Here's a very interesting article from the New York Times by By Anahad O’Connor  which I recommend you read as soon as you can ...

A diet full of highly processed foods with added sugars and salt promoted gut microbes linked to obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

Scientists know that the trillions of bacteria and other microbes that live in our guts play an important role in health, influencing our risk of developing obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and a wide range of other conditions. But now a large new international study has found that the composition of these microorganisms, collectively known as our microbiomes, is largely shaped by what we eat.

By analyzing the diets, health and microbiomes of more than a thousand people, researchers found that a diet rich in nutrient-dense, whole foods supported the growth of beneficial microbes that promoted good health. But eating a diet full of highly processed foods with added sugars, salt and other additives had the opposite effect, promoting gut microbes that were linked to worse cardiovascular and metabolic health.

The researchers found that what people ate had a more powerful impact on the makeup of their microbiomes than their genes. They also discovered that a variety of plant and animal foods were linked to a more favorable microbiome.

One critical factor was whether people ate foods that were highly processed or not. People who tended to eat minimally processed foods like vegetables, nuts, eggs and seafood were more likely to harbor beneficial gut bacteria. Consuming large amounts of juices, sweetened beverages, white bread, refined grains, and processed meats, on the other hand, was associated with microbes linked to poor metabolic health....

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Breakfast is the most important meal of the day – regardless of whether you are trying to lose weight, maintain weight or promote a healthy lifestyle. Eating a well-balanced breakfast helps you feel more energized throughout the day, boosts metabolism and can even promote weight loss. But the trick is to eat healthy meals in the morning that incorporate multiple food groups and lots of vitamins and minerals.

It is difficult for most of us to cook a big breakfast in the mornings - our routines, families and chores quickly build up and get in the way.  But there is an easy way to have a healthy breakfast in no time, with a simple recipe you can prepare in five minutes before you go to bed each night. We're talking about overnight oats...

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Snake Diet for Beginners

The rules for starting the Snake Diet are pretty simple to follow. You begin by going through a 48 hour fast. During this time, you must drink the recommended Snake Juice.

The diet gives you the recipe for this juice and it consists of the same base ingredients that are found in IV fluids.

It’s a juice that’s meant to replace the electrolytes you’ll lose through fasting. You can’t start the diet without this fasting step. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself still battling food cravings and this undermines your success.

When you start this part of the diet, you’ll need to rely on the use of keto sticks to check your urine for ketones. If you’re in ketosis and still feeling good, then the diet suggests that you extend the fast and aim for a 72 hour fast.

The plan calls for eating windows or refeeding. During this time, you must eat low carb meals. The lower the carb count, the better, according to the creator of this diet. You have to follow the 4:1 ratio.

This is done by measuring out the grams of the food that you’re eating. The majority of the ratio should be based on vegetables while the lesser number focuses on meat and fat.

The reason that you want to avoid consuming a high number of carbs is because of the reaction they cause within the body. When you eat a lot of carbs, this boosts your insulin levels.

It also makes you feel bloated and triggers hunger cues. Make sure that you’re drinking the Snake Juice during this time. As you follow the diet, if you notice that you’re struggling to lose weight, that’s a clue that you have your 4:1 ratio off.

You’re consuming too many carbs and not fasting the correct way. Once you fix this, you should lose the weight. But there is a word of warning about the diet. It’s great to help you lose weight and burn fat.

But you can’t skip the Snake Juice and instead just drink water because water does not replenish your electrolytes. If you do this, you’re going to end up with some nasty side effects.

You need the juice to stay hydrated and in balance. It’s important that you drink the full 2 liters a day, which is usually enough for everyone. If you’re an extreme exercise enthusiast, you might need more since exercising causes more electrolyte loss.

1,200 Calorie Diet

If you want to lose weight and be successful for a long term, one method you can use is to lower the amount of calories that you’re consuming. One way to do that is to follow a simple 1,200 calorie diet.

This kind of diet can help you lose a little or a lot of weight. One of the reasons that it’s so successful is because you can eat healthy foods, get full and still be able to drop weight.

The way that the diet works is by having users consume fewer calories than they’re going to burn in fuel. This usually means that if you’re an average eater who consumes 1,700 calories a day, you’re going to cut 500 calories from your diet and not eat over 1,200 calories.

By taking this step, you can expect to drop at least a pound a week, but usually more in the beginning. The diet is perfect for people who aren’t expending a lot of calories. They’re not regular exercisers and they may even have developed a couch potato lifestyle.

Because most people who need to diet aren’t as physically active as they should be, cutting calories is the first step to successful weight loss. The diet is easy to follow. You just have to track the number of calories that you eat.

You have to make sure that you don’t try to go any lower than that, because it’s just not healthy for your body. Because most people consume a lot more than 1,200 calories, you’re going to get some resistance from your body.

But if you create an eating plan where you’re eating throughout the day, then you can avoid that. The trick is to make sure that your foods are filling. Choose foods that are low in calories, but make you feel as if you ate a lot.

Lots of raw vegetables can do this and so can certain types of fruit. It’s easy to get started on this diet. All you need to do is take the amount of calories that you get to have and divide them up between your meals and snacks.

