Your Multi-Vitamin – to take or not to take…that is the question.

I really don’t believe that there is any way any chemist or company could possibly take all of the benefits out of whole fruits and vegetables and wrap them all up in a tiny capsule (I don’t care how many A’s you got in chemistry). Not to mention the fact that our bodies were really designed to absorb vitamins and minerals from food itself, not from some man-made product.

But…here is the problem with my point of view. Not everyone is a veggie and fruit lover like myself. Let’s take my husband for example. He absolutely hates vegetables. I mean he practically goes running in the opposite direction at the site of something green (unless its romaine lettuce which he claims is just a good medium to eat my homemade salad dressing…ok, I’ll take that as a compliment.)

In a case like this, I have to surrender my views and accept that the only way someone who does not get in the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables in one day is to take a high quality multi-vitamin each and every day. Otherwise, they may run the risk of being highly deficient in many vitamins, minerals and nutrients that are essential for a healthy body (as well as feeling good each day.)

Now the key word here is “high quality”.

I see way too many people picking up their supplements at the local grocery store or pharmacy and thinking they are doing something healthy for themselves. Well, I’m not here to bash any name brands specifically, but many of these “big name” products are really just made from cheap ingredients and even contain artificial fillers and preservatives that can be doing your body more harm than good.

Why would they do that?

It’s a lot easier to sell your products at a cheap price if you don’t spend the money on the good stuff, right? Again, I’m not into bashing anybody, but many times you really do get what you pay for.

With that being said, I also am not suggesting you spend thousands on your multi (I know I sure can’t). But what I am saying is that the “cheapy” supermarket brands are really not the way to go and we should all be purchasing our multis (and all of our supplements for that matter) from a reputable company.

That takes me to my next point. Many of these products are made by big companies where their employees and even chemists are not as “on top of” the quality of their products as much as they should be. In some cases, these companies do not just specialize in supplements but they make everything from toothpaste to hair gel. I don’t know about you but I want to buy my supplements from a company that focuses only on nutrition supplements. I’d rather not risk that chance of there being hair gel in my multi (ok, maybe that wouldn’t happen…or could it?)

The next question is…Is it better to take your multi in a capsule, powder or liquid form for optimum absorption?

Some might say that taking it in the form of a liquid would result in the vitamins and minerals being more quickly absorbed into the blood stream. Others would argue that nutrients can remain more stable in a pill or powder form. There is some truth to both of these but I have found the differences to be negligible and the quality of the ingredients to be much more important that the form it comes in. Even if your liquid multi was going to be better absorbed, if the ingredients used were not the best of the best, than what are you really absorbing anyway? Possibly not something good.

When looking for a high quality multi-vitamin, here are a few points I want you to consider:

1. Is it made from whole foods? Many brands have this written right on the label while some others may take a little bit more research. A good, reputable supplement company should provide not only their ingredients list right on their website, but also a good description of what the source of those vitamins and minerals is.

2. Where are you buying your supplements? Chances are if you’re just picking up any old vitamins and the local grocery store, the employees are definitely not qualified to answer your questions or give you any information on the product. Seek out a local health food store or specialty store that carries health foods and vitamins and chances are the employees will be much more knowledgeable about their products. If this is not possible for you, seek out a company that you can reach via the internet who will answer any of your questions.

3. Read the ingredients list. This is no different than what you do with the food you are eating. If a particular supplement contains “Red No 40″ chances are it’s not exactly the most natural product and not the best quality. Also watch out for hidden sugars (anything ending with -ose like sucrose), soy and hydrogenated oils (Yes! Some multis actually have hydrogenated oils in them).

4. What kind of company is manufacturing the product? I know this may sound like a lot of work and research but lucky for me and you, the power of the internet has made this much easier. Did you know that one very, very popular multivitamin company that is sold in almost every supermarket and pharmacy also owns Sponge Bob Square Pants? Now does that sound like a company that is passionate about their nutrition products? And I easily found this out right on their website.

I highly suggest you do just a little bit of homework before making any multi-vitamin purchase. If you currently are using a product that you know fits the above requirements and you trust, please let me know. I love to hear about and continue to research new products.

As for my own research, the only recommendation I make to my clients and my readers (and my dear old hubbie) is Prograde Nutrition’s Multi Vitamin products, VGF 25+. Not only do they use only the highest quality ingredients in each product but their only focus is nutrition…and nothing else.

They also were more than willing to send me all the information I asked them for (ingredients, ingredient sources and their own research) when I contacted them. Actually, the CEO got back to me personally… I’m not sure if I would have gotten such a response from some of these other “big name” companies.

Prograde’s VGF 25+ also contains whole food ingredients like Kale, Parsley and Spinach. Since pigs may fly sooner than I would ever get my husband to eat kale or spinach, this was a great added benefit for him (and maybe for you too.)

