Tag supplements

Migraine sufferers are constantly looking for ways and means to prevent migraines from occurring. The pain from these headaches can be so bad that their daily life is affected and they are no able to function properly due to the suffering.

Acupuncture, migraine surgery, medication, yoga, etc. are all techniques employed to either keep migraines in check or to keep them at bay.

Over the years, studies and tests conducted have shown that certain herbs and supplements are highly effective in the battle against migraines. They are considered as holistic methods of treatment and seem healthier than the medication that a doctor would prescribe.

It would be worth noting that while these supplements and herbs are effective, in times of immense pain, you should consume the medication that your doctor has prescribed for you. Natural supplements and herbs can work in conjunction with your medication. There is no need to suffer unnecessarily.

The most common supplements used are riboflavin and magnesium, while the most commonly used herbs are butterbur and feverfew.

Most Common Supplements for Migraine Help

Riboflavin which is a form of vitamin B is found in foods such as eggs, meat, nuts, green leafy vegetables, etc. It is effective for people who have migraine headaches due to low levels of riboflavin.

Studies have shown that daily consumption of riboflavin decreases the frequency of migraines.

Your body can get magnesium from consuming foods such as nuts, spices, green leafy vegetables and tea. Some articles may recommend coffee as a source of magnesium. This is true but it is best to avoid coffee because it also contains caffeine, which is a migraine trigger. If you want the energy of caffeine but don’t want the bad side effects, try a functional whole food product that contains guarana.

It is best to get your magnesium from consuming food. When you consume magnesium supplements, there can be side effects such as diarrhea. Furthermore, the magnesium supplements have been known to react with antibiotics and cause muscle problems or blood pressure issues.

Most Common Herbs for Migraine Help

Feverfew is an herb with a name that sounds as if it was taken out of a Harry Potter novel. This herb has been used since the time of our forefathers to treat a variety of health problems such as asthma, menstrual cramps, headaches, etc.

It would be a good idea to speak to your doctor first before you start chewing away on the feverfew leaves. Certain health problems such as diabetes and liver problems can be exacerbated by consuming feverfew.

Butterbur is another name that usually pops up when talking about natural remedies for migraines. This herb has also been used for ages to treat pain and fevers. Nowadays, it is most popular for treating migraines and is sold commercially.

The butterbur plant contains toxic substances that will affect your liver. So, do not just grab a butterbur plant and whip up a salad with it. You will need to purchase the butterbur supplement which has the toxic substances removed.

These are just some of the natural methods used to treat migraines. There are many more out there. You may do your research online for holistic migraine supplements and treatments to see which suit you best and give them a try for a while. It will take time before you see results but if you stay the course, you might see the positive results you’re looking for.

If you take a peek into some of the advertising copy of “miracle” supplements, you may actually begin to believe that diet and exercise are no longer necessary if you want to become healthy and ripped. You just need to pop a pill, and your fat will magically turn into muscle.

But regardless of whether you believe the hype or not, you have to ask, does fat turn into muscle?

This is a good question, because turning fat into muscle has always been a standard claim in the fitness industry.

But if that’s the case…

Exactly how does fat turn into muscle?

The answer: it depends.

Fat vs. Muscle

If you mean literally turning fat into muscle, then the answer to the question is no. Fat does not turn into muscle, because they’re made from different types of cells. It is physiologically impossible to turn fat into muscle because fat doesn’t have nitrogen which is needed so it can turn into muscle and there’s no way to turn fatty tissue into amino acids.

It’s sort of like trying to turn straw into gold. It can only happen in fairy tales.

Less Fat, More Muscle

Now if we are talking about turning fat into muscle in a less literal sense, then it’s possible. It’s a figure of speech, just like when some advertising copy promises to turn you into Hercules. You don’t actually become the demigod son of Zeus—you just turn into a muscular dude.

But why do some chubby people turn into impressively muscled men in some pictures? You’ve probably seen them too. And then again, some people don’t seem to lose weight at all. They just become more fit and muscular while their flab disappears.

That’s because when you stick to eating right, supplementing with whole food nutrients (Zeal for Life recommended) and a good weightlifting routine, two things can happen:

You will lose weight. When you don’t consume enough calories for your weightlifting activities, your body is then forced to lose burn the fat stored in your body for energy. Exercise burns calories, and combined with a diet your calorie intake can become less than the number of calories you use up.

You will gain muscle. When you lift weights, what you really do is to stress and tear your muscles. Your body then responds to this by rebuilding the muscles, and because you have lots of protein in your diet you have the necessary raw material to build more massive muscle.

You can’t turn straw into gold, but in the real world you can sell straw and then use the money to buy gold. And when we put it this way, we did turn straw into gold.

It’s the same thing for turning fat into muscle. You have two separate results—muscle gain and fat loss—but both are the results of your diet and weightlifting regimen. And they happen generally at the same time.

So does fat turn into muscle? In a way it does, from a certain POV.

One of the things you need to understand is that trying to build more muscle can take time. We’re not talking about looking like The Rock here. We’re talking about maybe adding 5 to 10 pounds of muscle mass. But the good news is, you can actually learn how to build muscle fast.

What may be slowing down your progress is that perhaps you don’t fully grasp what you need to do to build muscle. Learn to understand the basic principles of bodybuilding and you should be able to learn how to build muscle fast as well.

