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Herbal Weight Loss -- The Skinny On Diet Herbs!
"Herbal Weight Loss -- The Skinny on Diet Herbs!"
By Susan Rutter
©2003 Healthy YOUbbies
Thousands of herbs are available worldwide for a dizzying
array of diseases and disorders. And consumers are sold
on them: A recent survey found that one in three people
spends an average of $54. a year on herbal remedies.
Without question, herbs do work wonders in treating many
illnesses and improving health. But herbal medicine has a
far less effective track record when it comes to weight
control. Only one herb -- ephedra -- is believed to
directly promote fat-burning, but it's dangerous side
effects make it unsafe and unwise to use.
There is one particular aspect of your weight you can
control to some extent by supplementing with herbs, and
that is water weight. Let's say you weigh 150 pounds.
About ninety of those pounds are water; thirty are fat.
The rest is lean tissue -- muscles, organs, and bones. So
normally, most of your body weight is water. Sometimes
you may retain water. You look and feel fat, even though
you may have lost a significant amount of body fat. Some
days, you can't even fit into clothes you wore the week
before!
Puffiness does masquerade as pudge. Disheartening and
uncomfortable, periodic bouts of water retention, medically
known as edema, may be the result of any number of factors:
excess sodium in the diet, food allergies, premenstrual
changes, hormone imbalances, a hot climate, and kidney or
heart disease. If you're chronically plagued by edema, have
it checked out by your doctor.
You can lose some of that fluid by taking a prescription
"water pill" (diuretic) or by forcing yourself to sweat in a
sauna or steam bath. Neither is a good idea, though, because
they can lead to life-threatening dehydration and mineral
imbalances.
Some herbs, however, may offer a gentler solution. Most of
the herbs promoted for weight loss are diuretics -- agents that
cause the kidneys to draw extra water from the blood into
the urine and stimulate the excretion of water. This action
promotes temporary water loss. There's certainly nothing
wrong with regulating water weight by using herbs, as long
as you use them on a short-term basis and with the full
knowledge of your physician. In most cases, herbal diuretics
are safer than their prescription counterparts. But long-term
use of either can flush vital nutrients from the body and
cause irreparable harm.
Other weight-loss herbs are really nothing more than laxatives,
which also force water from the body. It's much healthier to
follow a high-fiber diet and drink plenty of pure water daily
than to rely on laxatives for elimination. Prolonged use of
laxatives and diuretics, even natural ones, can lead to
dependence and serious health problems.
Susan Rutter: author, publisher, nutritionist, instructor
Assists patients and the public make healthy choices and changes
in their lives. FREE E-mail course: "Your Health and Your Weight"
http://www.geocities.com/healthyoubbies/
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