Nutrition Frenzy

In general, I don’t recommend supplements as a way to expedite weight loss.

Instead, I have always had great success following a natural, healthy approach based on moderate exercise, unprocessed, organic, whole foods, and stress-reduction techniques (one of which is NOT binge eating).

But, there are a few natural, safe and effective dietary supplements that are key to any weight loss and overall health plan.

Whether you are looking to reshape your body or working to maintain an already lean physique for a lifetime, one supplement worth investigating and investing in is Conjugated Linoleic Acid.

What Is Conjugated Linoleic Acid?

CLA is a fatty acid that is found in meat and dairy products. Evidence compiled over the last decade shows that besides being a powerful anti-oxidant CLA offers numerous health and weight loss benefits.

Benefits of CLA Include

- Increases metabolic rate

- Decreases abdominal fat

- Enhances muscle growth

- Lowers Cholesterol and triglycerides

- Lowers insulin resistance

- Reduces food-induced allergies

- Enhances immune function

- Effective in helping people with thyroid conditions lose weight without interfering with thyroid medications

Sorry, A Cheeseburger in Paradise Doesn’t Offer CLA Benefits

Unfortunately, milk shakes and burgers duo won’t supply sufficient CLA to be of any benefit- there simply is not enough CLA present in these sources. Supplements, however, are concentrated sources of CLA which allow you an affordable way to get an effective dose of CLA.

Where Do I Find Quality CLA?

Health food stores, GNC and online outlets like Drugstore.com carry CLA. I suggest using a patented brand to ensure that your supplement contains sufficient CLA to be effective.

I suggest “Tonalin” brand, it is the most researched, highest quality CLA. Look for “Tonalin” in 1,000mg capsule form.

How Much CLA Do I Need To Receive Benefits?

Studies show that to be effective 3.4g or 3400mg per day of CLA must be taken. So, if for example, you were to use the “Tonalin” capsules you’d need to take 4 capsules a day with meals.

Is CLA Safe?

Yes!
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supplements, weight loss

Welcome to the August 27, 2007 edition of Health & Fitness Forum.

The purpose of this forum is to feature well-written articles that provide easy-to-implement tips and information on health, fitness, nutrition, weight loss, beauty and overall well being.

Too few people take the time to learn what it takes to be fit and healthy, and even fewer have the self discipline to stick with healthy eating and living practices. To make matters worse, traditional media outlets report far too much misinformation on what it takes to be healthy and fit. This forum is designed to make it easier for everyone to learn about and implement tips that will have a real impact on the quality of their lives.

We have over 20 submissions this week. Please read, share, and enjoy!

Diet Tips

Warren Wong presents How To Recover From Caffeine Addiction posted at Personal Development for INTJs, saying, “Are you always tired in the moring because of coffee? Here’s how to break your caffeine addiction.”

FitBuff presents Foods High in Protein: Top 10 Healthy Choices posted at FitBuff.com’s Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog, saying, “Protein is absolutely essential to nearly every function of the human body, but most people aren’t getting nearly enough, or they’re getting it from unhealthy sources. This article outlines exactly why you need to get enough protein, plus the 10 healthiest foods high in protein.”

Exercise Tips

Anmol Mehta presents Core Abdominal Power Yoga Exercises posted at Mastery of Meditation, Enlightenment & Kundalini Yoga, saying, “Yoga exercises to build and develop your core abdominal strength and power.”

John Hill presents Mind in the Muscle posted at Big-Arms.com.

Kevin Bedell presents Choices: Drive? or Bike? posted at 21st Century Citizen.

hakadoru presents The Outdoor Journey » Five Resistance Training Myths in the Running World posted at The Outdoor Journey.

Fitness Tips

John presents How to Get Big Muscles by Resting posted at Muscular-Fitness.

Peter25 presents Stay Fit at Home posted at Small Business.

Nick Irons presents Top 10 Reasons to exercise posted at Get Results! Fitness Blog, saying, “Everywhere you turn, people are telling you to exercise. You doctor tells you to exercise, George Bush tells you to exercise, now even McDonalds is telling you to exercise. Why should you do it? What should you exercise? Here are the top 10 reasons to exercise.”

