If you are anything like me, then you get pretty tired of hearing the tons of outrageous promises made by every new health product to hit the market: “Grow muscle in your sleep!”, “Tone and sculpt abs in only two weeks!”, “Take this pill and regrow hair!”. No matter what you are doing, whether it be reading a magazine, watching TV, or simply driving to your nearest bookstore, we are inundated by ad campaigns touting false claims and guarantees that could never be delivered on. But every so often, one of these products proves to be the real deal. Acai is one such product, and because of its ability to deliver the goods, word of its health benefits are now sweeping the nation. Lets take an unbiased look at what acai promises compared to what acai can actually deliver:

What acai promises:

· Antioxidants for a strengthened cardiovascular system

· Fiber for aiding natural, comfortable digestion

· Lipids for the production of energy

· Amino acids for muscle regeneration

· Essential fatty acids to fight negative effects of aging

· Vitamins, nutrients and minerals to replenish the body’s storehouse

· All natural alternative to manmade health supplements

· Tastes great and comes in many forms

What acai actually delivers:

· Antioxidants for a strengthened cardiovascular system

· Fiber for aiding natural, comfortable digestion

· Lipids for the production of energy

· Amino acids for muscle regeneration

· Essential fatty acids to fight negative effects of aging

· Vitamins, nutrients and minerals to replenish the body’s storehouse

· All natural alternative to manmade health supplements

· Tastes great and comes in many forms

That’s right: what acai guarantees it actually provides. But don’t take my word for it, here’s what the specialists are saying:

Dr. Mehmet Oz: “[Acai] has twice the antioxidant content as a blueberry, so it’s a wonderful alternative….”

Dr. Nicholas Perricone: “Hidden within its royal purple pigment is the magic that makes it nature’s perfect energy fruit. Acaí is packed full of antioxidants, amino acids and essential fatty acids.”

Stephen Alcott of University of Florida: “Acai berries are already considered one of the richest fruit sources of antioxidants. This study was an important step toward learning what people may gain from using beverages, dietary supplements or other products made with the berries.”

Don’t waste your time on health products that are all bark and no bite, instead take advantage of pure, all natural acai and begin feeling the difference today!

Most people know that having health and fitness is important. Many try to stay fit and healthy to get a great body shape. The question is do people know the benefits of being fit and healthy or how to get that great body shape they yearned so much for?

Unfortunately not, otherwise there will not be such high dropout rates in gyms all over the world and people getting fatter and fatter.

• Benefits of good health and fitness :-

1) Day to day chores are so much easier – Because you are fit, you will not tire that easily and chores such as gardening, carrying stuff , bending over or climbing up to pick up things will be so much easier.

2) Enjoy life better – Since daily chores are no longer chores, you are able to do more things and faster. Savor your productivity and efficiency.

3) Save money and live longer – Save money on your medical expenses from diseases that strike unhealthy and obese people. Your risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke and some form of cancers, all of which are deadly is reduced significantly when you stay fit and are in great health.

4) Your posture and confidence improve – Because you are stronger, your strong muscles hold up your skeletal structure will. This improves your body posture and your confidence will soar.

5) Look great in your clothes – You will carry your clothes well because you are no longer flabby or skinny with your clothes either too tight or too lose.

6) Attractive hunk – Gone will be the days when your body shape was the butt of jokes. Instead, people will ogle and admire your new attractive body. A body that many people will die for.

There are many more benefits for having great health and fitness. Too many to mention in just one article. So we shall go on to discuss how to be in great body shape, fit and healthy.

• How to be in great body shape-stay fit and healthy

Just three things.

1) Healthy eating habits and healthy lifestyle – You are what you eat. So if you eat unhealthy food, you will be unhealthy. Thus avoid saturated and trans fat. Eat less sugary stuff and sodium. Avoid alcohol and quit smoking. Drink plenty of water and remember what your mum used to say, “Take your vitamins.”

2) Do cardio exercises – It toughens up your heart and lungs. Cardio exercises are great for your respiratory and cardiovascular system. Best of all, it burns tons of calories.

3) Lift weights – Build muscles for a toned and defined body. With muscles come strength and with more strength you will be able to do many more things than just having a sexy muscular body.

So you can see, it is not that difficult to be fit and healthy. Having a great body shape along the way is indeed a bonus. So have you written out a plan for your health and fitness goals?

photo credit: shareski

If you’re looking for healthy ways to lose weight that don’t include a trip to the pharmacy, then consider taking a yoga class. If you’ve never done yoga before, just be sure to get in to a beginner’s class. It’s easy to find gyms or yoga instructors that offer yoga classes, because it’s recently become a very popular choice of people all across the country. You can find a multitude of books and videos that help you learn the basics of yoga, but it’s best to discover the world of yoga with a qualified instructor.

