Gut Health Blog

June 30, 2024

How Much Does Inflammation Affect Weight Loss?

Hi Everyone,

Are you finding it hard to lose weight?

Do those stubborn pounds refuse to budge despite diets and exercise?

Then chronic inflammation could be the problem.

In this post, I will explain how chronic inflammation affects weight loss and why the diet foods you’ve been eating may be making it harder to lose weight. Then, I’ll share my top 5 tips for lasting weight loss.

What is Chronic Inflammation?

How Does Inflammation Affect Weight Loss?

Can Ultra Processed Foods Cause Inflammation and Weight Gain?

Top 5 Tips For Lasting Weight Loss

 

What is Chronic Inflammation?

There are two types of inflammation, chronic and acute. Acute inflammation arises quickly during injury or illness – when you break a bone for example, or have a high fever with the flu. Once the injury or illness starts to improve, the acute inflammation goes down.

Chronic inflammation is when your body’s immune system keeps producing inflammatory chemicals. This can be caused by an ongoing serious illness like cancer or heart disease, or as a result of stress, weight gain, inflammatory foods, or environmental toxins.

Conditions that feature chronic inflammation include:

Crohn’s Disease, Colitis, and Diverticulitis

Diabetes

Endometriosis

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Long Covid

Migraine

Psoriasis

Thyroid issues

As you can tell, chronic inflammation is part of many different health conditions. It’s why it can be hard to lose weight when you have an ongoing health issue. If you don’t tackle the underlying inflammation, your body will struggle to shed weight.

 

How Does Inflammation Affect Weight Loss?

Inflammation and weight imbalance have a “chicken or egg” relationship. Chronic inflammation can cause weight gain, and conversely, weight gain can cause inflammation. Behind all this is a set of complex metabolic processes:

  • Weight gain triggers hormonal changes that lead to higher levels of inflammatory chemicals like C-reactive protein and cytokines.

 

  • The resulting inflammation hampers insulin function, contributing to elevated blood glucose levels and the build-up of liver fat. This impedes insulin activity even more and sets off a feedback loop.

 

  • Weight gain and inflammation disrupt the production of leptin, a crucial hormone that regulates metabolism and appetite. Reduced leptin affects satiety signaling in the brain making it easier to overeat.

 

Can Ultra Processed Foods Cause Inflammation and Weight Gain?

In 2019, Dr Kevin Hall ran the first-ever randomized control trial exploring the effects of ultra-processed foods (UPFs). The study found that people eating a diet of UPFs ate on average 500 calories more per day and gained more weight than when they consumed a diet of unprocessed foods (Hall et al, 2019).

All these heavily marketed “diet” foods are UPFs. They are rich in artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers, high-fructose corn syrup, flavorings, and thickeners that damage your gut and worsen inflammation.

How do they do this? It’s because of the communication that happens between your gut bacteria and your brain. The billions of bacteria in your gut microbiome are sending messages to your brain based on the types of foods you eat. When you eat UPFs like diet shakes and ready meals, the gut bugs tell your brain they want more of this stuff. So, your brain keeps telling you to eat.

The problem is, these foods are devoid of any nutritional value. They give you calories, but nothing else. They lack the fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients your body needs to thrive and survive.

The chemical additives disturb the balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut. As the bad bacteria multiply, they damage the lining of the gut, leading to increased intestinal permeability (also known as “leaky gut”) and widespread inflammation.

And as I mentioned earlier, chronic inflammation is linked to weight gain. This is how the weight gain-inflammation cycle begins.

 

Top 5 Tips for Lasting Weight Loss

So, now you know how bad these diet foods are for weight loss, it’s time to look at what you should do instead to lose weight.

Here are my top 5 tips for lasting weight loss:

– Ditch the inflammatory foods! Steer clear of ultra-processed meals and snacks, diet sodas, energy drinks, candy, doughnuts, chips, and sugary cereals.

– Stop doing workouts that raise inflammation. This is a major problem for many people. They think they need to exercise more often, or harder, to lose weight. But grueling workouts raise your stress hormones and over time, this encourages weight gain.

– Stay hydrated. Your brain struggles to tell the difference between hunger and thirst. The chances are you’re reaching for a snack when what you need is a glass of water.

– Prioritize good sleep. This is such an important step for sustaining weight loss. Find out why in How Does Sleep Help With Inflammation?

– Learn to relax. Cortisol, your main stress hormone, programs your body to store fat around your belly. This won’t shift until you learn how to relax and build your resilience to stress. Read more about this in Does Cortisol Cause Weight Gain?

 

Lose Weight With Eat Burn Sleep

The beauty of the Eat Burn Sleep program is that it combines all the different elements you need to tackle inflammation and lose weight, for good.

Our meal plans and food lists tell you exactly what to eat. The movement videos show you how to exercise without making inflammation worse, and our meditation guides help you deal with stress and manage your cortisol levels.

But don’t just take it from me, this is what our members have to say:

Ingrid says:

“I just wanted to let you know how much of an impact you have made on my life. My weight has always been between 9.7 and 10 stone, and as a result, it’s now been 8st for the last few months.

My sister is also a member and we feel like you are part of the family, you’re the one we go to for advice on almost everything!”

 

Brooke says:

“I love your “soothing workouts” and all your advice. I also wanted to let you know that when I rejoined last year, I had my physical, and my weight was 172 lbs. My physical last month was 142 lbs. Thank you so much.”

 

Dina says:

“After just one week of the 6-week reset I have lost 3.5kg. I am thrilled with the result and I look forward to losing some more!”

 

Ready to lose weight the easy way? Find out more about our membership options now.

You might also enjoy:

Why Am I Always Hungry?

Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat

Does Cortisol Cause Weight Gain?

Yours, in health,

Yalda x

 

Yalda Alaoui is a qualified Naturopathic Nutritionist (with a foundation in Biomedicine) who studied with the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London. She has spent over a decade performing groundbreaking research in chronic inflammation and gut health.

 

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Is Ozempic a Safe Way to Treat Obesity?

Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat Quickly

Is an anti-inflammatory diet good for weight loss?

May 26, 2024

Is Ozempic a Safe Way to Treat Obesity?

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are well. Today, I want to talk about the diabetes drug Ozempic. It’s one of the big social media topics at the moment because people are using it for weight loss.

However, there are significant health risks to taking prescription medicine for a health condition if you don’t have that condition and without your doctor’s approval. People are buying Ozempic from online pharmacies and unregulated websites, leading to a shortage of the drug for diabetics who desperately need it.

So let’s dive into this topic and see whether Ozempic is a safe way to treat obesity and weight loss, and what the natural alternatives are.

What is Ozempic?

Side Effects of Ozempic

Is Ozempic Dangerous for Weight Loss?

Can Ozempic Affect Fertility?

Long-Term Effects of Weight Loss Injections

Does Lack of Sleep Cause Weight Gain?

Is Obesity a Chronic Disease?

How to Manage Obesity Naturally

What is Ozempic?

Ozempic is one of the brand names for semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1)  receptor agonist. The other well-known brand name is Wegovy.

In 2017 the FDA approved the use of Ozempic as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycaemic control in adults with Type 2 Diabetes. It helps diabetics feel full and reduces their appetite but it is important to note that Ozempic isn’t approved as a weight loss medication.

On the other hand, Wegovy (also semaglutide) is approved as a weight loss drug. However, neither Ozempic nor Wegovy are designed to be used by people who only want to lose a small amount of weight.

Side Effects of Ozempic

Any doctor will tell you that medication has side effects. Doctors weigh up the pros and cons of a medication based on your medical history and the potential benefits to your health. Ozempic is only for patients with Type 2 Diabetes and must be used under medical supervision. It is not meant to be a temporary drug or for people who want to lose a few pounds.

The common side effects, according to Ozempic’s official website are:

  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Stomach pain
  • Acid reflux
  • Headache
  • Dehydration
  • Diarrhea
  • Dizziness
  • Cramping
  • Constipation

 

These side effects can kick in within hours of Type 2 diabetics starting the drug which is why the dosage is gradually increased under medical supervision.

There is also a warning about the risk of possible thyroid tumors, including cancer. GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs like Ozempic are known to cause thyroid C-cell tumors in rodents. The manufacturers of Ozempic say that the risk of this happening in humans is as yet “undetermined” and only time will tell now that more people are using the drug.

They also warn against using Ozempic if:

  • You or anyone in your family have ever had Medullary Thyroid Cancer (MTC) or Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2)
  • You are allergic to any of the ingredients in Ozempic. Severe hypersensitivity reactions (anaphylaxis, angioedema) have been reported in patients treated with Ozempic.

They then list even more severe potential side effects:

  • Inflammation of your pancreas (pancreatitis). Their website states that you should stop taking Ozempic if you have severe pain in your stomach, with or without vomiting. Ozempic has not been studied in patients with a history of pancreatitis.
  • Vision changes.
  • Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
  • Kidney problems (kidney failure). As stated on their website, there have been post-marketing reports of acute kidney injury and worsening of chronic renal failure in patients treated with GLP-1 receptor agonists. Some of these are reported in patients with no known underlying renal disease. Most reported events occurred in patients who had experienced nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or dehydration.
  • Serious allergic reactions.
  • Gallbladder problems.

This is why you need to be under medical supervision if you take Ozempic or Wegovy. Doctors who understand the physiology of semaglutide and know your medical history should be the only people prescribing these drugs.

 

Is Ozempic Dangerous for Weight Loss?

As I’m sure you’ve realized by now, the risks of taking Ozempic for weight loss are not worth it.

One final point about side effects: Medicine.gov lists all of the precautions about semaglutide, the ingredient in Ozempic, and has added:

You should know that your mental health may change in unexpected ways, and you may become suicidal while you are using semaglutide injections for weight loss.

Why put your health at such serious risk when there are easier ways to lose weight? Also, when you stop using the drug, the weight piles back on. It is not a long-lasting, sustainable solution.