Weight Master presents A few interesting tips… posted at Weight Master.

General Health and Wellbeing Tips

Aparna presents Beware of dust mites on your pillows posted at Beauty and Personality Grooming.

Wenchypoo presents Book Review: Healthy At 100 posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket, saying, “If you care at all about health and longevity, you MUST read this book!”

John Hill presents Do You Bruise Easily? posted at Universe Of Success.

Dr Martin W. Russell presents Routinely Sleeping Well posted at Dr Martin W. Russell.

MDB presents How I gave up Smoking - a little story posted at million dollar blog.com.

Jude presents Buy yoga mat and other yoga props at buyyogamat.com posted at buyyogamat, saying, “If you wanna buy a suitable yoga mat, take a look at this article.”

Alvaro Fernandez presents The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution, saying, “Some tips to keep our brains sharp.”

The Career Counselor presents A Weighty Question posted at ask the CareerCounselor.

Healthy Eating Tips

Petra Ioni presents Anthocyanins in Purple, Blue and Red Foods Fight Colon Cancer | Medopedia posted at Medopdedia.

Frugal Panda presents How to: Eat Healthy for Cheap posted at Frugal Panda.

Weight Loss Tips

Craig Harper presents The Parable of the Fat Kid. posted at Renovate your life with Craig, saying, “Once upon a time… there was a kid.
A kid who loved to eat.
Not unlike many kids, really.
But this kid was different.
He didn’t just enjoy the occasional cookie or bowl of ice-cream.
Or burger and fries.
No, he lived for food.
And when he wasn’t eating… he was thinking about eating.”

Paul Heingarten presents Turbulence Training for Fat Loss posted at workout ebooks, saying, “Introduction to the Turbulence Training system”

Amanda Harris presents My Fitness Pal posted at Pajama Mommy.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
health & fitness forum using our carnival submission form.

health and fitness forum, health and fitness tips, nutrition tips, healthy eating tips

In a recent post I told you about the adaptogenic health benefits from the supplemental herb Rhodiola Rosea.

Turns out Rhodiola can enhance sexual performance as well!

About the same time I wrote the Rhodiola post, my darling and virile husband started taking two hundred mg of Rhodeola Rosea (of Russian origin). The Hubs is a super-stressed out, Type-A, complete workaholic. Taking an adaptogenic tonifier like Rhodiola was intended to help his system cope with the mental and physical drain that sleep deprivation, travel and long hours at the office, can cause.

Within a few weeks of taking rhodiola (it can take about 2 months for benefits to be felt), he reported feeling more energetic throughout the day and I noticed he was no longer a boring, exhausted blob when he finally got home to see me. Seriously, it was great to have my fun-loving, energetic man back in the crib!

But then, this past weekend it was like, HEL-LO! An additional benefit of Rhodiola seemed to have um, arisen.

Rhodiola Enhances Libido:

It’s true! All the literature I have read has noted that Rhodiola Rosea can restore or increase libido in both men and women. For women Rhodiola can help out when libido is reduced due to menopause and hormone fluctuations.

It’s Not Viagra:

The Rhodiola Riser is not the same as the Viagra perm- erection (to me a four hour stint isn’t appealing anyhow) and it doesn’t just cause a sudden erection out of the blue. Instead, Rhodiola can actually stimulate desire and libido which leads to well, you can take it from there.

Be Careful What You Wish For:

I should have known Hub was enjoying additional feelings of friskiness when he actually ASKED me to buy more Rhodiola when he ran out. Usually, I am the one who is totally in charge of monitoring the “healthy stuff” in our household.

For example, at breakfast I will ask, “Are you still working on that bottle of 60 multi-vitamin capsules I got for you fifteen months ago?”

“Yes, I take one every morning!”, is the guaranteed reply.

But This! He LOVES this stuff! Strutting around, pinching my booty, he is so proud, so enamored with his amped up sexual prowess. I am in deep trouble. I have created my very own, live-in, horny monster.

