Diet Pills That Work

If you are anything like the vast majority of women after childbirth, you are probably wondering how you are going to lose weight after baby. With so much conflicting information on weight loss these days it can be confusing.

Knowing how and what to eat in order to lose weight after baby has never been as easy to learn with the arrival of the Internet. The difficulty comes in applying the correct eating habits to your daily life.

Eating correctly doesn’t have to be complicated. You can guarantee loss of body fat and improvement of health with three strategies that will direct you in the right path to lose weight after baby and beyond.

Whole Food Carbohydrates to Lose Weight After Baby

When a food is processed it is stripped of its fiber, water, and most times, nutrients. The result is a concentration of calories void of nutrition. When eaten, they are not broken down slowly by the body as it should be, but dumped all at once. This triggers spikes in insulin to break down the abundance of sugar. What can’t be stored for immediate usage in the muscles and liver will be stored as fat. If you want to lose weight after baby and beyond, you will avoid these foods like the plague. Whole food carbohydrates break down slowly, giving your body a steady stream of energy and nutrients while avoiding a multitude of problems.

Portion Control to Lose Weight After Baby

This is fundamental to increasing your metabolism and preventing any possibility of fat storage. A study was done wherein a small group of borderline diabetics were fed three large meals consisting of refined carbohydrates. Their insulin shot through the roof after each meal. They were next fed the same diet in small portions at intervals between 60-90 minutes resulting in stable blood sugar levels with an average of 30% less insulin created! If this could be done with the wrong foods, imagine applying this to healthy eating habits.

Start Exercising to Lose Weight After Baby

Some claim that you can lose weight without having to exercise. This is true, but you won’t lose the weight nearly as efficiently. Exercise is vital to any healthy lifestyle and permanent weight control.  It’s really not enough to just restrict calories, we want to increase our metabolism and burn more of them. This will also allow you more leeway in your diet.

I believe we don’t rely on ourselves as much as we should. We always seem to be looking for answers elsewhere. With a basic education of the correct foods and a strong desire to make a change in our eating habits, you will lose weight after baby and look and feel as good as, or better, than you ever have.

So far we have been talking too much about weight loss and all other issues like various diets and exercise programs. But the very basic question that stuck my mind is why we need to lose weight i.e. how or why we gain weight. If we do not gain extra weight, then we never need to lose it. So we need to find the reasons for weight gain. The best things I feel is remove this problem in total. Today we have to look for the ways to lose weight. If we are able to find out some of the basic roots of weight gain, then we may be able to tackle this problem in a better way. And once we have the reasons why we gain weight, we can make sure that we do not do anything that leads us to gain some extra pounds. I have collected a list of reasons by which we gain weight:

The increasing obesity issues in our country have turned the attention of many people towards exploring new means of loosing weight. Many people have exploited this trend and today one finds numerous weight loss diet plans that promise the moon. The innumerable options for loosing weight that one can find cover weight loss diets, diet pills, body wraps, health spas and even weight loss surgery. The weight loss diets themselves range from more popular ones like Atkins diet and GM diet to others like the South Beach weight loss diet. Some programs suggest a low fat intake whereas others recommend a low carb curriculum. The latest fad going around is the low glycemic index weight loss diet. There are also the meal replacements and meal providers that have found favor with many.

The choices offered are so abundant that one is often left confused about which one to chose for oneself. Though there are many testimonials going around, one does not know what combination of weight loss diet and change in lifestyle actually caused the weight loss. Also, though the details of the weight loss diet are mentioned, the manner in which it works is either not specified or extremely vague and ambiguous. To add to it all, most of these weight loss diet plans are temporary and short lived, the effect of which wears off in a few months. This yoyo effect is caused by the fact that most of these weight loss diets do not address the core of the issue. Why is it that some people seem to continue to put on weight in spite of the fact that they eat less?

The root cause of this enigmatic answer lies in the fact that gain in weight is fundamentally linked to cellular activity and unless that is addressed the problem of weight gain cannot be uprooted from the core.

Weight gain occurs when the amount of energy (or food) ingested in the system is more than the energy utilized by the body for various activities. About 95% of the entire energy produced in the body comes from the process performed by the mitochondria. Any factor that disrupts the efficient working of the mitochondria shall result in a decrease in the amount of energy used.

