Matcha - A Health Boosting Powerhouse
This week we will be diving into the topic of matcha - a special type of green tea - which has been steadily rising in popularity in modern cafes and culinary uses even thought its origins date back several thousand years.
We will be taking a look into what makes matcha so special and highly valued compared to other green teas, what types of matcha exist nowadays, which properties and common compounds can you expect to find in matcha and of course the health impacts that matcha can deliver to us through its consumption.
I hope you enjoy this one, and if you are a strong green tea drinker like me, you might want to also checkout a previous blog post that I wrote about general green teas and their benefits, you can find it here.
Grab a cup of your favorite tea, and enjoy.
A SHORT BACKGROUND ON MATCHA
What is matcha?
Matcha is essentially a type of green tea, more specifically from the Camellia sinensis plant. The key difference between matcha and other types of green tea is the way the plant is grown (which I discuss below) and the fact that the matcha leaves are ground up and then consumed whole as a drink, instead of just seeping the leaves in hot water.
A brief history
Matcha is said to actually have originated in China but then around the year 1190, a monk introduced the tea plant to Japan where the plant started thriving, which now make China and Japan the top two producers of matcha green tea.
It is said that Japanese matcha is considered to be of higher quality due to its production processes and quality checking, although China also has ample tea production. So if you are interested in trying a higher quality of matcha, I would stick to Japanese varieties which also have a richer nutrient profile.
What matcha matcha special and how is it grown?
The key difference in the way that matcha is produced is that about 20-30 days before the leaves are harvested, the farmers cover the leaves to avoid direct sunlight. The reason for this is that it stimulates the tea leaves to produce more chlorophyll (in order to maximize photosynthesize due to poor sunlight), while also enriching the leaves in amino acids such as L-Theanine and unique plant compounds known as catechins.
The L-Theanine amino acid gives high quality matcha is sweeter taste and catechins are responsible for matcha’s slight bitter and earthy flavor.
After the leaves are harvested, the stems and veins are removed after which they are ground up into a powder which is then sold.
This grounding of tea leaves and consuming them as whole is why matcha is considered to be so beneficial because you are consuming whole leaves which due to the growing process, are high in powerful plant chemicals and nutrients that boost health.
Grade qualities of matcha
Matcha comes in many different grades or classes, which are classified based on their quality and thus also their prices. bellow you can find some information on the different types, and which ones are most suitable for a specific type of matcha use.
Ceremonial grade types:
In general, ceremonial grade matcha’s are considered to be of highest quality and are thus only meant for drinking purposes. This grade quality was traditionally used during Japanese tea ceremonies but of course you can drink it on normal occasions too.
It is considered ceremonial because it is made from the youngest tea laves which is why this type of matcha also has the brightest green color, the finest texture and naturally sweeter taste. Due tot he purity of this tea, it is usually drank plain (with no milk or sweetener) and due to its higher quality, these grades are most expensive.
Below are the most common types of ceremonial grade matcha’s:
Premium Ceremonial: Made of the youngest and most tender green matcha leaves
Ceremonial: Leaves are harvested in early spring and ground fresh.
Ceremonial Blend: This is a combination of ceremonial grade matcha and the highest culinary (premium) matcha.
Culinary grade types:
Culinary grade matcha is still good quality matcha but due to the slight difference in the way it is produced and its less pure taste, it is more intended for baking and cooking purposes, as well as sweeter beverages.
This grade of matcha tastes more bitter and stronger which is why it is intended to be mixed with other ingredients to improve the overall taste.
Below are the most common types of culinary grade matcha:
Premium: Premium grade is considered as an everyday use matcha that pairs well with blended drinks.
Café: This type has a slightly more robust flavor which makes it useful for cooking and baking.
Ingredient: The ingredient grade type is mixed with older tea leaves which give a stronger flavor and a thicker constancy making it more useful for being used in recipes with diary products.
Classic: This is perhaps the most commonly available of all the grades as it is most versatile and can be used in food and beverage recipes.
How to prepare matcha
Matcha as a drink is quite simple to prepare where in a cup you place about a teaspoon or 2g of matcha powder over which you pour a slight bit of warm water. At this point you want mix the powder well into the hot water to make sure that all of the powder dissolves within the small amount of water and no clumps of powder remain. After mixing you then add the rest of the hot water (not fully boiling) and add milk or sweetener if desired.
WHAT DOES MATCHA CONTAIN?
L-Theanine:
This is an amino acid which is found almost exclusively within the matcha plant and in considerably quantitates too. The shading of the tea plants which I have mentioned before, allows the leaves to make more of this amino acid which gives high quality matcha its distinct subtly sweet taste.
Additionally, studies done with the amino acid have shown that it can stimulate the production of alpha waves in the brain which are otherwise commonly achieved through mindfulness practices such as meditation. Alpha waves are responsible for a calm and relaxed mental state while still being appropriately aware of your surroundings.
Matcha caffeine
Matcha actually contains a lot of caffeine as well, up to 19-40 mg of caffeine per gram of matcha where coffee for reference contains 10-12 mg of caffeine per gram. The stimulative effects of drinking matcha are usually noticed within 30 minutes of drinking and can last up to 6 hours, so it is not advised to drink matcha in later afternoons or before going to sleep.
Because of this, many people actually replace their morning coffee with matcha as they find that it brings them a steadier stream of energy instead of the typically unwanted caffeine effects of coffee such as crashes and shaking of the hands. L-Theanine is able to act well with the stimulative effects of the caffeine, ensuring a steadier release of caffeine on the body.
Anti-oxidants
One of the main reasons why matcha is promoted as such a health boosting drink in the first place is because of its high antioxidant content, which is due to the high concentration of plant compounds such as polyphenols and catechins.
Chlorophyll:
Another key feature of matcha which gives its distinct bright green color is the natural pigment chlorophyll, which is produced in higher qualities thanks to the shade growing time. Chlorophyll has been shown to be a very powerful detoxifier of our blood and supports healthy blood alkalinity levels.
Adaptogenic's:
Adaptogenic's are substances that are substances which have been shown to have a positive impact on the way our body reacts and deals with stress. Green tea in general has been shown to be a powerful adaptogen, by supporting our adrenal glands and lowering cortisol (main stress hormone) levels.
Cholesterol Lowering agents:
Additionally, green teas such as matcha have been shown to have a positive effect on decreasing levels of LDL cholesterol (the unwanted type of cholesterol), while having no major effect on HDL cholesterol levels.
Blood Sugar Stabilizers:
Green tea also contains certain sugars which can stabilize our blood sugar levels and work to prevent insulin spikes.
Anti-microbials:
Among the many properties of green tea, an additional property is its antibiotic and anti viral effects which makes it useful for the treatment of illnesses such as the flu, common cold and food poisoning.
WHAT IS MATCHA GOOD FOR?
Contributes To A Healthier Liver
The livers main role in our body is the filtration and “cleaning” of our blood by flushing out toxins and metabolizing any drugs we intake.
A study from 2009 had found that matcha may help with protecting the health of our liver by preventing damage to the kidneys and liver after diabetic rats (the test subjects) were administered matcha for 16 weeks.
Within human subjects, a different study gave green tea extract for 90 days to 80 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The results of this study was that the green tea extract was able to reduce liver enzyme levels, where elevated levels of these enzymes are an indication of some form of liver damage.
Improves Skin health
Green tea consumption has for a long time been known to both benefit the internal state of our body as well as the external in terms of skin. Green tea and related extracts can be beneficial for the skin when applied topically (on to skin) by promoting skin regeneration, wound healing and even treatment of skin conditions such as psoriasis and rosacea among others.
These health effects may be due to matcha’s impressive antioxidant content which neutralizes harmful free radicals within our body and in this way prevents cellular damage and premature skin aging.
Enhancing Brain Function
Several different studies have indicated a link between regular matcha consumption and enhanced brain function and processing.
A study which gave participants either matcha tea, a matcha tea bar or remained as the placebo group shower that the participants which consumed matcha in either from improved with their attention, reaction time and memory when compared with the placebo group.
A different smaller study had shown that among older people, consumption of 2 grams of green tea powder per day for 2 months had improved brain function too.
