Chapter 2

The Anatomy and Physiology of Weight Loss

Obesity is one of the greatest health problems affecting our society, and the selling of weight-loss products including books, tapes, and special supplements is one of the fastest-growing industries in America.

Obviously, the solution for those of us who are overweight or even obese is to lose weight. However, weight loss doesn’t take place just by cutting calories or dietary fat reduction. It’s more complex than that. Whether someone is slim or heavy is influenced by many factors including genetics, endocrinology, and neurology, as well as childhood nutritional patterns. Walk down any supermarket aisle, and you will be confronted with seemingly unlimited choices of processed, pre-packaged foods of every type imaginable, many with the words “natural” on the label. No matter how these foods are labeled, they often have two things in common: they are high in fat and low in fiber. These two factors alone are the cause of much of the obesity in America. One of the great benefits of an herbal-based nutrition program is that it is low in fat and high in fiber. My own program includes some herbs that serve as appetite suppressants and others that inhibit the accumulation of fat.

A whopping 65 percent of Americans start new diets at least once a year. Study after study shows that Americans are the fattest people on the planet, and getting fatter still. There are more than twenty-eight diets on public record, and yet, despite our apparent mental obsession with dieting, we display no corresponding obsession with proper dietary habits. As a result, obesity may be the greatest single health risk we face as a nation today.

What is obesity? When a person takes in more calories than he or she uses, the excess calories are stored as fat. Fat, or adipose cells, have the ability to expand or contract based on how a specific body uses energy. Most people usually define their degree of obesity by stepping on a scale or by measuring the thickness of a fold of skin around the triceps, shoulder blades, or hips.

But you may be overweight even though standard height-weight charts tell you that you are within the “normal” range. And as you age, the way your body holds fat will change, some-times with drastic results. For example, a man who weighed 150 pounds for twenty years may not have been overweight twenty years ago, but he could be overweight today if his weight has settled around his midsection.

As a rule of thumb, if you are carrying 25 percent or more of your body weight in fat, then you are obese. Here is a quick method for determining whether you are in a “safe” weight range: if you are an adult male, your chest should be at least 5 inches larger than your waist. If you are an adult female, your chest should be 10 inches larger than your waist.

For some very obese people, going on a long-term, low-calorie diet may result in very limited weight loss. The reason is that their metabolic rate may drop to “protect” them from starvation. As anyone loses weight, their body requires fewer calories. To continue losing weight at the same pace, therefore, a person must lower their caloric intake. “For example, a moderately active female weighing 135 pounds can lose about a pound a week on a fifteen hundred calorie diet. Once down to 124 pounds, however, she must consume no more than twelve hundred calories a day to maintain this rate of loss,” (Dartnell Corporation).

The sanest approach to losing weight is to use a nutritionally balanced, healthy, herbal-based weight-loss program. I say healthy because there are many controversial herbal formulas on the market that derive their effectiveness from overstimulating the central nervous system. Some of the most commonly used herbal weight-loss products are effective because of the stimulating effects they have on mental and physical functions. Many of these herbal products contain stimulants such as caffeine or ephedrine. Most are promoted as “natural” alternatives to the con-troversial prescription drug combination commonly known as “fen-phen.”

The anti-obesity prescription drugs dexfenfluramine (brand name Redux) and fenfluramine (brand name Pondimin), were withdrawn from the marketplace because of consumer com-plaints concerning their safety.

The key ingredients of most herbal fen-phen products are ephedra (found in the herb ma huang) and caffeine. Ephedra is a powerful stimulant and thermogenic compound (a compound that helps the body burn brown adipose tissue) with the potential to affect the nervous system and heart. When used properly, they are generally safe, but unfortunately many people, desperate to lose weight, overuse them, which can lead to health problems including high blood pressure, heart rate irregularities, insomnia, nervousness, tremors, headaches, seizures, heart attacks, and strokes.

Caffeinated herbs have been used throughout history and seem to pop up in just about every culture. Of course, coffee, tea, and cocoa are the most familiar of these in modern times. Among the most popular of these stimulants are kola nut, bissy nut, guarana, yerba maté, and tea. Many herbalists do not approve of the regular use of stimulants as a tool for weight loss.

A number of the medical problems most associated with general obesity and stress-induced obesity might be aggravated by even moderate intake of caffeinated products. Persons with active heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), and gastric ulcers should be particularly aware.

According to the Physicians’ Desk Reference for Nonprescription Drugs, over-consumption of caffeine, even by the ordinary consumer, can cause nervousness, sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety, and/or heart palpitations.

The most effective and the safest weight-loss products combine “anti-fat” nutrients with herbs that will maximize weight loss. Effective and safe programs also curb or eliminate lipogenesis (the process by which your body produces and stores fat), cut sugar and carbohydrate cravings, control your appetite, suppress food intake, burn stored fat without loss of lean body mass, and increase your energy level.

The Four Most Common Myths about Losing Weight with Herbs

1. There is a magic herbal pill that will simply make you lose weight, make pounds melt away, or burn fat. No such herb exists.

2. You can lose weight in a few weeks, and if you keep taking herbal weight-loss products it will stay off.

3. You can lose weight permanently by fasting.

4. All fat is bad. In fact, some fat is essential in your diet. Fat serves as a shock absorber for your internal organs, and it is a good source of stored energy. Most of all it is required to absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K, the fat-soluble vitamins.

Ten Dieting Traps and Why They Must Be Avoided

As you move toward healthy weight loss using my herbal method, remember that just about any diet has the potential to help you lose weight, but the real challenge is to keep it off. How does one do this? Stay away from fad diets and compulsive patterns. If you want to lose weight for good, avoid skipping meals. Skipping meals may lead to bingeing later on.

When evaluating your weight, it is best to avoid scales or the type of weight charts issued by insurance companies. Most important is not how fat you are, but what your fat/lean body-mass ratio is. It is body composition that counts, not just fat. Body composition can be determined by a number of ways, including skin fold calipers, infrared measurements, and bioimpedance machines. Any physician or properly trained fitness instructor can do this measurement for you, or you can learn to do it yourself. Most of all, eat a variety of healthy foods. Because fad diets often recommend large amounts of a specific food (i.e. all protein or all apples), they deprive your body of essential nutrients and lack variety and balance. Beware of diets that pro-mote this kind of unbalanced weight loss. Almost any food can be used to excess. Those people who tend toward excessive or compulsive eating patterns often seek out one miracle food to magically burn the fat off of their body. Unfortunately, they are always disappointed. Some of the healthiest, most nutritious foods can become problematic if used in excess, or if eaten as part of a nutritionally deficient program. Here are a few areas to be aware of. aware of.

1. Do not begin a weight-loss program before you’re emotionally ready. It is important that you are highly motivated to begin and maintain your weight-management program. If you are not committed to this process, the weight loss won’t last for long. For support in this area see chapter 7—Flower Remedies.

2. Beware of rigid menus and nutritionally unbalanced weight-loss diets. Few people follow diets that require strict adherence to rigid menus for any reasonable length of time. Even if they start off with the best intentions, boredom and frustration usually win out in the end. This can lead to eating an unbalanced diet in a misguided quest to cut back on calories and/or fat. Some people cut out entire food groups, such as grains or carbohydrates.

3. Beware of magic herbal formulas. Diets that claim that certain foods or herbal pills will magically make fat disappear without any special calorie-control programs are not worth following. Avoid at all costs.

4. Beware of the “promise you everything” diets. Diets that promise that you will lose large amounts of weight overnight should arouse your natural suspicion. Keep this in mind: at the beginning of virtually any diet that restricts calories and carbohydrates, the weight you lose is water. That’s right. Water! And studies show that the faster you lose weight, the more likely you are to regain it. Most gimmicky fad diets work in the short run because they are low in calories, not because of anything special about the diet.

