A Brief Overview of Diabetes
By Jonathon Hardcastle

Chances are, you or someone you know has diabetes, a condition in which the body is unable to regulate blood sugar on its own. According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 20.8 million children and adults in the U.S. or 7 percent of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, unfortunately, 6.2 million people (or nearly one-third) are unaware that they have the disease.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, which is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. Although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play a role, the actual cause of diabetes remains a mystery.

In most cases, diabetes does not strike until adulthood. People who get little exercise and are overweight are at an increased risk of developing what is known as Type 2 diabetes (Type 1 diabetes is detected on childbirth). The good news is that due to science research and developments in treatment, it is easier than ever to live with it.

Since with diabetes, the body is unable to produce or properly use insulin, sugar and fat remain in the blood, causing fatigue, frequent urination, excessive thirst and irritability. The disease can drastically affect a person's day-to-day life, as he or she might experience difficulties in concentrating, which can affect work performance, or may suffer from anxiety and/or depression. Left untreated, diabetes can lead to organ and nerve damage and increase a person's risk of heart disease, stroke and blindness.

The key to managing diabetes is keeping your blood sugar levels stable. You can do this by eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and keeping your weight in check, but, in order to succeed, you may also need insulin injections. Studies show that patients who keep their blood sugar levels close to normal may experience fewer diabetes-related complications and lead healthier lives. But experts indicate that the sooner you get your blood sugar under control, the better you will be.

Thus, you should work with your doctor to create a treatment plan that is right for you. If you need insulin, tell your doctor how often you exercise and eat and what your usual diet contains or what times you eat. Also mention which medications and vitamins you take, if any. This will help your doctor determine what type of insulin is best for you and what your dosage should be. Keep in mind that your insulin dosage will likely be adjusted many times until the best level for your case is reached, but you will soon be on the road to feeling like yourself again if you follow doctors' advice and keep your diet healthy, you exercise regularly and you maintain a constant sleeping pattern.

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Health, Food, and Football

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Diabetes Fatigue: When Managing Diabetes Seems Like Too Much
By Vivian Brennan

Diabetes is a chronic disease that will need to be managed over the course of a lifetime. Some patients get “diabetes fatigue” or “diabetes burnout” from the stress of having to manage their diabetes every day.

Type 1 diabetes can be managed with exercise, diet, and insulin injections. Type 2 diabetes can sometimes be managed simply with diet and exercise, though sometimes other medications are recommended. Regardless, it can be difficult to constantly measure and regulate what one eats and how one exercises.

It can be the most difficult to keep your diet under control when you are particularly busy. Then it can seem easier to buy processed and package foods that are less healthy but that can sometimes seem more comforting. Fitting in workout times in a busy schedule can also seem daunting. Other times that can also make it difficult to manage diet and exercise are the holidays, such as Christmas, when overindulging is encouraged.

Most diabetics will, at some point, experience diabetes fatigue, when they simply no longer want to manage their diabetes. There are some ways to get over this fatigue that will help you maintain your diabetes management program. Managing your blood sugar levels will also help prevent long-term complications. So, if you are feeling down at the prospects of managing your diabetes, consider these hints.

1. Mix it up!

Because exercise is an integral part of managing diabetes, you probably exercise five times a week. If you are tired of swimming lengths, take up cycling. Try doing a different exercise each day a week. If you have an exercise that you love (perhaps tennis? running?), you can do it as many times as you want. If you get bored of doing the same exercise, then try to switch it up to keep your interest.

Keeping a steady blood glucose level doesn’t mean that you have to keep a boring diet. If you try new foods, you will find new favourite dishes. Take a cooking class to learn how to make curry, or Thai food, or another kind of food that you don’t normally eat. Or perhaps treat yourself when you are at the grocery store and buy that exotic fruit that you wouldn’t get every time.

2. Use the Buddy System.

Find a friend that you can go and exercise with. This means that you will be getting your exercise in, but you will also have someone to help motivate you. You don’t have to have a buddy who is a diabetic, either. You just want someone who is sympathetic to your situation and who wants a good work out.

You might even consider getting a personal trainer to help you with your workouts. If you can’t get a trainer, at least you can find a friend who will advise you on how to exercise properly.

3. Pamper yourself.

Take some time to do something that you want to do, and that will make you feel relaxed and happy. Often having high stress levels creates higher blood glucose levels. So head to the spa or get a massage and take a few moments for yourself.

