Are You Drinking The Right Tea For The Health Benefits You Need?

Winter or summer, nothing can be as calming as a cup of tea. You can use it on the hottest days served over ice. Or snuggle up when storms are blowing, snuggled under a blanket and enjoying a good book.

While your favorite tea is a great way to stay hydrated, it offers many more benefits too. Select the right tea, and it can give you many health benefits too.

Different tea types offer you different benefits. Non-herbal teas are made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. They are processed for different lengths of time to produce green, black, or oolong teas.

Green teas will give you the highest amount of polyphenols. Herbal teas are known for their medicinal qualities. What else should you know?

Tea has less caffeine than coffee

If you’re trying to cut the caffeine out of your life, switching to tea may be the best place to start. Herbal blends have no caffeine, while other types have as much as 50 percent less than what you’ll find in coffee.

Tea may help your immune system

Have you ever heard the old wives tale that a cup of tea can help keep the cold and flu away? There may be some truth to it. Studies have shown that tea can boost your immune system and help keep it healthy all year through.

Tea may be good for the digestive system

Tea may be part of what cures you. Chamomile has been known to soothe symptoms associated with irritable bowel syndrome. Ginger reduces the impact of nausea.

Tea is zero-calorie on its own

It’s a great no-calorie alternative to water. What’s even better, you can vary the taste throughout the day, and enjoy it both hot and cold. It’s a great addition to your weight-loss program, as it keeps you hydrated and can keep your tastebuds happy too.

Tea has antioxidants

Foods rich in antioxidants are good to keep the body young and healthy. Depending on which tea you take in, you can easily introduce a host of antioxidants. White teas are less processed than green or black and contain many of the antioxidants your body needs.

Tea may be good for what ails you

We’re starting to see tea being linked to all kinds of risk reduction. Green tea has been found to be beneficial in reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Tea may be a superfood more beneficial than milk at providing your bones with much-needed calcium. Studies are also showing that certain teas can help reduce cancer risk, and help fight certain symptoms if you’ve been diagnosed.

What kinds of teas are your favorites?

The Real Facts On Coconut Sugar

Have you ever walked the aisles of your favorite store and found a new product that looks intriguing?

I’ve been seeing coconut sugar more and more. What once started out as a small display tucked between other sugar products has now escalated to full-blown endstand displays.

What’s the difference between cane sugar and coconut sugar? And is it any better for you than the regular stuff?

What coconut sugar promises is to cause a lower rise in your blood sugar levels than other types of sweeteners. The glycemic index (GI) measures how quickly different foods raise your blood sugar level. Cane sugar was found to have a GI of around 60, compared to coconut sugar which has a GI of around 54.

That may sound good in theory, but sugar is sugar. Sugar doesn’t provide nutrients to the human body. It has virtually no vitamins or minerals. And the more you take in, the more your blood sugar levels continue to rise.

Sugar is also high in fructose. And while doctors are still researching what fructose does to the human body, they do agree that excessive fructose triggers many conditions including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Don’t believe the rhetoric that coconut sugar is fructose-free. Instead, coconut sugar contains sucrose, which is half-fructose. That means it’s used and triggered within the body in similar fashion to fructose. And when consumed in excess, it can impact you in the same way as every other type of sugar.

Bottom line: if you’re going to use coconut sugar, think of it as an alternative to table sugar. Use it sparingly. Although not as processed as other types of sugar, coconut sugar still isn’t good for the human body.

Buy A Few Extra Avocados - They’re Healthy!

If you’re trying to eat healthier, you probably have avocados on your list.

Avocados are heart-healthy with lots of vitamins, minerals, and good fat, yet only 80 calories per serving. They’re naturally sodium, sugar, and cholesterol free. They’re so versatile, you can put them in just about anything.

And because they’re high in antioxidants and many of the important nutrients your body needs, avocados can benefit you in many ways.

Research shows avocados are beneficial for heart health. They may lower your LDL cholesterol and increase your good HDL cholesterol.

Avocados are high in fiber and low in carbs, making them a weight loss friendly food. They are very filling and low in calories, meaning it’s the perfect food to eat during your busy days. (Hello, avocado toast!)

What’s not to love?

When they’re in season, you can find them in abundance. And luckily, you can often find them at a really good price.

But if you’ve ever purchased several and laid them on your counter to ripen, you know they all hit peak at the same time. One can make a good meal. But what do you do when several ripen at the same time?

Start Creating

While you might not want to eat them morning, noon, and night, with all the recipes you’ll find on the web, you can. Avocado toast is great, but why not put it in a salad, mix it in a drink, or create a fabulous dessert?

Here’s a bunch of recipes to get you started - try the Creamy Avocado Tomato Soup.

Just Desserts

Don’t stop at using avocados just for your meals; throw them into your desserts too.

