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Fit Tips for What You Sip

As the barometer rises, good hydration is key

By Mareya Ibrahim

Growing up in a warm country, a prerequisite for a blistering hot day—which was about 10 months out of the year—was to pay a visit to the juice bar around the corner from our apartment. The proprietor would stack the counters up with colorful pyramids of oranges, beets, mangoes, guavas and pomegranates, depending on what was in season.

Vases filled with rods of sugar cane and long carrots anchored the artful arrangements to create an edible landscape. Once the juicers started to whir, the sweet scent of freshness would dance through the steamy streets, luring customers in like a pied piper. The proprietor would create his own signature fruit and veggie “cocktails,” mixing beets with oranges, carrots and mangoes, a soulful blend of sweet and savory.

Little did we know that fresh pressed juice provided us with pure goodness in a glass. Packed with live enzymes, vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants, fresh juice also helps boost metabolism, fight infection, build tissue and strong bones … and help everything move along the way it’s supposed to, if you know what I mean.

Before you reach for that diet soda or mega-can energy drink, you might want to think before you drink. Caffeine and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives can zap you of vital nutrients that keep your system running smoothly.

Now that the barometer is rising, it’s more important than ever to stay hydrated. But before you reach for that diet soda or mega-can energy drink, you might want to think before you drink. Caffeine and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives can zap you of vital nutrients that keep your system running smoothly.

How does proper hydration keep you fit and healthy? One of the most important features is to keep the body cool. When you’re active—hiking, biking, riding, swimming—it’s even more essential to keep replacing fluids lost through sweat. You may not feel thirsty but your body needs it. Try these simple tips to sip and quench your thirst for better hydration for the whole family.

Hydration Tips:

Drinking half your weight in ounces of clear liquids each day is key to keeping everything running smoothly. In fact, every cell function requires hydration, but most people wait until they’re thirsty before they drink.

- Carry a lightweight, reusable water bottle everywhere. Pick a BPA, PVC, and phthalate-free model and make it part of your repertoire. My favorite is called the Bobble, and it has a filter inside, so you can fill it from any tap and enjoy clean, fresh water while doing your part for the environment. You can get the equivalent of 300 water bottles from one Bobble filter!

- Ditch the energy drinks. Most of the options out there are filled with stimulants and artificial colors and flavors that actually zap your body’s ability to recharge itself. Options like coconut water contain more give you a real pick-me-up while helping to regulate blood pressure and heart function. O.N.E. Coconut Water comes in a variety of flavors and kids’ varieties, mixed with juice in aseptic containers with straws for on-the-go convenience.

- Try rainforest superfruits instead of coffee. Açaí blends offer a natural kick along with an army of antioxidants to help raise immunity and fight disease. Smoothie packs make a refreshingly cool pick-me-up. Sambazon makes their blends ready to drink along with frozen smoothie packs so you can create your own delicious drinks.

- Make time for tea. Getting green tea and flavored water into your daily routine is a good way to keep it fresh. I love the Takeya Flash Chill Tea Maker and Fruit Infuser for an elegant, easy way to enjoy great iced tea and fruit-infused water with the beautiful pitcher system.

- Get your nourishment from Mother Nature. If the heat zaps your appetite, fill up on fruit and veggies along with a good quality protein powder—like Vega One All-in-One Nutritional Shake—into a glass. Fruit and veggies have a high water content and help keep you hydrated. Add watermelon, spinach, cucumber, and celery to your blender and get your daily supply of produce in a snap! Cucumber is also high in potassium, so it’s a good electrolyte replacement.

Mareya Ibrahim is The Fit Foody, an award-winning chef on ABC’s Emmy-nominated show “Recipe Rehab,” and author and founder of EatCleaner.com. Her book “The Clean Eating Handbook,” a guide on how to eat cleaner and get leaner, was released in May 2013.

via Fit Tips for What You Sip » The Epoch Times

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Bounce Back With Linseed

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Bounce Back With Linseed

By Luke Hughes
Epoch Times Staff

Probably the most beneficial and widely unknown use of linseed flax as a household medicine is the external application of the raw oil to any area where ligaments have been torn, cut, or strained, and even where they are too tight or loose. A small amount daily, massaged in thoroughly is all that is required. Too much and you will be left with oily stains on clothing.

