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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Symptoms of High Blood Sugar

By Brian V Shortt

Symptoms of elevated blood sugar are very significant to know for anyone who is a risk for diabetes or diseases associated to blood glucose levels that are out of range. Read this article to learn five significant signs of high blood glucose levels. While all of these symptoms at the same time are not telltale signs of diabetes, they can alert you to a potential problem.

Signs of high blood sugar

1) Fatigue Fatigue occurs as soon as your the glucose in your body is not properly being converted to energy. The effect is that the loss of energy in your body makes you tired.

2) Increased urination When there is surplus blood glucose in the bloodstream, and the body cannot convert the blood sugar to energy, it is processed through the urinary tract. Increased urination can be a symptom of high blood sugar and is generally a result of the person consuming more fluids due to increased thirst.

3) Vaginal Yeast Infections (in women) Increased glucose levels additionally affects the urinary tract. Not merely is yeast infection a sign of high concentration of blood glucose, someone with high glucose levels in their body is also at danger for urinary tract infections, kidney infections, as well as kidney stones.

4) Increased Thirst This is due to the brain's response to the surplus sugar. It reacts by making the body thirsty so that the bloodstream can be watered down, resulting in an attempt to lower the blood sugar concentration.

5) Blurred Vision Blurred vision as a result of increased glucose levels can lead to more serious diseases of the eye such as diabetic retinopathy which results from damage to the retinal blood vessels from prolonged periods of elevated blood sugar.

Observe that these symptoms of high blood glucose may or may not occur in any combination. The root cause of these signs is that the surplus glucose in the bloodstream has thickened, resulting in various organs responding to the excess sugar.

Untreated elevated glucose levels (or hyperglycemia can result) can result in the hardening of the arteries due to the excess levels of glucose in the blood which causes destruction to vessels. The longer the signs of high blood sugar go unchecked, the more likely damage that is done to one's organs (and body). The good news also is that if you are able to get your blood glucose levels under control, you may be able to reverse any adverse affects that prolonged periods of high blood sugar have had on your body. - 17268

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A Beginners Guide To Juicing

By John Chan

It is not uncommon to make the decision to buy a juicer because you want to take the steps toward a healthier lifestyle. And while juicing is a great way to supply your body with the necessary nutrition required for vibrant living, it can be confusing when you don't know where to start. If you are not normally a fruits and vegetable person, it can get difficult knowing what ingredients to use when you don't know whether you would enjoy the taste.

There are free juicer recipes all over the internet as well as books available written by health nuts for want to be health nuts like yourself. The best recipes for a beginner will always be the simplest using the most common household ingredients. Find recipes that use vegetables and fruits you enjoy eating most.

The fruits and vegetables that you actually like to eat, however few and far in between they may be, makes juicing that much easier to begin. You use those ingredients as your base and expand upon it. Soon you will be looking forward to trying what you now are considering weird produce.

It is easiest for most people to start with fruit juice because of the relatively high sugar content which makes it taste sweet. The taste of vegetable juice, for the most part, might take some acquiring. It is okay to go slow and work with ingredients you are most comfortable with.

Carrots make the base of most vegetable juices because they are one of the sweet vegetables and mix well with greens. Try doing straight carrot juice and see how your body responds to that. Then mix celery, beetroot, and some cucumber to change things up a bit. It is personal preference and that is why experimenting is so useful in making your juicing experience more wholesome.

There are some juicer recipes that are neither fruit juices nor vegetables juices, but a combination of both. One such recipes calls for carrots and oranges to be juiced in combination with tomato and apples. These fruits and vegetables create the perfect complement to each others flavors. It uses common ingredients so there are no strange tastes but a blend to get you used to other vegetables tastes you will experience in the future.

The important thing about juicing, or just eating in general for that matter, is variety. Mix up the ingredients each time and try new juicer recipes. Expand this practice to your solid food world as well and try foods you never tried before. This helps you to digest a variety of nutrients that you may never know you were deprived of. - 17268

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Five Fat Loss Mistakes People Make

By Tomuse Gospuse

There are five big mistakes people make during their workouts. I watch a lot of people do this all the time. Don't make these same mistakes and you will have no problem losing fat.

