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Your Life Is In The Balance The foundation of Rugged Elegant Living is simply stated: Healthy living means balanced living. Your body is a complex, organic system which functions best when it is in balance. In fact, we define health as living in balance. Disease, on the other hand, results from the accumulation of imbalances in the body. Here is our theory of health, stated front and center for your consideration: By balancing the level of insulin in your body you will achieve optimal health. Of all the things you need to balance in your life, we believe that balancing your insulin levels is the most critical. By balancing your insulin you will reap the following benefits: 1) Permanent reduction of body fat because high levels of insulin make you fat and keep you fat. 2) Improved mental functioning because your brain functions best when your blood sugar is stable. 3) Improved physical performance because balanced insulin and blood sugar levels allow for more efficient oxygen exchange. 4) Dramatic reduction in disease risk because high levels of insulin foster a myriad of health problems: obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diminished immune system function. Think of insulin as a switch.
High levels of insulin shift your body into fat storage mode
while low, balanced levels of insulin shift your body into fat
burning mode. How do you achieve balanced levels of insulin in
your body? Here are important points. We call them "The
Ten Commandments of Balanced Living." Printable Version of "Your Life Is In The Balance" A copy of the entire article is available in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format. Simply click on the link below to download the article to your computer: |
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Great Books On Nutrition from Amazon.com When you click on these links to buy books from Amazon.com, Rugged Elegant Living can earn up to 15% on the sale with no additional cost to you. A Week In The Zone by Dr. Barry Sears This is the best "Zone" book for those who want an inexpensive, practical guide to getting in the "Zone." While giving you a brief rationale for the concepts that underlie the "Zone," the book focuses on defining a week's worth of meal and snack recipes that will transport you into the "Zone." Everyone we know that has used this book as had great experiences with the meals and has ultimately seen results. Highly recommended. The Omega Diet by Dr. Artemis Simopoulos The Omega Diet is based on the diet of the island of Crete (Greece), the home of Dr. Simopoulos -- who was a researcher at the National Institutes of Health. The focus of this book is the Mediterranean diet and its beneficial effects on the Omega-3 / Omega-6 fatty acid balance. We highly recommend this book as it is chock full of great science written in a way that is very approachable for the lay person. Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy by Walter Willett Written by Dr. Walter Willett, M.D., the chairman of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and a professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School. As you might expect, this book is heavy on science but written in a hard-hitting, enjoyable style. A great book to read and use frequently as a reference on specific nutrition topics. Body for Life by Bill Phillips We like Bill Phillips' common sense, goal-oriented approach to getting your life into balance. This is a quick read, how-to kind of book which focuses on the salient aspects of nutrition and exercise. We especially liked the section on weight lifting, which demonstrates, through text and pictures, the proper form for many different types of lifts. The before and after pictures of Phillips' clients are great fun to look at with friends and family. The OmegaRx Zone by Dr. Barry Sears This is Sears most recent "Zone" book, published in 2002. The OmegaRx Zone touts the wonders of pharmaceutical-grade fish oil. We definitely believe in fish oil, but this book seems to exaggerate the benefits of fish oil -- indicating that fish oil is the cure for almost ever disease. Perhaps Sears will be proven correct. Time will tell. Recommended for "Zone" fanatics and people with chronic diseases who think they might benefit from pharmaceutical-grade fish oil. The Zone by Dr. Barry Sears The original "Zone" book. It's perfect for people who want to understand the science behind the "Zone." For those who want a more practical approach, we would recommend "A Week in the Zone." Mastering The Zone by Dr. Barry Sears This book is a follow-on to the original "Zone" book. This version of the book is less technical and more practical than the original. we think, however, that the paperback version, "A Week in the Zone," is much better value. Sugar Busters! Cut Sugar to Trim Fat by H. Leighton Stewart Sugar Busters! is a very approachable book which describes the health issues related to fast-acting (high glycemic index) carbohydrates. You should be able to read this book in a couple of hours. It is well written, even though we got tried of seeing references to "SugarBusters!" though out the book. It kept reminding us of a cross between Ghost Busters and Yahoo!. Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution by Dr. Richard K. Bernstein Wow! What a great book. Written by Dr. Richard Bernstein, a type-1 diabetic who started his career as an engineer but went to medical school at the age of 40 so that he could publish his findings. Although we don't agree with Dr. Bernstein's recommendation of only 6-12g of carbohydrates per meal, it is hard to argue with his success treating both himself and his patients. We highly recommend this book for people who have either Type-1 or Type-2 diabetes.
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