Lucky for me I adore my man. Seeing him act like a spring chicken just brings a smile to my face. I am not sure if the extra energy Rhodiola affords him is simply restoring his energy in general, so that he has more to uh, “give” or, if the Rhodiola is in fact working directly on the old libido.

Either way, Rhodiola is a safe, effective way to add a little spring to your step and perhaps some other things as well.

sexual performance, Rhodiola, Libido, Viagra

Envious of that skinny chic who struts her bony behind past your cubicle every day as she wolfs down a gigantic Bear Claw?

Well, here’s some news that might comes as a surprise: just because she’s thin doesn’t mean she’s fit. Fact is, a size zero doesn’t mean she’s got any muscle, and fat-burning muscle is where it’s at.

Am I Healthy???

BMI (Body Mass Index):

BMI is a measurement of body fat based on a computation of your height and weigh. An effective way to estimate your overall health risks, go here for a quick BMI assessment.

BMI Doesn’t Tell The Whole Story:

More important than BMI is how much fat you have relative to your overall weight and WHERE that fat is on your body. The higher your fat percentage and the more fat found around your midsection, the more inflammatory chemicals called cytokines that circulate in your blood. Inflammation from cytokines are a cause of premature aging and make you more susceptible to cardiovascular disease, obesity and metabolic syndrome.

But Miss Skinny Looks So Good, How Can She Be Unhealthy?

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Not many people can resist the lure of a box of Thin Mints. You can blame your illicit cookie purchase on those endearing, imploring Scout faces all you want. Truth is, it don’t make a lick of difference who’s selling them - little girl, little monkey - whatever, a box of Tag A Longs is just plain tempting.

Happy news: In celebration of their 90th year of selling drool-inducing cookies, Girl Scouts are approached something like health consciousness by removing most of the trans fats from their products. Key here is the word “most”.

In fact, “most” Girl Scout Cookies are still high in sugar, saturated fat and lots of artificial gunk. Plus, they are still not entirely free of trans fats. Definitely NOT items to be confused with health food. BUT - still a step in the right direction.

According to Girl Scouts of the USA Vice President Denise Pessich, changes were made to the cookies after the two bakeries that produce the goods found trans-fat alternatives that didn’t compromise the flavor, texture or shelf life. Shelf life? Anyone with the willpower to leave an unopened box of Thin Mints on the shelf probably wouldn’t buy them in the first place. I know I am not alone when I say that those little guys literally sing to me. Sing! My name!!!

Here’s the lowdown on the slim-down:

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Stress is a killer. Literally.

Every time our bodies are subjected to stress - whether it comes from dealing with an A-hole boss, road rage or even a demanding workout regime, stress causes inflammation in our cells that leads directly to disease and premature aging.

So, what can you do to stay young, hip and gorgeous forever? How do ensure you’ll have the kind of looks that will get you carded even when you fifty?

The answer may lie in a unique group of herbal supplements called “adaptogens”, of which Rhodiola Rosea is a frontrunner.

WHAT CAN AN ADAPTOGEN SUPPLEMENT DO FOR ME???

-Increase availability of energy during the day

-Reduce feelings of stress that lead to premature aging

-Accelerate the healing process

-Increase endurance

-Generate greater mental alertness

-Support deeper, more restful sleep

-Improve sports performance and resistance to muscle strain

WHAT IS RHODIOLA ROSEA???

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stress, premature aging, herbal supplements, Rhodiola

Generally, I really go for things that are refined: a pedigreed show horse, a man who knows how to pronounce foie gras, but today I’m going to tell you about refined sugar-one refinement I stay as far away from as I possibly can.

WHY IS SUGAR BAD? DOESN’T FRUIT HAVE SUGAR TOO?

Refined sugar (sugar cane that is processed) is an extremely high-glycemic (high in glucose), food; meaning it hits your bloodstream and causes a blood sugar spike while also having a negative effect on insulin levels, digestive enzymes, weight and the pancreas.

