Foods That Help You Lose Weight

If you are trying to lose weight, either because you were pregnant or just plain overwhelmed from stress and not eating correctly, it is important to eat the right foods to lose weight.

\The idea that eating grapefruit can help you lose weight is NOT a myth. Grapefruit is a delicious and nutritious sweet-tart snack, breakfast side or salad topping. But researchers have also discovered that eating grapefruit or grapefruit juice daily can aid in weight loss, possibly due to a reduction in insulin levels.

Cucumbers are a weight loss food too. They are not that nutritious but they help bulk up a salad so you feel full and eat less.

Lentils are packed with fiber, folate and magnesium. His versatile fat-free legume can be a fabulous supporting player of a slimming healthy eating regimen. Lentils, prepared any number of ways, will have you feeling as if you’ve eaten a meaty, even creamy, dish minus the calories and saturated fat that come with eating meat.

Oats and oatmeal are high in fibre, which helps you feel full – and satisfied – longer. Plus consumption of whole grains has been shown to aid in weight loss. For the best benefits, fill up on oatmeal for breakfast – try steel-cut oats if you’ve got the time, or instant oatmeal if you prefer to eat at work (just try to pick the sugar-free kinds and add your own sweeteners).

Plentiful and versatile, apples can help you satisfy sugar cravings for less calories. Whether eaten fresh as a midafternoon snack in the office or baked for dessert, these nutritional powerhouses will help fill you up and keep you slim.

With an average of 72 calories, a hefty 6 grams of protein, and elements of almost every essential vitamin you need, eggs can be a nutritious (not to mention affordable) part of a healthy weight loss plan. Hard-boiled eggs are perfect for a post-work out snack; poached eggs can be a delicious, filling breakfast.

All nuts are healthy and loaded with good fats and other nutrients, but almonds are the one to go for when you’re trying to lose weight. They’re lower in calories than many of their cousins (that means you, macadamias) and the protein and fat content will help keep cravings at bay.

While not low in calories or in fat, dark chocolate still has two major things going for it. First, it’s very hard to eat large quantities of real, high-quality dark chocolate as compared to its milky sibling; and second, it’s very high in health-promoting antioxidants. It’s no diet food, but eating a few small squares to squelch a potentially much larger scaring of, say, a piece of chocolate cake with icing, is well worth the modest calorie intake.

More Natural Remedies for Cold Sores

Cold sores are so obnoxious I decided to do more research into how to heal them. Furthermore a predisposition to them can be hereditary!
Reishi mushrooms
Reishi mushrooms have a long history of being used to boost the effectiveness of the immune system in traditional medicine throughout many parts of Asia.
In more recent times however, evidence has pointed to the fact that reishi also seems to have the ability to inhibit the spread of the herpes virus, thereby preventing the development of cold sores.
Furthermore, as reishi can be obtained in either powdered or food supplement form, the benefits of including this in your diet are readily available even if the mushrooms themselves are not.
Herbal remedies for cold sores
There are many herbal solutions that you can use to keep the herpes simplex at bay. These include the following:
Echinacea and goldenseal – Both echinacea and goldenseal are plants from which the extract helps to boost the ability of your immune system to fight against viruses like herpes simplex. The extract is available in capsule form over the counter in most health stores or online.
Self-heal – This is a plant that grows in Europe and in Asia (with a more scientific name of ‘Prunella vulgaris') of which the extract has been seen to be effective against the spread of both the herpes simplex 1 and herpes simplex 2 viruses.
There is also some evidence that it works against strains of the virus that have become resistant to drug-based cold sore solutions as well, and again, you should be able to find the extract in your local health food store or it is available for purchase online.
Blackcurrant – Studies in Japan have indicated that eating blackcurrants or including the extract of them as a supplement in your diet may be effective for combating the herpes virus as laboratory tests have indicated the effectiveness of blackcurrants against herpes simplex.
Wakame – Wakame is the Japanese name for a particular type of seaweed which appears to improve the healing time for anyone who is suffering from cold sores, whilst there is also some evidence that it inhibits the reactivation of the virus as well.
Sage and rhubarb cream – In a German study that compared the use of sage and rhubarb cream with the effectiveness of a cream using sage and Acyclovir, it was seen that there was little difference in the ability of the two test substances to help cold sores heal. However, the study concluded that the all natural mixture of sage and rhubarb was more active in fighting against cold sores, hence there is every reason for thinking that the natural option is to be preferred to the one containing chemicals.