Yoga Explained

Yoga actually means union. It’s an ancient form that derived from India. Today, there is a variety of different types of yoga that can be found in the US. Yoga often includes an array of poses that focus on your mental well being. Poses may be intended to emphasize meditation, chanting, or breathing. However, if you’re taking your yoga class at the local gym, you may find that the focus is more on the physical side. Yoga is a wonderful practice that combines both your mind and body, developing your flexibility, strength, and your spirit.

Why Yoga for Weight Loss?

Yoga will slowly build your flexibility, strength, and muscle; all of which are important factors for not only weight loss, but your overall health and well-being. Developing a strong, flexible core while naturally building muscle results in a higher metabolism rate! Usually you will practice yoga in a group. The spiritual aspect of practicing yoga enhances your connection to others in the group. Having that kind of support and connection is always a plus for anyone trying to lose weight. While yoga is an amazing core to your weight loss routine, you’ll want to include some kind of cardio program as well. You can do this by signing up to a spinning, aerobic, or kickboxing class. However, it can also be as simple as getting out of the house and going for a walk or jog through the neighborhood.

photo credit: whyld

Repeatedly lifting weights that increase with time is the core of weight resistance training, and be used as part of a weight loss or weight management routine. On top of building muscle, you’ll often see an improvement in strength, endurance, flexibility, and coordination when you use weight resistance training in your fitness routine. Of course, if you’re trying to lose weight you’ll be happy to know that it will increase your metabolism; more muscle means improved metabolism.

In order to effectively use weight resistance training, you have to gradually increase the amount of the weights. You start with whatever weight seems to give you a little bit of a challenge, but not much. Weight resistance training is not about seeing how much weight you can lift at any given time, but about consistency. In time you’ll realize that the weight you’re using is becoming very easy. That’s when you add a few pounds to the amount of weight you’re using, to keep your body adapting and challenged.

Weight resistance training can be done in many ways from using dumbbells (hand weights), free weights, machines, or even your own body (think push-ups). To keep your body adapting and challenged you can do several things. Usually this is done by slightly increasing the weight being lifted. However, you can also increase the number of repetitions or sets, or increase the time of resistance by slowing down the movement (lifting).

If you’re going to start a weight resistant program, it’s best to focus on a certain muscle group of your body. You can take this even further if you play any kind of sport by using the muscle group that is most applicable to the actions you perform while playing. If you like racquetball for instance, consider focusing on your shoulders and increasing the muscle strength there. Over time your muscles will perform the motions that you’ve trained them to do without you even having to really think about it. This is referred to as muscle memory.

Whether you’re looking to lose weight, improve your overall health and strength, or improve your performance, weight resistance training is always a good choice.

photo credit: Lanci Daniele

It is quite well known that the acai berries are extremely rich in health benefits, especially weight loss and anti aging, for which it is renowned all over the world, but very few people know that these berries are quite effective for those who are looking for bodybuilding benefits too. Of course, acai berries cannot be relied on completely for bodybuilding – there’s too much needed to achieve that – but they can definitely act as healthy supplements to accelerate the process. More research is still going on into this relation of acai berries and their bodybuilding benefits, but the studies done so far have been highly encouraging. Let us look at this little-talked about relationship in closer detail.

The core reason why acai berries are good for bodybuilding is the presence of the high amounts of amino acids in it. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. In fact, if you look at a protein structure in detail, it is nothing but several amino acid molecules (same or different) connected end to end with a kind of linkage known as the peptide linkage. Hence, when acai berries are consumed, the body takes in the different amino acids that it consists, which are at least nineteen in number. That means, the body gets a boost in the building blocks that it requires for the manufacture of proteins.

Bodybuilders must definitely take acai berries seriously because they need to have a great deal of proteins in their bodies if they need to develop those rippling muscles. In this regard, there are very little foods that come close to the effectiveness of the acai berries. These berries contain up to 7.59% of pure amino acids when they are made in the pulp form (this is the form that the acai berries are usually marketed in). If you think about it from a quantitative point of view, it comes to approximately 8 grams of pure proteins in an acai pulp product weighing 100 grams.

It is now established that the acai berries have direct benefits in helping people who are looking at bodybuilding benefits. However, there are several indirect methods in which they work too. One of these is the tendency of the berries to remove the harmful LDL cholesterol from the blood by introducing healthy HDL cholesterol. There are high antioxidant levels present in the berries, which is again a big advantage because the antioxidants can improve the efficiency of the metabolic processes that take place in the body, thus resulting in a fitter body. Even bodybuilders have fears of accumulating cholesterol and fats in their bodies; acai berries work wonderfully in putting these fears to rest.

Due to their healthy antioxidant levels that keep the body always functioning at its optimum best, the acai berries not only build the muscles and tissues of the person, but they also see to it that the person remains intrinsically healthy. If you are bodybuilder who is looking at remaining healthy within and not just muscular outside, acai berries may be the right dietary supplements for you to adopt. They are also great for people who consume vegetarian diets to get more than the required supply of proteins.