4. Plan your meals…or don’t.

You might find it easier to keep to your diet if you have a meal plan that can help you go to the grocery store and get all the ingredients that you need. But if it gets too busy to plan your meals, consider getting the healthy pre-packaged options at the store, such as pre-packaged salads, or pre-skewered kebabs from the deli section.

If you have a craving for desserts, find some desserts with fewer calories and less sugar that you can eat. Oftentimes you can satisfy a craving without having to ruin your diet.

5. Let People Know.

Tell your friends, family, and coworkers about your diabetes. Although they all probably know someone with diabetes, they might not understand how it functions and affects your life. If you help them understand the importance of keeping your blood sugar levels in range, they can help you by making healthier choices when they are with you too.

6. Talk it Through.

If you have chronic diabetes burnout, or if you simply feel that you can no longer handle managing your diabetes at all, call a professional. Getting a referral from your doctor can help this expense be covered through your insurance. A counselor can listen to your troubles and help you identify the problem spots that you can work on to get through the diabetes fatigue.

7. This too shall pass.

Although right this second it might be hard to deal with your diabetes and the idea of diabetes, most diabetics go through phases. Sometimes diabetes management seems like simple second nature. Other times it seems difficult and forced. Just recognize that feeling upset or depressed about your diabetes is natural, and something that you will be able to get through.

For more information on how to manage your diabetes, visit The Guide to Diabetes. This site has recipes for diabetics, the latest news about diabetes medications, and tips on how to live a productive and happy life with diabetes.

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Diabetes Weight Loss-Diet And Exercise
By Glen D. Williams

When people are diagnosed with Diabetes, their reactions range from, 'So what, another pill,' to, 'My life is over.' We're going to examine the serious complications of the disease, the available treatments and, most importantly, how you can personally reduce the complications and medicines through diet and exercise to lose weight. Since Type 1 Diabetes occurs in childhood, with medicine and diet control required for survival, the focus in this article will be on the more common disease, Type 2 Diabetes.

What Is Type 2 Diabetes? This is a disease where the body has been overfed with carbohydrates (carbs) for so long, it develops a weird kind of reaction to them. Insulin is a chemical your body makes, to turn carbs into energy in your cells, but, when you've been overdosing on carbs for a long time, your cells become resistant to the insulin and can't absorb the energy. Your cells begin starving even though there's more than enough carbs for energy. The carbs stack up in your body as blood sugar (glucose) and eventually get added around your waist as fat, leading to obesity. The fat and starving cells make diabetics sluggish and tired, and almost continually hungry. It's easy for Diabetics to develop food addictions because of this hunger. As we load up to satisfy our hunger, we send our blood sugar into a roller-coaster, where we risk stroke at high-sugar times and Diabetic coma at low-sugar times.

What Are The Diabetic Health Risks? Stroke and coma are just the 2 immediate extremes of Diabetes. When you add in the fact that Diabetes is the number one cause of kidney failure, a major cause of cardio-vascular diseases and a contributing factor in many cancers, pneumonia and other serious diseases, Diabetes could be the number one cause of death in the U.S. Short of death, Diabetes is nothing to ignore. It's a leading cause of blindness, nerve diseases, periodontal disease, vaginal yeast infections and amputations of fingers, arms, legs, ears, noses and other extremities. It slows healing from all diseases and infections. Diabetes needs to be treated seriously in order to extend your life and retain a high quality of life.

What Treatments Are Available? Diabetes treatment can be as simple as monitoring and diet/exercise control, to adding a pill to your daily medicines, to insulin supplements, to complex and painful surgery and living assistance for normal daily activities. There are new treatments being discovered all the time but you should have the attitude of 'less-is-more' when it comes to treatment. The less treatment you need, the longer and better your life will be. Even with minimum treatment, you'll need to monitor your blood glucose levels regularly to make sure everything is going right. Your doctor will recommend a home glucose monitor, other diabetic supplies and blood glucose lab tests about every 3 months. As your disease progresses, the monitoring and labs will be more extensive. Once you're taking medicine, you should test your blood glucose at least twice daily, when you get up and 1-2 hours after your biggest meal. If you're using insulin injections, you'll be testing more often than that. No matter what stage of Diabetes treatment you're in, diet and exercise can help.

