Herbs, Diets and Weight Loss (best achieved on the keto diet)

Topics covered: Keto diet, MCT Oil, Estrogen dominance, Insulin resistance, 5:2 diet, the power of exercise, WeightLess Tonic

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Dear Alan, I have finished my month’s supply of personal prescription and am writing to feed back on my progress and ask for advice on what next. I have definitely experienced some positive change, which is very exciting. Thank you!
You might remember from our consultation that I was very uninterested in making dietary changes. I felt I was at my limit with all the experiments and exclusions etc i’d done in the past, plus trying to accommodate the nutritional needs of the whole family into our meals (which are already all cooked from scratch). I did read the info sheet about cutting out carbs etc, but had no plans to try it. 
Then I started my prescription and the ABC powder.
Well! By evening meal time my body was telling me it wanted all the green veg listed, it rejected the idea of carbs… it was like taking in these herbs had activated something really strongly in me! I was astonished, but of course I listened. I made some bold changes, cutting out root veg, bread, pasta, and only having a very small amount of brown rice once a week etc. And of course I carried on with herbs, and I think even the ‘take this on an empty stomach’ was useful too, as it made me more mindful of allowing my stomach to actually be empty! I feel like I rediscovered ‘feeling hungry’ and it was a positive sensation, where before I felt energy crashes and belly discomfort which always encouraged me to ‘put something down the hatch’ and even though I was usually choosing healthy snacks, it had been, I now realise, counterproductive. 
The holistic result has been: much less bloating; much higher energy levels. There has also been positive impact on the rhinitis. My nostril breathing is clearer, I can breathe through both nostrils again (previously one was completely closed). I’m amazed at my progress!
I’m looking forward to my next bottle! Thanks so much Angela

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More on MCT Oil

MCT Oil is fully absorbed 15 minutes after consuming and is rapidly converted into ketones in your liver for immediate energy. Optimum ketone levels may be measured and are responsible for the beneficial effects of the ketogenic diet. What very few people realize however is that there is a right way and a wrong way to take MCT Oil to reach these physiologically active amounts.

C8 is the fastest of all

Of the 3 main Medium Chain Triglyceride’s, known as C8-Caprylic acid, C10-Capric acid and C12-Lauric acid, C8 is the fastest of all to produce ketones followed by C10, with C12 producing little, if any at all.

Your MCT goal is to metabolize the MCT Oil effectively and maintain optimum ketones throughout the day, not to have the oil flush through your system undigested.

1. When taken properly, the MCT’s are metabolized quickly and ketones are produced with the first effect being decreased appetite due to its effect of lowering leptin levels.
2. Next, we can feel an increase in energy and focus without the worries that unused calories from MCT will be stored as fat, making MCT Oil “the fat that makes you thin”.
3. Following this there are many additional therapeutic effects of ketones beyond the effects of preventing obesity and this is the subject of great scientific interest of late due to the global popularity of the Ketogenic Diet and this includes benefits such as:

Improved brain function in cognitive issues such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and autism

Improved blood sugar metabolism and prevention of diabetes

Improved absorption of other nutrients in our diet (this strongly favours taking the ABC Daily Herbal Powder at the same time)

Anti-inflammatory diet for prevention and treatment of inflammatory chronic diseases

Reduction in symptoms in behavioural and psychological conditions

Alternative treatment for paediatric epilepsy and seizure disorders

Increased sports performance and endurance

Complementary role in cancer dietary therapy alongside conventional treatment

Life extension when used in conjunction with intermittent fasting

Dose

Adding a teaspoon or two of MCT Oil to food at each meal (or every 3-4 hours) is the secret of maintaining sufficient ketones all day long.

Cooking with MCT Oil Caprylic Acid (C8)

The secret of getting the maximum benefit is in taking MCT Oil with food. MCT Oil is present in small amounts in various foods we eat and is found in its highest concentration in coconut (NB C8 needs to be isolated from coconut oil to make MCT Oil). It is an almost tasteless oil that follows a unique method of digestion that is faster than all other dietary oils because of its shorter molecular structure; but just because it is rapidly metabolized does not mean we can just drink it on its own and become super human.

MCT Oil is best suited to be added to any foods you prepare and it will enhance the taste of the food while supplying ketone energy throughout the day. For example if you add it to your scrambled eggs or in a healthy salad dressing then you will find everything tastes richer and also makes you full faster (leptin appetite suppression response) so that you eat less and stay satisfied longer.

Baking with MCT Oil is another great way to incorporate MCT’s into your diet and a cake or bread (preferably no net carb baking with coconut flour or almond flour) that has added MCT Oil will even have an extended shelf life as MCT’s resist oxidation and have the longest shelf life of all vegetable oils.

MCT’s are also heat resistant so the benefits are not affected by cooking and thus a small amount can be added to just about everything you cook.

Side-effects from taking too much MCT Oil

MCT Oil side effects include stomach distress if not taken correctly. If we take MCT Oil on its own then some digestive upset can occur, especially when we are still new to consuming MCT Oil. Frankly there are no side effects to taking too much MCT Oil other than a loose bowel. This can also occur if it is taken on an empty stomach. This also applies when adding too much MCT Oil (i.e. more than 2-4tsp) with black coffee on an empty stomach or mixed with other fats, like coconut oil, coconut butter, cream or regular grass fed cows butter as in the classic “Bulletproof Coffee” or keto coffee.

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Morning! Just to make you laugh I had one of your herb coffees in my Keto coffee this morning and actually preferred it!!! Jenn

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MCT in Nature

In nature MCT fats are always accompanied by either proteins such as fatty meat or fibres and carbohydrates such as in a coconut, and all of these require chewing that adds salivary digestive enzymes before entering the stomach.

When taking MCT Oil directly and bypassing chewing then we need to respect this natural law and be aware that it’s best used when accompanying other foods. MCT Oils are absorbed in the small intestine not the stomach, so when taking MCT on its own then your stomach may register discomfort as it does not have the enzymes to digest the oil. When MCT Oil is taken along with other foods, or in powder form then your stomach is involved and this reduces the chance of any stomach distress or loose motions that can occur when we push our digestive system beyond what it’s used to.

MCT Oil in the Keto Lifestyle Diet

MCT Oil is to be considered the central pillar of the ketogenic diet and the fastest way to achieve the target ketone level of between 1.5 – 3mmol/l when measured. To achieve these levels by a low carb diet alone (without MCT Oil) will take time to develop the metabolic flexibility to effectively burn fats for fuel. MCT Oil accelerates this process. It’s a short cut to ketosis and weight loss and health and a heightened immune system.

As ketones last for only a few hours after consuming MCT Oil it is best to take it several times a day with low carb meals to keep the ketone levels stable and to enjoy their many benefits.

Health benefits of ketosis

Being in ketosis frequently allows us to achieve a state of metabolic flexibility that is a pillar of health, freedom from preventable inflammatory conditions and longevity. It is not necessary to be in ketosis permanently and indeed once you achieve your target weight and health goals it is natural now to follow a cyclical keto diet only. This means cycling between optimal ketosis, monthly fasting and occasional feasting on your favourite carbohydrate foods, preferably unprocessed and high fibre and within reasonable quantities.

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Latest information: WeightLess Tonic contains the highly effective weight loss herb Garcinia fruit, see below for more info.

One of the best long-term lifestyle methods for ensuring you stay slim is a low-carb diet, the Well Formulated Kentogenic Diet. This can be followed long term – months, years, always. Email Alan for your low-carb dietary sheet. This is ideal for everyone who is obese especially diabetics. How does it work? Cut down sufficiently on carbs (sugars) (ie 20g carbs and 10g sugar per day, 20% protein and 75% fat) and the body immediately uses the carb stores in your body (stored as fat); it will first use up the visceral fat (around and impeding your vital organ function), then the fat on your belly, butt, arms, breasts, hips. Email me for a your low-carb chart. Or to get things moving fast, first do the LSD programme (see below) then go on from there to keep to a low-carb lifestyle.

