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Power Ups: Superfoods!


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Posted by Standout Health – Check out the “7 Superb Superfoods to Power Up Your Life” info graphic discover the secrets to a more healthy life. http://ift.tt/ZCR3jJ #Diet #Nutritin #weightloss
 
You are going to discover this revolutionary ancient tea recipe today

Superfoods are foods that are high in nutrie

nts and health-giving properties.
Eating a diet rich in superfoods should help to control weight, curb hunger pangs and cravings, protect from diseases and boost the immune system.
But knowing what to eat and how to eat it can be confusing. Getting the most out of superfoods means a wide variety of fruit and vegetables in rich colours, as well as lean meats and oily fish.
Here is our top 10 must-have superfoods:

1. Almonds: Packed with vitamins, minerals, proteins and fibre. Almonds make a great addition to any salad or dessert. Almond milk is also a nutritious dairy-free alternative to cow’s milk.
2. Bananas: Rich in potassium, fibre, vitamin B6, magnesium and manganese, they strengthen the immune system as they contain cytolcin which is believed to increase white blood cells. Bananas give a natural energy boost and help to reduce stress levels because of their tryptophan content, a chemical that converts to the feel-good hormone serotonin.
3. Butternut squash: The deep yellow colour means it’s high in beta carotene, which helps to protect against skin cancer.
4. Chia seeds: The richest source of plant-based omega 3 fatty acids, loaded with antioxidants, high in protein, minerals and fibre. Chia seeds swell to more than five times their weight in liquid, so they’ll help make you feel quicker, and can help with weight loss.
5. Chocolate/raw cacao: Dairy-free 70 percent cocoa or higher elevates your mood, improves your blood flow and can lower blood pressure. It helps reduce inflammation and bad cholesterol and contains heaps of antioxidants.
Raw cacao is even better as none of the nutrients are lost in heat treatment, so make up your own raw chocolates instead. Raw cacao contains more antioxidants than acai, goji or blueberries.

6. Cinnamon: Stabilises blood sugar levels and encourages blood flow through the body.
7. Coconut oil: Quickly and easily absorbed by the body, so it’s an easy source of energy that may help you burn more fat. It helps to protect against heart disease and slightly lowers cholesterol.
It is excellent for cooking as it does not form harmful trans fats when heated, even at high temperatures. Use in place of butter and oil in cooking. A small pinch of salt can be added to savoury recipes to reduce the coconut flavour.
8. Cumin: Contains anti-inflammatory properties and also helps reduce bloating.

9. Greek yoghurt: An excellent source of calcium, potassium,protein, zinc and vitamins B6 and B12. Contains probiotic cultures and is lower in lactose than regular yoghurt, but with twice the amount of protein. Eat with fresh berries instead of shop-bought fruit yoghurt, which can be high in sugar.

10. Hemp: A good source of protein, especially relevant to vegans. Contains omega-3 and 6 fatty acids and is thought to be energy boosting.

Is Your Green Smoothie Even Healthy?


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Posted by Justyce Allison – How to make a healthy/super healthy/boosty smoothie

Wake, smoothie, move, repeat. Wake, smoothie, move, repeat.

Green juices or smoothies have become part of everyday vernacular, almost as ubiquitous as a daily caffeine hit, among the health conscious anyway. But despite nutritious smoothies being a buzzword for years now (green smoothie is one of the biggest “trending” words in 2015), its widespread fame hasn’t changed the fact it’s rare for daily greens to be well executed.

And, here’s the clincher, because of this, it actually has little or none of the desired effects on your health and energy.

GREEN BENEFITS

It’s touted as your daily equaliser, an input of nutrient dense and enzyme-rich liquid that can help make you feel great and perhaps help you look it too. It has the potential to deliver easily accessible nutrition to your system and can help you detoxify. If your health is in “credit”, then a green smoothie/juice can further create a bit of a buffer to nutritional and life stresses.

While the idea of grabbing a pre-mixed or pre-powdered greens together with a new, trendy milk or “mylk”, appears to be an efficient way of throwing in the good stuff while getting optimum benefits, the truth is it probably isn’t. There are improvements to be made, and lots of them.

GREEN SMOOTHIE MISTAKES

1. Using pre-mixed, pre-powdered greens and berries

There are an abundance of these fruits and vegetables in their fresh and whole form, with all their intact enzymes and catalysts at your local growers market. A minimal amount of dead, dried, pesticide and chemical farmed green powder is not of any benefit to anyone. Always go fresh when you can.