1. No social support

Exercising without any support behind you will be tough. Support from your family members, close friends, or your physician is a lot of help and will motivate you more to losing fat. Get at least 1 or 2 people out of those groups who was successful in losing fat that will support you.

2. Not using a program

How do you approach the gym? Do you walk in thinking about where to start and what you are going to do today? You are wasting your time. A plan needs to be made so that you know what you are going to work on. Stay with the plan, now whenever you enter the gym you know exactly what is going to be done.

3. Staying with the same workout for more than 4 weeks

The longest you should stay with the same workout program is 4 weeks. Don't stay with a workout program longer than 4 weeks especially if you have not received the results you want. Change it up a bit frequently so that you will get great results and have more fun at the gym.

4. Not taking it into consideration that nutrition is a big part to losing fat as well

Diet and nutrition is a big part in losing fat. Eating right is an important factor for fat loss. You can't just go to the gym bust it out training like an animal and still eat junk food. That way you won't see the fat loss your looking for. Your diet is as important as your training. Consume natural whole foods, 6 meals a day (medium sized). Take in plenty of protein, vegetables and fiber. Eat fats that is good for you, stay away from trans fat. Also drink a lot of water. It is simple and yet effective.

5. Not knowing their limit to exercising

I always get asked by people if adding more lifting and cardio to their workout is good, no it isn't. People get this crazy idea that if they add more cardio and lifting to their training it would be even better for them. Doing so is not advised.

Your body can breakdown to fast from too much exercise, especially when you are dieting. Over training and low calories do not go together. This type of combo will not make your engine run at optimum performance.

Aim for quality not quantity in your workouts. For quite a bit of reasons stay with good quality training and a good quality diet. All that really is important is the results you get not the tiredness of your muscles or the tiredness after each workout. What's important is quality exercises and nutrition. You are aiming for a healthier good looking body that you can be proud of. - 17268

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Begin A Healthy Life Right Away

By Marcus Werthan

How many times in your lifetime have you thought: Starting from tomorrow I will change my eating habits! I will give up all the fat food; I will give up alcohol or cigarettes and live a healthy life. I think this must have happened at least once for all of us. Unfortunately few of us did have the courage to get the work started.

Magazines, friends, commercials, they all bring forward lots of diets to follow so we can loose weight in a few weeks. Even though it is hard to choose from one of them, you must pay really good attention when you do that. It may seem great to have a healthy body in a month tops. But as it said, it must be too good to be that easy. Side effects come with the diet.

When Im talking about side effects, I talk about the appearance of cellulite, the skin ageing, the hair loss and maybe even the degradation of the immune system. It is vital to follow a diet that is supervised by a nutritionist, because some of the side effects are observed in time and may not appear immediately.

In order to loose weight, you should ask a nutritionist for the proper way of achieving it. He is the only one that really knows how to organize your meals so that the lack of some ingredients wont cause terrible loss for your body. When keeping a diet, you shouldnt forget your bodys needs of nutrients. That is why your diet should include proteins, fat acids and carbohydrates. The amount of weight that is safe to loose each month is somewhere around 4-6 pounds.

There is something, though, that you could do by your self, without asking for a specialists advice. This is eating ecological food and doing some physical exercise each day. More that 70% of diseases can be prevented with a healthy eating habit and a few daily exercises. There are some ingredients and products that must never be forgotten from your every days meals. Fruits, vegetables, integral cereals, olive oil are some of the products that our body most needs. Also consume fish, at least twice a week because it helps preventing cardiovascular affections and keeping the cholesterol in normal parameters.

I have spoken about eating habits, but in order to have a healthy living they are just not enough. To have a completely healthy body, we need to take care of our physics, not only of our internal functionality. A good way of life includes some weekly physical exercise. Even if you dont have the time to spend at the gym, or at the swimming pool, or jogging, you surely will find the right time to take a long walk. Do this at least three times a week, and you will grow your body happier and happier as time goes by.

