Avoid processed foods and added sugars.

Avoiding processed foods and added sugars is a good tip for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and achieving weight loss goals. Processed foods are often high in calories, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars, which can contribute to weight gain and increase the risk of chronic diseases. Instead, focusing on whole, unprocessed foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats can provide essential nutrients and promote weight loss. Similarly, added sugars found in processed foods and drinks can also contribute to weight gain and increase the risk of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Limiting your intake of added sugars by reading food labels and choosing products with less added sugars can be beneficial for weight loss and overall health.

Study || Cherries Reduce Abdominal Fat?

I was eating some cherries a couple weeks ago and thought, "Hmm, I wonder if there is any research out there on cherries and fat".  Up until that point, I thought the fruit was pretty useless other than being a fix for my sweet tooth.  Well, guess what? There is research out there, one of which associates a regular intake of cherries with a reduction in abdominal fat weight, percentage fat mass, and more.  Check out the abstract: REGULAR TART CHERRY INTAKE ALTERS ABDOMINAL ADIPOSITY, ETC. (2009).

The Top Dozen Pesticide-Laden Produce + The Top Fifteen Cleanest Produce

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently released a list of produce containing the most pesticides (yuck!) ... and the least.  Do you want to know which of these foods are going into your body?  Check out the below list.  (For more information, including details on certain produce, check out this EWG page.)

THE 2014 "DIRTY DOZEN PLUS"
Apples
Strawberries
Grapes
Celery
Peaches
Spinach
Sweet bell peppers
Nectarines (imported)
Cucumbers
Cherry tomatoes
Snap peas (imported)
Potatoes
Hot Peppers
Kale

THE 2014 "CLEAN FIFTEEN" 
Avocados
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Cabbage
Sweet peas (frozen)
Onions
Asparagus
Mangoes
Papayas
Kiwi
Eggplant
Grapefruit
Cantaloupe
Cauliflower
Sweet potatoes

For more information, including details on certain produce, check out this EWG page.

Healthy Eating || How to Eat Healthy Without Spending Too Much

Eating healthy can sure be expensive ... but it doesn't have to be.  Check out these inexpensive options from Chef Marcus Samuelsson's blog:

Best Fresh Fruit: Banana
If you get hungry mid-day, a banana is the best snack at your desk, after a workout, or in between classes. Fruit is a very good snack in general. An apple will give you 14 percent of your day’s Vitamin C and 4 grams of fiber, but a banana, at half the price per pound, offers more Vitamin C and just 1 less gram of fiber. 

Best Frozen Fruit: Frozen Blueberries The price of fresh fruits out of season is significantly higher than when they’re in season, due to transportation costs. And if you want to get your money’s worth, you’ll need to eat them within three days of buying, so they don’t spoil. 1 cup of frozen blueberries gives you just as much fiber as the raw variety, and a handful fewer calories. While fresh blueberries offer 18 percent more Vitamin C, that difference isn’t worth the extra cost. 

Best Vegetable: Broccoli Nutritionally, a half-cup of cooked broccoli delivers 24 percent of your Vitamin A, 84% of your Vitamin C, and 3 grams of fiber. This versatile vegetable is a great bang for the buck and packs a great nutritional punch. 

Best Salad Base: Cabbage The leafy greens in your salad can really vary in their nutritional content-iceberg lettuce, for example, is significantly less nutritious than romaine, which is yet again less nutritious than cabbage. In fact, 1 cup of cabbage gives you more than half of your daily vitamin K requirement-and it’s $1.29 less per pound than Romaine. Try using cabbage in a soup as well!

For the rest of the list, go to Chef Marcus Samuelsson's blog.

Healthy Recipes || Coconut Milk Popsicles

{Image from "This Rawsome Vegan Life"}

All you need are coconut milk, a natural sweetener (e.g., cane sugar, agave, date paste, or bananas), frozen fruit of your choice, and an herb (optional).  

For the full recipe, visit This Rawsome Vegan Life.

Natural Remedy || Lemon Juice for Constipation and Diarrhea

NOTE:  This may NOT work for constipation or diarrhea caused by anything other than over-eating fast food and junk food.  Please consult your doctor in cases outside of these.

