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Posts Tagged ‘Fat Loss’

Isolating body parts or complex movements in your resistance training? How to acheive real muscle development.

January 29th, 2009 No comments

By: Brett MacPherson
Working in the fitness industry, You can often see how much people dont understand about the big picture benifits of strength training, when we get the same question all the time. The question usually goes something like:

“what movement can I do to target my ___________ (insert your favorite muscle here: biceps, pecs, lats, tri’s, etc)?

No matter what muscle someone asks about, they will always ask how they can isolate it. They answer to the question is always the same Why on earth do you want to isolate it?

One of the first things I like to teach my clients is that the body works best as a whole using its natural kinetic chain which is a system where parts of the body assist each other to make up a complex movement. The body simply does not move well in isolation, in fact, there really is no such thing as true muscle isolation. Even when doing an “isolation” movement there is almost always a neibouring muscle group that will help in some way to complete the movement. However, in this article we will compare “isolating” body parts with single-joint exercises to the much more effective strategy of using multi-joint complex exercises.

Whenever you isolate muscles by doing single-joint exercises, you are actually training your body to not function as it should and this increases your risk of injury. By using isolation exercises you are creating a body made up of individual muscle groups rather than the strong, functional unit it should be.

If you really want to end up with the joint problems, tendonitis, and excess body fat, that single joint training usually leads to, then please, continue to isolate body parts. Although, if you would rather have a lean, muscular, injury-free, functional body that works as a complete powerful unit to perform complex exercises (in both sports or even everyday tasks), then you need to change your focus away from muscle isolation. Trust me, focusing on how well your body functions will give you a body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on training in isolation. For example, take a look at the physiques of almost any professional athlete. These guys will almost never train with muscle isolation (Their conditioning coaches wouldnt have a job very long if they let them), yet they are absolutely ripped to shreds! Just look at people like Maurice Green or Terrell Owens and tell me who wouldnt want to look like those guys.

Another advantage of moving away from isolation exercises to complex exercises is that it is much easier to lose body fat. This is because focusing more on multi-joint complex exercises instead of single-joint muscle isolation exercises, you not only burn a lot more calories during each workout, but you also increase your metabolic rate, and stimulate production of more fat burning and muscle building hormones like growth hormone and testosterone.

For example, machine leg extension is a single joint exercises that works mainly the quadriceps, this movement can cause knee joint instability long term, and the movement doesnt burn many calories for all that effort. Movements like squats, lunges, step-ups, and deadlifts, on the other hand, are all multi-joint complex exercises that work hundreds of muscles in the body (including the quadriceps) as a complete unit, they all create more stable and strong joints in the long run (when you do them properly), and also burn a huge amount of calories compared to the single-joint exercises.

Article Source:http://www.contentfueled.com

The Truth about How to Burn Holiday Fat

January 29th, 2009 No comments

By: H. Rigsby
Activity is not Achievement
Does the solution really lie in doing more cardio?
Thanksgiving marked the start of a 6-week period where we are
bombarded with strategies to burn off the dreaded holiday
weight gain..
.
The more active you are, the more calories you burn, right?
Sure, but how much time do you have? If moving more is THE
solution, are you ready to make the time to add in the extra
activity?
.
Eat a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream = 450 calories.
Misleading Solution - Brisk Walking, to burn 3-5.7 calories
per minute. So do you have 80 to 150 extra minutes just to
burn this one indulgence off? What about all the other treats
you plan to indulge in over the holidays?
.
Do you want to Maintain or Achieve?
.
“So go ahead and indulge, just plan on some extra time on the
treadmill, and you will be back to your pre-holiday weight.”
This is a quote that is floating around out there! Yes, there
is a difference between maintaining your weight over the
holidays vs. not going overboard, gaining weight only to end up
working your butt off to get back to where you started - if that.
.
Extended periods of cardio offer little return for the precious
time you invest. Beating the holiday bulge is more than how many
calories you burn during a workout. Rather, the solution lies in
increasing and maintaining lean muscle through short burst exercise.
.
Cardio does nothing to increase muscle and in come cases actually
breaks down your muscle! Unlike traditional cardio, short burst
exercise will boost your metabolism and increase the number of
calories your burn 24-7, essentially making your body work for you!
.
Do not abandon the basic principles of Fat Loss during the holidays.
Working longer and harder will not get you faster results. Stop
wasting your time with hours of traditional cardio.
.
Your Holiday Fat Loss Solution lies in moderation and Short Burst
Resistance Training and Intervals. With as little as 90 minutes
a week, you can lose up to 2 pounds of fat. Practice a bit of
balance and moderation and your results will be even greater!
Why wait? Start the New Year at least 10 pounds lighter!