We also have to acknowledge the fact that matcha powder contains more caffeine than coffee, where a multitude of studies have demonstrated that a moderate consumption of caffeine leads to improvements in brain function, improved reaction times, longer attention spans and enhanced memory abilities.
May Contain Properties Against Cancer
Some studies have shown that green tea consumption can genuinely reduce the growth of cancer cells where one study had shown that consuming green tea extract has the ability of decreasing tumor size and slowing down the growth of breast cancer cells. Although this study found these results based on rats, there could also be positive health impacts within humans too.
Matcha is known to hold high concentrations of a catechin compound known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) which has been shown to have powerful anticancer properties such as being able to kill of cancer cells within the prostate region in males as well as within skin, lung and liver regions.
Boosting Heart Health
Green teas such as matcha have been shown to steadily decreases levels of triglycerides and LDL cholesterol (the type of cholesterol we want to minimize). Additionally, due to green teas high antioxidant profile, it can prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol which may additionally protect against heart disease.
Additionally, the previously mentioned EGCG compound that is found in matcha has also been shown to have a positive impact on ur heart health, where it can produce many therapeutic health effects such as being anti atherosclerotic, anti cardiac hypertrophic, anti diabetic and anti inflammatory.
Overall, when green tea is drank next to a balanced and varied diet, it may play a role in keeping your cardiovascular system healthy and strong.
Overall I hope that with this blog post you were able to learn some new information about matcha as a health powerhouse and that it encourages you to try implementing more green tea into your diet, in a form which you enjoy.
If you find that matcha is too out of your budget, simply drinking regular green teas will also with boosting wellbeing, but perhaps not to the same extent as matcha, as with matcha you re literally consuming the ground up tea leaves.
Thank you for reading <3
Spicy Ginger Goodness: Why Ginger is Amazing For You
Ginger seems to be the perfect spice for colder months, since it has a spicy kick to it and can be a great addition to any teas or recipes to boost the flavor. Because ginger is often promoted as a superfood, as in “ginger shots”, ginger teas and all other things ginger, I wanted to look into why ginger has such a highly acclaimed health status in the first place. What makes it beneficial or us and how we can include more of it in our diets overall?
The ginger root from which ginger is sourced from, has for a long time been used as a natural form of medicine across many cultures and populations. It was especially prominent in Asian cultures where it was used for treating stomach issues, nausea and diarrhea among other health issues.
If you are not a fan of ginger, I can understand since it does not have a sweet taste, but I believe that if it is paired with the right other ingredients within drinks or meals, I think it can be a great additional to taste and even the nutritional profile of our food.
Happy reading ahead 😊
WHAT CAN YOU FIND IN GINGER?
Ginger is low in calories and general macronutrients but does contain modest amounts of other micronutrients such as:
Vitamins: B3, B6, B9, C
Minerals: Iron, Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Zinc
But more importantly ginger contains many bioactive natural oil compounds among which the main one is Gingerol which is responsible for giving ginger its distinct smell and strong flavor. Gingerol among with other potent phytochemicals, is also responsible for giving ginger its acclaimed health benefits which you can read more about below.
MAIN HEALTH PROPERTIES OF GINGER
Anti inflammatory and antioxidant properties:
These two properties are mainly due to the high gingerol concentration found in fresh ginger, which is also the leading reason for the many health benefits that ginger offers such as preventing chronic disease and promoting healthy cell aging.
Antibacterial and antiseptic properties:
Some studies have shown that fresh ginger has potent antibacterial properties, especially against E. coli bacteria. For this reason, ginger is recognized as an agent which prevents the growth of harmful organisms (an antiseptic) and is also able to be used against various bacterial and viral infections.
8 PROFOUND HEALTH IMPACTS OF GINGER
Effectively Treats Nausea
There are many studies which are showing a strong link between ginger consumption and its effect in relieving nausea in people who are undergoing certain types of surgeries or the nausea experienced by pregnant women (morning sickness).
About 1 to 1.5 grams of ginger is considered to be an adequate amount to help with nausea, but more testing is needed to confirm the causation exactly.
May Help With Loosing Weight
Based on animal and human studies, consuming ginger may have a positive effect on weight management, where for example a study from 2019 showed that ginger supplementation greatly reduced waist to hip ratio and reduced body weight in people who were overweight or obese.
Furthermore, a 2016 study discovered that ginger could lower blood insulin levels, where consistently elevated insulin is associated with a increased chance of weight gain.
Improves Blood Sugar Regulation
A 2015 study suggested that ginger may actually be very effective as a anti diabetic, where throughout the study, 41 participants who has type II diabetes, consumed 2 grams of ginger powder per day and experienced a 12% decrease in their fasting blood sugar.
Additionally, the study showed that ginger has the power to also reduce levels of certain hemoglobin markers in our blood which indicate long term blood sugar levels.
Although some studies currently contradict each other in their findings on gingers ability to help regulate blood sugar levels, there certainly is potential in this field.
Helps With Chronic Indigestion
Chronic digestive issues are categorized by a usual discomfort in the upper section of the stomach, where this usually occurs due to the delayed emptying out our stomach. Interestingly thought, in studies ginger has been shown to speed up the emptying of the stomach.
In one study in particular people who had functional dyspepsia ‘indigestion with no known cause), either received capsules with ginger or a placebo, where 1 hour later they were all given soup to eat.
The study showed that those participants who ate ginger, took 12.3 minutes for their stomach to empty while the placebo group took around 16 minutes, meaning that ginger actually did help with stomach emptying.
Helps With Easing Menstrual Pain
To continue on the topic of ginger and pain management, some studies have shown that ginger also help with pain relief from mensuration, where in fact sometimes the pain relief is so effective that it is comparable to medications (Non steroidal Anti inflammatory drugs) used to help relive menstrual pain.
Although these studies are promising, a larger number of participants is needed to make any concrete conclusions.
Enhances Your Immunity
Thanks to gingerol and its potent antiseptic and anti inflammatory properties, ginger is very effective at boosting our immune system in ways such as easing symptoms of cold, treating sore throats, inflammation within the lungs and any general aches and pains felt from colds. In this way, regular ginger consumption especially when paired with honey (Find out more about honey here), can work to enhance the functioning of your immune system and keep levels of inflammation within your body steady.
Because of gingers antiviral and antibacterial properties, it too can safe guard the body from infections and unwanted bacterial outbursts.
If you are additionally interested in how to strengthen your immunity within these last few colder months, I encourage you to read about it here
Could Have Anti Cancer Effects
There is some evidence that exists to show that ginger may potentially have anti cancer properties.
These properties are largely attributed to a natural compound found in ginger - (6)gingerol. A 28 day study was done in individuals with colorectal cancer where each participant consumed 2 grams of ginger per day which overall reduced pro inflammatory signaling molecules within the colon, that are in part responsible for encouraging growth of cancer cells.
Although some studies obtained different results, there certainly is a possibility that ginger in its natural form has a positive impact on stopping the growth of cancer cells.
Protects Against Cognitive Decline
Alzheimers disease and other related cognitive decline conditions, tend to occur most likely due to oxidative stress and chronic inflammation which over time accelerate aging. This occurs especially quickly if we live a sedentary lifestyle, eat foods low in nutrients and generally exercise our brain little.
But certain bioactive compounds in ginger have shown to be able to inhibit or prevent inflammatory responses which can occur in the brain, which overtime could help protect against conditions of cognitive decline.
Some studies even indicated that fresh ginger consumption may in general enhance brain function, in terms of improving overall reaction time and working memory.
INCLUDING MORE GINGER INTO YOUR DIET
Personally I like to include ginger into my diet a couple of times per day, and some of my favorite ways include:
Making ginger tea with fresh ginger, lemon juice and honey for sweetness
Sautéing ginger together with garlic and onions at the start of dishes or stir-fries
Blending it into soups such as vegetable soups, pumpkin soup and soups with coconut milk
Some other ideas for how you could use ginger:
Blend it into smoothies
Grate it inside of sauces or spreads
Pair it with other spices and oils to make a marinade for meat, fish or vegetables
Making sweet and spicy salad dressings
Snacking on candied ginger
Incorporating fresh ginger into deserts or baked goods
Eating pickled ginger which often accompanies sushi and other asian dishes
I hope that with this blog post I have inspired you to try and include more ginger into your weekly diet or that I have at least convinced you to give ginger another go, because within the right recipe or use, you might just fall in love with it.