5. Don’t expect to magically lose weight. Don’t trust a program that sounds too good to be true. You are not going to lose fourteen pounds in ten days and do so in a way that does not put stress on your body. Fat does not melt away while you sleep. You lose weight by exercising, reducing caloric intake, and increasing your metabolism in a balanced and healthy way.

6. Beware of keeping your shelves empty. Keep healthy snacking foods around the house. Because they’re afraid of overeating, many people who are trying to lose weight keep little or no food in their cupboards.

7. Beware of blaming your set point. The “set point” theory suggests that your body “wants” to be a particular weight. Some overweight people use this as an excuse for not trying to drop excess pounds. But you can set realistic goals, such as losing 10 percent of your weight (twenty pounds if you weigh two hundred pounds). Maintain this weight for six months, and if you still want to lose more, give it a try.

8. Beware of extreme protein diets. According to a report in the Tufts University Diet & Nutrition Newsletter (March 1985), in spite of the recent proliferation of high-fat, high-protein diets, most nutritional experts agree that there is too much, rather than too little, protein in the typical American diet. In other words, excessively high protein intake can cause the body to lose calcium through the urine. In the long run, especially in the elderly, this calcium loss can place some individuals at greater risk for the brittle bones and unexpected fractures associated with osteoporosis. Beware of diets that use excessively high or low amounts of protein. Ingesting overly high levels of protein will increase your risk of many serious illnesses, including cancer and heart disease. Other side effects can include constipation, cramps, bad breath, and hair loss. When your diet is too low in protein, your body may damage itself by utilizing the protein from your own organs and muscles.

9. Beware of diets that recommend less than one thousand calories per day. When you cut your caloric intake suddenly, your body may reduce the number of calories it burns. Thus you may follow a low-calorie diet and still not lose weight.

10. Beware of fasting. Fasting alone, and fasting combined with an herbal detoxification program, can be a very powerful healing tool, but it may not be the most effective approach to weight control. This is because people who lose weight through fasting not only lose body fat, but also lean muscle tissue. The loss of lean muscle mass can result in a reduction in a person’s basal-metabolic rate that makes it more difficult for them to continue to lose weight and maintain the weight loss they have already achieved. In addition to this problem, when a fasting dieter puts the weight back on, it is primarily as fat. If a person begins to yo-yo diet, the long-term effect will be an increased difficulty in losing weight and regaining pounds already lost. Another problem with fasting as a weight-loss strategy is that extremely low-fat diets can actually increase blood levels of certain types of “undesirable cholesterol.” If fasting isn’t the most effective path, then what is?

The four most important herbal and dietary factors in an effective weight-loss program are:

• Designing an effective and balanced herbal system

• Choosing foods properly

• Eating moderately

• Increasing the body’s metabolism, especially through the effective use of thermogenic herbs. Fasting alone does not help you practice any of these four. A well-balanced herbal detoxification program can, however, increase nutrient absorption while increasing metabolism. Thus a semi-herbal fast does have value in this way.

11. Beware of going from one diet to another within a short period of time. Avoid making too many changes at once. Some people will start on a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. Then they switch to a diet that cuts back drastically on fat and calories and increases fruits and vegetables. Then they switch to an intense daily exercise and juice program. All this switching can set you up for failure.

12. Beware of thinking that weight-loss drugs are a solution. Weight-loss medications like sibutramine (Meridia) and listat (Xenical) are generally reserved for those whose excess weight poses a threat to health. Work with a nutritionally trained holistic physician if necessary before you consider the drug route to weight loss.

The Primary Causes of Obesity

There is no one cause of obesity. Some people are more easily able to identify the reasons why they are unable to lose weight and keep it off once they have lost it. For some individuals, the origin of the weight gain was a basic shift in lifestyle. They may have gotten married, had a work-related injury, experienced cultural pressure, had poor exercise patterns or changed their exercise patterns due to a sports injury, had a baby, or quit smoking. For others it is hereditary factors. It may be a medical problem with neurological regulators or natural hormonal factors such as thyroid gland dysfunction. It may also be a digestive disorder, blood sugar disease (hypoglycemia or diabetes), enzymatic activity, brain mechanisms, genetic predisposition, or they may simply take in more calories from the food that they eat than they expend. Let’s take a closer look at a few of these factors and how an effective herbal weight program might reduce their influence.

Enzymatic Activity

The enzyme lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is a factor that may influence obesity. LPL helps the body store excess calories in fat cells. The enzyme is manufactured in fat cells and is transported to the capillaries, where it breaks dietary fat into tiny particles that penetrate the membranes of these fat cells. The process becomes a vicious cycle of cells continuously collecting fat and LPL levels rising, which causes more fat to be collected from the blood-stream. Reducing caloric intake decreases LPL levels, but when a person begins to overeat or even return to normal meal patterns, LPL levels may become higher than before the diet began. Using herbs, such as Garcinia cambogia extract and Gymnema sylvestre, can naturally reduce the tendency to overeat and thus reduce the factors that cause an increase in LPL levels.

Brain Mechanisms

Many obesity experts believe that there is a mechanism in the brain known as the adipostat, which tells the body how much fat to store. This is, in turn, based on a predefined weight that the body wishes to maintain. As your body uses fat through your daily activities, the brain regulates the usage or storage of energy until your fat levels maintain this preestablished goal. Sometimes the adipostat may actually set a fat storage level that is unhealthy. In such a case, simply reducing your caloric intake may not reduce weight so easily. While you may be cutting back on fat and calories, the brain may be sabotaging your efforts by restoring your original, excess weight by causing you to consume more calories due to hunger sensations.

There is a belief among many researchers that there is a specific hormone in the body known as HGH (Human Growth Hormone), which helps people to burn fat and build muscle. HGH is present at high levels in children so that they convert fat quickly into muscle and meet the needs of rapidly growing bodies. Research has indicated that this fat-burning hormone is released at a slower pace as a person reaches thirty years old and virtually stops after thirty. Nutritional scientists also believe that this hormone is dormant in individuals who are plagued by obesity what-ever their age. The body stores HGH in the pituitary gland and releases it in response to sleep, exercise, fasting, and by the amino acids L-arginine, L-ornithine, and L-lysine.

Through metabolic and behavioral regulation, the pituitary and adrenal glands control eating patterns. They are able to recognize and respond to certain signals that indicate hunger or the existence of high-fat storage in the body. How the body recognizes this key information is defined by numerous variables. One of these variables is leptin. Leptin is an enzyme that signals the brain when fat storage is high. Fat cells release leptin; levels rise as more fat is stored in the cells. If fat storage falls, then lower leptin levels signal to stimulate appetite. Certain herbs have been shown to influence the regulation of metabolic and behavioral patterns.

Genetic Factors

Though it is unlikely a “fat” gene causes obesity, there is evidence that a number of genetic factors may influence people most likely to be obese. LPL activity, metabolic rates, hormonal fluctuations in response to the changing of the seasons, distribution of fat, food preferences, and other factors may be influenced by genetics and in turn increase the chances of obesity.

And then there are emotional factors. Many people deal with their anxiety, or rather don’t deal with it, by eating. They raid the cookie jar or the refrigerator when they feel sad, abandoned, or depressed. Eating is often used as a way to stifle feelings rather than acknowledge them. The use of flower remedies and aromatherapy have become powerful tools for balancing out those emotions that might lead to overeating. Curbing obesity has its definite advantages. According to recent studies, “For many obese people, relatively small weight losses—say, only 10 percent of body weight—can correct a tendency toward diabetes or high blood pressure.” (“Research Lifts Blame”) Thus losing only ten to twenty-five pounds can help avert major health risks.

