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 Throughout your day, you should be drinking more water than anything else. Staying hydrated will positively affect so many aspects of your life and how you feel, think, and even act. If you’re still working on improving your water-drinking habits, here are some tips that might help:
•Daily milestones - Try and set different daily events as a way to gauge whether you’ll meet your water-drinking goal or not. Maybe you want to have your first bottle of water gone before you get to work in the morning. Lunchtime may mean you have to finish your third glass before heading out. •Water before eating - Before you eat a meal or while you’re preparing it, try and drink 12 ounces of water. This will help make sure you’re staying hydrated and also work as an appetite suppressant to help avoid overeating. •Just the right temperature - Find the temperature that works for you and that you enjoy the most. If ice water makes you cold or hurts your teeth, try increasing the temperature a bit so you’re more likely to keep drinking. •Use an app - For some people, getting good habits started are easier and more fun if they have a tracking app. There are plenty of apps you can get for your smartphone that are solely designed to help you track water consumption. A couple of free apps are “Daily Water” and “Waterlogged”. •Sparkling over soda - If you’re trying to cut out soda completely (good for you!) but still find yourself wanting the crisp burn of carbonation from time to time, reach for sparkling water or mineral water instead of going back to soda. You’ll learn to appreciate the subtle flavors of drinks like La Croix or Topo Chico over time and eventually won’t even want soda. •One-to-One for alcohol - A simple rule to follow when imbibing is to drink a glass of water for each alcoholic drink you have. It’ll ensure you’re hydrated, help set your pace, and even fight off the effects of a hangover the next day. •Refill immediately - As soon as your cup/bottle is empty, fill it back up right away. You want to make sure you always have water available.
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 If you wake up each morning not feeling rested, wake up in the middle of the night, or have trouble falling asleep, you may need to look at your sleep hygiene - which is made up of the rituals and behaviors you have surrounding bedtime. Your quality of sleep has a huge impact on your mental and physical health, so it’s important to make the time you spend sleeping count. Here are some tips for improving your sleep hygiene:
•Wind Down With a Routine - Try and only do relaxing activities close to bedtime to signal to your body that it’s almost time to sleep. A routine such as a warm shower or reading a book can help. Avoid emotionally intense conversations and media right before bed. •Exercise for Better Sleep - Exercising during the day, even for 15 minutes, will help improve your quality of sleep. It’s usually best to avoid strenuous exercise within a couple hours of bedtime, but find what works for you. •Light and Dark - Your sleep/wake cycle will be much stronger if you get adequate sunlight exposure during the day and keep your bedroom dark at night. This transition from light to dark is another cue to your body’s rhythms that it’s time to sleep. •Avoid Disruptive Food and Drink - Fried, spicy, and tomato-based foods eaten shortly before bed can lead to heartburn that will disrupt sleep. Either avoid the foods or take preventative meds. Remember too that sleeping on your left side is a natural way to help combat heartburn. •Limit Naps - Naps during the day can be helpful for a boost in alertness and productivity, but napping for more than 30 minutes can interfere with getting a good night’s rest later on. •Beware of Uppers and Downers - Caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol will all affect your sleep. Obviously caffeine and nicotine will make it harder to fall asleep. Alcohol will make you drowsy and more likely to fall asleep easier, but it doesn’t make for restful sleep as it interferes with achieving REM sleep.  Today we’re comparing the leafy greens that are the main components of most salads and sandwich toppers - lettuce (specifically iceberg lettuce as it’s what most restaurants use in salads) and spinach. Eating leafy greens is always a good idea; but is one better than another? Let’s take a look at an ounce-per-ounce comparison of iceberg lettuce 🥗 versus spinach 🌱:
Calories 🥗4 🌱6 Carbs 🥗1 🌱1 Protein 🥗0.3g 🌱0.8g Fat 🥗0g 🌱0.1g Fiber 🥗0.3g 🌱0.6g Calcium 🥗1% 🌱3% Iron 🥗1% 🌱4% Potassium 🥗1% 🌱4% Vitamin A 🥗3% 🌱53% Vitamin C 🥗1% 🌱13% Magnesium 🥗0% 🌱6% Lutein+Zeaxanthin (eye health) 🥗77.5mcg 🌱3,415mcg The winner in this showdown is definitely spinach. It comes out ahead with double, triple, and even higher amounts of most nutrients. That’s not to say lettuce is a bad choice - it still has nutrients! But if you’re about to eat a big bowl of greens and you have the choice, go with spinach over iceberg lettuce to maximize your nutritional boost. Keep in mind that the darker the leafy green is, the better the nutrition will be. Another common variety of lettuce is “green leaf lettuce” and it ended up in the middle of the two, but it’s also slightly darker than iceberg. SOURCES: https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2476/2 https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2626/2  It’s not uncommon to break out in a sweat when you eat really spicy foods. This reaction is from the temperature in your body rising as it processes the food. So can this reaction really help you burn more calories? Read on to find out:
1️⃣ A recent study from Purdue University found that cayenne pepper increases your body’s core temperature • This creates a thermogenic effect in your body - meaning you generate heat as digestion occurs •This leads to a boost in metabolism as well as additional calorie burning •This boost was more effective in people that don’t usually eat spicy food as much •They also found that participants ate less of other foods after having something spicy first, so it acted as an appetite suppressant 2️⃣ Another study found that taking a capsaicin pill (capsaicin is the active component of chili peppers that give them their kick) caused participants to burn 116 more calories in a day compared to those who took a placebo pill. So, results vary by person, and it’s not a miracle cure to obesity, but adding some spice to your foods from time to time definitely couldn’t hurt. SOURCES: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21093467 http://sciforschenonline.org/journals/obesity/article-data/OOA-3-129/OOA-3-129.pdf  Bone broth is a nutrient-dense liquid that’s slow-cooked and made from the bones and connective tissues of cows, chickens, pigs, or even fish. The extended cooking time results in the breakdown of the tissues and releases their healing compounds. Here are some awesome benefits of bone broth:
•Protect joints - Bone broth is a great source of natural collagen and gelatin, which help to restore cartilage in your joints. •Gut health - Gelatin also helps to create a strong gut lining and reduce food sensitivities. Other compounds like glutamine and arginine help to reverse leaky-gut syndrome as well. •Healthy skin - Collagen promotes the creation of elastin and other compounds that affect the texture and tone of skin and give it a youthful glow. •Immune system and energy - The combination of compounds and amino acids in bone broth have been shown to help with inflammation, improve your immune system, boost energy during the day, help you sleep at night, and even improve your mood. IMAGE: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stone-soup/34055512084 SOURCES: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11035691 https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/why-broth-is-beautiful-essential-roles-for-proline-glycine-and-gelatin/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358810/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23949208  It can be hard to not want to share your favorite foods with your furry family members. Especially when they give you that look and start to whine. There are definitely some foods dogs shouldn’t eat ever, but there are actually quite a few that are very beneficial for them that you can share. Let’s take a look:
Here are some foods that are great for dogs:
Make sure your dogs never get ahold of these:
IMAGE: https://www.flickr.com/photos/20591324@N00/16648868  Eating too fast can lead to problems like indigestion, constipation, and malabsorption of nutrients. Along with that, it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to receive signals of your stomach being full, so pacing mealtimes are important. Here are 5 tips that can help if your kids are eating too fast:
•Teach kids to put their fork down after they take a bite. Not having a utensil in their hand will let them focus on chewing like they should be and also add a brief pause between bites. •Have kids take a sip of water between bites. This adds another pause to space things out and also makes sure they’re drinking enough as well. •Let kids know that dinner time lasts for a set amount of time. If everyone knows that dinner lasts 30 minutes, there won’t be a need to race to finish “first place” so they can move on to other activities. •Make time to talk during meals. This will set a healthy pace for digestion and help everyone connect. •Lead by example. Life gets busy but try to leave some time to allow your whole family the time they need to enjoy a meal.  Keto, or the ketogenic diet, has surged in popularity in the last year. For some users, it’s allowed them to shed body weight quickly and get hunger under control. Here’s a brief overview of what is involved with the keto diet and how it works:
•Keto is a high-fat diet. Your daily foods should consist of 75% fats, 20% protein, and 5% carbs. •This combination of high fat and low carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. This means you are burning fat for fuel instead of carbs. •Since your body isn’t able to get glucose from carbs, your liver then converts the fatty acids you’re eating into “ketones” as an alternate energy source. This switch is called “ketogenesis”. •Once ketogenesis kicks in and ketone levels are elevated, the body is in a state called “ketosis,” where you’re burning stored fat. •Foods that are keto-friendly: meats, eggs, cheese, fish, nuts, butter, oils, and vegetables. •Foods to avoid for keto-dieters: sugar, bread and other grains, beans, and fruit. |
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