The 7 Best Flu Foods
When you have the flu, you may not feel like eating anything at all. Or, you may resort to eating things that your body doesn’t need. The problem? While your body is busy fighting off viruses, it needs support to do its job. What’s one primary source of that support? Nutrition. But what are the best flu foods that help increase your body’s defenses, while replenishing your system? Hot Tea Green, oolong, and black tea offer disease-fighting antioxidants. Also, breathing in the steam can help relieve congestion. Add a spoonful of honey and lemon slices to help detoxify your system and soothe a sore throat. If caffeine bothers you, opt for decaf or herbal versions. Turkey Turkey is a good, lean protein, essential to solid nutrition. And although you may not feel like it, eating can help give your body energy to fight illness. Try adding cranberry sauce for a spike of flavor and comfort-food taste. Popsicles n icy popsicle can soothe a sore or dry throat. It can also help keep you hydrated, which is essential when fighting the flu. Getting enough fluids can keep mucus thin and help lessen congestion. Look for popsicles made from 100% fruit …
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YUM: 7 Healthy Back-To-School Lunch Recipes For The Whole Family
The back to school season is the perfect opportunity to make a new (school) year resolution to eating healthier away from home, whether that’s in the lunchroom for kids or at the office for you. Packing up your lunch is worth the commitment: one USDA report found that each meal consumed away from home tacks on an additional 134 calories to your daily intake. But brown bagging it doesn’t have to be a time-consuming labor. By repurposing leftovers, cooking for the week and making the same lunch for kids and adults, you can provide a healthy midday meal and save time in the kitchen. Here are some suggestions for healthy lunch ideas that the whole family will enjoy, from the people who know best. We know you have other ideas to share! Leave your favorite family-friendly lunch recipe in the comments. A Bento Box Fill a bento box with the following: -Egg salad on romaine lettuce -Gluten-free crackers -Easy-to-eat veggies, like carrot sticks, broccoli florets, cherry tomatoes, jicama and celery -Trail mix -Fresh fruit Quinoa Salad With White Beans And Sautéed Spinach Whip up a hearty quinoa salad, says Heather Bauer, R.D., C.D.N., founder of Bestowed, a nutrition …
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Fall Into Autumn: Yoga Moves To Prepare For The Change Of Seasons
Fall is the perfect time to rely upon your yoga practice to help you prepare for the change of seasons. Summer is all about fun and games, back bends and hand stands and playing outside. It can be hard to focus and hone in on the more productive work mode that seems to hit hard come September. As the weather takes a turn, it’s important to keep a light, sunny summer attitude as we bring our attention more inward and prepare to hunker down for the colder months ahead. We want to keep our hearts open and not fall in to slouched shoulders and rounded forward posture. We also want to feed ourselves a very nourishing, grounding practice that can sustain us when the temps drop and the days get shorter. In this yoga sequence we start with eagle pose for focus and concentration. Then, we move to half moon pose to keep our sunlight shining before we fall back into warrior II pose to ground our stance and prepare for battling the workload ahead. Once we feel steady, we shoot forward in to our future in warrior III, knowing we’re prepared to take on any challenges ahead of us. …
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YUM: Super Healthy Foods At A Super Low Cost
It’s tough to eat healthy, and even tougher to find healthy foods on a budget. Even though eating well is an investment in your long-term health, it can be hard to find nutrient-dense, environmentally friendly foods that don’t hit your wallet. Environmental Working Group, a non-profit research organization, has examined over 1,000 foods to determine the ones that have the fewest pesticides, contaminants and artificial ingredients… and are reasonably priced. Their printable booklet “Good Food on a Tight Budget” offers tips for healthy, inexpensive foods. Scroll through the list of some of EWG’s recommendations for nutritious, low-cost vegetables (many of which they recommend buying organic), and scroll down for a sample shopping list: Brocolli Mustard Greens LETTUCE Tomato Juice (Low Sodium) Carrots Potatoes To view more click here
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YUM: The 4 Best Teas for Your Health
It can warm your soul or cool you off on a sweaty summer day—but did you know that tea can also prevent the formation of brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease? And that’s not all: A potful of research is showing how various brews can ward off pathogens, hypertension, even cancer. Check out these four healing cups; we’ll wait while you put the kettle on. Darjeeling The Brew This delicate infusion—considered by many to be the best tea in the world—is made from plants grown in the Himalayan foothills of India’s Darjeeling region. The Benefits More than half the global population harbors a pathogen called H. pylori; 15 to 20 percent of those people develop ailments including ulcers, gastritis, and gastric cancer. But in a recent study, scientists found that various teas inhibit H. pylori—and that Darjeeling steeped for five minutes has the greatest effect. Just hold the milk; it can block the activity of compounds in the tea. Oolong The Brew The leaves of this elegant Chinese tea are semi-fermented—allowed to wither briefly, then bruised to spur oxidation, and dried before the enzymatic process is complete. Oolong’s varieties range from light and sweet to thick and woody. The …
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The Best Things to Eat Before Working Out
We sort through the confusing advice about pre-workout snacks to tell you what you need and when. The workout: A vigorous morning run or swim. If you’re going to get your heart pumping for at least 30 minutes, have a snack first, says Christine Rosenbloom, PhD, the sports dietician for Georgia State University athletics. You’ve been fasting all night, so you need some carbohydrates to top off your depleted glycogen stores. The ideal snack will be low in fat and protein, which take longer to digest, and have about 30 grams of carbohydrates. The snack: A tube of energy gel, a packet of instant oatmeal (Rosenbloom says southerners like her may prefer grits) made with water, one cup of dry cereal or a plain mini-bagel. Wash this down with a 4-ounce glass of water. When: Your body will be able to convert these carbs into energy if you eat 15 to 30 minutes before your workout. Don’t worry if you’re headed to the pool: The belief that you’ll cramp up is an old wives’ tale, says Rosenbloom The workout: A predawn yoga or Pilates class. For these types of low-intensity activities, a snack …
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Ask the Experts: How Do I Start A Juice Cleanse?
