Weight Control
With Christmas lunches and New Year parties a distant memory, how many of our resolutions have survived the past few months? Did our vows to ‘cut down’, ‘eat healthy’, ‘go to the gym three nights a week’ last? Probably not!
If you did manage to shed the unwanted pounds the Festive Season left you with – well done! For the rest of us…well there is no point dwelling on our failures, consoling ourselves with another chocolate Easter egg…it is time to take action.
Every day someone somewhere is trying to lose weight. ‘Does my bum look big in this?’ paranoia is all around us. And everywhere we look, society is willing us to confront our paranoia with images of the ‘unattainable form’.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have something that did all the work for you? So you could eat what you want, pop a pill and be as thin as you want.
Don’t get your hopes up – there is no such thing.
The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight revolves around adopting a nutritional programme that meets your needs and an exercise programme that helps to optimise the usage of your food so that energy input is always less than energy output. There are no quick fixes.
Think of bad eating as an addiction; hard work, perseverance and willpower are needed to overcome the habit, and as with all habit-breaking journeys, help is at hand to get you through the day.
‘Slimming’s little helper’ comes in the form of a fresh herb tincture derived from Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), the tubers of which are rich in a fructose polymer, soluble dietary fibres and trace elements. Jerusalem Artichoke is neither an artichoke nor hails from Jerusalem: it is a member of the sunflower family.
What it does
Fluctuating glucose levels can often result in a desire for sugary foods, and diets containing Jerusalem Artichoke have been shown to slightly increase blood sugar levels. This means that the body’s craving for sugar is alleviated in a healthy way and the temptation for snacking is reduced.
There is some evidence to suggest that dietary fibres can reduce food intake short-term. Fibrous substances swell in the bowel, helping to push everything in the right direction. These bulk-forming properties mean that Jerusalem Artichoke can create a feeling of fullness, and so the temptation to snack is reduced. Although the physical bulk-forming properties of the herb cannot be transferred to a tincture, the soluble dietary fibres are, and a feeling of fullness can therefore still be achieved.
There are serious underlying issues associated with the battle of the bulge. Being overweight is bad for you and losing weight can benefit blood pressure, cholesterol levels, sleep patterns, arthritic conditions and the menstrual cycle. In those where a few extra pounds will not do them harm physically, self consciousness can still be a problem leading to anxiety, depression and obsessive behaviour.
Anyone with real concerns about their weight should discuss their treatment options with a suitably qualified practitioner; for the rest of us, the victims of a succession of overindulgences, Jerusalem Artichoke may be just the thing we are looking for.
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