How Do Weight Loss Diet And Exercise Help Manage Diabetes? Unfortunately, many people approach Diabetes like a headache...taking a pill is enough. With this disease, you have to look at diet and exercise as medicine. I reduced my average blood glucose by 50% (to normal) in 6 months just by changing my diet and exercise. Most medicines don't claim to do as much. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a great place to learn about the disease, treatment, diet, research, etc. Using the ADA diet as a guide, I ate smaller meals with 3 in-between meal snacks, keeping a balance of proteins, carbs and fats, I added high fiber fruits and vegetables, lots of water, and I watched my cholesterol. I should point out that I was less hungry on this diet than when I ate without control. I did aerobic walking and other exercises for 30 minutes, 5-6 days per week. As diabetics, if we reduce our weight by just 5 %, we can make improvements of up to 30% in our blood sugar. For a 200 pound person, that means losing 10 pounds...anybody can do that. You can find more information on diet and weight loss all over the internet. Just be careful to consult your doctor and not do any fasting type diets because they lower your blood glucose too much.

We who suffer from Diabetes need to recognize that this disease will progress, but we can control how fast it progresses. If we just take the meds the doctor gives us, the prognosis isn't good for the length of our lives or the quality. If we decide to fight the disease by controlling our diet and exercise, we may not need medicine for years, we'll add many years to our lives and have a far better quality of life during those years. What's your choice?

Glen Williams is founder and CEO of EHF, Inc. and Webmaster for http://www.e-health-fitness.com. He has done extensive research on personal and family health and fitness issues and has been helping and advising people on health since 1987.

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Metformin: A Beginner's Guide
By Guin Van Niekerk

For centuries people have used French Lilac (Galega officinalis) to treat the symptoms of diabetes mellitus. But it was only in the last century that the active ingredient was isolated and identified. This compound, a single guanidine ring, while itself being too toxic to be used in the long term management of diabetes, led to the development of one of the safest and most widely used of all the antidiabetic medications: metformin.

Metformin belongs to a group of drugs called the biguanides, which consist of two linked guanidine rings. Although it has been used to treat diabetes for at least thirty years, it is only now that we are beginning to get an idea of how it works, even though the exact mechanisms of action remain more or less a mystery.

What we do know, however, is that metformin has a number of different effects on glucose metabolism. These effects lead to improved insulin sensitivity in tissues such as muscle and liver as well as decreased gluconeogenesis ( the synthesis of glucose from non-carbohydrate sources ) by the liver. The net result of these and certain other actions is a decrease in glucose levels. However, because metformin is a euglycaemic agent, blood glucose levels do not fall below normal. Hypoglycaemic episodes do therefore not usually occur.

Metformin also has beneficial effects on lipid metabolism, and tends to result in a lowering of circulating fatty acids and VLDL, both of which are known to be involved in causing cardiovascular disease.

Conclusion? Metformin is an extremely effective treatment for type 2 diabetes, because it acts at the source of the problem: it combats insulin resistance. It has been shown to delay and even prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes in people with impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance. And it decreases the risk of diabetes-related death, as well as heart attacks and strokes, in people who already have diabetes. Metformin saves lives.

In addition to this, metformin is used with great effect in the treatment of polycystic ovarian syndrome, both improving the symptoms of the condition, and increasing by up to eight-fold the probability of ovulation (and so substantially increasing fertility). It also appears to be safe to use during pregnancy, and significantly decreases the risk of women with PCOS developing gestational diabetes.

Metformin clearly has great benefits for those with insulin resistance and related conditions (such as PCOS, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome). Unfortunately these benefits may come at a price – metformin causes some fairly uncomfortable side effects in some people. These include nausea, loss of appetite, a metallic taste, and diarrhoea, which may or may not be severe. These side effects tend to be present at the start of treatment and with higher doses of the drug. It is most likely that some of the side effects are caused by residual amounts of the drug (in other words, the quantity of metformin that is not absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract) which remains in the bowel and causes irritation and subsequent diarrhoea.

Most of these adverse effects may therefore be controlled by starting treatment on very low doses and slowly increasing the amount of drug taken to achieve the desired results. The absorption of metformin is also increased by taking the medication with food, which leaves less of the drug remaining in the gastrointestinal tract to cause irritation and diarrhoea. Nausea may be improved by taking the medication in divided doses e.g. 500mg every eight hours instead of all at once. The newer sustained release formulations may also help with this problem. It is important to be aware that, in general, all the side effects associated with metformin improve with time.

