Healthy eating is crucial for our holistic well being, physically as well as mentally. Healthy foods not only help us to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle, but also perk up our nervous system.
Healthy eating does not only denote following a diet plan or consuming nutritious foods. But, a healthy eating approach is not only about what you are eating, but also how you are eating.
These days obesity is one of the most worrying and widespread diseases. It not only makes living uncomfortable, but is also responsible for several diseases that many of us develop.
The answer to healthy living is consuming foods that have low fat content. The less amount of fat you consume, the lower is the fat reserve in your body. And, this in turn, results in weight loss.
Thus, if you are obese, you need to eat prudently. It is best to combine a balanced low fat diet with your normal pursuits in order to attain a healthy weight.
In such an instance you will not be required to starve or suppress your craving for preferred foods. Several researches have established that consuming low fat foods have multiple advantages and a few of them are mentioned below.
It may be mentioned here that you don't have to take low-fat diets only with a view to lose weight. Even if you possess a perfect health it is important to adopt a balanced and low-fat diet, as it will help you to keep away from several ailments.
Consuming a low-fat diet is beneficial as it results in lesser backaches and a better immune system that will help you to prevent colds as well as heal your injuries faster.
In addition, remember that good eating practices are as infectious as bad eating habits, if you take a healthy diet with low fat content, your family will follow you soon.
And who doesn't know that setting examples of good eating habits before your children is similar to a health investment that will help them reap the benefits throughout their remaining lives.
In fact, obesity or over-weight is a complicated situation involving genetic, emotional and behavioral factors. Therefore, it is quite difficult to elucidate the reasons that make it difficult for many people to shed their surplus weights.
There is a general belief that people who are obese eat in excess. However, several researches involving obese people, as a group, have shown that they actually do not eat anything in excess compared to slender individuals.
On the contrary, compared to thin people, obese people have different food habits. While people who are skinny obtain most of the required calories from lean proteins and carbohydrates, those who are obese acquire their calories from foods that are rich in fat.
Changing your food habits, such as substituting fats with carbohydrates or lean protein, actually has a remarkable impact on your metabolism or assimilation of the ingested foods.
In fact, each time you consume food, it kicks off a thermic effect of food (TEF). In other words, eating anything anytime commences a momentary enhancement in an individual's metabolism that helps in digesting as well as absorbing the nourishments by the body more effortlessly.
After you take a meal or snack that is rich in complex carbohydrates and a reasonable measure of protein the TEF is maximum. On the other hand, it is comparatively much less when you take a meal that is rich in fat content.
This is the primary reason why many scientists deem carbohydrates and protein as foods that produce a lot of heat in the body. And when you consume such comparatively 'more hot' foodstuff, you actually burn a greater amount of calories.
Speaking in terms of metabolism, consuming plenty of snacks that contain high carbohydrate content is similar to placing a stack of dry leaves on a crackling campfire. Imagine such a scenario where the flame rises and consumes the fuel fast and well.
Thus, when you eat a snack containing high fat, it is something similar to firing up something that is soggy - the ignition requires putting in a great effort to burn it up and in all likelihood, there will be more smoke and less heat.
If you change to a low-fat diet on a regular basis, the additional burning up of calories will eventually result in a gradual, but noticeable loss of weight.
In effect, many scientists are of the opinion that an average and active individual is able to lose weight or body fat without any change in the intake of overall calories by switching from a diet when 40 per cent of the calories are obtained from fat to one where 20 to 25 per cent of calories are acquired from fat.
Several researches have established that consuming meals that have low fat content enhances the ability of the white blood cells to fight several ailments.
This is significant considering the fact that the white blood cells comprise the first line of resistance against any type of contagion. In fact, it has been found that people who consume low-fat diets are at a lower risk of developing certain kinds of cancer.
And the reason behind is that low-fat diets boosts the immune system. In addition, several researches have shown that consuming low-fat diets also helps one to avoid development of stones in the gallbladder - an organ found under the liver.
Gallstones are very common in people over 35 years and it is likely to result in jaundice as well as acute pain in the abdomen that may need surgery to get rid of the condition.
In addition to the above mentioned benefits, foods that contain low fat may even be effective in preventing osteoporosis - a condition wherein the bones become fragile and incapacitates several thousands of aged persons each year.