Save most of your calories for when you know you’re going to be hungrier. Use that to create your meal plan and stick to it. There are some mistakes that you’re going to want to avoid.

Don’t snack. You can easily add several hundred calories to your intake if you snack throughout the day - even on low calorie foods. Don’t skip out on water. Water can help alleviate hunger pangs and keep you from overeating.

Don’t lie about your calories. If you guess you had a 100 calorie snack when it was closer to 300, you’re not really doing yourself any favors. Make sure you know the accurate count of every bite of food and log it faithfully. If you’re diligent, you will lose weight.

Keto Ultra Diet

There’s a diet that’s so popular most people have heard of it before. That’s the Keto way of eating. In short, this means eating extremely low carb, but allowing high fat as part of the eating plan.

The Keto Ultra Diet is a diet that uses a supplement that works to burn fat. The way that it does this is by causing your body to enter into ketosis. When you’re eating the keto way, because the amount of carbs you eat is so few, in order to have the energy and fuel it needs, your body begins to make ketones.

Ketones are what burn fat. When you take the supplement, it can help you to go into ketosis. To get started on this diet, you would need to purchase the supplements and follow the appropriate dosage, which is usually around 2 capsules per day.

But before you begin using the supplement, you need to understand how the keto diet works because they’re made to work together. When you follow the keto diet, it means that your meals focus on a lot of fat, a little protein and few carbs.

For the entire day, you should only consume about 20-50 carbs (depending on what your own body needs to enter ketosis). The majority of your meal should consist of fat. You’ll get these fats from foods such as avocado, healthy oils, etc.

Because of the low amount of carbs, your body begins to break down fats into ketones.

The supplement works with the keto diet because of the beta-hydroxybutyrate or BHB that it has.

When you take this, it lowers your blood sugar and can send you into ketosis even if you’ve consumed more than 50 carbs. This diet is good for almost anyone and especially people who need to take weight off fast.

Someone who’s obese and has developed health problems due to the weight can successfully use keto. Because it can lower the blood glucose so effectively, someone who has diabetes would want to be doctor monitored while on the diet.

Some people believe that a state of ketosis can be unsafe for diabetics. It’s also healthy for people who have a sedentary lifestyle and are looking to take some weight off quickly before they can focus on an exercise regimen.

You will have to be aware of some mistakes with this diet that can trip you up. You have to be sure that you’re drinking enough water. You need that with the eating plan as well as with the supplement.

You’ll also want to make sure that you clearly understand that kinds of fats that you’re supposed to be eating and that it doesn’t contain a bunch of sugar. Another mistake to be on the lookout for is not consuming enough protein.

At least 20% of your meals should consist of protein - especially if you’re not active. If you’re exercising, depending on the type of exercising you’re doing, another mistake is not adjusting the amount of protein that you eat.

Dr. Sebi Diet

One of the benefits of choosing to follow a healthy diet is that you’ll feel better. Plus, your body can eliminate the toxins that are found in many processed foods. For a diet that can do that, plus help you lose weight, you can check out the Dr. Sebi Diet.

This diet focuses on creating meals based around plants. It works by relying on the eating methods to create an alkaline base in your blood. This makes it unappealing to toxins.

The alkaline is created by the foods and herbs that you’ll eat. If you want to lose weight and eat healthy, then this is the diet you might want to considering choosing. But if you’re someone who enjoys eating meat or dairy foods, then this diet wouldn’t be the right one for you.

In addition to planning your meals around the foods that are given on the food list, you’ll also need to take supplements. You’ll discover how to avoid foods that can lead to cell damage.

The theory that’s behind the diet is bio-mineral in nature and was created through Dr. Sebi using herbology. Because it’s low in calories, it’s good for anyone who wants to lose weight or someone who wants to eat a plant based diet.

To get started, you have to commit to eating only foods that are named in the Dr. Sebi Diet plan. The list of foods contains items such as fruits, but these fruits are specific - some of them are off-limits because they don’t fit the parameters set the by the plan’s creator.

For example, you can’t have any fruits that don’t contain seeds. On this plan, you can also have vegetables, but like fruits, there’s a short list of what you can have. If it’s not on the list, then it’s not considered okay to consume while on the diet.

Grains are allowed, but only certain types of grains. Some, like wheat, you have to avoid. You can also eat some types of nuts as well as seeds. Oils are listed on the diet such as avocado oil and while olive oil is allowed, this is okay only if it’s uncooked.

The plan promotes the consumption of herbal teas as beverages. You’re supposed to drink at least a gallon of water a day and you also have to take the supplements that go with the diet.

There are some deal breakers with the diet that include not drinking any type of alcohol. Some compare this plan to a vegan diet. To get started using this method, you would need to get a copy of the nutritional guidelines list and begin from there.

There are some mistakes that you’ll want to avoid to be successful. Because sugar is found in so many processed and canned foods, you’ll want start slow rather than going cold turkey. Otherwise, the sudden elimination of sweets might cause the cravings to be too strong and you’ll end up falling back into your old eating patterns.