Another more important, but much rarer risk, is that of lactic acidosis. This seldom occurs unless there are underlying problems such as kidney or liver disease, or heart failure, or if the daily dose of metformin used exceeds the current recommended maximum of 2550mg for adults (or 2000mg extended release formulations) and 2000mg for children. Symptoms of lactic acidosis include weakness, muscle pain, difficulty breathing, stomach pain, dizziness and a slow heartbeat. This is a very dangerous condition, and needs to be treated immediately. Fortunately it is so rare that it is very seldom seen. Having said all this, metformin still has the ability to change peoples’ lives in ways seldom mentioned in medical texts. It relieves the chronic tiredness that people with insulin resistance experience, and decreases cravings for carbohydrates. It also makes weight loss that much easier for people who have always struggled to lose a few pounds, and keep them off.

In conclusion, it may be said that metformin is a relatively safe and effective drug, which has the ability to increase both the quantity and quality of life in those of us unlucky enough to have insulin resistance.

Dr Guin Van Niekerk is the author of “Why Fat Sticks: An Introduction to Insulin Resistance” For more information go to http://www.insulinresistancesite.com Dr. Guin Van Niekerk qualified as a medical doctor at the University of Cape Town in 1997. It was while working a few years later as a general practitioner that she developed a strong interest in insulin resistance and its associated conditions. She discovered that the concept of insulin resistance was largely unknown to the public. This led to her decision to write the book, “Why Fat Sticks – An Introduction To Insulin Resistance.”

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What Are 3 Common Types Of Diabetes
By Armughan Riaz

Diabetes Mellitus is now considered as an epidemic disease in most of countries. This article is about risk causes management of 3 most common types of diabetes mellitus

what are types of Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes is classified into 3 types.
1-Type 1 Diabetes
2-Type 2 Diabetes
3-Gestational Diabetes

Here we will discuss one by one all three types of diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes is also called Juvenile Diabetes, Insulin dependent diabetes or Autoimmune Diabetes. Person with type 1 diabetes has immune response against his own beta cells of pancreas, so pancreas is unable to produce insulin at-all.That is why it is called as autoimmune diabetes. Juvenile diabetes usually occurs in children but can appear at any age. To live normal life patient has to take insulin and take regular exercise and has proper diet plan. The main cause of this type 1 diabetes are environmental factors like virus, diet or chemicals in people genetically predisposed. In USA 10-15% diagnosed cases of diabetes mellitus comprises of type 1 diabetes. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes are increase urination, increase thirst, increase hunger and weight loss. Eyes may also be affected as blurred vision. The person with type 1 diabetes should be diagnosed earlier, otherwise it can lead to a medical emergency situation like diabetic Coma with kitoacidosis.

Type 2 Diabetes:
Type 2 Diabetes is also called as Non Insulin dependent diabetes Mellitus or Adult-onset diabetes.This is most common type of diabetes affecting nearly 80% of all cases of diabetes. It is usually seen in adults. There are two mechanisms of type 2 diabetes. Either there is deficiency of insulin, or there is increase resistance of insulin. Insulin resistance means that body is unable to use available insulin.The main cause of this type of diabetes is genetic however other factors like overweight, obesity, high blood pressure, lack of exercise, overeating habits may also affect.About 80% of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes in-contrast to type 1 develop very slowly. There may be fatigue, weight loss, increase urination, blurred vision or delay wound healing.This type of diabetes is treated with exercise, diet control, tablets. However later, you may need insulin injections as well.

Gestational Diabetes:
Some women who develop diabetes during later stages of pregnancy is called as Gestational diabetes. Though their glucose levels returns to normal but even then they have greater chances of developing diabetes mellitus within next 5 to 10 years. Women with gestational diabetes may have no symptoms at all. The cause of gestational diabetes is hormonal imbalance during pregnancy or insufficient Insulin. Child of women who develops gestational diabetes is also at high risk of developing diabetes in later life. Maintaining normal body weight and being physically active may help prevent development of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a patient of gestational diabetes.

If you want to know more about Types of Diabetes Mellitus , visit our web site.