To achieve lasting, healthy weight loss results, you need to abandon the idea of a “magic pill” and embrace holistic health.

Weight loss isn’t just a simple matter of cutting calories. It requires knowing what to eat, how to move, and how to deal with negative thoughts that sabotage your weight loss efforts.

This is what the Eat Burn Sleep platform is about. We have food lists, meal plans, movement videos, guided meditations, health Masterclasses, and more, all designed to support you on your weight loss journey.

 

Can Ozempic Affect Fertility?

No one knows yet if Ozempic affects human fertility or pregnancy, but the manufacturers advise stopping the drug two months before a planned pregnancy.

Animal studies reveal why. In a combined fertility and embryo development study using rats, small doses were given to male and female rats before mating. The offspring had reduced growth and fetal abnormalities in heart and blood vessels, cranial bones, vertebrae, and ribs. In studies using rabbits, pregnant rabbits experienced early pregnancy losses along with increased fetal kidney, liver, and skeletal abnormalities.

 

Long-Term Effects of Weight Loss Injections

Your doctor will advise you about all the effects of weight loss injections.

Studies show that stopping weight loss drugs, injections, and other weight loss regimes will likely lead to regaining weight within a few months. It stops intuitive eating, so you do not know when to eat and when you are full, which also affects other areas of your health, like sleep.

 

Does Lack of Sleep Cause Weight Gain?

Yes! Not getting enough good quality sleep will hamper weight loss. Sleep is essential for your body to regulate hunger hormones and appetite. Lack of sleep makes you prone to cravings, overeating, and fatigue. I talk about this topic more in Weight Loss & The Link to Sleep.

 

Is Obesity a Chronic Disease?

Obesity is a chronic inflammatory condition that can be managed naturally and safely without injections and extreme weight loss regimes. Millions of people struggle with obesity because of highly addictive ultra-processed foods that promote weight gain and inflammation. It takes more than an injectable drug to deal with this issue, which is why we have so many weight loss success stories here at Eat Burn Sleep.

Weight loss can occur quickly on EBS – and it lasts. The only side effects are more energy, comfortable digestion, no cravings, and excellent mental well-being! This is why our program is used and recommended by doctors and medical professionals all over the world.

But don’t just take my word for it. Check out our members’ reviews from people like Kirstin:

“The movement videos really help my energy levels. My immune system has improved, less of the dreaded colds.

Working with young kids I’m constantly surrounded but I’ve been on top form the last year and fought off anything relatively quickly.

Gobsmacked at how quickly I got pregnant as I wasn’t even sure it was even possible.

My skin is clear and fresh not to mention the weight loss of 15kg and rediscovering my wardrobe! My mental health has improved too!”

 

How to Manage Obesity Naturally

Optimum gut health is the foundation of the EBS approach. It is essential for weight loss because the microbes in your gut regulate appetite and weight balance. Gut microbes can be modulated positively or negatively by different lifestyle and dietary factors and can even ‘turn off’ any hereditary links to obesity (Cuevas-Sierra et al., 2019).

Our food lists and meal plans are designed to nourish your gut flora and keep you energized and satisfied. Snack options are included if you want to snack but the meals are so filling you probably won’t want to!

Try these recipes that aid weight loss (when eaten as part of a varied anti-inflammatory diet, daily): Egg Muffins: Sweet Potatoes, Carrots & Chives, Paleo Energy Bars, and Chicken Tagine With Preserved Lemons.

You will be amazed at the transformation!

Take a look at the program and check out our membership options now.

You may also want to read:

Why Am I Always Hungry?

How to Lose Weight For and During Holidays

Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat Quickly

As always, I wish you excellent health and a wonderful day!

Yalda x

Yalda Alaoui is a qualified Naturopathic Nutritionist (with a foundation in Biomedicine) who studied with the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London. She has spent over a decade performing groundbreaking research in chronic inflammation and gut health.

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How Much Does Inflammation Affect Weight Loss?

Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat Quickly

Is an anti-inflammatory diet good for weight loss?

May 19, 2024

Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat Quickly

Hi Everyone!

How can I flatten my tummy? I get asked this question a lot, and I’m pleased to say that my answer never fails!

Every week, I receive testimonials from members saying they cannot believe their weight loss and the difference in their body shape. This is why I’m writing this article about how you can lose belly fat quickly and get a flat tummy.

Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat and Flatten Your Tummy

What Exercise Should You Do Every Day to Lose Belly Fat?

How To Flatten Your Tummy Quickly

Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat and Flatten Your Tummy

Before we dive into the exercises, I need to explain the different types of fat we all have. There are two main types:

Subcutaneous fat is the fat lying just underneath your skin. It is usually harmless and helps regulate body temperature and protect your bones from injury.

Visceral fat lies much deeper in your abdominal cavity. It can build up around your stomach, liver, kidneys, intestines, and inside your arteries. This type of fat behaves in a different way to subcutaneous fat. It releases pro-inflammatory chemicals and hormones, increasing your risk of systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, Type-II diabetes, and heart disease.

Women who have had children are more prone to visceral belly fat than women who haven’t. And when a woman reaches menopause, the drop in estrogen encourages more fat deposition in the belly area – regardless of whether you have had kids or not.

However, both men and women of all ages can reduce the risk of visceral fat build-up by eating foods that do not contribute to belly fat (and some of it is surprising) while doing exercises to strengthen and tone the abdominal muscles.

The key here is consistency. If you want to see positive results, you have to build healthy habits that last.

Trends in exercises and exercise machines for losing belly fat and flattening your tummy come and go. They are not all good for your body. Many trendy exercises can inflame your body, increasing your risk of disease. And some exercises may be fine when you are young but less suitable as you age. For example, I was a runner until my physiotherapist put me off by asking if I wanted joint and bladder issues!

 

What Exercise Should You Do Every Day to Lose Belly Fat?

Forcing yourself through a grueling exercise routine for an hour every day to lose belly fat isn’t as effective as any gentle movements in the movements section.

Prolonged, intensive exercise has other drawbacks too. Some studies show that high-intensity exercise releases endorphins linked to increased negative feelings and pain. This could be one of the reasons why many people dread this sort of daily exercise and quickly abandon it.

To reduce belly fat and focus on flattening your tummy, start the 6 Week Reset as soon as you can and do these exercises every day:

19-minute Stretch For Digestive Issues

19-minute Core Fire & Body Strength

22-minute Glutes & Core

25-minute Bloat & Digestion

31-minute Powerful Core & Glutes

34-minute Arms, Abs & Glutes

26-minute Yoga & Pilates

I recommend measuring yourself today and again next week to see the difference!

If you do this you cannot go wrong in your quest to reduce belly fat and flatten your tummy.

These powerful movements are easy to follow but do not have you breaking into hot sweats. They are not jarring to your joints and bones so there is no risk of creating future joint issues. Check out the ones with meditations. They are so nourishing to the mind, body, and soul.

How To Flatten Your Tummy Quickly

Start the 6-Week Reset as soon as possible, like today. The 6-week Reset tells you what to eat each day and when to incorporate the exercises and meditation practices. Our Red List of foods identifies the foods that contribute to belly fat. Stick with the Green List foods, with occasional treats from the Orange List and you will be successful!

Follow the daily movement plans and focus on the exercises that develop core strength and tone your abdominal muscles. Get out for a walk as often as you can too. Walking complements the EBS lifestyle, helping you reduce belly fat and gain muscle. I love walking, and I share my reasons why in this article: 10 Reasons to Walk.

Even a 12-minute Morning Wake-up will do wonders to get you started. As long as you enjoy plenty of the anti-inflammatory foods and drinks listed in the Lifestyle Guide, you will never be hungry.

Sleep and Weight Loss

Remember that you will also sleep better when you follow the Eat Burn Sleep program. Good quality sleep is crucial for healthy weight balance and there are many studies to prove this.  Overall, adults who have 7- 8 hours of good quality sleep a night have less visceral belly fat than someone who only has 5 hours or less.

Read more about it in this post: Weight Loss & the Link to Sleep.

You can age well and have a flat tummy. And it’s never too late to start working toward this. Weight gain can be safely turned around with the right foods, movement, and relaxation. I do all of the above and am in the best shape ever. I don’t do anything extra!

But don’t just take my word for it. Check out our members’ reviews from people like Ingrid, Selima, and Julie…

“EBS not only helped me mentally, but it also gave me the push I needed to finally take control of my drinking. I used to love a drink at the end of a busy day, but it got so easily out of hand for me and I felt so well by following the lifestyle that I decided I didn’t need to do it anymore. That was last June and I’ve never felt better.

My weight has always been between 9.7 and 10 stone and as a result, it’s now been 8st for the last few months.” Ingrid

“I can’t thank you enough for all the goodness you’ve brought to my life. Feeling so good after a three-year burnout and three kids, thanks to your food and motivational insights. Plus, 10 kilos down with very little effort postpartum!

Thank you!!!” Selima

“I am so impressed with what the EBS lifestyle has done for my body. My husband, family, and friends have all noticed as well. Nearly 5 months later and weighing a healthy 12lbs less than when I started, I love it!” Julie

 

Do you want results like these? Get started on your flat belly TODAY! Take a look at the program and check out our membership options now.

Once you’ve joined, you can catch the Masterclass Lives on How to Stay Fit Beyond 35, Perimenopause & Menopause Weight Loss, How to Get Rid of Cravings and Emotional Eating.

You might also enjoy:

Does Cortisol Cause Weight Gain?

How Much Does Inflammation Affect Weight Loss?

Is AG1 Supplement Good For You?

 

With love for your weight loss journey,

Yalda x

Yalda Alaoui

Yalda Alaoui is a qualified Naturopathic Nutritionist (with a foundation in Biomedicine) who studied with the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London. She has spent over a decade performing groundbreaking research in chronic inflammation and gut health.

 

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Yalda Alaoui

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Festive Recipes for Gut Health

How Much Does Inflammation Affect Weight Loss?

Is Ozempic a Safe Way to Treat Obesity?

