Get the SKINNY on FAT!!

What Happens to Body Fat When You Cleanse? From Isagenix Health News

Ah, the visual joy of weight loss—your face is more defined, your belly no longer protrudes over the waist of your pants, and parts that used to jiggle are now toned. On the outside, fat loss seems like a fairly simple process. However, what happens in your body during weight loss involves an intricate web of metabolic changes that include structural transformation of fat cells, the breakdown and use of fat for energy, as well as changes in hormone production.

Performing Isagenix Cleanse Days—a combination of intermittent fasting with herbs and vitamins that support detoxification—is an effective approach for weight loss, especially for targeting fat loss. In fact, the UIC study using Isagenix products found that those who follow the Isagenix system had more fat loss and twice as much visceral fat loss than those who followed a “heart healthy” diet.

How does fat loss occur when you incorporate Cleanse Days into your routine? To understand, we’ll have to start with the basics, or Fat 101:

Getting to know fat

Adipose tissue—or body fat—is comprised of millions of fat cells, also called adipocytes, with the average adult having around 40 billion. The weight of adipose tissue is about 20 percent of body weight, making it one of the biggest organs in the body.

Fat can be defined by where it’s found in the body: subcutaneous fat is located just below the surface of the skin while visceral fat is found in the abdominal cavity, surrounding the internal organs. Furthermore, there are two types of adipose tissue: white and brown. White adipose tissue is primarily used as an energy reserve and brown adipose tissue functions to generate heat.

Adipose tissue is a metabolically active organ rather than just an inert mass as many may have guessed. In fact, each depot of the organ even receives its own vascular and nerve supply.

Adipose tissue has been identified as an endocrine organ because of its production of hormones known as adipokines. These signaling proteins influence several important functions including glucose and lipid metabolism, blood coagulation, insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, and steroid hormone modulation (1). Excessive adipose tissue has been shown to disrupt the normal endocrine functions of fat cells and can negatively affect health through insulin resistance, abnormal blood lipids, and even increased cardiovascular disease risk.

Leptin is an adipokine that regulates hunger and appetite by telling the brain, “I’m full!” Although intuition may assume that leptin levels would be low in obese individuals due to chronically excessive food intake, the opposite is true. Leptin has been shown to be tightly related to fat cell size: the bigger the adipocyte, the greater the expression of leptin (2).

This would mean that obese persons are constantly feeling full, right? Wrong. Obesity is associated with resistance to the effects of leptin on the brain appetite centers, so they actually end up having an impaired response that doesn’t indicate fullness. This exemplifies how complex the relationship is between adipose tissue and the endocrine system.

Fat cells increase in size, then in number

When energy balance becomes positive (meaning there are more calories consumed than burned), the adipose organ increases, particularly in the amount of white adipose tissue. White adipocytes undergo hypertrophy (increase in volume) followed by hyperplasia (increase in number).

It’s been proposed that adipocytes have a maximum volume, referred to as “critical cell size” that may be genetically determined (3). This means that fat cells can only get so big. Once they reach their critical cell size, they trigger production of new adipocytes. In other words, your existing fat cells are filled until they reach their capacity (much like a balloon) and then signal the body to make more fat cells.

You are more likely to make additional fat cells at certain times in your life. Research has shown that the natural production of fat cells steadily increases during childhood and levels off in early adulthood (4). Although more research is needed, this could indicate that children who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults and experience greater difficulties in trying to achieve weight loss.

How the body burns fat

When energy balance is negative in the body (meaning there are more calories being burned than consumed), the hormones that access stored fuel are increased, namely glucagon. In short, the body flips from an energy-storing state to an energy-burning state.

First, the body will burn stored carbohydrate, also known as glycogen, which is found mostly in the liver and muscles. Once the glycogen energy reserve has been exhausted, the body breaks down fat in a process called lipolysis.

What happens to fat cells during weight loss?

During negative energy balance such as on Cleanse Days, the body will use the fat for fuel causing the fat cells to shrink in size. As fat cells decrease in size, so too does the amount of signaling molecules produced. Over time, this reestablishment of normal endocrine function can be immensely beneficial for health including decreasing the molecules that induce inflammation.

Additionally, fat loss accompanied by adequate intake of optimal nutrition—such as  vitamins (B vitamins, vitamins C and E), minerals (selenium, zinc, copper), and other bioactive nutrients including coenzyme Q10 and polyphenols—support the detoxification systems of the body in the removal of toxins. (Read more in The Basics of Detoxification.)

It is interesting to note that fat cells have the ability to shrink but rarely decrease in number. However, during fat loss, cells can decrease as much as 400 percent in size! For many, this morphological transformation supported by dietary interventions such as Cleanse Days means more than just a slimmer appearance; it can improve health and even add years of quality life.

 References

1.    Rossmeislova L, Malisova L, Kracmerova J, Stich V. Adaptation of human adipose tissue to hypocaloric diet. Int J Obes (Lond) 2013;37:640-50. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2012.80

2.    Skurk T, Alberti-Huber C, Herder C, Hauner H. Relationship between adipocyte size and adipokine expression and secretion. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007;92:1023-33.