Dr. Armughan (Consultant Cardiologist) Manitaining following sites Diabetes Mellitus Symptoms Causes Treatment High Blood Pressure Symptoms Diet Treatment

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Weight Loss Surgery - 10 Qualifications Necessary Before Taking Action
By Ben O'Rourke

If you are thinking of having weight loss surgery, you may have to consider certain criteria in order to be qualified for the surgery. If you do not meet these criteria, then the surgery may cause higher risks and problems. It is important to know what these qualifications are before considering weight loss surgery so that you may know if it is right for you. So let us look at the top 10 qualifications you should consider before weight-loss surgery.

1. Morbid Obesity. Are you morbidly obese? If you're over 100 pounds from your ideal weight then you are considered morbidly obese.

2. Medical problems. There are a couple of medical conditions that can happen if you are overweight. For example you may have diabetes, swelling or pain due to being overweight, if so then you will be qualified for weight loss surgery.

3. BMI. BMI simply means your body mass index. This index is used to determine whether you qualify for weight loss surgery. You need to have a BMI of forty or greater in order to qualify for surgery.

4. Diet programs. Generally it is recommended that you are monitored for six months using diet programs prior to weight loss surgery. It needs to be shown that none of these programs have worked for you to make you completely qualified.

5. The length of time that you are obese. Sometimes you will need to have been obese for at least five years. This just proves that you have been unable to reduce your weight in any other way and that it is causing you problems in your everyday life.

6. Insurance and financial considerations. Prior to getting weight loss surgery, you will need to satisfy your insurance company and examine your financial status. Some insurance companies have specific requirements before allowing you proceed with weight loss surgery.

7. Problems with performing daily activities. For example, family activities, work ability and social functioning. Generally, being obese may cause problems with doing routine activities.

8. Your mental stability. Are you mentally prepared to have the surgery performed? Will you be able to make the necessary changes after surgery in order to change your lifestyle and get any help necessary to change dietary and mental habits.

9. Understanding the procedures involved. Make sure that you know about the risks, benefits, procedures and commitments involved with weight loss surgery, otherwise you're better not to get the procedure performed.

10. Your confidence factor. If you are hesitant about having surgery or don’t feel that it is right for you, then you would be better to consider other options.

If you have met some or most of the qualifications above, then consult your physician or a surgeon about what weight loss surgery could do for you. You can then begin to make the necessary steps required in moving back into a more healthy lifestyle.

For More Information On Health Topics:

Health Info Docs

Weight Loss Surgery

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The Glycemic Index: Things You Need to Know
By Ray Kelly

A Doctor at the University of Toronto developed the glycemic index (note: this is sometimes spelled glycaemic) in the early 80’s. At first the index was utilized as a means for diabetics to gauge the insulin demand of the foods they ate. It wasn’t until later that dieticians realized the value of the index for non-diabetics in both losing weight and optimizing calorie intake. Understanding what this index is and why it is important is a necessary step in being able to use it to optimize your diet.

First of all it is important to understand exactly what the index measures. Though every food we eat is digested and absorbed into the bloodstream the rate at which this happens varies widely. Factors that can influence this rate of absorption vary widely from how they were grown and in what soil all the way to the type of starch and acidic content in the food. This is an important facet of the glycemic index that most people ignore. The tables showing the GI (common term for the Glycemic Index) of a food can be misleading unless the food is stored, cooked and processed in the same manner as the one listed on the index. Otherwise these other factors can greatly increase or reduce the glycemic index for that particular serving. Thus, the first important rule of utilizing the glycemic index is as follows:

RULE #1: Make sure the food you are eating is processed, cooked, stored and grown in the same manner as the food of the index you are using. Make sure you follow the guidelines outlined in the methodology of the index.

The second factor that is important to understand about the glycemic index is that the same food with all the same extraneous factors (those we discussed above) can have a dramatic difference in absorption rate depending on the individual. Therefore, we must understand that everybody is different and the ways in which the digestive system processes food varies according to the person. In fact, it is this particular point, which characterizes diabetes as well as hypoglycemia and its opposite hyperglycemia. Essentially all of these disorders characterize individuals who somehow process starches and sugars at a rate significantly lower or higher than the norm. Thus, this leads us to rule number two of utilizing the glycemic index:

RULE #2: Know your own body and how it responds to sugars and starches. A simple test by a Doctor or Dietician can help you understand this information and allow you to follow a diet recommended for your digestive system.

The two rules above are the most important for using the index to design a sound and healthy diet based on your particular needs. So now the question is how can the glycemic index help you?

