Fat Free Foods, Sugar-Free, Trans Fat-Free, Low Fat.

It's been some time since the fat-free foods craze began, but with ongoing reports of the downside of eating too much dietary fat, food manufacturers continue to tempt us with literally thousands of low fat and fat-free foods on supermarket shelves. But buyers should beware - foods designated as light, lowfat or fat-free may not save you calories.

Some of the labels on the first fat-modified foods screamed "light" - leading unwary shoppers to conclude that the products could be eaten with abandon. Only on closer inspection of the nutrition facts was it apparent that many "light" products weren't necessarily lighter in calories, dashing hopes for truly guilt-free snacks and sweets.

Labeling laws are pretty clear on this point - foods like "light" mayonnaise or "light" salad dressing are labeled as such because they have one-third the calories of the traditional form of the food, or half the fat. But if not referring to less fat or calories, the term "light" might also refer to a light taste, color, or texture, and it may take a keen eye to catch these references on a label. "Light" olive oil is lighter in taste - but it has just as many calories as the extra virgin.

Products with less than a half a gram of fat per serving can be labeled "fat-free" - so unless you eat several times the recommended serving, you can figure that your fat intake from that food will be reasonably low. But compare your fat-free version with the standard food before you decide.

With baked goods like cookies or pastries, the fat-free items often have a lot more sugar than the regular version - with no real difference in calories per serving. Sometimes the original food doesn't have that much fat to begin with, so it may be better to stick with that product since the fat-free versions often cost more, too.

The same principles apply when it comes to "sugar-free" foods - products with less than a half a gram per serving can be labeled as such. But consume enough of them, and it can still make a contribution to your calorie intake. Some people eat "sugar-free" candy like there's no tomorrow - and can take in several hundred calories a day if they're not careful.

Due to health concerns, food manufacturers have been scrambling to remove trans fats from many of their products, but in some cases they have replaced trans fats with saturated fats - which can also raise cholesterol levels. And as with sugar, foods with less than a half a gram of trans fat per serving can be labeled "trans fat-free" - so read labels and watch your servings.

Some foods aren't "free" of a particular ingredient, but have less of it than the regular product. Reduce a nutrient, such as fat, by 25 percent or more and labels can tout the words '"reduced" or "less" or "fewer" - as in "reduced calorie mayonnaise" or "60 percent fewer calories than regular mayonnaise".

Food manufacturers have heard consumers loud and clear, and work to meet continued demand for tasty products with less fat, calories or sugar. And while the labeling laws are pretty clear, a little comparison shopping is still in - order. Those fat-free cookies may keep your fat intake down, but boost your sugar intake - you may end up paying more and saving few, if any, calories.

I think that an easiest way to avoid fat free foods, sugar-free, trans fat-free and low fat is to understand what they are? and the domage they do on our bodies. Understand how much sugar is in our foods? Learn to read food labels. All that did a big change on my way to have a better health and be more aware on the food I bought.

Matol Km: the engine that drives the Matol Diet Program

This regimen is spearheaded by Matol Km®, an energizing and pH-balancing mineral supplement. Keeping the body's pH level in check while metabolizing fat is critical to healthy weight loss. What's more, Matol Km® provides essential minerals and phyto-elements, many of which are known for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Keeping the acid in check while the body is metabolizing fat is critical to healthy weight loss. Matol Km® also nourishes, maintains and protects your muscle mass, potassium being a main ingredient in muscle building and development and the main ingredient in Matol Km®, also provides essential minerals and phyto elements, most of which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, not to mention its detoxifying properties. For all those good reasons, we double the dose of Km® during Stages 1 and 2 of the Matol Diet.

The three other Matol Diet nutritional supplements, Matol Calcium & Magnesium, Matol Omega 3-6-9 and Matol MegaVitamins, provide you with all of the essential vitamins, minerals and trace minerals normally added to the foods that are temporarily restricted on the Matol Diet like breads, pastries, cereals, pastas and fruits. Without these 4 supplements, your body would be lacking essential nutrients that it needs in order to shed fat, maintain your muscle mass, rehabilitate your pancreas and properly feed you.