Dessert? That’s what I thought - until I tried it. Desserts can be healthier when you mix avocado into the mix. Try the pudding. Or the brownies. Or the cheesecake.
https://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/slideshow/11-avocado-desserts-try#coconut-milk-and-avocado-ice-cream

Throw Them In The Freezer

When avocados over ripen and turn a little brown, you’ll probably skip eating them alone. But they still make great additions to smoothies, soups … and brownies. Try pureeing them and freezing them in ice cube trays. It’s a great way of having perfect proportions whenever you need them.

What’s your favorite way to use avocados?

The Health Benefits Of Using Cauliflower

Want to add a healthy vegetable to your diet? Make sure it’s cauliflower.

Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable. It’s a part of the same family as broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, and others. It has a high level of anti-inflammatory compounds, plus the ability to ward off certain diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and weight gain. It’s an excellent source of antioxidants and phytochemicals, as well as a supplier of essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

While cauliflower is a part of the Brassica crops, it’s benefits extend beyond other vegetables like broccoli and cabbage because of its combination of carotenoids, tocopherols, and ascorbic acid. Extensive research is showing that cauliflower leads the way in benefiting your body as one of the top low caloric, highly beneficial ingredients you can add to your meals in many different ways. It can:

Help reduce cancer. The bioactive components in cauliflower can have beneficial effects on biomarkers of cancer-related processes.

Fight inflammation. Cauliflower produces a heavy dose of inflammation fighting elements that ward of inflammation throughout your body.

Reduce heart disease. Women who eat three or more portions a day had thinner artery walls, meaning blood vessels are clearer, making it easier for blood to flow.

Weight loss. The key to weight loss is to expend more calories than you take in. Cauliflower can be used in many different ways and is a low calorie food. A perfect way for you to feel full, longer, without adding in extra calories.

While there’s a lot of benefits to eating cauliflower, you don’t have to keep bowls of it around you to snack on every day. In fact, there are some pretty amazing things you can do with cauliflower. Want some ideas?

How about using it as a pizza crust?

Make cauliflower rice, and you can include it in any dish where grain rice would go.

Or include it in a bowl.

With just a little imagination, you can incorporate cauliflower into your meals every day.

How do you use cauliflower?

How To Eat Healthy On A Budget

Want to stay healthy? Make healthy choices for every meal.

And while that’s simple advice, it’s the follow up that becomes the tricky part of the process.

Have you ever stood in the kitchen at dinnertime, realizing ordering a pizza is a whole lot easier than whipping up a meal? Of course! We’ve all done it.

The key to eating healthy, and staying on a budget in the process, is to be prepared. If you have the ingredients right there on your pantry shelves, you’re more likely to take action and cook dinner instead of ordering it.

Stock Whole Ingredients

Whole ingredients never go out of style. The more you cook, the more you’ll realize you use certain foods over and over again. You’ll use onions and carrots and garlic. You’ll use pasta and legumes and beans. You’ll use tomatoes and garlic and lots of spices. Make sure your pantry is filled with these things, and you’ll always be able to whip up a nutritious meal without having to run to the store.

Buy Bulk

Have you ever shopped the bulk aisle at Whole Foods, co-ops, or your favorite natural store? You can buy grains, nuts, seeds, dried fruits and other bulk products in larger quantities at a reduced price. If you properly store these goods, they can last for months on your shelves, while keeping the costs down at the same time.

Shop Farmers Markets

You’ve heard the term “eating locally.” By finding local farmers markets, you can eat the best fruits and vegetables that are in season. Foods taste better when they are fresh, picked ripe and moved to your local farmers market within days rather than weeks during normal supply changes. This will ensure the nutrition is also at its peak.

Freeze Overflow

Go ahead and buy extra spinach or kale. Buy an extra basketful of berries. If you can’t eat them all right away, throw them in the freezer. A well stocked freezer means you’ll have lots of the good stuff to throw in a blender and make your own smoothies, or have high quality vegetables to add to your next favorite meal.

What are your tips for eating healthy?

Simple Ways To Stop Stress Eating

When you’re in a stressful situation, do you reach for food? Do you reach for a package of cookies or a candy bar when you know you’re about to enter something way beyond your comfort zone?

There’s a reason for that.

Certain foods turn down our threat response system. This is the part of the brain that alerts us to stress and encourages us to find ways to fight the stress.

There are two basic forms of stress: acute and chronic. Acute stress comes in spurts; you deal with it, and you move on. You might face acute stress if you lose your job. Chronic stress is the stress you feel for extended periods of time. It takes more work to control it, so it’s often in your life for extended periods of time. Chronic stress would include things like hating your job, or worrying about how to make enough money to pay all of your bills.

Because we often look at chronic stress as beyond our control, we find ways to replace that with things we can control. We might not be able to control the place we work, but we can control picking up a package of cookies and eating it in one sitting. This food gives us what we need. It dampens the threat response system, and we suddenly feel better.