Article Source:http://www.contentfueled.com

How to Make the Healthiest Choice if Junk Food is Your Only Choice

January 27th, 2009 No comments

By: Brett MacPherson
Recently I was out with some friends and they wanted to stop at a junk food Restaurant. I really don’t like junk food, but sometimes everyone else wishes to go there, so you just have to make the best of it and find something reasonably healthy. If you’re required to eat junk-food, here’s a tip to ensure that you’re not doing much damage to your body…ALWAYS AVOID the soft drinks and anything deep fried this includes french fries, hash browns, and anything crumbed like chicken nuggets, chicken patties, or breaded fish burgers. These are all absolutely drenched in damaging trans fats from the industrial hydrogenated vegetable oils they use to fry all of these foods.

Consider, as I’ve said before, I’ve seen studies showing that as little as 1 gram of trans fat per day can have serious degenerative effects on your body like inflammation, blocking and hardening of the arteries, heart disease, different types of cancer…not to mention leading to more fat on your stomach. That’s as little as 1 gram! A typical junk-food meal of a breaded chicken burger (or fish burger), along with an order of fries can have as much as 10 grams of trans fat! Add on a cookie or small portion of pie for dessert (which are commonly made with destructive margarine or shortening), and now you’re up to about 13 grams of trans fat with that whole meal. If 1 gram a day is destroying your body, imagine what 13 grams is doing to it! And this is only one of your meals. Some people are consuming 20-30 grams of trans fat per day, and not even realising what they’re doing to their bodies internally. Please realise that no-one, I mean NO-ONE, is looking out for your Body, with the exception of YOU.

Back to the idea of how to avoid this junk and eat a reasonably decent meal on the unusual event that you’re forced to eat junk-food. As for drinks, avoid the soft drinks…they’re nothing but highly processed high fructose corn syrup which will just end up as more belly fat. Water is always the best thing to drink, but if you need something with taste, try unsweetened iced tea. At breakfast, a good idea is an egg, ham, and cheese on an english muffin (not on a croissant, which is full of dangerous trans fats!), or a fruit %26 nut salad. At lunch or dinner, the best ideas are a grilled chicken sandwich, the chili, a grilled chicken salad without croutons (again…croutons = more trans fats), or even just a normal cheeseburger. The major take-away idea from this little junk-food piece is that the worst things at most junk food restaurants are the soft drinks and anything that is deep fried.

For any of you that have seen the movie “Super-Size Me”, you saw how eating junk food every day was very bad for the guys health, but did you notice the one guy that was the king of eating big macs (or something like that)? I don’t recall what kind of burger it was, but this guy has eaten these junk food burgers almost every day of his life for the past 30 years. Did you see that he said that he almost never eats the fries or soft drinks, even though he eats the burgers every day? And he’s not necessarily overweight. Now I’m not telling you that junk-food burgers that are made with their processed white bread and low quality beef and cheese are the best thing to eat, but the idea is…it’s the fries and sodas that are the genuine health disaster.

So if you’re out at one of these restaurants, remember these tips and choose wisely!

