The Slim Fast diet... hmmm. As I started this review, I spent some time searching for something -- anything -- positive to say about this diet. The only thing I could come up with is that the Slim Fast diet plan is mind-numbingly easy to follow. A healthy shake for breakfast, one for lunch, and a healthy dinner, and a couple of small snacks in between - doesn't get much easier than that, does it? Nonetheless, the Slim Fast diet pretty much encapsulates what's wrong with the state of mainstream dieting and weight loss today.
OK, OK... I hear you asking, "What's wrong with a healthy shake for breakfast and lunch, and a sensible dinner in the evening?"
Got a minute? Good! Let me begin with the "healthy" shakes...
Since the time of my original review, SlimFast has expanded its product line. It now offers Optima, High Protein and Low Carb variations of the shake, plus the original discussed here, of course. These have somewhat reduced sugar and a little more fiber (4 - 5 grams).
Ironically, the "low carb" shakes have more protein (20 g) than the "high protein" ones (15 g).
Healthy, in this case, is relative. If your idea of good nutrition is combining a bag of pork rinds with a couple of burgers from the local fast food joint, well then yes, these are nutritious shakes.
In reality... the Slim Fast shakes aren't particularly nutritious, and they certainly aren't worth the money you pay for them.
So what's in a Slim Fast diet shake?
The 4 main ingredients are skim milk, sugar, fructose, and cocoa. In other words, milk, sugar, and sugar. Other ingredients include various vegetable oils, emulsifiers, and a dubious vitamin blend.
A 375ml (1.5 cups) shake contains 12 grams of protein -- slightly less than what you'd obtain drinking the same amount of 1% low-fat milk.
This same shake contains 38 grams of carbohydrates -- 20 grams more than if you drank the equivalent amount of 1% low-fat milk (with those additional carbs coming from the added sugar). Considering that milk contains significant amounts of vitamins A and D, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B12, Calcium, Phosphorous, Magnesium and Zinc, I'd suggest that you chuck the Slim Fast shakes (vitamin blend and all), and simply drink milk instead.
OK... that's problem number 1 -- the shakes are little more than an expensive, sugar-laden milk supplement.
What's wrong with the Slim Fast diet?
The daily caloric limit is set so low as to be detrimental to any long term weight loss success (each shake contains 240 calories (at least the one I'm holding in my hand does). Couple two with a normal dinner consisting of a chicken breast, baked potato and vegetable, add a snack or two a day and you're looking at anywhere between 1000 - 1200 calories per day).
At first, it may seem logical that drastically reducing calories would be the key to successful weight loss -- and it's true, you must reduce your calories to lose weight. However when you reduce calories too much, you've got a problem. And it's this problem that is the Slim Fast diet plan's biggest drawback...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Green Tea
Review
Green tea has shown potential to be an important ingredient of any weight loss program. One of the products that we have tested by ourselves is Green Tea Extreme. Promoters of Green Tea Extreme sell their product at almost double the price of comparable similar products in the market and (to be honest) this is confusing.
Excess weight is a hot topic in the media. Besides media attention you will find weight loss programs and related products being debated in reality shows. The makers of Green Tea Extreme claim to be the number 1 sellers of Green Tea in the US. Nothing special about that, most promoters make such inflated claims.
There is plenty of media hype about green tea and its products. Dr Perricone, of questionable credentials in the scientific world, has become quite successful in selling quick fix formulations for diet, nutrients and skin treatments. In one of his interviews on the Oprah show, he guaranteed Oprah a weight loss of 10 pounds within six weeks, if she switched her coffee with Green Tea Extreme.
Let us take a look at the components of Green Tea Extreme (the green tea product that we have tested). Components of the formulation include: Green tea, Citrus Aurantium, and Guarana.
Green Tea Extreme as the name suggests contains green tea as a major component. Research has proved that green tea has good fat oxidation qualities. Research has found that the main components of green tea are polyphenols and catechins and that these components may play a positive role in the reduction of weight.
There is no study to support the claim of the company that one can loose for more than 10 pounds of weight in 25 days.
Citrus Aurantium is somewhat similar to synephrine, which is chemically almost similar to ephedra. There is a reported study about the fat reducing abilities of the synephrine. At the same time it is also indicated that more detailed study is required to test its effectiveness.
Guarana, another major constituent of Green Tea Extreme contains approximately 10 percent caffeine. It also has antioxidant and diuretic properties. Its combination with Green Tea may be effective because of its caffeine content, a combination which has always proved to be effective for weight loss.
Green Tea Extreme does not indicate the exact composition of the different green tea components. The amount of green tea in the product formulation is 500 mg. Other available brands of green tea in the market come with a much higher dosage of green tea and are sold at far cheaper prices.
Why Green Tea Extreme is priced almost double when compared to similar products is beyond comprehension. After all, we believe we must take another study on the other green tea based diet products before we can recommend anything.
So far, our conclusion is: Green tea based diet products may help you to lose weight quicker but the effect would be very small. You can't expect too much changes with green tea alone.
Green tea has shown potential to be an important ingredient of any weight loss program. One of the products that we have tested by ourselves is Green Tea Extreme. Promoters of Green Tea Extreme sell their product at almost double the price of comparable similar products in the market and (to be honest) this is confusing.
Excess weight is a hot topic in the media. Besides media attention you will find weight loss programs and related products being debated in reality shows. The makers of Green Tea Extreme claim to be the number 1 sellers of Green Tea in the US. Nothing special about that, most promoters make such inflated claims.
There is plenty of media hype about green tea and its products. Dr Perricone, of questionable credentials in the scientific world, has become quite successful in selling quick fix formulations for diet, nutrients and skin treatments. In one of his interviews on the Oprah show, he guaranteed Oprah a weight loss of 10 pounds within six weeks, if she switched her coffee with Green Tea Extreme.