If the body is not completely detoxed, the toxins ooze out into the bloodstream through interstitial walls and cause the mitochondria to dysfunction. The mitochondria are small cylinder shaped tissues that produce energy from the food that we consume. The structure of these powerhouses of the cell is so similar to that of bacteria that they are greatly affected by excessive intake of antibiotics, magnesium, metals and toxins. Such toxic substances affect the immune system that produces nitric oxide, which in turn harm the mitochondria further.

Other factors that can also contribute to weight gain are improper diet, stress, organ dysfunctions, metabolic defects, nutritional factors and lack of exercise. Unless all these factors that contribute to issues that result in weight gain are addresses completely, you may be able to achieve short-lived reduction in weight by following one of the weight loss diet programs, but are unlikely to obtain long lasting weight loss results that ensure that your years ahead are healthy and full of success.

There is no medicine or pill that can cure mitochondria dysfunction and the only way to deal with this issue is to obliterate the factors that have caused the dysfunction in the first place. Addressing only the symptoms of the inefficiencies of the mitochondria (in this case the weight gain) by resorting to weight loss diets, ensure that the problem will reoccur.
A complete detox program addresses all the factors that can cause an increase in weight. Not only does it get the mitochondria to work and produce energy as efficiently as it did before but also wipe out stress, organ, metabolic defects and all the causes of weight gain listed above. Unlike a weight loss diet that aims at removing the symptoms, a complete detox program has a holistic approach that not only ensure that you loose those extra inches but also keeps it off and gives you higher energy and vitality to add life to your years. You can wear all the clothes that you dreamed of donning and make each day of your life a celebration!

Hypnosis has long been a matter of debate. Some people consider it a tool of behavioural modification believing that it really can have some good effects on treating problems like weight management. Other people are sceptical and regard hypnosis as just a kind of fake magic. The question is: Does hypnosis for weight loss work? Let us try to find out in this article.
Research has shown that hypnosis has a significant effect on weight loss management and it has been found out that hypnosis has equally positive effects on weight loss programs. Despite the belief that hypnosis is just a kind of fake magic, it has been used as an effective clinical tool to modify behavior and to help people manage their overweight status. We can, thus, say that hypnosis for weight loss works – at least to some extent. But does hypnosis for weight loss work in general?
As with any tool you will have to apply hypnosis correctly in order to get results. Therefore, the next question to be asked is: How does hypnosis for weight loss work? Hypnosis can help you to change your habits for the better by communicating with your mind on the subliminal level. Your success depends on how effective this communication with your mind on the subliminal level is. We can, thus, affirm the question does hypnosis for weight loss work in general; it is essential, however, for you to provide your subconscious with the right instructions in order to get results.
If you are still doubtful about whether hypnosis for weight loss works or not, you can visit the website of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH), which is in fact the largest U.S. organization dealing with health and mental health care and actively makes use of the art of clinical hypnosis. The members of this organization are psychologists, psychiatrists, marriage counsellors and family therapist, mental health counsellors, clinical social workers, nurses, doctors and other people. They have applied a lot of effort promoting research on this kind of clinical hypnosis and on helping people to change their behavior.
The ASCH carried out a nine-week program of hypnosis for weight loss work and found out that people who had been hypnotized achieved better results in the management of weight loss than those who had not been hypnotized. The same kind of research was carried out again two years later with the hypnosis group still achieving better results than the non-hypnosis group. In this way they managed to prove the question does hypnosis for weight loss work beyond any doubt.
In another research program, categorizing 60 women into hypnosis- and non-hypnosis groups for weight loss management purposes, it was found that the hypnosis-group showed an average result of 17 pounds weight loss compared to 5 pound weight loss among those who had not been hypnotized. Thus, there is no doubt about the fact that hypnosis for weight loss works for those who really want to get rid of fat and extra weight.