When applied in this way linseed oil has the effect of toning and lubricating the affected tendons and ligament tissue.

If you are an office worker with repetitive strain in the wrists, or if you have recently twisted your ankle while out for your morning jog, or you are recovering from surgery or any accident that has resulted in damaged or cut tendons, then linseed oil applied every day can gradually soften and restore flexibility to tendons and ligaments. It should be a permanent fixture in your training bag if you are the type of person who is constantly pushing your body to its physical limits.

For the Skin

If you live in a hot dry climate or just suffer from dry skin at certain times of the year, then you should do as many desert dwelling cultures have and apply the raw oil to your skin to prevent dehydration. In ancient Egypt, linseed oil was used as an additive to preserve the paints that decorated the walls of the ancient tombs and temples. It can do the same thing for your skin, and when regularly applied it will help to prevent dehydration, and yes, prevent the formation of wrinkles!

Linseed oil is not an instant fix, nor does it have anti-inflammatory or warming properties, but if it is used regularly, it can in time restore elasticity to tendons, ligaments, and skin.

Medicinal Tea

A tea brewed from the crushed seeds is helpful in cases of constipation if a dry bowel is the cause. The oil content along with other waxy and resinous substances that are present in the crushed seeds is sufficient to line and lubricate the intestinal tract. The seeds are readily available from health food stores. To prepare the tea just lightly bruise the brown outer cover of the seed and brew as you would any other tea.

Linseed meal has a nutty and slightly bitter flavor. It is sold on its own or sometimes included as an ingredient in muesli mixes, and can also be used as a healthy additive to flour. The seeds are high in vegetable protein, which is very helpful if you are vegetarian. It is also high in lecithin and other phosphorous compounds. Acetic acid is present, which has a stimulatory effect on enzymes and a balancing effect on blood viscosity.

Throughout History

The cultivation of linseed goes so far back into antiquity that it is unknown exactly where this plant originated. Educated guesses place its point of origin in Egypt or Central Asia. Its use was certainly well recorded by the ancient Egyptians, who set aside large tracts of land for its cultivation near the ancient city of Thebes. These fields of linseed produced all manner of essential products for that civilization, including medicine, cosmetics, fine linens for the noble class, as well as bandages for the process of mummification.

It was also important to the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. The Roman author, naturalist, and military commander Pliny the Elder writes of linseed, “What department is there to be found of active life in which flax is not employed?”

In Teutonic mythology linseed was held to be under the protection of the Goddess Hulda, who was said to have first taught mortals the art of growing, spinning, and weaving it.

Remember to only eat the crushed linseed meal, not the whole seeds. Refined and cold pressed linseed oil can be added to other oils for cooking and salad dressings. Raw linseed oil should only be used externally.

Luke Hughes is a classical Western herbalist and horticulturist based in Sydney, Australia.

via Bounce Back With Linseed » The Epoch Times

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How I Kicked Sugar

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The more ‘diet’ foods I consumed, the more addicted to sugar I got

By Tysan Lerner
Epoch Times

When I was in my late teens I started struggling with my weight.

I had just decided to focus more on academics, less on dance training, so I drastically cut down my physical activity. Between that and the hormonal changes affecting my 16-year-old body, I started gaining some weight.

Dieting

I decided to go on a diet. I read Dr. Ornish’s diet book. It taught me that what was making me fat was indeed fat. At the time, low-fat diets had just become a big craze, and so there were plenty of fat-free foods to support my dieting efforts.

Dr. Ornish encouraged whole foods, but I was only 16 and didn’t really know how to cook. So, like many of my fellow North Americans, I turned to the wide selection of low-fat and fat-free processed foods being offered to consumers.

Soon after changing my diet, I found myself feeling hungrier than ever.

A few years later, I read that fat makes you feel satiated, and without it you will never really feel full. So I added the fat back in. But I still ate the fat-free, sugary desserts and still felt chronically hungry, lazy, and tired!

As a result, I gained even more weight, felt tired most of the time, and was chronically hungry despite the large amounts of food I was allowing myself. The more “diet” foods I consumed, the more addicted to sugar I got.

