Raw Food Diet: The Basics

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The "raw food diet" has been a big nutrition trend for some time.  What does it entail? Meals consisting of raw, unprocessed plant foods, such as vegetables, nuts, whole grains, beans, and fruits.  Is the diet worth it?  Well, that is a more complicated question to answer.

The concept behind the raw food diet is that foods are consumed in their most natural, and thus healthiest, form.  Cooking vegetables and legumes tends to kill the nutrients.  Processing such foods tends to add chemicals and preservatives.

At this point, the raw food diet is looking mighty enticing.  Compared to the average meal, a raw food alternative is higher in fiber, lower in fat, and lower in sugar.  However, one must beware of certain deficiencies (e.g., vitamin B12) that can occur when avoiding animal products in a raw food diet.  Additionally, certain foods need to be cooked in order to obtain certain nutrients.  For example, when tomatoes are cooked, the lycopene content is highest.  (Lycopene is a carotenoid thought to play a role in disease prevention.)  Meanwhile, eating raw egg whites can actually be a catalyst for a biotin deficiency. This is because avidin in the egg white binds to biotin in the egg yolk and prevents it from being distributed properly.  To avoid this, the egg should be cooked (which denatures the avidin) as opposed to eaten it raw ... or eggs should be avoided altogether and replaced with biotin supplements.

Now back to the original question: Is the raw food diet worth it? If done properly, the raw food diet can be beneficial.  The American Dietetic Association (ADA) offers the following guidelines for raw foodists in order to ensure sufficient intake of nutrients naturally found in animal products:

• Eat almost twice the iron as nonvegetarians. Good sources of iron are tofu, legumes, almonds and cashews.
• Eat at least eight servings a day of calcium-rich foods like bok choy, cabbage, soybeans, tempeh, and figs.
• Eat fortified breakfast cereals, nutritional yeast, and fortified soy milk for B12. Supplements are a good idea.
• Eat flaxseed and walnuts. Use canola, flaxseed, walnut, and soybean oil. These are all sources of omega-3 fatty acids. You may also want to take an omega-3 supplement.

I also recommend incorporating sushi into the raw food diet.  As always, please consult with your doctor before making any changes into to your diet or lifestyle.

MORE READS:
WEBMD RAW FOOD DIET
RAW FOOD RECIPES
HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PROCESSED FOODS

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Fitting Fitness into Your Busy Life

By Stephanie of Infinite Life Fitness

“I just do not have time!”

“There are not enough hours in the day for me to squeeze in a workout!”

“I am just so tired at the end of the day I do not have any energy to go workout!”

“Go Workout!? I have barely had time to eat something today!”

The above are excuses I have heard from people who ask me for health and fitness advice. Excuses are lies that we tell ourselves and others to help get out of doing things or to just hide the truth. Some people get in the habit of making excuses for almost everything they DO NOT want to do. And that is usually the case when it comes to being healthy and trying to incorporate fitness into their day.

Anyone who wants to take a stand and make a change for their life can! All you have to do is STOP making excuses.

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MAKE TIME to work out:

This means schedule a workout time in your busy schedule. Look at your schedule and see when you can fit in that time. If you can fit in time to go to the spa, time to go to the movies, or even time to watch your favorite television show you have plenty of time to schedule a workout session 3 times a week. Look to see when it would be best (morning, afternoon, or night) to workout. When you finally set your schedule and start it, it is easier to keep and maintain your routine.

DO NOT make fitness a chore:

I hear so many people complain about “oh I HAVE to go workout today”. Make your workouts fun! Try to attend fitness classes or create a workout group with some friends. People steer away from working out if they feel like they have to do it. No one is making you do anything…but you won’t achieve your health goals by couch surfing every day.

Master Multitasking:

I have learned that if I can do more things at once, I get so much more done during the day! For instance, say you need to start your crockpot for dinner. Start the crock pot, and then go workout! If you have a show that you regularly watch, try to plan your workout during that show time so you can watch the show at the same time! You have then knocked out three things as once! Got dinner going, got in your workout, plus make time to watch your favorite show. Doing more things like this will help you to plan your workout times as well as get more things done during the day. Multitasking is a great skill to have, and it can help you in more ways than you think.

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Have a Plan:

When starting your workout schedule you have to have a plan! Whether it is doing 30 minutes or cardio or attending a fitness class at a local gym. You have to know what you want to do in the amount of time you are going to schedule to work out. Having a fitness plan will help you to plan out your fitness goals.
 
TREAT YOURSELF:

Who does not like to treat themselves or splurge every now and then? When you set your fitness schedule, set your fitness goals along with that! For example, say you are going to work out 3 or 4 times a week, and you want to lose 10 pounds that month. If you stick to BOTH of those goals go ahead and treat yourself to something small that you have wanted for some time. Or if you have been sticking to a good diet all month treat yourself to a piece of cheesecake or another treat you have steered away from to help you reach your fitness goals.