Additionally, I hope you were able to learn some new information on this medicinal root and how it can boost your own health and well being.
Thank you so much for taking your time to read this.
As always, if you have any specific requests for topics or ideas, please let me know 😊
The Science Of Sleeping Better
Recently I have not been getting the best sleep and because I am not entirely sure why, I wanted to look into this topic and see how I could improve my sleep as well as better understand the workings behind sleep.
And it turns out that sleep issues are a world issue where in 2017 in the United States alone, 35.2 Americans reported sleeping for less than 7 hours per night and getting insufficient sleep. That is pretty much every third person. Because technology is becoming ever so intertwined with our everyday lives and creeping later and later into our evenings, I believe that this statistic will continue to worsen.
Sleep is essential for all of us and should not be skipped out on. I have written on the importance of sleep here in the past (read about it here) but here I really wanted to more focus on the scientific background on how our sleep works and as well as recommending a set of practical advice on how to genuinely get a better nights sleep. After, we all want practical solutions that are easy to implement into our lifestyle.
I hope that this post helps you with getting a good nights sleep and that you are able to learn some new fascinating knowledge about your own sleep biology. Enjoy! 🌟🌛💫
SLEEP CYCLES
ABOUT SLEEP CYCLES
Based on the National Sleep Foundation, your sleep each night is actually made up of several separate sleep cycles where each cycle has its own 4 individual stages.
In an average night, we can go through 4-6 sleep cycles depending on our quality of sleep that night, where on average each cycle lasts about 90 minutes each.
From the 4 individual sleep stages of each cycle, the first cycle is often the shortest in length which lasts about 70-100 minutes, where later cycles last between 90-120 minutes. However, the extent of time that we spend in each sleep stage can vary from night to night and also from person to person as it is dependent on many factors such as age, alcohol consumption and previous sleep patterns.
Overall, each sleep cycle is composed of 3 Non REM sleep stages (NREM) and concluded with a stage of REM sleep. The higher the stage of NREM sleep in the first three stages, the harder it is to wake the person up
Now let’s take a look into the individual sleep cycle components.
N1 (NREM)
This is the first stage of sleep and is when the person first falls asleep. This stage is very short, usually lasting between 1 -7 minutes on average.
In this stage, the body is not yet fully relaxed but is beginning to slow down its activity and thoughts.
Stage 1, also called N1, is essentially when a person first falls asleep. This stage normally lasts just one to seven minutes. During this stage, there are light changes in brain activity associated with falling asleep.
During N1, it is still easy to wake someone up from sleep, however if the person is left undisturbed, they can quickly move onto the second stage of sleep.
N2 (NREM)
In the second stage of sleep, the body experiences deepened relaxation accompanied by a drop in body temperature, slower breathing and a lower heart rate.
During this time, any eye movement stops and our brains experience short bursts of brain wave activity which help us to resist being woken up by external stimuli.
This stage usually lasts between 10-25 minutes during our first sleep cycle, where each N2 stage progressively can become longer during the following sleep cycles.
Overall, it is proposed that a person can spend typically about half of their total sleep in the N2 stage.
N3 (NREM)
The third stage of a sleep cycle is commonly known as “deep sleep”, where our muscle tone, heart rate and breathing rate continually decrease and relax.
In this stage, our brain produces brain delta brain waves where it is much harder to wake someone up at this point.
Researchers propose that N3 stage of sleep is important for restorative sleep, essentially being important for growth and recovery of our body. It may also play a role in keeping a healthy immune system along with other bodily processes. Even thought our brain experiences a decrease in brain activity, some evidence nonetheless suggest that deep sleep also has a role in memory consolidation and insightful thinking.
Most time is spent sleeping in this stage in the first half of the night. During earlier sleep cycles, the N3 stage usually lasts between 20-40 minutes and as you continue sleeping throughout the night, these stages get shorter in each cycle and your body spends more time in the REM sleep stage.
REM
Finally, each sleep cycle is concluded with a REM sleep stage during which our brain experiences an increase in brain activity, almost nearing to levels experienced when we are awake.
At the same time, our body will also experience a phenomena called “atonia” which a temporary paralysis of our muscles, apart from our eye muscles and the muscles that regulate our breathing.
The stage is named “Rapid Eye movement” because that is exactly what can be observed during this stage; having closed eyes yet they are seen moving quickly.
REM sleep is believed to be essential for many cognitive functions such as memory, ability to learn as well as creativity. During this stage is also when we dream vividly, which is likely the reason for the increased brain activity.
Dreaming can occur in any sleep stage, but they are less common and intense in the first three NREM periods.
Usually, it takes about 90 minutes of being asleep for an average person to enter REM sleep. As the night goes on and we enter new sleep cycles, the REM sleeping stages get longer, which is especially observed in the second half of the night. The first REM stage that we experience in a night usually lasts for only a couple of minutes but later REM stages can last up to an hour.
Overall, REM sleep accounts for about 25% of total sleep in adults
10 SCIENCE PROVEN TIPS FOR BETTER SLEEP
Have a consistent sleeping and waking schedule during the week and weekend
Optimize your bedroom: Keep it cold, dark, quiet and use dim warm lighting
Avoid blue light exposure from your devices 1-2 hours before going to sleep. Some people avoid having electronics in the bedroom all together.
Avoid caffeine, alcohol and drinking too many liquids before going to bed
Exercise during the day. This makes you more tired towards the evening
Get enough sunlight during the day
Limit your napping during the day
Relax before bed: Do something that relaxes you such as taking a shower, stretching, meditating, writing down everything that is worrying you or try reading a book
Create an evening routine which helps to calm you down and lets your body know that it is time to unwind (Eg. Making tea and reading)
Avoid eating large meals before going to sleep and opt for eating your last meal earlier in the evening
I hope that this blog post provided you with some more insight into the biological workings behind your bodies sleep mechanism and also how to naturally sleep better.
Sleep is crucial for all of us, so learning about how to really optimize for our sleep quality is essential to feeling energized and properly recharged for the next day.
Take care of yourself and don't skimp out on sleep. As always, thanks for reading ✨ 💤
Alcohol & Your Health - Whats The Link?
With us approaching more winter months and more celebratory holidays such as Christmas and New Years, most of us will likely experience an increase in our consumption of alcoholic drinks. For this reason, I wanted to write a post on the topic of drinking and what kinds of effects alcohol has on our body and general health, especially because alcohol is rather seen as more of a social norm during holiday events or social gatherings.
I hope you enjoy this thorough piece on alcohol and its effects, I put quite a lot of effort into this one.
ABOUT ALCOHOL
Alcohol is widely recognized as being a psychoactive drug that has been used in many cultures for centuries. Alcohol predominantly has a depressant effect on our body, meaning that it slows down our pulse, breathing rate, thoughts as well as actions.
Nowadays there is a variety of alcoholic beverages made, with different combinations of flavors and additives, which alter the alcohol percentage of a drink.
When we talk about alcohol, we are mainly referring to beverages counting a mix of ethanol (C₂H₆O) and water, where ethanol is the basic form of alcohol present. In most cases, ethanol is first derived from the fermentation of sugars found within a variety of fruits and vegetables (such as grapes and potatoes) and later distilled to produce a more pure alcoholic product.
METABOLIZING ALCOHOL
It is said that our bodies are able to metabolize alcohol at a rate of about one drink per hour or around 0.015 g / 100mL / hour.
Once alcohol enters our system, it is quickly absorbed by our stomach (especially if we have not eaten in a while) and small intestines, after which it enters our blood stream and travels to our liver for filtration.
Once in the liver, our liver releases many enzymes which break down the alcohol, however the issue is that our liver is only able to process so much alcohol at once, meaning that even after some time, a lot of alcohol still circulates around our blood. Therefore, it may take up to several hours (depending on how much we drink), for our body to process all all alcohol in our blood.