I also started suffering from chronic fatigue, depression, and major weight gain. Eventually I gained 40 pounds from binging on sweets.

What is ‘sugar’?

We all know what sugar is. It is that lovely white or brown powdery stuff that we add to our coffee or tea, and candies and cakes.

But sugar is found in almost all foods, although it manifests in different forms. Some forms of sugars are more toxic, and some less.

Grains and breads contain sugar. Next time you eat some brown rice, chew it 30 to 50 times until it becomes a liquid. You will discover that it ends up tasting sweet.

That sweetness comes from the sugar you have released after chewing the rice. But that sugar is primarily in the form of glucose and does not affect the body the way other forms of sugar do.

In fact, we need glucose to run well, so when I say “kick sugar,” I don’t mean kick carbohydrates such as bread and grains.

I am talking primarily about fructose. Dr. Robert H. Lustig explains in his lecture “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” at the University of California, San Francisco, that the fructose in sugar is toxic for us.

When eaten without the nutrients and fibre found in fruits, which are high in fructose, it causes metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, high triglycerides, a fatty liver, and a big gut.

Consider this: 50 percent of sugar is fructose, 55 percent of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is fructose, and 50 to 70 percent of agave nectar is fructose.

This is all dangerous because the fructose from these sugar sources is not getting digested with the fibre found in fruits. So although the sugar found in fruit is 70 percent fructose, it is not toxic for us since fruit fibre helps to digest it. Fibre is nature’s antidote for fructose.

Most North Americans are getting their fructose fix from soda, juice, chocolate milk, ice cream, cookies, and cake. It is also added into many processed foods to make them taste better. Because HFCS is inexpensive, it is easy to load up food with it.

In 2009, Dr. Lustig helped the American Heart Association rewrite the guidelines for the recommended daily limit on sugar intake. The association now recommends limiting daily sugar intake to 9 teaspoons for men and 6 teaspoons for women. Having more than that is considered toxic.

Cutting out sugar

After learning about how toxic sugar was and how prevalent it was in our diets, I went on a mission to cut it out. To keep it simple, I started with HFCS. I noticed that it was in much of the treats I loved, including light ice cream, whole wheat bread, and “healthy” morning cereals.

I thought I had been doing so well since I was eating whole wheat bread and only indulging in a 160-calorie daily treat, but in fact, if Dr. Lustig is correct, I was slowly poisoning myself (and my kids).

So out went the bread and cereal with the HFCS. Out went the light ice cream since the only alternative to light ice cream with HFCS was light ice cream with artificial sweeteners, which I do not advocate.

I got into making baked apples with cinnamon or baked blueberries with coconut. That hit my sweet tooth and cut my cravings for more dessert. As a result, I lost the last 6 lbs I had been struggling with for years.

Tysan Lerner is a certified health coach and personal trainer. She helps women attain their body and beauty goals without starving themselves or spending hours at the gym. Her website is www.lavendermamas.com

via How I Kicked Sugar » The Epoch Times

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10 Superfoods to Incorporate Into Your Diet

By Nick Livermore
Eco18.com

Superfoods. The name itself carries so much hype, and many nutritionists can’t stand it. The concept, however, has the best of intentions. Essentially, superfood is used to describe food with a particularly high nutrient profile and minimal negative ingredients.

We’re not saying to eat them constantly. What we are saying is buying them at the store and incorporating them into your diet will have benefits on your waistline and overall health and wellness.

Avocado
Rich in healthy monounsaturated fat, avocados also loaded with fiber and lutein, an antioxidant linked to eye and skin health.

Blueberries
Loaded with antioxidants, mainly anthocyanins, blueberries can help with brain function and your vision. They also make a great snack.

Dark Chocolate
Packed with flavonols and antioxidants, one piece of dark (80%+ cacao is best) provides a healthy dose of disease-fighting compounds and may help to reduce cholesterol.

Oats
Rich in protein and minerals including zinc, calcium, magnesium and iron, oats also packed an excellent dose of soluble fiber! Great for breakfast.

Eggs
One of, if not the most, protein-rich foods on earth, eggs are also loaded with amino acids and other nutrients. It’s also OK to eat the yolks.

Almonds
Full of cholesterol-lowering fiber and monounsaturated fat, almonds make a great snack or can be easily incorporated into virtually any meal.

