The problem is that carbohydrates have got themselves the nasty little tag as a ‘fat storing’ nutrient. The fact of the matter is that if you eat too much of ANY type of food, your body will tend to store it as fat.

So, the truth is that of course carbohydrates CAN make you fat just like over consumption of any other food group. What you have to ensure is that you get your carbohydrates from the correct food group and in the right amounts. Let’s face it, your body needs all sorts of different foods in order to operate at full efficiency, so carbohydrates should not be anything to be worried about. As long as you stick to a couple of basic guidelines, you won’t go wrong with your carbohydrate intake.

First – Don’t eat too much carbohydrate. This should be a straight forward lesson to understand and put into action because it applies to everything you eat! If you take on board more calories than your body requires then you will start to store the excess as fat. Carbohydrates are a source of food for your muscles and your brain, but the body can only process so much at a time. You should aim to make around 45% – 55% of your total daily calorie intake carbohydrate based.

Second – Source your carbohydrates wherever possible from natural high fibre foods and whatever you do avoid refined carbs. All carbohydrates when broken down by the body end up as a type of sugar called glucose and this is what your body uses as fuel. However, your body is more efficient at breaking down some foods than others. As a general rule of thumb, the faster the body is able to break it down, the more likely it is that it will end up being stored as fat. This is mainly because your body may not be ready for the fuel at that point in time. It can only use
so much at a time remember? If it isn’t ready to use it immediately, then it will store as fat. Also, if your body absorbs a large amount of carbohydrate over a short period of time this can stimulate the production of insulin, which slows down your fat burning metabolism and so fat storage is encouraged and you also get the added side effect of food cravings.

As I said, avoid refined products such as white rice, white bread, sugary cereals and anything made from white flour. The refining process removes all the bran and germ turning the product white. The trouble is, that by removing these things, a lot of nutrients have also been removed making them more likely to be processed quickly by the body and stored as fat.

So, make sure you get your carbohydrates from unrefined sources, such as fresh vegetables, especially green vegetables, oatmeal, whole grain bread cereals and rice, sweet and normal potatoes, fresh fruit, yams, and low or non-fat dairy products. All of these items have all of their original goodness left intact and are broken down more slowly by the body when eaten as part of your normal meals.

This is “Myth #4″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. To read the previous Myths, click on the following links -
Fat Loss Myth #3 – Lose Fat by Eating Less Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #2 – Lose Fat by Eating Less?
Fat Loss Myth #1 – Drop the Calories, Drop the Fat?

Actually, on the face of it, the logic doesn’t seem that faulty at all does it? If I eat fewer meals throughout the day then I will reduce the amount of calories my body takes on board. That means that my body will then have to start using up its fuel reserves which we know are stored as fat. That means I will lose fat and lose weight. In fact, you should be aiming to do the exact opposite of the above. It is certainly a good idea to alter the frequency of meals you eat during the day. However you shouldn’t reduce the frequency, you should increase it!

Our bodies have come to develop some very sophisticated defense mechanisms over the thousands of years we have been roaming the earth. However we have actually only been able to develop farming methods and other food production methods that allow us to have a continuous source of nutrition quite recently. In the past when we had to go out and hunt for our food it may not have been that easy to find and so we may have had to go for long
periods of time with no calorie intake at all. As discussed in myth number one the defense mechanism which keeps us alive during times of starvation starts to burn fat slower and actually starts to break down our lean muscle mass as a way to obtain valuable protein. This response comes into play much quicker than you might imagine. In fact your body starts to react in this way after you have been without food for as little as three or four hours. By sticking to the regular three meals per day routine, there will be several periods during the day where your body is in defense mode.

In order to promote weight loss and lose fat more efficiently, the number of meals you eat throughout the day should be increased in order to maintain a higher than normal metabolism for a longer period of time. Most people would typically consume two or three meals every five to seven hours. For example you might start with breakfast at 8am followed by lunch at 1pm (5 hour gap) and an evening meal at 8pm (7 hour gap). Don’t forget there is then another 12 hour gap before you eat breakfast again. It is easy to see why you might get hungry between meals and resort to raiding the fridge for a snack. This is because your metabolism starts to drop and so does your blood sugar level.