I hope that some of these suggestions will help you to figure out how to incorporate fitness into your busy schedule. Yes it will be hard at first. But when you start seeing the results it will all be worth it! So stop making excuses and start making plans to work out TODAY!

Please check out my website infinitelifefitness.com for more health and fitness tips!

Oldies, But Goodies

1. Avocado Conditioner Recipes
2. Hair Knots ... Be Gone!
3. To Buy Organic?
4. Baking Soda for Skin
5. Boar Brush: Damage to Your Edges?
6. "Soul" Food: Perseverance

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Protein Moisture Balance Solved

Are you trying to perfect the protein moisture balance?  Many women who have relaxed and/or colored hair face the issue of maintaining a proper balance between protein conditioning and moisturization.  (A few non-colored naturals face this issue as well.)  If the scale is tipped too far to the "protein" side, the result can be dry, brittle hair with little elasticity.  On the other hand, if the scale is tipped too far to the "moisture" side, the result can be mushy, stretchy hair. Audrey Sivasothy, the author of "The Science of Black Hair", discusses how to set the protein moisture balance in the following articles:

http://www.blackhairscience.com/hair-breakage-101-protein-and-moisture/
http://www.blackhairscience.com/protein-and-moisture-balancing-in-black-hair/

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Mixology || Seaweed Body Lotion

Do you want to know exactly what is going onto your skin?  Do commercial lotions irritate your skin?  Well here is a homemade recipe for a moisturizing body lotion incorporating natural ingredients.

Ingredients:
Aloe Vera Gel--1/4 cup
Powdered Kelp--1 tbsp
Purified Water--1 cup
Sweet Almond Oil--2 tbsp

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Use a 12 oz bottle flip top bottle.

FOR MORE RECIPES: 250 Bath Body Recipes

Shedding Too Much Hair?

THE HAIR CYCLE
Each strand of hair on our head goes through three phases:
--anagen (the strand is actively growing for 2-3+ years)
--catagen (the strand is converted to a club hair for 2-3 weeks)
--telogen (the follicle is at rest for 3-4 months)
Not all strands are in the same phase simultaneously; most strands are in anagen, a few in catagen, and a few in telogen.

WHAT IS SHEDDING?
Shedding is when club hair falls from the scalp.  Unlike broken hairs, shed hairs have a bulb attached at one end.  The process of shedding occurs at the end of the telogen phase (i.e., resting phase).

NORMAL SHEDDING
A normal scalp sheds up to 100 strands of hair daily.  This number is up to 0.1% of the hair on our heads.

EXTREME SHEDDING
Extreme shedding tends to occur when one is under physiological stress.  Under such stress, a disproportionate number of hairs can prematurely enter the telogen phase.  At the end of the phase, those same hairs are shed.  This extreme shedding is what is termed hair loss.

CAUSES OF EXTREME SHEDDING
According to WebMD, the following are stressors that may cause extreme shedding:

• Being on a strict low-calorie diet
• After childbirth when estrogen levels fall
• Severe illness
• Having a high fever
• Having major surgery
• Severe infections
• Certain medications (e.g., blood pressure medications)
• Thyroid disease
• Nutritional deficiencies (e.g., vitamin D)
• Excess vitamin A

WHAT TO DO?
Determining the exact cause of extreme shedding can be difficult because there may be a lag between the stressful event and actual hair fall.  Start by remembering what event occurred 3-6 months prior to hair fall.  Additionally, visit a doctor as soon as possible because he/she can help you better determine and address the stressor.

MORE READS:
WEBMD

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Dietary Fiber and Colon Cancer

According to the CDC, 52.7% of the American population were diagnosed with colon cancer in 2007.  The black population showed the highest rate, followed by whites, Latinos, and then Asians. (Source)

THE STUDY ON DIETARY FIBER:
According to certain studies, including this one, intake of dietary fiber is associated with a reduced risk of colon cancer.  One theory is that "insoluble fiber from foods adds bulk to stools and moves them through the GI tract swiftly, thus reducing the contact time with potential toxins in the colon."

FOODS HIGH IN FIBER:
Foods high in dietary fiber, include (but are not limited to) whole grains, beans, raspberries, and artichoke.  For more on whole grains (including label reading), read my post here.  Please consult with your doctor before adjusting your diet.

MORE READS:
DIETARY FIBER & COLON CANCER
DIETARY FIBER & CANCER PREVENTION
SOLUBLE VS. INSOLUBLE FIBER
HIGH-FIBER FOODS
OTHER BENEFITS OF FIBER
FIBER & DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

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