WFKD – The Well Formulated Ketogenic Diet (the Keto Diet) – New Lifestyle Way to Eat

This diet has recently emerged as the diet of choice for health and for healing illness. It requires a shift both in habits and understanding. Research and trials have turned our previous teaching and understanding on its head. And it all involves the misunderstanding of sugar, and insulin. Fat children, and obese parents, and terrible diseases, and skyrocketing costs for treatments, are the result. Ketone therapy has been known since the 1920s. And for over 50 years for the treatment of diabetes. Atkins was on the right lines, but he didn’t emphasise the place of fat in his diet enough. He stopped at protein. But we need to keep our macros in balance: 5% carbohydrates, 15% protein, and 80% healthy fats. Carbs give us a spike in blood sugar but are not sustaining; whereas the WFKD is eaten to satiety and lasts for many hours. Ketones are fat-derived metabolies produced in the liver with betahydroxybutyrate as the primary ketone – this replaces glucose for our fuel, hence weight loss. Ketones are very effective brain fuel and reduce oxidative stress on the system, and remove inflammation in the body. Nutritional ketosis is the state of healthy balance: fish, meats, high fat cheeses, leafy greens. Plenty of water, coffee with cream, teas. But avoid fruit (you get all your vitamins and minerals from greens), avoid grains, root veg – if you eat these you will crash out of healthy ketosis. There is no need to count calories when you get to grips with the keto diet. But to get there you must be sure not to eat more than 1500 calories daily (in general), made up of 15g carbs, 15-20g protein, and 65-70g fat (5% carbs, 15% protein, 80% fat). Fats to choose are fish, butter, beef, coconut oil, olive oil, nuts, double cream, cream cheese, lamb, pork, avocado, etc. For sweets, use stevia. Keto bread can be made. Drinks, creamy coffee, water, tea. Keto ice cream can be made. Keto cookies. Keto chocolate. Keto milk shakes. Etc Your energy will be strong and sleep will be good.

The benefits of the Ketogenic Diet Lifestyle

This diet has shown it is good for weight loss, obesity, diabetes (both 2 and 1), general inflammation, poor sleep, low energy, brain health, heart health, cholesterol, fatty liver, high blood pressure, airway disease, PCOS, COPD, cancer, gut health, asthma, longevity, autism, alzheimers, epilipsy, parkinsons, and evidence for benefits for many other illnesses are emerging.

EATING A KETO DIET FOR HEALTH – A HERBACTIVE GUIDE

Health benefits of Keto Diet confirmed by science: cancer resistant, lowers blood pressure, improves cardiovascular health, cures diabetes type 2 and improves type 1, resists Alzheimer’s, clears general inflammation, clears arthritis, clears indigestion, improved mental clarity, removes depression, prevents parasitic infestation, improves skin tone, regulates hormones, improved metabolism and fat loss, etc, etc. All this is due to the ketones produced in your liver when following a strict Ketogenic Diet. The ketones are used as your primary energy source rather than glucose (from sugar and carbs).

Tips Before Starting
For most normal people, the amounts of fats and protein will be enough to naturally keep you satiated and naturally keep you in a calorie deficit. That said, it doesn’t always allow you to lose weight when you are consuming more than your own body is expending.
“Macros” is a shortened version of macronutrients. These are the “big 3” – fats (80%), proteins (15%), and carbs (5%). You can use an online calculator based on your present weight, to find out how much or how little of each you need in order to attain your goals. A lot of people take their macros as a “set in stone” type of thing. You shouldn’t worry about hitting the mark every single day to the dot. If you’re a few calories over some days, a few calories under on others – it’s fine. Everything will even itself out in the end. It’s all about a long-term plan that can work for you, and not the other way around.
To increase calorie intake is easy – increase the amounts of fat you eat. Olive oil, coconut oil, macadamia nuts, and butter are great ways to increase fats without getting too much of the other stuff in the way. Drizzle it on salads, slather it on vegetables, snack on it, do what you need to do to make it work in your favour! See our comprehensive list below. To decrease calories, you will have to think about what you need. Most likely, you will need less protein as well. So, keep in mind the portions of sizes of meals. Decrease them as you need to or see fit.
Last, but certainly not least, is sticking to the diet! Ketosis is a very healthy change that happens in your body. You can’t just have “that one” cheat meal. If you do, it can hamper progress for up to a week before your body is back in ketosis and normally functioning again. You want to keep your cheats to none. Be prepared, make sure you’re eating what you need to be satiated (“full”), and make sure you’re satisfied with what you’re eating. If you have to force yourself to eat something, it will never work out in the end. This is just a guideline on how you can eat on a ketogenic diet.

Keep the net carb count around 20g or less a day, this would be a great way to quickly get yourself into ketosis.
Do intermittent fasting (IF), it has huge health benefits, and weight loss benefits, and the like. People normally use intermittent fasting for both the energy and mental clarity it can offer. But it’s not just good for that. It can help to breakthrough plateaus and even benefits in nutrient uptake in exercise. IF can be 12, 18, 24 or 36 hours. Try it!
Products used regularly: Almond Flour, Milled Flaxseed Meal, Coconut Flour, Erythritol, Liquid or white Stevia (buy from Herbactive.co.uk).

Meal Plan Introduction

Breakfast. For breakfast, you want to do something that’s quick, easy, tasty. Eggs. (“Naked, organic”) Bacon. Or, simply, Keto Coffee (which will last you all day, providing you drink water or herb tea every hour), see below how to make it.

Lunch. Most of the time, it’ll be salad and meat, slathered in high fat dressings. You can use leftover meat from previous nights. If you do use canned meats, try to read the labels and get the one that uses the least (or no) additives! Fish or hard cheese. A small salad.

Dinner. Dinner will be a combination of leafy greens (e.g. broccoli, kale, spinach) with some meat or fish. Again, we’ll be going high on the fat and moderate on the protein. Fish. Lamb. Beef. Greens. P.S. No dessert for the first 2 weeks. Then have just a few berries with double cream or mascarpone or cream cheese with stevia.

Keto coffee. This is a mixture of coconut oil, butter, and heavy cream in your coffee (also add MCT Oil* if you can). This is how you make it: Add to your blender: a cup of piping hot coffee. 1Tbsp grass fed butter (or organic ghee). 1Tbsp Coconut oil (and MCT oil). 1Tbsp double cream – optional. Some cinnamon. (Also add 1tsp turmeric for a tweak to the taste). A little stevia to sweeten. Pinch of salt and pepper. 15-20 seconds in your blender, and you’re ready to enjoy it. This concoction is not as strange as it sounds. Butter, after all, is made out of cream. So when you blend the oil, butter, and cream together it just adds a decadent richness to your coffee that you’ll really like! It will help you get into ketosis (and start losing weight).

* HERBACTIVE MCT OIL

HERBACTIVE PURE MCT OIL – WHAT DOES IT DO?

BOOSTS KETONES: Very high purity source of C8 MCT. C8 MCT is the best MCT to increase blood ketones.
INCREASES MENTAL AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE: As MCT oil increases ketone production, it becomes a readily available source of fuel for your body, so it is extremely valuable for people participating in sports. Improves decision-making on the pitch or in the game. Increased ketone production results in a higher level of endurance and an increased ability to perform to a higher standard for a prolonged period of time.
WEIGHT LOSS BENEFITS: MCT is highly recommended especially in a healthy keto diet. It can also help you lose weight because it is quickly burned and metabolised.
EASILY DIGESTED: No issues with digestion or diarrhoea when you follow our directions. Indigestion, loose stools, stomach aches caused by other MCT oils will not occur with our high quality C8 Oil.
NON-GMO, KETO, PALEO & VEGAN SAFE: Herbactive’s all-natural MCT Oil is suitable for consumption in all diets and is completely non-allergenic. It is free of wheat, milk, eggs, peanut and shellfish and is entirely sourced from non-GMO coconut.
PURE KETONE ENERGY: Boosts energy levels by giving the body a natural ketone fuel source (transferring it from using glucose and sugar). This is clean energy. It does not raise blood glucose and has a much lower insulin response than other fuels (glucose, sugar, protein etc.) and even similar foods (e.g. coconut oil, other MCT oils with C10 and C12 MCTs). Getting into healthy ketosis your energy will last significantly longer than glucose and carbs (i.e. up to 5 hours).
EASY FOR ANY DIET: Herbactive MCT Oil is odorless, tasteless and can be substituted for other oils oils eg olive oil, walnut oil, sesame oil, etc. Easy to mix in protein shakes, smoothies, keto coffee, or any other types of drinks for sustained energy.

Herbactive MCT Oil
Boosts Ketones More Than Most Other MCTs (because of the C8 levels in our oil)| | Paleo & Vegan Friendly | Gluten Free | BPA-Free Plastic Bottle | over 80% Caprylic Acid | The higher the purity of MCT oil, the more your body will get into healthy ketosis.
INSTANT BOOST OF ENERGY: Herbactive MCT oil converts into ketones which then allows your body to have an instant boost of energy (which is better  and longer lasting than glucose burning [carbs and sugars]).
INCREASED MENTAL CLARITY: Caprylic acid (C8) in Herbactive MCT oil is known to support an increase in cognitive function; helps low states of mind and depression.
FUNGI KILLING PROPERTIES: Capric acid (C10) (20% of our oil) are known to fight against infectious pathogens. High purity MCT oil also improves digestion and can increases nutrient uptake (take our ABC NutriPowder with MCT oil!).
ENHANCES ALL THE BENEFITS OF STAYING IN A HEALTHY KETOSIS (i.e following a keto diet as Herbactive Health has outlined here)
DOSE/SERVING: Take 1 tablespoon (15ml) between 1 to 3 times a day. First time users should take 1 tablespoon a day for the first week unless you have previously used MCT oil. But always start on half-1 teaspoon 1-2 times daily to allow your body to get used to it.