2. Using low-grade protein powder

Putting awesome fresh produce in your shake and then degrading it by adding a low-grade protein source is not the best way to go.

You’re potentially adding a whole bunch of hidden fillers, inflammatory agents or chemicals to what is supposed to be our remedy against these things! Look out for ingredients like colourings, preservatives and a list of inactive ingredients longer than the active ingredients.

3. Check your superfood blend

Adding superfood blends that only contain micro-doses of the superfoods that you were after is commonplace. Have you considered how much you are going to actually need of that exotic sounding “superfood”?

Some brands contain only contain one tenth or one hundredth of the star ingredient they are promoting, which will do little for your health, even though they are listed on the label and are a selling point for the product.

4. What’s your pre-made blend made of?

Using pre-made blends that have added ingredients for texture, consistency and shelf life need to be scrutinised closely.

Ingredients to avoid are inactive ingredients – they’re inactive because they haven’t been added for use in the nutritional content of the product, but are still put in the product, which means your body still has to process and deal with it.

While some natural sweeteners are OK, again without sourcing them yourself you have little control over their quality. Other sweeteners are flat out terrible for your system – high fructose corn syrup and maltodextrin are the big ones to look out for so avoid these at all costs.

GREEN SMOOTHIES COME GOOD

The main point is, we need to start questioning all ingredients. It doesn’t help anyone if the “healthy” ingredients are produced in an unhealthy way, with unhealthy fillers. The benefits and assurance of using some home ingredients like a quality honey, or some well sourced stevia are more beneficial and harmonious to your body.

The other thing to look out for is food derived from a wholefood.

Most of the beneficial elements, such as vitamins and minerals, found in wholefoods are only used by the body when consumed with the rest of the wholefood. A wholefood contains the needed catalysts and enzymes to help you break down and make use of the nutrients you need to get out of those healthy foods. Nature has already got a great system set up for us and unfortunately separating and prepackaging parts of the wholefood, or synthetically trying to recreate elements of it doesn’t necessarily work.

Yes, it’s a smoothie ingredient minefield out there!

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST GREEN SMOOTHIE POSSIBLE

1. Buy fresh, quality produce

Preferably from local markets or growers. This way you know (because you can ask) where your fruit and veg has been, how long it has (or hasn’t) been in storage and what sort of conditions it has been grown in. Go chemical-free, organic, and sustainably grown produce. Buy lots of it and buy variety.

We recommend a variety of colours and particular qualities (for example, avocado for fat, banana for potassium, etc). Mix it up, too; the number of documented benefits to a wide variety of fruit and veg is only made to look dull by the potentials, uses and benefits we haven’t discovered yet.

2. Pick a suspension fluid

All of the produce will be blended into oblivion so you’ll need something liquid to carry them for texture and enjoyment’s sake (even if you are about your hardcore health there’s nothing wrong with having a health dense and tasty smoothie). Try home-made nut milks, hemp milk or coconut water.

3. Pick the right protein

If you are going to add a protein source, or a powder, do your research. Know your products. Do they use proprietary blends? Then guess what – it’s impossible to know what the hidden ingredients are. Are they transparent with the sourcing of their ingredients? If not, why not? Are they traceable sources? There are companies out there making the effort to nail these crucial factors in the products they deliver. It’s worth finding them and using them.

4. Get yourself an easy to clean, simple blender

You will make the money back on the cash you don’t spend on pre-packed, potentially low quality juices, and you will hit more variety and therefore more nutrition!

Red Hippo, run by Nick Dawe and Mitch and Ryan Barraclough, is an Australian company that provides synergistic protein blends, supported by science, and road tested by Olympians.

Green Smoothie Formula


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Posted by Qistina Osmand – Green smoothies #healthy #drink #Weightloss

It’s no secret that green vegetables are tremendously healthy and beneficial to our bodies. But chewing down on a big salad every day can get a little old and boring after a while, no matter how many variations you’ve been trying out. Fortunately, there are also other delicious ways to get your daily dose of leafy vegetables in!

Green smoothies have been on everyone’s lips lately – quite literally so. These nutritious and convenient liquid meals or snacks can be made up of various different ingredients and range from a light to thick texture, having either a sweet, sour, bitter, or even spicy taste. Now, that’s quite some diversion!

