The Bistro MD Diet A Breakthrough In Healthy Dieting

Managing weight is quite a complex issue when it is put under analysis, with things like individual genetics, age and in the case of women, changes to hormones, all affecting dietary routines. The body’s metabolism becomes impaired and as a consequence, any unwanted increases in weight, can prove challenging to reverse. There are endless programs available, that make all manner of promises, but many of these restrict the necessary nutrients, required to keep the body healthy. But take a look at the Bistro MD Diet for a solid plan.

Bistro MD Diet
Bistro MD Diet

This is where the Bistro MD Diet differs entirely from its competitors, as it provides plans that deliver the desired results, but at the same time ensures that the nutritional needs are comfortably met. Based in Florida, it is the brainchild of medical expert Caroline J. Cederquist MD, who used her exceptional knowledge of the science involved in weight-management, to create an innovative system, that allows the recipient to undertake dieting, without depriving themselves of their favorite tasting foods.

The over-riding message is that it is not about eating less, but more about eating healthier and in the process, losing weight. The meals that are provided are prepared by registered dietitians, and better still, delivered right to your doorstep. Quality ingredients are used in each and every entree that is part of the wonderful menu containing selection of over 200 scrumptious recipes, all of which are in line with the Bistro MD diet foundation of proper, balanced nutrition.

The program is straightforward, you simply select an appropriate plan of either 5 or 7 days of meals, which include a breakfast, lunch and dinner, with the added option of an additional snack. There is also a choice of gluten free or diabetic, together with a specialized menopausel option. An added bonus is the opportunity that exists for complete individuality, whereby it allows each member to actually customize their own specific plan in alignment with dedicated dieticians. Each days entrees will be different, to avoid repetition and the possible tedium that often creeps into other dietary procedures.

The breakfast alternatives include the likes of: strawberry shortcake crepes with chicken sausage, tomato pesto omelet and bagels with egg white and turkey sausage. For lunch you could opt for among others: a dragonfly chicken, a Thai peanut chicken breast, or pork tenderloin with plum sauce. Dinner could consist of such things as: salmon picatta, beef tips with a mushroom medley, or a pot roast with mushroom gravy. The snack choices consist of some real diversity, such as: dried beef strips with apples and cherries, mini blueberry cheesecake and dried teriyaki chicken breast strips with mango papayas.

A week’s supply of meals will arrive fully cooked and frozen, to be eaten at your convenience, safe in the knowledge that they have been expertly cooked and are certain to taste delicious. The Bistro MD Diet continues to gain accolades in the press and from member reviews; it has taken dieting in a different direction and one which, from a health point of view, is most definitely for the better.

The Purpose Of A Diet Cleanse

Diet cleansing programs are constructed for many different purposes and the principles and advantages vary accordingly. Some physicians recommend a diet cleanse to those who need to rid their bodies of toxins or medication or simply to act as a catalyst for losing weight. The type of diet cleanse you will undertake very much depends on the reason for cleansing, as such the plan will be tailored to suit.

A diet rich in soy and whey protein, found in products such as soy milk and low-fat yogurt, has been shown to reduce breast cancer incidence in rats. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In order to understand your cleansing program you will need to read through the plan carefully. If there are any points that you are unsure of then ask your dietician or physician to clarify the situation. The vast majority of cleansing programs exclude sugar, wheat flour, caffeine, alcohol and dairy products. You will be encouraged to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, whole-grain, olives certain spices and seed and nut oils.

Many embark on a diet cleanse feeling it is like a punishment but you can enjoy eating a host of healthy foods and whole-grain. Those who wish to free their bodies from toxins may try a diet cleansing program, quite often this type of eating program can help to find out if a person has any food intolerance or allergies. Diet cleansing programs have one major thing in common, they tend to cut out or restrict certain types of food.  Common cleansing diets include the abstinence of fast foods, fried foods, processed food and sugars. Other programs may veto common allergens like dairy, wheat flour and soy based products. Anyone who wishes to start a diet cleansing program should proceed with care; it is always advisable to seek the opinions of a physician before going ahead.