Initial findings of a recent research shows that compared to women who consume more foods containing more fats are more susceptible to bone fractures than those who take low-fat diets.
In fact, there are a number of proofs that taking foods that are low in fat content may perhaps lower the acuteness of problems related to multiple sclerosis.
In fact, one of the most important benefits of consuming low-fat diets is their positive effect on the heart and blood vessels. Heart ailments caused by high fat content diets are mainly responsible for most deaths among men and women across the globe.
Studies have established that majority of the heart attacks are caused due to a continuous alteration on the blood circulatory system and they develop over a period of time.
In such cases, atherosclerosis - a slow but sure stiffening and coagulation of the blood vessels due to buildup of plaque (a flat, often raised, patch of a wax-like substance on the inner lining of arterial walls) is a major change in the circulatory system.
The plaque develops owing to prolonged inactive lifestyle and poor eating habits. As the development of the plaque narrows the blood vessels, it slows down the flow of blood through the arteries.
Simultaneously, people enduring heart ailments are more inclined to have blood clotting in the arteries that are already constricted owing to the plaque.
Hence, even a small such blood clot may completely stop blood circulation resulting in a myocardial infraction - most commonly known as a heart attack.
Since long, physicians are aware of the fact that taking diets that contain plenty of saturated fats is mainly responsible for the development of atherosclerosis.
They are also aware of the fact that reducing the amount of such saturated fats from one's diet can not only slow down the process of developing atherosclerosis, but may even turn around the situation.
Apart from reducing the risks of having a heart attack, consumption of diets containing low fats are also beneficial for lowering the perils of high blood pressure or hypertension - another key hazardous aspect for heart ailments.
If you happen to be obese, one of the most steadfast methods to lower your blood pressure is by getting rid of some of the surplus body fat immediately.
People having perfect weight may change to low-fat diets with a view to keep them fit as well avoid several diseases. When individuals having normal weight switch to low-fat diets, they are able to regulate their blood pressure better.
In fact, a number of studies have shown that consuming low-fat diets are effective in lowering blood pressure even with or without weight loss.
According to studies conducted by epidemiologists, experts who undertake researches on ailments in populations of people, high blood pressure is more prevalent in developed nations like the United States.
On the contrary, this condition is comparatively found less among people in under-developed nations as the people there usually consume lesser amounts of fat and more complex carbohydrates.
What is worse is that people consuming diets that have rich fat content are also susceptible to formation of blood clots that may block the coronary arteries.
Blockade of the coronary arteries is another major risk aspect for heart ailments. In such cases, reducing the amount of fat in diets offers speedy relief from the symptom.
A small research conducted on young women having high cholesterol levels found that when they changed to low-fat diets for a period of just five months, there was a remarkable reduction in the risks of blood clot formation among these subjects.
This research also established that switching over to low-fat diets also diminished their risks of death owing to heart attack by approximately 30 per cent.
Proper blood circulation has several other less noticeable advantages. Irrespective of their age, people who adopt a low-fat diet face a lesser risk of experiencing sexual inability compared to people whose arteries are virtually plastered with plaque.
In fact, choked arteries have been associated with back aches. It has been found during autopsies that individuals whose arteries are bulky owing to plaque are inclined to develop weakening in the disks of the lower back that is eventually related to back aches.
Any type of fat, irrespective of whether it is marbling your steak or settled around your waist at ease, has the potential to enhance the risk of building up certain kinds of cancer.
In fact, scientists have associated the development of prostate cancer, the second most widespread type of cancer among men in the United States, with ingestion of high-fat diet.
Since long, scientists have noticed that incidents of prostate cancer was relatively low in countries where people traditionally consumed low-fat diets and avoided foods containing saturated fats, such as cheese, butter, meat and whole milk.
It has also been noticed that when men from countries like Japan and Poland where intake of saturated fats is comparatively low shift to the United States their risk of developing prostate cancer increases remarkably.
Thus, the scientists are of the view that the American way of life, particularly the eating habits that included high-fat diets and excessive consumption of cheese is responsible for the speedy development of prostate cancer among most men in the United States.
In addition, the American approach of 'let-the-good-times-roll' in their eating habits also adds to the development of cancer with apparent ecological reasons, such as lung cancer and skin cancer.
Lung and skin cancers are among the two most prevalent type of cancer in the United States and are associated with hazardous activities like smoking cigarette and exposure to sunlight.