Here are three reasons why green smoothies are a great addition to your day:

Rich In Nutrients

Raw fruits and vegetables have the highest amounts of vitamins and minerals in regards to their calories. Especially the vitamins A and C give your immune system quite a boost and the calcium and magnesium make for healthy, strong bones. On top of that, green smoothies are rich in chlorophyll which enhances the immune system, purifies the blood and rejuvenates the body. They also contain lots of antioxidants, which help you fight off diseases and prevent aging.

Their alkaline effect on the body makes for a great environment in which ailments don’t stand a chance. This high nutrient density is extra beneficial to your health because of the blending process that takes place. This allows for a way better digestion of the food since blending it is a form or pre-digestion: it breaks down cellular walls and makes it easier for the body to extract nutrients and assimilate them.

A blender does a way better job at that than your teeth ever could! It really unlocks those nutrients and maximizes their delivery to your body. Naturally, this gives you a boost of energy since the body doesn’t have to do all the work in the intestines. This rush of natural sugar and hydration can also make for amazing mental clarity.

You’ll Get That Radiant Glow

On top of preventing or even healing many acute and chronic diseases thanks to the high amount of nutrients found in green smoothies, they also work on another level. You see, if you support your body to become really healthy, it can finally get things done like repairing tissue, releasing toxins and everything that’s not that important in order to keep you alive.

This means your skin gets tighter and clears up, your hair grows stronger and becomes shinier. It’s also due to the fact that fresh fruits and vegetables have a high amount of water and therefore secretly hydrate your body. If you mix them up with even more liquid and call it a meal – you’ve just done a huge favor for yourself. But they can also do a lot of good when it comes to your weight!

Smoothies keep you full for quite some time, not just due to their water content, but also, because they contain a lot of fiber. This little helper improves your digestion and really gets things moving through your bowel. It also helps to keep your blood sugar stable, especially when combined with natural sugars from fruit – the green vegetables make for a wonderful balance.

Since smoothies are rather low in calories, weight loss can happen with ease while on the same time you fill your cells up with micronutrients. This helps tremendously with cravings since your body is satiated on a cellular level and you won’t really reach for these chips or chocolates.

They’re Delicious & Convenient

Lastly, I want to mention the fact that it’s really no big hassle at all. Whipping up some green goodness with the help of a blender can be done within literally 2 minutes – plus you get to choose the exact ingredients. As opposed to getting your food and drink outside somewhere at a store, where you have limited options but a juicy price, you can be the chef here. Buying greens in bulk cut down on your cost tremendously.

Wanting to opt for organic? Go for it. Having to watch your budget? Get the regular stuff. You can even grow them yourself without having your own garden. Especially if you keep the ingredients seasonal and local, you’ll be sure to get the most nutrients from freshly picked or harvested food that wasn’t shipped thousands of miles. With produce ranging from apples, oranges, persimmons and pears during winter time to berries, peaches and melons over the summer – you won’t get tired of the taste.

There are endless possibilities to combine your ingredients! Throwing some seeds, nut butter, spices like vanilla, cinnamon, cayenne, nutmeg or turmeric, different plant milk or juices, fresh herbs – do you think it will get old at one point? I often find myself just freestyling with the ingredients I have laying around and, unless you’re looking for some new inspiration, you usually don’t even need a recipe book for them.

Be aware of the strong and bitter tasting vegetables, though, make sure to mix them with enough fruit, at first, to mask the flavor and get used to it. You can always change the ratio to up a number of greens. Once you’re ready, aim for more greens and vegetables than fruit! Your taste buds will learn to love it, I promise!

It’s also a great way to get your kids to consume fresh food – its so much fun to choose colorful food, put them in a jar and press the button on the blender. I would definitely recommend to let your kids choose the ingredients and to keep it more on the fruity side. This makes for a really fun and healthy treat! And it’s not just made in a matter of a few minutes – you can pour it into a Mason jar or bottle and take it with you. Now, that’s about as convenient as good eating gets!