What to Eat to Build Muscle Fast

Nutrition plays a crucial role in building muscle. Essentially, they provide you with the “raw material” so you can have bigger muscles. So you’ll need to pay attention to what you eat. You have to keep a record, and you have to note down your caloric consumption plus your carb and protein intake.

If you really want to speed up the muscle building process, then you can’t take too much time trying to understand everything you read. It can get very confusing for you, since a lot of online “facts” on the topic are untrue or contradictory. With the help of a nutritionist, you can get a definitive diet plan which you can just follow to the letter.

You’ll also need to look into some supplements. That’s because your diet may not be able to provide you with all the nutrients you need on a consistent basis. If you can’t get enough protein from your food, then you can compensate by drinking protein shakes.

However, supplements can also boost hormone profiles or increase the amount of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which you need for energy. Some supplements contain ZMA or creatine for this purpose. Other supplements can also have caffeine, which will give you the energy you need for your workout.

Correct Bodybuilding Exercises to Build Muscle

This is also a very confusing topic, as there are as many philosophies as there are professional trainers out there. What seems to be a unanimous belief is that you must lift weights if you want to learn how to build muscles.

Again, professional advice can really accelerate your progress, so you may want to look into hiring a personal trainer. For the most part, trainers are of the opinion that the basic exercises can give you the fastest results.

These include bench pressing, deadlifts, and squats. You can also add pull-ups and military presses. These exercises work more muscles in far less time than other exercises.

What you need to avoid is over-training. More is not always better. With over-training, you’ve dealt too much stress on your muscles and this can result in injury, a lack of progress, or the decrease in enthusiasm.

You should also try to spice things up every month or so by changing your workout routine. Simple changing the sequence of the workouts can work.

Finally, you have to improve. The weight you can lift should be more after a month. By improving, you maintain a consistent level of stress on your system.

Rest and Recreation Help Build Muscle Fast

While you toil away on your workout routine, ironically most of your muscle growth happens while you’re taking a rest. It’s during your off-training days when your muscles are recovering when you actually build muscles. This is why you mustn’t exercises the same muscles every day.
Basically, the exercises are “tearing” your muscle fibers. When you rest, your body rebuilds your muscles, and that means they can get bigger and stronger. If you are feeling some pain, you should stop and rest.

You need your rest for your muscles to recover. It’s estimated that muscles need as much as 72 hours of rest after a workout session.

So getting enough sleep is a must. You need to learn to relax, so that your body doesn’t produce too much cortisol which encourages your body to burn muscle and store fat.

If you still don’t get some improvement after following these tips, then a visit to the doctor may also help. You may have an underlying health condition that keeps you from building muscle.

You just have to keep in mind that even with these tips, it will still take some time to get the physique you want. You can’t expect super quick results. You just need to go at it and persevere. At least with these tips on how to build muscle fast you will be able to achieve the results you want in the shortest time possible.

If you’re wondering what CLA is, it stands for conjugated linoleic acid. Health stores all over the nation have been selling CLA as supplements to aid in fat loss. As with most other weight loss pills and supplements, it has received its fair share of hype and ‘testimonials’ to convince potential buyers that it is effective.

So is CLA as Effective as the Manufacturers Claim?

Studies have been conducted on rats, mice and recently humans too. The studies have shown that CLA indeed does promote fat loss but the participants also were on a sensible diet and exercise program.

Ah hah! Isn’t that always the case; a sensible diet and exercise program!

CLA is a supplement and just like the word suggests, it is meant to supplement a proper training regimen and healthy diet. Without these 2 fundamentals in place, no supplement or pill or anything that we know of will work to make you lose weight.

Most of the typical fat burners on the market contain stimulants to make your body lose weight. Recently, one of these stimulants, ephedrine is being clamped down on and now illegal in the US because of its negative side effects; which can be potentially fatal.

What are the Side Effects of CLA?

Most fat burners which contain stimulants will produce side effects such as jitters, trembles, heart palpitations, increased heart rate and increased blood pressure. None of these are good for you. Fortunately, CLA has no stimulants, so it does not cause any negative side effects.

Now let’s look at studies conducted to determine the efficacy of CLA.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the first study we know of. It was discovered that when the participants were supplemented with 3.2 g/d of CLA (the recommended dose for weight loss benefits) they burned more fat while they slept.

This is excellent news. To make things even better, the fat the subjects burned was stored body fat and not the fat they had consumed the day before. The results are promising.

The CLA also promoted improved protein retention. This is good news because it prevents muscle from breaking down easily. During weight loss programs, it is common to lose some muscle along with the fat. That is why it is crucial to include resistance training with the cardio so that we can retain every bit of muscle that we can.

CLA is Another Good Tool to Add to Your Weight Loss Tool Box

So, the bottom line is that by consuming CLA supplements, it might give us an added advantage to holding on to our precious muscle and burn body fat at the same time.

So far, there have been no documented cases of adverse reactions from people who have consumed CLA. That’s a really great sign. With that said, this would be a supplement worth investing in to help accelerate your fat loss and to help you reach your desired weight loss goals.

A word of caution though – Don’t overdo it. It is very common for people to not stick with the recommended doses and take more than the prescribed amount. They naively assume that by increasing the dose they’ll speed up the process because more is better. This is not so and is a huge mistake. Stick with the recommended dose which will probably be around 3.2 g/d.

Lastly, make sure you maintain your training regimen and eat wisely while aiming for a daily calorie deficit of 500 cal/day. If you do this right, the CLA will be a very beneficial tool that you can use on your weight loss quest.