December 10, 2021

Is an anti-inflammatory diet good for weight loss?

The anti-inflammatory diet operates under the premise that specific foods either contribute to or can alleviate chronic inflammation. In the body, inflammation serves as a natural response to stress or injury.

While short-term inflammation is often a crucial part of the body’s healing process after injuries or illnesses, prolonged or chronic inflammation can pose a threat to one’s health. Persistent inflammation over time is linked to severe diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer.

Consuming anti-inflammatory foods, those that combat inflammation, can effectively diminish inflammation, thwart the onset of chronic diseases, and foster overall health and well-being. To help stave off inflammation, consider incorporating more of certain foods and reducing the intake of others.

Unraveling the Connection: Exploring the Impact of Anti-Inflammatory Diets on Weight Loss and Overall Health

In the ever-evolving landscape of health and wellness, the concept of an anti-inflammatory diet has gained substantial attention. This article seeks to unravel the intricate relationship between anti-inflammatory diets and weight loss. By delving into key terms such as diet, inflammation, and health, we aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of how dietary choices can impact not only our weight but also our overall well-being.

The Essence of Anti-Inflammatory Diets

Before we explore the link between anti-inflammatory diets and weight loss, it’s essential to grasp the fundamental principles behind such dietary approaches. An anti-inflammatory diet extends beyond mere food choices; it encompasses a holistic lifestyle targeting chronic inflammation, a precursor to various health issues. As we navigate this exploration, terms like Mediterranean diet, fatty acids, and inflammatory potential will play a crucial role in understanding the broader context.

What’s an Anti-Inflammatory Diet?

An anti-inflammatory diet is a lot like the Mediterranean Diet – both are about eating fresh and healthy foods. This diet includes lots of antioxidants from fresh fruits and veggies and avoids foods that can cause inflammation, like processed or fried foods, and fast foods.

The cool thing about an anti-inflammatory diet is that you don’t have to worry about counting calories. Instead, it focuses on balancing the three main nutrients: carbs, protein, and fats. For this diet, aim for 40 to 50 percent of your calories from protein, 30 percent from fats, and 20 to 30 percent from good carbohydrates. Each recipe on the app gives you all the nutritional information you need if you want to track them yourself.

What Foods Should I Steer Clear of on an Anti-Inflammatory Diet?

Just as it’s essential to include foods that fight inflammation, it’s equally crucial to cut back on those that might trigger inflammation in your body. Here are some guidelines to help you remove potentially inflammatory foods from your diet:

  1. Say No to Highly Processed Foods: Avoid foods made with white flour and sugar, such as white bread, packaged snacks, and baked goods.
  2. Limit Saturated Fat: Cut down on saturated fat by consuming less full-fat dairy. Be mindful of fatty meats and products made with palm oil.
  3. Food Lists: Follow the Eat Burn Sleep Food Lists for complete guides on foods to avoid and foods to favor.

 

Scientific Insights and Studies

To substantiate the claims surrounding anti-inflammatory diets, we turn to scientific studies and research. Organizations like the U.S. National Institutes of Health (https://www.nih.gov/) and Tufts University have delved into the impact of these diets on chronic inflammation, cardiovascular health, and weight management. Examining the results of these studies sheds light on the tangible benefits of incorporating anti-inflammatory foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and omega fatty acids, into our daily intake.

Weight Loss and Cardiovascular Health

One of the focal points of this exploration is the intersection between anti-inflammatory diets and weight loss. The Mediterranean diet emerges as a noteworthy player in this context, emphasizing not only the reduction of inflammation but also the promotion of heart health. As we dissect the relationships between fatty acids, processed foods, and cardiovascular disease risk, a clearer picture of the impact of dietary choices on weight and heart health begins to emerge.

Does It Produce Results?

A substantial body of research indicates that a diet rich in unhealthy foods—such as saturated fats, trans fats, fried foods, and refined carbohydrates—can trigger inflammation, potentially leading to serious diseases. Conversely, numerous studies highlight the positive impacts of anti-inflammatory foods, such as fruits, vegetables, good quality animal protein, and those high in omega-3 fats.

It’s crucial to note that the anti-inflammatory diet wasn’t designed with weight loss as its primary goal. Still, adopting a diet abundant in low-calorie, nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, and good quality animal protein, while minimizing processed foods and added sugars, may likely result in weight loss. It’s essential to be aware that even though beneficial, high-fat foods like avocados and nuts are also calorically dense. Portion control is key when incorporating these foods into your diet.

Preventing Disease and Optimizing Health

Beyond weight loss, the discussion extends to the prevention of diseases associated with chronic inflammation, such as rheumatoid arthritis and type 2 diabetes. An anti-inflammatory diet is portrayed not just as a tool for shedding excess weight but as a proactive approach to optimizing health and reducing the risk of developing various ailments.

Practical Considerations and Dietary Guidance

Implementing an anti-inflammatory diet requires practical considerations, including dietary adjustments and mindful eating habits. High blood pressure, low-grade inflammation, and inflammatory bowel disease are among the health concerns that can be positively influenced by adopting an anti-inflammatory eating pattern. The role of specific foods, such as olive oil, in reducing inflammation will be explored, providing readers with tangible steps towards a healthier lifestyle.

Personal Experiences and Expert Insights

As we navigate this exploration, it’s crucial to weave in personal experiences and insights from experts. Yalda Alaoui’s Eat Burn Sleep (EBS) approach, rooted in a holistic anti-inflammatory lifestyle, serves as a beacon of practical wisdom. Expert voices from institutions like the Cleveland Clinic and the American Heart Association provide additional perspectives on the significance of anti-inflammatory diets in the broader landscape of health.

Should You Give It a Go?

In general, adopting an anti-inflammatory diet aligns with EatBurnSleep’s nutritional principles, emphasizing a healthy way of eating. This diet reinforces the fundamental understanding that a nutritious diet comprises fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. Steering clear of excessive processed, fried, refined, and sugary foods is a wise choice for promoting a healthier diet, as an excess of these items may contribute to the onset of chronic diseases. Embracing this diet is likely to boost your intake of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, potentially enhancing your overall well-being and aiding in weight loss.

 

In conclusion, the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that an anti-inflammatory diet is indeed beneficial for weight loss and, more importantly, for overall health. The interconnected web of terms explored in this article showcases the complexity of dietary choices and their profound impact on our bodies. As we wrap up this exploration, the invitation is extended to delve deeper into the wealth of information offered by platforms like EBS, supported by entities such as the Academy of Nutrition and the American College of Cardiology. By embracing an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, individuals can embark on a transformative journey towards holistic well-being.

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How Much Does Inflammation Affect Weight Loss?

Is Ozempic a Safe Way to Treat Obesity?

Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat Quickly

December 18, 2022

How to Lose Weight For and During Holidays

With Lots of Food and Treats!

Hello Everyone! You will not believe how many delicious foods and treats you can have to lose weight exponentially while packing your body full of nutrients to lose weight.

If you started living the Eat Burn Sleep way now.

Of course, this means that if you want to lose weight quickly after Christmas, you will already be on the way there and won’t need to worry. (Not to mention for next year’s vacations and holidays!).

If you want to reduce chronic inflammation, avoid weight gain at Christmas, and enjoy lots of delicious food and treats, read on to find out how.

How Can You Lose Weight at Christmas?

Does Being Overweight Mean You’re Unhealthy?

How to Avoid Weight Gain at Christmas

Can You Gain Weight From Christmas Dinner?

What Food Helps You Lose Weight?

Simple, Healthy Christmas Recipes

How to Lose Weight After Christmas

 

How Can You Lose Weight at Christmas?

It is possible to lose weight over Christmas if you embrace living in an anti-inflammatory way from now on.

Going forward, if you get good sleep, keep stress down, eat gut-healthy foods, do anti-inflammatory movements daily, and practice neuroplasticity as a matter of life, it is more likely that you will lose weight. This will aid in reducing any other conditions that you have, like rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, psoriasis, eczema, depression, irritability, tearfulness, headaches, Long COVID, IBS, and the list goes on!

You can still have sweet treats and snacks if you want to. Make sure to make them yourself so you know what’s in them. We have many sweet treat recipes for our weight loss lifestyle.

You can still have champagne and wine. It’s all about moderation, after all. Life is to be enjoyed, and I know that if weight loss dominates your thoughts, then there may not be room for enjoying yourself.

I advise switching your focus to how you can improve your gut health with amazing foods as a healthier, sustainable suggestion that delivers incredible results.

Good food is essential to gut health, liver health, immunity, neurotransmitter production, and keeping inflammation down.

This will reduce your weight and make you happier because of the brain-gut connection – not just because of weight loss.

Does Being Overweight Mean You’re Unhealthy?

Excess weight puts the body into a pro-inflammatory state and interferes with optimum health, opening the body up to some serious health issues.

If not paid attention to and reduced, it can lead to obesity, which is a chronic inflammatory condition and puts your body at risk of a whole array of non-communicable diseases like:

 

Since Covid-19 is doing the rounds again, it is wise to want to lose weight now and over Christmas. People with obesity that catch Covid-19 are more likely to be hospitalized.

It doesn’t take much weight loss to make a tremendous difference in reducing health risks, and because Eat Burn Sleep’s recipes are so delicious and easy to follow, you can really enjoy losing weight.

I often quote our member Kristen because she was in the media with her 60 lb weight loss (which also put her depression into remission). Still, if you scroll to the bottom of the weight loss/obesity condition page, you can watch some of our members talk about weight loss.

I love getting these videos (and those by text) from members because it means so much to put a face to their names, know them better, and follow their health journey. It makes me so happy!

If you look through all the testimonials, weight loss is usually mentioned and happens quickly. Like I always say, though, long-term health is the goal.

The article: How Can You Lose a Lot of Weight Fast? & Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat Quickly may interest you, too!

How to Avoid Weight Gain at Christmas

Of course, you can eat an incredible, exciting array of foods and desserts, have a glass of wine or two over Christmas, and avoid weight gain. I recommend that you follow this advice to prevent weight gain over Christmas.

