Lower Your Risk of Dying in Heart Disease with 36%
August 31, 2007 by Carolin · 3 Comments
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Recent American studies have shown that people who eat fish 1-2 times per week have 36% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
It is mainly cold water oily fish (salmon, mackerel, haring) that has this effect.
What is so special about cold water oily fish?
The omega-3 fatty acids are essential which means that we can not live without them. And we have to add them through our food.
The amount of omega-3 fats in our diets have dropped to almost nothing while the omega-6 fats are constantly increasing. This can have dramatic effects on our health. Omega-3 is rightly called brain food but the positive health effects of omega-3 is much more wide spread that that. Since the omega-3 fatty acids effect the cells throughout the whole body deficiency of omega-3 can cause a vast number of health problems.
The brain revolution
About 150000 years ago our ancestors the homo sapiens made a gigantic leap in development. Their babies became fatter with the right type of fat; this provided fuel for the brain and was the key to a large human brain. The fattest infants became mentally the fittest adults. The fats in this brain food came from fish in Rift Valley, East Africa. Fish that was full of omega-3.
The general symptoms of omega-3 deficiency are:
- Thirst
- Dry skin
- Dry hair
- Brittle nails
- Dry elbows
- Dandruff
- Hair loss
Omega-3 is a natural vasodilator and it inhibits inflammation in the body. It works together with the inflammatory omega-6 and the balance between them is crucial. As a vasodilator it makes the blood vessels bigger, smoother and more flexible allowing the blood to flow more smoothly this in turn lowers blood pressure.
Taking omega-3 daily can help:
- Improve your immune system
- Remove eczema
- Moisture dry skin
- Minimize risk of ear, throat and lung infections
- Prevent migraine
- Prevent cardiovascular disease
- Lower bad cholesterol
- Lower blood pressure
- Cure menstrual pains
- Minimize risk of premature birth
- Help you loose weight by increasing your metabolism and give you a full feeling.
- Optimize bone density and minimize the risk of osteoporosis
- Treating inflammatory autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis
- Lower risk of degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis
- Protect eyesight in elderly by reducing the risk of macular degeneration
- Help children develop healthy brain texture
Sources of omega-3
There are a number of different omega-3 acids.
Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) can be found in a number of vegetable oils, dark green vegetable and flax seeds.
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are more potent than ALA. These can be found in cold water oily fish and algae.
Omega-3 as supplement
I try to eat cold water oily fish once a week but I don’t always succeed. And even if I manage, I know that once a week is not enough to balance the omega-3 and omega-6 in my diet. So Omega-3 is one of the few supplements I use.
If you are going to supplement omega-3 it is a natural choice to use the most potent omega-3 fatty acids in other words the omega-3 found in cold water oily fish. There are so many different fish oils out there so make sure you use one of high quality. Otherwise you might miss out on the health benefits.
Since omega-3 is a polyunsaturated fat it has a big tendency to become rancid. This can happen in the bottle or even inside your body. High quality stable fish oil will stay fresh much longer. It has a smooth taste and it needs no aromas or sweeteners. If you use capsules bite through one to taste the oil.
Bad taste = Bad oil.
As with all food we should try to eat it as much as possible as nature intended it.
Unfortunately our seas are becoming more and more contaminated with environmental toxins and heavy metals and it is of course crucial that the fish oil you use has been purified.
Remember:
The most expensive supplement you can buy is one that does not work.
Kick-start your weight loss with a Detox Diet
July 31, 2007 by Carolin · 10 Comments
Want to loose weight? Or just want to stay healthy and avoid for example allergies. Either way it’s important to help your body to cleanse and remove toxins.
To follow a detox diet is a much easier than fasting. The big, essential difference is that with a detox diet you can eat food, detox food. You never need to be hungry.
The benefits of a detox is that it will:
- Help your body to cleanse and remove toxins
- Loose weight
- Get more energy
- Kick-start a diet program
- Kick-start a healthier life
How to start a body detox
The first time you might consider a 36-hour detox: start after dinner day 1 and stop at breakfast day 2.
If you are used to eating healthy then start with a 3-5 days detox.
A really good detox continues for 10 days.
Prepare a couple of days in advance with avoiding coffee, black tea and alcohol.
Be prepared
A body detox can cause headaches, skin rashes, eczema, body odor and tiredness when the toxins leave the body. Listen to your body and take it easy. Do not attempt to detox if you are sick. If in doubt, consult with your physician first.
How to detox your body naturally
Its really quite easy. Eat all you want of the detox food listed below and drink a lot of water.
Lose Belly Fat by Slowing Down
July 11, 2007 by Carolin · Leave a Comment
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Did you know that stress makes you put on weight?
Our stress hormones cause our bodies to store extra fat, especially around the waistline. The reason is that the fat around our intestines quickly can be release to give us the extra energy kick we used to need in stress situations. But stress today usually does not mean running away from a dangerous beast.
No, today this means that if we’re often stressed we’re more likely to have too much fat around our waistlines. Who is not stressed? Who besides Naomi Campbell does not have too much abdominal fat?
To make matters worse, after the stress peak our bodies wants us to fill up the fat reserve. This leaves a person under stress constantly hungry and in need of fast energy. Know the feeling?
With our hectic lives you easily get into a vicious circle where you put on weight and the mere stress of weight gain actually make you gain even more. Wouldn’t it be much better to break the circle and start losing weight for a change?