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra): Licorice is a perennial plant native to southern Europe and Asia. This ancient Egyptian cure-all is also called liquorice, meaning “the sweet root.” Its roots and rhiztomes are prized both medicinally and for their sweet flavoring. Bladder, stomach, and kidney problems also respond favorably to licorice, and it can relieve thirst as well as satisfy a desire for candy, sweets, and cigarettes. Licorice tones and maintains health of the adrenal cortex. In folklore remedies, it is recommended for the treatment of hypoglycemia, though probably only when this is caused by adrenocortical insufficiency, and especially when stress is the main cause of the adrenal insufficiency.

In the Caribbean, many parents give their children licorice sticks to chew on in place of candy. Licorice has been unfairly maligned of late, probably because of a perceived connection with candy store licorice, with which it has no relation at all. Licorice root is available in many natural food stores and in ethnic spice shops. Among its various uses, licorice sticks make great swizzle sticks for drinks.

Poor nutrition is the greatest culprit in a majority of weight problems. Knowing the basic facts about obesity, nutrition, and dieting will provide you with the necessary background information you need to begin a truly successful and healthy diet.

Isolating the Cause

Once the cause is isolated and corrected, losing weight and keep-ing it off becomes a simple process of exercise, food management, and naturally increasing the body’s metabolic rate. This is an approach that can be useful and effective, even for the chronically obese. For these individuals, weight loss is a difficult process no matter what they eat, and no matter how hard they try. The cause may be a chemical imbalance in the appetite control centers of the brain, genetics, or some unknown factor. An herbal weight-management program is especially of value for these individuals, since they are at a higher risk for medical conditions associated with obesity. They are at increased risk for developing maturity onset diabetes, high blood pressure, degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis, etc.), cardiovascular disease (heart attacks, strokes, etc.), and numerous other medical problems. Here are nine primary causes of obesity.

Flax: Many people suffering from obesity starve themselves and/or restrict their diet to non-fat or low-fat foods only to find that they gain weight or remain the same. If only they knew that one of the best ways to fight fat is with fat!

Believe it or not, one of the most effective ways to lose weight naturally is by consuming unsaturated fats, such as flaxseed oil. The unhealthy fats are saturated fats, which contribute to cardiovascular disease, strokes, obesity, and other degenerative diseases. But flaxseed oil can be considered an anti-fat or non-fat fat because it prevents, and in some cases reverses, the effects of saturated fat in the body.

Flaxseed oil works with the physiologic and metabolic processes in the body. The human body requires fatty acids in order to function properly, and the fatty acids found in flaxseed oil have been found to be essential nutrients. The body cannot convert other food sources into these essential fatty acids. To get them, you have to consume flaxseed oil.

Adding flaxseed oil your meals will make you feel fuller longer and will decrease your craving for sweets and fatty foods because your body will be getting the essential nutrients it needs.

Flaxseed oil also helps to regulate blood sugar and insulin levels. The essential fats in flaxseed oil keep food in the stomach longer. This causes a gradual increase, a sustained plateau, and finally a gradual decrease of blood sugar. Because your body doesn’t have to combat a sharp rise in blood sugar, often found after the consumption of low or non-fat foods, insulin levels will be more regulated. The overall effect will be one of increased energy, stamina, and mental clarity, and a feeling of longer-lasting satiation.

The body breaks down flaxseed oil into compounds that boost the metabolic rate in cells. Because the cells work faster, more heat is created, resulting in the burning of more calories. Flaxseed oil increases aerobic function (oxygen consumption) in the cells, which also facilitates weight loss, increases energy and stamina, and promotes a general feeling of well-being.

Flaxseed oil not only is useful for weight loss, but also helps detoxify the body by improving liver function.

To benefit most from the uses of flaxseed oil, I suggest that you take one to two tablespoons daily. For the maximum benefit in weight loss and maintenance, it is recommended that this amount be divided and a portion taken with each meal.

1. A calorie-restricted diet from which you may not be getting adequate nutrients

2. Bad eating habits, nutritional deficiencies, or malabsorption

2. Excessive emotional or physical stress

3. Smoking

4. Drinking alcohol regularly

6. Food intolerance or sensitivity reactions 7. Heading into, being in the middle of, or recovering

7. Heading into, being in the middle of, or recovering from any major medical stress such as surgery or cancer treatment

8. Taking birth control pills

9. Having any psychological disorder, particularly depression

One Calorie Does Not Always Equal One Calorie

Are all calories equal? Does it matter whether you intake one calorie from a fat or one calorie from a carbohydrate?

For years, some experts argued that all calories are equal. But experts now admit it is much more complex than that. “Only about 1 percent of ingested carbohydrates end up as body fat,” as opposed to 2.5 percent for ingested fats. Therefore, one calorie from fat is less efficient for weight loss than one calorie from a starch. As a result, simply switching from a high-fat diet to one high in carbohydrates, without actually lowering total caloric intake, can result in a net caloric loss to the body (“Research Lifts Blame”).

Remember: as you lose weight, your body requires fewer calories. So to continue losing weight at the pace you want, you may need to lower your caloric intake altogether.

Health Problems and Obesity

Obesity paves the way for a wide range of health problems. It weakens the abdominal muscles, placing greater stress on the back muscles, and makes it harder to maintain the body in an upright position. Other ailments that obesity can contribute to, or aggravate, include gallbladder disease, hypertension, arthritis, and reduced immune-system response.

Obesity and the Nutritional Fundamentals

There are many nutrients essential for good health. Our bodies can manufacture some nutrients, and others can only be obtained from our food. The nutrients that must come from food are called the essential nutrients. These are protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water. How much of each of these is needed in relation to the others is the source of most controversy in the field of nutrition, and in the promoting of various weight-loss programs.

Protein

We all know that adequate protein is necessary to ensure physical well-being, but in the last several decades its importance has been exaggerated. A protein intake as high as 150 grams a day has been proposed, but it can be said that anything over seventy grams a day is too high. A daily protein intake of thirty to fifty grams is what most people actually require, although those who engage in heavy physical labor or sports may require more. If a high protein intake brings excessive caloric intake with it then an unnecessary weight gain may result.

Proteins:

1. Restore and renew body tissue and cells

2. Ensure proper distribution of fluids throughout the body

3. Maintain body functions and create antibodies for the immune system

Fats

Fats are complex combinations of what we call lipids, fatty sub-stances that include fat-soluble vitamins, tocopherols, triglycerides, sterols, and phospholipids. Each fat or oil has its own combination of these substances, which is why each fat or oil has its own distinct flavor, melting point, burning point, and texture.

Many people think of fat as something undesirable, unhealthy, and bad. But there are many types of fat. There are good and bad dietary fats. Good dietary fat is not only good, but is essential for health. For instance, fats provide essential fatty acids that assist body cells in the reception and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.

All kinds of problems result from inadequate good fat and too much bad fat, from dandruff to depression. In addition to dietary fats, there are liquid and aromatic fats that are not dietary, but are extremely valuable nonetheless for healing and weight loss. These are the aromatic oils that are essential to the practice of aro-matherapy. These are discussed later on throughout this program.

As for nutrition, the body requires certain fats, or components of fats, for proper functioning. These fats supply essential fatty acids needed for innumerable glandular and metabolic processes. They also provide twice as much energy as carbohydrates. Many of these essential fatty acids are abundant in certain fish oils and in the seeds of certain herbs. Though I think essential fatty acid supplementation is valuable, I recommend borage and evening primrose oil over fish oil supplements for three reasons.