Can You Gain Weight From Christmas Dinner?

If you eat a Christmas dinner prepared with whole, unprocessed foods and without additives, you will not gain weight from that meal.

Likewise, if you are not cooking and you are eating at a dinner party that may contain foods that are not anti-inflammatory or gut-healthy, yet eat and live in an anti-inflammatory 80% of the time, you will be fine if you know your trigger foods.

It may not digest the same and make you feel uncomfortable and want to lie down, but this one meal isn’t going to put weight on you instantly.

If you are eating out and need guidance at all times, Members can use the Eating Out Guide. It is handy because you can access the app, whilst out, for quick reference. It soon becomes second nature.

Don’t forget to do some anti-inflammatory movements or take a walk to aid digestion.

What Food Helps You Lose Weight?

There are misconceptions about what food helps you lose weight and misleading packaging, and I could talk all day about the dangers of zero-calorie food, the dangers of the way food is processed these days, and not eating well.

Your body needs nutrition, and you can lose weight without compromising nutrition, not just temporarily, which happens on many diets.

So many people yo-yo because these restrictive diets are not sustainable.

You need to have access to Eat Burn Sleep’s entire 300+ anti-inflammatory ‘weight loss’ recipes, such as example weeks and organized monthly menu plans, shopping lists, and all of the tools you need to make weight loss easy.

Weight loss is a side effect of Eat Burn Sleep’s anti-inflammatory lifestyle. If that is inflaming your body, weight loss occurs quickly once you start on this gut-healthy lifestyle, which continues exponentially.

Eating lots of the right foods with anti-inflammatory properties that work synergistically together provides the body with all the nutrients it needs, balances gut microbiota, reduces inflammation, and reduces weight.

This does not happen with many weight loss diets.

Many weight loss diets are all about calorie counting and banishing food groups. They are nutritionally unbalanced, making people feel emotionally unstable and unhappy because their guts are unhappy.

When you focus all day on calories or what not to eat, this induces cravings and misery!

You can be starving on the inside yet have weight issues. A well-nourished body will not be starving. 

A starving body also creates less-than-optimum mental well-being. You may enjoy listening to the chat with myself, Russ Kane, and Chantal Rikards OBE, on How Can You Achieve Optimal Wellness. We laughed a lot!

Simple, Healthy Christmas Recipes

If you are signed up for our newsletter, an anti-inflammatory healthy Christmas menu will be dropped by your inbox this week.

It has various delicious, anti-inflammatory options that are easy to prepare and can be made in advance, including some Christmas salads and amazing, easy dessert recipes. If you missed it, contact our team, and we can send it to you!

Good, tasty food that feeds your gut microbiota well and reduces inflammation will aid your weight loss goals.

I appreciate that not everyone wants or has what is known as traditional Christmas Day food. Hence, it’s a nice collection of delicious food that will help you avoid weight gain over Christmas and give you a taster of what delicious anti-inflammatory food tastes like.

If you are looking for healthy, one-pot, anti-inflammatory meals to have over the Christmas holidays. And ones that can be made quickly and in advance; go with some energy-efficient (in more ways than one) slow cooker ones that are so good for your gut health. (Members, there are so many slow cooker recipes to choose from).

They keep in the fridge for up to 5 days and in the freezer for three months.

There is nothing like bringing some delicious food out of the freezer and feeding friends and family when you don’t have time or feel like cooking!

A dish of beef brisket, a meal for digestive disorders.

Slow Cooker Beef Brisket 

Throw all the ingredients in and slow cook for 6 hours. Amazing for your gut health and digestion and lowers inflammation.

The beef breaks away into soft, succulent strands, and the sauce gets richer by the day, so this is definitely one to prepare a day or so in advance because it tastes even better. Serve with broccoli steamed lightly for a burst of green in your bowl and calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin C, B vitamins, and so on.

Slow Cooker Paleo Beef Short Ribs

Slow-cooked pasture-fed beef is good for gut health, digestion, immune strengthening, and protection from (as well as reducing) chronic inflammatory conditions.

Plus, the procedure used in creating soy sauce creates unique carbohydrates that feed microbiota, which will assist in lowering inflammation.

Slow Cooker Indian Vegetable Curry

This slow-cooker Indian curry recipe couldn’t be more straightforward. You can use mild, medium, or hot curry paste/powder, depending on your taste.

Because you are using a ready-made paste, make sure it doesn’t have any inflammatory ingredients, which will undo all the good microbiota-feeding work! Members, check the list of ingredients that you should avoid in the red foods list section.

The amino acids that reduce inflammation in mushrooms, plus the antioxidants, minerals, and fiber in all the ingredients here, make this a potent anti-inflammatory meal, feeding good gut microbiota and giving a good dose of vitamin D.

A bowl of chicken soup and vegetables in a clear broth - an EBS recipe

Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

Chicken is exceptionally high in heart-healthy vitamin B3, and the darker meat contains double the amount of zinc and iron of the lighter meat, giving it extra immune-boosting properties.

Who knew that healing and weight-reducing foods tasted so good?

Savor the flavor and enjoy the anti-inflammatory weight loss properties of our Eat Burn Sleep Christmas menu in your inbox. Subscribing will give you lots of health education tips and recipes to improve your physical, mental, and emotional health.

The majority of the foods that you eat need to be nutritious (and delicious) for weight loss (and for a happy life). Remember, though, you cannot heal with food alone. Lifestyle matters so much!

How to Lose Weight After Christmas

As I touched on, if you follow this anti-inflammatory lifestyle, you will already be losing inflammation; losing weight, and you won’t need to worry about putting your attention to weight loss after Christmas. Just concentrate on living your best life.

Weight reduction will continue if you follow this lifestyle. It sounds so easy. That’s because it is, and it is enjoyable. 

Good food that isn’t full of chemicals, unhealthy fat, and ingredients that our bodies do not know what to do with gives us life, not puts it at risk.

It is there to be enjoyed, and it is essential. We all deserve tasty, nutritious food that doesn’t inflame our bodies and cost the earth!

If you are looking for a gift to help anyone with weight loss goals or a non-communicable condition, autoimmune disease, digestive issues, and so on, consider the gift of health.

Whichever corner of the world you are in over Christmas, I wish you health and happiness and hope you have a beautiful time.

 

 

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November 13, 2022

How Can You Lose a Lot of Weight Fast?

25 Tips to Lose Weight Fast 

Hello Everyone. Forgive my bold statement. I wanted to grab your attention (don’t worry, I haven’t duped you!*). You see, I know that products to ‘Lose Weight Fast’ are big business.

There are ‘rapid weight loss pills,’ ‘lose weight fast’ potions, ‘weight loss injections‘, and ‘quick super slim’ offers all over the internet, and it is so concerning since the supplement market is also an unregulated industry.

Thousands of weight loss pills contain dangerous, illegal ingredients concocted by people not medically trained, with significant health risks.

Plus, the ‘quick fix’ marketing of these products, with false testimonials endorsed by an actor in a white coat, tempts thousands of people seeking ‘weight loss help.’

There are currently over 2 billion (and climbing) people who are obese in the world, and it is one of the biggest health problems we face. The number has tripled in the last 50 years.

If you have obesity or weight loss goals that you want to kickstart that will last, this post is for you.

I will tell you what is more powerful and safer for long-term weight loss than ‘quick fix lose weight fast’ pills, with the bonus of beautiful side effects. Check out the 25 tips for weight loss below.

What Is Obesity?

What Are the Health Risks of Obesity?

How Do You Know if You are Obese?

What Is the Best Way to Reduce Weight?

How Can You Lose Weight and Keep It Off?

Best Diet Plan For Obese People?

What Is Obesity?

I know that the acceptance culture of being proud of our bodies, no matter the size or shape, is lovely, but obesity is a condition that is unhealthy and can be life-threatening.

Obesity can also be treated without employing extreme, risky, and expensive methods.

Obesity is a complex condition with biological and genetic contributors and is caused by low-grade chronic inflammation (IL-6 and TNF-a) that has developed over time.

It is characterized by the accumulation of excessive fat that interferes with the body’s optimal health.

An excess of macronutrients in the fatty tissues stimulates them to release inflammatory mediators. It reduces the production of adiponectin, which renders the body in a state of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation.

The increased level of inflammation (IL-6) stimulates the liver to synthesize and boost C-reactive protein.

Adiponectin improves insulin sensitivity and has an anti-inflammatory function, so a reduction in levels will impair fasting glucose, leading to Type 2 diabetes.

Added to the dysfunctions associated with obesity that stimulate oxidative stress, the sustained inflammation in the body contributes to more obesity-linked complications.

What Are the Health Risks of Obesity?

The health risks of obesity are conditions like hypertension, metabolic syndrome, cancer (breast, ovarian, prostrate, endometrial, colon, liver, and kidney), and cardiovascular disease.

Musculoskeletal disorders like osteoarthritis and catching serious viruses like COVID-19 are all linked to obesity. Many are hard to recover from.

Plus, visceral fat (adipose tissue stored around several internal organs) can not only increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes but can affect how our hormones function and raise our cholesterol. It is the visceral fat that can give the pot belly appearance.

Obesity can pose issues when women are trying to get pregnant or transitioning through menopause, plus excess weight puts additional pressure on their organs.

It is also common for people with obesity to have psychological effects, like increased stress and anxiety, depression, decreased self-confidence, and feelings of shame and guilt.

How Do You Know if You are Obese?

Your weight usually measures obesity in kilograms divided by the square of your height in meters (kg/m²). Anything greater than or equal to 30 is obesity for adults.

What Is the Best Way to Reduce Weight?

