Why Should You Take Muscle Supplements?

By Henrick Scofers

If you exercise, do you really need to use muscle supplements? It's true that exercise is very important when it comes to building muscles, but it's not enough to get you the muscles you want. If you want muscle mass and you want a significant amount of it, your eating has to support doing that. You can't build muscles if you don't have the proper raw materials to do so, so if you want to get the muscles you envision, you'll need to adjust those raw materials and then do the exercises to shape up, instead of the other way around.

So why should you be bothering with supplements? Well, because they are full of the building blocks of muscle, protein. Protein is the type of calorie that your body converts to muscle mass when burned. Food is important because it gives your body the fuel it needs to get going called calories. Calories are classified into three types: Carbohydrates, fats and protein. When protein calories are consumed for energy it is converted to muscle mass. Protein can be taken out of protein rich food items such as eggs and meat.

So why muscle supplements and not just gorge yourself with meat and eggs? Protein is not the only thing you get when you eat meat. You also get fat which are stored in your body as those unsightly sagging lumps in areas like your belly and arms. How about eggs? The white part of eggs is indeed rich in protein. Unfortunately, the rich protein content is broken down when cooked. You can eat the egg whites raw for protein but it could be pretty risky since raw eggs can lead to salmonella poisoning. Besides eating egg whites and discarding the yolk could be pretty wasteful.

Muscle supplements can give you a safe, high dose of protein that's easy to take. Once you have enough protein in your diet, the next thing you need to do is to concentrate on bulking up the part of your body want to be the most muscular. That is, you "strain" the muscles you want to build up. When you strain these muscles, you break them down. They build back up using the protein you fed your system, and they come back bigger and stronger. This is so that they can handle the added strain you're giving them. But of course, a good side effect of this is that you get bigger, leaner muscles.

Once you have enough protein in your diet, it's a matter of simply concentrating on the exercise you do. Most trainers suggest you work your muscle groups to exhaustion. In other words, concentrate working out on a particular muscle group until you can't do any more repetitions. As one example, if you want to make your biceps larger, keep doing bicep curls until you can't do another repetition. As your muscle breaks down from this exercise, it rebuilds itself bigger and stronger from the protein you've taken in, thus giving you increased muscle mass.

Now that you know why muscle supplements are ideal muscle building essentials, you should be happy to know that they come in so many forms like drinks and pills that can be very convenient. - 17274

About the Author:

John Madison has been a weightlifter for two decades, and is an expert on muscle building supplements. From his website, he offers cutting edge nutritional supplements at low prices. If you are on the search for a high quality muscle building supplement, you can visit his store by clicking here.

Juicing Can Save Your Life

By Ellen Valentine, CNC

Is there a certain line of defense to engage when you are not well? Is it true that once you hit a certain age things begin to fall apart and youre at the mercy of a life of medication to keep organ systems going? Well, it will be true for you if you believe that. My job here though is to remind you that your body has the greatest potential for healing, and once you taste the triumph when Infinite Intelligence reverses an illness or condition, youll be empowered for life. Youll be invincible.

Everyone needs reminders. They come in the form of a good friend, a spouse, a mentor, a movie like the Secret or What the Bleep, a class or a book. The reminder is simple yet profound and that is that YOU ARE IN CHARGE. You can turn poor health around by going to the root cause of all disease: bad digestion. Bad digestion simply means youve run out of or are very low in digestive enzymes and minerals. Your job now is to eat whole, organic, take digestive enzymes every time you eat and combine your foods properly.

The Infinite Intelligence in the body considers assimilating food a high priority; in fact, all else takes second place to digestion. As a persons digestion becomes increasingly worse, the body must expend more time and energy grasping for nourishment. As the body becomes more starved and depleted it only makes sense that organs and systems breakdown, usually those that are genetically predisposed. If poor eating habits persist, the body spends more energy trying to work food through the system, organ systems break down, and the Infinite Intelligence programmed for homeostasis doesnt have a spare moment for healing. This is when people are in a real crisis.

When and if you find yourself in a healing crisis the best natural healing methods are rest and to re-mineralize. That takes the stress off of the body, freeing it up to do much needed healing, restoration. The idea is to eat as much organic and raw as possible. Not only is juicing the most effective way to put minerals in and replenish, a juicer is the best pharmacy you can go to. Juicing should be a daily routine. It can keep any family healthy and alert. It is often times up to mothers to be the serious juice masters. The rewards are great.