There are also several factors which determine how effective your body is at processing alcohol in your blood stream:
Gender: Females tend to eliminate alcohol faster than males
Age: Teens, young adults, and older adults processes alcohol at a slower rate
Food: Metabolism rate increases with ingested food
Time of day: Alcohol metabolizes faster at the end of the day
Exercise: Alcohol is eliminated slightly faster during exercise than when stationary
Alcoholism: Heavy drinking increases the rate, but advanced liver disease decreases it
HOW DOES ALCOHOL IMPACT OUR BODY?
SHORT TERM EFFECTS
Drinking alcoholic beverages can have the following short term effects on our body and mind:
Feeing more relaxed and drowsy
Changes in our mood and emotional stability
More impulsive behavior
A sense of euphoria
Lowered inhibitions and self awareness
Changes in the perceptions of your surroundings (hearing, vision)
Decline in general coordination
Difficulty making decisions and concentrating
Slowed or slurred speech
Potential vomiting or nausea if we consume too much
Potential head aches
LONG TERM EFFECTS
Consistent Mood Changes
Alcohol encourages our body and brain to frequently change moods and the emotions we feel, which can result in unnecessary anxiety and general irritability.
Issues With Sleeping & Insomnia
If we drink often, we may find that initially alcohol makes it easier for us to fall asleep however the alcohol in our system actually disrupts our sleep cycle during the night which impacts the quality of our sleep. This can cause us to feel sluggish and additionally tired the next day, alongside a possible hangover.
Weaker Immune System
Alcohol severely negatively impacts our bodies natural immune system defense by lowering the amount of antibodies our body can naturally produce to ward off infections and pathogens.
Studies show that people who consume more alcohol are more prone to contracting diseases such as pneumonia and tuberculosis, compared to people who do not drink a lot. In fact, the World Health Organization says that about 8% of tuberculosis cases in the world are due to alcohol consumption.
Changes In Sexual Function
Serious and frequent drinking may contrarily to belief, actually worsen your libido and sexual performance. Alcohol does so by primarily preventing normal levels of sex hormones to be produced, increasing the odds of experiencing erectile dysfunction and making it harder to achieve orgasm.
For women, excessive drinking may have a negative impact on their menstrual cycle which could lead to infertility issues down the line.
Changes In Appetite and Weight Gain
Most studies say that drinking alcohol actually usually decreases our hunger and appetite levels, due to influencing the appetite and regulating hormones - Grehlin and leptin. However, alcohol itself can carry quite a lot of calories, especially if we are mixing the alcohol with sweet syrups, additives and other liquors which add additonal calories to our drink. This over time has the potential to induce weight gain.
Increased Risk Of Cancer:
The major consensus among scientific literature is that heavy drinking can definitely promote the development of several different types of cancers, where the National Toxicology Program of the American Department of Health and Human Services actually lists alcohol as a widely used carcinogenic substance.
Alcohol consumption increases our chances of developing the following cancers: Head, throat, oeasophagal cancer, liver, breast and colorectal cancer
Brain & Nervous System Impacts
In terms of our brain, alcohol has very noticeable effects on our cognitive abilities and functioning. Some of these effects include:
Lack of mental clarity: This makes it increasingly harder for you to focus and think straight without getting distracted by other thoughts.
Making it harder to form long term memories: This is explained by alcohol damaging or even killing many vital nerve cells in our brain which are involved with memory such as nerve cells of the hippocampus - A brain region proven to be crucial for the formation of long term memories.
Making rational and safe choices: This is often because repetitive alcohol consumption can damage your brains frontal lobe which is crucial for executive and controlled functions, meaning that you are more likely to not act rationally.
Regulating your emotions: When intoxicated with alcohol, we might feel a pleasant feeling of relaxation but with excessive drinking, alcohol actually disrupts our natural brain chemistry which increases our chances of developing depression and anxiety.
Our general nervous system can be impacted by alcohol just as much as our brain, because alcohol reduces the neural communication between our brain and nervous system in ways that lead to:
A loss of general body coordination
Slurred speech
Feelings of numbness or tingling sensations in your feet (serious damage to nervous system)
Blood Sugar Management Issues
Health experts generally recommend that people who are diabetic or hypoglycemic (suffer with low blood sugar levels) should avoid excessive amounts of drinking.
Consistent drinking can do serious damage to your pancreas as well as liver, which damage your bodies natural release of blood sugar regulating hormones such as insulin and glucagon, which can put you at a higher risk for type II diabetes.
Additionally, excessive drinking is commonly linked to conditions such as pancreatis or liver disease which can make you more prone to hypoglycemia.
Digestive Problms
Although the link between drinking and digestive complications is not immediately clear, there is scientific evidence which shows that heavy drinking damages the internal tissues of your digestive tract which over time mean that your intestines have more difficulty digesting and absorbing nutrients from your food, which puts you at a increased risk for malnutrition.
Apart from that, drinking may cause abdominal problems such as:
Bloating
Gas
Diarrhea
Ulcers or hemorrhoids (Due to dehydration and constipation)
Cardiovascular Complications
Regular intaking of alcohol tends to over time also cause problems for our heart and general cardiovascular system, in the following ways:
Cardiomyopathy: A heart disease in which the walls of the heart chambers become stretched, thickened or stiff.
Arrhythmia: Experiencing irregular heart beats.
Stroke: Results as a lack of blood circulation in our brain such as from a blood clot.
High blood pressure: Experiencing chronically elevated blood pressure levels than what is normal
Heart attack: A condition in which an artery supplying our heart with blood and oxygen becomes blocked, so our heart does not get enough oxygen and glucose for proper functioning
Heart failure: The condition where our heart has a inability to pump adequate blood around our body due to the muscle becoming too weak
Anemia: This is linked with the digestive issue point I mentioned previously, in which we damage the internal lining of our intestines so it makes it harder for us to properly absorb nutrients such as iron which is needed for for the production of adequate red blood cells
Serious Liver Issues
When talking about the detrimental impacts that drinking can have on our body, liver damage is usually one of the primary sources of concern for heavy drinkers. This is because the liver is the bodies main blood filtration unit, where if we often drink a lot, our liver over time becomes damaged from this alcohol processing. This can manifest itself in fatty liver disease, alcoholic hepatitis, fibrosis or the well recognized liver cirrhosis.
DANGERS OF REGULAR ALCHOL CONSUMPTION
One of the main dangers when it comes to alcohol, is the possibility of developing a dependance. If we tend to drink regularly, our tolerance for alcohol increases, meaning that we over time need to drink more in order to feel the same effects, leading us into developing a eventual dependance.
If we do develop a dependence apart from a plethora of health issues, we will also likely be able to observe different emotional and physical withdrawal symptoms.
Some of the symptoms associated with alcoholism include:
Having cravings for alcohol
Drinking more over time
Having difficulty with stopping to drink after one drink
Continuing to drink even when alcohol clearly has a negative impact on your life
Inability to quit drinking
GUIDELINES ON DRINKING
When you do decide to drink on occasion, I would advise you to keep the following in mind:
Don't go drinking if hungry: Always make sure to eat something before or during the time you drink as this prevents you becoming intoxicated too much too fast.
Drink enough water: This applies to before, during and after drinking, where it is recommended to consume a glass of water for every alcoholic drink we consume. This also helps with minimizing any hangover effects the following day.
Don't drink too fast: Make sure to give your body enough time in between drinks to process the ingested alcohol. Your body is able to process about 30ml of alcohol per hour.
Don't mix drinking with other substances: This applies to caffeine, other types of alcohol as well as any form of drug.
Don't drink and drive: Drinking and driving is dangerous and should never be done, because when we drive, our vision and reaction time are severely impacted which can greatly increase our chances of getting into a car crash.
In this article we covered the topic of alcohol, exploring aspects such as the fundamentals of alcohol and how our body metabolizes it, to then delving into the short and long term effects that alcohol has on our body and finishing off with alcoholic dependency and drinking guidelines.
I hope that you have found something of value in todays topic, and that you found it interesting and persuasive enough to make some changes in your own drinking habits if you find that is an area of concern for you.
Thank you for reading :)
The 5 Pillars Of Health
As I have been learning more about how different things impact our health and what things benefits or harms us, I have started to develop a sense of some repeating notions and ideas which have time and time again shown to positively impact our health. I have called these the “5 pillars of health”, because they act as foundational pillars which impact our wellbeing.