All said and done, these may not be the sole factors that result in the development of cancer.
As discussed earlier, when an individual is over-weight it has a negative impact on their immune system - the body's in-build mechanism to fight every type of ailments, inclusive of cancer.
Several researches have hinted that compared to people with normal weight, obese people have a more feeble immune system. It has also been found that compared to people with normal weight, obese people take longer time to recuperate after a surgery.
What is worse is that people who are over-weight are less capable in eradicating the anomalous cells that may eventually develop into cancer.
In the case of women, fat accumulation in the abdominal region is an ominous sign. Abdominal fat has an effect on a protein known as sex hormone-binding globulin that firmly binds to estrogens and transports it to the bloodstream.
Women who have abdominal fat generate less of this variety of protein as a result of which most of their estrogen is carried by other proteins that are not as tightly bound.
Consequently, the blood has more estrogen and this enhances the risk of cancer. In addition to this, ingesting a low-fat diet may also prove to be a significant approach in avoiding or controlling diabetes - an ailment suffered by over 13 million people in the United States.
When people are suffering from diabetes, their pancreas does not produce sufficient insulin - a hormone that is essential to regulate the intensity of blood sugar in the body and also transform food into energy.
Type I or insulin dependent diabetes is widespread these days and usually majority of the people develop this metabolic disorder when they have passed 40 summers of their life.
Another kind of this disease is known as type II diabetes, which is not dependent on insulin. If people enduring this form of diabetes do not avail proper treatment, they may experience acute problems, such as heart ailments, failure of the kidney as well as loss of vision.
Type II is a hereditary ailment and you may develop it if anyone in your family is affected by the malady.
However, biology does not depend on fate and experts are of the view that even if both your parents have type II diabetes, the odds of your developing the disease is just one in 20.
However, in most instances, whether you develop type II diabetes or not, the matter entirely wrests with you.
More and more studies have established the fact that in addition to being a factor in obesity, foods containing rich fat contents may also have a role in enhancing the risk of diabetes in different ways.
Researches have shown that the glucose tolerance of individuals consuming excessive fats are more prone to be damaged and this will cause problems for the body to metabolize carbohydrates.
When the glucose tolerance of a person is damaged, he or she is at a greater risk of having diabetes.
Hence, reducing the fat intake as well as retaining a healthy weight may also help people already enduring diabetes to regulate their condition as well as avoid severe problems.
In fact, taking the appropriate diet may also help type II diabetes patients to lower or completely do away with their requirement for insulin.
It is important for diabetic patients to take low-fat diets as they are also more prone to heart ailments. Taking diets containing low fats will not only help them to avoid a heart attack, but also care for their blood vessels.
Usually we tend to group fats together in a distinct type and this is really reasonable thing to do if you are normally keeping a tab on your fat consumption.
However, the fact is that there are several types of fats and each of them has distinct effects on our health. Basically, over 90 per cent of the edible fat comprises molecules enclosing three fatty acids - saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.
It may be mentioned here that while most vegetable fats comprise chiefly unsaturated fatty acids, animal fats enclose a great proportion of saturated fatty acids.
The three different types of fats mentioned above have different functions in our diet and certainly have distinct consequences on our health in a number of manners.
Saturated fats are mainly found in animals meats, such as veal, pork and beef. They also come from dairy products, such as cheese, butter and eggs.
On the other hand, saturated fats are also present in vegetable sources like coconut oil and palm oil.
When an individual obtains over five per cent of his or her entire daily calories from saturated fats, he or she faces the risk of rising LDL levels, also known as 'bad' cholesterol, as well as developing different ailments.
In addition, ingestion of excessive amounts of saturated fats is considered to enhance the requirement for essential fatty acids that may eventually result in the build up of surplus body fat and cause a number of serious health complexities.
Large amounts of monounsaturated fatty acids are present in olive oil, canola oil, sesame oil and peanut oil.
Researchers have identified oils that are high in monounsaturates with a view to bring down the intensity of LDL cholesterol without disturbing the levels of HDL, also known as 'good' cholesterol.
Foods such as grains, nuts, seeds and soy foods like tofu contain polyunsaturated fats. These fats are also present in a number of vegetables.
Polyunsaturated fats are required for sufficient storage of fat as well as the wellbeing of the cells. It is present in excess quantities in a regular diet.
