WEIGHT LOSS ADVISOR BLOG

Cinnamon is an evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka and Southern India. Its bark is very commonly used as the spice we all know as cinnamon. The original cinnamon is the Ceylon cinnamon, also known as true cinnamon, which is mostly used in Europe.

However, there are many related cinnamon spices, also labeled as “cinnamon”, which is incorrect. For example the most commonly sold as “cinnamon” in US and Canada actually is called cassia, distinguished from true cinnamon as Indonesian cinnamon or Chinese cinnamon. It comes from Southern China.

Cassia is a very close relative to the “true cinnamon”, but its flavor is less delicate than that of the “true cinnamon” and that is why it is less expensive.

Cinnamon “sticks” (quills) are 5-10 cm long rolls of thin dried bark and can be grated into cinnamon powder. Most people prefer the cinnamon sticks to the powder, because the sticks, if stored properly, can be kept fresh and flavorous for 2-3 years, and the powder - six months only.

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The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss is designed by Dr. Arthur Agatston, who is a cardiologist at the University of Miami, Florida.

Basics of the South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is based on the Glycemic Index* and emphasizes on the balanced intake of good carbs* and good fats*.

* Glycemic Index (GI) - ranking system for the carbohydrate effect on blood sugar levels; carbohydrates that break down rapidly during digestion have high GI; carbohydrates that break down slowly have low GI.

* Good carbs - high in fiber or high in good fats, and have a low GI – fruits, vegetables, eggs, fish, poultry, dairy products, seeds, muesli.

* Good fats - polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, especially those with omega-3 fatty acids (saturated and trans fats are bad fats).

The diet is often called a low-carb, because of the limited carbohydrate intake during the first two weeks of the diet and is also compared to the Atkins Diet. The author states it is not a low-carb diet and the only similarity it has with the Atkins diet is the first two week introductory period of low carb consumption.

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The Mediterranean Diet is not a specific diet plan but a collection of healthy eating diet plans followed by the people from the Mediterranean region.

Many studies have confirmed that people from the Mediterranean countries and Southern Europe who follow the Mediterranean Diet live longer and suffer far less from heart disease than Northern Europeans and Americans.

That is why the Mediterranean healthy eating diet plan has become more and more popular for the past few years – especially the fruits, vegetables, olive oil and seafood.

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The Sonoma Diet is a new and better way of eating without starvation.

The Sonoma Diet is a weight loss diet plan that allows you to eat the foods you enjoy. It combines healthy meal plans and recipes into an easy to follow and very delicious diet plan.

With the Sonoma Diet you don’t focus on all the things you are NOT eating, but on the things you are eating, which are truly delicious.

The Sonoma diet is a Mediterranean type diet that recommends:

• Whole grains
• Lean meats
• Fruits – strawberries, grapes
• Vegetables - spinach
• Healthily fats, such as olive oil
• Nuts – almonds
• Wine in moderation

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Today I will finish my bean recipes series with a couple of delicious bean desserts. I hope you’ll like them.

Black Bean Dessert

6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb black beans (soaked overnight in water)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 lb brown sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 cloves
• 1 ½ tablespoon sesame seeds (toasted)

Cooking guidelines

Discard the soaking water and boil the beans until become soft.

Mash the beans and place in a medium sized pan. Add the milk, sugar, cinnamon and cloves.

Take to medium heat stirring constantly until thickened and remove from heat.

Take out cinnamon sticks and cloves. Stir in 1 tablespoon sesame seeds.

Transfer to a bowl and top with remaining sesame seeds.

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Green Bean Casserole – Classic

6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 (16 oz) cans cut green beans (drained)
• 1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 (2.8 oz) can French Fried Onions 
• salt and pepper to your taste

Cooking guidelines

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the beans, soup, milk and half the onions, add salt and pepper to taste.

Bake in a medium sized casserole for about 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

Top with remaining onions and continue to bake for another 5 minutes or until onions are golden.

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Red Lentil Dahl

Ingredients

• 1 cup lentils (soaked for 1 hour)
• 6 cups water
• 1 each onion, small (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon butter/oleo
• 1/2 each green chili (chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Cooking guidelines

Drain and wash lentils in cold water. Place lentils in a saucepan.

Add water, green chili, salt and turmeric. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 1hour 30 minutes.

Melt butter/oleo in a small frying pan and sauté the onion in it. Add the onion and the butter/oleo to the lentils and boil for 2 or 3 minutes.

Serving

Serve with fresh lemon juice. Rice is also a good addition – see next recipe…

Variation

You can also add 1/2 cup of mixed veggies, or 1/2 cup of chopped potatoes and cauliflower, or 1/2 cup of green peas.

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I know that beans are considered to be one of the main foods in developing countries, because of their easy and cheap cultivation.

I don’t agree with that, because beans are very beneficial to everybody’s health and well being (except for the gases of course :)). Read about beans benefits and decide if they will do any good for you, if you start eating them more often.

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A very popular weight loss program that uses meal replacements is WonderSlim diet plan. I read everything I could about this diet plan and I liked it very much.

What I like most about the WonderSlim diet plan is that it offers 5 different weight loss starter-kits.

Each starter-kit contains WonderSlim liquid meal replacements (shakes, puddings, hot and cold beverages, soups, fruit drinks), shopping list, meal plan and instructions how to prepare your meals, which by the way is extremely simple.

To say it with fewer words: with WonderSlim diet plan you get everything you need to start losing weight. The only thing you should do is to decide how much weight you want to lose, and pick out the best weight loss starter-kit for you.

If you are curious to find more details for WonderSlim diet, you can read my review here.

Finally The Shangri-La Diet, by Seth Roberts PhD has just been published and will be available at Amazon on April 25, 2006.

If you have read any kind of speculations about the Shangri-La diet, then you definitely will be interested to read that book and find out the truth for the diet.

The Shangri-La Diet – all you need to know

The Shangri-La Diet plan is quite unusual and very controversial. The author Seth Roberts presents his revolutionary ideas in some extremely simple and easy to follow diet guidelines:

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