1. It is possible that fish oils might be contaminated with PCBs (polychlorinated bi-phenyls) or other pollutants. Though reputable companies should have quality control to prevent this problem I would rather use plant sources for these oils.

2. Excessive intake of fish oils could result in an increased need for vitamin E and bleeding problems.

3. People have been known to experience vitamin A or D toxicity from excessive use of fish-liver oil.

Research shows that the essential omega 3 fatty acids can be obtained from vegetable and plant sources without any of the potential risk factors associated with fish oil.

Saturated fat is solid fat at room temperature. Unsaturated fat is fat that is liquid at room temperature and is called oil. Animal fat is usually saturated and vegetable fat is usually unsaturated. Some vegetable fats are saturated, as they are solid or semi-solid at room temperature. Examples are coconut oils and palm kernal oils. The less a fat has been processed and the fresher it is, the more likely its important elements will survive to fill the body’s needs.

All fats are to some extent processed. Fats that have been highly processed—by extraction and preparation methods that heat them or otherwise cause changes in their molecular structure—should be avoided.

Some individuals, in an attempt to reduce their intake of animal fat, will remove butter from their diet and replace it with cholesterol-free oil. Since margarine is made from vegetable rather then animal sources, they have come to believe that polyunsaturated oils are lower in fat or are somehow healthier for them.

Nothing could be further from the truth. These are highly undesirable, synthetic products that have been hydrogenated (the adding of hydrogen to created the hardening effect), and usually contain large amounts of artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives as well as produce unhealthy by-products known as trans-fatty acids.

Borage Seed Oil (Borago officinalis): Borage oil is extracted by what is called expeller pressing from the seeds of the borage herb. This oil, as is evening primrose oil, is rich in gammalinolenic acid and linoleic acid, both essential omega 6 fatty acids. Borage oil is the richest natural source of gammalinolenic acid. Gamma-linolenic acid is very useful as a direct precursor of type 1prostaglandins. These prostaglandins are essential for good activity of the skin cells. These functions concern not only skin tissues, but also the nervous tissue, the circulatory system, and the reproductive organs.

A supplement of borage oil is useful in cases of skin troubles (premature wrinkles, lack of elasticity), to fight against aging of tis-sues, and nervous troubles (stress, anxiety). Borage oil can be applied externally by piercing the capsule with a needle, then spreading on the face and the other parts of the skin that need to be treated (wrinkles, eczema, dry areas, stretch marks, etc.).

There is one type of fat that is neither saturated nor unsaturated, but is wholly unnatural and is impossible for the body to metabolize. This is called hydrogenated fat. Good unsaturated fat, such as corn oil, is solidified by hydrogenization, the addition of hydrogen to harden the liquid oil. The resulting product can-not be digested effectively, creating a trans-fatty acid that can cause heart disease. Hydrogenated fats are added to many commercially prepared foods. Margarine is one of the more common examples. Avoid any food that says, “partially hydrogenated,” “hydrogenated,” or “partially hardened” on the label.

In addition to saturated, unsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats, there are monounsaturated fats. These include olive oil and some fish oils, which are quite beneficial. They decrease LDL cholesterol in the blood while protecting the blood level of HDL cholesterol. LDL is low-density lipoprotein. This kind of cholesterol is associated with the accumulation of arterial plaque, which causes narrowing of the arteries and can lead to the increased like-lihood of a heart attack. HDL is high-density lipoprotein. This kind of cholesterol is beneficial, because your body can use it for primary functions. Current research is showing that when it comes to fat, the real issue at hand is not simply saturated or unsaturated fat, but rather the level of essential omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids in a person’s diet.

Grapeseed Oil: Grapeseed oil is a high-linoleic acid product. Linoleic acid is one of two essential fatty acids your body cannot manufacture—you must take it in through dietary sources. It is the only food known to raise HDL and lower LDL. You may know linoleic acid as omega 6. Studies indicate that linoleic acid is sadly deficient in our diets. Grapeseed oil is 76 percent linoleic acid! It is valuable for those looking to lose weight because it not only helps to prevent hypertension caused by sodium excess, but also helps to normalize lesions occurring from obesity and diabetes leading to heart disease. Grapeseed oil can be used for salad dress-ing and in cooking. It has a non-greasy, slightly nutty flavor. An article in American College of Cardiology, (March 14–18, 1993) indicates that grapeseed oil is best for heart-health ranking, above olive oil and canola oil.

Though deficiencies of essential fatty acids were thought to be rare, experts are beginning to suggest that the condition may be more widespread than previously thought. Many people who exhibit the symptoms listed below have been found to have abnormally low blood and/or tissue levels of these essential fatty acids.

Linoleic acid—Behavioral changes, thirst, abnormal water loss through the skin, kidney degeneration, hair loss, arthritis, heart problems, circulatory problems, poor wound healing, poor growth, miscarriage in females, sterility in males, reduced immunity, eczema type skin eruptions, gallbladder problems, prostatitis, acne, and muscle tremors.

Linolenic acid—Poor growth, impaired vision, impaired learn-ing ability, poor motor coordination, and tingling in the legs and arms.

All of these symptoms will clear up if appropriate amounts of essential fatty acids (EFAs) are returned to the diet. Good sources of EFAs are canola oil, flaxseed oil, borage oil, walnut oil, and good old monounsaturated olive oil.

How to Choose Healthy Fats and Oils

1. Avoid foods that have been fried. Broil, bake, or steam your food whenever possible. Steaming is superior to boiling because there is less nutrient loss.

2. Limit your use of eggs and poultry.

3. Limit your intake of fats and oils, especially foods high in saturated fat. These include butter, cream, lard, heavily hydrogenated fats, many margarines, shortenings, and foods containing palm and/or coconut oils.

4. Limit the amount of oil you use in food preparation, and when you do use oil, always choose flaxseed oil, pumpkin-seed oil, walnut oil, canola oil, or extra-virgin olive oil that has been cold pressed.

5. Choose dry beans, peas (in combination with whole grains), or low-fat, fermented milk products (yogurt, kefir, etc.) as protein sources rather than beef, pork, and whole-milk products.

Complex Carbohydrates

Unrefined complex carbohydrates are the best source of energy for a healthy body and are an extremely important part of a weight-management program. They are essential for the functioning of your brain and nervous system, supply energy for digestion and muscular exertion, and are necessary for proper absorption of other foods. By providing this type of energy, carbohydrates actually lessen the body’s requirement for protein to perform these functions. Your body is then free to use any protein you consume for the repairing of damaged tissue and for building new, healthy tissue.

Evening Primrose Oil (Oenothera biennis lamarkiana): This oil is extracted from the seeds of the evening primrose plant. This oil is generally extracted from this plant by simple pressure without the use of heat or solvents. This herbally derived oil is a polyunsatu-rated oil that is the richest source of the essential omega 6 fatty acids: linoleic acid and gamma-linolenic acid.

Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an essential fatty acid, is the active ingredient in both borage and evening primrose oils. It is a precursor of prostaglandins, a shortage of which may cause the mood changes and cramping experienced by many women suffer-ing from PMS. This fatty acid may improve nerve function in diabetics.

Unfortunately, many variables may inhibit the production of GLA and prostaglandins. Among the inhibiting factors are cholesterol, old age, radiation, chemical carcinogens, alcohol, and saturated fats. EPO has the ability to lower blood cholesterol, lower blood pressure to normal, and help lower excess weight without dieting. EPO has been shown to be one hundred times more effective than other polyunsaturated oils in lowering cholesterol.

