The Pros and Cons of a Lemonade Diet

The lemonade diet also known as the lemon juice diet is a fad that really caught on among dieters and has become very popular. So is all the hype about the lemonade diet true and does it really make you lose weight fast?

The lemonade diet is a pretty harsh diet. You are only allowed to drink lemon juice for a period of 10 to 12 days. During this period, you are not allowed to consume any other food.

The recipe for the lemon juice is pretty simple. You will need to mix 2 tablespoons of lemon juice with honey or maple syrup. Then add 10 teaspoons of cayenne pepper and water.  You will have to make and consume about 12 glasses of this juice daily.

The purpose of the lemon juice diet is to detoxify the body and aid in fat loss. You might be wondering if this diet is safe or effective. After all, 10 days without food does seem dangerous and unhealthy. So, let’s look at some of the pros and cons of the lemonade diet.

One of the advantages of the lemonade diet is its detoxifying features. Since the lemon juice has detoxifying qualities, the body is able to detoxify itself effectively.

The disadvantage is that it’s not proven that the lemonade diet actually does any detoxification. The liver and kidneys are more than capable of detoxing a body without any harsh diets.

Another advantage of the lemonade diet is that those who go on it claim to lose weight quite fast. Since the diet is so restrictive and no fats or carbohydrates are being consumed, it is possible to lose a few pounds during this period.

The negative side to this is that the diet causes insulin spikes and obviously cannot be maintained for a long period. It causes cravings for food and once you’re off the diet and back to eating normal food, you will gain back the weight you lost and possibly a few pounds more. The diet due to its highly restrictive nature is stressful and you will experience irritation and anger easily.

There are several other negative possibilities with the lemonade diet. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the cons far outweigh the pros. The lemonade diet does more harm than good.

There is nothing like a sensible diet and regular exercise to keep you in good health. Fad diets like the lemonade diet, adversely affect your metabolism which drops since your body thinks that it’s on starvation mode and tries its best to hold on to the remaining fat.

Furthermore, the weight that you may have lost may just be water weight and not really fat. That makes the loss temporary and an illusion. Once you’re off the diet, the weight will pile back on and reality can be painful.

To summarise, the lemonade diet is not something that anyone should strongly consider as part of a long term weight loss solution. There is no substitute than good ‘ol exercise and a healthy diet plan.

The Importance of Keeping Your Heart Strong and Healthy

The heart is the most important organ in your body and there is absolutely no doubt about that. The heart is a muscle and just like any other muscle, it needs to be worked and kept healthy.

The unfortunate thing is that most people neglect to strengthen their hearts. Even avid gym goers, especially the guys who lift the heavy weights neglect to exercise their heart which is actually the most important muscle.

The heart can only be worked through cardiovascular exercise. You will need to be panting and gasping for air when you exercise for your heart to get a good workout and get stronger. Resistance training though beneficial has only limited benefits.

Cardio training is usually tiring, involves sweating profusely and generally is not fun. Being breathless at the end of an intense workout is your body’s way of saying that your heart got a good workout. The question is… Are you willing to endure the pain of an intense cardio workout?

This article hopes to convince you that the answer should be a strong yes.

A strong heart does not tire easily. You can go about your day actively and not feel drained or exhausted by the end of the day. You heart will be better able to handle life’s daily stresses. For example, if you are running late for work, you will be able to sprint to your office and make it just on time without feeling half dead by the time you reach. This is a simple example, but you get the idea.

A healthy and strong heart also beats at a lower rate when it’s resting. Overweight people have hearts that are overworked. That’s why you see them panting for small things like walking to the shop or climbing a flight of stairs. The heart is weak and not able to function well.

The heart is a miraculous organ and has the ability to heal and restore itself. It is never too late to train your heart. Daily exercise will show improvements within about 3 weeks because the heart is a very responsive muscle.

Many out of shape people who start walking or jogging daily are able to report improvements in their stamina and recovery. The heart craves exercise and responds very well. It’s much easier to build stamina than it is to build muscle. Yet, this is neglected because it’s tiring and you can’t show off a strong heart the way you can flash a big bicep.

Even a heart that has been affected by heart disease can be healed and helped through exercise and a healthy diet.

A 15 minute workout with just you and a skipping rope will be wonderful. The beauty about working out your heart is that it does not require hours of hard training. A short 15 minute heart pounding workout three times a week will keep your heart in great shape and working well. Of course, if you can afford more time, that would be great and will keep your heart in tip top shape.

Finally, common sense will indicate that other than exercise, you should avoid smoking, sleep well, have a diet rich in fiber, avoid excessive consumption of alcohol and see your doctor every now and then to check up on your health. If you do all this, you will have a strong and healthy heart that will keep going for a long time.

Is Excess Weight Hurting Your Knees?

It is a well-known fact that being overweight or obese brings a lot of health problems. Diabetes, high blood pressure, blood clots, high cholesterol, etc are all common problems in people experience obesity.

However, what many folks do not realise is that pain in the joints such as your back, hips and knees are also health problems due to obesity. Since, it’s the joints and bones that hurt, people assume that it’s an unrelated condition. This is probably not true.

Excess weight on a body puts tremendous pressure on the joints. Even being a few pounds overweight can cause your knees to hurt. If you’re 15 pounds overweight, there is a force of 45 pounds on your knee joints when you walk. Over time, your knees will not be able to handle the torture anymore.

Since the knees are close to the ground, they experience more pressure than your shoulder joints. That is the reason why doctors are seeing many cases of knee and ankle problems nowadays due to the rise in obesity.

In the beginning, your joints are strong and can handle the pressure from the excess weight. Over time, the ligaments get worn out and the knees will start experiencing pain. This is a slow process which is why most people don’t realise it till it’s too late. Once the knees have weakened and given out, that’s when they feel pain and it feels like they developed a knee problem overnight.

Overweight people are more prone to spraining their ankles, twisting their knee, tearing their cartilage or having joints suffer from inflammation. This is due to the amount of stress placed on the joints.

So what can you do if you are overweight and have knee pain?

The first step will be to make changes in your diet. You want to be eating healthy and you want to be eating less. This step alone will help you shed some weight.

Since your knees hurt, you’ll want to engage in exercise that is low impact in nature. Yoga is an excellent choice. Swimming is great too.
Next up, it will be good to do some exercises to strengthen your knees. Half squats, lunges and general stretching are great. Bear in mind that you do not exercise through pain. Stop if it hurts. Pain is not gain here.

Get yourself a pair of good shoes that has good support. Keep your clothing loose and comfortable. Try and move around the house as much as possible. Walk more, do more chores, take the stairs, etc. The more active you are, the more calories you burn and the faster you lose weight.

Once you have lost a chunk of weight, the pressure on your knee joints will be greatly lessened. You will definitely feel less pain. It would be a good idea to engage the services of a physiotherapist to help you ease the pain. They’ll tell you what is wrong and what needs to be done to alleviate the pain.

Knee pain can be avoided by maintaining a healthy weight. Prevention is better than cure. Live an active and healthy life and you’ll keep all these problems at bay.