Whether you're trying to lose weight or gain weight, Ensure -- a nutritional supplement made by Abbott Nutrition -- may help you. The drink can help control your calorie intake to lose weight, or it can be a convenient way to add calories to help you gain weight.

Tedium, boredom and deprivation are words sometimes associated with going on a diet, while indulgence is often not. If you are trying to lose weight, finding the balance between making the healthiest food choices on a consistent basis and fighting the desire to indulge in your favorite foods can be challenging.

Alcohol abuse can lead to an array of troubling and life threatening symptoms that can severely affect your life. Medline Plus states that around 17.6 million people live with alcoholism in the U.S.

The grapefruit diet, which advocates eating mostly grapefruit for a period of one to three weeks, is a fad diet and not a safe or healthy way to lose weight. However, including 100 percent grapefruit juice -- ruby red or regular -- in your healthy diet does have some merit.

Following a juice diet, also known as a juice fast, is a form of a raw diet, which supports weight loss and prevents obesity. Proponents believe this form of cleansing can be beneficial to the body. By drinking only fruit juices, your body will flush out toxins, and be replenished with needed nutrients.

Losing fat, particularly in the abdomen, can be a challenging process that often requires significant changes in diet and exercise habits. Although some foods and beverages, such as green tea, may help speed this process by boosting metabolism, they are unlikely to cause a significant loss in belly fat when used alone.

Some varieties of lauki, also called bottle gourd or calabash gourd, can be used as a vegetable, but others have a bitter taste and may be dangerous -- or even lethal -- to consume.

Herbal company, Traditional Medicinals, manufactures Smooth Move laxative teas and capsules. The best-selling Smooth Move brand is based on centuries old European herbal formulations to promote regularity.

The thick layers of cellulose on the cell walls of raw carrots prevent your body from digesting and fully absorbing the vitamins and minerals in these vegetables. By juicing carrots, you break down these cell walls and increase the concentration of carrots that you can consume.

Salads have long been singled out as the stereotypical diet food, and there’s sound logic behind this label. With light dressing and an abundance of vegetables, salads tend to be filling and satisfying with far fewer calories than heavier meals.

If you're trying to lose weight, green tea contains substances that may help boost your efforts. Lipton brand offers a number of different types of calorie-free and diet green teas, but some may be more beneficial than others when it comes to managing weight.

Pregnancy comes with a whole list of foods and drinks to avoid, and keeping up with the recommendations can be confusing. The ingredients in Vitamin Water Zero are safe for pregnant women, but consumption of the caffeine-containing variety should be limited.