a number of ways:
Drink loads of water. This will help ensure your tongue and throat are kept moist and supplying oxygen to the VSC producing bacteria.
Always clean your tongue with a tongue cleaner before brushing your teeth last thing at night and first thing in morning. You should also try and do this after every meal too.
Use a mouthwash which does not contain any alcohol as alcohol can dry your mouth and make the problem worse. You can also dramatically improve matters by using an oxygenating mouthwash. You can find one by doing a Google on oxygenating mouthwash.
Dont chew gum, which contains sugar, to try and mask the bad breath. This can make matters worse. Use a sugar free gum instead.
The bottom line is that low carb diets will cause bad breath, although for some it will be a lot worse than others. However, help is at hand so if you want to shed the weight and not shed any friends then make sure and heed the advice given above.
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