It is said that America tops the obese adult population in the world, which is of course true. However, one seems to overlook the fact that America is also home to the highest population of obese children. If WHO (World Health Organization) is to be believed, our world contains more than twenty million obese kids, most of whom are in the age group of five-eight.

WHO also says that childhood obesity has reached the level of an epidemic in America, so much so that in the past three decades the number of obese American kids has more than tripled. Isn’t your child one of them too? It is time to take control of your kid’s life and help him lead the kind of comfortable and healthy life we would want him to lead. And this is only possible by helping him get rid of the extra pounds.

In fact, if America tops the number of obese kids, even third world countries are not far behind. You would think that an economically backward continent like Africa would have skinny kids because most of their parents are too poor to feed them properly, let alone overfeed them. However, very often our beliefs don’t coincide with reality. Just recently a special task force sent to Africa to gauge the health stats of the people living there encountered more obese kids than malnourished children.

You maybe thinking: why all this hullabaloo about childhood obesity? What is wrong if the belly of your kid if a tad fatter than his peers? The answer is: just like overweight adults, fat kids are also likely to suffer from harmful diseases such as high blood pressure, type 1 diabetes, hypertension, fatigue, heart diseases, and in some cases, even early death.

Believe it or not, the root cause of childhood obesity has little to do with genetics and more with poor lifestyle habits. Often people add two and two and jump to the conclusion that the kid is fat because of his parents. But that is not true at all. Kids emulate the unhealthy habits of their parents and naturally become fat like them. If you and your kids follow healthy lifestyle habits, both of you would be able to get rid of fat very quickly.

Truth to be told, the onus of the rising levels of childhood obesity lies on parents to a great extent. We parents prefer our kids to have junk foods since they can be easily procured from outside and help save the time we would have spent on cooking. A diet rich in fat and sugar could only make your child fatter and fatter. There is really nothing new to be said about it. Unless you are willing to spend a little time and energy in cooking healthy foods at home, don’t expect your kids to become any slimmer.

Apart from making them eat healthy foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, it is also important that you try to reduce their intake of soda and fizzy drinks.

Controlling the food habits of your kids is only half the battle won, the other half being that of encouraging them to become more active. If you are concerned about your child’s future and wish to offer him a healthy life, you would need to take him away from Xbox and PSPs to outdoor sports such as cricket, basketball, tennis, etc. Encouraging them to indulge in cardiovascular activities such as swimming, dancing, rope jumping, etc., would also help them burn fat and lose weight.

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: Africa, America, basketball, cricket, diabetes, energy, fatigue, food habits, heart diseases, high blood pressure, hypertension, obesity, outdoor sports, Swimming, Tennis, World Health Organization

Garcinia cambogia extract is hitting headlines throughout the western world as a natural weight loss supplement. Several studies have shown that it does help people to lose weight and although as always there are other studies that are less conclusive, it can be an effective weight loss supplement for many people.

What is Garcinia cambogia?

Garcinia cambogia is the name of a small tropical fruit that grows in India and Africa. It is one of the citrus family like oranges and lemons. It is too sour to eat but the rind is used as a spice in Indian cooking. The correct name for the substance that is extracted from the fruit as a weight loss supplement is hydroxycitric acid.

Hydroxycitric acid is not a stimulant (like caffeine) or an appetite suppressant, both of which work directly on the nerve centers of the brain and can have undesired side effects, including causing food binges any time you stop taking them. Instead, HCA satisfies the body’s need for energy and improves the signaling system that the body uses to tell the brain when it has eaten enough. This response is often delayed in overweight people, causing them to continue to eat more than they need.

Garcinia cambogia extract (HCA) seems to work best in combination with chromium, which helps to regulate the body’s blood sugar levels. Chromium is a mineral that is often lacking in our diets as we get older and a chromium deficit can contribute to weight gain and possibly diabetes. However if you have diabetes already, you should see your doctor before taking any products containing chromium.

As with most supplements, it is best to be cautious and do not take HCA if you are pregnant or breast feeding. Consult a doctor before giving it to children. You may also want to avoid HCA if you suffer from migraine or arthritis which can be worsened by citrus fruits.

Who will Garcinia cambogia help?

HCA seems to work best for people who overeat when they are anxious or stressed, as it will give the same calming effect that they get from food. Generally you do not need to eat any special foods when you are taking HCA, and there are no ‘forbidden foods’. Choose healthy foods and you should find that you lose weight and fat slowly but steadily without really trying. You can take slightly smaller portions if you wish and choose fruit instead of sugary snacks but you should not need to go hungry. This is a very natural way to lose weight.

