Carbohydrates are one of the body’s primary sources of energy and are vital for good health for everything from everyday tasks to exercise. However, many people don’t understand carbohydrates and are cutting back or doing a low-carb diet. This can be dangerous to your health and can often sabotage weight loss efforts.

If you want to lose weight and keep it off, it is essential you know the difference between the different carbohydrates. There are good/complex/whole carbohydrates and bad/simple/refined carbohydrates.

So what exactly are carbs? “Carbohydrates are a key nutrient group (macronutrient) found in plant foods alongside proteins and fats. Carbs are found in a wide range of healthy and unhealthy food. They are your body’s premium fuel. They nourish your brain. They give you the energy to keep moving. Carbs power you through exercise by delaying the onset of fatigue,” says Dr. Shyamala Vishnumohan(opens in new tab), Doctor of Food and Nutrition Science (Ph.D.), Certified Prenatal Dietitian, and Real Food Advocate

Not all carbs are equal. Some give you energy, while others make you tired. Some help shed weight and others make you bloated.

Good/Complex/Whole Carbohydrates

These carbohydrates are foods are unprocessed and still in their ‘natural’ state – or very close to their natural state. They still contain their nutrition and are high in fiber and starch, which take longer to digest and contain important vitamins, minerals, prebiotics, and antioxidants. They also help regulate appetite and blood sugar, keeping you feeling full for longer.

These carbohydrates fuel your brain, give you energy, aids in digestion, helps you sleep better, prevents weight gain and burns more fat. Consuming these carbohydrates also help prevent cancer and lowers your risk of disease including heart diseases.

Food choices include fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains.

Bad/Simple/Refined Carbohydrates

These carbohydrates are often highly processed with low nutritional content. These carbohydrates are known to make our blood sugar spike quickly, which then leaves us with a “crash” and more food cravings.

These carbohydrates can leave you feeling fatigued, irritable, constipated, and are even known to cause nutrient deficiencies. They also are linked to diabetes, obesity and other health conditions. 

Foods include white breads, white sugars, white pastas, snack foods, candies, french fries, donuts, juices, and soft drinks, just to name a few.

If you haven’t already noticed, food manufacturers and marketing companies are working hard to target those watching their carb intake and display “Low-Carb” or “Zero-Carb” on their packaging. In processing, the bran and germ of the whole grain are removed, which also removes fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants leaving them with little nutritional value. Sugar, sodium, and preservatives are then often added to enhance flavor and prolong shelf life. As always, check the ingredients for fillers, artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers, and other unhealthful additives that sabotage our health and weight loss efforts.

Be bad/simple carb-free for life!

Many who go on low-carb diets, and then go off their low-carb diet usually gain the weight right back. Our bodies will go into shock if we go without (bad) carbohydrates for a period of time and then reintroduce them. When our bodies are shocked, it almost always results in gains. It’s best to remove all processed foods and stick to healthier choices for life to maintain your weight and a healthy lifestyle.

Looking for other ways to increase your energy levels and lose weight? Check out our amazing Craving Defender – Designed with you in mind!

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The human body has a natural system of detoxification where toxins are eliminated from the body in a sophisticated way through the digestive system, kidneys, liver, lungs, and skin. Unfortunately, the lifestyle and diet in the present time have disturbed the natural pathways of detoxification and due to their blockage, toxic substances build up in the body and result in a variety of unwanted diseases as well as weight gain.

This is where Craving Defender can help. This supplement containing vitamin B₆, magnesium, calcium, chromium picolinate, L-glutamine, cinnamon, and Gymnema Sylvestre extract not only defends cravings but they help improve gut health and detoxify the body of the harmful substances.

Vitamin B₆, or pyridoxine, present in Craving Defender helps in the metabolism of protein by the digestive system and its deficiency can weaken the biosynthesis of arginine in the gut, an amino acid. When these metabolic pathways are disturbed, it changes the composition of bacteria present in the digestive system. (Read how B₆ can balance hormones and stop cravings.)

Magnesium also plays an important role in getting rid of the body of free radicals. Along with that, it also aids in the process of digestion. Poisonous heavy metals such nickel, mercury, aluminum, and lead can be flushed from the body due to magnesium. This important mineral ensures that the body does not absorb these heavy metals. (Learn more.)

Similarly, calcium ensures that toxins are not able to re-circulate in the blood throughout the body. It also prevents these toxins reabsorption and helps get them released from the body. (Learn more on calcium’s role in salty cravings)

L-glutamine strengthens the gut lining as a strong surface is created by l-glutamine for absorption, digestion, and protection of gut lining from infections and toxins. This is so important to keep these toxins from staying in our bodies. (Learn More on L-glutamine)

Healthy metabolism and storage of necessary nutrients are also supported by chromium picolinate. While you may have never heard of it, chromium is a necessary mineral and helps stop cravings. (Learn how Chromium aids in weight loss.)