With this post, I hope to offer a summative overview to these 5 aspects which our health depends on, in order to create clarity and simplicity.
I hope you enjoy this one :)
THE 5 PILLARS OF HEALTH
😴 Deep Sleep
The reasons as to why sleep is so crucial for our wellbeing are many, where there are three main factors when it comes to sleeping well: How long we sleep for, the quality of our sleep, and the consistency of our sleeping schedule.
Overall, scientists are uncovering more and more functions which sleep does for our body, which explains why it is so crucial in the first place.
Here is a list of some of the most common functions which sleep has:
Energy conservation: We have all felt tired at some points after not having sleep well. This is because sleep is essential for reenergizing us, by producing enough ATP (energy) molecules as well as slowing down our metabolism in order to fully recharge for the next day.
Cleaning of waste: It appears that our brain naturally has a cleaning system integrated within it, with which it flushes out toxic waste that has accumulated during the day. It is proposed that the cerebrospinal fluid found within our brains is responsible for this flushing of waste.
Repair of our body: During sleep, our brain can attend to areas of our body which are in pain or need to heal, which it does so by sending the appropriate hormones and chemicals which speed up healing processes. Furthermore, sleep is also needed for the proper repair of tissues and blood vessels which we rely on every day. Lastly if you are someone who is frequently active, sleep actually also helps with muscle recovery and decreasing muscle soreness, which helps to strengthen our muscles.
Memory consolidation: If you were ever experiencing issues with something and someone has told you to simply “sleep on the problem”, that person does actually have reasoning behind saying that. Science is showing that during good quality sleep, our brain is actually active in a variety of different ways, during which time, our brains analyze all of the new information we have taken in during the day. Through this method, it strengthens new memories we have formed by storing them into our long term memory and also links different pieces of information together, helping us to get a new perspective or idea about something.
Regulating immune responses: You might have noticed that you were more likely to catch a cold during periods of poor sleep, which has been proven to be due to your body producing lower levels of beneficial cytokines and antibodies because of sleeping less. With sleep, our adaptive immunity is strengthened and our reactions to vaccines are also less severe.
Growth and general development: This is especially important for young children and teens whose bodies and brains are still growing and developing rapidly. Sleep is crucial not only for physical growth of our body or different body organs, but also for the general development of our cognitions, emotions and regulation of our energy levels.
Additionally, several studies have shown that consistently getting less than 8 hours of sleep per night, greatly increases your risk for the following medical conditions:
Obesity
Diabetes
Cardiovascular disease
Immune infections and colds
🥦 Balanced Nutrition
The reasons for including nutrition in this list are plenty, where food is the core fuel with which we supply our body for its proper and optimal functioning.
Here is a list of all of the aspects that nutrition is essential for:
Weight management: By making the appropriate food choices, we can prevent ourselves from gaining unnecessary weight.
Immune system: Eating adequate levels of micro nutrients such as vitamins and minerals is crucial for supporting our immune system and generating enough antibodies to fight off infections.
Protecting against chronic conditions: Scientists are recognizing more and more beneficial ways for how nutrition can help managing and decreasing levels of serious chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or hypertension.
Mental wellbeing: There are certain foods which are recognized as being especially brain beneficial and even have neuro-protective properties. Some of these foods are high omega 3 fish such as salmon, blue/ purple colored fruits like blueberries and dark leafy greens such as spinach.
General growth: For children and young adults who are still growing, nutrition and adequate calories are instrumental in making them grow tall and develop properly.
Having good energy levels: Of course it is also crucial to mention that food provides us not only with nutrients, but also with calories which gives us energy to continue living, functioning and developing as human beings.
Below is a condensed list of general ****guidelines for good nutrition:
Include a variety of high fibre whole foods (fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds etc.)
Eat high quality protein sources like meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy foods and also add in plant based sources of protein. Avoid eating very fatty meats frequently**.**
Reduce intake of saturated and especially trans fats and include more healthy fats and oils
Drink lots of water
Don't over do it with salt
Avoid excessive alcohol consumption
Limit intake of processed sugars and fizzy drinks
💪🏼 Regular Movement
At at least some point in our lives, we have all heard that regular exercise is beneficial for us and that we should strive to be more active individuals. Science has found many proven health benefits experienced by those who make physical activity a core component of their life.
Cognitive benefits:
Improved thinking abilities and memory retention
Increased mental agility and sharpness as you age
Boosts your mood and energy levels, helping to improve your mental wellbeing
Helping with stress management and anxiety relief
Physical benefits:
Directly improving weight loss or weight management
Decreasing your chances of developing heart disease and type II diabetes
Protecting against a variety of common cancers such as bladder, breast, colon, and kidney
Exercise especially weight training is known for increasing muscle mass but also for improving bone density, which for older people is helpful for preventing osteoporosis and bone injuries
Boosting your skin health, due to alleviating stress levels which could otherwise cause breakouts
Helping to deepen and improve your sleep at night, by making your more tired by nightfall from having expended energy
Increasing our longevity and lifespan, while also improving the quality of our life, by keeping our health in check
In the case that you want to start a new exercise routine or have trouble keeping up with your current one, here are some tips to help you out:
Choose to do an activity which you enjoy (This will help keep you consistent)
Start small and build up
Set up environmental cues and reminders (This will make it a effortless part of your routine)
Join exercise challenges or find a exercise buddy for keeping yourself accountable
Track your progress and results (This will provide motivation in times of need)
😌 Effective Stress Management
Stress is a normal a part of life and everyone experiences it in some respect. The issue with stress is once it becomes chronic and we find that we can not mentally “switch off”, which causes a variety of health issues for us, both mental and physical.
Below are some physical and mental health issues associated with chronic stress:
Physical:
Weight gain
Problems sleeping and general insomnia
Digestive issues
Muscle tension and pain
Increased incidence of chronic diseases (heart conditions, high blood, pressure, stroke, type II diabetes)
Poor immune system defense
Loss in libido
Mental health
Depression
Headaches and migraines
Anxiety and constant worrying
Forgetfulness and disorganization
Lack of focus and concentration
Being more prone to viewing things pessimistically
Low energy levels
However, the good thing is that you have the option to lower and regulate your stress levels and having the option to choose how you will respond to a stressful event. If you are struggling with how to calm yourself down, below are some ideas for how you can alleviate some stress:
Physical activity (genuinely helps)
Meditation
Listening to your favorite music
Journaling and writing down your worries (Allows you to put it in perspective)
Taking a bath or shower
Reading a book you like
Doing a hobby you enjoy
Spend time with people or family members which elevates your mood
Spend time in nature
Focus on your breathing
Taking a nap if that is what you need
👭 Supportive Social Life
Although a rather underestimated aspect of health science, having a good and sportive social life, which includes our friends, family, colleagues and romantic partners is crucial to our wellbeing and feelings of general life satisfaction.
Having a good social life helps with the following aspects:
Improved mental health by making you feel happier
Increase levels of self esteem which can further increase your social connections and opportunities
Promotes a sense of safety and belonging, which can ease anxiety
People give a sense of meaning and purpose to the work you do, helping to keep you motivated
People who have more vibrant social lives score lower in likeliness to develop dementia
Lowering our stress levels by having a good laugh with others
Others around you can help to encourage you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits such as a poor diet or drinking too much
People can also help us with coping and dealing with past traumas and difficult situations
If you are someone who wants to increase their social circle of friends, try out some of the following ideas for how you can attract more fun social opportunities into your life:
Asking a friend to meet up for coffee or a meal
Hosting a small lunch or dinner for people
Joining an activity club with people who have common interests
Joining a class/ course/ workshop
Doing volunteering work
Going to parties and nightlife
Focus on the quality of your relations instead of having hundreds of friends, most of which don't know you very well
Turning off your computer and saying yes to more social opportunities
Being the one who reaches out to others (don't wait and expect others to always contact you)
Set respectful boundaries in relationships
Be honest and supportive of to others, as people will reciprocate that behavior back to you
I hope that you enjoyed this post and that I was able to offer a simplified view of how to best take care of your health.
Thank you so much for reading.
Why Laughing Is More Beneficial Than You Think
Today we will be talking about a rather humorous topic which is the importance of laughter in our everyday and how it can positively impact both our physical and mental health as well as benefit our social relationships.