Going without food for a few days in search of increased health and wellness might sound totally absurd to some people. Some would even argue that abstaining from food for a few days would cause great distress! For Denise Mari, however, forgoing food has helped her reap boundless benefits. She’s got clear skin, a healthy weight, and best of all more energy. These rewards led her to found her own vegan juice company, Organic Avenue. For over a decade, Mari has concocted earthy elixirs that are both tasty and chockful of wholesome nutrients.Here, Mari and the Organic Avenue team share a few more benefits of juice cleansing and how you can start your own juicing plan. The Benefits of Juicing Denise Mari is the founder of Organic Avenue and has been devoted to juicing for well over a decade. The greatest three benefits of juicing are “clarity of purpose, clarity of skin and energy for life,” says Mari who has learned that cleansing is as much about the mind as it is the body. “Juicing triggered an awareness for me that inspired Organic Avenue. It’s my purpose to help people have a real-world transformation.” How …
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HEALTH: 5 Exercises You Think You Need…But Don’t
Give up crunches—for good! Let these fitness pros help you find a more effective alternative for those and other exercises. You Think You Need Crunches… But They Could Hurt Your Back Reality TV shows like MTV’s Jersey Shore show how crunches can ripple the abs, but it wasn’t until the last decade or so that we’ve fully understood what they do to our spines. “They’re really hard on the discs,” says Dr. Michael R. Bracko, an exercise physiologist and certified strength and conditioning specialist in Alberta, Canada. “Imagine that the discs are like jelly donuts stacked in between each vertebra,” he says. “If you repeatedly flex the spine by doing crunches, it could cause the disks to rupture.” That’s a situation we’d like to avoid. Better: Planks. “The best way to work the core is to keep the spine in a neutral position,” says Bracko. “Planks work the rectus abdominis as well as the obliques, which help stabilize you.” How to Do Them Start in a modified push-up position, but instead of keeping your arms straight, your elbows should be on the floor. Your back should be straight, your neck long, legs straight behind you. Make sure your bottom …
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A HEALTHIER YOU: Top 10 Herbs For Everyday Holistic Living
BY: Kenneth Miles There are numerous ways to consume these herbs many of which include making tea. Others such as Spirulina and Chlorella are preferred to be consumed in a smoothie. There are smoothie mixes from vendors such as Bolthouse Farms and Naked Juice which include Chlorella and Spirulina and up 2000% of your daily vitamins in one serving. The transition from Modern to Holistic medicine could make a world of difference for your health and wellness. 1) BLACK SEED OIL – Black cumin oil contains 100 healing components which work together in a synergetic effect. That means they all complement each other in the process of aiding our body’s ability to look after itself. Research has found that there is not another herb known to work with such a wide range of healing capabilities. 2) GINSENG – Ginseng is one the best known and widely prescribed herbs in Chinese medicine as a general adaptogenic and restorative tonic. Adaptogenic herbs such as ginseng are especially useful in debilitated persons suffering from exhaustion, fatigue, liver disease, stress and wasting from chronic disease. 3) SPIRULINA- Spirulina a popular nutritional supplement with good reason. Spirulina is a rich …
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9 Health Benefits of Black Tea
So as most of you know… I’ve been on a super health kick the past couple weeks, researching different diets & the benefits of certain foods, not just looking up the things that are good for you, BUT actually LEARNING WHY it is GOOD for you. My most recent conquest has been the world of teas! Amongst the healthiest sits Black Tea… 9 Health Benefits of Black Tea Over ninety percent of all tea sold in the West is black tea. All four varieties of tea (black, green, oolong, white) are made from leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, but black tea generally has more flavour and caffeine than the others. Because black tea keeps its flavour for several years, it has long been an article of trade and bricks of black tea even served as a form of currency in parts of Asia into the 19th century. In the production of black tea, the leaves are first spread out on racks and blown with air to remove about a third of their moisture and make them pliable. Then they are rolled around to break their cell walls and release the sugars necessary for fermentation. To promote fermentation they …
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