Quick, safe and healthy with lasting results, the Matol Diet features a large variety of delicious high biological value protein foods that have a very high absorption rate of 95%. Matol protein foods average 19 grams of protein per serving and contain all ten essential amino acids derived from isolates of whey, soy and/or albumin from eggs.

Obesity and Overweight Natural Health Solutions.

This blog is dedicated to obesity and overweight health problems and proven natural health solutions. It is now a fact that obesity and overweight are closely linked together.

Medical doctors have found that sixty different diseases are associated with overweight and obesity. This can explain why weight loss is becoming more and more a real challenge to our society.

In fact, weight loss is a key factor that cannot be ignored now that we know for sure that sixty percent (60%) of the population is overweight and twenty four percent (24%) obese. Overweight and obesity is the next target to recover health.

Moreover, this situation affects teenagers and even young kids. America is ranking first for overweight and obesity worldwide. It is a major concern and weight loss will require for many years to come social policies and programs to stop and reverse this scourge of society like we did for smoking.

This is no secret that massive action is required to achieve this weight loss goal for Americans. This problem needs to be tackled on many fronts.

For example, the State of Arkansas has prohibited fast food in the public schools and there is also a requirement to measure the body mass of all students and the results have to be sent to the parents every year.

This action program has had a direct impact on weight loss so far and was reduce from 20.9 % to 20.6% and has also stopped the progression.

In New Orleans, a study has shown that the body mass of Americans eating five to six times a week in fast food restaurants is higher than those eating twice a week in those places. This is another proof that fast food is a major barrier to weight loss and a sure way to obesity and overweight.

Since obesity and overweight are so closely linked, it must be a concern for all of us to reach a proper healthy weight and to maintain it. This is a must if we want to prevent.

For example, heart disease, which has now an important death rate affecting one American out of six. Heart disease, which, in most cases, is connected , one way or another, to overweight and obesity.

Obesity has also an economic impact. For example, American Airlines have a fuel consumption exceeding 600,000 millions gallons just because of this problem. Just imagine the impact on environment.

The whole situation requires major changes in our life styles. Weight loss is not only a struggle for better life but is as well a necessity for better health and wellness.

Weight loss is the result of better food intake and more exercise. Weight loss will necessitate important changes in our environment and these changes have to be dealt with for the next generations to come.

The quantity of industrial processed food and the food additives will also have to be addressed if we want to achieve this common weight loss goal. It is not only a dream but an absolute necessity.

Learn more here about how your body can heal cancer naturally.Since it is a proven fact now that overweight and obesity is the root of many diseases, it is a must for all of us to remove the excess fat from our bodies in order to regain health.

Weight loss requires action from each one us in relation to better food intake, exercise and removing toxins from the body.

Top Tips for Good Digestion

Eat in order of digestibility.
You should eat the easiest to digest foods first in each meal and slowly move towards the more complex. Think of a highway, if the slowest cars are in front they'll hold up the faster cars behind them, causing a traffic jam. The same goes for your food. Eat those fastest to digest first and save the tougher to digest foods for the second half of your meal.

Here are the time sequences for different food groups:
Water & Juices: 20-30 minutes.
Fruits, Smoothies, Soups: 30-45 minutes.
Vegetables: 30-45 minutes.
Beans, Grains, Starches: 2-3 hours.
Meat, Fish, Poultry: 3 or more hours.

Drink warm or hot liquids with your meal.

Ice cold drinks can slow down the digestive process, think of it as putting ice on a muscle. The muscle stiffens and does not function as well. Warm or room temperature water, juice, or decaf tea will encourage proper digestion. (Just remember the traffic jam – drink liquids prior to meals)

Eat at regular meals times.

It is important to be regular with what you eat and the times of day you eat. Eating similar food groups and at similar times each day has a regulating effect on your digestive system. Regular in means regular out.
Be conscious of what you eat and your portion sizes, because too much sugar in your food can cause your blood sugar to spike, which stimulates the pancreas to release more of the hormone insulin.
Over consumption is the number one cause of indigestion. Our brain signals the feeling of fullness about ten minutes after we're actually full. So stop eating before you are full. Odds are you'll feel full ten minutes later!