But what if you were to eat smaller more regular meals throughout the day? By consuming five to seven meals every two to three hours, your body comes to believe that its food supply is plentiful. It will therefore make more energy available to you and it won’t be too concerned with storing fat or using up your lean muscle for protein. Also, by allowing your body to release more resources for use as fuel rather than storing them up as fat, you will feel more energetic throughout the day. You will also notice that any snack cravings you may have had before should also disappear as your blood sugar will be kept at more consistent and healthy levels.

This is “Myth #2″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. Follow the link for Myth #1 – Drop the Calories, Drop the Fat?

However, have you ever wondered why this approach isn’t that successful for most people? The answer is simple, it doesn’t work. The assumption uses faulty logic which doesn’t take into account the fact that your body alters how it works depending upon the situation it is in. If your goal is to permanently lose your body fat, then reducing the amount of calories you eat by a large amount is counterproductive and may even be harmful.

So what does your body change to make the logic faulty? Well, your body has complex defense mechanisms that swing into action in all sorts of different circumstances. If you suddenly reduce the amount of calories you take on board, then your body thinks it is being starved and so starts to slow things down in order not to burn up fuel as quickly as it normally would. Your body’s goal in doing this is to keep you alive when food is scarce. It is true that the body will start to consume fat stores when the amount of food available to it is low, but in order to keep you alive for longer, it decides to burn fat at a much slower rate. In fact, your metabolic rate can in extreme circumstances be reduced by up to 40%.

There is worse news though for those of you thinking that a crash diet like this will help you reduce your body fat content quicker. The lack of calories means that you will start to lose muscle too. So, if you are thinking that when you lose the fat, your muscle tone will be more defined, think again. So why does this happen? Well, muscle is expensive in terms of the amount of resources the body is required to expend in order to sustain it. Consequently, in times of starvation, the body will start to break it down and get rid of it, thereby freeing up much needed protein for use elsewhere. The weight you lose during a crash diet may actually consist of up to 50% muscle tissue. By crash dieting, you will end up achieving the exact opposite of what you intended. You will start to lose muscle tissue, but you will lose fat at a much reduced rate.

So what should you be doing? In short, take some hints from how your body works. In the end, your body is much better at deciding how to use up the resources you feed it than you are. Don’t reduce your calorific intake by a substantial amount in a short space of time, but instead lower your calorie intake by a smaller amount over a longer period of time. Around 15 – 20% below what you need to eat to maintain your current weight is about right.

Fat Loss is a marathon, not a sprint. Focus on losing body fat gradually. By taking this approach, your metabolism won’t crash and you will achieve the result you are looking for. Which is the preservation of lean muscle tissue and a steady reduction of body fat over a longer period of time. You will also feel much healthier and more energetic as you won’t be starving yourself. You will never achieve these results with a crash diet.

This is “Myth #1″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. Stay tuned for more in the series soon!

TEF refers to the small spike in metabolism that occurs each time you sit down and consume a meal, whether it’s big or small. All foods cost your body to expend energy just through the simple act of digesting and processing them, and this process is where the metabolic spike comes from. Different types of food require different amounts of energy to process them. (Proteins require the most energy to digest, while fats and carbohydrates require the least, which is one of several reasons why a diet high in protein and low in carbs and/or fats is recommended for loss of body fat.)

The general assumption is that eating several smaller meals a day causes more spikes in metabolism, thus resulting in more calories burned at the end of the day. However, this is not entirely true. TEF is not something that is constant or the same every time. It’s not only proportionate to the types of food consumed, as mentioned above, but also to the number of calories consumed, so a 2000 calorie diet consumed in 6 or 7 sittings is actually not going to amount to more energy expended through TEF than it would if it were consumed over 3 sittings, making some of what is commonly believed about eating more frequent meals a myth.