In a number of scientific researches conducted on animals, scientists have associated polyunsaturated oils with the development of cancerous tumors.
They have also found that polyunsaturated fats are involved in the initial stage of damage in the coronary artery ailments.
It may be mentioned here that these three types of fatty acids are found in different combination in a variety of oils.
Carbohydrates are essential for our health as they provide us with the indispensable blood sugar-glucose - a vital fuel utilized in the generation of energy in the brain as well as each and every cell of the body.
In addition, glucose is also useful in sustaining the body temperature, breathing, digestion, movement, tissue repair and the functions of the immune system. Therefore, glucose is undoubtedly one of the most imperative amalgams routing all the way through one's body.
Basically, there are three kinds of carbohydrates and they are categorized as per the complications of the composition of their molecules - monosaccharides (simplest), disaccharides and polysaccharides (the most complicated).
Polysaccharides comprise several sugar elements attached in concert characteristically to come into being as complex carbohydrates or starches.
Starches may be allowed to remain as organic or may be processed to prepare specific foodstuffs. Organic compound carbohydrates are available in combination with plenty of vitamins, fiber, minerals and several other nutrients.
It is important to mention here that, it is essential for every one of us to consume more foodstuffs, such as brown rice and whole-wheat bread with a view to obtain sufficient amount of these raw complex carbohydrates in our daily diets.
On the other hand, foodstuffs such as white rice as well as white bread are not only less substantial, but also low in nutrient content as they contain processed carbohydrates.
In fact, several vitamins and minerals are lost while processing these foods like milling of wheat to produce white flour. Generally speaking, unprocessed complex carbohydrates are absorbed by the body very slowly, but effectively.
This, in turn, provides a stable supply of energy with no biochemical roller-coaster end product of concentrated sugars. Hence, consuming foods in combination with complex carbs helps in steadying the sugar levels in the body.
It may be noted here that processed white sugar-sucrose is placed at the top of the list of 'empty calories'. Along with these refined white sugar-sucrose, the list includes brown sugar, dextrose, corn syrup, cane syrup and maltose.
Scientists have found that consuming excessive amounts of processed sugar is associated with a number of health problems, such as increased levels of cholesterol, other blood fats, a dearth of chromium, a hint of mineral linked with heart ailments and diabetes as well as the origin of breast cancer.
In fact, very little digestion is needed for the simple sugar molecules present in sucrose. Hence, they enter the blood stream easily and soon raise the intensity of blood sugar beyond the regular levels.
When this happens, the insulin secretion system in the body is set in motion to get rid of the surplus glucose from the blood. This, in turn, results in a drop in the intensity of blood sugar.
It is important to note that even natural sugar substitutes like honey, maple syrup and fruit juice do not provide any answer to this problem. Frankly speaking, consuming any sweetener, natural or synthetic, in excess is harmful for our well being.
Another major advantage of consuming complex carbohydrates is their fiber content. In fact, there are several varieties of dietary fiber and all of them are obtained from the plant cell walls.
Fiber is useful for us for it performs a crucial function by maintaining a smooth digestive system as also ensuring that the toxins responsible for development of cancer and other substances that cause different diseases do not get in touch with the digestive tract for long periods or they are not soaked up by the body.
In addition, consuming food that has rich fiber content is known to help avoid heart ailments, over-weight and cancer of the colon.
Moreover, it has also been established that consuming high-fiber diets helps in getting rid of the surplus body fat as well as bring down the blood pressure by around 10 per cent.
It may be mentioned here that every type of fiber is attached to digestible carbohydrates and, hence, they are able to inhibit the glucose absorption into the blood stream. Especially, pectin and gums hold back the absorption of sugar in the intestines.
Since these fibers have the ability to keep the intensity of the blood sugar at the normal rate, they are also able to diminish the fat development in the body.
It is a known fact that drinking alcohol is injurious to our health. However, very few people are aware about the destructive role of alcohol in our system.
Firstly, every time one consumes alcohol, our body burns lesser amount of fat and also burns it at a snail's pace. In addition, whenever one consumes alcohol, it enhances the appetite of the person.
According to a research, if an individual consumes alcohol while having a meal, he or she is likely to intake an additional 350 calories and this is no mean amount of calorie.
For a person who usually intakes around 1,800 to 2,000 calories daily, this would mean increasing the calorie intake by over 12 per cent simply because he or she is also taking wine or beer along with their meal.
