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Weight Loss Diet Natural and Safe Weight Loss Tips

According to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of health and healing, the Kapha Dosha (humour) is primarily responsible for fat and adipose tissue in the body and therefore reducing Kapaha is the key to a successful weight loss program. Below you will find some effective tips from ayurveda to help reduce Kapha Dosha and thus battle obesity and being overweight.

Of the four dimensions of our being, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual, in this article I will cover the Physical Dimension which is most important for the reduction of Kapha and the correlating reduction in weight.

Weight Loss Tips from Ayurveda:

1. Ayurvedic Diet for Weight Loss:

Obviously an anti-kapha diet is the place to start when looking to lose weight. This means eating lots of fruits, vegetables, spicy foods and whole grains.

2. Exercise for Weight Loss:

The following Ayurvedic guidelines should be followed for proper exercise with regard to weight loss:

* More Exercise the Better: Kapha\’s qualities of fixed, dull, heavy, soft and cold are all negated via exercise. In other words, the more exercise you do the more you reduce Kapha and therefore fat in your body.

* Exercise Without Excessive Strain: According to Ayurveda, Kapha individuals need the most vigorous exercise, but at the same time, the exercise should never be extreme. Find a good balance between doing too little and over doing it. Breaking a nice sweat is good, but being totally breathless is probably too much.

* Be Consistent: A Kapha body type has a propensity towards weight gain so you need to make exercise a daily part of you life. The hardest part will be to get the exercise program underway. Once this is done Kapha people tend to be very determined and steady, so they will be able to adhere to it long term. Getting started though is another matter for Kapha types and usually requires shock treatment. In the spirit of shock treatment, understand that by NOT exercising and NOT losing the weight you are putting your longevity and quality of life at risk. Enough said, start today!

* Yoga for Weight Loss: Yoga offers an excellent way to include holistic exercises into your fitness program. These exercises will not just help you lose weight, but will also help your overall health and well-being.

* Post Exercise Diet: After exercises do not drink cold liquids. This period is key as you are trying to increase the metabolic fire in your cells so they burn more calories and drinking cold liquids at this time will negate this important benefit which exercise bestows.

3. Hard Physical Work to Burn Calories:

According to Ayurveda reduction of Kapha is promoted by living a physical, active lifestyle. In today\’s age of technology, computers, TVs, TiVO, internet, etc, manual labor is getting more rare for people to do. So you need to consciously incorporate physical work into your life. Whether that be mowing the lawn, tending to the garden or shoveling snow, it is important to not live a sedentary live of watching TV and eating twinkies.

4. Massage Therapy to Reduce Fat:

There are many treatment modalities in Ayurveda of which massage is highly recommended. In the context of weight loss and reducing Kapha, strong massage with light oils such as mustard or flaxseed is helpful.

5. Sleep Guidelines for Weight Loss:

No napping or going to bed early. If you want to reduce Kapha and weight remember you burn more calories when you are awake and being active, than when you are happily snuggled under the blanket.

The above recommendations will surely help you with your weight loss goals and in addition to helping you get slim, they will also make you more healthy and fit.

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Weightloss Pills – Are They Safe?

A lot of people are faced with the problem of being overweight. Obesity rate has been climbing faster than ever. This can be attested to the fast growing and quick changing world we now live in. Time is of the essence and it is a commodity that can easily run out. People tend to forget about taking care of their body and stick with eating fast food, junk food and preserved food that does nothing for the health and the body. And what is the result of all this hasty eating and eating for the sake of just eating? A lot of people are now grossly overweight. High demand for weight loss methods and weight loss products have resulted in a number of new, tempting offers from different companies and pharmacies. From drinking tea to herbal supplements. One such product is the so called magic pill or weightloss pills.

Weightloss pills are a very tempting product to try, especially for those who do not have the time or does not want to give up time for exercise. It is also a popular choice for those who simply love to eat. These weightloss pills claim that they help in blocking the absorption of fat. Some claim that taking in their pill would dramatically increase the body’s metabolism and in effect increase the number of calories the body can burn. They also claim that it can reduce a person’s appetite and turn fat into muscle. Though they are FDA approved, it is not a guarantee that they will work on everyone or would even work at all.

These weightloss pills are not subject to rigorous tests that the FDA conducts on other drugs so they are sold over the counter with limited safety and study of effectiveness. It is a gamble to buy and use weightloss pills as they can have side effects that are worse than what they do for the body. And, if you would look closely and listen intently to the advertisements of these pills, you would see and hear something in common. They all say that taking this product with the right diet and exercise you will lose weight immediately. But wait a minute, isn’t it true that the reason people are tempted to buy weightloss pills is they do not want or does not have the time to diet and exercise?

The truth is there is no overnight way of losing weight unless you have surgery. Then, there is no sure, quick fire way of keeping weight away from your body. The real effective, tried and tested way to keep fit and healthy is still good old fashioned exercise. Losing weight and keeping yourself healthy from being obese is a lifestyle change that you will have to take on. It is not as tempting, as easy and as fast as weightloss pills promise, but the advantage of doing it the old fashioned way of eating healthy food and exercising regularly is a guaranteed effective way to get the dream body that you have craved for years and keeping yourself healthy as an ox.

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It would be reasonable to assume that we don’t need to ask the question, are our cosmetics safe? Safe cosmetics should be taken for granted shouldn’t they? After all, we have a government and corporations that look after our interests?

