What Foods are Rich In Omega 3 Fatty Acids?

There’s been a lot of talk about Omega 3 fats in the last few years and how it can be used to help lose weight, gain weight, and just generally improve the bodies overall health. It is nothing new, what I mean by that is you’ve probably been having Omega 3 in your diets for years, all your life for some people. However, it’s only just recently been covered and researched by health professionals and people are still unsure of what food sources they can get this essential fatty acid from.

Foods that are rich in Omeag 3 can actually be seperated into two main categories which are plant foods and animal foods. There are not many animal sources that contain high amounts of omega 3 fatty acids such as EPA and DHA. A well known source of Omega 3 is fish as it contains large amounts of both EPA and DHA.

Another great source of Omega 3 other than fish, shrimps, and various other sea foods is Plant oils. Oils such as Hemp oil, soybean oil and flax seed oil are all great sources of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. These oils have a number of healthy benefits as they are pure and do not contain and impurities whatsoever. Another plus for these oils is that they contain a good quantity of Omega 6 fats also which is required to compliment all the benefits of Omega 3 in the body.

Out of the mentioned plant oils, hemp oil has to be the number ones choice as it contains the best ratio of both omega 3 and 6. Flax seed oil is another great choice however as it contains better amounts of ALA which is a longer chain fatty acid. ALA is broken down by the body into both EPA and DHA.

Other sources that have been known to provide adequate amounts of Omega 3 are things such as tofu and omega 3 rich eggs which also provide good amounts of both DHA and EPA. Others include Navy beans, walnuts, kidney beans and almonds are all good sources of Omega 3.

If you don’t eat any of the sources that I have suggested above I would definitely think about adding them to your diet as soon as possible and have them on a regular basis as the benefits are extreme.

You can also buy supplements on the market which contain concentrated amounts of omega 3 and various other essential fatty acids. These products are really useful if you don’t have time to get the required daily amount of EFA’s and they can be consumed by people of all ages.

I would recommed only buying big name brands of this stuff made from only pharmaceutical grade fish oil. In addition to this advice I would also suggest, if possible, that you get products that are madel from the oil of the hoki fish which is found in New Zealand. This Omega 3 enriched fish not only has great amounts of EFA’s but it also has very low amounts of mercury and other various toxins.

Want to learn how to gain weight and build muscle naturally and healthily? Check out this site now and you will learn all you need to know on bodybuilding and nutrition.

The Benefits Of Weight Training

Why do some men and women shy away from weight training as a form of getting fit? Could it be because they’re embarrassed because of their size or the fear of people looking down on them, there’s plenty of reasons why people would shy way from it, so I think a list of the benefits of weight training would build that weight room confidence up ten fold.1. Weight Training Helps To Lose Fat – Weight Training to lose fat is often mis-understood, with many people (women in particular) thinking that they would get bigger in the process. Well, this just isn’t true, in fact doing this to lose fat is both good and essential. When people submit to a low calorie diet and cardio workout regime they lose muscle as well as fat. However, when you gain muscle you can actually train your body to burn fat more efficiently.2. You will feel strong and fit – Feeling strong and looking fit is one of the best benefits of weight training and it’s a fantastic motivational boost, it gives you that urge to look in the mirror and feel good about the way you look. If you don’t know how to use anything in the gym or how to lift correctly then you can always hire a personal trainer for a few gym sessions. Most gyms have personal trainers on hand all day anyways and you can hire them for very little. The little money you do spend on the few sessions is well worth it to get to know how to lift correctly.3. It gives you more energy – After the first session you will feel great even though you only lifted a few weights.

instead of making excuses to skip a workout you’re going to be making excuses to go to the gym to do another workout.With the excess fat you’re going to lose through weight training there’s going to be less weight to carry round than before, which means there’s going to be less fatigue.

4. Once you see results – Usually when beginning it in the first few weeks (if eating correctly that is) you will start to see results and this is a major boost which just makes you want to train even harder and look greater for it.At first you may seem a little skeptical, like why the hell am I doing this or you may not even understand what you’re doing, but all will come to light when you start to notice that it is actually doing something. The telltale sign of noticing

that your weight training program is working is you will start to see definition and firmness in muscles you never thought existed.