Most studies identify a single drink as 1.5 ounces of hard liquor, three ounces of sherry or port wine, four to five ounces of dry table wine or 12 ounces of beer.
Although the quantities of these beverages may be different, they provide the same amount of alcohol. There is a misconception that a glass of beer or a glass of wine contains much less alcohol than drinking a gin-and-tonic or a whiskey sour.
It appears like a normal guess, as the intensity of alcohol is comparatively much higher in any hard liquor than in wine or beer.
However, when you evaluate blended drinks with beer or wine, you will understand why they are so similar as far as their alcohol content is concerned.
A single jigger of hard liquor measures approximately 1.5 ounces. Hence, if you prepare a blended drink comprising one jigger of hard liquor along with tonic, soda or any other non-alcoholic drink, you will be having about an equivalent quantity of alcohol that you will be getting from wine or beer.
In fact, consuming any two drinks is able to have a great effect on the manner in which your body tackles dietary fat.
Findings of a research published in the New England Journal of Medicine states that the scientists identified that three ounces of any alcoholic drink diminished the capability of the body to burn up fat by around 33 per cent.
It may be noted that alcohol has the ability to increase your blood sugar response as well as insulin levels significantly and thereby, expedite the process of fat build up in the body.
On top, consuming a blend of two or more drinks may significantly set off high intensities of insulin that, in turn, is likely to encourage the transformation of carbohydrate to fat and, thereby, augment the increase of body fat.
Consumption of alcohol has a severe outcome on the intake of calories for people who take more than two drinks in a day. For example, according to a modest estimate, an individual consuming six beers in a day takes in an additional 900 calories.
At the same time, alcohol consumption increases the appetite of a person and, hence, some additional calories also come from the surplus food ingested by him or her.
It has been found that an alcoholic beverage contains seven calories per every gram, something very close to ingesting fat, which contains nine calories per gram. And this amount of calorie is almost double of what you get from a gram of carbohydrate or protein.
It is interesting to note that for several years, scientists were of the opinion that the calories obtained from alcohol consumption were equal to what was derived from carbohydrates.
This belief was based on the fact that all types of alcohol are obtained from fruit, sugar and grains and are soluble in water.
However, now it has been realized that consumption of alcohol is more harmful, as it seems that while the alcohol, instead of fat calories, is being burned up to release energy, it also puts off the burning of fat.
This way consumption of alcohol only helps to store more fat in the body's fat cells giving rise to obesity.
If you are taking meals that contain no or little fiber along with snacks containing excessive sugar and starch, the hormone insulin may perhaps start playing a significant role in fat build up in the body.
This has been established by researchers who have found that consuming foods rich in processed carbohydrates are ably to set off insulin resistance.
Such resistance takes place when the body reacts to starches and sugars by producing glucose in excess and this process, in turn, sets off the excessive production of insulin.
The hormone insulin usually regulates glucose, but in an agile and variety of means. To begin with, the hormone finds out the precise amount of glucose that will be utilized right away as energy and the amount of glucose that will be transformed into fat and stored for later use.
In addition, insulin also kindles the appetite, an action by which it informs the body that it requires more energy. At the same time, the hormone also controls triglycerides that are 'stored fats' in the body.
Among its other functions, insulin facilitates in preventing the fat cells from breaking down stored fat and liberating it into the blood stream where it would be used to burn up as energy.
Moreover, insulin also helps to convert the fat cells in the body into 'magnets' for attracting any dietary fat that has been taken in by the blood stream.
It may be mentioned here that insulin resistance is related to an assortment of aspects ranging from glucose intolerance to high blood pressure or hypertension.
Bee products are extremely useful in treating obesity. For instance, when the bee pollen is taken alone and without food, it appears to operate unobstructed in rectifying the metabolic slip-ups that are possibly concerned with harmful weight gain.
Both sugars and fats provide energy and foods that also enclose carbon. As a result, when they come in contact with oxygen, they burn to release energy.
In fact, sugars contain more carbon units; they are combustible and capable of generating energy quickly. Comparatively, fats contain lesser carbon and oxygen units and, hence, they are metabolized at a snail's pace.
This is primarily owing to the fact that the function of fats is to provide reserve energy. In addition, fats need more oxygen to burn up as also to store them in the body for later use. Ingestion of bee pollen inverted sugars causes a rapid burning in the human alimentary canal.