Cinnamon contains properties that helps your body burn fat and boost your metabolism. But it also supports the growth of favorable bacteria in the gut while suppressing the unfriendly bacteria from growing. (Read More on how cinnamon helps with those crazy cravings.)

Gymnema Sylvestre restricts the absorption of fats and sugars from the gut which you want when working to detoxify your body. (Read how Gymnema Sylvestre destroys sugar.)

Ready to get your cravings under control? Grab a bottle of Craving Defender.

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In order to lose weight, our metabolism needs to be working properly. Our body’s metabolism requires an adequate amount of nutrients available in the body. Some of those nutrients are essential for a healthy metabolism. If our bodies don’t have these important nutrients, it may cause a deficiency which can result in decreased metabolic rate. The result of an unhealthy metabolism is weight gain as well as a lack of energy making you extra tired throughout the day. 

The ingredients included in the Craving Defender helps supports a healthy metabolism. When you have a healthy metabolism, you will have more energy and thus more energy resources will be consumed from the body. These energy resources are in the form of carbohydrates and fats. When you increase your consumption of these energy resources, it will eventually lead to weight loss and increased energy levels. And as a bonus, since your sugar cravings are controlled due to Craving Defender, you will not be craving nor supplying your body with unhealthy sugars. 

Decreasing your intake of sugar will force your body to end up using the body’s carbohydrates and fat resources instead. This will lead to a very efficient weight loss journey. Your body will also stop retaining large quantities of water and this will further reduce the body’s weight with the help of Vitamin B6 included in Craving Defender.

Ready to speed up weight loss? Make healthier choices? Our Craving Defender blend is here to help you!

The post How a Healthy Metabolism Leads to Weight Loss appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Most of us experience food cravings which can be intensified when we are trying to lose weight or achieve our desired physique. Cravings cause us to cheat and even ditch our weight loss plans and fall short of our desired results. 

There can be various reasons for cravings like imbalance of hormones such as Leptin and Serotonin. When a person experiences these imbalances, they are likely to eat unhealthy snacks, sodas or reach for highly processed foods. 

How does Vitamin B6 help to stop these cravings?

Vitamin B6 is the perfect ingredient to add to our daily diet to stop these food cravings and improve metabolic activity. Pyridoxine, or Vitamin B6, is essential for the 200 chemical reactions in our body, and it serves a very important purpose—it stops sugar/carbohydrate cravings. 

Besides stopping cravings, Vitamin B6 also enables our bodies to maintain a healthy immune system. This vitamin allows the body to efficiently metabolize carbohydrates so that the carbs act as a potent energy source rather than getting stored as fat. Great news, right?!

As metabolic activity is regulated, the body begins to metabolize fat as well. Thyroid function is then stimulated so that hormonal production is more balanced. This hormonal balance enables a person to control appetite and hunger. 

Vitamin B6 deficiency causes decreased serotonin levels. It’s known that low serotonin levels are linked with feelings of gloom while increasing the appetite. People who find themselves munching right after meals may be because they have low Vitamin B6 levels causing their appetite to increase. It is usually because they are consuming more than the metabolism can process. By including Vitamin B6 in our diets, serotonin levels can better be regulated, which means that the appetite can be controlled.

This is why we included Vitamin B6 in the Craving Defender. It makes this the perfect solution for your everyday cravings. So who is ready to get their fitness journey on track with Craving Defender? 

The post How to Balance Hormones and Defend Cravings appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Is it hard to resist a bite of a donut or piece of cake? Do you neeeeed some chocolate? Then you know all too well what it is like to have sugar cravings.

There are numerous causes of sugar cravings including a yeast or fungal infection, irritability and hormonal changes.

Blood sugar imbalances in our bodies can also result in sugar cravings. This happens when your body produces too much insulin which results in a decreased level of glucose in the blood and thus stimulating the brain to crave for sugars.

As you may know, it can be very difficult for a person to resist sugar cravings. If our body does not get the sugar it wants, it will cause the body to be low on energy. Thankfully there is a way to not only control your cravings, but to also increase your energy levels throughout the day. 

To control your cravings, you need to properly regulate your hormone release in the body. This is where the specific blend of ingredients found in Craving Defender shines.