From 2006 Mcdonalds has added a nutrition label to all of their food packages. Remember that as little as one gram of trans may negitively affect your body and now you can actually see how many grams of trans fat you’re eating right on the food wrapper. You can now make the right decisions and look after your body.

Article Source:http://www.contentfueled.com

Obesity and Diabetes

January 26th, 2009 No comments

By: wan mohd hirwani wan hussain
The health dangers of severe obesity are well documented and can researched everywhere from the internet. Words like globesity and diabesity are evidence that show of the growing impact of the body-fat disease. Moreover this statistics also show that severely obese patients only have little chance of opportunity to losing weight using conventional diets. But, this does not mean that the surgery or treatment will be a solution for obesity. Long term studies have show that patients have fail to maintain any significant weight loss, and many patients regain all the weight they lose.

Always keep in mind that the weight loss surgery must be taken serious undertaking. You should clearly understand the pros and cons associated with the procedures before making a decision Patients who have realistic expectations, a positive attitude and, above all, a genuine commitment to making lifelong changes in their attitude to food and exercise, typically achieve much better results.

For some people, weight loss surgery helps by restricting food intake or interrupting digestive processes. Severe obesity is a chronic condition that is very difficult to treat.

Morbid obesity or clinically severe obesity

Any BMI measurement over the normal weight range is considered either medically overweight, obese, morbidly obese or morbidly obese II (Again, your BMI depends on several factors).It is a disease of excess energy stores in the form of fat. Morbid obesity correlates with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 kg/m2 or with being 100 pounds overweight. As a rule of measure, people with a BMI of 18.5 kg/m2 to 24.9 kg/m2 are within the normal weight range when considering sex, height, age and other factors.
Fighting your weight

A recent national study was done using two groups of sedentary men, one group in their 20’s and the other over age 65. If you want to reduce your body fat, focus on increasing the amount of exercise you get rather than decreasing your food intake. Not surprisingly, the most sedentary men had the most body fat. A lot was learned from this accumulated data and it is interesting to note that there was a significant relationship between lack of physical activity and fat.

People battle to losing weight everyday. Some of them spend most of their life doing it in order to keep them healthier and feel younger but fail to do so. In fact, it is sad that because the statistics show that that very few people will actually end up losing weight and fail to make any permanent changes in their lives.

There are some things that you should keep in mind when you begin your next trip down weight loss lane. Always learn from the past about and find out what motivates you. Keep working it in order to resolve barriers that might prevent success.

Article Source:http://www.contentfueled.com

How to Lose Belly Fat?

January 24th, 2009 No comments

By: David Done
If you want to know how to lose belly fat(http://www.turbulencetraining.com/fat-loss/index.shtml), here are three simple tips that have helped thousands of men and women lose well over 53,731 pounds of belly fat with the Turbulence Training workout programs.

The first tip is to find the right diet for your personality. You should eat whole, natural foods no matter what your diet, but you can choose between eating 5-6 small meals per day, or eating 3 meals and 2 small snacks, or by using the intermittent fasting solution called Eat Stop Eat.

All three of those diet approaches are safe, fast, and effective ways of burning stomach fat. In fact, if you want to know how to lose belly fat, you just have to remember the simple equation that you need more calories going out (exercise) than you have coming in. These diet approaches help you control the calories in portion.

By eating whole, natural foods you help to control the hormones in your body that determine how much belly fat you pack on and how much you can lose. You lower insulin levels, and that is very important because insulin is a fat storage hormone. If you want to know how to lose belly fat, it helps to control insulin.

If you eat whole, natural foods you will lose belly fat without having an empty stomach. Youll stay full, energetic, and alert all day long. That is one of the benefits of the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss Nutrition(http://www.turbulencetraining.com/fat-loss/nutrition.shtml) System.