The 'fire' caused by the bee pollen inverted sugars produces oxygen that helps to burn up the fats. This stimulates a rapid enhancement in the pace of calorie burn up and is followed up by weight loss.
Incidentally, the entire chain of internal reactions is set off by bee pollen. It seems that bee pollen facilitates each individual's 'fat thermostat' a few points elevated and this has an inclination to keep the body thinner more often than not.
For people who are on a diet, honey is an excellent substitute for sugar. Honey encloses a number of natural sugars that are just about completely predigested making it easy for them to be soaked up into the blood stream.
In other words, using honey as a substitute for sugar offers an instantaneous energy boost up and people who are dieting are able to take advantage of this characteristic of honey.
In fact, the natural sugars present in honey perform a dual action. First, they promptly satisfy an individual's hunger for sweets and, second, they are inclined to retain the feeling of fulfillment for several hours.
By nature, the human body has been intended for movement and when an individual is not actively moving, his or her body gets engaged in storing substances.
And when an individual is immobile or motionless for around over an hour, his or her body is perhaps sending a very old pointer to their brain to reduce the fat burning process and enhance the fat build up system.
In addition, if one takes a major meal and subsequently sits inactive for an hour or maybe longer, it is likely that he or she will eventually accumulate the calories from the meal in the form of body fat.
It is an established issue that the less active individual is, more the chances are of his or her becoming obese. In addition, as a person ages, there is a greater connection between the period of time he or she spends sitting and the total body weight they are prone to put on.
Therefore, as we age, regular physical activities become all the more imperative for our overall well being as well as maintaining a healthy weight.
In fact, the best and most helpful work out plan for maintaining good health, and this includes reinforcing the protective mechanisms against aging, is to work out a number of times every week in the 'lower intensity' method.
In fact, it is essential for one to sustain a relaxed plane of exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes thrice every week or for 20 minutes without any break four times weekly.
When you exercise regularly for good health, a lowered resting heart rate is one of the initial perceptible indications of enhanced aerobic fitness.
This is owing to the fact that the normal heartbeat of an individual decelerates when the fitness of the person progresses.
While the normal pace of the heart in people not engaged in any sports ranges between 75 and 80 beats every minute, in the instance of top class athletes involved with sports that require endurance or stamina, the pace of the heart is so fine tuned that the resting heat beat of many among them is anything between 30 and 45 beats every minute.
The difference is owing to the fact that the hearts of these athletes have been made stronger by means of regular aerobic exercise.
Normally, the resting heart beat of individuals who have build up an excellent cardiovascular fitness by undertaking regular aerobic work outs ranges between 45 and 50 beats per minute.
Significantly enough, the hearts of such people are pumping an equal amount of blood that is pumped by hearts of people who do not exercise and have heart beats around 80 times per minute while in a resting position.
Consequently, the hearts of people not undertaking any physical exercises beats around 50,000 times more in a day compared to those who undertake regular aerobic exercises.
If you calculate this on an annual basis, it means that the hearts of people who don't exercise takes an additional workload of beating 18 million times more compared to those who exercise regularly.
Such a massive workload on the heart makes an individual all the more unfit and susceptible to different heart ailments.
In this part of the article we will discuss a number of practices that will enable you to avoid as well as solve some of your daily sufferings instantly.
These techniques will help you to neutralize nervousness and irritation and, thereby, help your mind and body to preserve an elevated plane of energy.
When you practice these distress dissolving techniques, you will not only have a higher energy level, but, at the same time, improve the fat burning capacity of your body.
Along with this, it is possible that you will be prepared to activate other fat burning mechanisms throughout the day.
The findings of a study presented at the 1994 'International Conference on Obesity' shows that the lower the distress on keeps hold of, the more efficient the metabolic power will be.
This is simply because compared to others, people who are tense, angry or aggressive are inclined to metabolize or disintegrate fats more leisurely in their system.
It has been found that people who usually become furious with anger are the slowest in eliminating dietary fat. Hence, anger or, for that matter, any type of emotional disorder is harmful for our overall well being.
On the other hand, it has been found that individuals who have most sluggish metabolism rates are usually aggressive and nervous. Many such people complain of extreme daily tension and, at times, even hold back their anger.