249 Foods To Lose Weight Faster


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Posted by Victory Ink – 249 weight loss foods you should eat 80% of the time to lose weight faster #Weightloss

No Need For A Detox Diet


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Posted by ANNETTE HAMLIN – Never need to do a detox diet if you incorporate these foods into your normal diet. corehealthcoaching.com.au #Weightloss #Detox

Detoxing your body can do more for your body than just put a glow on your face or help you shed some pounds. The main purpose of following a detox diet is to take the load off organs that detoxify your body and help them function better.
Following a detox diet also prevents chronic diseases, enhances the function of your immune system, slows premature aging, provides mental and emotional clarity, and increases energy. Moreover, eliminating toxins and feeding your body healthy nutrients isn’t difficult!
If you’re ready to begin detoxing your body, here are ten foods you should include in your diet.

Heart Cleansers
#1 Wild Salmon
Salmon is rich in omega-3 fatty acids which help protect the heart and reduce triglyceride levels in the blood. These anti-inflammatory healthy fats are also known to reverse arterial stiffness, which is a common side-effect of smoking.

#2 Spinach
This leafy vegetable is an essential detox food your heart. Spinach is rich in vitamins A and C- both antioxidants that fight free radicals in the body, thereby keeping cholesterol levels in check. Spinach also has folate which keeps the cardiovascular system healthy and magnesium that helps lower blood pressure.

Liver Cleansers
#3 Lemon
Being a citrus fruit, lemons are loaded with vitamin C, which is essential to the body in several ways. Among other uses, vitamin C is needed to make glutathione- a powerful antioxidant that detoxifies the liver, in addition to enhancing the immune system and neutralizing free radicals. Lemon also increases the production of bile which is necessary for digestion. At the same time, lemon juice controls the flow of excess bile into the digestive tract, thereby preventing the formation of ulcers. Further, drinking lemon infused water or lemon juice first thing in the morning balances out the acidity of foods consumed the previous day. Lemon juice contains anti-cancer compounds and helps maintain the body’s pH levels too.

#4 Artichokes
This wonder vegetable, which is actually a flower bud, helps the liver function at its best by promoting the production of bile. Artichokes are also able to protect the liver owing to the presence of silymarin- a phenol compound. In addition, artichoke leaves are rich in anti-cancer polyphenols and also have anti-viral and anti-fungal properties.

Kidney Cleansers
#5 Kale
Kale is packed with antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory properties, which is why it is highly recommended by doctors to patients with kidney-related diseases. In addition to flushing out kidneys, kale also is a nutrient-dense food, so you should eat it as often as you can.

#6 Basil
This full-of-flavor herb is a great addition to soups, salads, grilled vegetables, and a lot other dishes. What’s more, it is rich in antioxidants and has anti-bacterial properties! Basil also expels unwanted toxins out of the body by supporting the functioning of the kidneys and acting as a diuretic.

Digestive System Cleansers
#7 Whole Grains
Whole grains such as brown and wild rice, quinoa, and steel-cut oats are complex carbohydrates that are rich in soluble as well as insoluble fiber. The high fiber content ensures regular bowel movement, thereby helping you eliminate body waste efficiently. Apart from this, fiber-rich grains also reduce the risk of colon cancer, and gastrointestinal disorders like duodenal ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, reflux, and diverticulitis.

#8 Fresh Fruits
Fresh fruits are among the most effective foods that can cleanse your digestive system. That’s because almost all fruits contain ample amounts of fiber that aids digestion. Fresh fruits are also rich in essential vitamins, minerals, and other compounds that can nourish the body and help detoxify it. Some fruits that are great cleansers are apples, blueberries, cranberries, avocado, and grapefruit.

Overall Body Cleansers
#9 Beetroot
A single serving of this delicious root vegetable can work wonders for your whole body. Beetroots contain abundant phytochemicals and minerals that help fight infection, purify the blood, and cleanse vital organs. They also boost the body’s intake of oxygen at the cellular level, making them an excellent overall body cleanser. Additionally, eating beetroots regularly can help fight cancer, boost the functioning of the brain, reduce arthritic pain, and more.

#10 Cabbage
This cruciferous vegetable helps cleans the liver and also acts as a diuretic, flushing toxins out of your body. Cabbages also contain sulfur that helps break down toxins so that they can be eliminated easily.

Conclusion
Now that you know about these ten amazing detox foods, what are you waiting for? Get started on your detox diet right away! Just make sure you don’t follow fads blindly; a detox diet will benefit you only if you do it right. So eat healthy, take your detox diet slow at first, and you’re sure to bring the balance back into your life by helping your body function as well as it can.