Unlike many other weight loss products, HCA has been extensively tested in research laboratories on both human and animal subjects and no side effects have been found. This natural weight loss supplement is available from many sources online and may be labeled either hydroxycitric acid or garcinia cambogia extract.

Tags: Africa, arthritis, diabetes, energy, food, food binges, HCA, India, migraine, weight loss products

I just ran into a couple of great articles on Hoodia and thought it would be great to share them. Why do I care about Hoodia? Well I keep getting spam about the “Greatest weight loss product ever” and man do I hate unfounded hype.

It seems that Hoodia may be a good product but if there is ever a wonder drug that will stop people from eating and help them lose weight than the lack of exercise will surely kill people. I t is very important to remember that even if Hoodia does a great job in helping you lose weight that you still need to exercise regularly to stay or regain health. I have made my own notations here in bold from this great article at about.com written by Cathy Wong

Introduction to Hoodia

Each year, people spend more than $40 billion on products designed to help them slim down. None of them seem to be working very well.

Now along comes hoodia. Never heard of it? Soon it’ll be tripping off your tongue, because hoodia is a natural substance that literally takes your appetite away. It’s very different from diet stimulants like Ephedra and Phenfen that are now banned because of dangerous side effects. Hoodia doesn’t stimulate at all. Scientists say it fools the brain by making you think you’re full, even if you’ve eaten just a morsel.

Hoodia is a cactus that’s causing a stir for its ability to suppress appetite and promote weight loss. 60 Minutes, ABC, and the BBC have all done stories on hoodia. Hoodia is sold in capsule, liquid, or tea form in health food stores and on the Internet. Hoodia is also found in the popular diet pill Trimspa.

Hoodia gordonii can be found in the semi-deserts of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. Much like a cactus it has recently been turned into a cash crop in Namibia where there are hundreds of acres of it being grown to meet the demand in North America.

It takes about 5 years before hoodia’s pale purple flowers appear and the cactus can be harvested. Although there are 20 types of hoodia, only the hoodia gordonii variety is believed to contain the natural appetite suppressant.

Although hoodia was only marketed recently, the San Bushmen of the Kalahari desert have been eating it for a very long time. The Bushmen, who live off the land, would cut off part of the hoodia stem and eat it to ward off hunger and thirst during nomadic hunting trips. They also used hoodia for severe abdominal cramps, haemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.

In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist studying the San Bushmen noted that they used hoodia to suppress appetite. But it wasn’t until 1963 when scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa’s national laboratory, began studying hoodia. Initial results were promising — lab animals lost weight after taking hoodia.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 60 Minutes, ABC, Africa, Angola, anthropologist, BBC, Botswana, Brown University in Rhode Island, Cathy Wong Introduction, correspondent, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, cramps, depression, diabetes, energy, health food stores, Hoodia plant, hypertension, indigestion, Kalahari desert, Leslie Stahl, liver disease, Namibia, north America, pfizer, pharmaceutical giant, Rhode Island, South Africa, South Africa's national laboratory, supplement, tough product, Trimspa, tuberculosis, Unilever, USD, weight loss product, weight loss solution

Is Caralluma the next Hoodia?

As we have all heard and I have written here. Hoodia is one of the most popular weight loss products on the market today even if there is very little research confirming it but in the world of weight loss anectodal evidence is all that really matters. Caralluma is the same type of plant, a succulent and many people believe that it will be the next hoodia with some research,however small, showing positive results and people are making some weight losses. The really nice thing about Caralluma and Hoodia is that they have been used voer thousands of years and we know that in using them in moderation there are no obvious health issues.

Caralluma fimbriata is a succulent plant, in the cactus family. Where have we heard this before? Hoodia anyone? Caralluma has been used as a natural appetite suppressant in India for centuries. Caralluma is a “new” disovery in the west in the family of cactii and succulent plants that are becoming increasingly popular for their appetite suppressant, and weight loss properties, as well as their ability to lower blood sugar. Supplements made from the popular hoodia gordonii cactus from the Kalahari Desert in Africa, are very popularfor weight loss in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Like hoodia, Caralluma Fimbriata has been used to suppress appetite, and as a portable food for the outdoors as opposed to how we in the west have always used dried fruit and dried meat. It is used to suppress hunger and appetite, and enhance endurance throughout India. It is also sometimes considered a “famine food,” used during periods of famine to suppress appetite.

Caralluma Fimbriata is essentially a vegetable of daily use in tribal India. It is eaten in several forms. It is cooked as a regular vegetable with spices and salt. It is used in preserves like chutneys and pickles and is even eaten raw. Indian tribals chew chunks of Caralluma Fimbriata to suppress hunger when on a day’s hunt. This succulent is used amongst the labor classes in South India to suppress appetite and enhance endurance.

