3 Delicious, Healthy Fats that Keep You Lean

by Nature's Symbiotics. Posted on July 1, 2013

01 Jul

Even the healthiest diet needs to include a small amount of healthy fats! Believe it or not, fat actually has a number of health benefits – as long as you choose natural fats instead of man-made, processed ones!

Fish

A great source of good fat is fish. Fish, especially cold-water fish such as herring, tuna, salmon, trout, or mackerel, is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. There’s a reason so many people take fish oil supplements! Incorporating these oily fishes into your diet can provide excellent health benefits, including better heart health with decreased risk of heart disease, increased cognition and brain development, and improved mood. They may also improve insulin and blood sugar levels, which is great news for people who have type 2 diabetes.

Avocados

Avocados are an excellent source of good fat, especially omega-9 monounsaturated fat – not to mention that they’re chock-full of antioxidants as well! Monounsaturated fats are a great way to help your heart, as they reduce the risk of heart disease. These fats are also memory enhancers. Avocados are one of our favorite fast foods – they are practically a meal on their own, and a healthy, satisfying snack!

Nuts

Nuts are also a great source of good fats. Different nuts provide different benefits as well! Walnuts, like fish, are an excellent source of omega-3s. Almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, and pistachios are all great sources of omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, which are other great fats for help with heart health, blood sugar and cholesterol maintenance. A bonus is that nuts are an excellent source of protein!

Announcing our New, All-Natural, Ultra Lean Green Coffee Bean Extract with GCA

by Nature's Symbiotics. Posted on June 24, 2013

Exciting news! We’re pleased to announce our new Ultra Lean Green Coffee Bean Extract, now available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

We know that with all the information (and unfortunately mis-information) out there, that it can be confusing to figure out what’s best for your health. That’s why we did months of research to make sure that this weight loss supplement is the highest quality, and one that you can trust (want to see all the nitty gritty details? Click here to read more).

At Nature’s Symbiotics we are all about achieving optimum health, and we’re proud that our Ultra Lean Green Coffee Bean Extract will not only help lose weight naturally, it also has some great additional health benefits:

Improves Circulation
Stabilizes Blood Sugar
Slows the Aging Process

In celebration of our launch, we are taking pre-orders on this great new supplement at a special limited-time-only intro price that is over 70% off retail. Click here to pre-order today on Amazon.com!

The French Paradox: 5 Tips To Live Slimmer and Healthier

by Nature's Symbiotics. Posted on June 22, 2013

22 Jun

If you are looking to develop a healthier lifestyle, draw some inspiration from the “French Paradox.” The French have much lower rates of heart disease and obesity than Americans do – despite the fact that their diet is full of butter, cheese, chocolate, and wine. Why is it that the French are thinner with a much lower incidence of heart disease than Americans, despite the fact that they eat three times as much fat as we do? Let’s talk about how to follow that example.

Eat Less Food at Once

Even though French foods are typically fattier and much richer than American foods, the French stay healthier by eating smaller portions, according to this article from Psychology Today. Did you know that even pre-packaged single serving food items, such as chocolate bars and yogurt cups, are much larger in the United States than in France? This is also very true for fast food restaurants, where American serving sizes are 25% larger portions than their French counterparts.

In the American food system, many selling points are based around bargains. Americans love all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants or “two for one” specials. In France, no matter what the restaurant, the mindset is about the quality of the food, rather than the quantity.

How can we control our portion sizes in restaurants? It’s not as hard as it may seem. Ordering for two? Get one entrée and maybe a small side dish to share evenly between the two of you. Ordering for a large group? Get a few entrées and maybe some smaller appetizers. And never underestimate the power of bringing home your leftovers – there’s no reason to eat what you can’t eat now if you can still have it later!

Enjoy Your Food More

For the French, eating is something to be enjoyed – every time. Dining takes time, and this is all a question of enjoying what you eat.