Obesity is not caused entirely by factors within personal control, but here are my 25 tips on how you can be in control of reducing obesity:

    1. Stop dieting**. The word ‘dieting’ is conducive to unsustainability since ‘diet’ is linked with restrictive, obsessive regimes that result in cravings and bingeing and are often over before they are begun. Diets can also cause more weight gain and unhappiness in the long run. Naturally, if we are told we can’t have something, we will no doubt want it more unless better alternatives are provided.
    2. Eat more of the right foods**. Nutrition is a massive factor in optimal health. Knowing what foods work synergistically to reduce chronic inflammation (and there is a lot of confusion) is critical. Knowing what foods increase inflammation is essential. Our food has changed, and we are over-consuming indigestible foods created by the food industry, so our microbiomes have altered. In the long run, eating micronutrient-poor foods costs more (in so many ways). The food industry has a lot to answer for.
    3. Balance gut bacteria**. Altered microbiota impacts our health, and obesity is one of those conditions. When micro and macronutrient daily requirements are not met, this causes dysbiosis and inflammation. Enhancing your gut microbiota with the right foods will improve your chronic inflammation condition (and your mental well-being). Our gut microbes need the proper nutrients to keep us healthy. Our brains like foods in their natural form, and a balanced gut produces neurotransmitters like serotonin, which is responsible for appetite.
    4. Detox your liver**. An overloaded liver cannot metabolize fats and toxins, which leads to weight gain and other chronic inflammatory conditions. Adopting a liver-friendly diet will aid in losing weight.
    5. Understand what you are eating**. Over-consumption of food occurs when the body is not nutritionally nourished. Junk/processed foods do not satiate the body. They are full of fat, sugar, emulsifiers, thickeners, and additives that put the body into a state of inflammation and open it up to oxidative stress. Read: Low-calorie Foods for Weight Loss.
    6. Beware of marketing. Check the ingredients on ‘weight management’ and ‘health’ food packaging.
    7. Drink more** – of the good drinks. Check the healthiness of the components in all that you drink. Source your water. Read: Diabetes Advice: Is Drinking Tea Good for You? & Fancy a Cup of Coffee?
    8. Avoid high-impact, excessive exercise** – do the right mix of anti-inflammatory movements at home, targeting all areas of the body, including the brain. The proper exercise will induce weight loss, improve metabolic functioning, increase tone and core strength, and improve body composition. The proper ‘weight loss’ exercise will also promote cognitive health by reducing depression, often linked with obesity.
    9. Don’t embark on restrictive and extreme regimes. Many extreme diets and slimming plans are unsustainable, not healthy, and make you feel miserable. Not only because they are restrictive, but they also do not feed you with the proper nutrition or promote neurotransmitters (which naturally make you feel good). Initial weight loss usually comes back and, very often, with more health issues, as what happens with the keto diet. Check the article: Is the Keto Diet Good For Diabetes? & Dangers of a Vegan Keto Diet.
    10. Educate yourself on optimum health and nutrition from legitimate sources**. Get specialized advice on how to reduce your weight safely and effectively—understanding how your body works, such as your metabolism and your inflammatory condition, is vital in looking after it and losing weight if that is your goal.
    11. Don’t count calories**. Calorie counting leads to an unbalanced diet. Eating the correct type of calories should be the focus. Counting calories does not mean weight loss, is not beneficial for how your body works, and could cause you harm. For instance, quality food that synergizes with your body’s metabolism and gut microbiota is the best approach to weight loss. Plus, counting calories in food is tedious, detracts from the pleasure of eating, and can lead to eating disorders.
    12. Follow a safe, healthy, natural protocol that includes regular treats devised by a qualified nutritionist**. A balanced, nutrient-rich, exciting, flavor-rich, wide variety of affordable foods should be eaten, along with sweet treats and great snacks when needed. It’s all about intake every day. Food should be a pleasure. Meals and drinks should be relished and looked forward to. If you like wine, cake, coffee, steak, and pizza…you should have them! Life is to be enjoyed. To be thoroughly appreciated, moderation is key.
    13. Don’t believe in ‘miracle cures.’ Fast weight loss pills will most likely increase your inflammation and, at worst, cause serious health issues. Rapid weight loss regimes are a waste of money at the least and dangerous to health at the worst.
    14. Sleep well every night**. Critical regulating processes in your body while you sleep, are related to weight issues. See this article on how sleep helps you lose weight.
    15. Eat mindfully**. Enjoy eating the right food slowly, as it will improve your digestion, maximize nutrition absorption, and reduce stress. All aid in the lowering of inflammation.
    16. Be kind to yourself**. Let go of shame, guilt, and judgment.
    17. Get a shopping list and meal guide of anti-inflammatory ingredients and foods**. 
    18. Arm yourself with delicious inflammation-reduction recipes**. 
    19. Learn powerful life hacks on curbing cravings**.
    20. Check your medication. Your medication could be causing weight gain and chronic inflammation. Talk to your healthcare provider. Read NSAIDs, Gut Health & Inflammation.
    21. Do neuroplasticity exercises**. Reprogramming your brain to lose weight, alongside eating the right nutrient-rich food with weight-reducing activities, is powerful.
    22. Improve your mental health**. Eating the right foods, doing the right movements, getting good sleep, and reducing stress will improve your mental health. Check the article: Depression Diet & Lifestyle Intervention.
    23. Practice daily de-stressing rituals**. Stress can have a significant effect on obesity.
    24. Spend time outdoors. Walking is one of the most underestimated forms of efficient exercise, and it is accessible and free! Check out the 10 Reasons to Walk article and The Benefits of Sun Exposure. Exposure to some sunshine encourages serotonin release, which is responsible for regulating mood, appetite, digestion, and so on. This also reduces stress and helps sleep.
    25. Join an online safe and protected health community of like-minded individuals**. Proven to support people in achieving their health goals, allowing for motivation and inspiration. Accessing a collective pool of health-related information and discussing and sharing topics with fellow members of the same community is not only supportive but can also be imperative to many – for success.

Read the article about Is Ozempic a Safe Way to Treat Obesity? & How to Lose Weight For and During Holidays.

**Become an EBS member and access all tools, support, and tips for weight loss success.

How Can You Lose Weight and Keep It Off?

Believe in the power of your mind and gut. Look after your gut health, live an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, and know that your body will reduce inflammation and weight loss will occur. You have to put the healthiest, sustainable plan of action in place!

Once chronic inflammation is addressed with the proper health education tools that promote kindness and self-nurture (rather than extreme soul-destroying ones), weight loss and putting the condition of obesity into remission takes care of itself.

A successful obesity-reduction plan doesn’t cost the earth (quite literally) or put your health at further risk, and you don’t have to wait for it. You can start right now!

Taking charge and feeling healthier, happier, more energized, lighter, and empowered are some of the lovely things Eat Burn Sleep members say (check the testimonials).

More importantly, it is what they can feel and see.

You can hear our members (scroll to the bottom) (including Christen Kinard, who was in the press with her weight loss story) talk about their weight loss on Eat Burn Sleep here.

Do get in touch with my team with any questions. We would love to support you in taking charge of your health and attaining a happier, healthier version of yourself.

In the meantime, I hope that you have a wonderful day!

*Losing weight fast for the long term is what members experience safely and naturally. So it is achievable, without risks to your health, and not just an attention-grabbing title! Weight loss is a side effect of Eat Burn Sleep, and it often happens early on and continues. 

Long-term (not fast and quick) is always the focus here at Eat Burn Sleep.

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Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat Quickly

August 05, 2023

How Do You Speed Up Your Metabolism?

Understanding Metabolism

So many people ask if their slow metabolism is responsible for being overweight, over 60, or over 30…

There’s also a misconception about not being able to control your metabolism because it is genetic.

Contrary to popular belief that we are either born with a slow or fast metabolism, metabolism reflects our hormonal health.

This means that you may have more control (in the way of influence) over your metabolism than you are led to believe.

This post is about how metabolism changes at varying points in our lives and what you can do to optimize it.

I will also tell you what most significantly influences how we burn energy. 

Is Metabolism Responsible for Our Weight?

How Do You Know If You Have a Slow Metabolism?

How Do You Know If You Have a Fast Metabolism?

Can Exercise Boost Metabolism?

What Food Boosts Metabolism?

What Can Kick-start Your Metabolism?

Does Sleep Affect Your Metabolism?

Does Drinking Water Aid Metabolism?

How Does Sleep Affect Metabolism?

Does Stress Affect Metabolism?

Do Metabolism-boosting Extreme Diets and Supplements Work?

Can You Change Your Metabolism?

What is Recommended for a Healthy Metabolism?

Is Metabolism Responsible for Our Weight?

Metabolism is linked with weight gain and loss because of its biological process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy.

Your metabolism is not the reason for weight gain or loss, though.

Metabolism, in medical terms, is known as your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is the minimum number of calories your body needs to form basic functions like breathing, digesting, cell repair, body temperature, and hormone level management.

Your metabolism naturally changes at different stages throughout your life.

It is the thyroid gland and the thyroid function that have the most significant influence on how we burn energy. 

The thyroid, the butterfly-shaped gland at the front of your neck, makes the hormones that control how your body uses energy, controlling essential functions and affecting nearly every organ.

These hormones affect your weight, digestion, muscles, heart rate, moods, brain, and breathing.

How Do You Know If You Have a Slow Metabolism?

People with a slow thyroid function experience a ‘slow metabolism.’

Symptoms of a low thyroid function (slow metabolism) include:

  • Weight gain
  • Fatigue
  • Slow digestive functions
  • Brain fog
  • Feeling cold
  • Low mood

 

How Do You Know If You Have a Fast Metabolism?

Having a fast metabolism is indicated with:

  • Good energy levels
  • Good hormonal balance
  • Regular bowel movements
  • Not gaining weight easily
  • Clear mind and focus

 

What Slows Down Your Metabolism?

Many factors could be slowing down your metabolism, and a sedentary lifestyle is one of them.

So often, people associate a slow metabolism with getting older, but as people age, they are not as active as they were, so this is why this fallacy is believed.

A sedentary lifestyle can lead to a toxic liver.

This impedes regular healthy liver functions like performing hormonal homeostasis (hormone balancing), which leads to a slower metabolism.