The act of laughing is also noticeable among other ape species, where laughter is said to have developed some 10 - 16 million years ago. Laughter is said to first emerge in the first few months of life even among children who are deaf or blind.
In terms of its evolutionary roots, scientists argue that laughter played a critical role in creating and deepening social bonds which we formed with others, which ultimately helped with our survival as a species which predominantly lived in groups. Some people also say that laughter developed as a form of vocal control with which we showed to others that we are content and feel safe, while fostering more trust in relationships. Over time as our brain size increased, so did our ability to form and communicate in various verbal languages, with which laughter also helped to facilitate and once again increased our survival chances.
While scientists are still discovering the history and benefits of laughter, there is enough evidence currently to confirm that laughing is healthy for us.
I hope that you enjoy this post and learn something new from it like I did.
THE CHEMISTRY BEHIND LAUGHTER
When we laugh, there are two main types of chemicals which are released by our brain; Endorphins and Dopamine
Endorphins chemically speaking are a type of peptide (protein) hormones which are produced by our central nervous system and the pituitary gland in our brain. They function both as a neurotransmitter and a feel good happy chemical which helps with the management of pain. Endorphins are mostly released during the process of physically activating our muscles, such as when we contract our core muscles while laughing and not merely just social conversations.
Dopamine is also produced by our brain during laughter and like endorphins, it also functions as a neurotransmitter and hormone which works in the central nervous system. Its main functions include facilitating movement, helping with our memory and creating a sense of pleasurable reward and motivation.
10 BENEFITS OF LAUGHING MORE
Helps Boost Our Immune System
Laughing more has been shown to over time improve the strength and abilities of our immune system in the following ways: First, laughter is known to genuinely help decrease levels of stress hormones predominantly cortisol circulating around our body which it does so by releasing specialized chemicals called neuropeptides which help to lower stress levels. Secondly, laughter is also responsible for stimulating our body to create more antibodies with which we are able to fight off viruses and infections more easily.
Decreases Perceived Pain And Tension
The endorphins which are released when we laugh have been shown to act as natural temporary pain killers which increase our tolerance and management of pain, helping us to endure for longer periods of time when faced with a painful situation.
Furthermore, laughings also helps with decreasing levels of physical tension and discomfort in our bodies, which is due to the relaxation of muscles when we laugh and the improved resulting blood circulation.
Increases Relaxation And Minimizes Stress
Based on several studies, laughing has been shown to decrease stress levels and generally increase relaxation throughout our body.
There are a few possible explanations behind this, one of which is that when we laugh, we intake more oxygen with which we stimulate more blood circulation and in turn decrease the levels of cortisol (stress hormone) in our blood.
Secondly, laughter can physically relax our muscles and boost our circulation which can leave our muscles feeling relaxed after laughing for as long as 45 minutes. Furthermore, a good laugh has been shown to decrease our heart rate and blood pressure after laughing which then leads to a relaxed feeling afterwards.
Helps To Prevent Heart Disease
More and more research is starting to indicate that laughter can do a lot of good for us, including lowering our chances of developing heart disease. This is because laughter has been found to improve the function of our blood vessels and simultaneously increase blood flow which stimulates our organs and muscles so that they remain healthy and functional.
Improves Our Mood And Energy
The previously discussed endorphins are known as happy chemicals which naturally put our body in a feel good state and create a sense of wellbeing that can at least temporarily, shift our mood and energy levels for the better.
Additionally, by decreasing stress levels along side secreting endorphins, laughter has been shown to help people who are dealing with depression or anxiety as they can also help in boosting self esteem and make it slightly easier to cope with such challenging situations.
Strengthens Social Relationships
Evolutionary speaking, laughter has been shown to act as a social glue in our history of living in groups, where it is suggested that shared laughter communicates to other individuals that we have something in common or that we share a similar view on something, which helps to strengthen our relation with that person.
Laughter is crucial for maintaining social and non verbal communication patterns, where some scientists argue that laughter not only improves social bonding but also protects us from physical and psychological pain by helping to create a sense of belonging among others.
Helps Attract New People To Us
When we laugh we are more likely to be perceived as approachable and friendly by others, especially because with laughter, we becomes less resentful, judgmental and doubtful. This in turn increases the amount of people we attract because we are seen as more open, with which we can form positive new social bonds, and in this way increase both our mental and emotional health.
Seeing Issues From A New Perspective
Laughter has this amazing ability which allows us to create more distance between us and our issues which means we can form a new perspective of our problems which essentially makes them easier to deal with. In this way, you can see problematic situations in a more realistic and less threatening way which helps to diffuse potential conflict and makes a issue more manageable.
Increased Personal Satisfaction And Happiness
Laughter can do a lot for our personal feelings of satisfaction and general happiness with our selves, because when we laugh, we are able to express our true feelings about a topic as well as release our inhibitions which hold us back from doing things we fear.
Create More Positive Memories
Often times, the times we were happy with others and laughed a lot are also the times we remember as our best and most memorable memories. Laughter can help us make more of those happy memories which when we look back on, make us smile and remember the good times.
I hope that with this article I have been able to instill a new sense of appreciation for a simple act such as laughing with someone, because as we have seen, laughter can bring us a lot of benefits, both physical, psychological and emotional.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this 💛
The Magic Spice: Cinnamon
In order to encourage more of the autumn spirit, I thought I would write about the well known cinnamon spice which is quite synonymous with autumn food and drinks as it adds a comforting boost of flavor and charm to both sweet and savory dishes.
But cinnamon is not just a great additonal to recipes - It is actually also beneficial to our health in various ways, from being an anti microbial agent and being able to protect against neurodegenerative conditions all the way to helping diabetic people with managing diabetes. We will be discussing all of these benefits here today, where I will also provide some background information about the spice and its origins as well as offer some ideas as to how you can enjoy more of cinnamon especially during this time of the year.
Before you start reading, I recommend you get a cup of your favorite tea or coffee as well as a comfortable blanket to keep you warm and get you settled into the feeling of autumn.
I hope you enjoy this one 🍁 🍂
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON CINNAMON
Cinnamon is a space which actually comes from the bark of trees which belong to the Cinnamomum genus, where only a handful of the cinnamomum species are grown commercially for the cinnamon spice.
The most well known type of cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon, which is also considered the original type of cinnamon, comes from the species of trees called Cinnamomum verum which are native to Sri Lanka.
Indonesia is currently the largest producer of cinnamon, followed by China, Vietnam and Burma, where in 2018, Indonesia and China produced almost 70% of the world's whole cinnamon production.
Once collected in its bark form, it can be ground into a powder and then sold to consumers.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF CINNAMON
Packed With Beneficial Properties & Antioxidants
Cinnamon has many properties which have been used for medicinal and soothing purposes. The extensive properties of cinnamon come from the essential oils from the tree bark, which contain the potent compound cinnamaldehyde. The powerful properties of cinnamon include being:
Anti bacterial
Anti fungal
Anti viral
Anti inflammatory
Due to all of these properties, cinnamon may help with fighting various infections as well as inhibiting the growth of bacteria such as Salmonella. But thats not all, by having so many medicinal properties, cinnamon is also rich in various antioxidants - Even more than high antioxidant foods such as garlic - which could even make it useful as a natural food preservative.
May Help Protect Against Cancers
Although more research is needed on human studies, some test tube based animal studies have shown promising results for cinnamon being able to slow down the growth of cancer cells and even stopping the growth of tumor cells.
The proposed way in which cinnamon acts against cancer is by reducing the growth of cancer cells and formation of blood vessels within tumors, which altogether means that cinnamon may very well be toxic to cancer cells.
Helps To Manage Blood Pressure and Cholesterol
Consumption of cinnamon is associated with a short term reduction in blood pressure while also influencing levels of cholesterol in our blood by lowering the LDL (bad) cholesterol and possibly even increasing HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
Considering that cinnamon can help with lowering blood pressure and management of cholesterol, it could be that cinnamon can potentially help protect against developing heart disease.
However more trials need to be done with human based experiments, as currently experiments were only done on animals.
