Rapid Weight Loss And The Benefits Of Supplements

A sudden and miraculous loss of weight is a dream that thousands of people all over the world have. However the realities of a dramatic weight loss can often cause more problems than they solve leaving you in a worse place physically and emotionally.

There are a number of things to be taken into consideration when planning your weight loss regimen, these include your weight, daily calorie intake, general health, how old you are, your gender, stress levels, routine and lifestyle. These factors will determine what sort of program you need as well as how long it will take to achieve based on the free time available to you.

While there are a huge number of books obtainable, with very good advice on weight loss, the best diet program is one that's been specifically designed for you by a dietician. The dietician will evaluate you before coming up with a program and, unlike a book based plan, you'll be able to contact them and talk through any problems you may have with your diet program.

As with any good diet program you should be doing some form of exercise. Not everyone will be at the same fitness levels, but everyone should be including weight training and cardiovascular exercises to their routine.

The diet you'll be given will include carbohydrates and fats. Now, contrary to current popular belief, not all carbohydrates and fats are bad for you - in fact the right kinds of both are essential to your health. A combination of the two will give you the fiber, vitamins and minerals along with the good unsaturated fats that you need. You can get the carbohydrates from the likes of potatoes, cereals, oats and rice and the good fats from nuts and seeds, oily fish, avocados, rapeseed, sunflower, olive vegetable oils and oil spreads.

So, is there a rapid weight loss solution? The short answer is no, unless you're prepared to have surgery, however you can lose weight quicker and easier than you've probably imagined you could. Eat less, eat right, exercise as much as possible and you'll be well on your way to losing that excess weight.

If you've been looking at the topic of weight loss for any period of time then you'll have come across the subject of supplements. Here we'll look at green tea, stimulants and white kidney beans as examples of weight loss supplements and see if they really can help.

1. Green tea. Over the years green tea has been credited with almost mystic healing properties, one of which is to reduce your weight. It has been reported that catechins in green tea help to increase the body's metabolic rate, which would burn off more calories. It has also been claimed that it can reduce the effects that LDL cholesterol has by increasing the amount of HDL cholesterol produced and by reducing the triglyceride levels. However tests are on going and none of these claims have been substantiated as yet.

2. Stimulants. Stimulants have been seen as a way of increasing the body's metabolism, and although they can reduce your calorie intake by suppressing your appetite, they haven't yet been proven to have any long term weight loss benefits. In fact one stimulant, ephedrine, has been band in America because it carries a potential risk of heat disease. No matter which stimulant you may wish to try always read the label, as many of them are not specifically created with weight loss in mind and may cause other health related issues.

3. White kidney beans. Small scale trials have been done on white kidney bean extracts with some, initially, interesting results. The trials have shown that white kidney bean extracts were able to reduce starch absorption in many of the subjects by up to 66%. The reports also indicated that there was no loss in the lean body mass of the subjects. One major health concern has been raised about white kidney beans - they contain large amounts of a toxic carbohydrate called phytohemagglutinin (PHA). However, what they neglected to take into account is that these lectins are neutralized by the cooking process.

Supplements may have a part to play in a weight loss program, but they'll never replace a good diet and exercise. Green tea, stimulants and white kidney bean extracts are just a small sample of supplements available, but remember that most of these haven't had conclusive trials conducted on them relating to weight loss, and may have been developed for other medical uses - so read the labels or get a doctors advice before using them.