In the world of today where everyone is concerned so much about beauty and good looks, it is no wonder that so many people are trying to lose weight. It seems that everywhere you look someone you know wants to lose five, ten, twenty pounds even more, and there are literally thousands of different diets and weight loss techniques that we hear so much about.

Herbal Weight Loss

Of all the weight loss methods out there, herbal weight loss is definitely one of the most popular of all. With herbal weight loss you are able to shed the pounds that you want to but without having to rely on pharmaceutical medicines. These natural herbal remedies have been used by advanced cultures since ancient times, and not only can they be incredibly helpful when you want to lose weight but as well they are effective in promoting overall health.

Many people around the world use natural supplements and herbs to help lose weight as naturally as possible, and there are four major factors in weight control that are important and which herbs are able to address: strength training to help build muscle, cardiovascular training to increase your metabolism, good nutrition to manage caloric intake but provide the body with sufficient energy, and mental strength providing the ability to start and execute a program.

Herbs

There are thousands of different herbs that you can include in your herbal weight loss plans, but a few in particular that are especially popular and effective, such as bitter orange, cayenne, coleus, ephedra, green tea, guggul, and St. John’s Wort.

Thermogenic Herbs

Some herbs are considered as being thermogenic, in that they contain substances like caffeine which work to speed up certain body functions like heart rate and digestion. As well, because these thermogenic herbs increase the flow of blood to muscle tissue in the body, you end up experiencing a great increase in nutrient and oxygen supply in the tissues of the body which translates into greater capacity for work and exercise.

There are certain herbs that you should be extremely careful with and should usually not include in any herbal weight loss plan at all. Ephedra for instance, which is also known as ma huang, has been shown to raise blood pressure and increase heart rate so you should try to avoid it and if you do take it keep dosage amounts to a minimum. Herbal fen-phen has been associated with heart attack and stroke, namely as a result of heartbeat irregularities so again if you include this in your herbal plan you need to be extra cautious.