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The Fat Flush Cookbook
By Ann Louise Gittleman The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Copyright © 2003Ann Louise Gittelman
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-07-150201-6
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
The Fat Flush Phenomenon
As hundreds of thousands of satisfied Fat Flushers already know, the Fat Flush concepts represent a paradigm shift in weight loss and lasting weight control by targeting the liver as your number 1 weight loss roadblock. In fact, believe it or not, nothing you do to control your weight is as important as keeping your liver healthy.
This is the biggest weight loss story in years. And that's why I believe that The Fat Flush Plan became a New York Times and USA Today bestseller within the first two months of publication. It's also the reason that the Fat Flush interactive messaging board has become so busy on iVillage.com, the top destination for women online, and has received up to 700,000 unique visitors per month.
To further assist you in your Fat Flush journey, I have created this companion cookbook with easy and zesty recipes that are designed to increase metabolism, flush out bloat, and speed up or maintain fat loss. And that's not all you will achieve. The Fat Flush principles and ingredients incorporated in these recipes extend beyond just weight loss. The added bonus of internal cleansing, liver detoxification, and body purification will provide you with unexpected mental and emotional benefits such as mental alertness, increased energy, appetite control, satiety without food cravings, and a noticeable decrease in depression, irritability, and anxiety.
There are 200 unique Fat Flush recipes and snacks—many of them ready in less than 20 minutes—which are easily identified for each of the three weight loss phases of the Plan. For example, the phase 1: Two-Week Fat Flush recipes are designed for accelerated weight loss; the phase 2: Ongoing Fat Flush recipes are designed for transitional weight loss wherein more food choices are provided; while phase 3: Lifestyle Eating recipes are designed for a lifetime plan to help you stay fit permanently without having to give up your favorite foods.
Keep in mind that the entrées, soups, salads, dressings, condiments, beverages, and even sweet indulgences contain the world's best fat flushing ingredients (such as, cranberries, flaxseed oil, apple cider vinegar, and lemons) plus cleansing and metabolism-boosting herbs and spices (such as ginger, cayenne, mustard, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, and fennel), which are far more than just flavor enhancers.
Every day science reveals how some of the original Fat Flush staples and spices, such as cranberries, apple cider vinegar, ginger, and cilantro, are not only good for weight loss but also provide spectacular health benefits as well. Just before The Fat Flush Plan was released at the end of 2001, a highly publicized study appeared in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, which ranked cranberries as one of the most healthful foods to consume. Scientists at the University of Scranton proclaimed that cranberries, when compared to 19 other fruits commonly eaten in the United States, have extraordinarily high amounts of a certain antioxidant called phenols, which protect against heart disease, cancer, and stroke.
Apple cider vinegar—long heralded in folk medicine for its cleansing and therapeutic effects on obesity and arthritis because of its high concentration of potassium, trace minerals, and enzymes—has been the subject of university studies and has been found to live up to its legend. A recent Arizona State University trial found that participants who consumed as little as 1½ tablespoons of the vinegar ate 200 fewer calories at the following meal.
Ginger, a primary fat flushing herb that boosts metabolism and reduces fatty buildup, has recently been found by Danish scientists to head off migraines and ease arthritic aches and pains.
Another Fat Flush favorite, cilantro, also known as Mexican parsley, is more than just a frequent flavor enhancer in the recipes. It has been found to help with the removal of heavy metals from the system, primarily mercury, which can negatively affect the central nervous system.
The Fat Flush recipes have been specifically created with many of these superstar health foods and spices as well as lots of colorful veggies, fruits, lean proteins, and satisfying oils to zap all the five hidden weight gain stumbling blocks, which underlie the excess poundage currently plaguing over 114 million Americans.
My research, online counseling, and hands-on experience with nearly 10 million dieters over the past 20 years have revealed that the real culprits behind weight gain are not simply a lack of will power, overeating, or underexercising as you have been told. They are far more insidious and alarming.
Here's a thumbnail sketch of the five hidden weight gain factors which provide the scientific foundation behind the Fat Flush philosophy:
1. Your tired, toxic liver. The number 1 weight loss stumbling block, a liver overloaded with pollutants and toxins, cannot efficiently burn body fat, and thus it will sabotage your weight loss efforts. The recipes eliminate all liver damaging elements. They omit caffeine, sugar, trans fats (hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated vegetable fats and oils) from fried foods, margarine, vegetable shortenings and commercial vegetable oils, and yeast-based foods (soy sauce and most vinegars. )And they feature liver-loving ingredients like cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale), eggs (high in amino acids which are needed for the liver to break down fats), and liver- supporting herbs and spices such as garlic, onion, and ginger root.
2. When fat is not fat. The number 2 weight loss stumbling block—waterlogged tissues—results when you consume too little water and protein and from food sensitivities, hormonal fluctuations, and certain medications. You'll find that filtered water is a major component in all the diet phase protocols because of its purifying properties and ability to remove wastes from the body. Powerful (yet so simple and easy to make) protein-based recipes are provided with beef, chicken, fish, eggs, tofu, and whey. The latest health food darling—ruby red cranberries—plays a feature role in many of the condiments, such as Cranberry-Catsup, and the dishes, such as Cran- Raspberry Sauce. In addition, the majority of the recipes eliminate two of the food groups that can promote water retention—gluten-rich grains and dairy products. The flaxseed oil featured in the salad dressings acts as a natural hormone balancer and as replacement therapy. Parsley, cilantro, fennel, and anise are sprinkled throughout the recipes because of their diuretic qualities.
3. The fear of eating fat. The number 3 weight loss stumbling block—lack of fat-burning fats—flies in the face of everything you have been told for the past 20 years. The truth is that certain fats [like flaxseed oil, gamma linoleic acid (GLA) from evening primrose oil, borage or black currant seed oil, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)] can accelerate fat burning, trigger fat loss, and provide long-term satiety while maintaining lean muscle mass. While the GLA and CLA fats are taken as dietary supplements, nutty ground up flaxseeds (in addition to the flaxseed oil that serves as a basis for delightfully light dressings and vinaigrettes) are contained in many of the breakfast smoothie recipes and their variations. I also encourage you to select meats from grass-fed cattle whenever possible. This is the best natural food source of CLA.
4. Excess insulin and excess inflammation. The number 4 weight loss stumbling block—excess insulin and excess inflammation—are fat- promoting hormones created by foods h
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Excerpted from The Fat Flush Cookbook by Ann Louise Gittleman. Copyright © 2003 by Ann Louise Gittelman. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
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