Evening primrose oil can be especially useful for women trying to lose weight who are experiencing the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. Premenstrual syndrome disrupts the life of many women, and it is hard to imagine a person focusing on their eating habits when they are experiencing headaches, migraines, painful tension in the breasts, bowel problems, irritability, and anxiety. Recent research has indicated that these symptoms can be traced to a deficiency of gamma-linolenic and linoleic acids. In the past, the ordinary vegetable oil used in food would have provided linoleic acid. But the increasingly technological manufacturing process and cooking have altered it to such an extreme level that the organ-ism is unable to produce type-1 prostaglandin with it. By taking some natural elements necessary to produce these prostaglandins, linoleic and gamma-linolenic acids, you may avoid premenstrual syndrome troubles. Since evening primrose oil is 72 percent linoleic acid and 10 percent gamma-linolenic acid, it is an ideal nutritional supplement.

In addition to premenstrual problems, this oil has also been shown to be effective in treating hormonal troubles and circulatory troubles such as varicose veins and hemorrhoids. All of these are conditions that are sometimes related to obesity and excessive weight.

Studies have shown that evening primrose oil has the ability to:

1. Lower blood pressure to normal

2. Lower blood cholesterol

3. Lower weight in the overweight without dieting

In spite of all the recent controversy surrounding fats vs. carbohydrates in weight management, most nutritional experts agree that in attempting to reduce your weight to “ideal” levels, unrefined complex carbohydrates have one key advantage over fats: they contain less than half the number of calories per ounce than fats. Complex carbohydrates are also valuable for purification and detoxification through their ability to help the body convert certain chemicals, bacterial toxins, and some normal metabolites (the end-products of the physical and chemical processes involved in the maintenance of life) into a form that can be easily eliminated as waste.

Nutritionally speaking, they not only provide energy, but also supply significant amounts of minerals, B vitamins, protein, and fiber. Complex carbohydrate foods include beans, peas, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and whole-grain breads, cereals, and pasta. Starches, the best form of carbohydrates, include whole grains like brown rice, millet, buckwheat (also known as kasha), and barley, along with beans and root-like vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, and yams. As you begin to use the herbal weight-management system you will want to add an increasing variety of unrefined complex carbohydrates. Remember that we are speak-ing of whole foods here. Refined carbohydrate foods such as white and brown sugar and white bread, crackers, most prepared cereals, pasta, and other foods made from white flour provide starch and calories but little else in the way of nutrients.

Carbohydrates:

1. Provide glucose for nerve tissues

2. Provide a primary source of energy

Attitude and Behavior Patterns

No matter how good your intentions are when you begin your weight-loss program, more likely than not, you will falter if you do not have the proper attitude. The key struggle for most people on any weight-loss program is remaining motivated. Emotionally speaking, most of us want every result instantly. This creates unrealistic expectations of how rapidly the process is going to take place.

The key to effective weight management is a common sense merging of the ancient and the modern. If you were to read every herb or nutritionally based weight-loss book ever written, you would find the same four fundamentals threading through them all. These variables integrate spiritual awareness, attitude, food choices, and preparation. If you combine them with the most recent herbal, nutritional, and dietary research, you will surely achieve success. Other important factors include:

Gratitude for the Grace of Food—whatever your religious or spiritual beliefs, it is essential that you both acknowledge and give thanks for the food you are about to eat. You may do this as a formal prayer, a moment of silence, the saying of grace, or perform-ing some ritual or ceremony from your culture or faith. The key here is to create a conscious relationship between your desire to eat and the sustenance that food provides. Keep the following thought in mind as you get ready to learn more about herbal weight loss.

Herbs from the sea: Sea vegetables are popular in many weight-management programs because they have been found by some to stimulate a sluggish thyroid and may also reduce constipation that some people experience on high-protein, low-carbohy-drate diets. By adding plenty of sea vegetables to the diet (nori, hijiki, dulse kombu, wakame), many people claim to have lost weight, gained energy, and obtained regular bowel movements.

A Creative Sense for How Food Comes to Us—the food on your plate, or in your hand, is about to reach the end of a long journey that began before recorded history. Through its relation-ship with societal changes, combined with the environment, science, music, art, history, and culture, your food has made a journey to become the recently planted seed that produced the tree, fruit, leaves, or flowers that have created what you are about to eat.

Food Choice and Preparation—unless you are eating fruit fresh off of the tree, all food, even the rawest or fastest of fast foods, must be prepared. When you can intelligently select, combine, cut, boil, bake, steam, microwave, pickle, ferment, freeze, or store a food, the process of fat reduction becomes all that much easier. Stop thinking about calories and begin to expand your choices. Use herbs in the preparation of fruit, vegetable, nut, seed, dairy, and grain food recipes. Try new types of vegetables such as those from the sea. As for sweeteners, toss the artificial sweeteners and go herbal. There are a wonderful array of herb-based sweeteners like Stevia, barley malt, 100 percent maple syrup, and more.

Protein, Fats, and Carbohydrates

Protein is essential to good health, but it seems of late that we have again become obsessed with high-protein diets. This is a yo-yo pattern that began at the end of World War II and has swung back and forth every few years since then. There was even a point in the late 1970s where some nutritionists were recommending a protein intake as high as 150 grams a day. People had to eat large amounts of red meat or drink all types of liquid proteins to achieve this level.

Eating—you must learn how to eat all over again, as if you were a baby. The art of eating must become a spiritual practice. If you eat on the run, unconsciously, then you will choose foods unconsciously as well. In the end you will keep the fat on and not have any idea how or why.

1. The first step to reducing stored body fat is to create the appropriate environment. If you are eating at home use beautiful silverware and a plate that you especially enjoy eating on. Pick a lovely drinking glass. My favorite is a cobalt blue champagne glass in a shiny brass stand. Play your favorite music. Remember to begin the meal with a few minutes of gratitude and contemplation.

2. The second step in conscious eating is to chew your food thoroughly. Through the chewing process both you and the food are transformed. You get to experience the full range of textures, tastes, and aromas. You are more easily fulfilled with less food intake as hundreds of neurological signals go off, enzymes are produced, and digestion is readied.

Herbs, Nutrition, and Healing—the art and science of reducing stored fat is learned. You must make a study based on the available knowledge. Each herb may affect the nervous system, the chakras, the organs, metabolism, and the emotions differently. It is important that you structure your eating program so that it will be lower in total fat, cholesterol, and saturated fat, while at the same time reducing your caloric intake and using herbs that will facilitate this process. The easiest way of doing this without great thought or discipline is to remove red meat from your diet and replace whole milk with part-skim milk or plant-based milk like soy, rice, or potato-based milk substitutes.

Certain herbs and green foods such as alfalfa, soy, and ginseng root have been found to have cholesterol-lowering properties. These valuable attributes are probably due to substances they contain known as saponins. As you begin to know your body better, and your emotional needs, you will develop a greater wisdom concern-ing what you eat it, how you eat it, and the lifestyle you surround these eating patterns with.

Carbohydrate Foods to Use:

Peas

Nuts

Vegetables

Whole Grains and whole-grain products including: seeds, brown rice, millet, buckwheat (kasha), barley

Potatoes

Yams

Carbohydrates to Avoid:

Refined or bleached white flour products found in many processed foods

Cookies

Cakes

Breads

Crackers

Semolina pasta products

Breakfast cereals

White rice

Many researches hold the more commonly accepted view that people can live healthily with a protein intake as low as thirty grams per day. Though this daily protein intake may be too low for most people, it is notable in its contrast to the high protein levels that were recommended by physicians not so long ago. Generally speaking, most healthy people will need approximately fifty to eighty grams of protein per day. In place of all that red meat and animal protein, we now know that combinations of various vegetarian foods are a much healthier choice.