This is how you can start your natural weight loss:
- Pass on the gym. Do not go that extra mile to fit in the fitness center in your already busy schedule
- Instead of going to the gym go for a walk in the park with a friend and make sure you move (nothing fancy, just do something that does not involve sitting down) for at least 5 minutes 6 times a day
- Take a 5 minute break every day to relax in silence:
Find a quiet room
Choose a position you like, sit in your favorite chair or lye down on your bed
Close your eyes.
Empty your brain and concentrate on your breath of at least 5 minutes - Do yoga. If you’re new to yoga try Hatha Yoga for beginners. Take it easy and listen to your body
- Spoil yourself with all the fresh fruits you can eat
- Don’t worry about your diet. Just make sure you start every meal with fresh fruits or vegetables
- Try one new recipe with healthy home cooked food every week
- Eat slowly, put down your cutlery between every bite
- Don’t eat between meals. If you’re hungry eat smaller meals more often and stop your sweet tooth by brushing your teeth
- Drink water
You probably never thought that weight loss could be this easy. Well it is. Try it!
Take it easy and enjoy the summer, and lose weight doing it.
Find Your Nautral Cure or Home Remedy
Choosing natural remedies is about being in charge of your own health. This is an amazing source of natural remedies that we’ve tried, got recommended by friends or read about on several occasions.
Take your time to go through this valuable information and please share with us natural remedies that you’ve successfully used.
Royal jelly, the food for a queen
The bees make royal jelly in a gland on their head and it’s used as food for the bee queen. Royal jelly contains 2,84% of substances that have not yet been totally analyzed by man and these substances have made royal jelly known for its benefits to cell regeneration, longevity and hormonal imbalances. They also help weight loss by increasing the body’s metabolism with 24%. Use the benefits of royal jelly to:
- Enhance your physical and psychological performance
- Loose weight and increase metabolism
- Strengthen immune system
- Take care of your skin both from the inside and the outside
Royal jelly is best consumed fresh but as it is very heat and light sensitive fresh royal jelly can be hard to find and can be very expensive.
However its fantastic properties are well preserved if it is freeze-dried.
The freeze-dried flakes can be dissolved in water. Another way to preserve the great properties of fresh royal jelly is to mix it with honey or pollen.
Water, the elixir of life
June 12, 2007 by Carolin · Leave a Comment
Lack of energy? Maybe you’re dehydrated. Water make up about 70% of our bodies and it is involved in nearly every body process.
Even our bones are made of 30% water. Most healthy people can live several weeks without food but only a couple of days without water. Few people know that if you only drink 1-4 glasses of water a day, this can lead to dehydration.
Dehydration causes lack of energy, digestive problems and weakness, increasing thirst, dry mouth, headache, darkening of the urine, a decrease in urination and an inability to concentrate. If the water level in the brain goes down it can cause memory loss. Severe dehydration can cause kidney failure and can become life threatening.
With our current eating and drinking habits dehydration might be a much bigger problem than we think.
Feel like a coffee? Have you ever tried to drink 2 glasses of water instead? It works wonders.
If you drink one cup of coffee you need to dink 2 cups of water to get back to the same hydration level as before you had coffee.
If you drink one cup of soda you need to drink 1 cup or water to get back to the same hydration level as before you had soda.
Some of the great benefits of water:
- Speeds up metabolism
- Moisturize your skin less wrinkles
- Cleans skin removes acne and gives your skin a healthy, youthful color and glow.
- Plays an important role during digestion
- Clean the lungs
- Remove waist through bladder and kidney
- Keeps you cool
- Lubricates your joints
How much do you need
An adult needs about 8 glasses of water a day and even more if he exercises or lives in a hot climate.
Water helps you loose weight
If you want to loose weight drinking a lot of water is crucial. One very simple reason is that we need to drink and many drinks are loaded with calories or chemicals that make us hungry. Water contains no calories or fat and plays an important role to clean and detoxify our bodies.
On top of this water speeds up the metabolism which makes us burn more calories.
People in the risk zone
Frequent fliers
The air inside an airplane is drier than any of the world’s deserts. The relative humidity is in the Sahara desert is around 20-25%, while the humidity on a long-distance flight in many cases can approach 1%.
You can feel the dehydration through digestive problems, thirst, scratchy eyes, bloodshot eyes, dry, wrinkled skin and head aches.
Are you a frequent flier, make sure you drink a lot of water before, during and after your flight.
Elderly
Dehydration is especially a problem for the elderly. Elderly have only 60% water in the bodies, compared to 70% in young adults. This makes them more sensitive to dehydration. Also their kidneys are often not working at an optimum level any more. Also they have a lower thirst and hunger response which often causes older people to eat and drink inadequately.
Babies
Babies and small children are very sensitive to dehydration. Therefore it’s very important to be attentive in hot weather or if your baby has diarrhea or is vomiting. Children in the age 6-12 months need 2-4 cups (0,5-1 liter) of water a day.
Where do I get water from?
Eat water
This is something you might not have thought about but if we prepare or foods in a good way it contains water. Fresh, raw fruits and vegetables contain a lot of water. Instead of cooking all the water out of the food, always eat something raw and fresh with every meal.
Drink water
The more obvious way is of course to drink water. But make sure the water you drink is clean. Unfortunately in many places tap water is full of chlorine, heavy metals, fluoride and hormones. There are inexpensive many water filters with active carbon that removes chlorine and some metals. If you want to remove fluoride your need a system that works with reverse osmosis.
Check with the local authorities about the water quality in your area. If the water quality is insufficient and you do not have a filter you can buy filtered water or spring water.
