You liked the “fast” part, right?

As a rule, I’m contemptuous of fast weight loss methods, because they invariably trigger rebound weight gain.  But there’s one way to lose weight quickly without causing a rebound: losing what some doctors now call “false fat”.

False fat is the five to ten extra pounds of water weight, generally accompanied by abdominal bloating from gas, that comes from eating foods that cause food reactions.  False fat isn’t really fat, or adipose tissue, but it looks like fat, feels like fat, and can last forever if you don’t do something about it.
Again, this false fat may be on your body due to a food reaction and you may not even be aware that you are having the reaction.

Most people think of food reactions as allergies, but allergies are just one type of food reaction.  The other, more common type of reaction is a food sensitivity, which is an allergy, but milder.  All forms of food reactions, however, have similar symptoms: water retention, abdominal bloating from gas, food cravings, heartburn and indigestion, facial puffiness, and low energy.  If you frequently have more than one of these symptoms, it’s quite possibly due to food reactions.

Food reactions typically occur when people can’t fully digest what they eat.  For example, the food reaction of lactose intolerance is an inability to fully digest lactose, the sugar in dairy products.  When food molecules can’t be fully digested, the body identifies them as foreign invaders – such as pathogens – and tries to get rid of them, in part by washing them away with extra water.

This inability to fully digest foods is extremely common these days, because:
-We eat too narrow a range of foods.  Most people get about 75% of their total calories from only about 10 of their favorite staples.  Unfortunately, when you overeat any one food, you can exhaust your body’s ability to digest it, by depleting specific digestive enzymes.
-We eat artificial foods that the body doesn’t recognize as foods.
-We eat foods we’re not genetically programmed to eat.  The easiest foods to digest are those your ancestors thrived on.  The hardest to digest are the foods your ancestors rarely ate.  For example, Asians and African Americans have extremely high rates of lactose intolerance, mostly because their ancestors didn’t consume many dairy products.

Spend some time on identifying and addressing such reactions.  Finding and resolving them, if you have them, will go a long way to helping you achieve your fitness goals.

All the Best in Health!

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Exercise , Improved Appearance
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Serving size:   Be aware that little candy bar that doesn’t seem to have many calories might be two servings, or even three.

Calories:  This is key.  Look at calories first.

Fat:  Pay close attention to fat!  Here are reasonable levels per serving:
- Saturated fat:  0 to 0.5g. Look out for saturated fats!  They’re terrible.
- Trans fat:  Absolutely 0g.  Avoid it completely.
- Polyunsaturated fat: Up to 5 grams is acceptable.
- Monusaturated fat: Up to 5 grams is acceptable.

Cholesterol:  Up to 20 grams is acceptable.

Sodium:  If it’s more than 200 mg., avoid it.

Dietary fiber:  The more, the better.

Expiration date: This is important.  Eating fresh food really makes a difference.

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Nutrition
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