Diet Cleanse : Expel The Contents Of The Colon Periodically

Diet Cleanse

They say that here in the United States, most of us have developed an  addiction to salty fatty foods that are filled with toxins. One way to deal with this is to expel the contents of the colon periodically. You can do this and buy the products you will need and do it yourself or see a practitioner and he will take the lead. Whatever you decide, having a colon cleanse will:

Improve mental outlook

Help to strengthen the immune system

Provide a method for weight loss

Lowers the risks for colon cancer

Any kind of a diet cleanse will rid your body of toxins. Some people like it simple and will add a few supplements by mouth to their day, others will cleanse through the rectum, like a coffee enema. Many will recommend eating a diet of exclusively natural foods for a short period of time. Some people would rather take some laxatives.

There is a diet cleanse that addresses each organ of the body such as a cleanse of the colon, lymph system, kidneys, liver and gall bladder. You can also do one that will aim at the whole-body detoxification. The most important thing is to make sure the diet cleanse you choose is done safely. Many people think that you can not go wrong with fruits, vegetables and their juices.

A diet cleanse can help to clear up the skin and gain energy because it rids the body of stagnant, toxic waste. It can help you lose weight. Keep in mind that the government does not regulate natural colon cleansing products so it may be best to work with some one who is knowledgeable about colon cleansing as a therapy.

Over the counter Electrolyte Supplements: Hype or Hope?

You probably wish you could turn back the clock to a mystical past in which you felt younger, stronger, and more vital. Whether you ever actually lived in that past is another story, but the folks responsible for marketing and distributing the growing array of over-the-counter health supplements sure are good at bringing it to life. If you’re considering buying one or more of the products you see on TV, online, or on the shelves at your local health-foods store, take a moment to consider whether these supplements are anything more than hyped-up sugar pills. Would you take over the counter electrolyte supplements during a diet?

Defining Health Electrolyte Supplements

Also known as “dietary supplements,” most of these products come in pill form and are readily available on the shelves of your local supermarket or health food store at a variety of price points. Some, like “B-complex” and “immune booster” pills, are little more than cocktails of everyday vitamins that retail for a few dollars per bottle. Others are more complex, containing a variety of obscure herbal compounds, and are correspondingly more expensive.

Electrolyte Supplements

In any event, the Food and Drug Administration defines the “dietary ingredients” in these supplements as anything that can be considered a vitamin, mineral, amino acid, or “extract.” As you can imagine, some perform their stated functions better than others.

Regulation and Fact-Checking Supplements

Since their active ingredients have the potential to cause serious harm when not taken properly, prescription medications are tightly regulated by the FDA. Not so with health supplements: the companies that market these products are not required to disclose the results of studies that test the efficacy of their constituent compounds. In other words, you’re taking the supplement at your own risk.

What Works, What Doesn’t

Most health supplement ingredients are not actively harmful; more often, it’s merely a question of whether or not they work. A quick rundown of some effective and not-so-effective supplements follows.

  • Joint health. The two most common joint health compounds are chondroitin and glucosamine, both of which occur naturally in human cartilage. Although initial claims that they actually help rebuild joint cartilage that wears down due to rheumatoid arthritis have been proven false, they do appear to reduce pain and inflammation in sufferers of the disease.
  • Heart health. These supplements contain everything from Vitamin E, garlic extract, and Omega-3 fish oils to green tea and red yeast rice. Only red yeast rice has been proven to reduce “bad” cholesterol, but that’s only because it mimics an active ingredient in popular prescription medications like Altoprev.
  • Memory. Most of the supplements that claim to improve cognitive function contain gingko biloba, a naturally-occurring plant extract. It has been conclusively proven to improve the memories of dementia patients and increase blood flow to the brain, but it carries the risk of side effects including bleeding, dizziness, and vomiting.

Even the most effective over-the-counter health supplements, like gingko biloba, have drawbacks that should not be taken lightly. Many more simply don’t do what they claim to. Before buying any non-prescription supplements, do your research, talk to other users, and make an informed decision on your own terms.

Tamera Mulkey is a freelance blogger, who writes about health topics. If you want to make a career in the health industry, Tamera recommends getting a master of science in nursing online.

Why You Should Substitute White Foods for Whole Grain

With everyone being more nutritionally conscious nowadays, we decided to take a look at why more and more people are swapping white refined flour for wholegrain.