3.    Cinti S. The adipose organ at a glance. Dis Model Mech 2012;5:588-94.

4.    Spalding KL, Arner E, Westermark PO et al. Dynamics of fat cell turnover in humans. Nature 2008;453:783-7. doi: 10.1038/nature06902

For More Information Contact me at newtraditions99@yahoo.com

or go to our web site www.thehealthyhelms.com

 

 

Lose the Toxins -- Lose the Fat

What have I learned about toxins and fat and weight loss?  I have been overweight all my life.  For fifty years I lost weight, only to regain it along with the proverbial 5 to 10 pound bonus.  Then I learned about the link between toxin overload and my inability to lose weight and fat. 

I started a deep cleansing program and have subsequently lost 90 pounds of fat in less than five months, while I gained lean muscle mass.  Even when I decided to take a break from my active weight loss program and went on maintenance, I was able to maintain that 90 pound loss for a year because I kept cleansing weekly.

I have added back the weight loss aspect of my program, and once again the weight and fat is just melting off.

I have included excerpts from two books that explain this link between toxins and fat.

Please contact me if you would like more information.

From Suzanne Somers book Sexy Forever:

"Obesity rates have more than doubled in the past thirty years.  Doesn't this raise the question of why?  Toxins make you fat.  It's that simple, and that complex.  Here's why. Mitochondria are the little powerhouses inside every living cell in your body.  They provide power for your cells by creating energy from fats and sugars, thereby driving your metabolism and fueling your whole body.

When toxins enter your body the buildup damages the mitochondria, your cellular power plants, so they no longer work effectively.  As a result fats and sugars that aren't being burned for fuel pile up all over the body in the form of extra pounds.  Also, without the mitochondria working optimally, you lose your physical energy." 

Other excerpts from Suzanne Somer's book:

"Scientific studies show a strong correlations between levels of toxic burden, higher body weight, and the risk of diabetes."

"No matter how the toxins get into our bodies, whether through the lungs, stomach, or skin, they all meet in the liver at some point and from there get sent to the kidneys and colon for elimination, become trapped in bones, muscles, tissues, or other organs, or they get locked in the liver itself, or they get stored away in fat cells!

The fact that many toxins get trapped in fat cells deserves special attention.  Fat cells don't get broken down easily, so the toxins literally weigh the body down.  If you carry excess fat, burning up that fat releases toxins into the bloodstream for proper removal.  As toxins accumulate, they act in unsuspected ways.  You begin to experience health problems, like allergies, colds, migraines, and infertility, or major diseases like breast cancer and dementia."

Dr. Walter Crinnion points out in his book, Clean, Green & Lean, that excess fat hiding toxins are making you sick AND fat:

"If you're more than 25 pounds above your ideal weight and you're suffering from one or more of the following illnesses, your body is telling you that it's in toxic overload." 

                         * Allergies
                         * Asthma
                         * Autoimmune disease (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto's Thyroidtis
                         * Bone marrow cancer (lymphomas, leukemia, multiple myeloma)
                         * Chemical sensitivity
                         * Chronic fatigue
                         * Diabetes
                         * Fibromyalgia
                         * Infertility
                         * Parkinsonism
                         * Obesity

Donna Helm -- newtraditions99@yahoo.com -- www.thehealthyhelms.com
 

Nutritional Rebalancing Is NOT a Diet

This is why I have been successful with the Isagenix program.

It really does work!!

For more information go to http://www.thehealthyhelms.com

or write me at newtraditions99@yahoo.com.

How to Calculate Your Target Heart Rate

I am exercising more now and to be sure that I am getting workiing in the best heart rate rate to burn fat during my workout, I need to figure out my Target Heart Rate.  Here is a Chart and a Worksheet to help me (and you) make this all important calculation.

 

HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR TARGET HEART RATE

1.  Average resting heart rate (RHR)
    Count your pulse for one minute as soon as you wake up, for 3 days.

 

Average RHR = ( _______ + _______ + _______ ) ÷ 3
                               Day 1         Day 2        Day 3

Your average RHR = _______

 

2.  Maximum heart rate (HR_max)

 

HR_max = 220 - __________
                         your age

Your HR_max = _______

 

3.  Heart rate reserve (HR_maxRESERVE)

 

HR_maxRESERVE = ____________ - __________
                           your HR_max         your RHR

Your HR_maxRESERVE = _______

 

4.  Lower limit of your target heart rate (THR)

 

THR (lower limit) = ( ___________________ × 0.6 ) + __________
                                    your HR_maxRESERVE                      your RHR

 Your THR (lower limit) = _______

 

5.  Upper limit of your target heart rate (THR)

 

THR (upper limit) = ( ___________________ × 0.8 ) + __________
                                      your HR_maxRESERVE                      your RHR

Your THR (upper limit) = _______

 

6.  Target heart rate (THR)

 

THR = ( ________________________ + ________________________ ) ÷ 2

                  your THR (lower limit)                your THR (upper limit)

 Your THR = _______

 

Yo-Yo Dieting? -- You Need High Quality Protein

Here is a great article from Isagenix Health.