When any individual is confronted by enhanced pressure or tension, his or her body reacts by emitting adrenaline, a very quick -acting hormone that invigorates the discharge of fat from the cells all over the body.
However, during the periods subsequent to the rush of adrenaline, you trail off into a stage of nervousness or distress.
Whenever an individual experiences traumatic conditions, adrenaline forces the fat cells throughout the body to shoot out the substances enclosed by them into the blood stream.
And when these substances come into circulation, the freely floating molecules are able to supply the body with additional energy it requires to fulfill the physical needs in any situation the individual may be at that time.
During the past when people were unenlightened, the reaction to any threat and tension discharged energy into the hairy bodies of our ancestors and that prompted them to throw stones at wild beasts and run away from woolly enormous animals.
Looking back, such a response was very natural for the ancient men as whenever they confronted any threat they needed to run away from the scene or charge back into a clash.
Contrarily, in the present day world, these fat molecules usually remain unutilized in our normal routine situations. However, there is an exception. The situation changes the moment the stress hormone cortisol comes into the scene.
Whenever an individual confronts a tense situation, the hormone cortisol is discharged in the body. For ages, cortisol has helped human beings to survive the odds by reducing the processes involved in fat burning.
The fat ingested through foods is stored for use during emergency situations, while the hormone cortisol supports the process of burning carbohydrates to fulfill the body's requirement for additional energy.
A research conducted by scientists at the Yale University hints that obese people who have most of their fat deposits in their abdominal region generate more cortisol compared to people who have less fat accumulation in that particular region.
Findings of another study conducted by scientists at the Wake Forest University has highlighted that male monkeys, both who were active and those who were inactive, possessed extra intra-abdominal fat compared to the male monkeys who were not under any type of duress.
According to scientists, a chronic arousal syndrome caused by stress played a crucial function in fat distribution in the abdominal region.
On occasions when people are usually under tension and stress, but not in acute situations like 'life-and-death' problems, a considerable fraction of the additional fat present in the blood stream drifts towards the abdomen region for storage and later use.
Hence, if you go through any type of enduring sensations of distress, remember there are several assessable impacts on the brain as well as the body.
This is also inclusive of the outcomes of a sluggish fat burning process. Luckily enough, there is some initial proof of the fact that breathing method, meditation or rumination and other techniques for reducing tension may perhaps facilitate in maintaining the intensity of cortisol at a lower level.
All these methods may prove to be very effective in tackling the fat in your body whenever fat haunts you.
It is amazing that many people stop breathing for a number of seconds or even more when they just confront a traumatic condition.
Doing so diminishes the supply of oxygen to the brain and thrusts one on the way to more sufferings and feelings of nervousness, aggression, annoyance and fright.
And when all these are taking place, the person may experience flawed responses at the same time as sensing a common failure to be in charge of the situation.
Therefore, at any time when you sense yourself being thrown into an augmented traumatic situation, for instance, abnormal breathing, muscle tension, sweating due to nervousness or cold hands, the best thing to do is to change the method of your respiration.
In such cases you need to adopt a simple action. Just keep on breathing effortlessly, deeply and consistently.
When the first indication of fright, danger or tension grips you, you may be someplace either in the inhalation or exhalation, hence the foremost thing you are required to do is give attention to closing the sequence.
And, simultaneously you need to keep telling yourself, "Aware mind, and calm body".
It may be mentioned here that the internal inhalation of approximately 100 trillion cells in our body facilitates us to generate biological energy.
In order to transform fuel into energy our body frantically requires sufficient supply of the amalgam that is able to execute the alteration.
Normally, each one of us breathe approximately 20,000 times daily and this amount of air being inhaled may be taken for granted.
However, the fact is that majority of the people only respire enough so that they do not get into a stage of comatose. According to neuroscientists, although we theoretically stay 'alive', we often do not provide enough amount of oxygen to our brains.
Researches conducted by scientists from the National Institute on the aging process hint that the blood circulation of a 20-year-old requires as much as four liters of oxygen every minute.
On the contrary, a 75-year-old man requires only 1.5 liters of oxygen per minute for the same task owing to his trivial respiration and the absence of the suppleness of the lungs. Such a situation is normal, but cannot be avoided.
However, several studies have established that a 75-year-old person who is physically fit is able to inhale an amount of oxygen that a 20-year-old young man can take in.
All these notwithstanding, most of us do not breathe deeply, but develop the habit of superficial breathing all through our lives.
