When it’s hot out, it doesn’t get much better than biting into a juicy piece of watermelon. This colorful fruit has earned its place at your next pool party or BBQ - it’s refreshing, delicious, and even packs some nutrition benefits you may not have known about:
🍉 Hydration It’s not just a clever name, watermelon is composed of 92% water, which is just what you need to beat the Summer heat. This will help keep you going safely during outdoor activities and can even help with digestion thanks to the combo of water and fiber content in the fruit. 🍉 Low Calories One cup of watermelon has only 46 calories, making it one of the lowest calorie fruits around. 🍉 Variety of Nutrients They aren’t all water though - a one cup serving of watermelon contains 21% of your daily vitamin C, 18% vitamin A, and around 4% of potassium, magnesium, and vitamins B1, B5, and B6. 🍉 Lycopene This antioxidant is what gives watermelon (and tomatoes) it’s vibrant color but can also help protect your body’s cells and lower inflammation. 🍉 Relieve Sore Muscles Watermelon contains an amino acid called citrulline that’s been shown to potentially reduce muscle soreness from strenuous activities and speed heart rate recovery. 🍉 Skin and Hair Health Vitamins A and C are both plentiful in watermelon and are crucial for healthy skin and hair. They support collagen production and repair cells.
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Butter is basically the fat from milk in solid form and the diet of the cows that produce the milk (and then butter) can affect its taste and nutrition. Most cows in the US eat corn and grain for their food, but grass-fed meat and dairy is catching on and for good reason. Butter is pretty complex and can actually contain quite a few things that can benefit your health - even more so if it’s from grass-fed cows. Here’s why grass-fed butter has an edge over regular butter:
🧈 Healthy Unsaturated Fats Eating a variety of fats is good for you and grass-fed butter is higher in unsaturated fats than regular butter. Incorporating more of these in your diet may help reduce your risk of heart disease. 🧈 Vitamins You usually don’t associate vitamins with butter, but you can with the grass-fed varieties. Vitamins A, D, K, and E can be found in higher amounts in grass-fed butter. 🧈 Beta Carotene Grass contains lots of phytonutrients and beta-carotene is one of them. It’s an antioxidant and the same one that’s found in carrots and tomatoes. The levels of beta-carotene are much higher in grass-fed butter since grass is the sole diet of the cows that make it. Beta carotene can help protect your cells from damage and can also be converted into vitamin A. 🧈 Lots More CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) CLA is a type of fat that may help prevent cardiovascular disease, increase bone mass, and fight inflammation and there’s 500% higher amounts of it in grass-fed butter. 🧈 Omega-3s On average, grass-fed butter contains 26% more omega-3 fatty acids than regular butter. These fats can help cell development, hormone regulation, healthy blood function, and reduce inflammation in your body. 🧈 Richer Flavor Grass-fed butter typically has a richer flavor and deeper yellow color than regular butter due to its more complex nutritional profile. Give it a try sometime, but remember both varieties are high in calories and fat so enjoy in moderation! Pecans help add a rich, buttery flavor and natural sweetness to our Bourbon Pecan Chicken, but they also help give it a nutritional boost. Here’s some nutritional info on pecans you may not have known:
• Protein One ounce of pecans has 2.5g of protein and no cholesterol. • Heart Health Among the 19+ vitamins and minerals they have, the combo of calcium, magnesium, and potassium found in pecans can help lower your blood pressure. They’re also very high in copper, which can help improve red blood cell production and support immune health. • Healthy Fat Most of the fat found in pecans is monounsaturated fat, which can help lower levels of the bad LDL cholesterol. • Fiber One ounce provides 10% of your daily recommended fiber intake. • No Sodium Pecans are naturally sodium free, making them a good choice for those on a sodium or salt-restricted diet. Plain yogurt is such a versatile thing to have around, but if you’ve got some in the fridge with an expiration date looming and aren’t sure how to use it up, we’ve got you covered:
1. Quick, Sweet Topping Add a spoon or two of whatever jam you have to some yogurt for a sweet breakfast topping. It goes great on waffles. 2. Make Popsicles Blend yogurt with some fresh fruit and freeze in popsicle molds for a creamy and refreshing treat. 3. Whip Up a Dressing It’s easy to make your own dressing using yogurt as the base. By adding things like olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and dill, you can have a quick and healthy dressing that can be used on almost anything. 4. Breakfast Maybe this is what you bought it for in the first place, but you can get a delicious breakfast just by starting with yogurt and adding things like fruit (blueberries, strawberries, banana), granola or chia seeds for crunch, and a drizzle of honey for some sweetness. 5. Replace Your Mayo If a recipe you’re using calls for mayonnaise, try swapping it for yogurt to lighten up the calories and fat. 6. Swirl Into Soups A quick way to add body and a deluxe texture to soups is to mix in a dollop or two of plain Greek yogurt right before serving. This works really well for carrot, cauliflower, and pumpkin soups. Vitamins and minerals are the building blocks of a healthy body and the B vitamins (all 8 of them) are responsible for energy levels, brain function, and cell metabolism. Feeling a little off, tired, and having trouble concentrating? It could be that your B vitamins are low. The collective group of all 8 B vitamins as a supplement are called “vitamin B complex” and here’s what they help with in your body:
• Energy levels • Mood regulation • Muscle tone and performance • Brain function • Red blood cell growth • Digestion and appetite • Eyesight • Hormones and cholesterol levels • Cardiovascular health • Overall cell health Did you know there are foods that contain almost zero calories? While they may be extremely low in calories, that doesn’t mean they don’t do anything for you. Here are some foods with low calories that also pack a nutritional punch:
• Asparagus 1 cup = 27 calories Vitamin K, folate • Bell Peppers 1 cup = 46 calories Vitamins A, B6, C, E, and K, riboflavin, niacin, folate, potassium, fiber • Broccoli 1 cup = 31 calories Vitamins C and K, folate, potassium, manganese • Brussels Sprouts 1 cup = 38 calories Fiber, vitamins C and K, potassium, iron • Cabbage 1 cup = 22 calories Vitamins C, K, and B6, folate, fiber • Carrots 1 cup = 53 calories Vitamin A, fiber, potassium • Cauliflower 1 cup = 25 calories Vitamins C, K, and B6, fiber, folate • Celery 1 cup = 16 calories Fiber, vitamins A, C, and K, folate, calcium, potassium • Kale 1 cup = 33 calories Vitamins A, K, C, and B6, manganese, calcium, copper, potassium, magnesium, iron, thiamin, antioxidants You may have heard the phrase “let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food” from ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. But did you know he would prescribe garlic to people as treatment for a variety of conditions? Modern human research has now backed up his claims in what garlic can do for you:
• Lower Blood Pressure The anti-inflammatory properties of garlic help blood flow through your body easier, which may result in lower blood pressure overall. A study found that people that supplemented with 600-1,500 mg of aged garlic lowered blood pressure by up to 10%. • Lower Cholesterol Over time, garlic supplementation may lower LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol levels while keeping HDL (the “good” stuff) levels where they’re at. • Heart Health Aside from the two benefits mentioned above, garlic may also relax hardened blood vessels and reduce blood clots by increasing nitric oxide production. • Immunity Boost Garlic can decrease the number of times you get a cold throughout the year, shorten the amount of time you have symptoms, and decrease their severity. • Boost Athletic Performance The heart-boosting benefits of garlic can lead to an increase in athletic performance. Some participants in a study found that their peak heart rate improved and they could exercise longer without feeling as tired. • Antioxidants Regular garlic use may lead to things like improved brain function and even softer skin thanks to the antioxidants it contains. If your metabolism is higher, you can burn more calories and it’ll be easier to keep your weight where you’d like and avoid excess fat. Did you know certain foods can actually help give your metabolism a boost?
• High-Protein Foods You actually burn calories by digesting food and it takes more energy to digest protein than it does fat and carbs. Foods like fish, meat, eggs, legumes, and nuts could help boost your metabolism for a couple hours. • Spicy Foods A chemical called capsaicin that’s found in chili peppers can help increase your metabolism by burning around 50 extra calories per day. It’s also been found to help reduce your appetite so you can avoid giving in to cravings. • Iron, Zinc, and Selenium-Rich Foods Proper function of your thyroid can be supported by getting the right amounts of iron, zinc, and selenium in your diet. Foods like meat, seafood, legumes, and nuts are all good sources that can help support a healthy thyroid and metabolism. • Coffee Caffeine has been shown to potentially increase metabolic rate by 11% and can even help with workout performance, but keep in mind the effects of caffeine vary for each individual. • Tea Most tea contains a combo of caffeine and plant-based flavonoids that can give you a metabolism boost. In particular, oolong and green teas may boost your metabolism enough to burn an extra 100 calories per day. • Ginger Simply dissolving ginger in water can help burn 43 additional calories. • Coconut Oil MCTs or medium-chain triglycerides are very popular right now due to how your body processes them. Unlike most long-chain fats, MCTs go straight to your liver to be used as energy, which keeps them from being stored as fat. This can help increase metabolic rates and reduce belly fat. You won’t find another fruit like the avocado. It’s unique texture, appearance, and taste are interesting enough (did you know they’re sometimes referred to as “alligator pears”?) but their nutritional benefits are even better.
🥑 Avocados are packed with 20 different vitamins and minerals including vitamins K, B5, B6, E, folate, and potassium. 🥑 The amount of potassium in avocados is actually higher than bananas per serving, coming in at 14% of your daily amount versus 10% in bananas. 🥑 They’re rich in fiber with 7g in a 3.5oz serving. 🥑 While avocados have 9g of carbs per serving, the 7g of fiber make them only 2g of net carbs. 🥑 They’re high in heart-healthy monounsaturated fat that’s similar to the fat found in olive oil. 🥑 While they’re packed with good stuff, they don’t contain any cholesterol or sodium and are low in saturated fat. 🥑 Avocados are high in antioxidants and even boost antioxidant absorption from other foods due to their fat content. |
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