Fruit does have natural sugar – fructose. The reason that fruit can, and should be part of a healthy diet is that even a fruit considered “high” on the Glycemic Index (GI), like an apple (6 on the GI), have markedly less impact on blood sugar because it is absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream than say a donut (47 GI) , angel food cake (67 GI) or Skittles (32 GI). In addition, fruit has fiber that helps “cancel out” the effects the fructose has on your blood sugar and all is packed with anti-oxidants and vitamins. Remember, we are talking natural fructose here… (see tomorrow’s article re High-Fructose Corn Syrup which is anything but natural…)

WHY SUGAR MAKES YOU FAT:
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WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Americans consume more High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) than table sugar. Not hard to believe, considering a single, 12 oz can of soda has as much as 13 teaspoons of sugar in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.

“But, I don’t drink soda,” you say. Well, read on, because even if you make healthy eating a priority in your life, chances are you or your children are still eating some heinous High-Fructose.

IS HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP LIKE FRUIT?

It’s definitely got a ring to it - it is the “fructose” part, right? Makes it sound like fruit-syrup? You must remember HFCS is NOT fruit or derived from fruit, it is not even natural!

Instead, HFCS is a thick liquid manufactured from corn starch and contains two sugar building blocks: fructose (about 55%) and glucose (about 45%). HFCS is treated with enzymes (often genetically modified enzymes, which is scary in itself), that convert glucose to fructose, which make the final product even sweeter than sugar.

WHY IS HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP WORSE THAN REGULAR SUGAR?

The impact on your body from HFCS is even worse than from regular sugar. Experts argue about exactly why this is the case. Some point to the difference in fructose content between the two: HFCS is 55% fructose, 45% glucose, while table sugar is 50% glucose and 50% sucrose.

Although it seems like a measly 5% more fructose in HFCS couldn’t make that much difference, at this point it’s the most concrete reason the science guys have given. In any case, what is most important for you to know is that HFCS messes with you.

Here’s how:

HFCS actually causes an alteration in the body’s metabolic /body weight-regulating hormones Leptin and Ghrelin. Say you eat a food that has no HFCS, your body turns ON the production of Leptin which gives a shout out to the brain –“OKAY! STOP EATING – WE ARE GETTING FAT ENOUGH!” A meal with no HFCS also suppresses Ghrelin, a hormone that says, “STILL HUNGRY! LET’S PIG OUT!”

Okay, now to the bowl of Kellogg’s All-Bran you just ate that contains HFCS (yup, your bowl of “healthy” bran branches has got it) and your tall glass of Ocean Spray Cranberry Cocktail (HFCS!) With this type of meal, your brain doesn’t turn on Leptin that tells you “Stop! The tank is full !” And, Ghrelin isn’t suppressed, it keeps saying “Chow ON baby!”

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Besides warping our hormones and causing us to gain weight, HFCS also makes us store more weight as fat which leads to problems beyond our waistlines. Studies show the liver reacts to HFCS by kicking out more fat into the bloodstream- the result being higher blood triglycerides.

WHY IS THIS JUNK IN MY FOOD?

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Pumpkin pie! With whipped cream! Or a la mode… No!

That is not what we’re talking about today people. But, there are plenty of healthy, delicious ways to incorporate this anti-oxidant treasure into your diet.

Pumpkin’s Nutritional Benefits:

-Superior source of Vitamin A & C
-High in potassium
-High in Manganese
-High in Copper
-High in Riboflavin, one of the B vitamins
-Considerable amounts of magnesium, phosphorous, iron, folate, vitamins E, and B6 niacin, thiamin and pantothenic acid
-Low in calories, cholesterol and fat
-High in fiber

Eat Your Way to Beautiful Skin:
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Welcome to the August 12, 2007 edition of health & fitness forum.

The purpose of this forum is to feature well-written articles that provide easy-to-implement tips and information on health, fitness, nutrition, weight loss, beauty and overall well being.

Too few people take the time to learn what it takes to be fit and healthy, and even fewer have the self discipline to stick with healthy eating and living practices. To make matters worse, traditional media outlets report far too much misinformation on what it takes to be healthy and fit. This forum is designed to make it easier for everyone to learn about and implement tips that will have a real impact on the quality of their lives.