Due to general lifestyle factors and the neverending attempt to find a magic way to lose weight, many of us have been led to believe that beef, chicken, whole-milk products, and eggs are the best sources of protein. In the 1980s, the focus returned again to reducing our fat intake by cutting back on red meat. We learned that although beef, chicken, whole-milk products, and eggs all had plenty of protein, they may also be laden with pesticides, hormones, saturated fats, and various body-polluting substances. Now it seems that the pendulum has swung the other way and people are reducing carbohydrates and increasing their intake of high-fat and high-protein foods. Luckily there are many foods that, when eaten alone or in combination with each other, offer quality protein without fat or undesirable chemicals.

Recent books on weight loss have shifted perspectives on the relationship of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates to weight control. There are mixed opinions on the accuracy of these new books. It is virtually impossible to discuss this issue without discussing the Atkins Diet.

The Atkins Program

Created by Robert Atkins, M.D., this diet program is based on the basic theory that dietary intake of almost all carbohydrates, but especially refined sugars and starches, abnormally increases production of insulin by the pancreas. This insulin increase results in increased fat storage and has a harmful effect on cardiovascular function. At the most extreme level, the additional insulin may result in insulin resistance. In this situation, cells do not respond to the efforts of insulin to deliver glucose. This in turn may lead to adult-onset diabetes. What both proponents and opponents of this diet agree upon is that after forty-eight hours on a very low carbohydrate diet, the body depletes its reserves of stored carbohydrates, known as glycogen, and begins to burn fat for fuel. Mainstream diet and nutrition experts see this change as unhealthy, but Atkins and his sup-porters say that there are no scientific studies to support this criticism.

Dr. Atkins may be accurate in theory, but in practice his diet is not the best choice available in my opinion. In replacing bread, pasta, and most sweet foods with high-fat foods like beef, cheese, and eggs, you may lose weight in the short run, but in the long run the saturated fat content will create problems for you. If you are someone with weight around your middle and any condition involving insulin resistance such as high serum triglycerides and low HDL (good cholesterol), a modified version of this diet may be of some value. If you do attempt this diet, I advise avoiding the high-fat meals that Dr. Atkins recommends and ask you to remember to keep your fat intake below 30 percent of your daily calories. Pay attention to keeping your saturated fat intake low by avoiding meat, butter, cream, and cheese.

Unfortunately, many animal foods contain pesticide residues, undesirable chemical additives, and hormones that are used in their production. If you want to use the high-protein approach to weight loss, shift your diet to include new types of high-quality protein, and decrease your intake of meats and high-fat dairy products. If you feel that you have to have some animal protein in your diet, then eat organically grown poultry and lamb or veal instead of beef or pork. If you are ready to make a greater adjustment to your diet, consider using low-fat milk products and grain and bean combinations as your primary protein sources. For example, you could include some healthy carbohydrates in the form of starchy vegetables, whole-wheat pasta, and fiber-rich 100 percent whole-grain bread.

Don’t worry about losing the weight fast. A balanced diet with herbal support will result in a balanced, consistent weight loss. The faster you lose the weight, the more likely you are to gain it back. The key to remember is that excess caloric intake and sluggish metabolism will cause you to put on weight. It is still easier to lose weight when you increase metabolism through herbs and then build a diet based on fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, and low-fat foods, including dairy products.

Vitamins Are Essential Because They:

1. Aid in proper development of the body and mind

2. Optimize the function of nutrients from food and other vitamins

3. Facilitate the maintenance of bodily processes

Minerals Are Essential Because They:

1. Are essential to development of blood, nerves, bones, teeth, and other tissues

2. Restore an acid-based balance

3. Maintain proper bodily processes

Water Is Essential Because It:

1. Provides a fundamental element in all body cells

2. Aids in the elimination of waste products

Five Winning Principles for Herbal Weight Loss

Principle #1: Break the fat storage cycle by making the right food choices and by practicing proper “food combining.”

Fat is a concentrated source of calories with about twice as many calories (nine per gram) than are found in either carbohydrates or proteins. Fat-heavy meals also lack fiber, so you can eat hundreds of calories and never feel full. Even worse yet, when fat is eaten at the same time as simple carbohydrates, stored fat increases, blood fat levels rise, and the body’s basic blood-sugar control mechanism is damaged. This “destructive” marriage of fats with carbohydrates actually slows down your metabolism and causes you to gain weight.

To begin your herbal weight-management program you must reduce your intake of all refined sugars and simple carbohydrates, especially avoiding the fat/carbohydrate combinations found in fried foods, cakes, cookies, sweet rolls, candy bars, and so on. Expand your intake of whole grains, beans, lean proteins, and steamed or lightly grilled fresh vegetables. Season these foods with herbs to increase the range of flavors and textures and to reduce your desire for fats.

An effective approach to proper food combining is through a modified zone-style diet.

The Zone Diet

The Zone Diet was created by Dr. Barry Sears. The fundamental theory behind the Zone Diet is similar to that which Dr. Atkins uses to support his diet program: insulin production is greatly influenced by diet. The Zone Diet is less rigid in its point of view than the Atkins program in that Dr. Sears is more interested in creating an effective balance between carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake rather than restricting any one nutrient completely. According to this theory the balance between these three essential nutrients—carbohydrates 40 percent, proteins 30 percent, and fats 30 percent—supports the body in producing optimal levels of insulin. With insulin at a stable level, what Dr. Sears calls “a therapeutic zone”—neither rising nor dropping too quickly—the dieter can avoid the most common negative side effects of excessive insulin: chronic fatigue and constant weight gain. Be careful of your protein food choices, though. Many protein foods contain excess fat (most meats, eggs, whole milk). Moreover, some unbalanced protein/carbohydrate combinations may reduce the body’s ability to release human growth hormone (HGH), a major fat-burning hormone.

The Zone Diet, when applied with a combination of thermogenic herbs and whole, unrefined foods (consisting primarily of vegetables, grains, beans, and low-fat dairy products), will guarantee that the body receives the proper ratio of the required amounts of low-fat protein at each meal, as well as a rich supply of essential fatty acids and fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. This will help the dieter maintain insulin levels within a therapeutic zone and assist in utilizing excess body fat, thus helping to lose weight.

Siberian Ginseng (Eleuthero—Eleutherococcus senticosus, Acanthopanax senticosus): Native to the Siberian Taiga region (northern China, southeastern Russia, Korea, and Japan), Siberian ginseng is known as ci wu jia in traditional Chinese medicine. Cultivated for its root and rhizomes, this herb is actually not a form of ginseng (genus Panax), but is a distant relative called Siberian ginseng because it is native to parts of China and Russia. Siberian ginseng has long held an esteemed place in traditional Chinese medicine, where it has been the most well known of the adaptogen herbs (adaptogens are agents that increase resistance to stress, fatigue, and disease by building up our general vitality and strengthening our normal body functions). The most profound changes that adaptogens help bring about are in the body’s internal environment, especially in body temperature changes, diet, and exercise. Since these areas are what are most affected when a person is on a weight-loss program, this herb is particularly appropriate. Siberian ginseng works through the adrenal glands and helps support general mental and physical balance.

There are many vitamins, amino acids, and other principles found in Siberian ginseng, but the most important substances in this herb seem to be six glycosides called eleutherosides. It is difficult to dissociate the many components of the herb from the over-all actions that are produced by it. It has a non-specific stimulant action on a physical and intellectual capacity that is free of the negative properties associated with other herbal stimulants. The stimulating action is reinforced by a protective action against various outside stresses including hard labor, chemical stress, and adrenal gland fatigue. The herb also enhances alertness, perception, and increases metabolism.

For many years, Soviet Olympic athletes have used this herb in their training regimens to promote stamina. As a result of their success, many nutritionists began to see the value of Siberian ginseng as part of an herbal weight-management program. This interest derives partly from the ability of the herb to improve the uptake of oxygen during exercise and increase general energy and vitality. This will assist the dieter in building endurance and recovering from workouts more readily.

