Category: Meal Preps & Recipes

Starting a new day with a cup of hot steaming coffee is a pleasure that millions of people enjoy every day. Drinking coffee is a habit so ingrained in people that they don’t think twice before consuming it at any time of the day. The truth is that coffee is much more than just a refreshing drink. Coffee is a drink that has many health benefits which are essential and necessary for your body.

Research has shown that drinking moderate amounts of coffee every day brings you many advantages. Some of the health benefits of drinking coffee are –

1. Improves Energy Levels & Makes You Smarter – Drinking coffee makes you feel less tired and increases your energy levels. The reason this happens is that coffee contains a stimulant named “caffeine” which gets absorbed in your bloodstream and travels to your brain. There it blocks the inhibitory neurotransmitter called adenosine leading to an increase in other neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine. These two lead to an increase in brain functions like mood, memory, reaction times, and vigilance.
2. Helps You Burn Fat – The caffeine boosts your metabolic state by 3-11% leading to the burning of fat in your body. It specifically increases the fat burning by 10% in obese people and up to 29% in lean people.
3. Contains Essential Nutrients – It contains essential nutrients like riboflavin [vitamin B2], pantothenic acid [vitamin B5], niacin [vitamin B3], potassium, manganese, and magnesium that your body needs.
4. Lowers Risk of Type 2 Diabetes – In this condition, you have high blood sugar levels caused by a reduced ability to secrete insulin. Studies have shown that drinking coffee regularly gives you a 23-50% lower risk of contracting this disease. Each cup of coffee you drink reduces this risk by around 7%. Isn’t that wonderful?
5. Protects You from Alzheimer’s Disease – It is the most common neurodegenerative disease in the world and leads to dementia in people over the age of 65 years. Studies show that drinking coffee gives you a 65% lower risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease.
6. Lowers Risk of Parkinson’s – It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world and afflicts millions of people every year. Drinking coffee regularly lowers the chances of you getting this disease by as much as 32-60%.
7. Fights Depression – Studies show that people who drink 4 or more cups of coffee every day are 53% less likely to commit suicide. Women who do the same have a 20% lower risk of becoming depressed. This is great news as depression is fast becoming an urban epidemic all over the world.
8. Lowers Risk of Certain Cancers – Coffee protects you against two types of cancer: colorectal and liver cancer. Coffee drinking reduces the chances of colorectal cancer by 15% and liver cancer by 40%.

Your Friendly Drink

So your daily coffee keeps fighting for your good health every day even as you are busy with your work and responsibilities. There are different types of coffees so you can choose the one you like. The next time you sip coffee from your mug, please remember that it is your friend for life!

The thought of drinking alcohol immediately brings to mind images of drunkards sprawled out on the streets, patrons stretched out in bars, people getting high and spoiling a good party, and drunks indulging in dangerous driving. This kind of excessive drinking and its aftermath is very bit extreme without a doubt. However, it doesn’t have to be like this. A little alcohol in measured amounts at the right time is good for your health. Surprised? It’s true!

A Little Amount is Good

Drinking alcohol in moderation brings you several health benefits like reducing the risk of you developing and dying of heart disease, opening up the arteries to your brain thereby reducing the risk of ischemic strokes, and reducing your risk of developing diabetes. Binge drinking is an absolute health hazard but having healthy alcoholic drinks like red wine, tequila, rum, rose wine, champagne, and whiskey in moderation will do you a world of good.

1. Red Wine – It contains antioxidants like catechin, resveratrol, epicatechin, and proanthocyanidins which reduce the oxidative damage in your body. They prevent cancer, heart disease, inflammation, blood clotting, and increase your lifespan.
2. Tequila – It helps in digestion, controls blood sugar, encourages weight loss, helps you sleep, is a probiotic, numbs pain, and is even good for bones. So take a few shots in the night and see the positives accrue.
3. Rum – Drinking rum is a good idea because it keeps scurvy at bay, contains very little carbohydrates or fats, restricts the formation of artery blockage, acts as a blood thinner, increases the HDL [good] cholesterol in your body, reduces the chances of heart attacks, and decreases muscle pain. Here’s the killer benefit: it even increases the average lifespan of a person by 2-5 years!
4. Rose Wine – This drink is ideal if you want to spend a relaxing evening with your family or friends after a long day at work. It contains polyphenols that prevent atherosclerosis, which is a major factor leading to heart disease. It increases weight loss, helps in digestion, removes toxins, and also prevents urinary tract infections.
5. Champagne – It improves your heart health, keeps you mentally sharp, has very few calories, makes your mood positive, lowers your risk of diabetes, and can even prevent dementia. Here is the best part: It increases your sex drive!
6. Whiskey – It helps in fighting cancer, lowers the risk of dementia, lowers the risk of you suffering from heart disease, has no fat, carbs, or sugar, and is the perfect antidote for your cold. Back in the 1920s in America whiskey was stocked in pharmacies as a medicine and not as liquor! It was considered to be a tonic!

