Posted on Monday, 2nd November 2009 by admin
“No weight-loss supplements for me!”
Recommended reading:
Janet Helm at her Nutrition Unplugged blog yesterday wrote about fitness guru Jillian Michaels’ endorsement of highly questionable weight-loss supplements.
Posted on Monday, 2nd November 2009 by admin
Slim Xtreme claims to be the best way for you to burn and completely eliminate fat. They claim that Slim Xtreme will finally make the difference you are looking for actually giving you appetite suppression as well among other things. They claim that this formula will defeat all others.
This being said, whether it comes back or not, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING to know about Slim Xtreme is that it has been “temporarily discontinued.” There are many red flags of a junk product. But while they have sold through multiple third party retailers, should a product ever go “discontinued” or “recalled” among other things, it means that they are not getting the orders, have destroyed their own reputation, or a number of other things.
This being said, even though they are not available now, it’s still fair to assume that they may be “temporarily discontinued” and therefore to look at it just in case. So how does it work? Well it starts out using caffeine and ginseng, ultimately speaking two different forms of caffeine. This being said, caffeine is a potential thermogenic fat burner yes. But that’s not to say it will work. You have to have at least 400mg or any individual caffeine form. They have a grand total of 450mg meant to cover all of their ingredients.
After this, you get two major antioxidants: cocoa and acai. While antioxidants can provide certain benefits, again they don’t provide details and amounts, let alone large amounts, and unfortunately antioxidants do not burn fat. So as you can see, Slim Xtreme will not provide weight loss with that.
Finally, they have an ingredient called cha de bugre. Cha de bugre has been hugely hyped, because it apparently reportedly comes from Brazil. Of course, we like everything Brazilian or foreign for that matter. Case in point: acai. This being said, unlike acai, cha de bugre has not been shown to provide any benefits at all, let alone weight loss. And yes, some have suggested specifically that it be tested for weight loss benefits.
Considering the fact that they have caffeine, you will experience side effects like irregular heartbeat, chest pain, dizziness, headache, nausea, insomnia, mood swings, cramping, constipation, diarrhea, tension, anxiety, and high blood pressure. Yes, this is common. But especially considering the fact that they don’t promote weight loss, there is no asking if it’s worth it.
We would not recommend using Slim Xtreme. There are already so many other options. Frankly speaking, there are other options that don’t use caffeine. There are other options that do use caffeine but actually promote weight loss. And more importantly, there are products that haven’t been discontinued, which is of course a major scar for those who have gone through it. We would recommend therefore using something else that really would actually give you the benefits you’re looking for.
Posted on Saturday, 31st October 2009 by admin
Not sure how to cook butternut squash? Wondering how you’re supposed to cut the squash into cubes when it seems hard as a rock? Read on for some tips on how to cut and cook butternut squash correctly.
Cooking a whole butternut squash is surprisingly easy – and incredibly delicious at the same time! Just cut the squash in half by slicing through it with a chef’s knife. Then scoop out the seeds and pulp on the inside, and place the squash into a baking pan. Smear the top surface with olive oil and season if desired. Cook in a preheated oven on 350 for about an hour, depending on the size of the squash.
After cooking, you can serve each half as its own side dish – if you have enough to give one squash to every two people. Otherwise, you can cut the squash into quarters, or even into wedges. If you’re serving plated meals, you may want to consider placing another side dish into the curve of the wedge for aesthetic appeal. You can also scoop out the flesh of the butternut squash and mash it to use in squash soup, squash soufflé, or squash pie. You can also freeze the mashed squash in ice cube trays as a healthy homemade baby food.
The difficulty arises when making a recipe that calls for peeled and cubed butternut squash. Many cooks have sliced through their fingers trying to cut a squash into perfect cubes. One way, albeit difficult, is to cut the raw squash into smaller pieces and then use a large chef’s knife to hack off the skin. Besides losing some of the squash’s flesh in the process, cutting uniform cubes in this manner is extremely difficult, especially because spaghetti squash is very hard to cut in general.
As an alternative, place the whole squash in boiling water for about five minutes. Then allow the squash to cool. You can then use a regular peeler to remove the peel – now soft – from the squash. Then cube the squash and cook as desired.
Posted on Wednesday, 28th October 2009 by admin
Metabo Speed is a bottle coming with 60 capsules sold on basically all third party retailer websites. They claim that the “celebrity diet pill is here.” They claim that it is an extraordinary metabolic booster and you will be able to burn energy and fat at such a rapid rate to exceed your consumption. They talk about its high quality formula and the idea that it combines only the best of fat burners on the market.
They even go on to claim it was on the Oprah show and featured in New Idea magazine. More likely, an ingredient they claim to use was featured on Oprah. Metabo Speed as a product has never been featured in any major magazine, except for those whom they paid for advertising, and it has certainly never been featured on Oprah.
So how does Metabo Speed Work? It has a blend of extremely popular ingredients that you will see in many other diet pills, in fact ingredients that you will see in just about every other diet pill. So you have to ask yourself, what’s the difference, and why should you buy it again or pay more for that matter?
Metabo Speed starts out with guarana. When combined with damiana and yerba mate, it promotes greater weight loss by slowing the rate at which the stomach empties itself. This being said, they do not actually have that combination. Without those ingredients, guarana has no weight loss effect at all. It is nothing more than a glorified form of caffeine that doesn’t actually burn fat.
Second, they have bitter orange extract otherwise known as synephrine. It has been popularly used as an alternative to ephedra, claiming to be safer. But there have been some cases reported where users of synephrine were actually experiencing some of the same side effects with ultimately speaking this cousin of ephedra. And they haven’t always seen the results desired.
Third, they use green tea. Green tea is one of the most popular fat burners out there. It also has antioxidant power, and it requires at least 400mg if not more to actually see results. This being said, they do not actually have this. They put this in a small 160mg proprietary blend mixed with several other ingredients that take up part of that 160mg. So in short, green tea is not an appropriate option. Their other ingredient known as Korean ginseng root essentially presents the same problem, and both of these cause various caffeine related side effects such as insomnia, jitters, shakiness, racing heartrate, high blood pressure, etc.
Garcinia cambogia is actually quite useful, but only in doses of 1500mg or more. It’s mixed into that 160mg proprietary blend. Even if it were the only ingredient there, it would not measure up. It is largely recognized as a way to block carbs. However, with this particular ingredient, it’s best when mixed with gymnema sylvestre and chromium.
The rest of the ingredients do not pertain to weight loss at all. They include bee pollen, white willow, and vanadium. Yes, they may reduce pain, reduce swelling, and help you to relax. But this does not exactly equate to weight loss. You would just end up wasting time and money on these.
We would not recommend Metabo Speed. They talk about extreme and lasting benefits and weight loss. They talk about the most powerful fat burners. But frankly speaking, they don’t actually have them! They don’t have anything that would suggest that you would actually see any greater results. WE would definitely recommend finding something else.