Diet Tips

Paul Piotrowski presents 14 Day Diet Results and Why You Should Follow Your Trend Weight, Not Your Actual Weight posted at Self Help Wisdom . com.

Anne-Marie presents 5 Things to Keep in Your Bag or Briefcase When Trying to Lose Weight posted at Anne-Marie.

Aparna presents Beauty and Personality Grooming: Yogic diet posted at Beauty & Personality Grooming, saying “Ancient Yogic texts as well as modern research have time and again confirmed the fact that food governs mind and thoughts. A healthy food habit keeps one physically fit and mentally alert.”

TheNourisher presents Young Nourisher’s Curiosity: will she get what she came for? posted at The Nourisher, saying, “A youngling struggles with her nutrition project. Should she report the same old politically correct USDA schlup or risk losing marks and write about science proving that traditional food ways are more appropriate for human health?”

Cherry presents 100 Mile Diet - Save the Environment posted at My Diet Methods Reviews and Recipes, saying, “100 Mile Diet, healthy life healthy air!”

FitBuff presents 10 Mistakes That Derail Your Diet posted at FitBuff.com’s Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog, saying, “This article lists 10 Mistakes That Derail Your Diet, and of course tips and suggestions on how to avoid them!”

Exercise Tips

Anna Farmery presents Tips on Weight Loss posted at MiddleAgeShed, saying “Little and often is the name of this diet game!”

Weight Master presents Flexibility Exercises posted at Weight Master, helping us remember that “Warming up before exercising is extremely important for everyone.”

Fitness Tips

John Hill presents Build Muscle Fast posted at Universe Of Success, emphasizing that “Muscle building is a slow process, learn how to stop wasting time and begin making progress immediately.”

John Hill presents Symptoms of Overtraining posted at Big-Arms.com, saying “When you are eager to gain muscle mass there seems to be almost nothing more important than getting into the gym and hitting the weights as hard as you can as often as you can and therefore you tend to instantly dismiss any symptoms of overtraining.”

Healthy Eating Tips

Matthew Paulson presents Drinking Bottled Water without Getting “Hosed” posted at Getting Green.

Jimson Lee presents Organic This, Organic That - What Exactly is “Organic” Food? posted at Speedendurance.com, saying, “A good article to help us define the terms “free range”, “organically grown”, “no hormone”, and “non-GMO”.”

Weight Loss Tips

Jessica Christensen presents Why Diets Don’t Work posted at Strength for Her.

Arun presents From Chubby to Studdly Part 1 posted at Arun is bringing you…Your Daily Remedy, saying, “This is EXACTLY how I lost a ton of weight, got healthy, and stayed healthy, and how you can too!”

James Carr presents Weight Loss Advice posted at Casual Science.

General Health and Wellbeing Tips

April Kerr presents Neti Pot: A Simple Way to Clear Your Sinuses posted at Natural Health Remedies.

Sepehr Moghadam presents Stay Fit While On Vacation posted at Minus The Fat, saying, “Here are some great ways to stay healthy and fit while you are on vacation this summer!”

Matt presents How to Fall Asleep Quickly posted at Realigned Living, saying, “Getting a good night’s rest is essential for being healthy and performing at your peak, but a problem plaguing most people is falling asleep quickly. This article goes into a method for falling asleep fast that has worked for me many, many times. Enjoy!”

David Kam presents Why You Should be Healthy!? How? posted at MarketingDeviant.com, saying “Being consistent is a guarantee success so stand by it and never lose hope!”

Alternative Health Tips

Derek Brown presents The Research Proven Alternative To Ritalin. Let’s Cure Our Children Naturally! posted at Digital Storme | Life On The Web, saying, “ADHD is a serious condition. It is robbing our children of their education and self esteem. As parents we want to do what’s best for our children, to help them succeed in this fast paced world of ours. We depend on our doctors for guidance, but what if that guidance is just flat out wrong?”

Chris presents Four Paradoxes of Standing Meditation posted at Martial Development, saying, “Learn how standing meditation produced one of the greatest fighters of the 20th century, and how it can improve your health and fitness today.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
health & fitness forum hosted at Health Sundae using our
submission form.

health and fitness forum

Living Tree Community Foods Raw Alive Organic Olive Oil is an outstanding product from a company that I simply adore.