You know how it is with regular dieting—your long-lost skinny jeans make a temporary reappearance only to be retired to the back of your closet six months later. This frustrating scenario of weight cycling is all too familiar for most people.

Although decreased motivation and will-power greatly contribute to “falling off the wagon”, weight regain is also influenced by biological changes in the body in response to decreased intake of energy or calories. The main biological reason for weight regain is a slowing metabolism. A reduction in calorie intake can make the body become very efficient and work to conserve energy. Unfortunately, this means you are burning fewer calories. Loss of lean tissue (such as muscle) rather than fat mass during weight loss is also to blame for a lower metabolic rate (more on this below).

In a world where yo-yo dieting has become the norm, how does one keep lost pounds off for good?
New research carried out by a group of scientists from the Netherlands reveals that a diet higher than normal in protein may be the key to sustaining permanent weight loss (1). Seventy-two overweight and obese men and women took part in the study, which compared the effects of two reduced-calorie diets after weight was previously lost, the only difference between the diets being that one counted as high protein intake (1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day) and the other as normal protein intake (0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day). After six months, the group eating more protein was found to retain greater muscle mass and a higher rate of metabolism, helping to better keep that lost weight from returning.

Previous studies investigating the effect of energy-restricted, high protein diets on weight maintenance have reached similar conclusions (2). The fat-fighting power of protein lies in its ability to keep energy expenditure elevated as well as curb hunger despite reduced calorie intake.

Rev Up Your Metabolism with Protein

Energy expenditure, or the number of calories burned by the body, is greatly influenced by basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the amount of energy, or rate of metabolism, required to support basic body functions when your body is at rest.

The greatest contributor to BMR is fat-free mass. Fat-free mass is largely made up of muscle, which is very energy demanding. Even when no work is being performed (such as when you are sleeping), muscle requires energy just to exist. Muscle cells and their components are constantly using calories to rebuild what is broken down during normal protein turnover. A higher protein diet not only increases energy-demanding protein synthesis and turnover, but has also shown to better preserve muscle during caloric restriction (1, 2). Keeping muscle mass and turnover rates high results in a higher BMR, faster metabolism, and greater energy expenditure.

The thermic effect of food (TEF) is another factor that affects energy expenditure and refers to the amount of energy needed to break down, absorb, and digest food. The TEF differs between nutrients, with protein requiring more calories for digestion and metabolism than both fat and carbohydrate combined. Specifically, 0 to 3 percent of the calories obtained from fat are used for fat digestion, 5 to 10 percent of calories from carbohydrate are used for carbohydrate digestion, and 20 to30 percent of calories from protein are used for protein digestion (2). This means that protein requires a substantial amount of calories for the body to metabolize and use it compared to the other macronutrients. Simply by eating more protein in place of carbohydrate or fat, a person will burn more calories.

Feel Fuller, Longer with Protein

Successfully committing to a reduced calorie diet can be difficult when you are bombarded by cravings and hunger pangs. Ravenous hunger will only encourage overeating and weight regain. Research has shown higher protein diets to be superior to low or standard protein diets in causing a feeling of fullness, thereby leading to lower calorie intake (2). A reduced calorie diet will lead to greater use of existing fat stores, as a person quickly burns through the energy provided by the food they consume, as well as the carbohydrate stored in the body (glycogen). This increased reliance on fat for fuel has been suggested to reduce appetite.

Protein may also boost satiety by sending hormonal messages to the brain signaling fullness. When protein is eaten, sensors located in the gut are activated. Hormones such as glucagon are released, sending a message to the brain saying, “I’m full!” (3).

Isagenix: Making the higher protein lifestyle easy

Sustaining weight loss over the long term is challenging but not impossible. A higher protein diet offers numerous metabolic advantages that will not only help a person lose weight, but may also prevent regaining pounds, or worse, surpassing your starting weight.
Isagenix offers a variety of convenient and delicious higher protein meals and snacks that can aid weight maintenance efforts. Incorporating these Isagenix snacks and meal replacements in your reduced calorie diet will not only help you get into those skinny jeans, but stay in them, too.

For more information about Isagenix, contact me at newtraditions99@yahoo.com or go to my website The Healthy Helms.

References:
1) Soenen S, et al. Normal Protein Intake Is Required for Body Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance, and Elevated Protein Intake for Additional Preservation of Resting Energy Expenditure and Fat Free Mass. J Nutr. 2013 Feb 27. [Epub ahead of print]
2) Westerterp-Plantenga MS, et al. Dietary protein – its role in satiety, energetics, weight loss and health. Br J Nutr. 2012 Aug;108 Suppl 2:S105-12. doi: 10.1017/S0007114512002589.
3) Belza A, et al. Contribution of gastroenteropancreatic appetite hormones to protein-induced satiety. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Mar 6. [Epub ahead of print]