There are some really tasty juice combinations. In our home we love carrots, a cucumber, a green apple, celery, spinach, fennel and watercress. The cucumber and green apple lend a lot of juice and cut any heaviness in the carrots and spinach. Carrots are rich in beta carotene, great for the immune system, spinach is rich in folic acid, vitamin E and a great blood builder, celery is rich in potassium, fennel great for the digestive system and cucumber promotes beautiful skin.

Buy a couple of good juicing books and start with those recommendations. Add your own favorite additions for taste preferences. A wonderful mix that does it all for our family is the following for beautiful skin and a healthy immune system: 7 carrots, 1 cucumber, 1 or 2 green apple(s), a handful of parsley and kale. If it seems too green, add some fresh pineapple in there for digestion (bromelain).

Juicing allows for simple assimilation of vitamins and minerals. Remember,always, that when ill you want to make all things as simple and restful to the body as possible.

As Earth Day is on our minds, take a stand for organic, both for fabrics and foods. Ask store owners to make sure that they do not stock genetically engineered, seedless varieties. The middles of all stores contain that which is lifeless. In all times and especially in times of illness, eat from the outside live isles of your organic food store. Create an extra ten years of quality life by making a commitment to eat 75% whole live and organic foods.

If you are healing, there are certain rules of thumb: it is better to not eat than to eat something that will throw the healing process back, drink lots of pure water every day, use only the freshest of everything you put in or on your body, make sure you eliminate several times a day, get lots of rest or meditation time, or both, have people you can trust to talk to, change the way you do things, eat every bite of food with gratitude and consciousness, help a friend, and love yourself above all else so you have more to give to others.

Vibrant Health, Ellen Valentine - 17274

About the Author:

Ellen Valentine is a Nutritionist and Life Coach in Sacramento, CA.Organic Baby Bedding for Your Precious Child. She is passionate in her belief that change is not only constant - it is good. She is very present with each and every client.Coaching Successful Life Transitions.

Creatine Supplements - The Right Way to Use Them

By Lionel Weathers

Creatine is one of the most popular body building supplements out there, and so naturally there are a lot of questions about what are the proper ways to use it. The other problem is that you'll get different answers from different sources! Let's go over a few of the different theories that are out there about how to use creatine supplements.

Creatine - The Loading Approach

If you've ever used creatine supplements before then you've probably gone through a loading phase. The standard loading phase would usually be to take up to 20g of creatine a day for 5 days, then back off to a maintenance dose of 5g a day. The idea here was to saturate your muscles with a bunch of extra creatine and then try to maintain that saturation with the rest of the cycle.

The common question is if it is really necessary. I'm sure supplement companies love the loading phase approach because by the time you're done with your loading phase you've pretty much gone through your first bottle of creatine!

I've read articles before that suggest that if you use creatine supplements long term you will get the same benefit as loading. A lot of individual users have also found that it probably isn't necessary either.

There are other ideas on creatine cycles out there as well. I found one interesting twist on the creatine loading cycle idea from MuscleHack.com. He tried a technique that involved loading for 3 days, abstaining for 3 days, and repeating that cycle over and over again. The idea being that if you cycle in this way you will maintain a higher level of creatine concentration in the muscles over time.

In the end, I don't think there really is a 'best way' to cycle. This is one area where you should experiment and see which method reacts the best with your body. Try a few things and stick with what works for you.

When to Take It Creatine Supplements

This was my first question when I started using creatine. The standard suggestion has often been to take creatine soon after your workout (unless you are doing a standard loading phase, then you would take it throughout the day).

But, as with everything it seems when it comes to creatine, there are variations to this standard approach as well. For example, if you're going with the 3 days on 3 days off approach suggested by MuscleHack Mark McManus, you would take creatine before your workout, after your workout, and then at least 2 other times throughout the day. You really have to load up on a cycle like that.

Once again, it would seem that you will need to experiment and see what works best for you and your body. Do whatever works for you in the long run.

Conclusion

My intent in writing this article was not to come out with some kind of ultimate solution as to what is the best way to use creatine supplements. As you can see, there are several different approaches that different people have found to work. The only best solution is whatever works for you. So do some testing and you'll find out soon enough! - 17274

About the Author:

If you're looking for the best prices on creatine supplements, do price comparisons at SupplementPricing.com. We compare the prices of tons of body building supplements so you save money!

7 Fast Tips to Burn Off Belly Fat in No Time Flat

By Thong M. Dao

Do you want to lose fat? Have you tried different diets and failed consistently? If you answered yes to these questions, you are in good company. There are a lot of people who have been trying fat loss diets over the years and have failed. The reason they have not succeeded is that they used gimmicks and lose-weight-fast diets that do more damage than good. Here are some sensible things to keep in mind when you try to lose weight.