I’ve written before extolling the virtues of Living Tree’s nut and coconut butters, and today I am telling you you’ve never tasted an olive oil live this!

Benefits Of Olive Oil:

Types of Olive Oil

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We are instinctively repelled by things that are overcooked. Just look at the pictures of a too-tan Jessica Simpson.

Why would such a beautiful girl want to spray-tan herself to the extent that she resembles a giant Cheeto?! All I can say, is at least Jess got that color from a spray canister, not from getting cooked by the sun. Just think of all the damage those hot rays would do to the perfect skin she’s in!

With that unappealing image in mind, let’s talk about the molecular damage high temperatures wreak on the food you’re cooking. While the standard cooking temperature dictated by most recipes is 350 degrees, a temperature that high actually damages the molecular integrity of food. Eating this type of scrambled DNA sequence can have negative repercussions for your health.

Instead, when cooking consider lowering those digits to the optimal temperature of 225 degrees. This lower temp allows food to retain its molecular structure as well as more nutrients (although most raw foodists tell us anything over 180 degrees destroys a food’s energy-giving enzymes).

How Do Lower Temps Effect Cooking Time?

Add approximately 50% more cooking time to what your recipe calls for or use a slow-cooker.

Example: If the original recipe calls for cooking one hour at 350 degrees at 225 it will need 1 ½ hours in the oven.

I love tips like this – they help me prepare healthier meals for my family while requiring absolutely no effort. Sheesh, I bet even Jessica could do this one.

healthy eating, healthy cooking, nutrition tips

Rich? Who’s rich? I love rich!!!

And bleach? Well, honey my hair could tell you a thing or two about that . . . .

Too bad neither enriched nor bleached flour have any redeeming value - kind of like the jerk you went out with last Saturday.

You know, the one who looked really great, and dare I say may even have tasted kinda nice, but who was really only out to use and abuse you – nothing of value there.

ENRICHED MEANS ITS GOT MORE VITAMINS AND STUFF, RIGHT?

No!

The nightmare called Enriched Flour happens when manufacturers strip wheat flour of its bran and germ and then “enrich” it by adding back in some stuff like thiamin, riboflavin and niacin so that they can call it something like “enriched,” which makes us feel good about buying it.

Bleached flour is also a manufactured creation, devoid of the fiber that is vital to keeping our weight in check and our system running properly.

WHY’D THEY DO THAT?

Manufacturers decided that the softer texture enriched and bleached flour lend to products would be more appealing to consumers. Now we are used to it.

Well, get un-used to it – quick.

It’s not a hard switch - hearty, rich breads, chewy muffins, whole wheat pizza crusts, whole wheat spaghetti are all readily available, healthy alternatives.

In fact, for the next 6 hours I will be on a plane to Hawaii. Plenty of time to compile a list of my favorite whole grain products – stayed tuned . . .

A REAL PISSER

I just have to put this sad tale in here to remind you to please read the ENTIRE label, even on 100% Whole Grain products. It seems that some manufacturers just love playing games.

Here’s an example: I was so psyched when I heard Nabisco came out with 100%Whole Grain Fig Newtons. I high-tailed it to the store, all set to dive into some Figgy’s. I took one look at the label and was SO PISSED!

Seems now companies know we are getting smarter, catching on that enriched and white flour suck. So, they are marketing things like Fig Newtons and Chips Ahoy as, “100% Whole Grain”.

But don’t put on your healthy-halo and start cramming these goodies in your mouth just quite yet, one look at the label will tell you that Figgers and Chippies are alsomade with High-Fructose Corn Syrup. Damn.

Check out www.accidentalhedonist.com for a great compilation (it’s a huge list, but sadly far from complete) of products, including many 100% whole wheat/whole grain products that also contain High-Fructose Corn Syrup. You’ll probably be surprised by some of the duds on this list, like 100% Whole Grain Pepperidge Farm bread!
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Health Sundae is hosting this week’s Health and Fitness Forum.