There are some people out there who never have to worry about their weight. They can eat whatever they want, and whenever they want. So where does that leave the rest of the world? Sadly, the answer is: that leaves the rest of the world fat. But, can an interesting weight loss program, called the Negative Calorie Diet Plan, help you lose weight?
We all want to eat what we want to eat. People naturally go for the types of food that their bodies tell them it needs when in reality, it does not. Your body doesn’t always know what’s best for itself. If it has become accustomed to a certain type of eating or a certain amount of eating, it will continue to require that same amount or type of food.
What would you say if someone told you that you could burn calories by eating? Of course, it sounds a bit silly to say that eating can burn calories, but it is true! Everything you do in your everyday life burns calories, from sleeping to reading to eating – it all helps to burn off some of the calories in the body, however few they may be.
Digesting food even requires calories, and this is the principle that this way of eating is based upon. The idea behind the plan is that eating some types of foods requires more energy spent in calories than the number of calories that particular foods would normally add to your diet.
Although the Negative Calorie Diet Plan has been the subject of much criticism, it is widely becoming a popular solution to the weight loss needs of people from all over, especially when other methods have failed. The Diet Plan is based on the principle that certain foods require more energy to digest than the number of calories the food actually takes.
So if you take in 200 calories during your midday snack, and it takes 300 calories of energy to burn off the mid day snack, you are into the negative calorie range. This helps to burn fat off the body effectively, so instead of counting that 200 calories against you, it actually helped you to burn off fat – more fat than you would have had just eating it under any other circumstances.
As with all other diets, this weight loss program works best with exercise. Exercise is not required; it is not required of any diet, but results are much quicker and are bound to be much more to your liking if you combine diet and exercise for a safe, balanced diet experience.
As with all diets, it is not guaranteed 100 percent effective for everybody, but it is a great option for many people, especially those who have tried at other things.
Many people tend to do well on low calorie diets, but all these diets are is starving yourself to lose weight. The Negative Calorie Diet Plan allows you to eat what you want to eat, and as much as you need, but teaches you how to find a balance.

Weight loss is a goal of millions of overweight people in the USA and Europe. But losing weight is not easy and there are no guarantees without a change to current life styles and dietary habits.

For most of us, this means some form of sacrifice and hard work. However, getting to one’s desired weight and figure need not always be about sweating it out in the gym and depriving yourself of all your favourite foods. 

Plus for all those folks that diets, healthy recipes, weight loss supplements and exercise have failed, maybe it’s time to consider an alternative methodfor shedding those unwanted pounds

The desire to lose weight is often too focused on being skinny or being slim.  Fortunately, this attention to weight loss is no longer about vanity, or being like some Celebrity goddess, or looking like a top supermodel. 

For a good reason, rather than self-image, women are now talking about the health implications of being obese or overweight, and to live better, healthier, and longer

Whether you are in that extremely serious situation, or whether you just want to lose a few pounds for appearance’s sake, there are no shortcuts to losing weight the normal way. 

However, for those who consider their weight loss goals and the pros and cons of undergoing some drastic solutions, there are a few alternative procedures to being overweight, and I’m not talking about your average diet pill, or holistic therapy. We are talking about surgery!

One is “Lipo” or Liposuction. This is for those who have the money to undergo this extreme medical measure to lose weight. According to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, liposuction has been the most popular cosmetic surgery procedure in America since 2003.

Another alternative weight loss program is the Gastric Bypass Procedure  The objective of Gastric Bypass is to restrict the amount of food that can be eaten, and so the feeling of being full is reached a lot more quickly.

It has been stated that after successful Gastric Bypass surgery, for those who are willing to change their lifestyle and eating habits, they can expect to lose and keep off 50 percent to 90 percent of their excess weight 

A less drastic way to lose weight of course is to engage in some form of regular physical exercise and control food consumption the normal way by adding protein-rich foods to your diet, or drink protein shakes as snacks or replacement meals.

There are even special diets and companies where you can get protein shakes customized for your body’s nutritional needs.  You can drink protein shakes and take protein supplements for long-term dieting. It depends on your particular weight loss needs.

Apart from being considered as an alternative weight loss plan, protein helps your body to burn the calories you eat throughout the day so your body does not continuously store fat in unwanted areas. Protein also helps build and preserve lean muscle mass.

Information contained in this article is not meant to replace professional advice. Always check with your physician before starting any alternative weight loss plan or exercise program.

Slim Fast and the Slim Fast diet plan have been around for more than 20 years now. Without a doubt they have become the most popular diet shake around. But, does this weight loss plan really work?

