Dear health-conscious friend,

Thousands of South Africans are on some sort of diet right now. As obesity rates increase, it's no wonder that diet options are everywhere. But many of these so-called solutions can have serious negative effects.
Here are 3 myths "diet fundis" don't want you to know about...

In the name of good health,

Pascale Barrow
Managing Editor

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Don't fall for these 3 diet myths

By Dr Al Sears
- Total Health Breakthroughs

Here are three of the most deceptive diet choices around and now you can know just why to avoid them.

1.    Cortsisol blame
The makers of certain diet pills claim research shows that stress and the stress hormone cortisol may be a factor in your struggle to control weight. This “research” was a single study in 2000 that showed that women who respond poorly to stress have a belly. True, excess cortisol may affect where your body stores extra fat, but cortisol is a natural hormone that’s produced by your adrenal glands in response to stress- but does cortisol add weight? No.

Have you ever seen a caged animal at the zoo eating all the food available, appearing to be stressed by living in captivity? When animals are under stress, increased cortisol will suppress their appetite. Over time they become thin and start to waste away. The same is true of humans.

Think back to the last time you were panicked or upset. Having lunch was probably the last thing on your mind, right?

2.    Fat burners and metabolism boosters
The products in this category claim to help you lose weight by raising your metabolic rate, however, the increase is very slight in contrast to what is promised. Even the best pills on the market are only modestly successful at raising metabolism by a percent or two.

Popular fat burners claim you can eat anything you like and still lose weight. They are said to raise your metabolism without the “harmful stimulants”, however, most of the ingredients in these diet pills are the same as those found in energy drinks...

You should think of these products as what they are, stimulants rather than fat burners. For a similar jolt of energy and suppressed appetite, a cup of coffee will do the same for you.

3.    Carb blockers
The term itself sounds magical and could ease guilt after splurging on pasta or pudding. But what these are doing is blocking an important digestive enzyme. Your body absorbs essential vitamins and nutrients in the form of carbohydrates and so the idea of taking something to interfere with your body’s ability to digest food is a dangerous one. By blocking them, you’re robbing your body of stuff it needs to survive.

Many carb blocker pills claim that one pill before a meal can block up to 1125 calories, yet there are no reliable clinical studies to support this. No statistical significance has been reached.

Teach your body to burn fat

Truth is; a single exercise strategy will put you on the healthy route to weight loss. By exercising in short bursts, you can burn fat for up to 24 hours after you finish!

This type of exercise teaches your body not to store energy as fat. In time, this routine will turn your body into an automatic fat burner. I prefer low-impact activities such as cycling or swimming as they have less risk for injury but the activity is up to you.
Anyway, let’s get started

·    Stretch and perform a light warm up
·    Begin with 20 minutes every other day. (This averages to a mere 10 minutes per day!)
·    Begin with an easy pace and then increase the intensity gradually.
·    As your fitness improves, increase the intensity.
·    After a few weeks, break each session into two short bursts for example, two six-minute sets separated by six minutes of recovery.
·    Eventually you can go with briefer episodes of increased intensity.
The point is to start with a comfortable level of exertion and focus on increasing the level of resistance rather than duration.