Chew your food completely and don't talk while eating.
Incomplete chewing and talking while eating can cause premature swallowing. Our digestive systems are not designed to digest large pieces of food, when we put large pieces in our stomachs it can lead to incomplete digestion (aka: digestive discomfort).

Relax while eating your meal.
Eating when you are rushed increases your stress and slows down the digestive process. Create a nice calming atmosphere when eating and make sure you can devote time to eating.

Practice good posture.

When you slouch or hunch over extra pressure is put on the digestive organs in your abdomen. This extra pressure can cause poor digestion. You should practice sitting with your shoulders back and your chin tucked in. This will allow more room for the digestive organs and will help improve digestion.

Don't eat late at night.

Our bodies, including our digestive system, slow down in the evening hours as it gets ready to rest and rejuvenate. When we put food into our stomachs at these late hours there are not enough digestive enzymes to properly digest it. This undigested food sits in your stomach and will often disturb your sleep.

Take a brisk walk after eating.
Forget about not be active for 30 minutes after each meal. Increased physical activity actually helps jump start your digestive system and increases the production of digestive enzymes. This will lead to more complete digestion of your food and less digestive discomfort!

Try a spinal twist.
Spinal twists allow excess toxins in the digestive system to be released, which has a calming effect. While in a cross legged sitting position, slowly turn to the right and hold while taking 5 deep breathes then repeat this process on the left side.Source:

What Is My Ideal Weight During Menopause.

What is my ideal weight during menopause should be in your priority list. Preventing weight gain is important. Now, more than ever, women need to minimize extra calories, especially from high-fat, high-sugar foods that don't offer a bounty of nutrients.

It is important to avoid eating a diet that is high in fat, especially saturated fat. High-fat foods are usually high in calories and low in nutrients, exactly the opposite of what a woman in or past menopause needs. But it's even more important to get the right fats in your diet -- fats that may protect against heart disease and cancer.

Research indicates the right fats are omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, olive oil and canola oil.The wrong fats are saturated fats and trans fatty acids found in foods like packaged cookies, chips and crackers.

There are equally valuable reasons to know the sugar you consume on daily basis, because too much sugar in your diet can cause your blood sugar to spike, which stimulates the pancreas to release more of the hormone insulin.

Excess insulin accelerates the conversion of calories into fats in the blood. And it stimulates the enzyme that increases the uptake of fat from the bloodstream into fat in the body's cells.

I think that an easiest way to avoid high-sugar foods is to understand what they are. Understanding how much sugar is in our foods, did a big change on my way to look at consuming sugar.

Americans and Canadians consume 21% of our refined sugar from soft drinks. 18% comes from sweets, including syrups, jellies, jam, ices, Popsicles and table sugar. 13% comes from bakery desserts, including cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, and sweet crackers. 10% comes from ice cream, puddings, yogurts and other milk products. 6% comes from breads and grains. 5% come from breakfast cereals.

You may want to look to a different approach into your quest for managing your weight during your menopause challenge by taking a close look to these testimonies from people like Karen I think it is awesome that I lost 14 pounds in one month and 22 pounds in 10 weeks on this program while going through menopause. I have lost a total of 37 pounds! using a program called The Matol Diet based on a simple principle our pancreas is storing too much of our daily meals as fat.

According to Dr. Tran Tien Chanh, reputable MD and doctor in Nutrition, Biology and Sports Nutrition
The cause of most weight problems in a modern society is insulin dysfunction. A diet grossly disproportionate in its share of saturated fats and sugars, such as in breads, cereals, muffins, cakes, pastries, pasta, pizza, rice, corn

Very much like the North American diet - causes the pancreas to produce an overabundance of insulin, which stays in your system and puts the blood sugar level in a negative balance.

On the Matol Diet, you will transform your body's ability to digest sugars properly by regulating your insulin level. How.? By giving your pancreas a well-deserved break, by cutting out simple and complex carbs, until you've reached your weightloss goal, says Dr. Tran Tien.

It is the pancreas that, for many people, is the cause of weight gain and the inability to lose weight.
I hope you enjoyed this page about what is my ideal weight? as it did for my self because now I`m learning for the first time how to live off of my body's own fat reserves.