Listen to Maintainers, Not to Losers: 5 secrets to keeping the weight off for good.

I have very little interest these days in all the media-hyped stories of dramatic, rapid losses of body weight. “Big losers” don’t impress me, for numerous reasons. For example, weight is not fat. “Weight” could be composed of mostly lean tissue or water weight. In fact, I’d go a step further and point out that rapid loss of bodyweight correlates very highly with a greater chance of relapse, weight re-gain and long term failure.

So what does impress me? What gets my attention?

Vitamin A that is found in colorful fruits and vegetables is called provitamin A carotenoid.

Vitamin A is a generic term for a large number of related compounds. Retinol (an alcohol) and retinal (an aldehyde) are often referred to as preformed vitamin A.  They can be made into retinol in the body. In the United States, approximately 26% of vitamin A consumed by men and 34% of vitamin A consumed by women is in the form of provitamin A carotenoids.

Antioxidants work in several ways: First, they may reduce the energy of the free radical.

Antioxidants provide a layer of protection for the cells and tissues of the body, just as a thick coat of wax helps protect a car’s finish. Specifically, antioxidants protect against free radical damage. Antioxidants are substances consumed in foods and dietary supplements which help to reduce and even prevent the formation of destructive chemicals in the body called free radicals. Free radicals attack the systems of the body even to the DNA level leaving us less able to fight off the effects of disease and aging.