Country of origin United Kingdom

Buy Herbactive MCT Oil on our store!

Remember low or no carbs: no grains, no root veg, no fruit (except a few berries) allowed (you will get a few carbs from greens, proteins, cheese, and seeds and nuts (i.e. only eat a little!).
Foods to eat: grass fed lamb, beef, wild game, fowl, fish, hard cheese, cream cheese, full fat double cream butter, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, green leafy veg and salad, fresh kitchen herbs, spices. Full fat mayo. Organic cider vinegar. But be aware of calories – don’t overdo it.
Make soups with veg, dry herbs, beans, lentils, marmite, meat stock, etc then strain off the liquid to drink in place of a meal.
Drink water 3-4L per day (this may include herb teas, coffee, herb coffee); no milk (use cream instead).
Sweeten with pure white stevia (buy from Herbactive).
Remember: only eat when you’re hungry; and only eat until you’re satisfied (don’t overeat), then stop.

FOODS TO EAT (but be careful with some of them as they have more carbs! Proteins also can turn into carbs!)
Here is more detailed info about what is acceptable for a healthy Keto Diet (try and buy organic, grass fed, free range):
​Carbs – less than 20g per day – 5%
Protein – less than 60g per day – 15%
Fats – 16x20g (80%) = 320g per day

All other foods should be avoided because they will pull you out of the benefits of burning ketones as energy and burning fat, and you will start to burn glucose (glycogen) and start storing fat and water again, and feel low and look bloated.

Once you start this and experience the many benefits, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start it years ago!

Best of health, Alan Hopking

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Scroll down for a more complete account about the keto lifestyle for health

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LSD

Obesity is bad for your blood
As many as two in three adults in the UK are either overweight or obese: putting pressure on their hearts.
Obesity may reduce the average life exectancy by nine years, while being overweight or obese can lead to real health problems which include:
– high blood pressure
– coronary heart disease
– high cholesterol
– type 2 diabetes
– fertility problems
– certain cancers
– liver problems

The good news is that just a small weight loss of 5-10% of your total body weight can really help reduce your risk of health problems caused by being overweight or obese. And that’s something everyone can achieve…. but definitely not with any diet fad (and every, yes EVERY, diet programme is a fad, and fake. Don’t buy it; don’t buy in: you will fail if you do). NB the ketogenic lifestyle is not a diet, but a way of life.

It is is best to lose weight gradually at a rate of about 1-2lbs (0.5kg) a week. So it could take you 3-6 months to lose your first 5-10%

Remember, it’s also just as unhealthy to be underweight as it is overweight. Contact me for more info about maintaining a healthy weight – increasing your weight.

Understanding weight loss… ENERGY IN vs ENERGY OUT
Weight gain is all about how much energy (carbs and calories) your body takes in through eating and drinking compared with how much energy your body uses. In other words, energy in vs. energy out.
Here’s how it works. Your weight will stay the same if you take in roughly the same amount of energy (food) as your body burns up through your physical activities.
If you regularly take in more energy than your body burns up, you’ll gain weight.
But if you regularly take in less energy (food) than your body burns up, you’ll lose weight.
So the best way to lose weight is to eat and drink fewer calories and burn more calories by being more more active. IT IS AS SIMPLE AS THAT!
The skeptic will say: How to lose weight? Eat less, stupid! And when you eat plenty of healthy fats your appetite is suppressed and so you eat less, you don’t snack, and you feel better for it.
Remember: counting calories and counting carbs are different regimes. Do one or the other. Which is better and healthier? Counting (reducing) carbs and sugars (no question). Email me for your low-carb lifestyle leaflet.

Oestrogen Dominance
When we (women and men) hit 35 or 40 our progesterone levels plummet and our oestrogen level stays more or less normal. This is oestrogen dominance, and it affects women and men. Men also become low in testosterone. We can all feel we’re losing our mojo. What’s almost as bad is that this high oestrogen in our body is a magnet for fat – particularly on our belly. This is hard to shift what’er you do. But there’s a way forward and it’s about increasing your progesterone using herbs and eating foods that shift oestrogen from your body, and avoiding foods that increase estrogen in our body. Take a look at what it is to have oestrogen dominance.

Measure your waist
Women with a waist measurement of more than 35 inches or men with a waist measurement of more than 37 inches may have a higher risk of heart disease than people with smaller waist measurements because of where their fat lies. Measure your belly fat: pull in your belly as far as possible and measure round your waist at the belly button, this will show the amount of omentum fat on you belly: men should be no more than 35″ and women no more than 32 inches (Source: Cleaveland University (Anatomy) USA.
Another method is BMI. If your BMI score is over 25 and/or your waist size is putting you at risk of heart disease, it’s a good idea to try and lose some weight.
Weigh yourself once a week – on Monday mornings. And write it down under last Monday’s reading. Make certain it is lower each week.

Weight-loss success
– Write down your reasons for losing weight
– Recognise where you feel tempted to overeat
– Watch out for boredom eating
– When stressed do something else eg go for a walk or visit a friend
– Drink water or tea or herb tea before you eat
– Drink more water through the day (6-8 glasses per day)
– Cut out all junk foods eg crisps, chocolate, sweets, cakes, nuts, bread, chips, etc, they do you no good; they do you harm
– Only buy healthy food (clear your fridge and pantry of junk food like ice-cream, cakes, buns, sweets, biscuits, any fast food (like open a packet and eat it) etc)
– Avoid heavy meals; keep to regular meal times
– Plan your meals the day before and keep your meals balanced and healthy
– Eat slowly
– If you fail one day don’t give up; keep your WILL strong for SUCCESS

Your Food for Healthy Weight-Loss
Follow the healthy ketogenic lifestyle and keep to it

Here are some ideas for low-carb foods to eat (in the following general proportions): Fats 80%, Protein 15%, Carbs 5%

Meats: Beef, pork, lamb, veal, rabbit, goat, sheep, horse, bison, wild boar, venison…
Game meat: Deer, pheasant, bear, moose, woodcock, elk, duck, rabbit, reindeer, wild turkey …
Poultry: Chicken, turkey, duck, quail, goose, …

Fish: Salmon, tuna, trout, bass, halibut, sole, haddock, turbot, walleye, tilapia, cod, flatfish, grouper, mackerel, anchovy, herring, …

Shellfish: Crab, lobster, shrimps, scallops, clams, oysters, mussels, …

Fats: Avocados, avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil, butter, clarified butter (ghee), lard, tallow, duck fat, veal fat, lamb fat, fatty fishes (sardines, mackerel, salmon), nut butters, nut oils (walnut, macadamia), coconut flesh, coconut milk, …

Eggs: Chicken eggs, duck eggs, goose eggs, quail eggs, …

Vegetables: Celery, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, leeks, kohlrabi, green onions, eggplants, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, cucumber, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, artichokes, okra, avocados, …

Green leafy vegetables: Lettuce, spinach, collard greens, kale, beet top, mustard greens, dandelion, Swiss chard, watercress, turnip greens, seaweeds, endive, arugula (rocket), bok choy, rapini, chicory, radicchio…

Root vegetables: Carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, rutabaga, sweet potatoes, radish, Jerusalem artichokes, yams, cassava, …(very small portions – no more than 5%)

Winter squash, Butternut squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, pumpkin, buttercup squash, …(very small portions)
Summer squash, Zucchini, yellow summer squash, yellow crookneck squash, …

Fruits:
Bananas, apples, oranges, berries (strawberry, cranberry, cranberry, blueberry, blackberry), grapefruit, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, pomegranates, pineapple, papaya, grapes, cantaloupe, cherries, apricot, water melon, honeydew melon, kiwi, lemon, lime, lychee, mango, tangerine, coconut, figs, dates, passion fruit, persimmon, …(very small portions per day – no more than 5% total)

Nuts and seeds:
Pistachios, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), pecans, walnuts, pine nuts, macadamia nuts, chestnuts, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts

Mushrooms:
Button mushroom, portabello, oyster mushroom, shiitake, chanterelle, crimini, porcini, morel…

Fresh and dried herbs:
Parsley, marjoram, thyme, lavender, mint, basil, rosemary, chives, tarragon, oregano, sage, dill, bay leaves, coriander, …

Spices and other natural flavour enhancers:
Ginger, garlic, onions, black pepper, hot peppers, star anise, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, cayenne pepper, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, paprika, vanilla, cloves, chilies, or combinations of spices eg Chinese 5 Spice, Thai 7 Spice, etc…(ask for these at our Herbactive Shop)

Have you noticed? No grains and starchy foods! Avoid grains, bread, potatoes, chips, pasta, pizza, and other stomach bloating foods based on wheat and refined grains.