In other words, this means that we are inhaling less amount of oxygen each time we breathe and, therefore, are not able to provide sufficient oxygen to the cells.
This is contrary to people who perform diaphragmatic breathing on a regular basis. When one does diaphragmatic breathing, the diaphragm muscle is pushed down forming a normal pressure vacuum that helps to pull in more amount of air into the lower lungs.
A small spreading out of the abdomen and the lower ribs follows this action rapidly. And when the process of inhalation is complete, there is an expansion of the chest resulting in the upper lung area to be packed with the inhaled air.
When you breathe superficially or have a habit of shallow breathing, the upper chest involuntarily creates a situation of less oxygen and also gets in the way of the fat burning process and other types of energy generation in the body.
In contrast, if you do diaphragmatic breathing, it helps to pack your lungs with air to their utmost capacity.
This is a vital difference between the two breathing processes, as when you have enough air in the lungs that spreading all over the organ, you are able to obtain more oxygen and supply it to your blood stream.
This, in turn, facilitates the fat burning process and eventually results in losing weight.
It may be mentioned here that when blood flows from the heart to collect oxygen from the lungs, it spreads to different areas of the lungs at uneven speed.
According to a rough estimate, blood flowing to the top areas of the lungs travels at the speed of one tablespoon every minute.
On the other hand, the speed at which blood flows to the middle areas of the lungs is a pint (a United States liquid unit equivalent to 16 fluid ounces) every minute and to the bottom regions at a speed of approximately one quart (a United States liquid unit equivalent to 32 fluid ounces) per minute.
Anyone trying to do diaphragmatic breathing will initially find it to be a much of work compared to shallow or superficial breathing.
This is not the fact, but it appears to be more work simply because he or she needs to focus on amending their shallow breathing practice.
In fact, in order to perform even diaphragmatic breathing one requires spending just about one per cent of the body's energy consumption to inhale and exhale air.
It is surprising to note that people habituated to shallow breathing require spending twice the amount of energy to achieve the same task.
Hence, if you desire to remain healthy and be in charge of stressful situations, it is very essential that you quit your habit of shallow breathing and get trained in the method of diaphragmatic breathing at the earliest.
Moreover, when you use your diaphragm while breathing, it provides you with additional health benefits. For instance, when the diaphragm narrows, this muscular void softly presses on the internal organs to move downward.
This action of the diaphragm helps to massage the internal organs. Some researchers are also of the view that the contraction of the diaphragm also enhances the blood circulation as well as facilitates the expulsion of digestive wastes from the body.
Believe it or not, over 75 per cent of our body is composed of water and this potent liquid has a significant function in burning up body fat, fat build up in our body as well as in the process of storing fat.
In fact, water forms a means for all types of chemical reactions and this include the fat burning process too.
People who do not drink sufficient amounts of water experience the secretion of a hormone called aldosterone that compels the body tissues to keep hold of just about each molecule of liquid.
Many scientists are of the view that any decrease in the water content in the body may result in the augmentation of fat deposits.
In fact, not drinking sufficient water may cause problems, such as exhaustion, common headaches, dizziness as well as lack of attentiveness at the end of a hectic day.
In fact, these conditions start almost daily as soon as you leave your bed in the morning and intensify as the day progresses. The moment you open your eyes each morning, you already face a deficiency of water in your body.
There may be occasions when we continue to endure deficiency of water throughout the day and yet not be aware of the problem.
When one does not drink adequate water to replace the water lost through various excretory methods, such as sweating, urination and respiration, they suffer from dehydration.
Whenever there is dehydration, the volume of blood reduces allowing it to become thick and this is likely to create a stress on the heart and makes it less capable of providing the muscles with requisite oxygen and nutrients.
In addition, when blood becomes thick or concentrated, it is not able to get rid of the waste materials in it.
Always bear in mind that even the slightest deficiency of water upsets an individual's biochemistry. For instance, when a muscle loses only three per cent of water, it loses about 10 per cent of contractile power and approximately eight per cent of alacrity.
Therefore, water balance is on its own most significant variable for enduring well being and utmost functioning of our body.
Many scientists are of the opinion that becoming habituated in life with less water is something akin to being used to continuous anxiety or nervousness.
The answer to this problem requires some habituation and it is actually worth making an endeavor in this regard.