There are many other factors, like medication, processed foods, alcohol, and toxins, that also influence your metabolism.

Can Exercise Boost Metabolism?

Exercise can boost metabolism, but probably not the type of exercise that you think will boost it.

High-intensity workouts are often associated with boosting your metabolism, are counterproductive, and raise your cortisol levels (the hormone associated with stress).

Then, consequently, this leads to a hormone cascade, unbalancing hormones.

High-intensity workouts increase inflammation in the body and lead to water retention and further weight gain for people with a slow metabolism.

The biggest mistakes I see are people who go on extreme crash diets and grueling workout programs to get ‘quick results.’

Inevitably, they don’t lose weight and slow their metabolism even further because it increases stress, inflammation, and hormone imbalances. More on that below!

You see, the body perceives pain as inflammatory. 

Eating very little food can backfire because the body will think there is a shortage of food, so when you eat, your body will store it.

Regular anti-inflammatory and low-impact movement (alongside anti-inflammatory food and neuroplasticity exercises) boosts metabolism and improves body composition.

What Food Boosts Metabolism?

Foods that focus on thyroid health and an anti-inflammatory lifestyle boost gut health, liver health, and metabolism.

This is why this anti-inflammatory lifestyle successfully boosts metabolism while lowering inflammation.

Members: access the thyroid healing advice in the specialized advice section here.

What Can Kick-start Your Metabolism?

A liver detox that focuses on real foods rather than juicing boosts your metabolism.

Members: access the liver detox advice in the Lifestyle Guide.

This reboots the liver and gastrointestinal tract, rebalances hormones, boosts weight loss, and speeds up the metabolism.

Does Drinking Water Aid Metabolism?

Good hydration is fundamental to keeping a well-functioning metabolism.

Dehydration leads to water retention, as the body tends to hold water when it isn’t getting enough and is linked to weight gain and sugar cravings.

Also, when the body is dehydrated, kidney function isn’t optimal.

So, what happens then is that the liver takes over some of the kidney functions, and then lipolysis (fat burning) is halted since it isn’t a vital function.

Constipation occurs with dehydration, which further lowers the metabolism by keeping toxins in the body longer. This ultimately taxes the liver even further.

This, in turn, leads to further hormonal imbalance and low thyroid function.

So, drink plenty of water daily. Your liver, skin, and digestion will thank you for it!

Does Sleep Affect Your Metabolism?

Sleep deprivation is a chronic stressor, so yes, sleep affects metabolism and many mind and body functions.

Regular good sleep each night, going through all the sleep cycle stages, is essential for maintaining metabolic homeostasis.

Sleeping less impacts the hunger hormones, blood sugar level regulation, hormonal balance, and fat burning.

Also, 75% of the Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is produced during sleep.

HGH induces growth in almost every tissue and organ in the body and is especially renowned for its effect on bone and cartilage in the adolescent years. It’s also associated with fat burning!

You need your beauty sleep!

The Human Growth Hormone also accelerates skin repair and keeps you looking younger.

So, sleep deprivation causes metabolic dysregulation through various pathways like sympathetic overstimulation, subclinical inflammation, and hormone imbalance.

You can aid sleep through good day and nighttime habits and satisfy your body nutritionally.

It’s a huge focus on this lifestyle, re-programming even long-standing insomniacs, shift workers, and circadian misalignment.

Read this article for good sleep tips: Weight Loss and The Link To Sleep.

Does Stress Affect Metabolism?

Low stress levels are also essential for metabolism.

High levels of stress cause cortisol to be released, sending the body into fight or flight mode.

This temporarily pauses regular body functions, like the metabolism – slowing it down – unbalancing hormones, and increasing chronic inflammation levels.

Do Metabolism-boosting Extreme Diets and Supplements Work?

As mentioned, metabolism is not to be blamed for weight conditions.

I had to include this because there are so many suggestions for boosting your metabolism to lose weight on the internet, and you must be very careful.

An extreme ‘metabolism boosting’ starvation diet will damage your metabolism. 

Some very low-fat, high-carb diets with excessive cardiovascular exercise will increase your inflammation.

If inflammation runs high in your body for a while (which can go undetected if you do not know the signs of inflammation), you are increasing your risk of disease.

Likewise, long fasts, the ketogenic diet, and chronic undereating are not suitable for optimum health.

Yes, you hear about initial weight loss. I got excited when I tried a diet similar to the ketogenic diet while exploring what would help my body heal (before I created this anti-inflammatory lifestyle).

I experienced weight loss, but I also soon experienced the downside.

Seriously, your health will be jeopardized! It is temporary and causes harm to the body. Extreme diets cause extreme issues. It’s a recipe for ill health.

I wouldn’t advise following a ‘metabolism-boosting weight-loss diet’ that a qualified nutritionist or doctor hasn’t prescribed.

Also, taking a ‘metabolism-boosting slimming pill’ could be dangerous.

Supplement producers are not regulated!

You could be consuming a load of bulking agents that could cause nausea and abdominal pain (as well as inflammation) or a substance that could seriously affect your health.

Extreme eating and deprivation disrupt metabolic functions, digestion, liver health, and mental health, increasing inflammation in the long run.

What starts as an intention to lose weight and get fit quickly opens your body up to disease and health problems.

If you seek extreme measures because of weight concerns, I suggest you approach them from a different angle.

Approach weight concerns from an angle that is nurturing, kind to the body and mind, and fosters self-awareness.

Read: How Can You Lose a Lot of Weight Fast?

Get to Know Your Body

Follow an anti-inflammatory lifestyle that teaches you to connect more to your body to understand how to change it for better health.

Learn what has a positive and negative impact on your body and to lose weight in the long term.

I would advise following a lifestyle (i.e., this one!) that includes stress management, meditation, self-care tips, and nutritional education to aid longevity.

Members can access specialized advice: emotional eating, depression, weight loss tips, water retention, unusual eating times, and overindulgence recovery.

Don’t forget to check out the guided meditations, like the one for emotional eating.

A successful weight loss lifestyle will be one that nurtures every part of your mind and body to function optimally, looking after your digestion, liver, and thyroid.

Can You Change Your Metabolism?

Yes, you can change your metabolism to function more efficiently by taking on all of the above, as well as liver health.

Not only does good liver health support healthy hormones and a healthy thyroid, but it also supports lipolysis (fat-burning).

Regular anti-inflammatory movement can also support metabolism and good organ functions.

I would advise optimizing the whole body, not just focusing on the metabolism.

A gentle, nutrient-packed, anti-inflammatory lifestyle is recommended for optimal health because the focus is on de-stressing, keeping the body and mind calm, and allowing the organs to heal and reboot.

You may be interested in reading: What Is the Best Diet for Everyone?

Or scroll through the videos and hear what happens to the body with veganism, for instance.

I recommend you listen to the podcast where I talk with my wonderful friend, Flavia Morellato. She is one of London’s top lymphatic drainage therapists (and she helps me when I have water retention).

Also, listen to the podcast ‘Unstressable’ with my other wonderful guest, Alice Law, a top Stress Management Consultant.

We talk about how to manage stress and live a happy, un-stressful life.

Of course, to assist with mind and body health, I always recommend getting good sleep and going to bed before 10 p.m. to read an actual book for ten minutes or so without a digital device close by.

Then, do a two-minute gratitude prayer for everything good in your life.

Believe in the power of this optimum health ritual as you drift off to sleep.

Whatever time you read this, I hope that your day or evening is wonderful!

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How Do You Reduce Your Cholesterol?

Looking for a Safe Liver Detox for Weight Loss?

How Much Does Inflammation Affect Weight Loss?

April 10, 2023

Weight Loss and The Link To Sleep

How Can Sleep be Linked to Weight Loss?

Hi Everyone! This article will explain the link between sleep deprivation, weight management, and a less-than-optimum physical and mental state of well-being.

Sleep deprivation plagues a quarter of the world’s population, and lack of sleep is linked to being overweight.

In this post, I explain how sleep is crucial for physical and mental health and weight management.

I cover how sleeping more helps you lose weight, and reducing your weight can lead to better sleep. I discuss how sleep mitigates the risk of developing diabetes and other inflammatory conditions. 

Plus, what if you exercise a lot and eat healthily – why aren’t you losing weight?

What Happens to the Body During Sleep?

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

Is Sleep Affected by Alcohol?

How Sleep Affects Metabolism

How Sleep is Affected by Oxidative Stress

Is There a Link Between Depression and Lack of Sleep?

Is Stress Linked to Lack of Sleep and Weight Gain?

How Can You Improve Your Sleep?

What I Recommend for a Good Night’s Sleep

What Happens to the Body During Sleep?

During sleep, the tissues in your body get repaired. You also produce Human Growth Hormone (HGH) – from the pituitary gland, which helps keep lower body fat levels and repairs your body, including the turnover of bone, muscle, and collagen.

Functions that happen during sleep increase longevity and healthier body composition.

Our hunger hormones, ghrelin, and leptin, are regulated during good sleep. Ghrelin is responsible for hunger and leptin for feeling full, and lack of sleep causes dysregulation and an insatiable appetite!

Both sleep and exercise induce HGH. Exercise increases HGH and, depending on the type of exercise and for how long, could be detrimental to the body.

The right type of exercise regime for optimum health is essential for sleep, too.

Experts estimate that as much as 75 percent of the human growth hormone is released during sleep.

In normally healthy people, the significant period of HGH release occurs during the first period of Stage 3 sleep stage during the night, about an hour after you first fall asleep.

Stage 3, also known as deep or slow-wave sleep, accounts for about one-quarter of your sleep each night.

Deep sleep is the most restorative in all stages of sleep.

During this stage of sleep, HGH is released and works to restore and rebuild your body and muscles from the stresses of the day.

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

It would help if you aimed to go to bed between 10 and 11 p.m. and, depending on your needs, try sleeping between 8 and 9 hours.

If you feel like you could go back to bed before noon and sleep or self-medicate on caffeine throughout the day, then it is likely that you are not getting good quality sleep and not being kind to your body.