Sadly no. Neither the government or the major cosmetics companies take steps to ensure that our cosmetics are safe, and as a result there is a whole range of dangerous cosmetics and skin care products on the market which contain dangerous ingredients including lead, 1,4-dioxane and paraben.

Doesn’t the FDA do something about this? Sadly again, no. The FDA does not test or examine cosmetic products to establish that they are safe for human use and don’t contain harmful ingredients, and even admit to this on the FDA website. The government does not act in our best interests by ensuring that the cosmetics that millions of American women use every single day are safe to use, and as a result we have dangerous cosmetics on the shelves of our major department stores.

This situation has even spawned whole organizations committed to pressuring government and industry to use only proven safe ingredients in their products. The primary organization is called the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics.

Unfortunately neither the government or the cosmetics industry are listening to the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics, and nothing much is happening to improve the safety of those mascaras, blushes, eye shadows, face creams, lipsticks, bronzers and many more that most of us use, unaware that we may be damaging our health.

Here’s a couple of examples of unsafe cosmetics for you, though there are many.

The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics initiated laboratory testing of major brand name lipsticks in 2007. The report was astonishing. More than 50% of big brand name lipsticks, including some of the biggest names that you may well use now, contained lead. And you’re not even immune if you buy the most expensive brands, they were represented amongst the lipsticks that contained lead as well.

In 2002 laboratory testing found Phthalates, a family of industrial chemicals linked to birth defects and abnormalities in male genitals and feminization of males, in the majority of 72 common brand name personal care products, beauty products and cosmetics that we all use day to day. These included products by some of the biggest names in the industry, including Revlon, Christian Dior, Calvin Klein and Proctor and Gamble.

And included common household use products like shampoos and toothpastes as well as beauty and cosmetic products.

Of the 72 tested 52 contained Phthalates, and of course the labels didn’t disclose this.

Scary isn’t it?

Can you get safe cosmetics? Certainly you can, in fact the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics has a register of companies who sign it and commit themselves to producing cosmetics and skincare and beauty products using only safe ingredients. There are plenty of high quality safe cosmetics available, but they aren’t generally found on the shelves of your local department store.

And the companies that make them aren’t household names, in fact chances are that you’ve never heard of them. But their products, including their safe cosmetics, are first class.

If you haven’t read any of my articles before it may come as a surprise to you that the cosmetics that you use may be hazardous to your health. Believe it or not, not all cosmetics are safe. Safe cosmetics are, in fact, hard to find.

How can this be? Why in the world would the cosmetics that you use be dangerous? Surely the FDA regulates anything we use in or on our bodies to make sure that they are safe for us to use?

Sadly, no. Yes drugs are regulated and the drug companies need to conform to certain safety standards, but those standards don’t apply to either companies making cosmetics, or companies making skin care products or personal care products and health and beauty products.

Basically these companies can use any ingredient in their cosmetics, regardless of whether they’ve been shown to be safe for human use. And big multi nationals being what they are, if there is an ingredient that they can use in their products that is cheaper than a safe alternative they’ll use it.

Regardless of whether it results in some risks to users.

Here’s an example. A recent study found lead in over 50% of big brand lipsticks tested. Lead? Are you kidding? In our lipsticks? Sadly again it’s true. Some of the biggest names in lipsticks contain lead.

This prompted the California legislature to legislate against lead in lipsticks.

Regulation on safe cosmetics ingredients is sadly lacking in the US. Standards are much much stricter in Europe. So the cosmetics that you and maybe your daughters use can contain dangerous ingredients.

I have personal experience of this. My then 7 year old daughter was due for her first ballet concert and they used all the normal cosmetics on her and within half an hour she had a terrible rash all over her face. We removed the cosmetics, the rash disappeared and hasn’t reappeared.

We now use safe cosmetics for her ballet concerts.

The problem is so bad that there are now whole organizations set up to promote safe cosmetics and alert the public to the danger of the big brand cosmetics. And do the cosmetics companies change their behavior? Do they use safe ingredients in their cosmetics? Still no. They don’t.

One such organization is called the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics. They attempt to expose as many of the risks of dangerous cosmetics as possible, to try and force our government to regulate the industry and the companies to produce safe cosmetics. And they run a Compact for Safe Cosmetics. Cosmetic companies that are prepared to dedicate themselves to produce only safe cosmetics can sign the compact to evidence their commitment to safe cosmetics.

And there is an organization called Teens Turning Green which helps direct teenagers towards safer cosmetics and other products, amongst their goals.

So how do you find out if the cosmetics you are using now are safe cosmetics or dangerous cosmetics. There is a way. There is a database called the cosmetic safety database, and you can use their database to search either the product that you’re worried about, or the name of the company that makes them.

I just searched the Avon Ultra Moisture Rich Lipstick by way of example. On a scale of hazard from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest hazard, it rates a 9. High hazard. I’m told the ingredients in this lipstick are linked to cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, allergies and immunotoxicity and a whole host of other hazards including neurotoxicity and more.

Scary isn’t it. However there are cosmetics companies dedicated to making safe cosmetics and personal care products. Dedicated to using such ingredients as certified organic ingredients and natural ingredients that are proven to be safe before they are used. That set their highest goal as producing high quality safe cosmetics and personal care and beauty products, rather than just focussing on profits.

There’s not many, but there is some. And if you’re worried about the safety of the cosmetics that you, or maybe your daughters uses, you need to find them. Now.