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Essential Fatty Acids and Weight Loss

Being overweight can lead to a world of negative consequences. It can affect your mental state and your physical health. Obesity and depression go hand in hand in many cases. And it’s not even just depression - the same is true of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, asthma, skin conditions and even certain cancers. If you’re overweight, it truly is in your best interest to do something about it as soon as you possibly can. Certain essential fatty acids can help with just this. Doesn’t it sound strange that FATTY acids can help you lose weight? Well, strange as it may sound, it’s completely true.

What are Essential Fatty Acids?

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are known as good fats because they help to improve your health in a variety of ways. We can’t synthesize them on our own, so we have to get them through food sources. They are basically long chain fatty acids that are unsaturated. EFAs can be derived from oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids. Omega 3 fatty acids and Omega 6 fatty acids fall into the essential category. Omega 9s are important for our health, but they’re not classified as essential because our bodies can manufacture small amounts of it. Most people are deficient in Omega 3s, while consuming an excessive amount of Omega 6s. Bring your body into balance and burn more fat by consuming additional Omega 3s. Omega 3 fatty acids increase your metabolic rate when you consume them consistently. A few simple changes to your diet and you’ll burn more calories all day long – even when you’re sleeping. In addition to that, they prevent some fat from forming in the first place. People who eat fatty fish have less of their blood sugar converted to fat. And the amount of enzymes that metabolize fat are increased as well.

Omega 3 for Muscle growth and Metabolization

These fatty acids will also help with muscle growth, by encouraging the metabolism of protein. When protein is metabolized, it’s broken down into amino acids before it can be used by the body’s muscles. Since Omega 3s improve this process, muscles have access to more of the amino acids they need to repair themselves and grow. Maybe you’re thinking that you don’t really care about growing muscles, but if you’re interested in losing fat, it’s something you should consider. Muscles burn calories around the clock, just to live. The more muscle you have, the more calories you’re going to burn. You’re boosting your metabolism, making weight loss that much easier on you. Plus you don’t even have to bulk up if you don’t want to. Another thing these good fats will do is help you to feel fuller faster. It provides the nutrients your body actually needs, so your brain gets the signal that you’re satisfied sooner. You consume less calories and still feel just as full. So, enjoy those Omega 3s a little more often because these special fatty acids will do you body a lot of good. You’ll be rewarded with more energy, clearer thoughts, a healthier body and a slimmer waistline!

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Yoga for Back Pain Research

Yoga for Back Pain Research came out this past week and the results were very interesting. According to the latest research, doing yoga daily is more effective in healing your chronic back pain than other conventional back pain treatments. There are also more side effects as a result of using the conventional treatments, such as painkillers and muscle relaxants.

Yoga for Back Pain Research

The researchers closely monitored 228 adults who suffer from acute and chronic back pain problems. They were separated into three groups with two groups attending daily yoga sessions and the remaining group doing different exercises for a few weeks. At the end of the program they discovered that 50% the participants who attended yoga sessions felt much better compared with only 20% of the other group.

Yoga is More than Meditation

The Yoga for back Pain research forces us to look more deeply into what Yoga actually is. Yoga is not just a form of meditation as some people perceive it and the benefits are not just limited to strengthening muscles, improve flexibility and balance. Yoga is an extremely good therapy for relieving back pain, shorten recovery time, reduce swelling and increase blood circulation. Practising yoga daily will help improve your posture and keep your spine in proper alignment. There are many forms and poses of yoga and not all can help your back condition. In fact some can even worsen it. It is best to attend classes under the guidance of certified yoga instructors as they can advise on what poses are suitable for you. Back strengthening poses serve not only to strengthen your muscles around the spine, but also help to activate your kidneys and increase the energy in your body. Back releasing poses will help to reduce tension and muscle spasm and improve spinal mobility. These exercises will help to nourish your back muscles and muscle tissues, and are good for people suffering from lower back pain. Stretching other muscles in your body such as the hamstring and thigh will make them stronger and more flexible and lessen the amount of stress on your back. This will finally reduce the tension and relieve your back.

Easier Way to do Yoga

Performing poses on the floor are easier than standing poses as they require less strength and balance. One very important aspect of doing yoga is to learn how to breathe properly, especially when holding the poses. Choose poses with longer hold times (inhaling and exhaling) as they are easier to do. When you master the art of deep and rhythmic breathing, your body will relax, freeing you of pain-inducing restrictions and eases proper circulation. Do not eat at least one to two hours before you practise yoga and refrain from drinking too much water before the session. You should practise yoga daily for an average of 30 minutes, depending on your schedule, objective and fitness level. It is better to practise more often with shorter duration than less often with longer duration as this will produce better result. If you are seeking relief from back pain, yoga is certainly one of the best lower back pain exercises. Like all forms of exercises, do not push your body to the limits. If you still experience pain after doing yoga, stop and consult your doctor. Back Pain Treatment is a blog full of interesting information on back pain problems, treatment options and prevention tips. Visit this site for current events and stories relating to back pain and share your thoughts. So now that we have this interesting Yoga for back pain research it is time for you to learn to do Yoga

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How to Eat more Flaxseed in your diet

Most nutrition experts recommend ground flax and that you should eat more flaxseed because your body is better able to digest it. Whole flaxseed may pass through your intestine undigested, which means you won't get the health benefits of flaxseed. Flaxseed is high in fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and phytochemicals called lignans. Flax seed can help reduce total blood cholesterol and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels and, as a result, may help reduce the risk of heart disease. Flaxseed oil also contains omega-3 fatty acids, but it doesn't have the beneficial fiber that the seeds have. You can purchase raw flax seed in bulk whole or ground at many grocery stores and health food stores. Whole seeds can be ground in a coffee grinder and then stored in an airtight container for several months. Doing this and having it on hand will help you eat more flaxseed. Although the Institute of Medicine has not set a recommended daily intake for omega-3 fatty acids, it has established adequate intake amounts of between 1.1 and 1.6 grams per day for adults. One tablespoon of ground flax seed provides 1.6 grams of omega-3 fatty acids.

How to Eat more Flaxseed in your Diet

• Add a tablespoon of ground flax seed to your hot or cold breakfast cereal.
• Add a teaspoon of ground flax seed to mayonnaise or mustard when making a sandwich.
• Mix a tablespoon of ground flax seed into an 8-ounce container of yogurt.
• Bake ground flaxseed into cookies, muffins, breads and other baked goods.

 

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