To understand the benefits it is necessary to know how low GI the body utilizes low and high GI foods. Essentially, low GI foods are digested so that the starch and proteins are releases gradually over a period of time. Thus, these types of foods are recommended for diabetics and anyone expending moderate amounts of energy of an extended period of time. By converse, high GI foods release their starches and sugars very rapidly resulting in a dramatic increase in blood glucose levels. This is the effect, which many call a “sugar high”. These types of foods are appropriate for replenishing energy sources that have been expended or when the body is in need of rapid recovery. One important has been that those who follow low GI diets have a decreased risk of heart diseases and diabetes while those who follow a high GI diet have an increased risk of obesity in addition to those noted above.

There is one more important thing to know before utilizing the glycemic index in designing your diet, and that is exactly what the dividing line is between a low and high GI food as well as some noteworthy examples of each.

HIGH GI FOODS

(High GI is typically defined to be in excess of 70)

Bran Flakes

Dates

Watermelon

Sweet Potato

LOW GI FOODS

(Low GI foods measure at 55 or lower)

Grape Fruit

Cherries

Apples

Pears

Skim Milk

Ray Kelly is the Personal Trainer that guided Adro Sarnelli to his win on The Biggest Loser Australia. Visit his websites on The Biggest Loser and Personal Training - Central Coast

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11 Tips to Boost Your Metabolism
By Andrew Bicknell

Boosting ones metabolism is something many people try to achieve everyday. Having a high metabolic rate increases the amount of calories, or energy, the body burns on a daily basis. Without optimal metabolism the body will store excess calories as fat for future use. The problem for many people is they don’t ever use these excess calories and as a result struggle with weight issues.

There are many factors that affect a person’s metabolism including age, weight, hormonal changes, lean muscle mass, diet, genetics, stress and the amount of physical activity undertaken on a daily basis. As you can see boosting your metabolism involves many factors, but the fact of the matter is that it is relatively easy to boost your metabolism if you are committed to doing so.

Here are 11 tips to help you boost your metabolism:

1. Build lean body mass. As we age our bodies metabolism or ability to burn calories decreases. One way to offset this problem is by exercising. Lean muscle burns calories and the more you have the more calories you burn, even while resting. You can build muscle through resistance or weight training at least twice a week. You can also boost your metabolism by doing cardio exercises. You can choose to do this between or in conjunction with weight training. Simply going for a walk or using the stairs instead of the elevator are good ways to get in an aerobic workout.

2. Eat Breakfast. Many people ignore eating breakfast. What they don’t realize is that it’s the most important meal of the day. Breakfast gives your metabolism a boost and provides a consistent energy supply throughout the day. The majority of people who eat a healthy breakfast have fewer weight and health issues than those who don’t.

3. Sugar is bad. Processed and refined sugar such as found in sweets and soft drinks overload the body with sugar causing many serious health issues including obesity and diabetes. Complex carbohydrates are a better energy source because they supply an even level of blood sugar. The human body just isn’t built to deal with the large amounts of refined sugar most people include in their diet.

4. Spicy foods that make you sweat can help boost your metabolism.

5. Get a good night’s sleep. There is research that shows that people who do not get sufficient sleep tend to gain weight. This may be because the body uses sleep to heal and regenerate itself, including its muscular system.

6. Drink more water. Water is the lubricant of the body. It also flushes toxins out of the body and keeps the kidneys operating at maximum efficiency. This allows the liver more time to do what it does best, metabolize fat stores. 7. Eat small meals. Eat 5 to 6 small meals per day spaced 20 to 3 hours apart. This gives the body a steady supply of energy and prevents binge eating.

8. Don’t miss meals. Skipping meals in order to loose weight is counter productive because it actually slow metabolism and can lead to over eating.

9. Plan your meals. If you have a daily or weekly menu you are much more likely to stick to your plan.

10. Drink green tea. Green tea has been shown to boost metabolism and unlike coffee does not stress the body with caffeine.

11. Include more high energy foods in your diet including fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These provide a more balanced energy source and will not cause blood sugar spikes.

Boosting your metabolism can be done if you are dedicated to doing it. This does not mean you need to stress over each little thing but if you eat right and exercise you should see a decrease in body fat and a much more energetic and happy you.

For more tips to boost your metabolism and for more information about metabolism please click here.

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