Once in a while, I will indulge in a greasy burger and fries or some junk food, and because my body is not used to these meals, constipation and (sometimes) diarrhea will be right around the corner.  (Sorry if this is TMI.) 

Many of you may already know about the following concoction, but I will share my experience with it anyway.  When it comes to constipation and diarrhea, drinking lemon juice mixed with warm water works like a charm for me!  Though I couldn't find any medical explanation on the internet, there are tons of people who also swear by this natural remedy.  If I had to take an educated guess, I would assume that the acidity of the lemon helps with digestion. I really don't know as I am not a doctor, but here is the simple recipe I use:

Ingredients:
1 part lemon juice (from a fresh lemon)
1 part warm water

Instructions:
Mix the ingredients and drink once to three times a day.  If your constipation does not go away (or decrease) in two days, then please consult your doctor.

This works for me.  Hopefully it will work for you! 

(Also, increase your water and fiber intake to help further combat constipation.)

Healthy Eating || Bananas and Lowering Blood Pressure

Lately my blood pressure has been lower than usual, which isn't a bad thing at all in this case.  The systolic pressure normally ranges between 101 and 110 while the diastolic pressure between 65 and 80.  However, my two most recent tests were 91/60 and 93/57. I don't recall my blood pressure ever being this low ... at least not in recent years.

So, I thought to myself, "What have I been doing differently?"  And then it occurred to me, "Well, I've been eating a lot of bananas [in smoothies].  Could that be it?"  Then I went to the internet, did some digging, and learned that there are dozens of references to the high potassium in bananas helping to lower blood pressure.  Here are a couple of abstracts worth reading:

ROLE OF POTASSIUM IN REGULATING BLOOD PRESSURE
EFFECT OF BANANA ON COLD-STRESS INDUCED HYPERTENSION

MORE READS:
BLOOD PRESSURE CHART AND TIPS

DISCLAIMER: Please speak with your doctor before changing your diet.

Healthy Recipes || My Very Berry Smoothie

In my determination to create a berry-laden (and antioxidant-filled) smoothie, I came up with the following delicious recipe:

Organic strawberries, blueberries, blackberries (optional),
cranberry juice (or cranberries), water, and ice. 

ABOUT STRAWBERRIES: Strawberries are loaded with Vitamin C and manganese. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that is beneficial for the skin, hair, and immune system. It is said to improve scalp circulation. Manganese is said to be a factor in hair growth.

ABOUT CRANBERRIES: Studies have suggested that cranberries 1) provide maximum effect on suppressing the growth of various human cancer cells, 2) may decrease the risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), 3) have the most antioxidant activity, 4) help keep certain bacteria (like E. coli) from attaching to the urinary tract wall, and 5) decrease symptomatic urinary tract infections in women.

ABOUT BLUEBERRIES & BLACKBERRIES: Antioxidants galore.

Ingredients
1/2 cup of organic strawberries
1/2 cup of organic blueberries
a few organic blackberries (optional)
1-1 1/2 cup of distilled water (depending on desired consistency)
1 cup of 100% pure cranberry juice (with no added sugar)
4 ice cubes

Instructions
Blend and voila!

*Creates 1 large smoothie or 2 small smoothies.
*You can use less cranberry juice and more water or use actual cranberries in place of the juice.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF STRAWBERRIES
HEALTH BENEFITS OF CRANBERRIES

Healthy Recipes || My Mango Smoothie

I've been on a smoothie kick for some time given that it is an easy way to absorb multiple nutrients (especially via fruits and veggies) at once.  My staples are green smoothies and banana smoothies, but lately I've been wanting to experiment with other fruits -- like the mango.

Mangos are a good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, dietary fiber, and vitamin B6.

After playing around with various ingredients and having a few failed attempts, I've finally created a mango smoothie that I find tasty while being nutritious.  It contains mango (vitamins and fiber), peanut butter (protein), almond milk (calcium), ice, and a little honey (optional sweetener).  A banana can be thrown in for extra nutrients and/or in place of honey for added flavoring.