Red Wine
One glass of red wine a night has been shown to boost levels of healthy cholesterol and packs a healthy dose of antioxidants, resveratrol and saponins.

(Kristinas comment: Pregnant women should not drink alcoholic beverages at all, since it will harm the unborn child.)

Salmon
According to The American Heart Association, eating fish two meals per week, helps cut the risk of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, stroke, diabetes, and arthritis. Fatty fish, such as salmon, may also help alleviate depression. Just make sure it’s wild-caught, never frozen and comes from a store that supports sustainable agriculture.

Ancient Grains
Heirloom and ancient grains carry a far superior nutritional makeup than modern wheat, which has been crossbred and may be genetically modified. Grains such as Kamut khorasan, spelt, and amaranth generally contain higher levels of protein, antioxidants and minerals and generally taste better, too!

Seeds
Chia, quinoa, and flax seeds all carry a host of nutritional benefits ranging from antioxidants and minerals to protein and fiber.

Eco18 is a collective of creative-writing individuals from different backgrounds with a common goal—to live a healthier, more natural lifestyle. Their combined expertise, humor, and opinions explore green and sustainable in a practical, fun way. www.eco18.com

via 10 Superfoods to Incorporate Into Your Diet | Nutrition | Health | Epoch Times

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5 Tips to Kick Sugar

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By Tysan Lerner

To help you lose weight, become healthier, and feel better, cut down on your sugar intake. Of course, this is easier said than done since sweets are addictive.

To help you lose weight, become healthier, and feel better, cut down on your sugar intake. Of course, this is easier said than done since sweets are addictive.

Worse, sugar is added to so many of our daily foods, including tomato sauces, yogurts, cereals, milk alternatives, breads, ketchups, and even some pickles.

Read the ingredient lists and look out for sugar (including high fructose corn syrup, corn sugar, evaporated cane juice, agave nectar, fructose) and how many grams of sugar are listed. Generally speaking, 4 grams of sugar is equivalent to about 1 teaspoon of sugar.

How to Kick Sugar

I asked Dr. Jingduan Yang, M.D., an expert in traditional Chinese medicine, what he would recommend to help cut out sugar, and he gave five tips:

Tip 1: Get Enough Sleep
Fatigue makes us vulnerable to giving in to our sugar cravings. If you haven’t slept enough, and you are suddenly reaching for chocolate to stay awake, drink some water and take a 10-minute power nap instead. Not only will you wake up feeling refreshed, you will also wake up no longer craving sugar!

Tip 2: Eat Fruit Instead
Fruit is sweet and high in fructose, but because it is nutritious and high in fiber, it is not considered toxic or bad for you the way sugar is. Fruit will help satisfy that sweet tooth when you are craving dessert.

Tip 3: Eat Greens to Help Heal Your Liver
According to traditional Chinese medicine, green is the color associated with the liver organ system. Eating greens will help replenish your liver, and in turn calm your sugar cravings.

Dark leafy greens such as kale, collard greens, watercress, and bok choy are great options. Sauté them with garlic, ginger, scallions, soy sauce, and some sesame oil for a Chinese side dish, or garlic, lemon and olive oil for a more Mediterranean flair.

Tip 4: Exercise Regularly
Not only will exercise help you metabolize the sugar you do eat more effectively, it will also pick up your energy and mood.

Tip 5: Get to the Root
The first question Dr. Yang asked when I inquired about how to stop eating so much sugar was, “What is it that you are self-medicating?”

We all have our issues, and many of us learn to deal with them with food. Some eat for fun, some eat for stress release, and some eat to fill a void in their life. If you suspect you are “using” sugar to self-medicate, get to the root of your problem and address it directly.

Mindfulness-based meditation has been shown to be highly beneficial for dealing with emotional stress.

Once you cut out sugar, and replace it with “sweet” things in life, you will enjoy a flatter belly, a thinner body, more energy, less mood swings, and overall better health.

Tysan Lerner is a certified health coach and personal trainer. She helps women attain their body and beauty goals without starving themselves or spending hours at the gym. Her website is www.lavenderm

via 5 Tips to Kick Sugar | Nutrition | Health | Epoch Times

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