5. You’re not going to get bored – Believe me it’s not going to happen, but you’ll be forgiven to think so. Many people don’t lift weights because they think it will be boring. If you want to do something with your body you should have the determination to outweigh the boredom. If you do find your training to get a little bit repetitive just change your workout routine. I generally change my routine once every 5 weeks. It allows me to work on different machines and keeps me motivated and determined. Any training can get boring if you allow it to, just remember to mix it up a bit every now and again and you’ll be ok.

You can train at home – You don’t just have to join a gym to lift weights, why not start lifting from home? All you need is a few basic lifting apparatus. All you need is declining bench, a set of dumbbells, and a barbell, that’s it, oh yeah and a bit of room in you house. Programs can be implemented and can be very effective no matter were you are.

You can get rid of pain – Yes thats right, one of the many benefits of weight training is the fact that you can train your muscles to increase the strength and motion of the joints allowing for a much easier range of movement. So if you’ve got a bad knee, a bum shoulder, or a wrenched neck then your going to be pain free, allowing you to do more outdoorsy things and fun whilst doing them.

Your bones get stronger – Providing resistance and strain to the muscles makes them grow, it’s the same with bones, they get stronger and denser when more weight is and strain is put on them. Building stronger bones can be the best defense against bone disease. Age is not an issue in this, you can even start when your 65 and still experience a lot of benefits from weight training. Its never too late to start a program, so start one now and experience all the benefits.

Want to learn how to gain weight and build muscle naturally and healthily? Check out this site now and you will learn all you need to know on bodybuilding and nutrition.

The Best Weight Gain Supplements

A lot of weight gain supplements that are in the market do not work, there’s only a few that actually do. There are a few supplements that I have taken that I fully endorse, don’t get me wrong, but there are a lot of sales pitches around from big multi-million companies and people are falling for them and it needs to stop.You can search around the net or in the shops to find the best weight gain supplements for each goal you have, whether it be losing fat, gaining muscle, or gaining weight.

Some of the best weight gain supplements I’ve tried and have been successful with are:

DHEA - DHEA is an acronym for the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone.

In men 50% of testosterone comes from DHEA and it’s the most plentiful androgenic hormone that is produced by the adrenal glands. As you can see it’s very important to bodybuilders and athletes alike, women even get 75% of their estrogen from it, and it goes upto nearly 100% after menopause.

Your levels of DHEA are very high at birth, they drop through childhood, and peak to their highest levels during young childhood. After that the levels continue to drop throughout life. Luckily however this product is available in supplement form. As a building block hormone it is proven to help towards the production of several other hormones as well, and it’s been shown to help people lose weight, burn fat, and build muscle.

Using DHEA as a dietary supplement will help maintain adequate levels in the body and improve a person’s general well being. Medical professionals in America have discovered that DHEA levels in people who are depressed are lower than in those of a normal mental state, and when given DHEA supplements it reportedly improved their state of mind. There are plenty of good names for DHEA, some what I use and have used are; AST DHEA, Ultimate Nutrition DHEA, and High Power DHEA.

Protein – This supplement is one of the major nutrients responsible for growth and repair of muscles. People who lift weights and are undergoing heavy training will need more protein than the average person. Protein should be the number one nutrient taken for people who are trying to build muscle and gain weight.

There are several different protein sources you can buy, some of the best I recommend are whey, casein, and soy. Whey is well and truly the best protein available for the body as it utilizes it better than any other.

Some of the best protein brands I know are Best Isopure, Optimum Whey, and Met-Rx Whey.

Creatine – This for me is without doubt one of the best supplements for weight gain. It is a must for people who are weight training and are looking to gain strength, muscle mass, and also endurance.

Creatine is a naturally produced compound which is produced in our own bodies to help supply the muscle with energy. Why do we need an extra supplement? you ask. Well you need it because we don’t produce enough of it from whole foods on their own. It will increase endurance, overall power, and will also increase muscle size, so you can see why it is very useful to bodybuilders and people looking to gain weight and build muscle. It does these things by forcing water into the muscle cells, which forces the muscles to hold water within themselves instead of under the skin.