And so the cycle repeats. We’re stressed over the same worries, and we reach out to food as our companion.

Not surprisingly, the best food for the job is the least healthiest available in our pantries and markets. Junk food, high in sugar and fat, highly processed, these foods tick every box. And if part of your stressors includes exercising more, losing weight, or becoming healthier, it’s a vicious cycle that never seems to go anywhere. You become more frustrated with yourself. And it sets off a cascade of emotions that are hard to control.

It’s easy to see what’s happening. It’s harder to do something about it.

But recognizing the pattern is half the battle. Once you recognize your behavior, then it’s time to do something about it.

Stop Tempting Yourself

When you’re in a stressful situation, you look for the quick out. If junk food is in your pantry, it’s easy to grab. When your choice is a bag of cookies or an apple, the cookies will always win. Stop filling your pantry with the bad choices, and fill it with healthy foods instead.

Slow Down

When we feel stress, we look for the quick out. We feel the tension build, our nerves start to fray, and we look for a solution. A few deep breaths and a few questions can help you steer away from grabbing the wrong foods and make choices based on what’s right for your body instead. Ask yourself:

• Do I really want this?
• Does my body need this?
• How will I feel about myself five minutes after eating this?

Give Yourself Options

If you normally grab food when you hit your personal wall, it’s time to give yourself other things to do. Create a list of things you enjoy you can do instead. How about go for a walk? Meditate? Jump on your bicycle and hit the pavement for a few miles? Grab a book and read for a few minutes?

The options are endless.

When you find things that help you discover your own personal mindfulness, you’ll discover you like the alternatives much better than snacking on the worst foods available.

Don’t Eat These Foods Before You Work Out

We’ve all heard the adage “don’t eat before you go swimming.” But is there any truth to it? Are there certain foods you shouldn’t eat before you work out?

It turns out there is. Food is fuel. And the fuel you take in pre-workout can play a major role in how well you perform throughout your routine.

It’s not just junk food or sugary treats with empty calories you should avoid. Even some healthy foods can linger in your stomach and slow you down.

Avocados

Avocados are the go-to food at the moment for good fats. But avocados take a long time to digest, and that’s not a good thing when you’re pushing your muscles. When you eat an avocado, it draws the blood to the stomach to aid in digestion. That means it can cause cramping and discomfort if you push the rest of your body to the extreme.

If you do need a protein-rich food before a workout, opt for small doses. Try a few apple slices dipped into natural peanut butter.

Beans

Although beans are packed with protein and a lot of health benefits, they can cause digestive distress when you’re working out. Eating them and other high fiber foods can cause bloating and gas, especially before a workout. If you need a pick-me-up before a class, try just a tablespoon or two of hummus to get you through.

Dairy

A cup of yogurt or a glass of milk may give you protein, but many people have trouble digesting milk which can be a major problem before a workout. Eating or drinking dairy before a workout can lead to an upset stomach, diarrhea, gas, or bloating - not something you want in an aggressive workout routine.

Carbonated Drinks

Hydration is always a good thing throughout the day. But carbonated drinks, no matter how much some of them claim to be good for you, can cause gas and bloating especially while working out. Try instead water infused with cucumber or strawberry slices.

What foods do you like to eat before you hit the gym?

Is Juicing Healthy?

It’s almost impossible not to get sucked into the juicing trend. And a lot of people and businesses have gotten on board.

While the concept may seem like a good thing to add to your daily diet, it’s important that you take a second look at it before you dive in too far. Picking up a bottle of pressed fruits and veggies over a soda sounds like the perfect way to stay healthy. But like all health crazes, there are a few downsides to consider as well.  

Juice can add too much sugar to your diet

Most bottled juices have as much sugar as your favorite soda. It doesn’t matter if it says “natural” or “organic”; if it’s refrigerated or off the shelf. Juices made from fruits, including veggies like beets and carrots, can add a lot of sugar to your diet and send your blood sugar skyrocketing.

Juice might not add the fiber

When you juice veggies and fruits, the good fiber gets left behind. That’s a problem because fiber helps you with your gut health and helps you avoid constipation. Although many think of juicing as a cleansing routine, when people solely focus on juicing, they often have a problem with constipation.

Juice can make you hungry

Juice often has a lot of sugar and not much fiber. Juice is also missing fat and protein, both of which are needed to make you feel full. Without fat and protein, your belly signals your brain that you’re still hungry. And that means you might fill in with snacks that are anything but healthy.

• Juice might not have the nutrients you anticipated

With think of juice as the cure-all to getting the nutrients we need from fresh fruit and vegetables. We’ve already established that a lot of the nutrients are lost in the skins you don’t take in through the juice. The nutrients also fade both as the juice gets closer to its expiration date, and if you leave it sitting open on your desk.