Since todays speed of living is increasing more and more, we find it hard to maintain a healthy life. Precisely this speed of living is doing us harm and us must protect ourselves. Do an effort and make time for some healthy habits until is not too late. It is hard for everybody, but if theres will, theres a way. - 17268

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How To Stop Acne Properly

By Jason Cartwright

Acne is the curse for numerous young persons' and grown-ups' survival and a lot of us would like to be familiar with how to stop acne swiftly. Life is full of tensions and tackling the world with a damaged skin texture makes life even more complex. In spite of the fact that there is no therapy for acne, dermatologists have made major advances in the healing of acne vulgaris.

Most dermatologists should be able to offer you a skin care program tailored for your skin type. Dermatology has also used cosmetics technology to treat acne beyond the typical antibiotics and creams. Nowadays blue light therapy, dermabrasion, and laser treatment are a few of the modern acne treatments at home.

These days you can learn how to stop acne naturally, with medicine, and even with surgery. The hardest part is using the ideal treatment for your circumstances. Acne differs from person to person, but there are some more common acne remedies available that usually work.

Prescription Acne Remedies

Beyond natural ways to cure acne, medicinal acne cures are very common and are made up of lotions and prescription drugs. The lotions and creams like Retin-A, Duac and Differin gel contain vitamin A, salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide which all aid in the treatment of whiteheads, blackheads, pimples, wrinkles and even sun damaged skin in adults struggling with acne.

Oral medications include antibiotics such as Tetracycline and Erythromycin and oral isotretinoins like Accutane. Long term use of antibiotics can make acne more resistant to treatment and can make the patient more resistant to antibiotics. Accutane has side effects such as severe depression and birth defects. All the prescription acne remedies have side effects and it is important to watch for these and report them to your dermatologist when figuring out how to stop acne.

Cosmetic Acne Remedies

An ever popular acne cure where traditional treatment meets cosmetic procedures is cosmetic dermatology. This involves a number of treatments, such as laser treatment, chemical peels, facials and dermabrasion. With laser procedures, pulse lasers are targeted on the skin to slow down the production of sebum, and therefore aid in how to cure pimples.

Using photodynamic therapy, better known as blue light treatment, for a way how to stop acne, a particular type of light is aimed at the infected area on the skin to get rif of acne-inducing germs. This type of acne cure can be used on recent acne breakout and even for clearing ance scars, making it a fantastic substitute for your typical acne cures.

Natural Acne Medicines

If you never knew this, water is one of the top natural acne treatments at home. By consuming over 8 glasses of water daily, it helps to detoxify your body, and lower the chances of your pores getting clogged with sebum and dirt.

Another helpful way how to stop acne at home is to eat more raw vegetable and fruit. These foods are loaded with nutrients and water that are great for the skin. Being able to lower your stress levels and working out on a regular basis also promotes healthy skin.

Exercise - one of the natural ways to cure acne - facilitates the body to flush out toxins and normalizes all the body's parts, including the skin. While stress itself is not believed to cause acne, hormones can exaggerate the condition. For that reason, organizing stress can facilitate to adjust its hormones consequently avoiding acne flare-ups. Natural, contemporary acne medicines include aloe vera gel, zinc, and vitamins A, C, and E.

As you can see, there are a number of ways how to stop acne. But to reduce the side-effects, it is always best to try a natural cure first, before relying on medication or cosmetic surgery. - 17268

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Have You Found Out About Blue Light Acne Treatment?

By Jason Cartwright

Have you ever thought of trying blue light acne treatment for your acne? Though this skin condition is not fatal, it can cause serious damage to both teen and adult skin, and ruin your self-image.

Since acne is so widespread, there are a number of acne cure treatment methods, all promising the same results. One such highly specialized treatment has been introduced by dermatologists where acne and its scars can be cleared cosmetically.

One of the most modern methods in cosmetic dermatology is blue light acne treatment, or photodynamic therapy. Patients sit or lie down in front of the blue light for approximately 15-30 min intervals per week for 3 to 8 weeks or more depending on the severity of acne. The narrow-intensity blue light wavelength helps to eradicate acne-causing bacteria.