Creatine overall, is very safe and easy to use, and is one of the best weight gain supplements you can buy. It has definately served me very well over the years and it will continue to do so I’m sure. Some of the best brands for creatine are; Prolab Creatine, FSI Creatine, and High Power Micronized Creatine.

These are just a few of some of the best weight gain supplements that I have tried and use till this day. Please remember though, that there is no miracle cure, no magic pills, or no substitute for a good solid 6 meal a day diet and a quality training regime to gain weight or build muscle.

If the supplements are taken properly and often (which means consistently and not too much) then products like protein, creatine, and meal replacements will help you no-end in reaching your goals faster and more effectively than not taking them at all.

Good Fats and Bad Fats

I bet you have read a lot of rubbish about you needing to cut out as much as can, well this is partially true.

Whatever you may read always remeber that there are good fats and there are bad fats. Fat is mainly present in the form triglycerides in foods. Triglycerides consist of three fatty acids and glycerol. The fatty acids can be saturated, unsaturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.

The saturated fats are considered to be the bad fats, and unsaturated fats are known as the good ones.

Saturated fats tend to form a waxy form inside the body which then clogs up the arteries. If you have ever used a Goerge Foreman to grill bacon or sausage then you will know what I mean. Saturated fast are known to also increase the cholesterol levels. It is found in most dairy products, as well as some veggie oils.

Polyunsaturated fats tend to lower the bodies cholesterol levels. This source of fat is usually found in plant sources.

Monounsaturated fat tend to lower the bad cholesterol in the body (LDL). It can be found in both animal and plant sources.

Although margarines sound quite good with them containing monounsaturated fats, the way they make them is not. Because the supermarket chains and big food companies want the margarine easier to spread and also to last longer, they tend to add hydrogenated fats. During this process of making man made fats they create Trans Fats, which are as bad if not worse than saturated fats. The trans fats appear in many processed foods. Always check the labels of foods to see if they contain any man made fats. If they are try to find something else to eat instead. You never know how much of the trans fats you will be taking in as they do not tend to state the actual amount conatined on the foods labels. There’s been quite a big clamp down recently on man made fats in foods but you can still find them in some products.

Try to stick to a small amount of saturated fats in your daily diet, and it would be best if you could get it out of your diet all together but weheres the fun in that, a lot of great tasting foods have staurated fats in them. If you want to limit this in your weight and muscle gain diet just treat yourself at the end of every week or a couple of times through the week.

Remember to always read those labels!

Delicious Weight Gain Dessert Recipe: Fudge

Your in for a treat today because I’m going to share with you one of dirty little secrets that I have never shared with anyone before. I’m talking about a delicious dessert that satisfies my sweet tooth and suplies me with lot’s of quality nutrients.

This dessert is a very healthy version of a peanut butter fudge. If you don’t like either the nuts or the butter, it’s not a problem because you can leave them out and just have a chocolate version which is just as delicious. Make sure you take notes of this recipe as there are certain ingreadients in this fudge that make it a lot more nutritional for you.

This fudge is not low calorie per se’, as I’m not a miracle worker, but it is full of essential healthy fats, protein, tons of antioxidants,relatively low in sugar, and it also contains a decent amount of fiber as well. I would really recommed this snack as it help curn your appetite, it fuels your muscles, fills your body with anti-oxidants, and it it stops that sweet tooth dead in it’s tracks. If your anything like me and you have a real temprimental sweet tooth then this recipe is worth its weight in gold.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup organic coconut milk (make sure you get the organic version as well, the watered down version of this is not going to cut it)
• 1 bar of extra dark chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa.
• 4-5 tablespoons of peanut butter or any other nut butter of your liking.
• 3/4 cup of raisins (which is totally upto you but it seems to go really well with it)
• 1/2 cup of whole peice almonds (also optional, but again, it’s really nice with them)
• 2 Tbsp of raw wheat germ
• 2 Tbsp of rice bran (you will probably have to visit a health stor for this)
• 1/2 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
• And last of all, a little stevia powder to sweeten it and add a bit more flavour.