Studies have demonstrated that Siberian ginseng offers a protective function when used with potentially toxic chemicals such as sodium barbital, ethanol, tetanus toxoid, and the chemothera-peutic agents used to treat cancer.

In Russia, it was originally used to reduce susceptibility to infections, but in recent years it has been used to help the body recover from stress and to improve mental clarity. It has also been used by cancer victims to lessen the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Eleuthero, as a fluid extract, possesses many healing and purifying properties, including:

1. Protects the body against stress, various chemical toxins, and environmental pollutants

2. Can be used therapeutically in conditions of acute and chronic radiation sickness, such as hemorrhaging, severe anemia, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and headaches due to X rays (If you are receiving X rays or radiation treatments, use Eleuthero extract.)

3. Neutralizes the ill effects caused by drugs and other substances

4. Counteracts some of the side effects of cortisone treatments, such as adverse changes in the weight of the adrenals

5. Significantly improves human immune response

6. Prevents harmful effects of stress, such as stomach bleed-ing and disrupted production of adrenaline

7. Aids in the absorption and retention of some important protective nutrients, including vitamins Bl, B2, and C

8. May be valuable in the treatment of other long-term immune system dysfunction such as AIDS and chronic fatigue syndrome

There is no combination of herbs and foods more protective against radiation and environmental pollutants than Siberian ginseng and sea vegetables.

Principle #2: Turn on your metabolism herbally and burn stored fat with the proper food choices and herbs.

Some foods burn “hotter” than others, i.e., they cause your body to expend more calories for heat, encourage activity, and are not as readily stored. Proteins and complex carbohydrates are “hot” burners. They are not as easily stored as fat and they tell your body it has plenty of fuel. This is part of the “thermic” or heat-producing effect of eating a high-protein or high-complex-carbohydrate meal, and it “turns on” your metabolism.

Combine lean vegetarian proteins, tofu, tempeh, and grains and beans (or fish, skinless chicken, lean beef, or lamb if you are not a vegetarian), with a variety of non-starch vegetables for especially energizing meals. If a meal does not contain concentrated carbohydrates (breads, grains, potatoes, etc.), you need not be particularly concerned about its fat content. Combine complex carbohydrates (grains and beans) with vegetables (and perhaps a small amount of lean protein) for tasty and filling meals.

Principle #3: Exercise to increase your metabolic efficiency and train your body to burn stored fat for energy.

Though this book is primarily concerned with herbs and weight management, it is impossible to discuss this subject without talk-ing about exercise.

Exercise burns calories, and the greatest benefit comes after the exercise has ended. If you walk briskly for a mere thirty minutes per day, you will increase your calorie burning for the rest of the entire twenty-four-hour period. Adding a moderate amount of upper body exercise or weight lifting will improve your energy expenditure even more by adding calorie-burning lean muscle tis-sue to your body.

Cuwijia: This herb is used in Chinese medicine to combat fatigue and enhance immune activity, but Chinese researchers also note that the herb increases the burning of fat during strenuous exercise. It shifts the energy source that fuels exercise from muscle carbohydrate to fat, and it slows down the buildup of the lactic acid that always accompanies exercise and leads to muscle burnout and fatigue. The data also suggests that the product can increase exercise endurance and lean body mass (muscle without the fat).

For weight loss, plan on walking briskly for at least thirty minutes every day. This is the best done either before or after breakfast. A walk early in the day while the body’s temperature is still rising will invigorate you. A second time to walk is after your last meal of the day. Walking after meals is a particularly good practice for diabetics and for those genetically prone to developing diabetes.

An effective exercise program can be as basic or complex as you wish. It all depends on you. Its consistency and regularity are the defining factors in your success. Many people who are in too much of a hurry to lose weight are also too eager to exercise with-out using common sense. When developing your exercise pro-gram it is important that you remember the following:

1. Make sure that you pick the appropriate exercise regime for you. Don’t do what someone else does without thinking it out first.

2. Once you have designed your program, perform your exercises correctly.

3. Take your time. Working out vigorously without attention to the movement is a prescription for injury.

Remember: Begin any exercise by warming up slowly. Non-weight- bearing, range-of-motion exercise will bring more blood to your muscles while slowly increasing your heart rate. After doing the non-weight-bearing movements, then you may gently stretch to increase muscle flexibility and reduce the chance of injury. Absolutely avoid bouncing or ballistic movements during this exercise since this can lead to injury.

Kelp (Fucus vesiculosis): Also known as Bladderwrack, kelp is a sea vegetable that is a well-researched thyroid tonic containing significant amounts of iodine as well as vitamins and mineral salts including potassium, magnesium, calcium, and iron.

Iodine is crucial to the maintenance of a healthy thyroid. As a source of iodine, kelp assists in making thyroid hormones, which are necessary for the maintenance of normal metabolism in all cells of the body.

Kelp increases the body’s ability to burn fat during exercise. It also contains nutrients that promote the health of various organs. The mucilage in Bladderwrack has an appetite suppressive function and because of this, it is included as an ingredient in many commercial weight-loss formulas. The totality of the elements it contains can have a favorable effect in activating and stimulating certain endocrine glands, osmotic exchanges, and the elimination of waste materials.

As you lose weight, your center of gravity will shift. For this reason, it is important that you strengthen both your back and abdominal muscles. When doing abdominal strengthening exercises, it is essential that you keep your knees bent.

Avoid:

• Deep knee-bends and toe-touches when your legs are locked (straight)

• Jogging or running on hard surfaces

• Forcing yourself beyond what is comfortable

Principle #4: Add fiber to your diet.

The best choice in dietary fiber comes in the form of lightly cooked green vegetables and high-fiber herbs. Avoid refined and processed foods whenever possible.

What exactly is dietary fiber? Quite simply, dietary fiber is derived from the portion of a plant that has not been digested by enzymes in the intestinal tract.

Fiber is an essential element of any healthy diet and effective weight-control program. Hot and cold breakfast cereals (especially those with added psyllium seed husks), noodles, pasta, and various whole grains, including breads and especially brown rice, will give you many of the essential nutrients you require while reducing fat intake and still giving you a sense of fullness. Fiber slows down food consumption so that your body has a chance to signal that you have eaten enough. It adds bulk to the meal to give you a feeling of satiation. It slows the increase in the blood sugar level that fol-lows any meal. Fiber carries waste products from the body and, especially if it comes from lightly cooked vegetables, supplies important minerals and antioxidants.

As in every other aspect of this program, it is essential that you avoid going to extremes. Many people will use large amounts of bran, especially wheat bran, to speed up weight loss. The problem here is that bran and bran-rich foods contain naturally occurring substances called phytates. Proper levels of various minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, and phosphorous are essential to good health and effective weight loss. Phytates can reduce the absorption of these minerals in the intestinal tract. Vary your fiber sources. Avoid too much scratchy wheat bran, but eat grains, such as oats and barley, and starchy vegetables, such as sweet potatoes and yams (without adding butter and sugar). Try to eliminate all canned and frozen foods, as these often contain hidden fats and sugars.

The key then is to avoid mono-diets, or diets where large amounts of any one food dominates. If your diet is varied, then phytates do not pose a problem.

Some herbal sources of fiber include psyllium seed husks and the use of the clear sea vegetable derivative agar-agar in preparing low-calorie desserts and custards.

Principle #5: Use anti-fat nutrients and herbal thermogenic enhancers.

Many individuals who are overweight find that they need a little help to jump-start their ability to burn fat. Certain herbs can pro-mote thermogenesis, which occurs in brown adipose tissue and reverses the body’s tendency to store fat by increasing the production of heat-energy, which burns calories.