Occasionally Levulan - an ointment - is applied during the acne light treatment. This cream may cause your skin to redden and then crust, but it is said to aid in the reduction of acne and any scars. Photodynamic therapy may have been around since the seventies, but it has only recently been used as an acne treatment.

So why should you use blue light acne treatment?

Though blue light acne treatment is still new and its future side-effects unknown, there are a number of clear benefits to this type of skin care.

Number one - this type of acne treatment clinic is ideal for patients that have severe side-effects from other treatments. For example - antibiotics to cure acne are usually taken for a long period of time, which has the effect of your body resisting any other antibiotics and putting you at risk of infection. Accutane - a popular acne treatment - is known to make some patients depressed and suicidal, and cause birth defects.

A second pro of blue light acne treatment is that patients don't have to deal with the every day hassle of remembering to take medications or make use of topical ointments.

Thirdly, this acne cure treatment is a good alternative for people who have not had success with other cures. If your body resists acne antibiotics or ointments, at least you now have another option.

Number four - Light acne treatment now comes in handy kits that you can use in the comfort of your home. With a choice of blue or red light, these kits are a cheaper, but less effective option to expensive clinics.

Blue light acne treatment is only one of the many acne cures available. Before you waste money and risk your health trying antibiotics or various treatments, it is always best to try a natural cure for acne first. - 17268

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Are There Cod Liver Oil Benefits?

By Peter Bertonich

For quite some years it has been accepted wisdom that cod liver oil is good for you. Maybe it was your grandmother who first told you about the benefits of cod liver oil.

Is this the case? Are there cod liver oil benefits or is it a myth? Has modern science confirmed that there are indeed cod liver oil benefits? And are there risks to taking cod liver oil?

Yes your grandmother was right, even though science may not have known then that there were good reasons for taking cod liver oil supplements.

The majority of the benefits of cod liver oil relate to the Omega 3 content, because of course cod liver oil has Omega 3 fats in it. And as you would know if you have read some of our other information there is a wide range of benefits from adding some more Omega 3 to your diet.

And there's vitamins too like vitamins D and A. Vitamin D has a role in helping prevent osteoporosis, as it helps process calcium.

But vitamin A is another question, there are now considered to be risks associated with too much vitamin A, and cod liver oil has quite a lot. In the UK it isn't now recommended to take cod liver oil and pregnant women are warned against it in the US.

So as well as cod liver oil benefits there are risks too. Yes it's got good Omega 3 fats, but vitamin A is a bit of an issue.

And there is another risk to taking cod liver oil supplements. It is, as the name suggests, sourced from the livers of cod fish taken from the North Sea. Unfortunately there are issues associated with contamination of fish with various contaminants, including heavy metals, PCBs and mercury. Although levels are not high they are sufficient to be worrying. And the liver accumulates more of these toxins.

They weren't there when your grandmother took here cod liver oil, but they are now.

There is a better way to get cod liver oil benefits without the risks. Taking the best Omega 3 supplements that are clean and don't have the contaminants of cod liver oil, or the vitamin A. This is because the oil comes from the flesh, not the liver, so no vitamin A.

And you can get your vitamin A from vitamin supplements if you really want it, in controlled amounts.

And there are excellent Omega 3 supplements that are free of the contaminants that you may get from cod liver oil. Not all are though.

Yes your grandmother was right, there are cod liver oil benefits. But there are ways to get the benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids without the risks. Take the best Omega 3 supplements and you get the benefits without the risks.

Find out which are the best Omega 3 supplements at my website. - 17268

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Some Bodybuilding Workouts To Get A Muscular Chest

By Ricardo d Argence

There are some common misconceptions when it comes to building muscle for a solid chest. As with any area of the body it take disciplined work of the pectorals to achieve that much desired chiseled look.

A lot of body builders seem to have been taught that bench presses is the best way to get the rock hard chest that they always wanted. There is no doubt that the bench press works out the pectoral muscles, it is not enough to give the bulk chest look that many people are after.