1. Go easy on the tea and coffee. They are pretty much harmless if you don't add a lot of cream and sugar to them. It is the cream and sugar that becomes fattening. Think of it this way, when you have a cup of coffee or tea with cream and two cubes of sugar, you are essentially eating a piece of chocolate cake every time.

2. Attempt to adhere to black coffee and tea. They may really be beneficial for you. But personally I'd like to suggest tea instead of coffee. The caffeine in the coffee isn't actually good for you since it will make you irritable.

3. Calculate the calories when you eat, however do not overdo it. It is a sound idea to know the calories that most food items contain. Whenever it's a packed thing then the label is certain to give the calories it has.

4. Work off the extra calories by the end of the week. If you feel you have splurged too much this week, be sure to get to the gym or go walking a little longer to work off those extra calories you have consumed.

5. Stay away from all things fried. If it is breaded, it is better that it is baked. Fried foods are immersed in fat and oil. Even after the excess oil has been drained away, there is still oil absorbed into the food item itself.

6. Do not skip meals. The worst thing you can do while watching you diet is skip a meal. It has just the opposite effect of what you want. You need to have at least four regular meals every day.

7. Just like fruits, fresh vegetables are better than those that are canned. It is even better if you can eat your veggies raw. When you cook them, you cook away the nutrients. If you must cook them, try to boil them to the point that there is still some crispness to them. Also, don't soak them in butter. If you can buy organic and pesticide free veggies, that is even better. - 17274

About the Author:

Thong M. Dao has been training since 2005 and is a fitness expert author at EzineArticles.com. His webhomepage provides advice on losing fat and tips on losing weight. What are you waiting for?

Diets Delivered From The Pure Package

By Sarah Hanson

The Pure Package diet delivery programme is a revolutionary new way to enjoy fresh, healthy, perfectly balanced meals and snacks; delivered straight to your door!

Jennifer Irvine, the founder of The Pure Package, launched the program in 2003 from her home kitchen. Since then, it has grown and evolved into an award winning company while still retaining the personal touch.

What is The Pure Package? The Pure Package is an innovative system that delivers freshly prepared ready-to-eat meals and snacks to your front door or other location of your choosing. The foods used are all nutritionally and expertly balanced to contain the right amount of proteins, carbohydrates and essential fats.

The Pure Package foods are all guilt and genetically modified free. All chicken, eggs, meat and dairy are free range. No use of endangered fish. No artificial additives, preservatives or colorings are used. Foods are not over-processed and contain no antisocial ingredients such as raw garlic.

The food is prepared by experienced chefs and an award winning team of nutritionists and dietary dynamos in high standard restaurant kitchens, using five star hygienic practices.

The Pure Package uses ethical ingredients, carbon neutral deliveries, and 100% recyclable packaging.

How Does it Work? The Pure Package diet delivery programme eliminates the need for you to plan meals, shop for food, count calories or weigh portions.

There are seven types of diet programmes available:

Weight Loss Healthy Eating Training Support Pre and Post Baby Skin and Ageing Energy Detox Cleanse

After you contact The Pure Package, either online or by telephone, their team of experts will help you choose the programme designed to help you achieve your specific health goals. If you have special nutritional needs or food allergies, just let them know and your meals will be planned and adjusted accordingly.

Then, every day by 6am, a temperature controlled bag is delivered to you containing all of your freshly prepared meals and snacks for the day. At the end of each day, just leave your empty temperature controlled bag on your doorstep, and it will be exchanged for another full bag of tempting food while you sleep. What could be easier?

Convenience With a Conscience This diet delivery programme prides itself on providing convenience with a conscience. The Pure Package takes great care to make sure that the food they offer is sourced and delivered in an environmentally friendly, ethically conscious way. Buying decisions are ethically based, and the company takes its responsibilities to the natural world very seriously.

The Pure Package company is opposed to inhumane mistreatment of animals, and adhere to the belief that a better quality of life means a superior food product.