Okay, juicing might not be all it’s cracked up to be. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take in juices to add into your daily diet. When juicing, keep these things in mind:

• Avoid high sugar fruits such as bananas, pineapples, and mangoes
• Add in more greens
• Go heavy on the nutrients by adding in lemons, limes, green apples, ginger, mint, and turmeric
• Make it yourself whenever possible. That way you know what’s going into each drink.
• Look for organic ingredients to avoid chemical pesticides
• If you prefer a sweeter drink, add a little stevia or raw honey instead

Maintaining Your Weight For Life

When you’re young and active, focusing on your weight isn’t much of a challenge. When you’re burning a lot of calories each day, you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about your choices.

But aging changes all of that. You cut back on your exercise. Your food intake level changes. And what used to be almost an afterthought becomes something you have to think about, every day.

Watch The Video Here>>

But sometimes reality can be eye opening. When you realize you’re built a certain way, it changes your focus. You realize you’re going to have to make smarter choices in your life with every year of your life.

I’ve been making a lot of changes in my life recently. And as I move forward, I’m more determined than ever to make healthy choices every step of the way.

This is who I am

What today’s media does is put other body types on display; body types that may or may not be anywhere close to achievable for you. The super thin, tall frames you see in the magazines may be forever out of reach. Maintaining your ideal weight starts with understanding what your ideal weight is … for you. Not for someone else. You can’t look like a runway model if your body isn’t built like that. But knowing who you are and what makes you feel your best, that is easier to maintain. This is who I am, and I’m going to keep me in my best condition.

This is the exercise best for me

Exercise comes in many different formats. You can play hard outside or play equally hard in the gym. You can test yourself or be a part of a group. There are exercises you like, and things you hate. There are also exercises you know work well for you, even if you don’t enjoy them as much as you could. When you realize you’re playing to keep your body in its best physical condition, something changes. You’re more willing to push yourself to be the best you can be.

This makes me feel good

What’s pushed me many times to get off the couch is knowing how I’ll feel after a routine. Even going for a walk in the fresh air can completely change your mindset. Exercise does that. Eating right does that too. When you want to feel your best, be happier, be healthier, it encourages you to make better choices. And when you know the alternative is lurking out there, sometimes it’s all you need to say yes to what you know is best.

This is what I need

Right now, the world is changing quickly with advanced technology. We can take tests to find out our genetic makeup. We can use technology to monitor our daily condition. And all of this is changing every day. To create the best you, it takes skill and knowledge to be sure you’re doing all you can. And that doesn’t just happen naturally. Taking charge means reading lots of different articles about nutrition, exercise, weight training, and so on, weeding out what makes sense and what doesn’t to create your own plan of action. When you have your own internal concrete plan that you trust, it helps you stick with it every day.

What are you doing to maintain your weight?

Snacking May Be Making You Age

Snacking has become a part of our regular days. We plan snacks in between meals to help get us through our activities. There are the latte and energy bar mid-morning, and a 100-calorie pack in mid-afternoon. Even after dinner snacks of popcorn or a sweet treat can be doing you harm.  

But what are these snacks doing to curb your hunger? Not much.

Depending on what you choose, it might actually make you hungrier.

Eating the right meals full of macronutrients fuels you up and turns off your hunger hormones. If you snack in between, it can disrupt your digestion process.

Most people think that delaying meals to four, six, or even more hours during the day is impossible without feeling hungry. The key is eating the right meals that will help you turn off your hunger. A meal filled with protein, fat, fiber, and greens will calm your hunger. The right foods will give you everything you need until your next meal.

The latest research confirms this. Research shows that eating more frequently sets you up for exhaustion and premature aging. It also slows down your body’s fat burning process. Here’s why.

The Digestion Process

When you eat, your body requires time and energy to break down the food into tiny enough molecules for it to be absorbed. The digestion process can take up to six hours or more. When you eat a snack, you’re disrupting this process. It takes away energy that your body is doing to perform this natural function. And when it can’t absorb properly, it changes and stores it as fat.

Most Snacks Are Junk Food

Most snacks you grab for those in between meals are nothing more than junk food. It’s the protein bars, the crackers, the chips. It doesn’t matter if they’re gluten-free, grain-free, or vegan. They are filled with processed foods that your body doesn’t need. When you take them in, you’re interrupting your body’s process of absorbing real foods, and sending it on a blood sugar high, which causes you to crash and crave more of the bad stuff.

So you want to look better, feel better, and have more energy in the process? Pack in the good stuff at your meals - fewer meals - and avoid snacks throughout the day. Research has shown that reducing your meals can make a big difference in both your health and your weight, providing you’re taking in enough nutrition at each meal. Our bodies are extraordinary machines if you give it what it needs.