The Slim Fast Diet Plan

The Slim Fast plan is not difficult to follow. You have a Slim Fast shake for breakfast in the morning and another one for lunch. For dinner, the plan calls for a “sensible” meal. Sensible can mean many different things to people, but that’s another story.

You can also have two pieces of fruit each day as well as one of Slim Fast’s nutritional bars.

The shakes and nutritional bars can be purchased at any grocery store or Wal-Mart.

The Slim Fast diet plan also includes regular exercise and encourages you to drink 8 glasses of water a day. These are two important points and keys to success in any type of weight loss program.

Does the plan work?

The Slim Fast plan will reduce your daily calories to around 1200 if you eat that sensible dinner each night. This means that anyone should lose weight with the plan.

While you can definitely lose weight with Slim Fast, there are some drawbacks. Since this is a calorie restricted diet, you may not get enough vitamins and minerals to maintain good health. A multi vitamin could help.

The reliance on making yourself a sensible dinner can also be difficult. Because you have only had 2 shakes all day along with a piece of fruit, you’re going to be hungry. It’s very easy to get carried away at dinner. It will take some extra discipline to make it work.

When you first saw the title of this article, you immediately thought it was hogwash, right? You were a bit disappointed, too, because doctors are supposed to be honest, and discuss only the treatments that have been scientifically proven to work; and everyone knows that there is no such thing as a miracle treatment that keeps you healthy as you age. But, here’s the thing: we are telling you the truth. First, let us tell you what this miracle treatment can do.  It can help you to retain your memory, and possibly even prevent dementia, or at least postpone it for years.  It can prevent you from falling, the most common cause of injuries to those of us who no longer even count the number of candles on our birthday cakes.  It can, in some cases, keep you from getting arthritis in your knees, and if you already have it, keep you up and moving.  It can keep your heart healthy, and if you already have heart disease, it can get you back to feeling great. It can prevent some cancers. If you have diabetes, or high blood pressure, or high cholesterol, it can, in some cases, make them go away, and at the very least, it may allow you to lower your dose of medication for each of these three.  It can help you to breathe easy. It can keep you buff and help your sex life. It can help you sleep better, suppress your appetite, and even increase your metabolism. And it can improve your sense of wellbeing, keep your mood positive, and increase how long you live.  We know you’re still doubtful because if such a thing really existed, it would be on TV constantly and all over the internet, and you would’ve probably bought a huge amount of stock in it.  But in fact, it not only exists, but all of the effects mentioned above of our miracle treatment have been scientifically proven!Human beings were meant to move. Every aspect of our bodies’ functioning is geared toward that. On the flip side, movement and mobility are very important to the quality of life. What does this have to do with the miracle treatment? Easy — the miraculous new treatment for all our ills, particularly those accompanying the aging process, is movement.  Because of all the negative connotations, we won’t call it exercise or any of those other clinical-sounding names, like “workout” or “physical activity.”  It really does all the things we said it can do. In fact, a recent study that followed more than 2500 people over the age of sixty for an average period of twelve years found that those who were fit from regular and adequate movement, whether they were overweight or not, had a significantly lower death rate at a young age than those who were not fit. Here are the specifics. The official recommendations, released in 2007 by the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine, for the amount of physical activity necessary to improve and maintain our health include not one, but three different types of exercise:  aerobic activity, muscle-strengthening activity, and balance/flexibility training.  These are the recommendations. 1) Aerobic activity of moderate intensity for thirty minutes a day, five days per week — Go for a walk or climb those stairs in your building — anything goes here as long as you do it for thirty minutes; 2) Muscle strengthening activity including eight to ten exercises involving the major muscle groups, with eight to twelve repetitions each, at least twice a week — Use free weights, a barbell, or a machine that simulates weight lifting by resistance;3) Balance and flexibility activity at least two days a week — do yoga, pilates, or Tai Chi. And be sure to stretch. So now you know about the magic bullet for staying healthy. But, even though you know you need to stay active, sometimes, the whole idea of getting up and actually doing it is overwhelming. It is particularly hard to find the time when most of us have such a busy lifestyle. But there’s even more good news about our miracle treatment. For those who hate the gym, workouts , jogging and barbells, there is an alternative called “Exercise Lite”.Several years ago, a very interesting study was done at the Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas.  255 volunteers were divided into two groups. One group went to the gym regularly for a standard workout. The other group tried to integrate regular physical activities into their usual daily routines. They would walk up stairs instead of taking an elevator, clean their own houses and apartments, work in their own gardens; in other words, they took every opportunity to do the maximum physical activity with their daily activities.  After six months, both groups had improved their fitness levels, lowered their blood pressures, and lost fat.   But, after two years, only those in the group that had incorporated fitness into their routines were more likely to maintain their fitness level. Exercise lite worked and kept on working!To receive the full health benefits as we mentioned above, you need to do at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic (cardio) exercise each day.  With exercise lite, you can break it down into 10-minute segments so that the cumulative time is still 30 minutes a day. If you only have a couple of 10 minute breaks a day, go walking for those breaks and then take a quick walk before or after work.  You want to shoot for 15-20 minute miles, and you want to get your pulse rate up but still be able to have a conversation.  If you garden, you need to do it while moving around a lot, in other words, active gardening. Same thing goes for housework. The vacuum can be your best workout buddy!  One easy way to do exercise lite is to wear a pedometer, a little meter you wear on your belt that records your steps. With the pedometer you want to aim for 10,000 steps a day. Most important, make it fun and you’ll keep doing it.  Do things you like. Find a class that is fun or start riding your bicycle or swimming. Get some great music and use it for your activity. If you need support, grab your friends and family to do an activity with you.  And remember, don’t tell yourself that you are doing the dreaded “exercise”; fool yourself and have it become a normal part of your daily life.Before starting any exercise program, check with your doctor!©2008 Janet Horn, M.D. and Robin H. Miller, M.D.Author Bio          Dr. Janet Horn is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, with training in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She spent many years on the fulltime faculty of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she published articles in medical journals on her research interests, including sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, and women’s health. She started her solo private practice in 1990 while continuing to teach as an Associate Professor of Medicine on the part time faculty at Hopkins. She has been selected by Baltimore Magazine as one of the “Top Doctors in Baltimore” and by the Maryland Daily Record as one of the “Top 100 Women in Maryland.” Dr. Robin Miller, in addition to being an experienced Board Certified Internist, is also an Integrative Medicine specialist, having trained with Dr. Andrew Weil as a Fellow at the University of Arizona. She is the founder and medical director of Triune Integrative Medicine, an innovative medical clinic in Medford, Oregon. She is an award winning medical correspondent on regional and national television, radio, and the internet. She is an award winning medical correspondent on regional and national television, radio, and the internet, the author of a health book for children, Kids Ask the Doctor, and a board member of The National Association of Medical Communicators, a society of medical journalists in all media.

