Diet and Weight Loss Tips

Have there been times when you have cried out in frustration and envy after watching a Mr. Universe contest thinking “I work-out 5 days a week, eat all the protein and carbohydrates I can get my hands on and still can’t get anywhere near to a body like THAT!”? Take a deep breath and relax. You are not alone.

While drooling over the Grecian god-like bodies of professional bodybuilders, we tend to overlook a major element of their bodybuilding regime – bodybuilding supplements! Most of us freak out at the mere mention of these, believing bodybuilding supplements to be synonymous with anabolic steroids or at least to be a step towards their use. The main argument supplement users give in their defense is that whereas steroids change natural hormone levels, especially testosterone, beyond the level that nature intended, supplements are not-guilty of this charge. There's been abundant research supporting the fact that supplements, if chosen correctly, not only help in building muscle, but also aid in recovering from rigorous workouts.

Before starting off with a bodybuilding supplement, you however need to keep in mind that these supplements are tools to quicken the process of building muscles and are not a substitute for heavy duty training and a proper nutritious diet. Three popular supplements that are recommended by most weight trainers as likely to produce the best results in achieving body mass are multi-vitamins, desiccated liver and weight gainers.

We are all aware that proteins are largely responsible for building, maintaining and replacing the injured tissues in our body. So when we speak of supplements that help, we are of course talking about protein. Apart from helping in gaining mass or dropping fat, an important reason why supplements make a daily diet of athletes involved in bodybuilding and other sports is that they help to improve the repair, recovery and growth processes of muscles that get injured during training. Protein supplements are highly suggested for bodybuilders and come in different forms, ranging from Protein Bars, Whey Protein to Protein Drinks.

Energy drinks like Red Bull and energy bars are popular types of energy supplements. Energy drinks act by burning up body fuel at a much faster rate than normal and hence giving an energy boost. But once the body has consumed all that extra “energy”, it leads to a crash. Their main course of action is metabolic and stimulation of the central nervous system, which is achieved through a high dose of caffeine. These drinks, if taken rationally, contribute to mental alertness and physical performance as is revealed by several studies. Energy bars on the other hand provide huge amounts of fuel instead of depending on the stored reserves.

For those of you with muscle gaining goals, the suggested supplements are Protein Powders, Weight Gainers and Creatine Monohydrate. For a weight loss plan, Fat Burners, Meal Replacements and Nutrition Bars work best. To ensure that you are ready for hard training, supplements with vitamins and minerals, energy and endurance formulas can provide the best help.

For many years the only way to have access to this fantastic immune booster supplement was to live in Japan. During this era Lane Labs located in the U.S. formulated a similar product. Both products targeted the immune system specifically to prevent and treat cancer, and both proved their effectiveness.

In fact, the Lane Labs product, MGN-3 was so good it seems that political pressure was put on the FDA to find a way to prohibit its distribution in the U.S. It took a while, but a couple of years ago the FDA was finally successful in forcing Lane Labs to stop selling MGN-3 in the U.S. That was a sad day.

But you know, when one door closes, another one opens and sometimes that new opening is a good thing. That is what happened here. The product that was exclusive to Japan was finally approved for import to the United States.

The name of that product is AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound.

You're wondering what is this product. Right! It is an extract of several mushrooms which include the shiitake. These are considered medicinal mushrooms and are known for their ability to enhance macrophage and NK (Natural Killer) Cell Activity. NK cells and the intercellular mediators they produce are critical for the maintenance of healthy cell cycle function. In addition, NK cell numbers are dramatically increased in the presence of viruses.

Our immune systems stand between us and the rest of the world. If our bodies did not have an immune system we would be overcome by bacteria, parasites, fungi, viruses and cancer cells. Our immune system is quite complex and is composed of a large array of specialized immune cells that identify, seek out and destroy microbes, pathogens and tumor/cancel cells.

This immune system produces something called natural killer (NK) cells. They rapidly attack any potential threats. This is the "front-line" defense system. What actually happens is that the NK cells attach themselves to the surface of cancer cells and inject a chemical hand grenade (this is a "granule") into the cancer cell. Then it explodes killing and bacteria or virus. The NK cell remains undamaged and continues to move from cancer cell to cancer cell doing its killing job.

As we age our immune systems lose their efficiency and the NK cells slow down and don't kill off all the bad, bad cancer cells quick enough. You can now see the importance to keep our immune system strong as we age and there is only one way to do it, with supplements. High quality supplements.

Now I would like to introduce you to AHCC (activated hexose correlate compound)which has the ability to:

* Stimulate cytokine production, which stimulates immune function.
* Increases NK cell activity against diseased cells as much as 300%
* Increases the formation of explosive granules (using NK cells) which destroys cancer cells and tumors.
* Increases the number and the activity of lymphocytes, superficially increasing T-cells up to 200%.
* Increases Interferon levels, which inhibits the replication of viruses and also stimulates the NK cell activity.
* Increases the formation of TNF, a group of proteins that help destroy cancer cells.

AHCC is so effective it has been written up in...
* International Journal of Immunology
* Anti-Cancer Drugs
* Society of Natural Immunity
* International Journal of Immunotherapy

It has been generally decided that 3 grams a day of AHCC will lower the level of cancer markers found with patients with...

* prostate cancer
* ovarian cancer
* multiple myeloma
* breast cancer

AHCC was initially used in Japan, but now it is available in the Unite States. Taken in therapeutic doses it will increase the NK cell activity. Normally AHCC comes in 500mg capsules so in order to reach the effective dose, 6 capsules a day will be required. Consumption is oral. For those persons with cancer, AIDS, and other life-threatening conditions, 6 capsules a a day is the minimum dose. Spread the doses eventually throughout the day so that the body has a constant supply of nutrients to keep increased NK cell activity an a high constant level.

The high dosage should be maintained for minimum of 3 weeks and it some cases should be extended to 8-10 weeks. Once it is proven that all cancer markers have been reduced substantially wherein the patient has shown a major reduction of cancer markers and energy and vitality have returned, then and only then can a reduction to 3 capsules a day can is possible.