In summary, if you want the convenience of having healthy, freshly prepared, perfectly balanced, delicious meals and snacks delivered right to your door every day, the Pure Package programme of diet delivery might be the answer to a prayer for you. This programme offers an amazingly convenient way to attain your dietary goals! - 17274

About the Author:

Who Else Wants Their Diets Delivered

Eating organic

By Karol Wariala

Credits also go to: Mustard Dressing. When you are used with organic food, it's pretty difficult to put it aside when you have to travel. When on holiday or on business trips, people who eat organically, often have to plan their meals very carefully in order to stick to their eating habits and beliefs. Thus, always make sure to get a list of organic restaurants from the place you are to visit. The healthier alternative is one of the services many facilities now include, although the prices of the menus may be slightly higher for this consideration. Both seasonal and regional cuisine gain something in this respect!

When searching for organic restaurants, consider the following tips to be able to make a convenient choice. In case you you just want to dine out, you can search on the Internet and see which restaurants serve organic in your neighborhood. Online databases are more and more comprehensive from this point of view since many Internet users choose to write references and give recommendations.

Hence, you can be a reviewer or a reader depending on where you stand in the information inquiry circuit.

In case of traveling, you can use the Internet for the maps that help to the identification of organic restaurants. Take suggestions, directions and tips for at least several such locations so that you may be able to choose the most convenient one, or even try them all. The good part about going to organic restaurants is that they serve food cooked with organic products only and without adding any chemical ingredients or colorants to enhance the taste and the looks of desert for instance. What you'll be eating should be 100% natural.

Furthermore, organic restaurants make a very healthy choice for people who suffer from certain ailments and who for one reason or another have to stick to a strict diet. More vitamins and minerals, less cholesterol and virtually a total product safety, these are the main advantages of food free of chemicals, additives and hormones.

The food served in organic restaurants will therefore be preferred by people who suffer from the irritable bowel syndrome to give just an example of a health condition caused by the consume of chemicals-packed food. Therefore, make information on organic restaurants an important part of any travel guide. - 17274

About the Author:

More at: Organic Salad Dressing.

Living With A Food Allergy

By Jonathan Rigby

Chances are you know at least one person that has a food allergy. Food allergies have become increasingly common in recent years and luckily awareness has increased as well. Anyone with a food allergy knows what a serious topic this is as it can send a sufferer to the emergency room or even cause a fatality.

Many people suffer from a food intolerance, which shouldn't be confused with a food allergy. They are two distinct and different conditions that result in different consequences.

Many people have an intolerance of certain foods or additives, but this is very different than having a food allergy. An allergy can show within minutes of eating the trigger food, while an intolerance will result in a belated reaction to the food. An allergy is an immune response while an intolerance is more related to improper digestion.

The job of the immune system is to protect the body by watching for foreign substances that appear to be potentially harmful. When someone has a food allergy it means the body has labeled that allergen as potentially harmful and when it detects signs of this substance it will trigger a defense response. This defense response includes the release of chemicals in the body that can cause an allergic reaction.

Symptoms of an allergy reaction can show within seconds or take up to an hour. These symptoms can include swelling or tingling of the mouth, lips, throat or tongue; wheezing or difficulty breathing; diarrhea, vomiting or abdominal pain; or hives. If the reaction progresses it can result in anaphylactic shock which can involve a drop in blood pressure, loss of consciousness and in some cases death.

Food allergies seem to be more prevalent every day but the majority of allergies are caused by just eight foods -- eggs, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, seafood, shellfish, wheat and soy. In the United States these eight are responsible for over ninety percent of food allergies. While allergens may vary to some degree from country to country these eight are generally the most common.

Of course the most effective way to treat allergies is to avoid the allergen. With airborne allergies this is difficult, but you might think it would be easy with a food allergy -- that's not always the case. Processed foods can often contain hidden allergens. To help with this problem the United States has required that companies label foods containing any of the eight common allergens.

While this has been quite helpful it doesn't guarantee the foods are pure and completely safe for allergy sufferers. The other problem is the possibility of cross-contamination. This happens when a machine that processes a food that contains a common allergen is also used for foods that don't contain an allergen. Even though the machines are cleaned, traces of the allergen can remain.

Those who suffer from food allergies need to fully understand food labels and they need to read them carefully. They will also need to know the other possible names of ingredients that can contain specific allergens. For example those with a milk protein allergy will also need to avoid casein because it is a form of milk protein.

It's important for allergy sufferers to know the signs of an allergic reaction, and to know how to treat themselves. A common treatment method is the use of an EpiPen. It's also a good idea to carry a medical alert bracelet or card noting the allergy. - 17274

About the Author:

Learn more about gluten allergies with our new site on symptoms of gluten allergies. You'll learn about associated phenomenon such as depression and celiac disease as well as specific troublesome symptoms like celiac constipation.