The following are a few simple exercises that can be used to get that well defined chest:

High Cable crossovers. This exercise will work the difficult to reach inner Pecs.

Low Cable crossovers. Another inner pec exercise, the key is the correct amount of tension.

Bench press. Wide grip, your wide spaced handling will work the lower pectoral. Close grip, will work the inner Pecs quite well, however the movement will also work triceps and upper chest.

Dumbbell Flyers: If you really squeeze them together you will be able to work out the inner pectoral muscles. You can also alternate this on a flat bench, decline bench, or incline bench.

Dips. Depending on elbow position, you can work either the inner or the outer Pecs.

In order to avoid reaching a plateau in your muscle building you will want to vary your workout routine. You will also need to make sure that you are getting enough rest, water and nutrition as well.

Nutrition. When you are building muscle, nutrition is as important as weight lifting. When you lift weights, you are actually tearing muscle tissue. To repair the muscle and thereby make it larger your body requires protein and complex carbohydrates. It is also a good idea to increase your vitamin and mineral intake.

It is also extremely important to make sure that you are getting enough water into your system each day. The body needs water to eliminate waste, regulate your body temperature, and to send the nutrition to the cells. The water also acts as a cushion of sots for the joints in your body and it protects your internal organs from damage. Make sure that you increase your water intake above and beyond the normal for when you are strenuously working out.

Another thing that people tend to forget about when they are trying to build muscle is to get enough rest. Even though there are a lot of products out there trying to claim that sleep is something that you will want to avoid, it is untrue. Not only will a lack of sleep affect your ability to gain muscle mass but it could also affect many aspects of your health in general.

During the time you sleep, your body will regenerate and heal itself. If you skip out on your sleep then all of your hard work in the gym was for nothing. You will not only gain the muscle that you want but you will be extremely fatigued and unable to complete future workout sessions.

When you bring all of the above elements together you will be able to truly put your muscles to work for you and have the chest build that you have always wanted. Get enough nutrition, get a lot of sleep, diversify your workout routine and you will make the most of your chest building workouts. - 17268

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Main Reasons Of Lower Back Smarting

By Jim Y Nolan

One of this country's leading medical problems is back pain. It is cited as one of the five most common injuries occurring in the workplace. Some of these, of course come from accidents. However, many are simply preventable. In fact, the vast majority tend to come from stress and strain on your back. It only takes a second to lift something that pulls a muscle in your back. We take a look at some of the more common causes of low back pain.

The lower back consist of five intervertebral discs. These are often referred to as the lumbar. These discs are stacked on top of each other. They are separated by soft tissue, tendons, ligaments and muscles. The bones provide the structure and rigidity while the soft tissue provides for flexibility.

We are more susceptible to problems in the lower back as we age. This is compounded by the changes in our work habits. Many of our work hours are spent sitting in fixed positions. This is especially true for those who work on computers.

Flexibility is your lower back is its most important asset. Especially, maintaining the flexibility of the soft tissues between the cervical disc bones. These areas must maintain the ability to transmit weight between the upper and lower body. This requires strength and flexibility.

Some of the more common causes of lower back pain are muscle strain, injury and overuse. Lower back pain is interesting because small strain causes the other muscles and disc to take up the slack. If something is injured, the other areas of the body must make up for this reduced capability.

Another impact to the low back is strain and tension to the muscles of the spine. This is often referred to as myofascial pain. This occurs when there is more stress put on this area than usual. This may come from being seated in a certain position or from overexertion and sometimes injury.

If we sit for long hours, the weight of our body is absorbed by the spinal column. If these it in and improper position, the weight may be concentrated in certain areas. This can cause fatigue to the soft tissues and muscles between the cervical discs. As these areas fatigue, they become stiff and begins to hurt.

Many people sustain a small injury to their lower back generally; they just hope that it passes. However, many of these situations cause the spine to become out of ballots. The person will actually begin to change their posture and adjust to the effect of the injury. It is important to see these changes occurring and to take proper corrective action before injury occurs.

Doctor's classify lower back pain into two separate categories. There is acute back pain and chronic back pain. Acute is milder and usually lasts a few days to a few months. Chronic is more severe and can last months to years.