This is a simple exercise in taking care to enjoy your food more. Eat slowly and intentionally. If you chew each bite with full attention to what you’re eating, with a pause between bites to relish in the flavors, you’ll find that you’ll be satisfied much quicker. Pay attention to your food: don’t eat in front of the TV or while reading.

This is simple science: it takes about 20 minutes for food to pass through your stomach and reach your small intestine – which means it takes just as much time for your brain to receive the message that it’s time to stop eating. If you eat too quickly, you’re much more likely to overeat as a result!

Make It Yourself

In this Morning News article, several French women are interviewed as to how they do it. Other than portion sizes, one consensus is that processed foods are a bad way to go. For many French people, processed foods are simply unsatisfying and much less enjoyable than foods that you make yourself. For the French, this means buying good quality ingredients. In France, many people still buy their produce right from the source. They go to a cheese shop for cheese or a butcher’s for meats. When it comes to baked goods? The French are, as always, much more interested in high-quality foods. A box of Oreos is simply not as interesting as a homemade croissant.

When you make your own food, you know exactly what goes into it. In France, TV dinners and instant pre-made foods are something of a foreign concept. If they don’t have time to cook, the French would much rather make do with something quick, like pasta.

High in Fat – But What Kind of Fat?

American food is extremely high in fat, but so is French food. So what’s the difference? According to this AskMen article, the key is the type of fat. In France, the fats are not processed (think: hydrogenated oils); rather, they come from natural sources like dairy and vegetables. Dairy is a surprisingly healthy form of fat, especially because dairy products make you feel full more quickly – so you’ll be more inclined to eat less.

Don’t Forget Exercise

Diet is not the only aspect of a healthy lifestyle, and any doctor can confirm this. Whatever you eat, it’s important to get out and exercise. In France, much of the culture is such that people walk everywhere, even when the option to drive or use public transportation is available. If you’re spending your leisure time lounging around being a couch potato, then it doesn’t matter what you eat; it’s simply not a healthy way to live!

How Convenience Foods Make You Fat

by Nature's Symbiotics. Posted on April 28, 2013

Looks pretty healthy, right? Wrong – this “healthy” meal has at least 5 ingredients either containing MSG (like yeast extract) or that create MSG during processing (like maltodextrin)

One of the most common ingredients used in diet foods such as frozen dinners is the food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG). Whether it’s MSG or other glutamates, you’ll want to avoid these substitutes in anything that you eat. As little as 5 grams of MSG per day makes you 30 percent more likely to become obese than someone else who doesn’t eat it. In fact, medical studies also show that your liver suffers and the threat of visceral fat increases with an uptick of MSG consumption.

If MSG and other glutamates are so negative, why are they added to foods in the first place? Simple: they make the food you’re eating taste better. Similar to the artificial sweeteners added to diet sodas, MSG makes our bodies accustomed to robust flavor.

However, this heartier flavor from MSG and other glutamates has many negative affects including:

Making us dumber. Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but MSG is medically proven to kill brain cells. The result? Excess MSG consumption can cause eye damage, fatigue, heart problems, nausea, and other neurological side effects.
Insulin resistance. Insulin is one of the most important chemicals in our metabolic process. Increased resistance can interfere not only with our efforts to lose weight, but other bodily processes.
Increased leptin production. Leptin is a chemical that is directly linked to causing fat storage. This is why it’s known as the “fat hormone.” Our Garcinia Cambogia HP is designed to reduce leptin, so avoiding glutamates in addition to taking our Garcinia Cambogia HP is immensely helpful in fighting fat!

To avoid these negative side effects, it’s important to check the labels of all the foods you consume, particularly if they’re frozen “diet” dinners. However, keep in mind that MSG can be labeled in various ways including autolyzed yeast, textured protein, hydrolyzed protein, sodium caseinate, yeast extract, yeast nutrient, glutamic acid, and more.