Craving Defender contains handpicked ingredients, added in appropriate amounts to make a blend which will regulate your hormone release and thus decrease the sugar cravings. The main ingredients included in it, vitamin B6, magnesium, and calcium, are notorious for regulating the hormone level (Insulin) in the body. Regulating the insulin release in the body will help make sure that your body does not experience low blood glucose and your brain will no longer be stimulated for the sugar cravings. That’s huge for those of us craving sugar!

Also included in the Craving Defender blend are Gymnema Sylvestre, cinnamon, and L-glutamine. These ingredients further improve the blood sugar regulation in their own unique way thus helping your body to further cope with the sugar cravings.

Ready to defend those food cravings? Don’t wait to try Craving Defender. We are excited to help you finally win the cravings battle!

The post Why We Have Cravings & How to Stop Them appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Many Americans are cutting back on carbs and doing a low-carb diet. This is a smart strategy for cutting calories and helping to moderate blood sugar levels, but be careful not to cut back or eliminate ‘good’ carbohydrates. People often count carbohydrates on diet sites, such as fitday.com or sparkspeople.com as well as looking at the number on nutritional panel of packaged foods. Our bodies need good carbohydrates so keep them in your diet. Not only are good carbohydrates the body’s most immediate energy source, they get absorbed slowly into our systems thus avoiding spikes in blood sugar levels.

What is a good carbohydrate?
Good carbohydrates are unprocessed carbohydrates in their ‘natural’ state – or very close to their natural state. Green vegetables are the ultimate good carb foods and should not be eliminated, especially dark green leafy vegetables. They are my favorite and  I recommend having at least 2 cups of dark green leafy vegetables each day if you are on a weight loss plan. Beans and legumes are also generally included on the good carbs list, as are many raw nuts and seeds. Also on the list are whole-grain foods such as whole-grain breads, cereals, and pastas, however, when trying to lose a few pounds, it is best to keep grains to a minimum. These choices (even including whole-grain pasta, brown rice, and baked potatoes) are calorie-dense, easy to overeat, and known to elevate blood sugar.

What is a bad carbohydrate?
When doing a low-carb diet, or a healthier lifestyle, it is best to cut out or eliminate the ‘bad’ carbs. Bad carbs are refined, processed carbohydrate foods that have had all or most of their natural nutrients and fiber altered or removed. These include white breads, white sugars, white pastas, snack foods, candies, french fries, donuts, juices, and soft drinks, just to name a few.

If you are considering making your diet a more healthy, low-carb diet, cut back slowly. If your body is used to a large amount of bad carbohydrate foods, you may experience detox-type symptoms if you remove them all at once. This can include fatigue, moodiness and strong food cravings. Try completely omitting bad carbohydrates and starchy vegetables at dinner a few nights each week and work up to eliminating it every night first, then proceed to every meal. Build your meals with lean protein, and add a good portion of filling, fiber-rich vegetables.

Be bad carb-free for life!
Many who go on low-carb diets, and then go off their low-carb diet usually gain the weight right back. Our bodies will go into shock if we go without (bad) carbohydrates for a period of time and then reintroduce them. When our bodies are shocked, it almost always results in gains. It’s best to remove all processed foods and stick to healthier choices for life to maintain your weight and a healthy lifestyle.

The post Why Our Bodies Need Good Carbohydrates appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

What does L-Glutamine do in your body for weight loss?

An amino acid known as Glutamine or L-Glutamine plays important role in maintaining your health. In fact, scientific evidence suggests that this amino acid is essential for your metabolism, cell function, and immunity. What’s more interesting is the fat burning and weight loss promoted by the glutamine supplements. 

Let’s see how L-glutamine helps in shedding some weight!

In the light of scientific studies, L-glutamine supplements are indicated to change the microbiome composition of your gut. Mainly the type of bacteria present in the gut is firmicutes which compete with your body’s cells for food and its absorption in the system. 

The other type of bacteria that are fighting over food with firmicutes is bacteroidetes. The biomarker of obesity in the body is the ratio between these types of bacteria. Trouble in losing or weight gain is an indication that the level of the firmicutes bacteria is higher in your gut. The property of glutamine will help regulate the number of gut bacteria which and may help you lose weight. 

L-glutamine plays an important role in the regulation of appetite. Moreover, improvement in blood sugar has also been observed with the use of L-glutamine as some animal and human studies suggest that insulin sensitivity is enhanced with the use of L-glutamine. With an increase in insulin sensitivity, your body can efficiently use insulin. This improved insulin sensitivity aids in weight loss because the risk of weight gain as well as obesity is more tied with impaired insulin insensitivity.

Defending your sugar cravings will help you get back on track and reach your weight loss goals.

Ready to get your cravings under control? Grab a bottle of Craving Defender.