White Flour 

Everything that we remember as a child from buttery toast to our birthday cakes and muffins have always been made with white flour. In fact as adults when we taste these tastes again it’s just like being kids again. (Unless we had particularly nutritionally enlightened parents!) It’s no wonder that we have an addiction almost to these white flour goods but did you know how damaging these foods are to our delicate systems?

The thing with white / all purpose / enriched flour is that our bodies process it like sugar. Enriched sounds lovely but in reality the flour actually gets completely stripped of all its goodness during this process. Yes white bread and related products taste amazing but the actual flour is created by stripping the most nutritious parts of the wheat berry. In fact this is the only starch left in white flour. Not good!

 White flour and digestion

White flour is just no good for your digestion. The starch is digested mega quickly thus causing a spike in insulin production. This then throws your whole body out of balance and can create a whole host of problems. In fact with the constant fluctuation of blood sugar which manifests through eating white flour products you could be potentially setting yourself up for diabetes and weight problems too!

Whole Grain 

Whole grain and whole wheat flour is so much better for you than its white counterpart. This is due to the fact that whole wheat flour uses the whole wheat berry. This means that you are intaking all the goodness – the bran, the starch and the germ. When you eat the whole berry, there are no peaks and / or lows in insulin levels and your body stays healthy and balanced. Another great aspect of eating in this way is that you will stay full for longer than you would if you were eating white bread! No more rumbling tummies in the middle of the afternoon!

Whole grain is great for you if you have stomach and digestion difficulties and there are even studies to say that there is a link between whole grain and the prevention of cancer of the colon. When you buy your products always look for the word, “whole”. That way you know that you are getting the best; there are many brown products which don’t use the entire wheat berry and won’t be as good for you as “whole” products.

It might be hard in the first few months to wean your family, especially the youngsters off white bread and white flour products but over time it can be done. A trick is to make a half and half sandwich, half white bread and half whole grain, this will give your kids time to get used to the different taste and texture. It’s worth making the change for the health of both you and your family.


Eating whole grain foods instead of white foods is a great way to ensure your general nutrition levels remain healthy consistently.

Is Vinegar Weight Loss Real?

Visit any health food shop and you will most likely find apple cider vinegar supplements for sale there. This is because vinegar has long been touted as a weight loss remedy for centuries already, and apple cider vinegar is believed to be the safest and most effective since it contains many nutrients left over from the crushed apples it comes from. In fact, so many people are praising the positive effects of apple cider vinegar that you can pretty much buy supplements at any health store as well as nutrition sites on the Internet, all offering guarantees that apple cider vinegar can really help you lose weight. But is this true?

Fresh apple cider vinegar doesn’t contain any preservatives at all, and it is also free of fats and calories. This means taking apple cider vinegar won’t make you gain weight, and in fact using it often in place of other products that naturally contain fats and calories can help you lose weight. For example, using the vinegar instead of ranch or Thousand Island dressing on your salads will be far healthier, simply because ranch dressing and Thousand Island both contain fats and calories. This benefit alone is the only one proven real for all claims of apple cider vinegar weight loss, for despite the minerals and enzymes present in the liquid, there is no evidence that you can get more energy or experience faster metabolism by taking apple cider vinegar every day. The nutrients in the liquid come from fresh apples that are their source, so apple cider vinegar isn’t a magic beverage that can get rid of extra pounds immediately; rather it is a simple and healthy liquid that you can regularly take to help you enjoy a more nutritious diet.

Since the healthy practice of taking apple cider vinegar everyday can be the gateway to other good lifestyle habits like eating more leafy green vegetables and less fast food, you can say that apple cider vinegar can really help people dealing with obesity. The unique sour scent and acidic taste of the liquid can also make one feel full faster simply due to the strong flavor, and this natural appetite suppression can also lead to gradual weight loss.

Vinegar weight loss can be very effective for you, but only when paired with healthy diet changes like more fruits and vegetables and less canned and preserved food. When taken regularly, such as five tablespoons a day mixed with your meals and drinks, you will rarely experience any side effects at all. All in all, taking apple cider vinegar everyday is a far safer weight loss method to try when compared with strange treatments like the HCG diet, for HCG drops side effects don’t give any benefit whatsoever, whereas apple cider vinegar is a healthy and safe beverage you can enjoy everyday that can also help you lose weight.