Time to Get Drunk!

So having an alcoholic drink and getting a bit tipsy is good for you. It relaxes you, makes you feel warm and fuzzy, and spruces up your life. Take these alcohol drinks in measured quantities and have a good time. Letting yourself go will take you a long way!

Are you tired of carrying around the extra weight that you have accumulated in your body? If you are that’s great news your good health. Being aware of your excess weight is the first step towards leading a healthy, happy, and wholesome life.

Why Excess Weight is Dangerous for You?

Being overweight and obese is very dangerous for you as it is the reason why you might end up suffering from illnesses like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, cancer, osteoarthritis, fatty liver disease, kidney disease, and for women even pregnancy problems. This is why you must immediately begin your efforts to lose all that extra weight you are currently carrying.

What is Keto Diet?

This is why you must switch to a “keto” diet immediately. A keto diet is a very low-carb, high-fat diet that involves drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This puts your body into a metabolic state called “ketosis.” Then your body starts burning fat for energy and turns fat into ketones in your liver thereby supplying energy for your brain. A keto diet also reduces your blood sugar and insulin levels.

This means you have to say a big no to foods like sweets, sugar, corn, potato, beetroot, bakery products, fruits, and processed foods.

1. No Sweets – It makes you consume fewer calories and thus helps you lose weight. Avoid foods like junk foods, sugary foods, sodas, colas, salad dressings, ketchup, sauces, and sweets so that you can reduce the sugar intake in your body.
2. No Sugar – Replace high sugar foods with healthful options so that you can get all the needed minerals and vitamins without the added calories. You should avoid sugar by reading product labels, avoiding simple carbohydrates; avoiding artificial sugars, avoiding soda, specialty coffee, and sweetened tea.
3. No Corn, Potato, & Beetroot – Corn increases belly fat so avoiding it is a good decision. Potatoes are not a good food if you are looking for a permanent weight loss. It makes your body slow down its metabolism and burn fewer calories making it very difficult to initiate and maintain weight loss. It is commonly believed that drinking beetroot juice helps you lose weight but there isn’t enough scientific evidence to support this belief. Hence avoid beetroot as it contains a very high amount of sugar.
4. No Bakery Products – Bakery products like pastries, cookies, cakes, and white bread contain a lot of added sugar which can spike your blood sugar levels. They lead to a 40% greater risk of gaining weight and obesity.
5. No Fruits – You should avoid all high-calorie fruits when you want to lose weight like avocados, grapes, dry fruits, bananas, and mangoes.
6. No Processed Foods – Processed foods are full of chemicals, are addictive which makes you crave more of it. They contain a high amount of calories and sugar which are terrible for your body when you are trying to lose weight. So avoid them like the plague!

Less is More!

So avoid these foods strictly and watch your weight machine as it gives you the happy news that you have been waiting for. If you start working out also you will quickly shed those extra pounds that have been such a drag on you. So less of you mean more of a healthy you!

Fruits are truly precious gifts from Mother Nature. Not only are they delicious to eat at any time of the day they are nutritious, healthy, wholesome, and lip-smacking as well. They also bring you tons of benefits. It’s not for nothing that we have plenty of motherhoods describing the benefits of fruits like “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” and “Bananas are nature’s natural flushing agents.” You just can’t go wrong by picking up a fruit and digging into it anytime your stomach grumbles out of hunger.