Two clinical trials of a proprietary Caralluma fimbriata extract (Gencor Pacific, Inc., Austin, TX) found the product to be without any serious side effects.6,11 The extract is described as a powder alcohol and water extract of the shade-dried aerial parts of the plant and containing not less than 10% total saponin glycosides, 3% bitters, and 25% total pregnane glycosides.7 Specific active components are noted to include luteolin-4?-O-neohesperidoside, kaempferol-7-O-neohesperidoside, sitosterol, tomentogenin, and pregnane glycosides, including caratubersides A and B and various boucerosides.6

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial on potential weight-loss effects, the Caralluma extract was administered in gelatin capsules initially to 62 obese subjects, 50 of whom completed the 8-week study. Subjects were of both genders, in normal health, not taking medications, and had not dietary restrictions during the trial. Reasons why the 12 subjects failed to complete the trial and the dosage used and quantitative results are not found in the summary made available for this report. According to the trial summary, reductions in the indicators of weight-loss were statistically significant and all adverse effects were gastrointestinal (constipation, moderate acidity, and flatulence), reported by both the placebo and the extract treatments groups, and transient (subsided within 7 days without further incidence).6

A 4-week, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of Caralluma was conducted in 26 overweight subjects (7 in the placebo group and 19 in the extract group; 9 men and 15 women ages 31 to 73). The extract was supplied in gelatin capsules at a dosage of one 500-mg capsule 30 min. before each meal. Subjects were instructed to maintain their previous exercise pattern and food intake and not to make any changes in their diet during 4 weeks before the treatment period, neither of which are described in the publication made available for this report. One male in each of the treatment arms of the trial failed to appear for final assessments; however, the reasons for their absence were not stated in the publication. The only adverse effects reported were from one subject in the final placebo group (3 males and 3 females) and one in the final extract treatment group who both complained of bloating and acidity shortly after beginning treatment and upon starting treatment again after ceasing. Subsequently, both discontinued the Caralluma capsules. The trial summary states that over 80% of those in the final treatment group (5 men and 13 women) lost weight with 11 out of 18 subjects losing approximately 6 pounds. Others lost 1-2 pounds (n=4) or maintained their starting weight (n=2). The exceptions in the extract group were one woman who lost 8 pounds, another who lost 9 pounds, and one who deviated from the trial instructions by increasing her calorie intake and gained 17 pounds. Three subjects in the placebo group (n=6) gained a pound and one subject lost one pound.

Take this as you would like but it seems that Caralluma is poised to be one of the new most popular weight loss products. One thing to watch for in the news is how easily this product will be to grow and produce as there are many companies that can package and market and with few if any side effects there will be very little resistance to a “new” indian weight loss product.

Tags: Africa, Austin, bloating, Canada, constipation, Europe, famine food, food intake, Gencor Pacific Inc., India, indian weight loss product, Kalahari desert, portable food, United States, weight loss products

I have been seeing a lot of ads and products lately containing Hoodia gordonii that acts as an appetite suppressant. Thought I should post what I have found out about Hoodia gordoni so far. Hoodia is a cactus from Africa that is somewhat endangered, mostly because of the excitement over selling a product that helps people lose weight here in the west. The cactus has been used by bushman in Africa for centuries as an appetite suppressant during long walks through the deserts.

A few years back Pfizer, the makers of Viagra were looking at the properties of the hoodia cactus to see if the rumors that it could be used as an appetite suppressant were in fact true, Pfizer decided that there was nothing to it and released the rights to the product, looks like a strike against hoodia. Next Unilver who makes soaps and consumer products picked up the hoodia mantle and have been using it in diet shakes which has in turn spurned a mini hoodia rush in the weight loss industry.

One of the trends that we always see in supplements is that all products try to include the newest popular product. One of the problems these days is that no one really knows what a good dose of hoodia is and in some products that say they have hoodia as one of the ingredients in fact contain no or almost no hoodia.

Does hoodia gordonii work as an appetite suppressant? Leslie Stahl of 60 minutes tried it during an assignment on the product and thought it worked although one person is only anecdotal evidence not real scientific evidence. As far as science is concerned there have been no studies on people and only one study on animals that proved inconclusive.

If you are interested in hoodia after reading this it is probably best to go to a health food store and try to get some almost pure product to try for yourself to see if YOU think that it helps and at least at this point avoid buying products that do two or three things as the confusion will stop you from being able to test the Hoodia gordonii on it’s own merits.

Tags: Africa, consumer products, health-food store, Leslie Stahl, Next Unilver, pfizer, pure product, viagra