Effectively Lowers Blood Sugar & Type II Diabetes Risk
Cinnamon is quite well known for being able to positively help with managing blood sugar levels which is useful for people with diabetes, where it has been shown that cinnamon may lower fasting sugar levels for as much as 10-30%.
The way in which cinnamon is currently understood to help with blood sugar management is in the following ways:
It controls the amount of glucose which enters the blood stream: This is due to cinnamon interfering with different digestive enzymes which helps to slow down the breakdown and digestion of carbohydrates in your body.
A compound in cinnamon mimics the function of insulin: This improves glucose uptake by your cells although it acts slower than insulin itself.
It reduces insulin resistance: This means that your cells become more responsive to insulin, meaning that they can uptake and use the sugar which flows in your blood stream, all together helping to prevent chronically high blood glucose levels and diabetes.
Could Protect Against Neurodegenerative Diseases
The older we get, the more prone we are to developing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers or Parkinson's which are categorized by a progressive deterioration of brain cells.
For Alzheimers disease it is currently believed to be caused by a build up of various protein based plaques in the brain (tau proteins), which effectively lead to slower cognitions and poorer memory abilities. Luckily, cinnamon has been found to contain two compounds which appear to inhibit the build up of these tau proteins, although more research is needed as so far these experiments have been tested on animals.
For Parkinson's disease, cinnamon also holds promising effects as certain beneficial compounds within the spice have been shown to protect neurons, normalize neurotransmitter levels as well as improve our motor function.
HOW TO ENJOY MORE OF CINNAMON
Below you can find a couple of ideas of how to include more cinnamon into your daily food choices - some of which I regularly do myself. Experiment and see what you enjoy, if you are new to using cinnamon, start with smaller quantities.
Including cinnamon in baked goods which include apples, pears, nuts or ginger (apple pie, cinnamon rolls, carrot cake, banana bread, baklava, ginger bread cookies, churros, french toast etc.)
Try making a cinnamon spiced rice pudding
Making your own roasted and caramelized cinnamon nuts at home
Add into oatmeal, smoothies and yogurt bowls
Making your own granola and adding in cinnamon
Try adding a little into pumpkin soup or recipes with sweet potato/ other squashes
Drinks: Making mulled wine with cinnamon and cloves or making a hot chocolate with cinnamon
In terms of the recommended intake, for adults no more than 1 teaspoon per day should be consumed, and for children that should be lower. Cinnamon naturally contains compounds called coumarins which in larger amounts may not be well tolerated by our body, but consuming less than a teaspoon of cinnamon per day is considered safe.
Apart from cinnamon being something that I have enjoyed for practically my whole life, I have always heard that cinnamon is good for you, especially in terms of regulating blood glucose levels, which made me want to explore more how cinnamon impacts our body and ways that it can positively impact our well being.
I hope that through this you were able to learn something new and I also hoped that I have given you some more inspiration as to how you can make more use of cinnamon.
Thanks for reading.
Problems Of Sitting Down Too Much
You might have heard the expression that sitting down is the new smoking or something along those lines. Well, it turns out that, sitting down in the last 50 - 70 years has increased significantly, thanks to a rise in more office orientated work which promotes a sedentary lifestyle. As it turns out, excessive sitting down is actually harmful to our health in many ways.
To make you aware of how much of an issue this actually is, here are some statistics which definitely shocked me when I read them:
An average person sits down for 12 hours of the day
Since the 1950’s, sitting down and inactive office jobs have increased by 83%
A study in 2010 which included 184,190 people found that for people who spent more than 6 hours per day sitting down with low levels of physical activity, had a 71% increase in mortality.
The scary thing is that a different study showed that people who were also physically active for 5-6 hours per week and were sitting down for 5-6 hours a day, still had a 50% increase in mortality
I hope this paints a better picture of the issue at hand here, and with this I hope to inspire you to keep moving throughout your day with the best of your ability- After all we have legs for moving around and not for sitting down whole days.
Hope you find this one interesting 💛
5 HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH EXCESSIVE SITTING DOWN
Poor posture and muscles stiffness
When we sit for prolonged periods of time, we put more stress on our spine and other joints which can over time lead to back pain as well as a poor posture, since the more we sit, the more likely we are to start slouching. With this in mind, sitting down also makes our shoulder and neck muscles feel stiff and inflexible, often because our head is slightly tilted down in order to look at our computer screens.
Furthermore, excessive sitting down decreases lower body strength as well as a general decline in endurance. This is due to the fact that when we sit, we place more strain on our spine which over time reduces our spine flexibility. This indirectly deactivates and weakness our gluteal muscles contributing to even more back pain and a general loss in lower body strength.
Increased weight gain
Some studies have shown a link between prolonged periods of sitting and weight gain, where some of the proposed reasons for this are that nowadays when we eat we sit down, while also being distracted with our phones, a show we are watching or someone we are talking to, causing us to often eat too much too often leading to weight gain.
Furthermore, going back as little as 100 years, humans were much more active on average than we are today, simply because work was much more physically manual instead of now when much of our work is done through sitting down based work which mostly requires our mental capacities.
Greater cancer risk
There have been some emerging studies which have suggested that prolonged sitting down can actually increase our risk of developing certain cancers such as lung, uterine and colon. However the biological reasons behind this are not clear yet and need more research, but it is interesting to see that sitting down does not only have physical impacts on our body such as muscle stiffness, but may actually affect our internal biology much more than we first believed.
More prone to heart disease
Based on science, it has now become quite clear that there is a definite link between people who spend more time sitting down and people who develop heart disease in their lifetime. Sitting down has been shown to increase our blood pressure while also altering the functioning of our blood vessels which along side the increased risk of diabetes, can actually make you much more prone to developing heart disease.
A study found that for men who spent more than 23 hours a week watching television and sitting down while doing so, had a 64% greater chance of dying from cardiovascular disease than those men who only watch 11 hours of television per week.
Higher risk of diabetes
Additionally, some studies have uncovered a rather underestimated impact of prolonged sitting which is the increase in likelihood of developing diabetes in your lifetime. A different another study found that five days of inactive bed rest was associated with increased insulin resistance which is often a precursor to developing diabetes.
HOW TO SIT DOWN LESS
Below you can find some pieces of advice which you can try incorporating into your everyday, to keep you more mobile and active even with a busy schedule:
Stand up every 30 minutes or so (setting a reminder might be helpful)
When using public transport for commuting, choose stand instead of sit
Try standing up more while talking on the phone or watching the television
If your job requires a desk, try out a standing desk which can switch between a sitting and standing position
Make use of the stairs and walk up escalator stairs
Take a short walking break every time you have a break for a coffee or lunch
Drinking more water will encourage you to move to the bathroom more often
Try some discrete sitting down strength training exercises during the hours you spend sitting down (example: sitting down leg raises)
I think it is important to raise awareness about this topic since more and more work is requiring us to spend longer hours behind computer screens and sit down more. Without realizing it, we could seriously be damaging our health here.
I hope that you take the information presented here and use it to make more informed choices about your sitting down habits, wether it be at home, work, school or anywhere else.
Thank you for taking your time to read this and I hope that you learn something new 🌟
The Magic Grain: Oats
With the colder winter months settling in, I have noticed myself leaning more towards warm cooked breakfast meals such as oatmeal. This sparked the idea of this post, because you might have heard that even though oats are quite a popular ingredient or addition to our meals they are actually very healthy for us to eat.
Today we will be exploring the origins of what we consider to be oats, their nutritional profile, the health advantages they bring to us as well as sharing some ideas on how to include more oats into your diet.
I hope you enjoy this one 💛
WHAT ARE OATS EXACTLY?
Oats are the seed part of the Avena sativa plant which have been grown for a long time, both for our consumption and for livestock feed. Oats are gluten free for those who suffer from Celiac disease and are also very cheap and versatile in their uses.
Types of oats:
Whole oat Groats
Steel Cut / Irish Oats
Scottish Oats
Rolled / Old-Fashioned Oats (we will be discussing this type)
Quick/ instant Oats
NUTRIENTS FOUND IN ROLLED OATS
As mentioned before, oats are very healthy for us and one of the reasons for why that is, is due to their nutritional profile which is rich and varied.