Also take half to one teaspoon of ABC Daily Herbal Powder every day.

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Alan, I’ve been taking your WeightLess Tonic for over a year and rely on it to keep my weight stable even though I jog I tend to put fat on easily, WeightLess keeps me slim. I also like using your Stevia liquid and find it so sweet I don’t need sugar at all, I share it with my daughter.
Thank you for your wonderful work! Maggie.

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* natural herbal blend improves weight loss
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* supportive, eliminative, detoxifying
* appetite suppressive
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* ideal tonic to accompany a weight controlled diet
* ideal tonic to support an exercise regime
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WeightLess Tonic contains Garcinia!
Garcinia gummi-gutta is a tropical species of Garcinia native to Indonesia. Common names include Garcinia cambogia (a former scientific name), as well as brindleberry, Malabar tamarind, and kudam puli (pot tamarind). This fruit looks like a small pumpkin and is green to pale yellow in color. Although it has received considerable media attention purporting its effects on weight loss, with more and more clinical evidence to support this claim.
Garcinia Cambogia is the latest buzz in the “battle of the bulge”. With millions of people praising this so called “miracle herb” that you take to lose weight, it has been getting a lot of attention since it was recently featured on the Dr. Oz Show. According to Dr Lindsey Garcinia Cambogia works in more than one way, “The first way is it goes in and causes the body to burn glucose, or sugar, and burn fat, mainly in the liver. The second way, the most important way, is it slows the release of sugar into the blood stream. So when you don’t have sugar building up in the blood stream, you don’t have fat building up because sugar turns to fat. When the two are combined together, you get this synergistic effect that basically burns, blocks and stops fat. It’s also clinically tested to be natural, safe and effective.”
Garcinol is a polyisoprenylated phenolic obtained from the rim of the kokum fruit Garcinia. Traditionally used for inflammatory ailments, rheumatic pain and bowel complaints. Garcinol is known to induce apoptosis in leukemia HL-60 cells by triggering the release of cytochrome-c… also in abnormal breast cells, prostate, and pancreatic abnormalities. Garcinia is also used for obesity and associated symptoms.
from Journal of Herbal Medicine
4 2014 175-187
Normally “weight-loss” supplements, especially weight-loss supplements that claim “easy” weight loss or “fast” weight loss are not recommended. Most nutritionist strongly believe that the key to weight loss is a healthy diet and exercise, but there are some incredible super foods that can deliver an added boost. One super food in particular, the Garcinia Cambogia, is creating major media buzz – But not without controversy. Critics say the compound hydroxycitric acid, or HCA (the extract from the Garcinia Cambogia fruit) cause such dramatic weight loss that they are ripe for abuse by people who only want to lose weight for cosmetic reasons. Proponents of the nutrients claim that they have been proven by scientific studies to be effective and safe, and that banning the natural compounds would be akin to banning vitamins. But it’s not just celebrity TV talk show hosts and critics claiming the fat loss effects of Garcinia Cambogia, there is real clinical data to back up these claims. Participants Lost 15 Pounds in clinical Study (15% Body Fat).

If you are way too under-weight try our WeighMore Tonic, it may be the answer. See WeighMore

WeightLess Tonic

Rich in nutrients
Encourages the body to burn more calories (metabolic stimulant)
Improves elimination and detoxification. Appetite suppressant
Balanced with the herbs that support the body and increase fat digestion
2-4lbs lost in first week and following weeks (on average, according to feedback by hundreds of users)
Our most popular and successful tonic (it is also used in the LemonSteviaDetox LSD Programme)
Use alongside your changeover to the Paleo type diet
Try it – you won’t be disappointed

WeightLess

New Formula. The purpose of this tailor-made tonic from our Herbalist is to increase the metabolism and assist a more efficient digestion of foods and fats (new fat-busting herbs added). The tonic acts as a stimulant to the blood circulation hence burning more calories. It helps to increase the excretion of water, draining the tissues, reducing water retention. The bowel will also be more active: improving elimination of waste, helping to remove encrustation on the walls of the intestines that impedes digestion and causes the uptake of toxicity in the body and a constant feeling of unwellness and low energy. Taken regularly through the day you should find that you have less of an appetite, a better mood, and more discrimination as to what you want to eat. The tonic balances your nerves and liver. It is rich in trace minerals, vitamins, amino acids and other nutrients.
WeightLess Tonic includes Garcinia, bladderwrack (sea kelp) in which fucoxanthin has been discovered. This is a carotenoid that targets stored fat cells in our body causing them to shrink and also to decrease in number. Kelp also boosts metabolism.

The Herbs in WeightLess – please request list.

Diet

Although the WeightLess Tonic can be taken by itself without changing your lifestyle and good results can still be achieved. However, we recommend a sugar-free diet. Lots of vegetables, salads, and a small amount of fresh fruits (fructose has been found seriously bad for you); and very few carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, bread, pasta, bananas, etc). Keep sugar intake to below 10g per day and you will restore your shapely figure (lose your belly). Eat oily foods/fish and meat, chicken dairy to the 10-15% daily ratio. Drink plenty of natural water, herb teas and green juices. Coffee and tea can be drunk but not too much (we have a high stimulant alternative coffee to support your weight loss programme, called High10NGen, click here). To lose weight try replacing a meal with soup every other day (no salt or oil and do not blend – just drink the soup water). Follow the Paleo Diet and keep to a maximum of 1200 calories daily (and try to go to 600 calories (men), 500 calories (women) on 2 consec days each week [see below on 5:2] to lose weight consistently and keep healthy throughout, and with a load of good energy as well. Don’t forget to take your MCT Oil 1-3 times daily (buy it at our store)

How to lose weight: Another way
Another way is not to eat lunch every day. Just drink water right through the day from breakfast to dinner.

Latest and proven diet (2012) Called 5:2 (The Fast Diet)

 

LSD

5-2 Diet
If you have to use a diet programme to lose your excess weight, this may be the best way.
Science has revealed the best diet following a study that has lasted many years. This was revealed in a report on Horizon on BBC2 in July 2012, in fact only the last 10 minutes of the hour-long documentary. The diet is very effective in balancing blood sugar, removing fat on the belly, hips, arms, chest and elsewhere, improves general blood pressure, and improves energy within a month. The advantage of this diet is its simplicity and do-ability.
The diet is as follows:
1. On 2 consecutive days eat no more than 600 (500 for women) calories per week for a year. That’s it! [Best to follow the Paleo Diet both in and out of the 5:2]I repeat: each week for 2 days keep your calorie intake to 600 calories or less (500 for women). On the other 5 days (if you’re trying to lose kilos or stones) keep to 1200 calories max.
2. The remainder of the week (5 days) you can eat anything. It is of course recommended that you be reasonable and eat healthily with plenty of greens, salads, some fruits and grains, fish, cheese, nuts and beans, and not a lot of meat but enjoy healthy fats. Drink plenty of water. A glass of wine or equivalent per day. Exercise at least 3 times a week as well. Apart from this you can eat what you like for 5 days a week. Use the list above in the Paleo Diet. For general health there is no calorie counting during the 5 days; but if you’re wanting to look younger and slimmer and you’re needing to lose kilos and stones, keep to 1200 calories during your 5 days.
The result (the conclusion made by the US research in 2012): slow safe fat loss until your norm is reached with no loss of muscle which would cause sagging; enhanced vitality; brain cell regeneration; better memory longevity; blood sugar balance; restored normal blood pressure; improved overall organ functionality; ability to wean off dependence on drugs (or at least to be able to safely get onto herbal alternatives); reduction of stress and angst; and a figure you’ll be confident to enjoy (and display on the beach or the bedroom).
More about this research and benefits of the 5:2 Diet below.

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5:2 – From the BBC documentary Horizon (Now called the Fast Diet)
Eat, Fast and Live Longer on BBC Two at 21:00 BST on Monday 6 August

Scientists are uncovering evidence that short periods of fasting, if properly controlled, could achieve a number of health benefits, as well as potentially helping the overweight, as Dr Michael Mosley discovered. I’d always thought of fasting as something unpleasant, with no obvious long term benefits. So when I was asked to make a documentary that would involve me going without food, I was not keen as I was sure I would not enjoy it. But the Horizon editor assured me there was great new science and that I might see some dramatic improvements to my body. So, of course, I said, “yes”. I am not strong-willed enough to diet over the long term, but I am extremely interested in the reasons why eating less might lead to increased life span, particularly as scientists think it may be possible to get the benefits without the pain. How you age is powerfully shaped by your genes. But there’s not much you can do about that.