Acute back pain generally comes from damaged muscles, tendons, or ligaments. It generally strikes a person suddenly. This may be the result of lifting too much weight or a sudden movement of the body. These are generally treated with anti-inflammatory drugs, chiropractic manipulation, exercise and massage therapy.

If you suffer from lower back pain, you should seek out natural treatments if at all possible. Stretching exercise and massage chair therapy can be very therapeutic and relieving of pain and discomfort. Check with your medical professional as to your situation and they are recommendations.

Most of the common causes of acute back pain are preventable. Make sure you have proper ergonomic seating, maintain proper posture and advised by proper lifting techniques. These will go along way to preventing injury to your back. Also maintain a proper diet, exercise frequently and relieve stress with a relaxing massage. - 17268

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A Great 6 Pack Workout And What You Have To Do To Get It

By Gerald Holt

In this busy self absorbed world of ours, one of the main foci for a lot of us is how we look to the rest of the world and their reaction to how we look. In that category falls the world of fitness, toned bodies, and firm flat abs. For most men, having a set of pronounced 6 pack abs is the ultimate in looking like a god, and as close to being Adonis as they can get.

When you hear the expression "abs" or 6 pack abs, the speaker is referring to the sets of muscle groups that surround the abdominal area of the human body and control the motion for that part of the body. There are several groups of muscles found in this area and each group has a defined function of its own as well as working hand in hand with the other muscle groups too. One of the main muscle groups is known as the rectus abdominus, or to the man on the street as the 6 pack; the transverse abdominal muscle; and the obliques, which are made up of two working sets of opposing muscles; the external obliques and the internal obliques.

In order to develop the abdominal muscles to their fullest glory, you must know what their respective duties are and how to incorporate a 6 pack workout into your schedule and your busy life. The functions are as follows: the rectus abdominus muscle or 6 pack, is found on the front of the torso between the ribs and the pelvic bone and aids in the all around motion of the middle body; the transverse abdominal muscle acts as a belt, and holds your insides in; the internal obliques are just inside the hip bones and flank the rectus abdominus so they can rotate the torso; and the external obliques are responsible for twisting the torso, as they are found on the sides.

There are all kinds of exercises to develop firm, flat abs and usually the first ones to come to mind are the crunches. These are recommended by most fitness experts as a much safer and more effective 6 pack workout than situps because of the danger of hurting the back with situps. Then there are leg lifts, static holds (to train your core), the bicycle maneuver, and twists mainly for the obliques.

So now you have an idea of what is out there as far as exercises, but read any book or treatise on the subject of a 6 pack workout, and you will find that everyone recommends incorporating a good eating plan along with the workout regimen to get the desired results and make the entire world envious of your midsection. One works along with the other and you can't exclude either regimen from the plan or you won't succeed. The eating part of the plan has to be low fat and well balanced, because it is plain old fat that is masking those fabulous abs lying dormant there and that fat must be burned off; and you have to have the correct exercises to go along with the eating plan so you keep your metabolism running at a good pace. The exercises that have over time found to be the most effective in developing good abs are weightlifting and cardiovascular exercises practiced together. But studies have shown that the best results are obtained when the weightlifting is done first and then the cardiovascular. You wouldn't think it would matter which was done first, but it does; the weightlifting goes after carbohydrates as an energy source, and when it's time for the cardiovascular routine, your body has almost no energy reserve left, so guess what it zeroes in on to get that energy---that's right, the fat you have stored here and there, and now the fat is getting burned.

So, for an effective 6 pack workout there are certain things you must remember and focus on: Keep your metabolism steady, Eat smaller meals and more often, Eat more fiber, Eat breakfast (you'd be amazed to find how many people cringe at having to do that), and Drink more water. Tea is good too; a good water source (with no sugar added to it) and it boosts your metabolism. And incorporate a focused exercise routine designed to develop the abdominal part of your body.