The post L-Glutamine: How it Helps You Lose Weight appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

When it comes to food, cravings can be intense and why most of us fail with our weight loss goals. You set out to eat healthy but then you find it hard to resist a handful of chips, a bowl of popcorn, or a heaping serving of French fries. Can you relate?  

Our body needs salt to survive. Many people have nutrient deficiencies can result in cravings so if you are experiencing cravings for salty things, you might be calcium deficient. Our bodies require a relatively high amount of this mineral in comparison to many other trace minerals. 

Scientific studies suggests that often a calcium deficiency can lead to cravings for salty things. This is because the level of sodium from something salty increases in the blood which in turn increases the calcium level in blood temporarily. The body is tricked into thinking that calcium deficiency has been overcome. However, this might be a temporary fix of salt cravings, it leads to more calcium deficiency as the secreted calcium comes from the bones. Thus, it will again start the cravings.

How calcium and magnesium works in Craving Defender

Calcium and magnesium work together extraordinarily well. Magnesium is actually the key to the body’s proper absorption and use of calcium, as well as other important nutrients. The deficiency of both of these minerals goes hand in hand priming you for salt cravings. That’s why we put them together in in Craving Defender. Because magnesium and calcium support the body to maintain the water and sodium balance, the body’s craving for salty food will lesson with Craving Defender.

Defending your salty cravings will help you get back on track and reach your weight loss goals.

Ready to get your cravings under control? Grab a bottle of Craving Defender.

The post How Calcium Deficiency Causes Salt Cravings appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

In order to lose weight, our metabolism needs to be working properly. Our body’s metabolism requires an adequate amount of nutrients available in the body. Some of those nutrients are essential for a healthy metabolism. If our bodies don’t have these important nutrients, it may cause a deficiency which can result in decreased metabolic rate. The result of an unhealthy metabolism is weight gain as well as a lack of energy making you extra tired throughout the day. 

The ingredients included in the Craving Defender helps supports a healthy metabolism. When you have a healthy metabolism, you will have more energy and thus more energy resources will be consumed from the body. These energy resources are in the form of carbohydrates and fats. When you increase your consumption of these energy resources, it will eventually lead to weight loss and increased energy levels. And as a bonus, since your sugar cravings are controlled due to Craving Defender, you will not be craving nor supplying your body with unhealthy sugars. 

Decreasing your intake of sugar will force your body to end up using the body’s carbohydrates and fats resources instead. This will lead to a very efficient weight loss journey. Your body will also stop retaining large quantities of water and this will further reduce the body’s weight with the help of Vitamin B6 included in Craving Defender.

Ready to speed up weight loss? Make healthier choices? Our Craving Defender blend is here to help you!

The post How You Can Have a Healthy Metabolism appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Do you have unhealthy food cravings? It is possible to change your cravings!

Often our unhealthy cravings start when we were children—what foods we ate growing up and how we linked food with certain emotions. I didn’t get a lot of candy growing up, and I often felt deprived. When I became an adult, I would go to the grocery store and eat a chocolate bar before I even left the parking lot. I remember it felts so shameful, and yet it felt so good. Can you relate?

It always seemed amazing to me how people could turn away foods I craved. How they could be at a party and pass by the bowls of chips without taking just one. How they said no when the cake was served.

Food triggers certain brain functions, which can turn into cravings. People tend to get cravings when the brain starts calling for certain foods — often unhealthy healthy choices. We may know they are unhealthy but our brains tell us otherwise. Often eating these unhealthy choices releases feel-good chemicals. Junk food causes a release of dopamine in the brain which encourages us to eat even more unhealthy foods.

One of the ways I started craving healthy foods, was to consume them. The more you eat them, the more your body craves them! Because fruit and vegetables made me feel better, I allowed that to drive my urge to naturally feel more inclined to eat these foods next time. For instance, when I learned the more green leafy vegetables you eat, the healthier you are and the more weight you will lose, I changed my view on greens. (source: Dee McCaffrey)

Another way was to target the negative food cravings to remove them from your pantry. I could sit a whole box of Cheese-its, so I know I cannot not have Cheese-its in the house to tempt me.

Here are a few ideas to help you stop craving junk and turn your cravings into healthy ones!

Look deeper at the foods you crave. Is there a root of the craving? If you find that you craving chips or chocolate, ask yourself: is there an emotion going on here instead? Is your body lacking something? For instance, you may crave salty foods because your body may need more salt. If you crave chocolate, your body may need more calcium.

“When Your Body Craves Certain Foods, It Actually Is Looking For Nutrients”

Colleen Huber

Keep a food journal. Jot down the food you ate and how it made you feel. When you eat greens daily and notice your numbers go down on the scale you are going to train your brain to have a positive reaction to healthy choices.

