While it is tempting to believe that a magic pill or potion is all that you need to achieve natural weight loss, the hard truth is that losing weight is just not that simple in most cases. For the vast majority of people, a combination of exercise, changes in eating habits, and perhaps the use of appropriate natural weight loss aids will be needed in order to lose weight long-term.

There are many natural weight loss products available and additional ones come out all the time. Each promises to be nearly miraculous in it’s effects and people buy the latest and greatest weight loss aid with eager anticipation, hoping that it will finally be the answer to their weight problems. They want to believe that a pill, or a patch, or a tea, etc.. will be all they need to lose weight and that diet and exercise won’t be necessary (because dieting and exercising are difficult). Even though deep down they probably know that the latest weight loss miracle being hyped is no better than all the things they’ve tried before, they want to believe it will work, and so they buy it, only to be disappointed again.

Now this is not to say that natural weight loss aids are all completely worthless. The truth is, a lot of weight loss aids actually have the effects that their prooters claim. For example, hoodia gordonii (at least the real stuff) does seem to be a very effective appetite suppressant. So, if the main reason that you have trouble losing weight is because you have out of control hunger that makes you eat excssively, hoodia may be a big help. The problem is that most people are not overeating out of actual hunger. They may eat out of boredom, out of habit, out of a need to satisfy a craving, or out of a need to soothe some emotional issue they are dealing with, but they don’t eat out of hunger. Hoodia is not going to help you if you aren’t eating out of hunger.

Other natural weight loss aids may work by increasing the metabolic effects of diet and exercise. It kind of stands to reason that if you fail to incorporate diet and exercise the effects of these products will be pretty minor.

Some natural weight loss aids block the absorption of fat by the digestive tract and thereby lower the calories you absorb from each meal. While this does tend to help with weight loss, unless you stop eating everything except fat (which is not a good idea), you still are taking in other calories that, in excess, will be converted to fat AFTER they are absorbed from the digestive tract. For optimum results, again we see that a good eating plan and exercise are necessary.

At this point, you may have guessed that one of the primary points I am trying to make is that lsting natural weight loss, absolutely requires a healthy eating plan and regular exercise. No weight loss aid, natural or otherwise will by itself make you lose weight and keep it off. In fact, the ads for weight loss aids will usually state this very thing, even though it is in microscopic print at the bottom of the ad.

What it comes down to is that natural weight loss is built on a foundation of sensible diet and exercise. With a good diet and exercise program in place, you may get additional benefits from using one or more of the natural weight loss products on the market. But do your research to find a product that serves your particular needs. In other words, if you’re not overeating out of hunger, don’t buy an appetite suppressant. If you’re already minimizing your fat intake, don’t waste your money on a fat blocker.

Now, once you have your weight loss plan in place with your diet, exercise program, and whatever natural weight loss aids you choose to use, there’s one little thing that needs to happen for you to successfully lose weight. You have to stick to the program! If there’s one thing that renders the vast majority of natural weight loss efforts ineffective, it’s a lack of follow-through.

It has been my experience that very few people stick to a natural weight loss program consistently for more than two weeks at a time. Of course, some people may intermittently follow a weight loss program for months or years, but they get sidetracked over and over again and really are not consistent for more than one or two weeks in a row, so they never get any momentum and achieve their goals.

A new study that tested the relative effectiveness of several popular diet plans revealed a fascinating finding. The overall success rates of most of the currently popular diet programs were about the same. The success or failure of any given diet had little to do with what the approach was. In other words, low carb, low fat, calorie restriction, eating for blood type, etc., really didn’t matter. The thing that actually mattered was if the person consistently followed the program! To sum it up, it doesn’t matter so much what you do to lose weight (within reason), as much as it matters that you do it consistenty long-term!

To be able to stick to your natural weight loss program, it is critical that you take charge of your thoughts and emotions. A lot of different ways exist to get control over your own mind, and different ways have varying degrees of effectiveness from one person to the next. You can get a lot of help in this area with products from Anthony Robbins, Dr. Phil, and others, as well as through technologies like hypnosis, the Sedona Method and Emotional Freedom Technique. You may need to try several methods to find what works well for you.