Our rule of thumb – stick to foods that you’d actually have in your pantry, and especially avoid ingredients you can’t pronounce! Click the photo for more great resources on how to eat better.

Again, the best option for any diet is to focus on the quality of foods being consumed. Healthy, natural foods in moderation are always better for our bodies than processed low or zero calorie foods. While diet foods might be tempting, they’re short cuts that aren’t really short cuts – our bodies will recuperate those lost calories one way or another. Simply moderate your diet and stay healthy!

Here are some great tips for how to incorporate natural, whole foods into your diet - happy eating and good health!

Click here for Part 1 – Why Diet Sodas Aren’t Really Diet

Click here for Part 2 – Why Fat Free and Low Fat Foods Actually Make You Fat

Want to jump start your weight loss plan? Try our 60% HCA Garcinia Cambogia HP for a super convenient (only 2 capsules per day) way to boost your weight loss!

Why Fat Free and Low Fat Foods Actually Make You Fat

by Nature's Symbiotics. Posted on April 27, 2013

Same calories, but low-fat has twice the carbs and nearly three times the sodium!

A common misconception among dieters is that fat free foods are good for you. This couldn’t be farther from the truth! If you’ve ever read the label of a fat free or fat reduced food, then you know that awful substitutes are used to accomplish the lower number of calories. Fat is replaced with sodium, sugar, and carbohydrates.

According to numerous medical studies, fat free foods:

Interfere with the body’s ability to regulate fat storage and metabolism. Artificial ingredients confuse the natural processes of the body and make it difficult to stabilize how fat is used and stored.
Increase our appetites. Our bodies need a minimal amount of fat to survive and operate. Think of fat as a fuel – we need enough to sustain our bodies with energy, but not too much or it’s stored as body fat. So when we remove this fuel from our diets with fat free foods, our bodies are searching for more sources of energy. This makes us hungrier and hungrier, and we eat more foods as a result.
Confuse the metabolic process. Since these processed foods distract the body’s ability to digest and metabolize food, we retain more from what we eat, thereby resulting in weight gain.

As these studies have shown, it’s better to taste more and consume more calories with real foods than it is to replace them with artificial substitutes. Remember, not all calories are created equal. While many diets focus on the number of calories consumed, the more important consideration is to focus on the quality of calories consumed.

Another major misconception is that fat free foods are synonymous with low calorie foods. This is why so many people watching their intake of fat calories struggle to lose weight. The proportion of fat calories to “normal” calories is of little consequence if the overall count is high and the food quality is poor. Again, it’s natural for all food to have at least some percentage of fat calories. Low or no fat means that the food has been unnaturally processed to modify its composition.

Need ideas? Check out these rich and tasty healthy-fat recipes!

What does this mean? It means that extra sugar, sweeteners, and simple carbs have been added to make up for the lack of fat calories. These elements aren’t only enemies of your diet plan, but are high in calories as well. What has essentially happened is that fat calories are removed only to be replaced with even more calories that are allegedly better because there isn’t any fat. But remember that in terms of dieting, a calorie is still a calorie. Kind of defeats the purpose of eliminating fat calories, right?

The worst part is that eliminating fat calories means that flavor has been eliminated as well. To add back the lost flavor, processed junk, sugar, MSG, and carbs are added to the ingredient list to make it taste better. These ingredients mess with our metabolic process and are just flat-out unhealthy in general. In other words, low or no fat foods don’t necessarily equate to low calorie foods – and it certainly doesn’t equate to healthy foods.

This means that you can enjoy full fat, natural foods as long as you eat them in moderation. Go enjoy that steak you’ve been craving and don’t be afraid to have fun at the neighborhood picnic! Focus on naturally low fat foods (fruits and veggies) and foods with healthy fats like fish, eggs, and avocado (to name just a few). It’s always better to moderate real food consumption than rely heavily on processed fats and foods.