There are many things you can do to enhance your new diet plan and accelerate your weight loss efforts. Here are 10 diet plan hacks that will have you losing weight like Jared from Subway fame.
1. No to fruit juice. Most of you might think that fruit juice is good for you, but think again. Juice is fruit with the fiber removed and in addition it is often loaded with sugar. If you want fruit then have the real thing.
2. Stick to water. By drinking water and unsweetened tea (preferably green tea) you can take hundreds of calories a day out of your diet and really start to see some results immediately. Just 500 calories a day is equivalent to 1 pound a week and you can get that in just a few sodas or fruit juices. Plus water helps to flush your system. Remember that our bodies are 90% water and drinking enough helps every part of you.
3. Create a new good habit each day. Many of us eat the same things day in and day out, not because they are nourishing, but because it has become a habit. Change those bad habits into good habits. For example, I switched from a snickers bar in the middle of the afternoon to a piece of fruit. Even if you make just one small change daily they will add up over time and you’ll be much healthier.
4. Change your lifestyle. Your diet is not a one time event, it is the way you feed your body day in and day out. We often say that we are “on a diet”, but this is a misnomer because you are always on a diet. It’s just that some diets are more healthy for us than others. Change your lifestyle so that you think of your diet as something positive that you do for yourself.
5. Get plenty of sleep. Researchers have found that lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain. Proper sleep is a necessary part of any weight loss plan. Make sure you get 7 hours a night or more to be at your best.
6. Eat 5-6 small meals per day. Yes, it may seem strange to eat 5-6 meals a day when you’re trying to lose weight, but this is the secret to getting to the next level in your fitness goals.
Eating 5-6 small meals per day is the key to a fast metabolism. Every time you eat a meal, your body’s metabolism starts up a new spin cycle caused by the thermic effect of food.
In fact, a portion of the calories you consume are burned through the simple act of digestion. This thermic effect can range from 3% to 30%. Lean protein causes a thermic effect of up to 30%. This means you burn 30% of the calories you eat from chicken breast, fish, and egg whites. Vegetables have a thermic effect of around 20%. However, fats and refined carbohydrates have a very low thermic effect of only 3%. This is one of the reasons it’s so easy to gain weight when you are eating lots of carbohydrates and sugars.
When you’re eating 5-6 smaller meals that are centered around high protein and fibrous vegetables, your body will burn through the calories.
A higher metabolism creates a fat-burning machine. The longer you practice this meal plan, the more muscle you’ll develop. The more muscle you develop, the faster your metabolism will become. It’s a win-win situation.
Unfortunately, it’s something that way too few people are taking advantage of. Most people try to starve themselves and in the process they kill their metabolism. In doing that, they also kill their fat-burning potential.
Five or six small meals a day accelerates your body’s natural rate of calorie burning.
Best of all, frequent meals also prevents binges and controls cravings. When you’re eating every three hours, your body stays satisfied and your energy levels stay high.
7. Don’t avoid all fats. It may sound strange and counter intuitive, but it is actually a good thing to eat some fats when trying to lose weight. The fats you want to eat are the “good” fats that will help keep your immune system working and will actually help keep your metabolism higher.
They’re called essential fatty acids. You may have heard of them. They go by the name of Omega 3, Omega 6, and Omega 9 and they are essential to a healthy diet.
8. Add variety to your meals. Don’t get stuck in a rut with your diet. Eating a variety of meats, fruits and vegetables and experimenting with different herbs and spices will keep you more interested in your new diet.
9. Get your Fiber. Fiber provides several benefits to you. It makes you feel fuller so you eat less and it slows down the digestion of fats and carbohydrates so you feel full longer.
10. Eat more slowly. Americans eat their food way too fast. If you want to lose a few pounds then slow down when you eat. It can take 20 minutes after your full for the message to get from your stomach to your brain. If your stuffing food into your mouth for that 20 minutes imagine the excess calories you’re taking in. Slow down and take the time to enjoy your food.