A Plethora of Goodness

Fruits are a source of many vital nutrients such as potassium, vitamin C, and folic acid while being low in sodium, fat, and calories. They also do not contain cholesterol. Best of all they are loaded with dietary fiber which reduces blood cholesterol and lowers the risk of contracting heart disease. Fiber also facilitates good bowel movement eliminating problems like constipation and diverticulosis. Eating fiber-loaded fruits also leave you with a feeling of fullness.

Some of the fruits which are high on fiber content are passion fruit, avocados, guavas, raspberries, blackberries, pomegranates, kiwifruit, pears, and oranges.

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1. Passion fruit – It prevents constipation and keeps your gut healthy. It slows the time taken to digest your food which prevents blood sugar spikes from occurring. It also lowers the risk of heart illnesses, obesity, and diabetes.
2. Avocados – They prevent constipation, lower the risk of colon cancer, and help maintain a healthy digestive tract.
3. Guavas – Eating them facilitate healthy bowel movement and prevent constipation. They also reduce the duration and intensity of diarrhea.
4. Raspberries – They do not raise high blood sugar levels and lower blood sugar in your body and improve insulin resistance. They reduce the chances of fatty liver disease as well.
5. Blackberries – Their high fiber content reduce cholesterol, control blood sugar levels, facilitate regular bowel movement, help reduce weight, and provide fuel to feed healthy gut bacteria.
6. Pomegranates – They help in digestion and are also good for your heart. For people who love junk food, a steady diet of pomegranates goes a long way in fighting their ill effects.
7. Kiwifruit – They are excellent for improving digestion and they contain a proteolytic enzyme called “actinidin” that helps break down protein in your body.
8. Pears – They lower the levels of LDL [bad] cholesterol in your body directly contributing to your heart health. They also lower the chances of you contracting cardiovascular disease.
9. Oranges – The main fibers found in them are cellulose, pectin, lignin, and hemicellulose that improve digestive health, cholesterol levels, and aid weight loss.

Eat Them Up!

Consuming these fruits give you a wealth of benefits with virtually no side effects. These fruits are easily available in your nearby supermarkets and grocery stores which always stock them. Consuming these fruits will surely prove fruitful for you!

Even though you are busy with your work, personal, and social life you must take time out to care for yourself and your body. You need to detoxify your body at regular intervals so that you can maintain a fit and healthy body at all times. You don’t have to go to a hospital for that. You can safely and effectivelydetox your body in the comfort of your home by consuming the right foods.

Where Do Toxins Come From?

Toxins come from a variety of places like the air, water, pesticides, contaminated animals and fish, and can also be absorbed through your skin. Personal care products like shampoos, perfumes, make-up, and lotions contain toxins that are harmful to your body. Some toxins come through your food supplements, toothpaste, and medications since most of them contain gelatin.

Toxins damage our bodies in multiple ways. They poison our enzymes which then don’t work properly, displace structural elements rendering our bones weak, damage your internal organs, damage DNA which increases the rate of aging and degeneration, adversely modify gene expression, and interfere with our hormones and cause imbalances.

Help is Near

Luckily Mother Nature has given us natural detoxifying foods like lemon, turmeric, grapefruit, broccoli, ginger, and water that we can consume and detox our body. They are all easily available at your nearest supermarket and don’t cost much.

1. Lemon – It contains the antioxidant vitamin C which fights disease-forming free radicals and also is beneficial for your skin. It helps restore the body’s pH balance and benefits your immune system.
2. Turmeric – It increases the production of important enzymes that detoxify your blood even as it goes to your liver by breaking down the toxins.
3. Grapefruit – It flushes out the toxins from every part of your body and the vitamins and minerals in it speed up the cleansing process. They work well as a detox diet.
4. Broccoli – It contains nutrients such as gluconasturtiin, glucoraphanin, and glucobrassicin which neutralize and remove undesirable toxins. You will feel lighter in body and more able to cope with stress.
5. Ginger – It stimulates the processes of digestion, circulation, and sweating in our body thereby cleansing it. It also removes toxins from your liver, colon, and other organs.
6. Water – Freshwater cleanses the toxins from our vital organs and flushes the natural pathways of our body through which the toxins are removed. It also helps the liver do its function better.

Fight the Good Fight!

Keeping your body free from toxins becomes easy when you consume these foods in the right measure. You will feel energetic, fresh, fit, and healthy and face your problems with renewed vigor. The best part is that you get to choose your anti-poison!