However, there are other benefits to eating smaller, more frequent meals. It does help keep blood sugar levels more even, which can help you maintain a more consistent energy level, and it is certainly a better, more efficient way to tackle diets that require the consumption of an unusually high number of calories, such as the ones that body builders or athletes need in order to maintain their weights and energy levels. However, making time to sit down that many times a day is often inconvenient for the average person. If this is the case, then stick with three meals a day, or whatever works best for you.

When it comes to maintaining optimal levels of fat burning, the focus is more effectively placed on the types of food consumed as previously mentioned. Make sure that however many meals a day you consume, that protein intake is emphasized over that of fats, carbs, or sugars.

As far as the origins of each of the teas, they actually both come from the same plant – camellia sinensus. The differences between the two come into play in relation to when they are harvested, as well as the way they are each processed. White tea consists of very young buds and leaves while the leaves found in green tea are mature. Both types of tea undergo a minimum of processing, but white tea is fast-dried and not fermented at all, while green tea is either roasted or partially fermented, although not to the degree that other teas are (like oolong and black tea). The low level of processing involved in the creation of both teas is what makes it possible for both of them to retain their natural health benefits to such a high degree.

When it comes to the antioxidant level in each of the teas, studies have shown that white tea typically contains a much higher concentration than green tea does – up to three times higher, in fact. This is due to the fact that although green tea undergoes minimal processing, white tea goes through almost none, allowing it to retain such high levels of antioxidants, and for most white tea enthusiasts, the higher level of antioxidants is usually the main reason for choosing it.

When it comes to caffeine levels, white tea generally contains a slightly lower amount than green tea does because it is harvested while it is still quite young. For those watching their intake of caffeine, or who have trouble with problems such as insomnia, white tea may be a better choice for this reason. However, it is also important to note that caffeine levels will further vary depending on the specific variety of the tea in question.

Both green and white teas are also notable for their natural antiviral and antibacterial properties. They’ve been known to help fight and alleviate the symptoms of many bacteria or virus related ailments including the common cold, the flu, and even some of the symptoms associated with HIV and AIDS. However, white tea is generally considered to be superior when it comes to this angle as well, and the reason once again is the minimum of processing it goes through, allowing the tea to retain more of its natural properties.

Another determining factor for some tea drinkers may be flavor or price. Since white tea is harvested during a very specific span of time in the spring and handled with kid gloves, it’s generally more expensive than green tea is. It is also milder in flavor, lighter in color, and lacking in the “grassy” quality that can be present in green tea and unpleasant to some palettes. However, many tea drinkers often find that they enjoy the flavors of both teas and will alternate between the two.

As we all know, when it comes to calories, not all foods are created equal. Some types of foods are far more calorie rich than others. For instance, fats generally contain the highest amount of calorie energy per gram, while food types such as sugars and certain proteins are usually far less dense. However, it is also important to note that all calories are exactly the same. One calorie acquired from protein or carbohydrate provides the body with exactly the same amount of energy that one calorie derived from fat does. The current recommended daily caloric intake for adults is approximately 2500 calories for men and 2000 calories for women, although what’s best for a particular individual can also depend on factors such as body type, age, and activity level.

How many calories a particular body burns also depends on the type of activity being performed at a given moment. We burn calories constantly, all day and all night, even if we’re sleeping or watching reruns of our favorite television programs, but we’re all aware that we burn far more if we’re working out, running, or performing physical labor. The more strenuous the activity, the more energy your muscles and your body will need to burn in order to get the job done. Changes in core body temperature, due to activity or climate, also raise the body’s metabolic rate and call for the burning of higher numbers of calories. Studies have shown that people who reside in areas that feature extremes in hot or cold typically have a metabolic rate that is 5-20% higher than that of people living in temperate climates.

Calories that are not burned immediately are, of course, typically stored in the body as fatty tissue. One pound of body fat contains approximately 4,000 calories. To gain a pound of body fat, you must consume 4,000 more calories than you burn, and to lose a pound of body fat, you must burn that same amount of calories in excess. When you consider the fact that that’s a pretty decent number of actual calories, it’s easy to see why both weight gain and weight loss are so gradual.