If this is consistent, it will manifest in all sorts of inflammatory physical and mental ailments.

This program supports anyone seeking complete lifestyle change guidance and work because it is not about perfection.

For instance, if you have coffee all day long now and can’t see how you could change that on the program, you will soon find that you reduce it (of your own accord, it seems, with no hardship – because of the health education and the full audio and visual lifestyle support).

Soon, you will have one or two perfect cups in the morning, and it will be enough. It’s true! Coffee is good for many of us, in moderation, after all!

The production of HGH levels peaks in your youth and steadily declines with age.

Seniors, in particular, spend less time in deep sleep, which explains the link between a lack of HGH and other disorders associated with aging.

For example, lower HGH levels correspond with a higher risk of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

So, with less sleep, there are more chances of dementia and higher chances of many inflammatory diseases. All of our cells renew during sleep, and hormones regulate themselves.

Have you read How to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease?

Is Sleep Affected by Alcohol?

Yes, another culprit for our destructive sleep patterns is alcohol. Studies have shown that drinking alcohol makes you fall asleep faster, but the sleep cycles are disturbed.

The likelihood of waking up in the middle of the night after drinking is high, and sleep is not as valuable.

What happens is the body is focused on metabolizing the fermented sugars in the alcohol, and so the (REM) deep sleep cycle is reduced.

Alcohol keeps you in the lighter stages of sleep, so you don’t experience the lovely deep sleep we need.

Alcohol, like a ‘sleeping tablet,’ is a sedative. It takes you from being awake but not to sleep.

So many people think that alcohol helps them to sleep, but it doesn’t. It puts you into a state of sedation, good, natural sleep, and REM isn’t experienced.

The liver is left with the task of detoxifying the sugars in the alcohol, which interferes with the fat-burning process, and the overall quality of sleep is impaired.

Also, I don’t know whether you notice, but on the days when you sleep less or have had excess alcohol the night before, you have an enormous appetite and can crave calorie-rich, high-carbohydrate, and high-fat foods the next day.

Some sweet alcoholic drinks play havoc with your blood sugar levels and start inducing cravings while drinking them!

This is why people nibble after drinking alcohol and why it is so hard to quell intense cravings when you consume sugary alcohol. The more calories in an alcoholic drink, the more of a craving the next day!

The more often glucose and insulin are disturbed, the more we are at risk for illnesses and disease.

How Sleep Affects Metabolism

Studies show that sleep deprivation increases metabolic dysregulation.

When we sleep less, we also have less stable sugar levels (glucose intolerance and insulin resistance) and more cravings, so more cases of diabetes and obesity.

Chronic sleep deprivation is recognized as one of the significant contributors to the escalation of type 2 diabetes – and it can be avoided.

Also, less sleep generally means slower movements and less energy for exercise, which increases the chances of obesity and other chronic inflammation diseases.

Less sleep also disrupts the circadian rhythm (24-hour internal clock).

The circadian rhythm activates many body and brain mechanisms during daylight hours, designed to keep you awake, and then when it is time to sleep, the processes slow down and deactivate ‘alert’ signals.

The circadian rhythm plays a vital role in the sleep/wake cycle, including sleep duration and continuity, which I discuss more in the Personalized Advice section for Insomnia.

How Sleep is Affected by Oxidative Stress

A good amount of sleep increases resistance to oxidative stress, too. Oxidative stress is an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body.

Free radicals are unstable molecules created when we eat, exercise, and are exposed to smoke and pollution.

Studies have shown that the deprivation of REM sleep alters cellular physiology and can potentially generate free radicals.

Oxidative stress increases chronic inflammation, damaging DNA, proteins, and cells and leaving the body more susceptible to diseases like macular degeneration, Alzheimer’s, prostate cancer, and Parkinson’s Disease.

Antioxidants are produced by foods abundant in vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, zeaxanthin, carotenoids, and selenium, which help fight free radicals.

This anti-inflammatory lifestyle is packed with antioxidant-rich recipes.

See the bottom for some taster recipes for you!

There’s a Strong Link Between Depression, Inflammation, and Sleep Disturbance

Sleep disturbance may activate the expression of inflammatory genes. These inflammatory cytokines are highly correlated with the occurrence of depressive disorders. Meanwhile, inflammatory activity, in turn, can influence sleep.

Depression and anxiety lead to insomnia, which can lead to depression and anxiety.

In a nutshell, depression and anxiety are linked to chronic inflammation.

These are two of the conditions subscribers have stated they have lifted since they have been on this anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle.

Click to read about Christen, our member who has lost over four stone and doesn’t have depression anymore!

As the lifestyle reduces chronic inflammation and promotes good health and good sleep, it is not a surprise – and I am delighted, as you can imagine.

You can see why it is essential for your whole physical and mental well-being to get regular, sound sleep.

Sleep is an essential component of life, an important component of the Eat Burn Sleep lifestyle (hence the SLEEP in the title!).

Check the Personalized Advice for Depression support.

Is Stress Linked to Lack of Sleep and Weight Gain?

Mental stress, whether part of or as a result of poor sleep, can enhance appetites, increase weight gain, and decrease motivation for physical activity.

Sleep deficiencies associated with shift work and circadian misalignment may contribute to metabolic dysregulation.

This can also lead to stress, weight gain, obesity, diabetes, chronic inflammation, impaired glucose intolerance, insulin sensitivity, and energy balance.

It is essential to recognize a strong link between sleep and circadian disruption in the development of diseases.

Reducing stress and eating the right foods at the correct times, with the proper movement, on an optimum health program like Eat Burn Sleep will contribute significantly to rectifying this.

My comments were featured in The Sun recently about how to get a good night’s sleep.

What I Recommend for a Good Night’s Sleep:

Many people with poor sleeping patterns for decades have turned their lives around through the Eat Burn Sleep program. Just by being on the program. However, for those who want more comprehensive support for insomnia, check the personalized advice section for Insomnia.

I know I repeat this a lot, but it’s essential: not eating enough of the right foods for the right nutrients can lead your body to starvation, sleep deprivation, and disease susceptibility.

You have often heard me talk about switching your genetics off with the right lifestyle. Taking the right exercise and using techniques to decrease stress to reduce inflammation and for overall good health is essential.

Following the Eat Burn, Sleep program is scientifically proven to optimize mental and physical health and will promote good sleep.

Can Supplements Help Sleep?

Please listen to the supplements talk under Nutrition in the Videos section about my findings with supplements and the companies that produce them.

I was shocked to find out that there are no regulations in place. Always go for reputable brands. Even if it is a reputable store that you are buying from online, check the brand is legitimate.

Studies have shown that many supplements from sources not as well known or bought online contain 83 percent less of the substance than is claimed on the label.

(You can check out many of the products to use on the Yalda Loves page).

Finally, sleep is essential for brain function and performance. This means the quality of your sleep impacts your work, studies, and mood.

The worst form of torture is sleep deprivation – ask new moms and dads about that!

Make sure your whole family is benefitting from enough sleep.

After a good night of sleep, I see “La vie en rose” (life in pink) and find myself a better mother, friend, and partner in life and business.

Summary About Sleep and Weight Loss

To summarize the above, no matter how well you eat and exercise, your efforts will be in vain if you do not get proper sleep.

If you don’t eat nutritiously, exercise correctly, or lead an unhealthy lifestyle, you will be more prone to sleep disturbances.

Sleep is necessary for good health, and it is never too late to get out of poor sleep patterns.

As I mentioned, members of Eat Burn Sleep have reset their bodies into good sleep patterns with the proper nutrition and lifestyle guidance – and lost weight.

There’s more ‘sleep talk’ in the article: What Happens If You Don’t Sleep Enough? Is Coffee Good For You? And The Benefits of Sun Exposure.

You may be interested in my podcast on mental health and chronic inflammation.

Also, you can sample a few of the (300+) anti-inflammatory gut health recipes that are on the program:

Chicken Tagine With Onion & Olive Confit

Thai Fish Cakes 

Carrot & Quinoa Salad

Chocolate Banana Nice cream

Make sleep a priority, and your performance at work – and play – will also be positively impacted.

Your mental and physical well-being will be enhanced, you will lose weight, and life will be enjoyed more!

Have a lovely day!

 

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March 22, 2023

Member’s 25kg Weight Loss Success Story

A ‘Greatest Gift’ Story from an EBS Member

An Eat Burn Sleep Member tells her success story in the Express about the benefits of joining our anti-inflammatory program.

Help With Weight Loss and Chronic Inflammatory Conditions

After significant traumatic events led Christen Kinard to deal with depression, anxiety, weight gain, and dermatitis, she stumbled across the Eat Burn Sleep program by following me on Instagram.

She says, “I followed Yalda Alaoui for a while on Instagram before signing up for the platform, but it was when I signed up that everything kicked into high gear. Everything made sense. I felt knowledgeable, empowered, supported, and equipped.”

It was when she joined the Eat Burn Sleep community that her skin started healing, weight loss happened rapidly for her, and the anxiety and depression melted away.

For twenty years, Christen suffered from depression before joining the Eat Burn Sleep program!

There are many scientific reasons why anxiety and depression are reduced on this anti-inflammatory lifestyle. Better mental health isn’t just a by-product of the target of weight loss and conditions clearing up in the skin and body.

The program connects the brain and gut while lowering inflammation.

The whole program educates you in an easy way so that you make good choices for your body going forward, with a focus on not striving for perfection but for damage limitation.

You may hear me often talk about this because I don’t think many fashionable ‘diets’ are sustainable.

They actually end up making people feel guilty, unhappy, or even unhealthier because it was extreme (which is so bad for the body), or they fell off the wagon because it was hard to stick to and didn’t fit in with their lives.

This lifestyle is for long-term health and happiness

So, a huge part of the lifestyle is devised around neuroplasticity and neurotransmitters, lowering cortisol, improving endorphins, human growth hormones (HGH), and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), supporting the parasympathetic system and lowering the sympathetic nervous system (as well as encouraging the production of neurotransmitters in the microbiome, too). Have you read 4 Secrets to Feeling Good?