After youve arranged your diet to help you lose belly fat, you need to focus on two types of exercise, and no, slow cardio is not one of them. In fact, research shows time and time again that not only is slow cardio ineffective for fat loss(http://www.turbulencetraining.com/fat-loss/fat-loss.shtml), but that interval training is how to lose belly fat.

Interval training includes a normal warm-up, followed by alternating short (90 seconds or less) periods of hard exercise and easy exercise. Repeat this hard-easy system 6 times and finish up with a regular cool-down. That is the simplest way to do interval training, and it works.

Research from Australia shows that when compared head to head, interval training is better at burning belly fat than slow cardio.

The other type of exercise you must include if you want to know how to lose belly fat is called resistance training. And I dont mean lifting soup cans at home. That is the politically correct way of exercising for fat loss, but it doesnt work.

You need to do politically-incorrect resistance training to lose belly fat, and that includes working hard in supersets and doing exercises like pushups, squats, and planks. You can do all of those at home with the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss Workouts. For more information, grab your copy and one years worth of workouts at TurbulenceTraining.com.

If you want to know how to lose belly fat, the truth is you cant ignore diet, interval training or resistance training. The whole, natural foods diet and three workouts of resistance training and interval training is all you need each week to burn belly fat forever.

Article Source:http://www.contentfueled.com

Is aerobic training Really Necessary?

January 23rd, 2009 No comments

By: Brett MacPherson
My goal with this piece is to hopefully get you thinking differently about aerobic exercise, and to try new ideas.

You may have seen my other articles and may be thinking that I am not a fan of aerobic exercise, but I want you to honestly ask the query “do I really need aerobic exercise, to burn fat and get in shape?%26#65533; Also hopefully by the end of this piece you will see that I am not against aerobic exercise, just the traditional aerobic exercise.

Most exercise buffs, weekend warriors, or anybody trying to get in shape or burn body fat, believe its the truth that they need “aerobic” exercise to accomplish these goals. They would never even doubt it. However, I am not only questioning it, I am going to refute it! In fact, you may be stunned to know that some of the leanest and meanest people I know (men and women), NEVER do any form of customary or traditional aerobic exercise. In addition, I have over 15 years experience training in different gyms, and spending time with athletes of all sorts, so I have seen it all. I will say that there can be a place for low-moderate level aerobic exercise for genuinely overweight or deconditioned people, but even in these situations, there can be methods that are more helpful.

But what precisely is “aerobic” exercise? Most people would consider aerobic exercise to be pumping away mindlessly on a treadmill, riding a stationary bike, or coasting on an elliptical trainer, while watching the TV at their state of the art gym. This is what I call “traditional aerobic exercise”. No surprise most people get bored with their workouts and give up after a few months without acheiving real results.

However, if you look closer, “aerobic exercise” can be considered any type of exercise or activity that strengthens the cardiovascular system. I am not going to get into something technical like increasing your VO2 max or anything like that. To keep it easy, if it gets your heart pumping, and gets you huffing and puffin, it is aerobic exercise. I do not care if you are using dumbbells or a barbell and people call it a resistance training exercise…it’s still conditioning your heart.

Let’s look at a couple examples. Take a barbell (or dumbbell, or kettlebell) clean %26 press for example, which involves lifting a barbell from the floor up to shoulders, then push pressing overhead. And listen up ladies, as even though this is generally seen as a manly exercise, it does not matter if you’re not lifting 250 lbs; if 45 lbs is challenging to you, then you will still gain just as much. At first glance, most people think of the barbell C%26P only as a resistance training exercise or strength exercise. However, I challenge you to do a hard set of around 10-15 reps on the C%26P. If you used a challenging enough resistance, what you’ll find is that your heart rate is possibly up to about 80-90% of your recommended max, and you are huffing and puffing like you just ran a 100-meter race (which by the way, sprinting kicks the crap out of jogging any day if you want the easiest way to burn the flab).