Challenge yourself with a ‘eat this, not that’ mindset. Find healthy alternatives to the things you crave.

For instance, if you are craving something sweet, like chocolate, pop a Chocolate Ball in your mouth. Have a Chocolate Energy Bar or even a dip a spoon in this amazing Creamy Chocolate Syrup.

If you are craving something crunchy and salty, you might consider Three Amigos Corn Chips, Granola or snack on pumpkin seeds.

If you crave bread, look into Sprouted Grain Bread or add Sprouted Grain Croutons to your salad.

For an added boost try Defender to help stop cravings now. This ALL-IN-ONE supplement to help you combat the cravings and so much more!

The post How to Put an End to Those Crazy Food Cravings appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

These delicious chocolate balls are low-carb, paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, and refined sugar-free.

When we consume coconut oil, it goes into our system as energy (think calorie burn) instead of storing it as fat.

So enjoy (in moderation) and give your body some healthy fats which will help you burn more fat for fuel!

Chocolate Balls

1 cup almond butter (or No-Sugar-Added SunButter Sunflower Butter)
1 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup coconut flour or oat bran (a powerfully slimming food.)
1/4 tsp chocolate stevia (or 1–2 tbsp monk fruit sweetener)
1/16 tsp pink Himalayan salt

Melt coconut oil over medium heat in a small pot and add almond butter. Combine well and add dried ingredients and stir until well-combined.

Add more sweetener if desired.

Pour mixture into a bowl or a silicone mold. and transfer to the freezer to solidify—approximately 60-90 minutes.

Once solidified, remove bowl from freezer and form into balls.

Tip: regularly wash hands under cold water to avoid coconut oil melting in hands.

Place formed balls on a flat tray or plate and return to freezer for 15-20 minutes.

The post Chocolate Balls Help Burn Fat & Lose Weight! appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.

Do you have cravings? Whether it be a craving for carbs or sweets, cravings can get in the way of meeting our weight loss goals. As we all know, our cravings can be one of the main reasons we fail in weight loss. We know all too well how cravings can be strong and make it difficult to lose weight. It’s why we designed Craving Defender to help you with those cravings. 

You won’t only get rid of your cravings but also effectively lose weight by consuming this all-natural supplement by Goshen Organics, a manufacturer of all-natural products. See Craving Defender.

How can Craving Defender help you?

Craving Defender will help manage blood sugar levels and control your mood and diet needs. You can reduce cravings by eating healthy foods, then your cravings for sweets or carbs will lessen or go away. But this takes a few weeks or longer. Our product helps you get on a healthier diet and diminishes these cravings even after you stop taking the product. 

What is an all-natural Craving Defender?

It’s an all-natural blend of specific ingredients that helps you control your cravings and hunger pangs. It can also increase your body’s metabolic rate and help you start losing weight fast.  

Craving Defender includes:

Vitamin B6:

Vitamin B6 is the key to metabolizing proteins, fats, and carbs. It is a mood and metabolism booster that will assist with the weight loss journey. The amount of Vitamin B in our supplement will help you see increased weight loss. 

Calcium and Magnesium:

Magnesium has been seen to help with cravings and also help with making you feel energized as it gives you doses of energy at all times. Calcium is included because it helps magnesium absorb better, which will help with salty cravings. (Learn More)

Proprietary Blend 

This supplement formula blends these important vitamins and minerals as well as other specific ingredients, such as L-glutamine, cinnamon and Gymnema Sylvestre, to make you even more successful in weight loss. 

L-glutamine:

L-Glutamine is a highly important dietary supplement for people wishing to lose weight quickly. Glutamine will assist reduce cravings for high glycemic carbs and make your weight loss program a lot easier. L-glutamine will benefit in the promotion of healthy digestion.

Gymnema Sylvestre

Gymnema Sylvestre is a woody climbing shrub that is native to Africa and India. It has been used for centuries in eastern medicines. Over the years this beneficial herb has been used to treat a range of conditions. It helps reduce the intestine’s ability to absorb sugar molecules, thus reducing blood sugar levels. This makes it a great herb to help fight heart disease and diabetes naturally. 

Today, this powerful herb shows it is one of the best herbs to stop sugar cravings. One of the primary active components present in this plant is gymnemic acid, which helps reduce the ability to taste sweetness so you don’t feel the need to intake high-calorie sweet foods. Studies also show it can curb the appetite as well. (Learn More)

Read to cut down on your desires to have sweet high-calorie foods and lose weight? Grab a bottle of Craving Defender.

The post Can Craving Defender Help Me Lose Weight? appeared first on Little Choices Everyday.