Calorie restriction, eating well but not much, is one of the few things that has been shown to extend life expectancy, at least in animals. We’ve known since the 1930s that mice put on a low-calorie, nutrient-rich diet live far longer. There is mounting evidence that the same is true in monkeys.This calorie restriction method is now known as the Fasting Mimicking Diet (2019) because if you keep your calories down to 500 or 600 per day for 5 days a week, you will benefit your body as if you have fasted for 5 days on just water. Or you can do it for two days and off for 5 days, although the benefits are not nearly as pronounced.

Growth hormone

The world record for extending life expectancy in a mammal is held by a new type of mouse which can expect to live an extra 40%, equivalent to a human living to 120 or even longer. It has been genetically engineered so its body produces very low levels of a growth hormone called IGF-1, high levels of which seem to lead to accelerated ageing and age-related diseases, while low levels are protective. Professor Victor Longo with two Ecuadorians with Laron syndrome Professor Longo has investigated growth hormone deficiency in humans. A similar, but natural, genetic mutation has been found in humans with Laron syndrome, a rare condition that affects fewer than 350 people worldwide. The very low levels of IGF-1 their bodies produce means they are short, but this also seems to protect them against cancer and diabetes, two common age-related diseases. The IGF-1 hormone (insulin-like growth factor) is one of the drivers which keep our bodies in go-go mode, with cells driven to reproduce. This is fine when you are growing, but not so good later in life. There is now evidence suggesting that IGF-1 levels can be lowered by what you eat. Studies on calorie restrictors suggest that eating less helps, but it is not enough.

Cutting Calories and Protein

As well as cutting calories you have to cut your protein intake. Not entirely – that would be a very bad idea. It’s about sticking to recommended guidelines, something most of us fail to do. The reason seems to be that when our bodies no longer have access to food they switch from “growth mode” to “repair mode”.

As levels of the IGF-1 hormone drop, a number of repair genes appear to get switched on according to ongoing research by Professor Valter Longo of the University of Southern California.

Intermittent fasting

One area of current research into diet is Alternate Day fasting (ADF), involving eating what you want one day, then a very restricted diet (fewer than 600 calories) the next, and most surprisingly, it does not seem to matter that much what you eat on non-fast days. Dr Krista Varady of the University of Illinois at Chicago carried out an eight-week trial comparing two groups of overweight patients on ADF. “If you were sticking to your fast days, then in terms of cardiovascular disease risk, it didn’t seem to matter if you were eating a high-fat or low-fat diet on your feed (non-fast) days,” she said.

5:2 Diet

I decided I couldn’t manage ADF, it was just too impractical. Instead I did an easier version, the so-called 5:2 diet. As the name implies you eat normally 5 days a week, then two days a week you eat 500 calories if you are a woman, or 600 calories, if you are a man.

There are no firm rules because so far there have been few proper human trials. I found that I could get through my fast days best if I had a light breakfast (scrambled eggs, thin slice of ham, lots of black tea, adding up to about 300 calories), lots of water and herbal tea during the day, then a light dinner (grilled fish with lots of vegetables) at night. On my feed days I ate what I normally do and felt no need to gorge.

I stuck to this diet for 5 weeks, during which time I lost nearly a stone and my blood markers, like IGF-1, glucose and cholesterol, improved. If I can sustain that, it will greatly reduce my risk of contracting age-related diseases like cancer and diabetes. [But according to the researchers on the documentary the real benefits for health and regeneration of nerve cells, etc occur after at least 1 year on the 5:2 diet – in fact it is recommended that the 5:2 should be a long-term, lifestyle, ie either permanent or 3 months twice yearly. – Alan Hopking]

I was closely monitored throughout and found the 5:2 surprisingly easy. I will almost certainly continue doing it, albeit less often. Fasting, like eating, is best done in moderation.

adapted slightly from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19112549

Alan Hopking recommends that the LSD Programme is done first, followed on a weekly basis by 5:2 until your target weight is achieved.

NB Alan Hopking recommends you keep on something like the Paleo Diet throughout the 5:2 programme because eating at McDonalds and BurgerKing or similar would defeat the purpose viz good health and keeping out of hospitals and avoiding taking drugs. See the Paleo type range of foods above.

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Understanding Insulin Resistance

The problem with dieting is that it slows your metabolism. This slows your weight loss. This reduces your incentive to succeed. What’s more, exercising is also a very slow method to burn calories and lose weight. And also, as we exercise so our appetite and hunger increases. The problem with this is that humans have a built-in mechanism not to lose weight. We need to hold fat for our survival. But we are no longer running over the plains of Africa. Plus the fact is that in those far-off days there weren’t supermarkets down the road. Food was on the run. To make a kill meant days of no food at all – fasting. The other issue we have today is that because we are all so well fed our “set point” is way too high and to bring our weight down to our target weight is hard, because soon enough the set point kicks in and the pounds are put on again, back to our original set point. This set point is the result of our insulin being set too high by our easy lifestyle (compared to our ancestors on the African plains).

Let’s have a look at insulin
Insulin is a hormone (a chemical messenger) produced in the pancreas by the beta cells called the Islets of Langahans. The purpose of insulin is to control the sugar in our blood. To do this, when we have a load of potatoes, grains, fruits, root veges, is to convert the sugar into triglycerides and cholesterol. That is, it makes fat. In so doing, it blocks any chance of burning fat. It blocks the release of fat for energy. Why would it do that when there’s plenty of sugar to burn as energy? This increase of blood fats increases the tension in the arteries which pushes up our blood pressure. So this is a viscous circle. Our tea with cake and biscuits,…then bread, rice, chips, then an apple pie with lots of sugar in the fruit and in the pastry, just makes weight loss impossible. Glycogen is the stored sugar, sugar molecules stuck together (using potassium to store it). So the source of our fat, our fatty liver, our poor protein uptake (causing wasting muscles and fatty legs, arms, belly, hips) converting protein into sugar (glycogen) and consequently damaging the kidneys (protein urea) is: INSULIN. This is what is called IR (Insulin Resistance). High insulin which is set never to fall. What are the other indications of insulin resistance (too much insulin in the cells): poor energy levels, sleepiness after meals, brain fog, bloating, belly fat increase, high blood pressure, cravings/hunger all the time (wanting a frequent sugar fix) dark pigment under the arms (advanced stage). So that’s it – the cause of insulin resistance is due to high sugar in the blood (a high carbohydrate diet). This in turn affects the digestion and the balanced output of other hormones e.g. oestrogen, thyroxin, androgens, cortisol.

Take a look at the insulin index for foods
The lower the percentage (the numbers given are %) the better your insulin will be controlled and the more your body will use fats for energy and the more you will lose weight and the more your adverse symptoms will fade away.
Butter 2. olive oil 3. Coconut oil 3. Double cream 4. Pecans 5. Avocado 6. Cream cheese 8. Bacon 9. Walnuts 9. Peanut butter 11. Cheese 15. Egg yolk 15. Egg white 55. Whole eggs 25. Turkey 23. Beef 51. Berries 47. Apple 75. Banana 84. Baked beans 100. Potato 121.

How to re-set your Set Point
Don’t snack. Drink water or coffee/tea instead. Eat only 2 to 3 meals a day (nothing in between). Only eat when you’re hungry. Intermittent fasting must become a regular feature of our lifestyle (skip 1,2,or 3 meals in a row).
These foods bring down insulin: cider vinegar (apple), fermented foods (kimchi), high potassium foods (leafy greens – clears a fatty liver), fiber rich foods, getting into ketosis (follow a ketogenic diet). Avoid stress. Include MCT Oil in your foods. Exercise more (try the HIIT method because it is quick and has been found to be more effective for our overall health than an hour at the gym. HIIT High Intensity Interval Training involves hard exercise for 15 seconds, followed by rest, and repeat for 5-10 minutes. The exercise action can vary each time – but you must go all-out for 15 seconds.