Let us take a look at the components of Green Tea Extreme (the green tea product that we have tested). Components of the formulation include: Green tea, Citrus Aurantium, and Guarana.
Green Tea Extreme as the name suggests contains green tea as a major component. Research has proved that green tea has good fat oxidation qualities. Research has found that the main components of green tea are polyphenols and catechins and that these components may play a positive role in the reduction of weight.
There is no study to support the claim of the company that one can loose for more than 10 pounds of weight in 25 days.
Citrus Aurantium is somewhat similar to synephrine, which is chemically almost similar to ephedra. There is a reported study about the fat reducing abilities of the synephrine. At the same time it is also indicated that more detailed study is required to test its effectiveness.
Guarana, another major constituent of Green Tea Extreme contains approximately 10 percent caffeine. It also has antioxidant and diuretic properties. Its combination with Green Tea may be effective because of its caffeine content, a combination which has always proved to be effective for weight loss.
Green Tea Extreme does not indicate the exact composition of the different green tea components. The amount of green tea in the product formulation is 500 mg. Other available brands of green tea in the market come with a much higher dosage of green tea and are sold at far cheaper prices.
Why Green Tea Extreme is priced almost double when compared to similar products is beyond comprehension. After all, we believe we must take another study on the other green tea based diet products before we can recommend anything.
So far, our conclusion is: Green tea based diet products may help you to lose weight quicker but the effect would be very small. You can't expect too much changes with green tea alone.
Slim 365
Review
We rate Slim 365 as one of the best diet pills on our list because we know the capability of this product. The clinical studies result on Slim 365 has been really amazed us. We really love how this product works.Slim 365 combines three powerful ingredients into one bottle. They are Hoodia Gordonii extract, Chitosan, and Green Tea Extract.
Hoodia, Chitosan, and Green Tea Extract are extremely good for weight loss. Hoodia is a very powerful appetite suppressant while green tea extract really works well for fat oxidation. Chitosan, as the final ingredient, works well to bind our calorie intake.
These ingredients might not be as popular as they were but when combined into one powerful Slim 365, it obviously works. We believe you can lose up to 20 lbs if you do proper exercise and consume Slim 365 regularly. Acccording to Slim 365 website's announcement itself, they believe they can help you around 15 lbs for the first 2 weeks. Let's take a deeper look at Slim 365:
Chemistry Of Slim 365:
Slim 365 is the combination of these three ingredients:
1. Hoodia Gordonii
- Hoodia is said to be the best appetite suppressant ever. Originally Hoodia comes from Kalahari Desert, Africa. Slim 365 is also using pure Hoodia Gordonii extract so you can handle your hunger whenever the bad foods tempt you. Keep in mind that most products out there are using fake Hoodia Gordonii so don't be skeptical. Slim 365 knows how to mix pure Hoodia Gordonii extract into their bottles.
2. Green Tea Extract
- All of us understand that green tea extract can help our fat oxidation process. Despite the process might not be much, but it's still effective. Research in Switzerland proved that Green Tea Extract can help us to burn more calories without any risk.
3. Chitosan
- The popularity of Chitosan brand itself has been going down lately. But we still believe Chitosan is one of the most powerful fat blocking ingredients out there. Many people hyped Lipobind and Alli's ability to block our fat and calorie intake but actually Chitosan is better than these two ingredients. Slim 365 realized this and mix it with green tea extract and Hoodia.
Slim 365 is a clever diet supplement. It could totally help your diet up to 15-20 lbs per month. It's really the best diet supplement until today. The proper combination of Hoodia, green tea extract, and Chitosan, is totally superb.
We rate Slim 365 as one of the best diet pills on our list because we know the capability of this product. The clinical studies result on Slim 365 has been really amazed us. We really love how this product works.Slim 365 combines three powerful ingredients into one bottle. They are Hoodia Gordonii extract, Chitosan, and Green Tea Extract.
Hoodia, Chitosan, and Green Tea Extract are extremely good for weight loss. Hoodia is a very powerful appetite suppressant while green tea extract really works well for fat oxidation. Chitosan, as the final ingredient, works well to bind our calorie intake.
These ingredients might not be as popular as they were but when combined into one powerful Slim 365, it obviously works. We believe you can lose up to 20 lbs if you do proper exercise and consume Slim 365 regularly. Acccording to Slim 365 website's announcement itself, they believe they can help you around 15 lbs for the first 2 weeks. Let's take a deeper look at Slim 365:
Chemistry Of Slim 365:
Slim 365 is the combination of these three ingredients:
1. Hoodia Gordonii
- Hoodia is said to be the best appetite suppressant ever. Originally Hoodia comes from Kalahari Desert, Africa. Slim 365 is also using pure Hoodia Gordonii extract so you can handle your hunger whenever the bad foods tempt you. Keep in mind that most products out there are using fake Hoodia Gordonii so don't be skeptical. Slim 365 knows how to mix pure Hoodia Gordonii extract into their bottles.
2. Green Tea Extract
- All of us understand that green tea extract can help our fat oxidation process. Despite the process might not be much, but it's still effective. Research in Switzerland proved that Green Tea Extract can help us to burn more calories without any risk.
3. Chitosan
- The popularity of Chitosan brand itself has been going down lately. But we still believe Chitosan is one of the most powerful fat blocking ingredients out there. Many people hyped Lipobind and Alli's ability to block our fat and calorie intake but actually Chitosan is better than these two ingredients. Slim 365 realized this and mix it with green tea extract and Hoodia.
Slim 365 is a clever diet supplement. It could totally help your diet up to 15-20 lbs per month. It's really the best diet supplement until today. The proper combination of Hoodia, green tea extract, and Chitosan, is totally superb.
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