Free Atkins Diet Plan.

By Joy Mitchell

What is the Atkins diet and what will you need to sacrifice in order to obtain the results you've seen other people realize? You're a size twelve, but you want to drop down to at least the size six that you were once, but you'll settle for a size eight, if you have got to. It doesn't really matter as long you're nowhere near your present size twelve!

You'll need to begin with a working knowledge of what the Atkins diet is all about and what it might encompass. On the other hand, if you don't want to get bogged down in detail, you could always just test an Atkins diet free plan, which could assist you to get a handle on the situation.

There's no definite place I can send you for you to get an Atkins diet free plan of course, but I've found that the Internet is a great place for you to find out just about anything and everything you want to learn. Commence by turning on your computer, it's truly amazing how many pithy looks I get when I state this most obvious fact! In fact you probably rolled your eyes at me just now!

Anyway, if you just cruise the Internet for an Atkins diet free plan, you'll be amazed at the amount of other free plans that you'll come up with as well. And if you're not dead set on going the Atkins diet way, then you could just trial any one of the other free plans. As it suggests, it won't cost you more than the time spent on the Internet.

So, what can you possibly hope to gain from an Atkins diet free plan? To start with, you can see which types of foods you can eat and which type of foods you can't eat. If you're considering going with the Atkins diet then in the first phase alone, there are many things that you'll need to sacrifice in order to stay on your diet.

On that list of food, which you may eat and stay on your Atkins diet free plan, you'll find that you can eat cream, cheese and butter as long as you remain within your moderate carbohydrate allowance per day, but out go the fruits, the breads, the pastas and the pizzas. Basically everything that tastes great, you might think.

However, it is not entirely true, as you'll see as you inspect the Atkins diet plan recipes which may or may not come with your Atkins diet free plan. There are quite a few fantastic tasting foods which you can consume and although you might not not it yet they'll incorporate many of your favourite foods, just not everything high in carbs.

As far as drinks are concerned, the same principles remain true as in the other parts of the Atkins diet free plan. That is, you must avoid sugared drinks like Coke or Pepsi, hot chocolate and sugared tea or coffee. You must to be careful with coffee, because it can be more addictive while on the Atkins diet.

Likewise, caution is required with alcohol. Some types, like lager, cider or sherry contain too much sugar, while others, like Guinness or whisky are OK in moderation. However, you should always check with your Atkins diet free plan before deciding what to drink. - 31820

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Why Children Can Suffer From Hypertension Too

By Sean Davids

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, has long been considered a grown up issue, with an increased prevalence the older people get. However, with an increasing number of children now suffering from hypertension, a great deal of importance is being paid to this issue. One percent of children below the age of 12 and up to 6% of teenagers suffer from this problem, as evidenced by a number of studies. The definition of hypertension in children is defined as having blood pressure that is higher than 95% of the children of the same age group, race and gender. It is crucial to the nation's health that we learn why some kids suffer from high blood pressure.

It's well known that U.S. citizens on the whole are growing more overweight. That this situation is not confined to adults and can affect even children is a factor that is sometimes ignored. One-third of the child population of this nation belong in the obese category, which is a highly disturbing statistic. And this is the primary cause of hypertension in children.

There are ongoing studies on the link between overweight and high blood pressure, but we certainly know without doubt that such a link exists both in kids and in grownups. And this is the one factor that can be easily controlled without the need for any medical intervention. If children are encouraged to spend more time outdoors, their natural energy will cause them to indulge in physical activity that will burn up the extra calories. It will do a lot towards eliminating a key hypertension factor in kids.

Absence of physical activity or exercise is not always the sole reason for being overweight, however. One reason for obesity and hypertension in children may be due to genetics. Children of parents affected with illnesses such as obesity or diabetes should be tested for the presence of any such genetic or hormonal disorders and should be treated immediately.

Another reason for obesity and a major cause of hypertension in children is bad food habits. One of the worst eating habits for children is excessive consumption of junk food. Apart from a natural predisposition for fast food, locations serving this type of food are typically common teen hangouts. Once in the premises, their consumption of this unhealthy food tends to rise dramatically.

The causes of hypertension in children can also include a number of medical conditions that aren't always obvious. These disorders include sleep apnea, lupus, kidney problems and glandular disorders. Children may also overeat due to psychological issues. If a child has hypertension, it's essential to talk to a physician, even if the obvious cause appears to be obesity. Children may also have hypertension for other reasons which need to be looked at. - 31820

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Sleep Apnea Symptoms Should Not Be Ignored

By Chester Umber

There is a secret illness that is quietly sweeping the country. This illness is very hard to detect, and if left untreated can cause a host of problems and can cost thousands of dollars in lost productivity and even endanger lives. The problem is sleep apnea. More and more people are starting to realize that they may suffer from this condition.

Sleep apnea has only come into the public consciousness fairly recently. Luckily, every year there is more and more money being spent on sleep centers and other research efforts to combat this condition. However advanced the research gets, the problem of discovery lies squarely on the face of the patient.