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Other diets reviewed

Cynthia Kenyon PhD

Cynthia Jane Kenyon (born c. 1955), above, is an American molecular biologist and biogerontologist known for her genetic dissection of aging in a tiny worm, Caenorhabditis elegans. Cynthia’s research prompted her to make personal dietary changes. She stopped eating high glycemic index carbohydrates when she discovered that putting sugar on the worms’ food shortened their lifespans.[1] Kenyon follows a low glycemic index diet similar to the Atkins diet[1], the South Beach Diet[2] and Jorge Cruise diet. This is what she says:

“No desserts. No sweets. No potatoes. No rice. No bread. No pasta. When I say ‘no,’ I mean ‘no, or not much,’ she notes. Instead, eat green vegetables. Eat the fruits that aren’t the sweet fruits, like melon [and berry fruits but not much]. Bananas? Bananas are a little sweet. Meat? Meat, yes, of course. Avocados. All vegetables. Nuts. Fish. Chicken. That’s what I eat. Cheese. Eggs. And one glass of red wine a day.[3]”

But the diet is unproven, she cautions, and she’s not recommending it for all. Nevertheless, she’s pleased with its performance for her. ‘I have a fabulous blood profile. My triglyceride level is only 30, and anything below 200 is good.'[3]

“You have to eat something, and you just have to make your best judgement. And that’s my best judgement. Plus, I feel better. Plus, I’m thin—I weigh what I weighed when I was in college. I feel great —you feel like you’re a kid again. It’s amazing.[3]“I think a high-carb diet (which gives you a lot of insulin) is not good for you,” she explains. “But I don’t think insulin and insulin growth factor are evil. We need them to grow and to process our food.”
Refs:
1 Kingsland, J.: “I Want to Live Forever”, New Scientist, Issue 2417, October 18, 2003.
2 Platoni, K: “Live, Fast, Die Old”, East Bay Express, January 18, 2006.
3 O’Neill B: “In Methuselah’s Mould”, PLoS Biology Vol. 2, No. 1, e12 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020012

The Dukan Diet to lose weight and maintain a healthy slim body (this is a review for your interest not recommended)
Take WeightLess Tonic with the Dukan Diet. Carefully follow the 4 stages:

1. Stage One – Attack. Eat only protein for 5-10 days: just meat, fish, eggs and non-fat dairy products. Drink 3 litres of water each day. Foods to eat during the first 5 days:
– Shellfish: Prawns are allowed during the attack phase.
– Lean beef and veal or rabbit, not pork or lamb (trim all fat and avoid ribs as too fatty). Eat meat grilled, roasted or boiled and without using butter, oil or cream (not even low-fat versions). You could also ‘dry fry’ it – rub the surface of a frying pan with a few drops of oil on kitchen paper.
– Lean minced beef can be prepared as burgers or meatballs (mixed with an egg, spices, capers or gherkins) or enjoy frozen beefburgers (if less than 10 per cent fat).
– All chicken and turkey (not goose or farmed duck) but remove skin before eating and avoid the outside part of the wings (too fatty).
– Ham if low-fat and lean, also cut rind off. Avoid deli, cured, and smoked hams (too fatty).
– Beef, veal or chicken liver.
– All fish white or oily, fresh, frozen, dried, smoked or canned (but not in oil or in any sauce containing fat), even crab sticks.
– All crustaceans and shellfish.
– Up to two eggs a day. Stick to 3 to 4 yolks per week if you have high cholesterol, but the white can be eaten without restriction.
– Non-fat dairy products such as 0% yoghurt, fromage frais, quark, cottage cheese, and skimmed milk. Natural ( plain) and flavoured yoghurts (coconut, vanilla, lemon) are allowed without restriction, but non-fat fruit yoghurts (containing fruit puree) should be limited to two a day (or avoided if you want a lightning start to your attack phase).
– Sweeteners (Canderel, Silverspoon Sweetener) or Stevia (a natural sweetener available Herbactive Herbalist), vinegar, spices, herbs, garlic, onion, gherkins, pickled onions (as condiments, but not in large quantities), lemon juice (on food, but not to drink), mustard and salt (in moderation), sugar-free natural ketchup in moderation, sugar-free chewing gum (can slow down the mechanical swing towards eating whenever you feel under pressure).
Avoid all butter and oil. Take the weightLess Tonic 4 times daily.
Walk briskly for 20 minutes every day. This is a non-negotiable doctor’s prescription.

2. Stage Two – The workhorse stage. This is where you alternate pure protein days with days when you include a delicious array of unlimited vegetables to your wide selection of meat, fish and non-fat dairy products. This phase consists of two alternating diets. This is the workhorse stage where you alternate pure protein days with days when you include a delicious array of unlimited vegetables to your wide selection of meat, fish and no-fat dairy products. Expect to lose around 2lb a week.
You can start a meal with a salad or soup, followed by a meat or fish dish gently stewed with flavoursome and fragrant vegetables. Take the weightLess Tonic 4 times daily.

3. Stage Three – Consolidation. When you reach your ideal weight – or your Dukan-prescribed true weight – the consolidation phase kicks in, gradually releasing dietary constraints and putting fruit, bread, cheese and starchy foods such as pasta back on the menu.
You are even encouraged to have two totally unrestrained celebration meals (with alcohol, butter, bread, chocolate … whatever foods you truly love) a week.
This is not a tolerated indulgence, it is a doctor’s recommendation, and an important part of the diet’s acceptance that food, in all its variety, can be relished if you are going to stay slim for ever.
Eat as much protein and vegetables (together) each day as you want without any restriction on quantity, time of day or combination.
Add one serving of fruit per day (avoid high-sugar bananas, grapes, cherries, dried fruits and high-fat nuts)
Enjoy two slices of wholemeal bread per day, spread with fat-reduced butter.
Have one serving (40g or 1.5oz) of hard cheese per day (but avoid blue cheese, soft cheese or goat’s cheese).
Factor in one serving of ‘starchy foods’ per week in the first half of your Consolidation Phase, increasing to two servings per week in the second half. This includes pasta (225g or 8oz serving in tomato, not creamy, sauce and with no oil), couscous/polenta (225g or 8oz cooked in stock, not butter or oil), lentils, beans, chickpeas, rice (ideally brown) and potatoes (but only occasionally and without butter).
Broaden your meat repertoire to include any quantity of lamb, roast pork and ham (remove all fat first) once or twice a week
Let your hair down and plan and enjoy one celebration meal a week in the first half of the Consolidation Phase, increasing to two in the second half. In this meal you really can eat whatever you want – and you should choose something you’ve missed during the weight-loss period. Take the weightLess Tonic 4 times daily if indicated at this stage.
But there are two important conditions – NEVER have second helpings of the same dish and NEVER eat two celebration meals in a row (if you splurge on Tuesday night, at Wednesday’s breakfast the success of your diet is on the line). Have one of each: one starter, one main, one dessert and one glass of wine, all in a reasonable quantity but only once.
Keep one pure protein day per week – say, Thursdays. This is your insurance policy against gaining weight.
Take 2tbsp of oat bran per day (as a pancake or sprinkled on food).
Walk 25 minutes per day (longer if you enjoy it and have time).

4. Stage Four – Stabilisation. When your time in consolidation is up, and your new slender weight has stabilised, you are free to live the rest of your life the French way, eating and drinking whatever you like without guilt or restriction, but adhering to that one remaining Dukan rule: protein only on Thursdays. For ever.
Go back to eating whatever you like, but continue to use the basic rules of the Consolidation Phase as a safety platform (eat unlimited protein and vegetables, one piece of fruit a day, two slices of wholemeal bread, a portion of cheese, two starchy foods and two celebration meals a week).
Keep this in mind as your point of healthy-diet reference, and use it as your safety back-up if you are under threat of regaining weight.
Pick one day a week – for the rest of your life – when you eat nothing but protein. This is the key that allows you to eat normally for the other six days of the week without putting any weight back on. (Drink at least two litres of water to flush the digestive system and reduce its craving for food).
Make a vow to walk (briskly) for 20 minutes every day, and never take a lift or step on an escalator. Going up or down the stairs makes the body’s largest muscles contract and, in a short time, uses up considerable calories.
Take the weightLess Tonic 4 times daily if indicated at this stage.
Increase your daily oat bran intake to 3tbsp and stick to it for life.

THE POWER OF EXERCISE on Dukan
Exercise is not just an add-on to the Dukan Diet, it has a genuine role to play and is just as important as dieting in this fight against weight problems.
We all know that being active burns up calories, however, for most of us exercise is a chore to be avoided.
But for anyone who wants to lose weight it should be your most powerful ally and friend. The more active you are, the less you need to limit what you eat and the less you’ll suffer.
Exercise allows you to more easily absorb any wild dietary lapses or moments of madness (a 20-minute walk effectively neutralises three squares of chocolate or a therapeutic glass of wine) thereby lessening their impact and your feelings of guilt.
Exercise also triggers endorphins, chemical mediators produced in the central nervous system that give us a feeling of exhilaration. Through this chemical process, exercise reduces the equally neurological need to find solace in eating.
Finding pleasure in being active while burning up the calories is THE best way to protect your weight loss.
Science says: You Don’t Need to Invest Hours to Reap Benefits from Exercise. One of the key health benefits of exercise is that it helps normalize your glucose and insulin levels by optimizing insulin receptor sensitivity. This is perhaps the most important factor for optimizing your overall health and preventing chronic disease. But that doesn’t mean you need to spend multiple hours in the gym each week. Research shows that short bursts of intense exercise is the most effective, so you can really maximize your exercise benefits in as little as 40-60 minutes per week, provided you’re doing it correctly (in normal circumstances). [But if you are doing the5-day LSD programme it is necessary to exercise for 20-30 minutes daily.]