The food is carefully chosen for its powerhouse compounds that aid in the lowering of inflammation and fighting disease, which are brought together into powerful healing recipes that will fill you up and make you happy.

Recipes like Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies & Slow Cooker Indian Vegetable Curry.

The videos on wellness, nutrition, movement, meditation, advice, and tips are continuously being added because I am continually researching.

I teach to educate everyone about achieving an optimum healthy life!

I am so passionate about living this anti-inflammatory way due to my own journey, which led me to research extensively, which led to my recovery. Which is why Eat Burn Sleep exists.

This anti-inflammatory lifestyle saved me from dying, and now I have optimum health; the best body composition that I have ever had, keeping me strong – and I have put my autoimmune diseases into remission. I couldn’t keep that to myself!

So, during my decade of research, I qualified in Naturopathic Nutrition with a foundation in Biomedicine so that I could dispense my scientific findings!

So, hearing life-changing stories daily makes it all worthwhile.

Christen also shares some of the benefits of the anti-inflammatory program in the article, “I had a system, a community, and a lifestyle mapped out for me.”

I am so pleased that Christen shared her “greatest gift” success story with the Express.

For me, I want to reach as many people as possible so that we are all living our best lives with more autonomy over our dietary and lifestyle choices – feeling happier, healthier, and stronger – both mentally and physically.

Reducing disease, losing weight, and protecting ourselves can be a complicated affair. Especially with all of the confusing, inconsistent information: potions, magic pills, extreme diets, and fads out there, which are quite possibly contributing to inflammation and making people’s bodies susceptible to disease.

You can’t just take a pill, eat what you like, and wake up with dramatic health changes!

Have you read How to Lose Weight Fast, Why Am I Always Hungry?, How to Lose Weight For and During Holidays, Weight Loss & The Link To Sleep? & Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat Quickly

Members do say that weight loss happens quickly for them and stays off due to the whole lifestyle guidance and education that’s enjoyable to follow. So, it is a quick fix that lasts – for some, but I like to focus on the long-term optimum health for everyone, not quick fixes.

Many people say that they feel empowered with the education from Eat Burn Sleep – and that is just wonderful to hear!

You can read the article about Christen’s 4-stone (25kg) weight loss, mental health, and skin improvement here.

Wishing you good health, too.

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March 17, 2022

A Recipe Creation for Poosh

The Anti-cravings Shake Recipe

Hello Everyone!

I was delighted to be asked to create a weight loss recipe for Poosh recently.

Why Did I Create a Recipe to Curb Cravings for Poosh?

I went with a shake recipe to curb cravings because, based on my experience, so many people state that they have serious sweet cravings late morning or mid-afternoon that are hard to ignore.

When members have switched to my shakes, they have lost weight, gained mental clarity and new energy, managed their sugar levels, cleared up their skin conditions, and so on.

Poosh’s audience will appreciate how powerful the shake works.

How Does the Anti-cravings Shake Work?

Not only does it do exactly what it is meant to, and that staves off intense cravings, but it was created for its nutritious value and taste!

As well as benefitting from the compound-rich ingredients that will fill people up longer, there’s skin and tissue-loving collagen and anti-inflammatory cacao and flax seeds, amongst other powerhouse ingredients, in it.

Cacao is a favorite of mine since it contributes wonderfully to shakes like these and is nutritionally dense.

It is rich in iron, magnesium, potassium, protein, fiber, calcium, zinc, copper, and selenium – excellent for protecting your heart, lowering inflammation, and balancing mental health and hormones.

There are so many benefits to drinking an anti-cravings shake!

I stay clear of shop-bought nut milk, as they are packed with emulsifiers, thickeners, and additives, which are linked to gut dysbiosis, chronic inflammation, obesity, psoriasis, alopecia, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue, and metabolic syndrome.

Many ready-made kinds of milk contain so many additives. Make sure to look at the ingredients before buying ready-made nut milk.

Here’s a healthy instant nut recipe for you!

Also, if there is an extended date on the package, there will no doubt be some preservatives in there.

Always look at the ingredients even if you are in a ‘health food’ shop. You will be surprised. Please don’t take it for granted that you are eating healthy food from a healthy food store! Inflammatory ingredients are in most things.

Our nut milk recipe is the base of Poosh’s anti-cravings shake recipe, which you can check out here.

There are many cravings hacks on the Eat Burn Sleep program and a plethora of shakes and smoothies – all with brain and gut in mind and lowering inflammation, which can lead to real life-changing benefits.

And – definitely taste! As many of you know, I love good food, and I love creating anti-inflammatory recipes that do you good!

I hope that you like the Poosh recipe feature.

Kourtney Kardashian seems to like the recipe, as she was captured in the press after sharing the anti-cravings shake on Instagram.

I am convinced you will, too!

 

 

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November 03, 2024

The Ultimate Liver Detox

Hi Everyone!

Detox is a general buzzword at this time of the year for kickstarting weight loss.

I am often asked “Do I need to detox?”, “Which detox should I do?” and “Is detoxing safe?”

This article will answer these questions and help you decide whether a detox is right for you.

How Does Detoxification Work?

Is It Necessary to Detox?

What Are the Benefits of a Liver Detox?

Are Extreme Detoxes Good for Weight Loss? 

What Are the Side Effects of a Liver Detox?

What is the Ultimate Liver Detox Program?

 

How Does Detoxification Work?

Your body detoxifies toxins and waste products 24/7 through your lungs, liver, and kidneys. These organs never rest and if something goes wrong with any of them, you can become seriously ill.

Liver detoxification processes turn fat-soluble toxins into water-soluble compounds to be eliminated by the kidneys in urine or through bile that goes to the bowel. There are 3 phases to liver detoxification: Phases I, II, and III.

Phase I, II, and III of detoxification

Phase I: Toxins arrive in the liver ready to be handled by enzymes belonging to the P450 cytochrome family. These enzymes carry out chemical processes like oxidation, reduction, and deamination to prepare the toxins for Phase II.

Phase II: Once the toxins are converted into water-soluble metabolites, the liver conjugates them (i.e. binds them to another substance) so they can be excreted via Phase III.

Phase III: Toxins travel to the kidney for excretion in urine, or the gallbladder for excretion in bile. Good hydration is essential for Phase III to work properly.

Your liver works hard all day every day but it has to work even harder to handle things like alcohol, Ultra Processed Foods, cigarette smoking, pollution, and environmental toxins.

Is It Necessary to Detox?

If the body is detoxifying 24/7, why do we need to do a “liver detox”?

From a naturopathic perspective, a detox is about cutting back on the things that can impair our detoxification pathways such as alcohol, smoking, and junk food, and giving ourselves more of the nutrients that support healthy, efficient detoxification. These include B vitamins and antioxidants like vitamins C and E, zinc, and glutathione.

You might want to detox after an indulgent celebration like Christmas, or a vacation. Or you could follow the seasons and detox in Spring and Autumn – the traditional times of year for change and renewal.

Signs that it could be time for a liver detox include:

  • Digestive issues like poor fat metabolism
  • Dark urine
  • Body aches and pains
  • Headaches
  • Skin rashes and itches
  • Nausea
  • Fatigue
  • Intolerance to smells
  • Mood swings

 

What Are the Benefits of a Liver Detox?

Following a safe, nourishing detox plan can give you:

  • Better energy levels
  • Better concentration and mental clarity
  • Comfortable digestion
  • Clearer skin
  • Better sleep
  • Sustainable weight loss

 

The Eat Burn Sleep 6-Week Reset is the perfect detox plan. Many members notice benefits within a couple of weeks, like Dina for example who says:

“After just one week of the 6-week reset I have lost 3.5kg. I am thrilled with the result and I look forward to losing some more!”

Are Extreme Detoxes Good for Weight Loss?

The answer to that is no!

Extreme detoxes cause harm and lead to more weight gain in the long run. Your body needs a wide range of nutrients every day to maintain your organs and create energy for living. Restrictive extreme detox diets don’t provide enough nutrition and cause incredible stress to your digestion, liver, and hormones, leaving you worse off than before.

What Are the Side Effects of a Liver Detox?

When you start eating better foods mindfully and cutting out inflammatory junk food your body can be shocked. Depending on your toxic overload, it happens around the third day of the Six Week Reset in the Eat Burn Sleep program.

This is known as the healing crisis and is a sign that your body is in withdrawal from refined sugar and opioid compounds found in wheat and dairy.

You might experience headaches, brain fog, and fatigue for a few days. Your gut microbiome, which will have grown the wrong kind of bacteria, will scream at you to have some sugar or other inflammatory food.

The wonderful thing is that this is just part of the healing process of a liver detoxification program and won’t last for too long.

What is the Ultimate Liver Detox Program?

The best liver detox program is filled with delicious foods and drinks, mindful movement, and gentle relaxation practices. You will feel amazing when you have nurtured yourself through it.

My Six Week Reset program eases you through this process and lists science-backed activities to support your liver detoxification for long-term results.

It’s a glorious feeling when you are through to the other side and are reminded that you are stronger with higher energy levels – just like EBS member Brooke:

“I love your “soothing workouts” and all your advice. I also wanted to let you know when I rejoined last year and had my physical my weight was 172 lbs. My physical last month was 142 lbs. Thank you so much.”

 

Ready to discover the ultimate liver detox? Find out more about our membership options now

Our premium membership includes the Liver Detox Plan, which you can also purchase separately here.

 

You might also enjoy:

Why Am I Always Hungry?

Low-Calorie Foods for Weight Loss

Podcast on Spotify: Mindset Tips for Long-Term Health

Podcast on Apple: Mindset Tips for Long-Term Health 

 

Have a fantastic day,

Yalda x

 

Yalda Alaoui is a qualified Naturopathic Nutritionist (with a foundation in Biomedicine) who studied with the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London. She has spent over a decade performing groundbreaking research in chronic inflammation and gut health.

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