Treat and avoid obesity (overweight) with these natural remedies.

People frequently gain weight as they age. How ever, that added weight can lead to serious physical disorders, including cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes, and even cancer.

   Two facts stand out: First, the typical approaches to conventional weight loss have a high failure rate. It is discouraging to continue dieting without success or ending up heavier than before.

   Second, scientific research has provided data which indicates that sustained weight management is needed attainable.

    There are several factors which cause aging people to add body fat and prevent them from losing it. When fat is added to the body, not only is there an increase of fat cells, but there is also an increase in the size of those cells.

    It is not safe to be obese. It is the second leading cause of preventable deaths (tobacco being first). Overweight and obesity are special risk factors for diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, hypertension, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, and some forms of cancer (breast, kidney, gallbladder, uterine, colorectal, and prostate).

   In study of over 15 Nations, there is a close corollary between the amount of dietary fat and breast cancer. A French study found that women who ate the most total fat increased their risk of breast cancer by 60%. The risk was greatest among post-menopausal women. Their risk of breast cancer more than tripled.

   In addition, obesity produces other physical problems which do not lead to death: stress, incontinence, menstrual irregularities, pregnancy complications, excess facial hair in women, depression, and increased surgical risk.

SYMPTOMS

The person is heavier by at least 20% than the average for his height and weight.

CAUSES

Obesity is an excess of body fat; too much is being stored. It is also consuming more calories than one can use.

    The average human body has 30-40 million fat cells. That is too many for some of us. It has been said that when a person makes an extra fat cell, in order to store some extra fat, he will keep that extra cell for the rest of his life even though he may remove the fat from it.

   Poor diet, fatty foods, and a lack of exercise are common causes of overweight. Other factors include diabetes, hypoglycemia, and endocrine glands which do not function properly. Boredom, tension, and love of food are other causes. Another factor is inadequate intake or absorption of key nutrients, which causes fat to be stored instead of used.

   Each year in America, over $30 billion is spent on foods or equipment to help lose weight.

   Obesity can be involved with hormonal imbalances in the hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal, thyroid, adrenals, or pancreas.

   Obese people tend to store fat, not only in regular fat cells, but also in muscle tissue. Then, when they try to lose weight (via a weight loss diet), they lose both fat from the fat cells and protein from the muscles-before they lose fat from the muscle. The best solution is to keep fit, so you do not store fat in your muscle tissue.

   It is said that 90% of obese people overheat and binge because they are eating meals with too many empty calories, which do not supply enough minerals (especially trace minerals) and vitamins.

NATURAL REMEDIES

FOOD AND NUTRITION

People try to cut down on the calories, when they should make sure they steadily obtain good basic nutrition, day after day. Without adequate nourishment, they will generally binge or go off their special diets. It is now known that steady eating is better than losing weight and regaining it, losing it and regaining it. The up and down program damages the body and makes it more susceptible to disease. The 14-year Framingham study established that repeated crash diets increase the risk of heart disease.

   To maintain a program of weight loss (that is, an ongoing program of gradually losing a little weight), calculate how many calories you need each day, in this way: Multiply your weight by 10. Then add 30% (about a third) to the total. This total is the amount of calories you can consume daily, without gaining the weight back which you have already lost. Assuming that you are moderately active, eating anything less than that total amount should cause you to lose weight. (Example: 150 lb x10 = 1,500 + 30% (450) = 1,950 calories.)

·         Crash diets are useless. Quick weight loss tends to come back quickly, resulting in elevated cholesterol.

·         Test for food allergies and eliminate them

·         Consistently eat a lighter, but more nourishing, diet. Do not eat food for fun; eat for health.

·         Avoid junk food, fatty food, fried food, processed food, caffeine, nicotine, and soft drinks. Do not drink alcohol in any form. It has calories without giving nourishment. It inhabits the burning of fat deposits.

·         Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water each day.

·         Do not skip breakfast and lunch. Make breakfast the largest, lunch a moderate meal, and supper the lightest. Or skip the evening meal entirely. Do not eat before bedtime or at night. Best: eat nothing after 3 p.m.

·         Include Nova Scotia dulse or Norwegian kelp in your diet, to supply trace minerals.

·         Include a good vitamin- mineral supplement. Be sure to obtain enough fiber in your diet. It fills you up, without adding body weight. Phenylalanine, an amino acid, helps in reducing weight because of its effect on the thyroid. It increases endorphins in the brain.

·         Powdered barley malt sweetener is quite sweet, yet contains fewer calories than other sweets. Use it to sweeten your food. Do not end a meal with sweets.

·         Here is an all-in-one food drink which, because it is so nourishing, can help you lose weight- if you will let it be you only nourishment at a meal. It is filled with nutrition! Mix the following ingredients in a blender and drink: 1 cup rice milk, 1 cup soy milk, 1 cup fruit juice (apple, orange, or other), 1 banana, 4 fresh strawberries (if available), 1 tsp. black-strap molasses, 1 Tbsp. black cherry concentrate, 1 Tbsp. powdered nutritional yeast, and 1 Tbsp . Flax-seed oil. Drink it slowly, leave the table, and eat nothing more till the next meal.