Try the same thing for a set of 20 reps of one-arm snatches or swings with each arm with a kettlebell or dumbbell, and tell me your legs aren’t burning, heart racing, and you’re panting for breath. How about attempting 5 minutes straight of bodyweight squats, lunges, and pushups with very little rest. Again, notice your heart pounding, sweat pouring off of you, and chest heaving for breaths!

Try and tell me you’re not conditioning your heart with this style of exercise! Conventional thinking says that these are weight training or strength training exercises. However, they are fulfilling your aerobic exercise needs as well.

Not only can you save heaps of time with these whole body movements, but also you are strengthening and developing most of the muscles in your body if you can do them with enough intensity. That is something that cannot be done with the boring long slow aerobic exercise programs done on a stationary bike or treadmill while reading or watching TV. In reality, not concentrating on what you are doing like what happens when you watch TV or read while working out, does not allow you to train with enough intensity for most people to get real results.

I want you to take a challenge for the next month or two, take a rest from your traditional aerobic exercise program and start using the much more effective methods mentioned above and as show in detail in the internationally-selling Truth about Six pack Abs Program. If you do this you will see how quickly you will start getting leaner, more defined, and your six pack starting to show through what used to be stubborn stomach fat deposits.

Article Source:http://www.contentfueled.com

How Fat Loss 4 Idiots Works?

January 20th, 2009 No comments

By: John Smitheng
This popularity of fat loss for idiots diet program has been noticed over a time of period since it states that in 11 days a person can loose 9 lbs. We have seen many fat loss 4 idiots reviews, which surely answers several questions like is Fat Loss 4 idiots a scam? But many readers still show curiosity in knowing how exactly fat Loss 4 idiots works!

Fat Loss 4 idiots have got appreciation from many people who have gone through this program for loosing weight. After they have gone through it they are very happy and satisfied with the output. They have given positive comments about this diet program.

These people who have tried Fat Loss 4 idiots had beforehand gone through many other such weight loss programs but had got no results as to what they had wished for. And because of this reason they got dejected and depressed.

The best point of this program is that you don’t have to starve yourself to death as it gives you a diet according to your comfort. You can choose what you want to eat during the 11 day schedule. Fat Loss 4 idiots gives you the liberty to pick up the type of food that you like to eat and then accordingly sets the menu for the time that you would be in the dieting program.

The most important aim of Fat Loss 4 idiots is to let you eat the proper food of your choice each day. You can decide on what type of food you would like to eat during the program and make a diet list of your own. This food will help you to loose calories by giving the correct quantity to the hormones that burns fat so that you loose weight quickly.

According to Fat Loss 4 idiots diet plan you can take meal four times a day and whenever you want to. There is no limit to the amount of food that you would like to have. In fact this program allows people to eat till they are full. In this diet program you don’t have to count on the calories.

Because of all the reasons mentioned earlier it becomes easy for a person to follow the diet plan. Though people who have gone through Fat Loss 4 idiots may not have lost 9 lbs in 11 days but still they have manage to loose at least 5-6 lbs which is also no less. Fat Loss 4 idiots makes the metabolism rate of your body go high by changing calories so that the body gets confused and looses weight.

People who have under gone this program have given lot of Fat Loss 4 idiots reviews.
The other good thing about Fat Loss 4 idiots is that it is affordable by all those who want to loose weight seriously. The fee of this program is just $39 or so and with this positive outcome is guaranteed, so free your minds from queries like ‘is Fat Loss 4 idiots a scam’? And trust the words of several Fat Loss 4 idiots reviews. Fat Loss 4 idiots can be ordered online and the process is very simple, simple as for every idiot!

Article Source:http://www.contentfueled.com

My Best Meal for Growing New Muscle

January 20th, 2009 No comments

By: Brett MacPherson
In this article I wanted to show you how to make one of my favourite meals to help create more muscle. Salads are rarely recommended to create muscle but just to be different here is one for you. Most women I know eat salads regularly, but I think many men think that eating a salad will turn them a bit more girly. I expecthope to change that with my ultimate muscle building salad.

