Herbs used in Weight Loss products
Excess weight and obesity is a growing epidemic. And being overweight is often associated with high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and insulin resistance. Diabetes related illnesses affect 70 million people in the USA alone and is a common cause of premature death and disability.
There is no doubt that exercise has to be a part of any weight loss program, and, of course cutting back on eating helps too.
Less, yes but, as importantly, it is to do with eating the right things. Eating foods that will speed up rather than slow down your metabolism. Two of the herbs I am highlighting on this page are the currently popular appetite suppressants, hoodia gordonii and garcinia cambogia . But they are not to stop you eating. They serve to help you control and manage your intake, so that you can regulate
the quantity and sort of food you are eating, and cut back on, maybe even eliminate, the snacks. You haven't got a hope in Hades of winning the weight battle if you are ravenous all the time. You need to give yourself a chance by curbing that appetite.
Also, as you get older, you need to give your digestive/evacuation system all the help it can get. The longer your food hangs around your system the more toxins there are in your body to drag you down. 
You are never going to feel a hundred percent if your food, including all the fats and toxins you consume, is going through your system at a snail's pace.
A number of herbs are particularly effective in helping to achieve a smoothly working system, from mildly laxative herbs, such as
dandelion ( taraxacum officinale ) to bulking herbs, to be consumed with lots and lots of water, such as psyllium (plantago psyllium ), which contains mucilage, which builds bulk to push the waste out. Cascara sagrada is the herb generally recommended for persistent and/or severe constipation.
It is commonly supplied in supplements that combine it with other herbal ingredients that soothe the intestinal tract.
But the big weight loss success story of the past two and a bit years in Western society is the hoodia gordonii plant. African Sans Bushmen have used hoodia for centuries to curb appetite while on their long hunting treks.
In 2004 the West “discovered” it and much research has been carried out to establish the processes which make it work and to ascertain whether there are any adverse side effects. It seems the hoodia plant is rich in steroidal glycosides, which actually fool the brain into thinking the stomach is full, as if you have just eaten a big meal. And, seemingly, it has no discernable detrimental side effects. Certainly at this point in time the hoodia plant appears to be a blessing, with no negatives, particularly for those people who are grossly overweight and whose uncontrollable overeating is likely to lead to diabetes and other diseases.
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Herbs commonly used for Weight Loss
commonly used herbs :
garcinia cambogia
hoodia gordonii,
Some recommended products. |
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..................................... ..................................... For more information on Hoodia and Hoodia products visit
Herb Spiral Hoodia Gordonii page Hoodia Gordonii Product Web Site |
............continued from column 1 Another traditional weight loss plant being currently researched is garcinia cambogia It is being promoted for weight loss due to various possible beneficial effects it may have on the body. It has an effect on an enzyme which is used by the body to store fat, possibly resulting in a greater portion of fats consumed to be eliminated. Also it seems to cause the body to use up fat stored for energy during prolonged exercise Other ingredients in herbal weight loss products include elderberry for its beneficial effect on the urinary tract and bladder; raw, they are a laxative and diuretic. Cranberry, vaccinium oxycoccus, and
Of course, as with any medicinal regime, whether it comprises a combination of pharmaceutical, herbal, vitamin or mineral components, it is absolutely essential that you are aware of potential detrimental interactions. It is also Reduce your food intake; look after your digestive system. Make sure your system is evacuating waste efficiently and eat foods that will speed up your metabolic rate, not slow it down – and exercise. Herbs can help with all of that, except maybe the exercise unless, of course, you are growing your own, otherwise you are on your own on that one. Ian Finlayson |
