"Healthy diet reviews" is a key phrase that gets typed into search boxes of search engines millions of times per day by health conscious people across the globe.
Healthy diet programs are widely available on the internet and a lot of people look forward to get benefited from them.
Since, there are thousands of diet plans available, it becomes difficult to choose the right plan to suit particular needs.
This is where diet reviews step in.
Real reviews from real people help others make the right choice about diet plans.
We live in a fast paced environment and often fail to lead a healthy life.
We all strive to stay healthy by following healthy diet regimens, but often fail to do so.
Thousands of people are suffering everyday from diseases which were previously unknown to us.
The scenario could have been different if, we all ate the right stuff at the right time.
It is not possible to change the past, but we can change the present and the future by at least taking the right supplements and following the right diet plans.
In this article, we'll take a look at how extracts from a natural plant called Opuntia ficus-indica [commonly known as Prickly Pear] can be beneficial to humans.
The prickly pear belongs to the "cacti" group of plants and until recently was widely used as food for cattle and stock.
Scientists have discovered that extracts from this natural plant act as fat binding molecules.
These fat binders have a natural affinity for lipid molecules and bind to them.
It has been seen that in humans, they can bind with up to 28% of total dietary fat and prevent the body from absorbing them.
This unabsorbed fat passes out of the body as solid, without affecting the digestive or excretory system.
How safe are these extracts To understand the safety profile of the prickly pear extract, we'll have to first take a look at two different mechanisms of the human body - "binding" and "blocking".
Different systems of the human body have a complex "binding" or blocking" system that allow specific enzymes or molecules to either bind to or block certain other chemical elements present in the system.
There are "receptors" and "receptor" blockers in the body.
Some molecules act as receptor blockers and prevent appropriate signals from reaching the brain.
This is a way of not letting the brain know about the presence of a particular molecule in the body.
With the passage of time, the molecules get piled inside the body and start exhibiting their antagonistic properties.
The brain remains ignorant of these and can hardly do something to stop them.
The other system is "binding".
There are some molecules that have a natural affinity for certain other molecules.
These are called binders and bind to others to prevent them from exhibiting antagonistic properties or getting absorbed by the body.
Unlike "blockers", the binders don't hide foreign molecules in the body without letting the brain know about them.
This prevents toxin build up or absorption of the molecule into the body.
In most cases, the binders render the foreign particles totally harmless and push them out of the body.
As far as the prickly pear extract is concerned, it acts as a fat binder and gets excreted out of the body right after binding to the fat molecules.
Neither the fat nor the fat binder stays back in the body to harm it.
Uses Owing to its fat binding properties, prickly pear extracts are used the world over by cardiac patients to prevent cholesterol build up.
Apart from cardiac patients, obese people can also get benefited by this plant extract.
People following "not so healthy diets" could prevent fat absorption into the body by using this extract.
How to get the extract As told earlier, this plant belongs to the "cacti" group.
The plant has its roots in Mexico.
It's a rare plant and grows in the desert.
If you have the means to get to a live prickly pear plant in the desert, you could get yourself the usable extract by following some steps.
You'd have to clean the spines first, peel off the outer skin of the leafy section, cut out the perimeter and then slice out the soft part lying in the middle.
It's juicy but has a very bad taste.
Healthy diet programs are widely available on the internet and a lot of people look forward to get benefited from them.
Since, there are thousands of diet plans available, it becomes difficult to choose the right plan to suit particular needs.
This is where diet reviews step in.
Real reviews from real people help others make the right choice about diet plans.
We live in a fast paced environment and often fail to lead a healthy life.
We all strive to stay healthy by following healthy diet regimens, but often fail to do so.
Thousands of people are suffering everyday from diseases which were previously unknown to us.
The scenario could have been different if, we all ate the right stuff at the right time.
It is not possible to change the past, but we can change the present and the future by at least taking the right supplements and following the right diet plans.
In this article, we'll take a look at how extracts from a natural plant called Opuntia ficus-indica [commonly known as Prickly Pear] can be beneficial to humans.
The prickly pear belongs to the "cacti" group of plants and until recently was widely used as food for cattle and stock.
Scientists have discovered that extracts from this natural plant act as fat binding molecules.
These fat binders have a natural affinity for lipid molecules and bind to them.
It has been seen that in humans, they can bind with up to 28% of total dietary fat and prevent the body from absorbing them.
This unabsorbed fat passes out of the body as solid, without affecting the digestive or excretory system.
How safe are these extracts To understand the safety profile of the prickly pear extract, we'll have to first take a look at two different mechanisms of the human body - "binding" and "blocking".
Different systems of the human body have a complex "binding" or blocking" system that allow specific enzymes or molecules to either bind to or block certain other chemical elements present in the system.
There are "receptors" and "receptor" blockers in the body.
Some molecules act as receptor blockers and prevent appropriate signals from reaching the brain.
This is a way of not letting the brain know about the presence of a particular molecule in the body.
With the passage of time, the molecules get piled inside the body and start exhibiting their antagonistic properties.
The brain remains ignorant of these and can hardly do something to stop them.
The other system is "binding".
There are some molecules that have a natural affinity for certain other molecules.
These are called binders and bind to others to prevent them from exhibiting antagonistic properties or getting absorbed by the body.
Unlike "blockers", the binders don't hide foreign molecules in the body without letting the brain know about them.
This prevents toxin build up or absorption of the molecule into the body.
In most cases, the binders render the foreign particles totally harmless and push them out of the body.
As far as the prickly pear extract is concerned, it acts as a fat binder and gets excreted out of the body right after binding to the fat molecules.
Neither the fat nor the fat binder stays back in the body to harm it.
Uses Owing to its fat binding properties, prickly pear extracts are used the world over by cardiac patients to prevent cholesterol build up.
Apart from cardiac patients, obese people can also get benefited by this plant extract.
People following "not so healthy diets" could prevent fat absorption into the body by using this extract.
How to get the extract As told earlier, this plant belongs to the "cacti" group.
The plant has its roots in Mexico.
It's a rare plant and grows in the desert.
If you have the means to get to a live prickly pear plant in the desert, you could get yourself the usable extract by following some steps.
You'd have to clean the spines first, peel off the outer skin of the leafy section, cut out the perimeter and then slice out the soft part lying in the middle.
It's juicy but has a very bad taste.
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