Regardless of the approach you use, the true key to effective natural weight loss really has very little relationship to the hottest weight loss aid on the market, or the most recent diet book being promoted. The real secret is to choose a reasonable approach that includes diet, exercise (choose an exercise you are physically capable of doing – starting with advanced kickboxing if you’ve been a couch potato your whole life is not going to work!), and possibly one or more weight loss aids and then make that program a part of your daily life forever. And the way to make that happen is to take control of your mind and get your brain working with you rather than against you. Good luck!

Copyright (c) 2010 Stephen Lau

Chinese medicine is based on the concept of balance and harmony between “yin” and “yang.” Chinese medicine has a different approach to digestive health.

In Chinese medicine, the liver stores the blood, that is, it regulates the amount of blood in circulation. Hence, the health of the liver is dependent on the sufficiency of blood for nourishment.

Additionally, the spleen, in contrast to Western medicine, also plays a pivotal part in the circulation of “qi” and blood. “Qi” is the internal life energy that courses through the body through the meridians to different organs and parts of the body, thereby instrumental in bringing oxygen and nutrients for nourishment and maintenance of digestive health. Blood is responsible for the circulation of body fluids within the body.

Because Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is about movement and transportation of food and drink in the digestive system, the spleen therefore has a critical role in the digestive health with respect to digestion and digestive disorders.

In addition, sufficient spleen produces constructive spleen for nourishing the muscles and flesh, especially in the four limbs, and therefore conducive to mobility and body movement, which facilitate digestion.

In Chinese medicine, pensiveness or overthinking affects the general health of the spleen, resulting in loss of appetitie, abdominal bloating after meals, and indigestion in general.

In Chinese medicine, “dampness” (both internal and external) may damage the spleen and weaken its functions. For example, foods, such as sugars and dairy products, create internal “dampness” in the spleen.

According to Chinese medical theory, the spleen’s main function in the digestive system is to separate the pure from the impure part of the food and drink. Specifically. on the one hand, it transports the pure part of the food and drink upwards to both the lungs as “qi” and to the heart as blood; on the other hand, it also transports the impure part of the food and drink downwards to the stomach and the small intestine for elimination to optimize digestive health.

When the spleen and the stomach are healthy, the spleen “qi” moves upwards, while the stomach “qi” moves downwards in a balanced and coordinated manner. Chinese medicine places much emphasis on the importance of balance — the balance of “yin” and “yang,” which is the basis of Chinese medicine.

However, if there is imbalance in the upward movement, belching, constipation, epigastric distention, and nausea may result. Concurrently, the imbalance may also affect the downward movement, leading to abdominal distention and diarrhea.

The liver may play an indirect but, nonetheless, critical role in digestive health. The liver is affected by our emotions. In life, we cannot do everything we want to do and when we want to do. Delaying gratification is tantamount to emotional distress: when we cannot have what we want to have, our liver becomes unduly stressed. An obvious sign of dysfunctional liver is anger or irritability.

Overwork and improper diet, too much thinking or worrying, inadequate physical activity (sedentary work) may weaken the spleen.

According to Chinese medicine, the root cause of IBS is disharmony between the liver and the spleen. Accordingly, the liver controls the spleen because the efficient functioning of the body’s “qi” mechanism is dependent on the free flow of liver “qi.” Therefore, if the liver becomes depressed, the spleen is adversely affected; conversely, if the spleen is weakened, it may cause the liver to become depressed too. In other words, they are inter-dependent in terms of digestive health and overall wellness. In conclusion, it is important to optimize the health of the liver and the spleen to maintain good digestive health.

Cooking is predigestion of food outside the body. In Chinese medicine, the majority of all food should be cooked. This is the reason why you do not find salad bars in Chinese restaurants. Although cooking may destroy some vital nutrients, cooking facilitates the absorption of the rest of the nutrients. Frozen foods and drinks impair the health of the spleen, and hence detrimental to digestive health.

Sugars and sweets directly damage the spleen, because “dampness” is damaging to the spleen, and sugars are dampening agents. They do harm to digestive health.

Flour products, such as bread, noodles and pasta, are dampening, because wheat (as opposed to brown rice) is dampening by nature.

All oils and fats are also dampening by nature, and hence spleen-damaging. By the same token, all milk products are dampening. They do not benefit digestive health.

Avoid dampening foods that damage the spleen. The best diet for the spleen is a clear, bland diet of unrefined grains, such as brown rice and heans, and low-fat meat, with lightly cooked vegetables. Good digestive health is optimum overall health.