This can be a very hard condition to have. There is no blood scan, or collection of symptoms that point to sleep apnea and only sleep apnea. The reason this is such a hard thing to pin down is because apnea symptoms are often thought to be normal, everyday ailments that come with normal, everyday life.

So what are the symptoms? The basic indication of sleep apnea is stopping breathing during the night, for many reasons. Many times you'll wake up, and fall back asleep several times, but not remember in the morning. This can lead to headaches, drowsiness and inability to concentrate. Many times these symptoms are overlooked as they happen quite naturally anyway.

So can you be sure? The simplest way is to record yourself while sleeping, or ask your partner if you make any noises like you are stopping breathing. The more data you collect, the easier it will be for your doctor to figure out what to do.

Once you understand the symptoms, and learn to collect the appropriate data, you can be much more confident of being able to treat your sleep apnea. - 31820

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Sleep Apnea Symptoms Can Be Harder To Diagnose Than You Believe

By Chester Umber

So last week I had to go with my girlfriend to this cooking class she is taking. She is preparing to enter into culinary school, and wanted to get some preliminary training. So being the good boyfriend that I am, I went along to support her.

The problem was when I started falling asleep while the lady was giving the beginning instructions. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't keep my eyes opened. Which seemed strange because I went to bed the same time as always the night before, and woke up the same time on that day.

Her dad for the longest time had this problem when she was a kid. He would always snore, keeping the whole house awake. Finally her mom convinced him to go see a doctor about it, and it turned out he had sleep apnea. Snoring is one sleep apnea symptom. The worst part is that people that snore usually don't know that they snore. It takes some courage to confront them with this.

Some of the common symptoms are waking up several times during the night for no reason, excessive snoring, headaches during the day, and feeling tired when you are bored. If you get enough sleep, when you are bored, you should just be bored, and not tired. This is why my girlfriend was worried.

My girlfriend was concerned because I was so tired even though I thought I spent the whole night sleeping the night before. We don't sleep together, so she doesn't know if I snore or not. We went to the doctor to get me checked out. One of the big sleep apnea symptoms is feeling tired when you are bored, even though you think you've gotten a good nights sleep the night before.

The doctor told me it was too early to tell. He suggested I pay close attention to my feelings and my sleep the next few days, and to look out for symptoms like daytime headaches, and waking up during the night for no reason. Then he can figure out an appropriate treatment. - 31820

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Following the Atkins Diet

By Michael James

The popular name for the 'Atkins Nutritional Approach' is the 'Atkins Diet', which was the brainchild of Doctor Robert Atkins. He had put on a lot of weight while in medical school and after reading about a certain diet in the medical journal, he decided to improve it and release it under his own name.

Atkins, in his Atkins Diet, stated that he believed that the prevailing theories about weight gain were all wrong. First, he dismissed the idea that saturated fats were bad; instead he said it was it was carbohydrates that led to the weight problems Americans have. Atkins held that our obsession with fat actually worsened the problem. He pointed to all the low-fat foods that were high in carbohydrates, which meant that people on a diet often ate foods that were worse for them than what they normally ate.

The Atkins diet shifts the focus. Atkins said that by cutting out carbohydrates, people would burn stored body fats. And, of course, if you lose the fat, you lose the weight. He said it was not just a matter of eating less. Atkins postulated that your diet could actually help you burn calories and The Atkins Diet supposedly burned more calories than were consumed everyday. But the claims were contested.

Dr. Atkins also promulgated the positive influence that his diet could have on suffers of type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a disease you get early in life, but type 2 is often closely associated with diet and surplus body weight. So, it should follow that any diet that helps decrease weight, will help people with Type 2 diabetes. The Atkins diet is low in carbohydrates, which ought to be avoided with type 2 diabetes regardless of the caloric intake, so because of this aspect of the diet, Atkins claimed that those who suffer type 2 diabetes would no longer need medication such as insulin. In general, doctors disagree with Atkins on this point, although they do agree, however, that a lower carbohydrate intake helps control Type 2 diabetes, but there is no proof that carbohydrates cause diabetes.

What are the steps one has to take to follow the Atkins diet? It is followed in four phases - Induction; On-Going Weight loss, Pre-maintenance and Lifetime Maintenance. Here is an overview of the most important phase - The Induction Phase.

The Induction phase is the most difficult phase of the Atkins diet. Atkins is flexible about the time period " but recommends it lasts for two weeks. During this phase carbohydrates are severely curtailed " you can only consume up to 20 grams per day. The goal is to enter a fat burning metabolic phase called ketosis when the body, starved of glucose, will start converting stored fat into fatty acids needed to power the body. Weight loss during this phase can be extreme " some Atkins followers reported losses of 5-10 pounds a week or more.

The purposes of the final three phases in the Atkins diet are to learn the ideal carbohydrate levels for the next two phases, which are continued weight loss and weight maintenance. Many millions of people are still losing the weight they want to on the Atkins Diet " but be aware of the risks of taking in too much cholesterol and fat. - 31820

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Am I Gaining Weight Due To My Blood Pressure Medicine?

