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Spinach extract improves weight loss by almost 50%, can eliminate food cravings

Growing up and living in 21st century America sometimes feels as if you're being raised in a giant shopping mall. Along the city streets are the colorful pop-up signs of fast food joints. No, you can't push the X button to make the pop-ups go away as if they were ads on the computer screen. The catchy logos just don't go away, and the smell of junk food in the air is making the food cravings bead up, salivating on the tongue.

To make matters worse, it feels as though the giant shopping mall has invaded your own home. Television screens flash ad after ad promoting the same colorful images of fast food. Screenshots of the food are sending urges to your brain. The eyes, the ears and the nose all beg for the sense of taste to join them in satisfying those cravings. The shopping mall of junk food America is inescapable, pulling you in like Coca-Cola sucked up a straw, pulled down into a dark esophageal abyss.

At some point, today's America must look in the mirror and see what it's becoming -- a mindless, consuming monster. Isn't it time to sever the wires that connect the mind to destructive and addictive cravings? How might fast food be more addictive, more destructive than some drugs?

In a new study at Lund University in Sweden, researchers have found a way to sever those wires that inject the mind with thoughts of junk food cravings. They found that a special spinach extract called thylakoids can decrease ravenous appetites for junk food. Thylakoids are essentially the green leaf membranes of spinach. In the study, the spinach extract boosted weight loss by 43 percent by decreasing hedonic hunger by a whopping 95 percent.

Green leaf membranes help the body communicate satiety and fullness

The cravings for unhealthy sweets and fast food lead Americans down a course of diabetes and obesity, heart failure and stroke. Something as simple as spinach extract could change that destructive course with near perfect effectiveness. In the study, the thylakoids reinforced the production of satiety hormones. It's as if the spinach extract was sending in mini soldiers in for backup to suppress the monster inside salivating for junk food. The green leaf membranes bring better appetite control, encouraging healthier eating habits that boost weight loss efforts.

"Our analyses show that having a drink containing thylakoids before breakfast reduces cravings and keeps you feeling more satisfied all day," said Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson, Professor of Medicine and Physiological Chemistry at Lund University.

Spinach boosts weight loss efforts tremendously

The three-month study followed the lives of 38 overweight women. Half of the women were given a green drink containing 5 grams of spinach extract before breakfast every morning. The other half were also given a green drink each morning, but it was merely a placebo. The women were unaware of which group they belonged to and were instructed to simply eat a balanced diet.

"In the study, the control group lost an average of 3.5 kg while the group that was given thylakoids lost 5 kg. The thylakoid group also found that it was easier to stick to three meals a day -- and they did not experience any cravings", said Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson.

The placebo group lost 7.7 pounds on average, while the group drinking spinach extract lost 11 pounds on average, a striking difference.

"It is about making use of the time it takes to digest our food. There is nothing wrong with our digestive system, but it doesn't work well with the modern 'pre-chewed' food. The thylakoids extend digestion, producing a feeling of satiety. This means that we are able to stick to the diet we are meant for without snacks and unnecessary foods like sweets, crisps and such," said Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson.

The reason why processed junk food is so dangerous is that it breaks down so quickly, not allowing hormones enough time to tell the brain that the stomach is full. Green leaf membranes slow down the digestive process, giving the body time to communicate to the brain that it's full.

Sources for this article include

http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

http://science.naturalnews.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/046773_spinach_extract_weight_loss_thylakoids.html

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Top 5 psychological obstacles to weight loss, according to people in the trenches

What's the number one most difficult obstacle to losing weight?

The hardest part - the real kicker - is sticking to your plan, right?

It's the patience, perseverance and self-discipline. It's the wanting and the commitment to losing weight and becoming as healthy as you know you can be. For most people, losing the proper amount of weight will take weeks, months or even years.

What will keep you going?

The AHA Weight Loss Coaching group has discovered that when we address one or more of five psychological obstacles - all other obstacles can be brought into alignment.

If we fail to address the following issues where applicable, then losing weight may remain forever out of reach.

What prevents that all-systems-go desire and discipline to get fit and healthy?

AHA Weight Loss Group members have shared the following:

1. Fear of being thin

Some group members have reported that as they begin to lose weight, they become afraid. What will happen? How will people react to me? Do I want all the attention?

This is a common experience. To resolve it, we need to acknowledge and express the fear. Then, we must adapt. If being fit and slender is scary for you, then you need to develop the skills to manage situations as they arise. This can only be done by addressing the fear.

2. Emotional bondage to friends and family

Interestingly, some of us feel bonded to our heavy weight because of ties to family and friends. One group member summed it up this way:

In my life, every time I have lost weight, my mother distances herself from me. When I am overweight like her, she accepts me. She's obviously not comfortable with me when I am healthy, due to her own issues. But my conflict is that if I lose weight, I lose my relationship with my mother.

This is powerful. Relationships often have to be reset when one person changes. This must be done with thoughtfulness and care.

3. Self-sabotage

There an infinite ways we can sabotage ourselves. If you've had a hard time losing weight due to lack of discipline, then self-sabotage is surely in the mix.

Self-sabotage occurs when you do the opposite of what makes you happy and healthy. It may be the universal human weakness, as millions of people are unhappy and unhealthy, even though they have other options.

The hardest part of about self-sabotage is recognizing it. Watch this free and enlightening video to learn what how self-sabotage works and how to end it.

4. "Ah, Screw It!"

Big one here. Nearly every member of the AHA group has this tendency. We say screw it to our health and fitness. It's like we have an inner rebel that just wants to defy expectations and break the rules.

When we give ourselves a structured plan, the Rebel can only take so much before launching a massive inner protest.

This inner Rebel is powerful and must be reckoned with. Interestingly, most people are only vulnerable to the Rebel at certain points during the day.

5. Anticipated failure

Futility. A sense of despair and futility can be a powerful self-fulfilling prophecy. Those with this issue report that even as they set their weight loss goals, they "know" it is all pointless. They have failed time and time again.

Why would this time be any different?

Because this time they are dealing with their inner futility. They are confronting it, learning about it and developing skills and support to move beyond it.

Mike Bundrant is author of the book Your Achilles Eel: Discover and Overcome the Hidden Cause of Negative Emotions, Bad Decisions and Self-Sabotage.

For more information about the AHA Weight Loss Group, click here. If you like this article, then like my Facebook Page to keep up with all my writing.

About the author:
Watch the free video The AHA! Process: An End to Self-Sabotage and discover the lost keys to personal transformation and emotional well-being that have been suppressed by mainstream mental health for decades.

The information in this video has been called the missing link in mental health and personal development. In a world full of shallow, quick-fix techniques, second rate psychology and pharmaceutical takeovers, real solutions have become nearly impossible to find. Click here to watch the presentation that will turn your world upside down.

Mike Bundrant is co-founder of the iNLP Center and host of Mental Health Exposed, a Natural News Radio program.

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