Benefits of Flaxseeds
Aside from alpha linolenic acid, flax seed is rich in lignan. Lignan is a type phytoestrogen (antioxidant) and also provides fiber. Researches reveal that lignan in flax seed shows a lot of promise in fighting disease — including a possible role in cancer prevention especially breast cancer. It is thought that lignan metabolites can bind to estrogen receptors, hence inhibiting the onset of estrogen-stimulated breast cancer.

What Does Flaxseed Contain?
The seeds and oil of the flax plant contain substances which promote good health. Flaxseed and flaxseed oil are rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an essential fatty acid that appears to be beneficial for heart disease. ALA belongs to a group of substances called omega-3 fatty acids.

Lignans are a type of fiber, and at the same time a type of phytoestrogen—a chemical similar to the human hormone estrogen. Flaxseeds are the richest source of lignans. When you eat lignans, bacteria in the digestive tract convert them into estrogen-like substances called enterodiol and enterolactone, which are thought to have anti-tumor effects. Lignans and other flaxseed components may also have antioxidant properties—that is, they may reduce the activity of cell-damaging free radicals. (Flaxseed oil lacks lignans, but some processors add them to their oil.)

Flaxseed Lowers Cholesterol in Postmenopausal Women
At the onset of menopause, a woman’s risk of cardiovascular disease drastically increases. Until recently, women were told that conventional hormone replacement therapy (Premarin and progestin) could offer protection against this increased cardiovascular risk, but studies have now conclusively shown that this is not the case. So, what can a woman do to protect her heart during and after menopause?

One simple, yet powerful action a woman can take is to make flaxseed, one of the World’s Healthiest Foods, a daily part of her healthy way of eating. A study published in the September 2002 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, found that flaxseed, a rich source of phytoestrogens called lignans, reduced total cholesterol levels in the blood of postmenopausal women by an average of 6%.