Now lets get to the cooking part……

Start off by adding the organic coconut milk and the vanilla extract to a small pan and place on a very low heat. Now, break up the dark chocolate itno small chunks and add them into the pan. Add the nut butter of your choice into the pan with the stevia as well, and stir continuously until you get a smooth mixture.

Now thats down to  smooth mixture you can add the raisins, almonds, wheat germ, and the rice bran. Keep stirring until they are fully blended in with the rest of the mixture. When thats done you can spoon the fudge mixture into some waxed paper in a dish and place it in the fridge for around half an hour or until it cools and hardens. Remember to cover the mixture in the dish so that it does’nt dry out when cooling.

Enjoy small squares for dessert and for small snacks throughout the day. This is about as good as it gets for a healthy yet delicious treat!

Grocery Shopping Deception : Be Careful

I was at the grocery store today picking up some ingredients for a black bean & brown rice with seasoned venison strips dish I was planning to make, when an interesting thing happened.

I had gone straight to the grocery store after training a couple clients at the gym. Well, as I was grabbing some frozen veggies, a friendly lady (who must have seen that I was a fitness coach from my shirt), asked me my advice on a couple frozen prepared box meals she was picking out (by the way, those prepared frozen meals are usually highly processed crap loaded with sodium and other chemicals).

Now I will say that this woman was VERY overweight, and she mentioned that she has “tried everything” to get rid of all of the excess body fat and always failed.

Keep in mind I hear about 50 people a day tell me they’ve “tried everything” to get in shape. The problem that they don’t realize is that they’re trying all of the wrong things…they’re trying all of the gimmicks and fads that are out there instead of just adopting a TRUE healthy active lifestyle.

Back to the woman in the store…

So we started chatting about her struggles with getting in shape, and I began scanning her grocery cart. If I can remember, these were some of the contents she thought were healthy:

• Slim fast shakes (far from healthy…they’re actually loaded with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and a bunch of other chemicals)
• Fat Free Rice Cakes (ok…despite so many people believing these pieces of crap are healthy…they really are nothing but pure refined starch with zero fiber, which basically breaks down immediately into sugar in your body, spiking insulin and promoting fat storage…doesn’t sound so good anymore, huh)
• Protein bars “Scientifically Slim Body Engineered” or some BS statement like that (I took a gander at the ingredient list of these so called “healthy” protein bars and sure enough… hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and enough sugar alcohols to give you diarrhea for a week!)
• Canned fruit in syrup (I guess she could do worse here…but still, why not just eat fresh whole fruit which still contains the skins, fiber, active enzymes, etc, instead of resorting to processed, canned fruit that’s been cooked and loaded with syrup)
• Reduced Sugar Dessert Cakes (ok, so these are loaded with artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, preservatives, and a chemical ingredient list about 15 lines long)

Do you see what’s going on here? This is the same scenario that I see all the time.

Most people are fooled by what the FRONT OF THE BOX says, leading them to believe what they are buying is healthy. On all of these items, the FRONT of the packages had all kinds of great sounding things like “fat free”, “reduced sugar”, “high protein”, “low cholesterol”, “low carb”, etc.

However, the TRUTH is on the BACK OF THE BOX! Ah yes, the ingredient list and nutrition info is where the real truth is. However, I’ve realized that most of the general public doesn’t know how to fully understand the ingredient list and nutrition info, so they rely on the advertising claims on the front of the package to guide them.

BIG MISTAKE!

If you notice, this woman thought she was doing great with her grocery shopping and buying all kinds of healthy stuff for her and her family.

In reality, EVERYTHING she was buying was highly processed and full of chemicals and industrially refined ingredients. No wonder “nothing has worked” for her to get in shape and lose the body fat… she actually hasn’t been doing anything right. She’s been mislead by all of the confusing marketing and labeling and conflicting nutrition info in the mass media.

The 40-30-30 Diet

40-30-30 Nutrition Plan Review

The premise of the 40-30-30 Diet is simple: “Your genes have not
changed very much during the past 100,000 years”. 