A BASIC DIET

Go on a good basic diet and stay on it. Here is an example of one:

·         Eat moderate amounts of raw citrus and sub-acid fruits, but no sweet fruits (such as grapes or dried fruits). No fruit juices, except diluted grape juice taken a half hour before the meal, to reduce appetite. No bananas.

·         Eat as much raw vegetables as you want. The only cooked ones should be fresh and conservatively cooked vegetables. Do not use frozen, fried, or canned vegetables.

·         Primarily eat vegetarian protein foods with some moderation: beans, sprouted beans, seeds, nuts, etc.

·         All refined carbohydrates are forbidden. This includes sugar, alcohol, white-flour products, quick oats, most packaged cereals, and processed starch.

·         Eat only well-cooled, unrefined brown rice, barley, rye, millet, buckwheat, wheat berries, Bulgar, corn, and other whole grains. Do not grind them, but cook and eat them in their natural state.

·         Use cold-pressed unsaturated oils, plus lemon juice, and possibly some herbs for favoring. Flax-seed oil (2 tsp. daily) will help you burn excess calories. Use no other oil. Put the raw oil on your food at the table.

·         Eat spirulina 30 minutes before meals. It is very nourishing, adds energy, and will reduce your appetite.

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

·         Do not overeat, ever. It is a very, very bad habit to get into. But it is a habit which can be stopped.

·         When you end a meal, make a determined habit to eat nothing until the next meal.

·         When eating, concentrate on quietly eating and thinking about when you should stop. Do not just relax, talk, socialize, and eat and eat. Do not listen to the radio, read book, or watch television. Stick to your work of eating lightly of nourishing food, and quitting when you should.

·         You will not be harmed by finishing the meal a little hungry. Keep that in mind. Frankly, you will be greatly helped; for your stomach will gradually shrink to the size it ought to be.

·         People who are overweight do best to eat as much food raw as much as possible rather than cooked food. If cooked, the food should be baked, steamed, or boiled; never fried.

·         Go on a cleansing juice fast once a week.

·         A regular exercise program is needed. Aerobic exercises are better than other kinds. This simply means exercise done out in the open air. It helps lose weight and build strength. It strengthens the heart, arteries, and veins. It also invigorates the vital organs and endocrine glands.

·         Walking uses up to 120 calories per hour while actual jogging burns 440 calories per hour. But walking remains the best exercise.

·         Swimming is usually done in cold water; and this triggers the body to store extra fat as protection against the cold. So swimming does not help one lose weight.

·         Regular bowel movements are important. Reduce salt intake. Gum chewing gets the stomach moving and makes you hungry.

·         Do not overfeed children with an excess of starches and cow’s milk. Most infants receive starches by four months; but that is far too early and only leads to later allergies or celiac disease. Children who are over weight by the age of 2 turn into fat adults more frequently than others.

·         If you are only moderately overweight, do not worry about the comments of your thin friends: they probably wish they could gain a little.

HERBS

·         Take 3 grams of plaintain leaves (or 3 grams of psyllium, the seed of that plant) in water 30 minutes before meals. In an Italian research study, women who were 60% over their proper weight did this; and they lost more weight than another group of women who ate less. What to do? Simply mix 1 tsp. psyllium seed with juice or water and eat it before each meal. (But some are allergic to psyllium; if so, stop using it.)

·         Astragalus improves nutrient absorption, thus adding energy. Green tea helps you reduce weight.

·         Adding fresh chickweed (a common weed) to your salad each day will help you lose weight. Eating one whole, fresh pineapple daily also helps do it.

·         Ginger and butcher’s broom improves fat metabolism. Fenugreek helps dissolve fat in the liver.

·         A study of 25,000 Seventh-day Adventist found that those who ate the most nuts were the slimmest. Nuts are rich in serotonin, which helps make us feel full. Adventists are vegetarians. But meat eaters would have a harder time losing weight, since their diet is heavy in grease and saturated fat.

INCREASE OXIDATION OF HYDROCARBONS-Moderately prolonged cold baths, especially wet sheet pack, shallow bath, cold shower, dripping sheet rub, plunge bath, and moderate exercise several times daily. The cold bath may be advantageously preceded by the radiant heat bath or some other form of sweating bath that is not too prolonged. Exercise should always be preceded by a cold bath of sufficient duration to lower the temperature a few tenth of a degree.

CARDIAC WEAKNESS-Cold compress over the heart (except in fatty degeneration of the heart) 15-30 minutes, 3 times daily; graduated exercise outdoors when possible.

CONTRAINDICATIONS-Avoid prolonged hot baths unless immediately followed by a cold bath.

GENERAL METHOD

The general plan of treatment must be prolonged cold baths and vigorous exercise while reducing the daily ration of food to the lowest point consistent with the maintenance of his strength. The treatment must never be conducted in such a way as to diminish his muscular or nervous energy. If he complains of feeling weak or debilitated, the vigor of the treatment must be diminished. There should be a steady gain in muscular strength accompanying the loss of flesh. His strength should be tested weekly. Do not use hot baths; for they are especially debilitating.