This is not going to be easy; there's a lot of work involved in the word "workout" especially when it applies to an effective 6 pack workout; so to stay the course, you must be honest with yourself and stick with a well balanced eating plan and a good set of exercises. The diet will get rid of that fat that is camouflaging the abs, and the exercises will develop them; because remember, to get rid of 1 pound of unadulterated fat every week, you must lessen your intake of calories by 500 a day. But it will be worth it in the long run---sooner than you think, you will be sauntering down the beach with your spectacular 6 pack abs glistening in the sun surrounded by people faint with admiration. - 17268

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Real Smoothies - Keep it Healthy

By Nick Jaggs

When you have a smoothie are you sure you know what is going into it? Certainly the smoothie has become big business these days because words such as "natural" and "healthy" have been used to describe certain food products. However the smoothies that you see on the supermarket shelf are not as "innocent" as they may seem. Many of these products use advertisements where sunny outdoor scenes are used or the blender contains fruit to convey an image that these contain vital and fresh living ingredients. But often these are produced on mass using machinery and vats of fruit purees which to extend their shelf life have been pasteurized.

Not every juice and smoothie bar set up offers completely natural products to you either. In some cases they use frozen fruit purees high in sugar that have been supplied to them by the company that supplies the juice and smoothie making equipment. Certainly these types of professional blenders are very expensive to purchase and juice bars will often be provided them for free as long as they use the companies frozen fruit portions to create their smoothies.

However, there are a number of juice bar chains who have created their own frozen fruit products which not only saves them money but simplifies their operations. Although there are some which are good there are others that contain high levels of sugar. But if you think it is some sort of conspiracy to make sure that we don't get natural ingredients, and then think again. It's just businesses streamlining things in order to make a profit, but there are times when we as the consumer lose out.

The concept behind a real smoothie is simple. It is a blended health drink that was made popular in the USA. There is no specific definition for what this type of drink is other than it is fruit based and must be thick and smooth, and will often be made using frozen fruit and/or ice. A lot of the independent juice bars today are focused on health and will offer you a freshly prepared first class natural product. Also in some of the better juice bars they provide super foods and boosters to enhance the smoothies of health enthusiasts.

If you are lucky enough to have such a great juice bar close to you then you should really be using it. However, if your only real contact with smoothies is the bottled variety, you are missing out on some great flavours and goodness from the freshly prepared kind.

A great way of trying a smoothie to see if you like it is to make your own at home. However, there has been some confusion caused by a few of the blender manufacturers regarding smoothie makers. When we talk about smoothie makers we actually do mean a blender which has for many years been a vital piece of equipment in many kitchens. That was until some bright spark in some marketing company thought it would be a good idea to call them smoothie makers so that a company could target those people wanting to make their own smoothies. It is for this reason alone that we think blenders and smoothie makers are two different machines, when in fact they are not.

To make a smoothie is very simple you just put the ingredients into the blender jug and then press the button. It only takes a few seconds to turn the whole fruit into pulp and juice and cost per smoothie you make at home is much less than those you buy on the high street. Homemade smoothies not only taste great by contain lots of essential nutrients that your body needs. You can either make smoothies using frozen fruit or fresh fruit mixed with ice. Plus to further enhance the flavour and make the smoothie creamier you can add some yoghurt. Plus experimenting with other ingredients you could further enhance the health benefits of the smoothies you make.

For making such drinks you need a blender or smoothie maker. It is important that you go for one which will do everything you require and is able to deal with frozen ingredients. The cheaper models may save you money but are as effective and blending ice in such machines can be very demanding on them. So it is better to go for a more expensive model. Ideally go for one that allows you to mill dry ingredients as well such as the Mill Blender by the American company L'Equip. This is a machine that not only allows you to create smoothies but allows you to grind up flax which is full of essential fatty acids and which can be added to the drink.

Many health enthusiasts demand much out of their kitchen equipment and some will spend several hundred pounds on purchasing commercial blenders like the Blendtec Total Blender. But you don't need to although you will get many years of good service out of such a model spending more than 60 on yours will be sufficient, especially if you intend to use ice in your smoothies. If you are looking for a good quality smoothie maker there are plenty of online sites such as www.ukjuicers.com who have available what you may need. - 17268

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