Dukan Diet and Oat Bran
Throughout the Dukan Diet you can enjoy a carbohydrate respite in the form of a tablespoon of oat bran every day.
Oat bran is rich in sugars and protein, but its benefit lies in the high levels of soluble fibre, which absorbs water in the gut, swelling up to 20 times its size.
This helps you feel full and satisfied. It is also great for heart health and eases constipation (which can affect people in the early stages of the diet).
But once digested, it attracts fat molecules, sugars and toxins, and carries them out of the body before they can be absorbed into the bloodstream.
If you follow the plan to the letter, and your new weight becomes established and stable, the Dukan Diet eases you back to a life of normal, unrestrained free eating, with one caveat – you must agree to one protein only day (Dukan suggests a Thursday) every week for the rest of your life. ‘By sticking to protein one day a week, you can lose 1.5lb to 2lb instantly and, in so doing, correct any excess that may have occurred during the rest of the week,’ says Dr Dukan. Grateful acknowledgements to the Daily Mail

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Here’s another highly commendable plan for weight loss
Draw 8 circles for 8x 16oz glasses of water per day. It boosts metab 30% within 40 mins and keeps it elevated for over an hour (drink 1oz water for every 2lbs body wt (ie 160 lbs drink 80oz water/day [2.3L]).
Emotional eating: ask “Is this what I REALLY need?”
Eat no more than 1450 cals/day. (I recommend a low carb diet with this method; it cuts the bother with calorie counting – Alan Hopking). (1200 if you’re trying to lose your belly fat, etc)
NB It is critical to know that any time you allow more than 3 hours to pass between meals, your body begins to strip the cells of glycogen first and then if you continue to fast, eventually begins to use fat for fuel which reatly benefits the body’s organs and brain.
It is thought that, by waiting more than 3 hours to eat, you lose muscle tissue. This is incorrect. The genome of the body has a hard wired need to maintain the muscles in the body for fight and flight. You will not lose muscle on short or long fasts. You will however lose stored fats from all over the body – belly, hips, thighs, breasts, neck, arms, and in and around the essential orgas like the liver, heart, kidneys, lungs, etc.
Muscle is your metabolism… Lose muscle and you slow your fat burning mechanism. (Jeorge Cruise). Throughout, continue to take the WeightLess Tonic and ABC Daily Herbal Powder.

Supplements

For information: the following vitamins and nutrients can affect our digestion and metabolism; they work well with the WeightLess Tonic: CoEnz Q10, Kelp tablets, B5 (controls fat metabolism), Choline (metabolism), Magnesium and B1 (for the metabolism of carbohydrates), Zinc (helps digest food and assists metabolism), B complex (increases metabolism), Lecithin granules (prevents fat build-up in organs). Support your local herbalist and please buy your supplements from us. Phone us free for next day mail order: 0800 0834436 or come to our shop. If you’re on insulin or if you are particularly metabolically resistant to losing weight, the following supplements taken with the WeightLess Tonic should assist: chromium, vanadium, alpha lipoic acid, zinc, biotin and CoEnzQ10.
Or if you dislike taking vitamin tablets because they give you indigestion or because of the high-tech industrialisation process gone into making them along with all the binders, chalks, glazing agents, colorants, etc, added to them, I highly recommend our ABC Daily Herbal NutriPowder Plus which is totally organic, herbal and has the full complement of vitamins, minerals, micro-elements and amino acids: a perfect support for your programme of weight loss. For more info, click here

Exercise

Extra exercise is essential, and aerobic type exercises are very useful, preferably 5 times a week (or more), 30-40 minutes continuous exercise at each session. Best done first thing in the morning (and again in the evening if you can) (morning exercise is useful because it turns up the ‘metabolic dial’ and then remains turned up throughout the day, thus burning fat throughout the day even if you’ve got a desk job). Skipping, jogging, dancercise, cycling, power walking, swimming, team sports, are the best. This increases your metabolism and sustains weight loss throughout the day. Or if you’re older try to walk 1-2 miles three times a week in one activity. When you go to sleep at night the metabolic dial resets and the next morning you need to turn it up again by exercising in this way. Exercise is healthy for your mood, your joints, your organs, your immune system, your heart and circulation as well as your shape.
Science says: You Don’t Need to Invest Hours to Reap Benefits from Exercise. One of the key health benefits of exercise is that it helps normalize your glucose and insulin levels by optimizing insulin receptor sensitivity. This is perhaps the most important factor for optimizing your overall health and preventing chronic disease. But that doesn’t mean you need to spend multiple hours in the gym each week. Research shows that short bursts of intense exercise is the most effective, so you can really maximize your exercise benefits in as little as 40-60 minutes per week, provided you’re doing it correctly (in normal circumstances). [But if you are doing the5-day LSD programme it is necessary to exercise for 20-30 minutes daily.]

Herbactive’s WeightLess

Its value has been proved over the years. This tonic is organically made. The extracts are cold extracted in pure spring water as organic tinctures using organic ingredients wherever possible. Shelf life one year; no need to keep in the fridge. Keep it where you can best see it so you will take the prescribed dose every day. 555ml lasts a month. Tell us how many stone you have lost in the months of taking the WeightLess Tonic.

LSD – Lemon Stevia Detox fast for health and weight loss

WeightLess Tonic is also used in our ABC Lemon Detox Diet Progamme where you can lose up to a stone (14lbs; 6kg) in just 7 days. More info, LSD – LemonSteviaDetox

A Third of the Population of the World is Now Obese (June 2014)
No country on earth has reduced obesity rates in more than three decades. Almost 30 percent of the earth’s population is obese or overweight, a new study reports, estimating that this affects about 2.1 billion people. Obesity rates have increased in countries all over the world, but it’s not an evenly distributed health problem, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation reported on Wednesday. In the developed world, adult men have higher rates of obesity (defined as having a Body Mass Index of 30 or more) than adult women. In the developing world, the opposite is true. The prevalence of overweight and obese children and adolescents worldwide has increased by nearly 50 percent since 1980, the study says, and no country on Earth has successfully reduced obesity rates in the last 33 years. Childhood obesity rates are notably higher in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly among girls. Though the rate of increase in obesity has slowed in the developed world, in the developing world, home to two-thirds of the world’s obese people, obesity rates are projected to continue their climb.
http://time.com/134206/a-third-of-the-world-is-now-obese-or-overweight/

UnderWeight? Get WeighMore tonic

If you are under weight or too thin or you know a friend who can eat like a horse and is still underweight and complains about being too thin, recommend you take the WormLess Tonic as it is possible you have a parasitic problem, or an overactive thyroid. I have a specific herbal tonic for people who want to increase their weight: WeighMore Tonic.

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Complete information about the keto lifestyle

EATING A KETO DIET FOR HEALTH – A HERBACTIVE GUIDE

Health benefits of Keto Diet confirmed by science: cancer resistant, lowers blood pressure, improves cardiovascular health, cures diabetes type 2 and improves type 1, resists Alzheimer’s, clears general inflammation, clears arthritis, clears indigestion, improved mental clarity, removes depression, prevents parasitic infestation, improves skin tone, regulates hormones, improved metabolism and fat loss, etc,  – over 200 illnesses have been shown to improve or resolve. All this is due to the ketones produced in your liver when following a strict, healthy Ketogenic Diet and way of life. The ketones are used as your primary energy source rather than glucose (from sugar and carbs).