Get 15% off all Prograde Supplements during Isabel Birthday Sale, from Tuesday June 1^st to Thursday June 3^rd.

http://isabelsbirthday.getprograde.net

This is a great opportunity for you (and me) to stock up on all of our favorite supplements…

http://isabelsbirthday.getprograde.net

This is Jeff (Isabel’s business partner for those who don’t know me yet) – I’m here to report on the events that occurred on Wednesday afternoon. You’ll be happy to know that Isabel gave birth to Christian Lawson Price just before 5pm EST and he weighed in at 6lbs. 6oz with a length (I suppose it’s too early to do height) of 18.5 inches. Christian has light eyes, large feet and was born on his grandpa’s birthday (that’s what was reported to me anyway). There were no complications and everyone is doing great, in fact I believe Isabel wanted to check her DSP email today.

Here is a picture of Christian:

  

I did talk to Isabel on the phone and she swore to me she didn’t know how women do this on a regular basis since she used every single stomach muscle she’s ever worked out and all of her cardiovascular endurance to make this happen. They gave her a bunch of castor oil (if it’s all natural it’s ok right) to make the process flow a litte easier. Of course they attempted to mix it with regular ice cream which she summarily rejected and instead mixed it with some non-dairy organic coconut ice cream she was already prepared with (I know she always tells you to be prepared for every eating situation). After all was said and done, the doctors repeatedly told her how severely impressed they were with how smooth the delivery went.

I’m not sure if you knew this, but the event was actually recorded (for the most part) for “A Baby Story” on TLC. It won’t be aired for several months, but we will be sure to let you know when it is.

In Health and Happiness,

Jeff Siegel
www.thedietsolutionprogram.com

(Picture taken from http://transformationcontest.thedsp.info)

If you’re a woman looking to lose fat, your first thought is that you need to do more cardio. And of course, you’d never want to do the same workout as your husband, boyfriend, or brother, right?

But what if I told you that the differences between men and women actually PROVE that both genders should use the same type of fat loss workout? Wouldn’t you be surprised?

Now I know the guys reading this article are thinking, “I don’t want to do long, slow, boring cardio.” But that’s fine, because you’re about to discover why both men AND women should ditch the long slow cardio and switch to short, burst workouts for fat loss.

First, let’s take a look at the scientific differences between men and women. Most folks will agree that women tend to have more body fat than men, and that it’s even more difficult for women to lose fat – especially from their thighs – due to hormones.

But did you know that when men and women do cardio exercise at the same intensity that women burn significantly more fat during the workout?

For example, if you put a woman and a man on a cardio machine and had them exercise at 70% of their best cardio intensity, the woman would burn proportionately more fat than the man. That should be an advantage to women, but it isn’t.

Let’s think about what that means for a second. Mainstream fitness magazines keep on telling us to do lots and lots of cardio for fat loss. But if women burn more fat than men during regular cardio workouts, why do they still have more fat on their bodies?

If “fat burning cardio” was the answer to our fat loss problems, women should have LESS fat than men! But that’s simply not the case. Strike one against cardio.

Time to throw another fastball and get strike two against long, slow, boring cardio. For this one, we go to the scientific journal, Obesity, and take a look at a study where men and women did one hour of cardio per day, six days per week, for one year.

Add it up. That’s 300 total hours of cardio. You’d sure get through a lot of magazines and every song on your Ipod after doing 300 hours of cardio. Now most so-called “fitness experts” would tell you that you’re going to lose a lot of weight with that much cardio.

But what did the science show? It found that the average fat loss was only 5 pounds (men lost 6 pounds and women lost an average of 4 pounds). So that’s about 50-60 hours of cardio just to lose one pound! I’d get fired immediately for terrible results like that.

And there was practically no difference between men and women. Both genders seemed to waste their time on cardio equally well. What a shame. I bet those subjects wished they had those 300 hours back.

So now we have cardio in the hole, let’s get strike three by taking a look at what works better for fat loss. For this, we go to an Australian research study that compared one group of women who did three 20-minute interval training workouts per week against a second group of women who did three 40-minute cardio sessions per week.

The researchers found that the women who exercised less (the interval training group) lost significantly MORE belly fat than the women who exercised twice as long (the slow cardio group). Strike three for cardio, you’re out.

The Australian scientists believe that men would have the same type of results, and my personal research and experience proves this. When men and women use short, burst workouts including both resistance training and interval training, they can lose up to 33 pounds of fat in just 12 weeks.

For photographic evidence, visit http://transformationcontest.thedsp.info where you’ll meet men and women who have completely transformed their bodies without cardio. They are busy men and women just like you who used Isabel’s diet program combined with the fast and effective Turbulence Training workouts.