Next week’s edition will be hosted right here at Nutrition Frenzy. To submit your post for consideration, please use this handy article submission form.

Here are the top posts from this week’s edition of the Health and Fitness Forum:

Top Exercise Article:

RT presents All About Abs 1 - The Essential Basics posted at Real Women’s Fitness saying, “This series on abs training has a big emphasis on debunking many of the myths surrounding the abs”

Top Dieting Article

John Hill presents Why Diets Dont Work posted at Universe Of Success, saying “The whole diet process might seem like a physical act but to me it is much more psychological than physical and a key reason why diets dont work.”

Top Healthy Eating Article:

Cameron presents Is Organic Food Healthier?: Empty Nest posted at Empty Nest, asking, “Is it worth paying extra for organic foods and are organic foods regulated?” For another view on the importance of eating organic, check here.

Top Nutrition Article:

John presents Importance of Fiber in Your Diet posted at Muscular-Fitness. Here’s a related article on how to incorporate the wonder supplement psyllium into your diet.

Top Health and Wellbeing Article:

Craig Harper presents Fat by Choice posted at Renovate your life with Craig, saying, “I’m (still) sick of people who have made themselves fat… NOT taking responsibility for their fat selves. Listen to them and apparently their obesity is about everything but personal choice and responsibility.”

Please read, share, and enjoy!

Health and Fitness Forum, Health tips, Fitness tips, healthy eating tips, nutrition tips

As promised, here is the Holy Grail of Whole Grain products according to ME.

I love all these products because they let me make a sandwich, eat a bowl of pasta or indulge in a burrito - healthfully! I’m also happy to tell you that with the exception of the Zen Bakery Products (which have natural sugars from fruit and 100% fruit juice), nothing on the list has any added sugar! How’s that for healthy???

Ezekial/Food For Life Sprouted Grain Breads (great grilled cheese or French toast material).

Ezekial/Food For Life English Muffins (make your own Egg Mcmuff or try the Cinnamon Raisin with a bit of cream cheese - sooo good).

Ezekial/Food For Life PROPHET’S Pockets (pita): Whether you stuff them with turkey, cheese and avocado or just dip in a bit of hummus, these whole wheat pita are fragrant, soft and low calorie.

Ezekial/Food For Life Cereal: Hot or Cold this cereal is a healthy version of Grape-Nuts. You can use it to make trail mix or top your yogurt parfait.

Ezekial Hotdog and Hamburger Buns are the only whole grain buns I’ve come across that contain no sugar, honey, etc. I do find them a little doughy, so I scoop out the insides. Can’t find the weenie otherwise . . . .

La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat Tortillas: A Mexican food-lovers salvation. These little darlings are low cal, packed with fiber and pass my Neanderthal’s “authentico” burrito test. Keep these guys in the fridge or freezer, I’ve found this extends their freshness. Even frozen they separate easily from each other and defrost quickly.

Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Whole Grain Pasta: Pasta Pasta! Spaghetti, Penne, Linguini, Rotini and even lasagna noodles made with whole grains are fiber-full. Hallelujah! Pasta’s off “no-no” list. My Italian mama even cooks with these. For the best results be sure not to overcook and immediately after draining drizzle noodles with Olive Oil or spaghetti sauce containing oil.

Wasa Crackers: A great crunchy base for turkey and cheese, tuna fish or peanut butter

Triscuits: Yep, these oldies but goodies are whole wheat so you can have ‘em any way you like ‘em

Mestemacher Breads: Rye, Sunflower and Fitness breads are all natural and hearty. Dr. Andrew Weil turned me on to this brand.

Zen Bakery Muffins and Cookies: Big, moist muffins come in yummy combos like Blueberry-Raspberry Oat Bran, Cranberry-Apple,

Banana Nut and Carrot Cake: Oatmeal-cranberry cookies are a perfect snack and the Cinnamon Raisin Rolls are a guilt-free delight. All natural and made with whole wheat flour, these high fiber, no added sugar, Zen’s goodies are-always on my shopping list

Okay, that’s the list, for now. Like all respectable food nut groupies I am always on the look-out for the latest and greatest.

Whole Grain products