What about Calories?
For most normal people, the amounts of fats and protein will be enough to naturally keep you satiated and naturally keep you in a calorie deficit. But note, it may not allow you to lose weight when you are eating more than your body is expending.
“Macros” is a shortened version of macronutrients. These are the “big 3” – fats (80%), proteins (15%), and carbs (5%). You can use an online calculator based on your present weight, to find out how much or how little of each you need in order to attain your goals. Some people take their macros as “set in stone”. If you’re a few calories over some days, a few calories under on others – it’s fine. Everything will even itself out in the end. It’s all about a long-term plan that can work for you, and not the other way around.
To increase calorie intake is easy – increase the amounts of fat you eat. Olive oil, coconut oil, macadamia nuts, and butter are great ways to increase fats without getting too much of the other stuff in the way. Drizzle it on salads, slather it on vegetables, snack on it, do what you need to do to make it work in your favour! See our comprehensive list below. To decrease calories, you will have to think about what you need eat to feel comfortably satiated.
Last, but certainly not least, is sticking to the diet! Ketosis is a very healthy change that happens in your body. If you’re trying to lose weight, you can’t just have “that one” cheat meal. If you do, it can hamper progress for up to a week before your body is back in ketosis. You want to keep your cheats to none. Be prepared, make sure you’re eating what you need to be satiated (“full”), and make sure you’re satisfied with what you’re eating.

Keep the net carb count around 20g or less a day, this would be a great way to quickly get yourself into ketosis.
Do intermittent fasting (IF), it has huge health benefits, and weight loss benefits, and the like. People normally use intermittent fasting for both the energy and mental clarity it can offer. But it’s not just good for that. It can help to breakthrough weight loss plateaus and even benefits in nutrient uptake in exercise. IF can be 12, 18, 24 or 36 hours. Try it!

Meal Plan Suggestion to start your new healthy life
Breakfast. For breakfast, you want to do something that’s quick, easy, tasty. Eggs. Organic bacon or low carb sausage. Or, simply, a Keto Coffee (this will last to supper, providing you drink water or herb tea every hour), see below how to make it.

Lunch. Most of the time, it’ll be a mixed salad with a few nuts and seeds. Use a high fat dressing (including MCT Oil and cider vinegar). If you do use canned meats or fish, try to read the labels and get the one that uses the least (or no) additives! Avocado, fish or hard cheese can also be used.

Dinner. Dinner will be a combination of leafy greens (e.g. broccoli, kale, spinach) with some meat or fish. Again, we’ll be going high on the fat and moderate on the protein. Fish. Lamb. Beef. Greens. Then have just a few berries with double cream or mascarpone or cream cheese with stevia. NB Greens are essential for fibre and a healthy gut microbiome.

Keto coffee. This is a mixture of coconut oil, butter, and heavy cream in your coffee (also add 1-2tsp MCT Oil; available from Herbactive.co.uk). This is how you make it: Add to your blender: a cup of piping hot coffee. 1Tbsp grass fed butter (or organic ghee). 1Tbsp Coconut oil (and MCT oil). 1Tbsp double cream – optional. Some cinnamon. (Also add 1tsp turmeric for a tweak to the taste). A little stevia to sweeten. Pinch of salt and pepper. 15-20 seconds in your blender, and you’re ready to enjoy it. This concoction is not as strange as it sounds. Butter, after all, is made out of cream. So when you blend the oil, butter, and cream together it just adds a decadent richness to your coffee that you’ll really like! It will help you get into ketosis for all those important health benefits (and start losing weight).

Remember low or no carbs: no grains, no root veg, no fruit (except a few berries) allowed; you will get a few carbs from greens, proteins, cheese, and seeds and nuts (i.e. only eat a little!). Ketosis means no more bloating or bowel irregularity!
Foods to eat: grass fed lamb, beef, wild game, fowl, fish, hard cheese, eggs, cream cheese, full fat double cream, butter, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, green leafy veg and salad, fresh kitchen herbs, spices. Full fat mayo. Organic cider vinegar. But be aware of calories – don’t overdo it. More details below. Eat your salad first, then meat.
Make soups with veg, dry herbs, beans, lentils, marmite, meat stock, etc then strain off the liquid to drink in place of a meal.
Drink water 3-4L per day (this may include herb teas, coffee, herb coffee); no milk (use cream instead).
Sweeten with green stevia, pure white stevia (buy from Herbactive), also erythritol, Splenda, monk fruit, and others.
Remember: only eat when you’re hungry; and only eat until you’re satisfied (don’t overeat), then stop.

FOODS TO EAT (but be careful with some of them as they have some carbs! Proteins also can turn into carbs!)
Here is more detailed info about what is acceptable for a healthy Keto Diet (try and buy organic, grass fed, free range):
Fat (80% of your plate): avocado, all organic virgin oils, blue cheese, brie cheese, hard cheese, butter, cocoa butter, coconut butter, coconut oil, red palm oil, salad dressing, cream cheese, duck fat, eggs – all kinds (boil, fry, scramble, omelette, baking, etc), ghee, lard, macadamia oil, MCT oil (more about this below), sesame oil, tallow, walnut oil, double cream.
Protein (15% of your plate): Organic [no nitrates] bacon, beef, cheese, chicken, cottage cheese, deer, deli meat, duck, goat, goose, lamb, pepperoni, pheasant, pork, quail, rabbit, salami, sausages (>80%), turkey, veal, wild boar; bone marrow, heart, kidney, liver, tongue, tripe, all free-range eggs.
– Fish: anchovies, bass, cod, eel, haddock, halibut, herring, mackerel, salmon, trout, tuna, sole, and all the others.
Sea food: abalone, caviar, clams, crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, scallops, shrimp, squid, octopus.
– Nuts and seeds: almonds, brazils, chia, hazels, hemp seeds, macadamia, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, nut butters, sesame, sunflower seeds, tahini, walnuts. Just a few at any one time.
Vegetables: artichoke, arugula, asparagus, beet greens, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, lettuce, cabbage, celery, chard, chives, olives, cucumber, dandelion greens, eggplant, endive, fennel, garlic, green beans, jicama, kale, kimchi, kohlrabi, leeks, leafy greens, rocket, mushrooms (all kinds), mustard greens, okra, chives, onions, parsley, peppers, radicchio, radish, rhubarb, sauerkraut, scallions, seaweed (all sea veg), shallots, spaghetti squash, spinach, swiss chard, tomatoes, turnip greens, watercress, zucchini.
Berries (only a few/day): blackberry, blueberry, cranberry, lemon, lime, raspberry, strawberry, black and red currents.
Liquids: water (>2.5L/day), coffee (black or with double cream), mineral water, tea – black or herb teas, almond milk, broth (chicken, beef, bone), club soda, coconut milk, freshly juiced celery and cucumber.
Other: almond flour/meal, cacao nibs, cacao powder, coconut flakes, coconut flour, fish oil, fermented veg, fish sauce, gelatine, tamari sauce, mayo (full fat), mustard, pickles, stevia (to sweeten), vanilla extract, vinegar.
Vegan proteins: hummus, lentils, mushrooms, nut butters, seed butters, protein powders (pea, hemp), seeds, spirulina, sprouted beans, tofu/tempe (organic fermented).
MCT Oil made from coconut oil (medium chain triglycerides, mainly caprylic acid) separated from organic coconut oil, it is very healthy; it stops the deposition of fat in the cells; it turns into ketones to become the body’s main source of energy in place of glycogen (sugar and carbs); it increases metabolic thermogenesis (burns fat for energy); increases energy, endurance; improves memory and brain clarity; helps to prevent Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease; increases HDL and lowers LDL cholesterol; improves digestion and nutrient absorption; has a balancing effect on the microbiota; it is antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. MCT is never stored – it is either used via exercise or excreted (don’t waste it!). MCT is a perfect tonic for liver problems and gall bladder issues. It is anti-candida (fungal); improves the immune system. MCT lowers blood glucose making the body burn ketones and fats instead. MCT makes the body think it’s fasting.
Buy authentic organic MCT Oil in our Herbactive online store www.herbactivehealth.com/store .

All other foods should be avoided because they will pull you out of the benefits of burning ketones as energy and burning fat, and you will start to burn glucose (glycogen) and start storing fat and water again, and feel low and look bloated, and all your effort will be lost. NB Abnormal cells absolutely thrive on sugar, hence they spread so quickly. Ketones inhibit abnormal cellular growth and enhance systemic health. It is now known that over 200 illnesses are helped or healed by a keto diet.

How to get back into ketosis quickly. Some suggestions: Fast for 12 or 24 hours (from evening meal to evening meal), only drink water & black coffee. High energy exercises e.g. HIIT exercises, cardio and/or weight training. Have a fat fast with MCT and avocado or hard cheese. Keep your carbs to 10g for 2 days. MCT curbs appetite; it doesn’t raise insulin; gets the liver to make ketones; it increases fat-burning. Drink bone broth for a day. Celery and cucumber juice.

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Other tonics to take with WeightLess which could further assist weight loss:
LSD-LemonSteviaDetox Programme
Detox
LiverDetox
MoodStepUp
SynergyPluss
Herbal VW
MoveMore1 or MoveMore2
Lymphatic cleanse
see Tonics A-Z.

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