Before you make this you need to know this is not a light salad, its not low in calories, fat or carbs.

But this is the entire idea! This salad is not light on anything, it is however very heavy on heaps of foods that are splendid for your growing body. You need to give your body everything it needs to stay in hormone stability, work at its best, satisfy your hungar, fuel your workouts, and to prevent cravings, this salad helps do this.

When you give your body what it needs on a regular basis, cravings should disappear completely, as you are now genuinely satisfied and your body wont require to crave more food as it has all the stuff it needs now. This is something I have some personal experience with, years ago when I originally started working out I would get cravings for sugar all the time. With my current balanced diet, I cant remember the last time I had a craving. NO KIDDING.

Ok so heres how to make the ultimate muscle building salad:

about 1-2 cups spinach leaves
about 1-2 cups varied leaf lettuce
shredded carrots
1/2 of a ripe avocado, diced
2 hard boiled eggs, diced (organic, free range is best)
3 Tbsp chopped pecans
1/4 cup dried cranberries
top with homemade dressing made of balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and Udo’s Choice Oil (3/4 of total liquid should come from the
vinegar)

Mix it all up and you’ve got one delicious and insanely nutritious salad. Heres the macronutrient breakdown:

Protein: 23 g, Carbohydrates: 48 g, Fiber: 12 g, Fat: 45 g, Calories: 650

Before you click off this page in anger for me telling you to eat such a high calorie and fat meal, you have to remember to adjust your own portion size for your goal. This portion size is for me to maintain an intake of around 3000 calories if you are eating about 2000 calories for example just scale back the meal size.

Another thing to know about this meal is that I truly don’t worry about how much fat is in it, as I know all the fat used in this meal is wholesome and will be put to splendid use by my body. Now for the carbohydrates. In this meal there is 12 grams of fibre in a total of 48 grams of carbs, I have no trouble with this ratio. A splendid advantage of this meal is that the good fats and the protein act to slow down the absorption of the carbs, leading to a good blood sugar reaction which helps to maintain your weight.

The bodybuilders among you may be thinking there should be more protein in this meal. There is about 23 grams of protein in the salad which is quite good, with 14 grams from the easily digested source in the eggs. The meal also has lots of wholesome fats which increase the use of the protein as the
body wont need to use your protein for energy and can now use it exclusively for muscle building and anything else it needs to do with amino acids in the body.

This meal overall has a splendid mix of good low GI carbs which are high in fibre, wholesome fats, good quality protein and lots of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other things important to your body

Article Source:http://www.contentfueled.com

Natural Weight Loss And Weddings

January 19th, 2009 No comments

By: Priya S
Wedding is the most important occasion in anyones life. When you are planning for your wedding, it appears as if your whole life is moving at a very fast pace at some times, and extremely slow at other times. The same thing happens when you are trying to lose weight for your wedding day. While trying to loose weight just before wedding day has become very common thing, as most people want to look as fabulous as possible on their special day, it should be done in a very natural way. In Many weeding parties people are found trying to squeeze into small dresses to look at their best as they think they can look. But, often, this is happens at the expense to their bodies and overall well-being. Weight loss should never be a rush-rush thing. It should happen as naturally and slowly as possible.

Natural weight loss is a much safer and healthier way to lose weight for your wedding day, or any special occasion. Losing weight should not be dependent on all types of new drugs or expensive equipment. In fact, being dependent on such things can actually be a hindrance for long-term weight loss success.

Here are a few ways to be considered to make your wedding day weight loss goals happen naturally:

1. Do not use drugs to lose weight. Instead of harmful drugs, try to start with a natural body cleansing, which can be done by drinking more water and/or herbal teas. Tea can work as a diuretic and antioxidant, which promotes frequent urination which can help to rid your body of certain unwanted free radicals and toxins. Start eating more fiber rich foods like green vegetables and fruits which can help you to eliminate more waste from your body, allowing the body to cleanse itself naturally. With a clean bowel and intestine, you will lose some weight and your body will be prepped for a more healthier regimen.