Click here for Part 1 – Why Diet Sodas Aren’t Really Diet

Click here for Part 3 – How Convenience Foods Make You Fat

Want to jump start your weight loss plan? Try our 60% HCA Garcinia Cambogia HP for a super convenient (only 2 capsules per day) way to boost your weight loss!

3 Surprising “Diet” Foods that Make You Gain Weight

by Nature's Symbiotics. Posted on April 26, 2013

Diet soda and artificial sweeteners seriously undermine any weight loss plan

If you’ve been scrupulously watching your diet but have failed to see the scale budge, you’re not alone. One of the most frustrating parts of weight loss is counting calories and not seeing the expected results. Fewer calories are supposed to always result in weight loss, right?

Wrong. Perhaps the biggest misconception in the diet world is that all calories are created equal – but they’re not. Now don’t get us wrong: weight loss is always the result of more calories burned than calories consumed. However, “diet” and “sugar free” foods can actually be hindering your efforts to lose weight. It’s better to consume real, healthy foods instead of substituting them with processed, low or zero calorie foods.

But I thought losing weight was all about monitoring the calories I eat? Yes, but you should always consider the quality of foods that you consume as well. Natural foods are healthier and safer than food substitutes processed to eliminate calories. Our bodies realize that those foods are unnatural and react accordingly, making it difficult to lose weight even though the foods are labeled “diet” and “zero calories.”

Think of it this way: would you rather grow a garden beneath synthetic light or the sun? No matter how advanced artificial lighting might become, it will never be a substitute for the benefits that our wondrously complex sun provides for vegetation. Likewise, our bodies were designed to consume natural foods, and artificially processed foods supposedly engineered to help us lose weight do anything but that.

In fact, these foods can make you gain weight. Over the next few posts, we’ll help you understand why, and what you can eat instead! If you are on a diet or monitoring your health, avoid these three foods:

Diet sodas and sugar free drinks (and artificial sweeteners in general)
Fat free or reduced fat foods
MSG and other glutamates

Why Diet Sodas Aren’t Really “Diet”

Check out these great soda alternatives!

One of the most popular food substitutes for those counting calories are diet sodas and sugar free drinks. As ironic as it might sound, however, zero calorie drinks make you gain weight. Without getting too technical, the chemicals in diet drinks destroy the pH balance of your blood, forcing our bodies into an acidic state. Our bodies react abruptly and negate the weight loss benefits that we were expecting from no calories, no sugar.

You see, the artificial sweeteners dupe our bodies into thinking that sugar is in our system, when it really isn’t. Because the sugar isn’t actually there, the insulin that our bodies pump out as a response begins piling on layers of unwanted fat. The more fat we get, the slower our metabolisms become and the worse our diet spiral gets. The worst part? These artificial sweeteners are addictive, ruin our metabolisms, and make us crave starchy carbohydrates and foods loaded with sugar.

Study after study shows the negative effects of diet sodas and sugar free drinks, yet the diet industry wants us to think that these are good for our bodies! But the exact opposite is true. Diet sodas:

Increase the risk of diabetes. These artificial sweeteners might be zero calories, but they take a serious toll.
Increase our demand for sweet foods. Artificial sweeteners are unnaturally sweet. As we get used to this flavor, we desire sweeter and sweeter (more caloric) foods
Destroy our metabolisms

Don’t worry, though, because it’s not all bad news! If you’re looking for low calorie drinks, there are plenty of healthy options available. Instead of opting for a diet soda or sugar free drink, choose sparkling water. H2O never hurt anyone and sparkling water with natural fruit flavoring gives you something just as enjoyable as soda! The best part? There’s no sugar, no additives, and you can even make your own sparkling water combinations at home!

Click here for Part 2 – Why Fat Free and Low Fat Foods Actually Make You Fat

Click here for Part 3 - How Convenience Foods Make You Fat

Want to jump start your weight loss plan? Try our 60% HCA Garcinia Cambogia HP for a super convenient (only 2 capsules per day) way to boost your weight loss!