Ingredients
1 cup mango
1-1 1/4 cup vanilla-flavored almond milk (amount depends on your desired consistency)
2 tbsp natural peanut butter
4-5 ice cubes
1/2 tsp honey (optional, depending on your palate)
OR 1 banana (in place of the honey)

My smoothie regimen: one every morning, whether mango, banana, or green.

Smoothie suggestion: If you want to incorporate berries (antioxidants), I'd suggest blueberries and blackberries.  Stay away from raspberries because they tend to give the smoothie a sour taste (unless, of course, your palate does not mind).  Some strawberries can also do the same but not as intense.  If you do use raspberries or strawberries, I suggest sweetening their flavor a bit with the addition of a banana in your smoothie.

My green smoothie.  Contains kale, banana, almond milk, peanut butter, ice, and sometimes blueberries or blackberries.  (I no longer use soy milk.)

Healthy Recipes || Simple Two-Ingredient Ice Cream

Two-Ingredient Ice Cream with a blueberry on top.

I first came across this recipe while on one of my favorite blogs: The Natural Selection.  I just had to try the ice cream since all that was required was a frozen banana, a little almond butter, and a few minutes of puree-ing in the blender.  And guess what?  It is so delicious!  It kind of tastes like a banana split - amazing!

This is my new "non-guilty" pleasure, and I say non-guilty because there is no sugar added.  There are also no ingredients-you-cannot-pronounce.  It's just a banana and almond butter (preferably natural).  How's that for healthy!?!

So, without further ado, here is the recipe (snatched from The Natural Selection) in a nutshell.  Feel free to modify it to your liking:

Ingredients:
1 banana
1 tbsp of almond butter
Note: I used natural peanut butter in place of almond butter, which worked just fine

Instructions:
1. Peel and chop the banana into quarters and freeze for at least 1 hour.
2. Blend on pulse with the almond butter.
3. Keep going until its whipped to a smooth consistency.
4. Pour into a bowl and enjoy or refreeze for later.

Optional: add berries, cocoa powder, honey, or anything else "delish and nutrish" (Cassidy's words)

Before puree-ing.

*smile*

Do you have any healthy dessert recipes you'd like to share?

Healthy Eating || Best and Worst Juices

Acai berry? Apple? Cranberry? Orange?


"Although the best kinds of juice deliver a bounty of vitamins, the worst are hardly better than liquid candy. WebMD helps you spot the difference."

Continue reading here.


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Skin Care || Chemical Peel Recipes

Chemical peels can be performed on the face or neck to improve the appearance of one's skin (e.g., to reduce blemishes and acne).  Below are a few homemade recipes that are both inexpensive and natural compared to the professional route.  The active ingredient in the recipes is papain, which is an enzyme found in papaya.  Be sure to do skin sensitivity test before performing the homemade chemical peel on your face/neck.  NOTE: Those with darker skin may risk hyperpigmentation or uneven skin tone after a chemical peel, thus the importance of a skin sensitivity test. 

Read more »

Citrus Fruits and Stroke

Sixteen years ago, my mother collapsed onto the hallway carpet of our apartment.  My sisters and I thought she had fainted, not realizing that she had just suffered a stroke.  Fortunately, she survived and recovered after months of hospitalization and therapy.  The catalyst of her stroke was high blood pressure.

A recently published study states that "citrus fruit consumption may be associated with a reduction in the risk of ischemic stroke."  It is the flavonoid, a substance found in citrus fruits, that is of interest in this association.  Further research is needed to confirm this connection, but in the mean time, you can read more about the current study in the links below.  Please consult with your doctor before making any changes to your diet; certain foods (e.g., grapefruit) can react with stroke medications. 

SOURCES
STUDY ABSTRACT
WEBMD ARTICLE
ISCHEMIC STROKE VS. HEMORRHAGIC STROKE

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Youtube: Veggie and Apple Smoothie

Spinach, celery, carrots, apples, garlic, and ginger .... then apple juice, rice milk, or coconut water ...

Why Organic?

Here are some of the many reasons I prefer organic ...

10 Dirty Fruits and Veggies