By Christian Goodman

Now is the time of year where it is definitely hard to resist temptation to overindulge in food. For many of my clients however, they have a weight concern all year round due to their high blood pressure (hypertension) medication.

All high blood pressure medications are prescription medicines and should be respected as the potentially dangerous drugs that they are.

The following are the side effects caused by the high blood pressure medications. They are marked, weight gain, fluid retention, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, (due to vomiting and diarrhea most likely), skin rashes, extreme tiredness, weakness, leg cramps, constipation, bleeding gums, frequent urination (especially at night), low potassium, dry mouth, vertigo (dizziness), headache, excessive hair growth, insomnia, nightmares, cold hands and feed and sensitivity to sunlight.

Because of fluid retention, lethargy, lack of sleep (we compensate by gaining lost energy from food) and depression, it's no wonder that people reduce or stop exercising and quite frequently turn to food for comfort. What comes next? We gain weight of course.

While some only gain a few pounds, many patients have reported gaining in excess of a hundred pounds over the course of a year! This would, in turn put that person in the obesity category, if he or she weren't already there, which in turn, would lead to a new risk factor for high blood pressure.

Other serious side effects include: gout, increased blood sugar (especially bad for diabetics), low blood pressure, slow heart beat, fast heart beat, birth defects and death in fetuses of pregnant women, erectile dysfunction, depression, and get this - risk of heart attack!

Apart from hypertension the patient now carries the risk of developing diabetes, osteoarthritis, metabolic syndrome and high cholesterol.

Weight gain and other related ones will make you depresses if high blood pressure doesn't.

When they get depressed the patient will tend to take very little high blood pressure medication or completely stops taking it. It is not advised to stop taking medicines that is prescribed without the consultation of the physician.

Believe me when I say I understand how difficult it can be to convince a physician that medicine isn't the best option for you. If you are currently taking medicine for high blood pressure, try adding a few natural approaches to lower your blood pressure in order to convince your doctor that you can reduce or eliminate the medicine?

A few ways for you to help lower blood pressure without medication include: Stop smoking, avoid over indulging in alcohol, maintain a healthy weight, reduce sodium in the diet and reduce stress.

My high blood pressure program is also highly recommended. It works and it is easy to start and easy to maintain consistently.

If weight loss is your concern, I also recommend my Weight Loss Breeze program. The simple to do exercises have proven results!

EL331002 - 31820

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Essential Hypertension - The Essential or Primary Hypertension Facts

By Jason Falson

With essential hypertension no cause is examined because essential hypertension has no underlying causes. This type of hypertension occurs basically out of nowhere and without being provoked, it just happens. Another name for essential hypertension is primary hypertension. This is because it is seen as its own primary cause.

How To Control It

Usually a patient's treatment for essential hypertension will include medication. This not to say such things as alcohol consumption and weight control are ignored, but since these things by definition are not causes for essential hypertension, usually it will take hypertension medication to control it. Still, essential hypertension can be controlled and so, it is not seen as a serious ailment so long as it is controlled without some unusual complication.

The Overall View

One school of thought is primary hypertension actually does have an underlying cause but the medical profession has yet to discover what it could be. The reason this hypothesis is viable is that some patients will respond to the same treatment that other patients may not benefit from at all. This leads to the conclusion patient-A may, indeed have a truly primary hypertension while patient-B still has an undiscovered underlying problem.

In the end, a medical professional will come up with a plan that will control the hypertension and allow the patient to lead a normal life. Sometimes however, finding the treatment will require a little trial and error.

As in all cases of hypertension, the proper medication must be taken everyday. Blood pressure medication is constructed in such a way it is only effective when taken daily and may not be useful at all if some daily dosages are skipped.

Not only should the patient avoid missing his/her daily dosage of blood pressure medication, but he/she must take it at the same time everyday. This is because hypertension medication is not as effective even if it is just missed on rare occasions. Also, it loses its effectiveness if it is not taken at consistent intervals. This means following the doctor's orders includes what part of the day the medication should be taken.

Monitor Your Medication's Effect

Often times any type of medication will need to be altered. This is part of the normal procedure followed for coming to the conclusion of what is the right treatment for any particular individual. So, whenever a patient is not feeling well in the early stages of a treatment for high blood pressure he/she should let the doctor know. The patient should do so because the dosage or the medication itself may need to be changed.

Young people, those in their twenties and teenagers are diagnosed more often diagnosed with essential hypertension than people who are over thirty. Because aging can often exacerbate the chances hypertension will inflict a person and essential hypertension has no true underlying cause, aging by definition, could do nothing to bring essential hypertension on.

Because hypertension had not been discovered too many generations ago, a very popular hypothesis at this point in time is that essential hypertension is genetic. Of course, it will have to be studied for a longer period of time before a conclusion as to whether or not it is inherited can be made. - 31820

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