2. Do not make unfairly high weight loss goal. Don’t make yourself think that you have to lose enough weight to be the skinniest person at the wedding. Consider the ultimate purpose and goal of your weight loss, your body type, and the rewards of a real plan to lose weight for the long haul. Trying to loose weight too fast can definitely cause much more harm than good. The faster you lose it, the faster you may gain it back. Chalk out a plan that will work consistently over a specified period of time.

3. Find support. Whether it is for motivation for with sticking to an exercise program or for encouragement to eat better, if you feel that you cannot go it alone, get help. There are many organizations that foster positive, natural weight loss ideals that you can live by. These groups will give be there for you emotionally during this time as you make a personal commitment to lose the weight. If you need more assistance with developing or incorporating an effective exercise plan into your life, then you should seek out a personal trainer. Some gyms offer them free of charge, while others charge an hourly fee. Don’t let the cost scare you away from utilizing a personal trainer. The results of that added support will be priceless.

Whenever we prepare for life changes, we sometimes want a quick fix to make the transition go smoother. The same holds true with wedding day weight loss. However, a quick fix is not always the best solution. So, as you prepare for an awesome wedding day, and hopefully, and even more fantastic wedding night, take the same care and planning for your weight loss. Looking good can be a natural thing.

Article Source:http://www.contentfueled.com

Are Energy Drinks Ok For Building Energy Or Just a Big Stomach?

January 17th, 2009 No comments

By: Brett MacPherson
I often get questions about the different energy drinks on the shelves these days. They are very popular with young people and make some almost crazy claims that you will have a lot of energy, exellent athletic performance and so on.

In my mind I have to ask:

Do they really provide energy or is it just a temporary fake energy?
Are they alright for the body?
What actually is their “energy” formula?
Will they help you decrease fat?

To begin, lets look at whats in the majority of these drinks. The key ingredients are often carbonated water loaded with stomach fattening high fructose corn syrup, the amino acid taurine, caffeine, different random B-Vitamins to show you there is something healthy in there.

The big problem with high fructose corn syrup is it is simply wasted calories, which tends to turn straight to fat on your stomach. High fructose corn syrup is actually far worse than plain processed sugar.

If these drinks have a reduced sugar or sugar free variety, there is another problem you need to be aware of. The artificial chemicals which artificial sweeteners are made of are harmful to your body. Another problem with artificial sweeteners is that many researchers have shown that they lead people to consume more calories without realising it, leading to more weight gain long term. This is a whole new discussion so I wont go into much more detail in this article, but you should trust me that chemicals in your food are never a good idea.

Ok so what does the caffeine do? Many people believe that caffeine gives them energy but this is not really the case. The only real thing that can provide is the calories from protein, fat and carbs. Caffeine is however used as a pep up or to wake people up, it does this through the stimulation of the central nervous system, and does this at a cost to your body requiring more rest to recover. We should remember however, that the more you drink caffeine the less “energy” you will get from it anyway.

If you want to get some caffeine, you can use a more natural source like tea (green, white or oolong). These teas also provide beneficial antioxidants.

Now lets take a look at the formula using b-vitamins and the amino acid taurine in these drinks. Taurine is not particularly unique you can get it from almost any protein source, and the majority of b-vitamins just make for yellow urine. Vitamins are always best obtained from real natural food, they are not properly used when added artificially to foods and drinks.

As you can now see, I believe you should never use these drinks. If you are looking for more energy it would be better to make your own using iced teas (green, white or oolong), a bit of 100% pure berry or pomegranate juice and you may use some non-denatured whey protein.

I hope this article has set straight some of the myths surrounding these drinks and their marketing, use this information so you can make better decisions about the health of your body.

Article Source:http://www.contentfueled.com