Our body is a biochemical machine, and for hundreds of thousands
of years, our digestive system operated correctly when eating
just 2 food groups:

1. Lean Protein

2. Natural Carbohydrates like fruits and vegetables

Evolution works very slowly, and as far as our genes are concerned,
we are still build to eat those 2 food groups. By evolutionary
standards,  agriculture is still relatively recent and therefore
our digestive system has not yet adapted to eating large quantities
of dense, highly processed carbohydrates like grains, pasta and bread. 

Because we haven’t evolved to a stage where we can properly digest
large amounts of high density carbohydrates, our body experiences
adverse biochemical effects like fat gain, diabetes, heart
disease, sluggish feeling, etc. The 40-30-30 Diet is designed to
feed our body according to its genetic makeup.

What you eat and how you eat has a powerful effect on your body
and health. This diet plan treats food as more than just a source
of calories that must be counted and restricted.  It views food
as a powerful agent that has significant effects on our body. 
For example, certain foods can cause severe surges in insulin
production.  Significant swings in insulin levels can negatively
affect mood, endurance, mental focus, and fat.  The 40-30-30
Diet Plan was designed to keep our body balanced and performing
at its peak.  It does this by incorporating 4 key elements:

The 40-30-30 Nutrition Plan
The use of mono-unsaturated fats
Supplementation with Omega-3 oils
Exercise

40-30-30 Sample Meals and Snacks Diet Menu

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs Florentine with cheese and grapes

Snack: Yogurt with raspberries and almonds

Lunch: Chicken Salad Pita Sandwich with asparagus salad

Snack: Turkey and Cheddar Lettuce Wrap

Dinner: Zesty Broiled Fish with couscous

The Benefits of Flaxseed Oil

What is Flax seed oil and what are the benefits of it? Well, there’s been a lot of research of this product, mainly to do with bodybuilding and fitness. It has been found to contain an essential fatty acid (EFA) known as alpha linolenic acid. This is very useful because it is turned into Omega 3 fatty acid (well known EFA) in the body which in turn increases the insulin levels in the bodies muscle cells. The Flax seed oil also produces and increase in steroid production and therefore serves as a valuable source for energy, building muscle, and gaining weight.

That’s not all, to crank things up a bit, did you know that there are also tonnes of other very valuable nutrients included in flaxseed oil? Well, there sure is, when I say tonnes I mean it. Nutrients included are :

• Folic acid – Is a form of water soluble vitamin B9 which is essential for the growth of new cells, it’s also given to pregnant women during pregnancy to prevent anemia.
• Niacin – Is another water soluble form of supplement and it’s also known as vitamin B3. It’s main roles are energy metabolism and DNA repair, but it also helps in assisting in the production of steroid hormones made by the adrenal gland, such as sex hormones and stress-related hormones.
• Vitamin B1 – Is also known a thiamin, it plays an important role in helping the body metabolize carbohydrates and fat to produce energy.
• Vitamin B2 – (Also known a Riboflavin) Essential for converting carbohydrate into energy; Essential for normal tissue respiration; Necessary for healthy mucous membranes
• Vitamin B12 – Vitamin B12 is necessary for the synthesis of red blood cells, the maintenance of the nervous system, and growth and development in children. Deficiency can cause anaemia. Vitamin B12 neuropathy, involving the degeneration of nerve fibres and irreversible neurological damage, can also occur.
• Vitamin A – helps maintain the health of skin and mucus linings (in the nose for example); helps strengthen immunity from infections; helps vision in dim light.
• Vitamin D – acts like a hormone, regulating the formation of bone and the absorption of calcium and phosphorus from the intestine. It helps to control the movement of calcium between bone and blood, and vice versa.
• Vitamin E – protects your cells against the effects of free radicals, which are potentially damaging by-products of energy metabolism.

If you want to experience the full benefits of flax seed, it is very important that you ground the seeds before you eat them or you can just use pure flax seed oil instead. The flax seed is way to hard to digest in the body and it will pass straight through the body without releasing any of it’s nutrients. I hope you can see the benefits of this oil for building muscle and gaining weight and that you go ahead if you’re not doing so already and use it.
If you want to know more information on how to gain weight and build muscle you can visit my Weight Training site to learn more.