One of the chief drawbacks of calorie-restricted diets is their tendency to lower the body’s rate of energy production. Ma huang, with its active ingredient, ephedrine, is the most effective thermogenic. Many herbal weight-loss products contain ma huang in large doses. However, the consumption of ma huang can result in unwanted side effects. Pregnant women, diabetics, and people with serious hypertension should not use thermogenesis.

Thermogenic Enhancers

Many ephedra-based formulas also contain the herb guarana. Guarana is the base ingredient of various popular soda and tea beverages in South America. It is named after the tribe it was commonly associated with, the Guaranis, who used it as a means to increase stamina and endurance. The guarana used in weight-loss formulas is made from the crushed seeds of a caffeine-rich South American shrub.

Used alone, guarana has a caffeine content similar to coffee and is found in many thermogenically based weight-loss formulas. The herb works by speeding up metabolism and burning fat. Unfortunately, this is an herb that is easily abused. When combined with ephedra, it makes the stimulant effect more powerful and even dangerous. There are reports that when used improperly or in high doses this combination may cause high blood pressure, stroke, or even death. Many professional herbalists avoid using it.

However, there are a number of herbs that increase metabolism thermogenically without any negative effects. Among these are the seaweed known as kelp, which activates the thyroid gland as well as mustard seed and cayenne pepper. The latter of these two will help start the thermogenic process and make other sub-stances, including caffeine and ephedrine, more effective as thermogenic aids. This may help a person who intends to use these last two herbs in smaller amounts.

Mustard Seeds: Used since ancient times as a medicine, mustard seeds are often used in healing poultices. As a cooking spice, black mustard seeds are essential ingredients in Indian dishes. The more common yellow mustard seeds are used in pickling vegetables and in making relishes, curries, and salads. The type of mustard that is spread on sandwiches comes from ground mustard seeds. In addition to all this, it is a spice that should be used liberally because of its thermogenic quality.

Like most supplements, thermogenics should be taken within a half-hour of meals. This is especially true if you experience nervousness or jitteriness. To minimize impact, the thermogenic program should be started in the morning and completed by 3 P.M., as taking it after 3 P.M. may result in difficulty sleeping. For the same reason, thermogenics should not be used with teas, colas, coffee, or other caffeinated beverages.

For persons trying to stop smoking, thermogenics can help prevent weight gain, since nicotine itself is a mild thermogenic agent. When people quit smoking this removal of a thermogenic agent may contribute to a slight weight gain, especially when combined with an increase in the consumption of sweets.

The daily consumption of products containing ephedrine and caffeine in conjunction with aspirin, or their natural equivalents, has been shown to increase thermogenesis also. However, this type of treatment is considered unsafe by many doctors and herbalists. Thermogenesis can be positively affected by green tea and the following major thermogenic herbs: kola nut, gooroo nut, yerba maté, guarana, iodine from fucus, white willow bark, and cayenne. Kola nuts are known to strengthen the heart and boost energy and alertness. White willow bark contains salicin, which the body converts to salicylic acid, which helps the blood flow more freely.

Cayenne (Capsicum frutescens): Native to tropical America, cayenne is a perennial in the wild. The fruit of the cayenne plant is used as an appetizer, digestive, and stimulant. It lowers blood cholesterol and prevents the rise in cholesterol levels that usually follows the ingestion of foods high in cholesterol. Used as a stimulant, cayenne has been recommended in weight-loss pro-grams with a thermogenic tilt. It stimulates the production of ATP (fuel), thus increasing thermogenesis and stimulating the cells so more calories are burned. It also increases glucose metabolism, lowers blood serum triglyceride concentration, and stimulates the release of adrenaline from the adrenal medulla and the sympathetic nervous system. Capsaicin, the pungent element in cayenne, elevates the mitochondria’s ability to efficiently use oxygen, and raises the metabolic resting rate.

Nutrients that can impact the thermogenesis process are pantothenic acid, essential fatty acids, vitamin B6, vitamin C, ginger root, zinc, manganese, magnesium, and niacin.

Nine More Tips on Losing Weight Easily and Efficiently

1. Adopt a vegetarian diet. Vegetarian diets are naturally low in fat and calories and high in fiber.

2. Drink at least eight glasses of fluids every day. Water, fresh vegetable juice, herbal tea, or vegetable broth is best. This will give you a feeling of fullness and at the same time cleanse your body of toxic substances that accumulate as you burn fat. Do not drink a lot while you are eating, however.

3. Instead of eating three meals a day, divide your caloric intake between six very small meals. This will reduce the desire for between-meals snacking and will reduce the outpouring of insulin that accompanies large meals, which can contribute to the accumulation of fat.

Neroli (Citrus aurantium): This herbal agent is obtained by extraction of the freshly picked flowers of the bitter orange tree as well as citrus rinds of this tree harvested while still green. Most Citrus aurantium is produced in Italy, France, and on a smaller scale in Morocco, Cyprus, Haiti, Taiwan, and the Comores Islands. At its nutritional peak, Citrus aurantium is rich in flavonoids and contains an agent called synephrine, which like ephedrine, is an edregernic amine. Both of these agents may enhance metabolic rate, increase fat burning, and spare muscle protein. Research shows that Citrus aurantium increases the breakdown of stored fat (lipolysis) by increasing the activity of the BAT cells and thus thermogenesis and the metabolic rate. Unlike ephedra (ma huang), caffeine, or guarana, Citrus aurantium works without stimulating the central nervous system, and thus has none of the associated side effects or health risks.

Citrus aurantium is effective in an herbal weight-management pro-gram because, unlike ephedrine, the use of synephrine seldom produces any of the agitation associated with ephedrine use. In fact, synephrine may be even more thermogenic (increasing resting metabolic rate) than ephedrine while causing less stimulation to the heart rate and blood pressure than ephedrine. According to the most up-to-date research, synephrine is safe, with no serious side effects. It is for these reasons and others that bitter orange extract has been added to many herbal weight-loss formulas as a replacement for ephedra.

Citrus aurantium is also rich in flavonoids. Flavonoids are powerful antioxidants with anti-blood-clotting properties. Researchers have found that they can counter oxygen-caused damage in the body (such as fatty tissue deposits), can help avoid heart problems, and can promote better circulation and overall health as free radicals in the body are eliminated through their antioxidant effect.

4. Do not keep unhealthy snack foods in your house, even if it’s to entertain friends. It’s too tempting to help yourself to snacks. What you might do is prepare yourself several baked potatoes and keep them in the refrigerator. Then, when you feel hungry, cut one in half and eat it with a tablespoon of yogurt.

5. Be moderate in your use of goitrogenrich foods. According to the Tufts University Diet & Nutrition Newsletter (March 1985: 5), foods, such as raw cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, kale, rutabagas, Brussels sprouts, horseradish, and broccoli all contain substances known as goitrogens. When consumed in excess amounts, goitrogens can result in goiter, an iodine deficiency disease. This condition can result in enlargement of the thyroid gland and can also alter metabolism. If you have had difficulty losing weight in the past due to slow metabolism, you may wish to use these foods in moderation.

6. Exercise regularly.

7. Do not get into the habit of using food as an emotional reward.

8. Eat slowly and concentrate on what you’re doing. Reading or watching TV while you eat will rob you of the consciousness of enjoying what you eat.

9. Drink herbal tea instead of soda or juice.

Remember: Ultimately the goal of any herbal weight-management program should have three parts:

1. Thermogenic fat burning

2. Antioxidant effect

3. Appetite suppression With these three factors working together synergistically, an herbal program can promote healthy, long-term weight loss.