100g of rolled oats has the following nutrients:
Energy: 380 kcal
Protein: 13.2 g
Fats: 6.5 g
Carbohydrates: 67.7 g
Fibre: 10.1 g
Sugars: 0,99 g
Calcium: 52 mg (5 % of daily recommended intake)
Iron: 4.3 mg (50% of daily recommended intake for men, and for women it is 30%)
Magnesium: 138 mg (Roughly 40% of recommended intake)
Potassium: 360 mg (12% of recommended intake)
5 MAIN REASONS WHY OATS ARE GOOD FOR YOU
Fibre Powerhouse and Effective For Weight-loss
One of the main reason why nutritionists advocate for oats so much is because they are extremely rich in good soluble fibre, specifically the type called beta glucan.
This soluble fibre partially dissolves in water and when we consume it, it forms a gel like consistency in our gut which actually keeps us feeling full for longer periods of time - effectively helping those people who would like to loose weight since they are less hungry and are more likely to stay within a calorie deficit.
Additional health benefits of beta glucan include, improving our insulin response (since fibre slows down the release of sugar into our bloodstream), decreasing levels of LDL cholesterol, as well feeding probiotic bacteria in our digestive tract which keep our bowel movements healthy.
Improve blood Sugar Regulation
Type II diabetes is commonly categorized by having elevated blood sugar levels for consistently long periods of time, which is a result of poor insulin sensitivity - Essentially our cells being less sensitive to the insulin hormone, meaning that the excess glucose in our blood can not be up-taken by our cells.
Some studies have shown that oats have been show to not only lower our blood sugar levels, thanks to their fibre rich profile, but also improve our insulin sensitivity - Helping to combat type II diabetes.
Better Blood Cholesterol Management
The before mentioned beta glucan is also suspected to help with deceasing levels fo LDL (unwanted) cholesterol in our blood.
The mechanism behind this is still being debated, but it is proposed that beta glucan encourages the release of bile by our gallbladder which contains some cholesterol and by being released is able to reduce levels of LDL cholesterol which circulate around within your blood.
Furthermore, certain compounds in oats have been shown to protect against the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, which helps protect us agains developing heart disease.
Rich In Antioxidants That Lower Blood Pressure
In general, oats are rich in antioxidants called polyphenols, but more specifically they are rich in a unique source of a group of antioxidants called avenanthramides.
Studies have shown that avenanthramides have the power of lowering blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide which helps to widen out blood vessels and ensures healthy blood flow.
Furthermore, these aventhramide molecules have beneficial anti-inflammatory properties which could help with offsetting various chronic conditions caused by high inflammation, such as heart disease.
Lowers Chances Of Developing Colon Cancer
Colon cancers develop in the large colon part our digestive system, where more and more studies are showing that eating about 90g of whole grains per day can significantly lower your chances of developing this cancer.
A fibre rich food such as oats can do just that, and the way this is done is by various proposed ways. Firstly the fibre in oats helps with reducing insulin resistance as we have discussed, where high levels of blood sugar are a risk factor for colon cancer.
Furthermore, oats keep you regular which prevents the chnaces of cancer causing mutations to occur within that part of the gut.
Lastly, oats are also a viable source of anti carcinogenic compounds such as vitamin E, selenium ,copper and zinc, which protects against cancers.
WAYS OF EATING MORE OATS
Now that we know whyoats are good for us, below you can find some ideas of how to include more oats into your diet in delicious and convenient ways
Cooking oatmeal/ porridge (can be sweet and savory) and adding any toppings you like fruit, jam, nut butters, chocolate, nuts, yogurt etc.
Making your own granola or muesli mix at home with various ingredients (nuts, dried fruit, honey, peanut butter, seeds, chocolate chunks, coconut etc.)
Try blending oats into oat flour with a food processor: Use this flour for various baked goods (banana bread, muffins, cakes, cupcakes), pancakes or even bread
Blend inside smoothies
Use to make energy bars/ balls together with dates
Sprinkle on top of toasts (both sweet and savory work)
I hope that with this article I was able to convince you into trying to add more of this great fibrous and delicious grain into your diet. Oats are cheap and very versatile so I urge you to try different recipes and see what you like as well as experince some of the mentioned health benefits we discussed.
Thanks again for reading, I always appreciate it.
Top Health Benefits of Eating Fatty Fish
You might have heard that incorporating a serving or two of fatty/ oily fish per week is beneficial for you, but why is that? You might have also heard of “Omega 3’s” and that they are good for your brain. But how do they link to fish and what other good things can they do for us?
Thats what we will be talking about today and really unpacking what makes these fatty fish so good for us to eat.
I hope you enjoy this one :)
WHAT ARE FATTY FISH EXACTLY?
So what exactly do I mean when I say “fatty fish”?
Fatty fish a certain types of fish which are considered as such for their high omega 3 fatty acid content apart from their rich concentration of other vital nutrients (protein, iodine and vitamin D) . We will talk more about this later, but it is important to note that omega 3’s are essential for us to obtain through food as our body can not make them itself.
Most common examples of fatty fish:
Albacore tuna
Farmed or wild salmon
Herring
Cod
Anchovies
Sardines
Mackerel
ALL ABOUT OMEGA 3’s
Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of unsaturated fat (polyunsaturated fat) which have to be consumed thorough or diet and if done so can have profound positive impacts on our health and wellbeing.
TYPES OF OMEGA 3 FATTY AICDS:
ALA (Alpha linoleic acid). Found in plant sources (Flax seeds, canola oil, chia seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds). It is mainly used for energy
EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid). Found in animal and plant sources (Fatty fish, fish oil, micro algae). It has several different functions in your body. Part of it can be converted into DHA.
DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid). Found in animal sources (Fatty fish and fish oil as well as meat, eggs, and dairy from grass-fed animals). It is the key structural component of your brain, your eye retina and other body parts
However not all omega 3 fatty acids are created equally.
EPA and DHA represent the more complex biologically active forms of Omega 3 fatty acids which our bodies are best designed to uptake and make use of. ALA on the other hand is less complex and is mainly used for energy for the body.
ALA can be converted into EPA or DHA forms but the issue is that the conversion process is very inefficient (a lot of ALA is needed to make a sufficient amount of DHA) - In other words it is much more effective to obtain your omega 3 sources from animal foods such as fatty fish as those contain most EPA and DHA.
Because of this, vegans and vegetarians are often advised to take a Omega 3 supplement.
RECOMMENDED INTAKES
For EPA and DHA: A minimum of 250–500 mg combined of EPA and DHA per day for adults
For ALA: About 1.6 grams per day for men and 1.1 grams per day for women
WHY ARE OMEGA 3’s GOOD FOR US?
DHA especially, is absolutely vital for the healthy development of your brain and eye retinas
It is particularly important for pregnant women to ensure proper brain development and health of their baby
Consuming a consistent healthy level of omega 3’s can protect against several diseases:
Breast cancer
Depression and anxiety
ADHD
Various inflammatory diseases
Autoimmune diseases
Slowing down age related mental decline as well as Alzheimers disease
Other than that, omega 3’s are also a source of energy for our body and its daily functions.
THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF FATTY FISH
May lower risks of heart disease
Some studies have shown that increasing your consumption of fatty fish or fish oil supplements may lower your chances of developing heart disease. In a study of 40,000 men from the United States, those who regularly ate one or more servings of fish per week had overall a 15% lower chance of developing heart disease.
Based on Harvard Medical school, some of the possible ways in which the heart friendly omega 3’s work are: “Stabilizing blood flow in and around the heart, reducing blood triglyceride levels, lowering blood pressure, preventing blood clots and reducing inflammation.”
More research is needed to properly confirm a consistently positive link between consumption of fish and prevention of heart disease
Boosts brain health
Some studies have shown that a diet higher in omega 3 fatty acids can slow down mental decline and potentially help with treating Alzheimers disease.
For Alzheimer patients, those who had lower DHA levels in the hippocampus and the frontal cortex had more problems with slower cognition, learning difficulties and poor memory retention.
Furthermore, a low omega 3 diet is correlated with experiencing learning difficulties and poor memory retention. Additionally, in older adults, low levels of DHA have been linked to having a smaller brain size which is a indication that our brain size is shrinking
Additionally, omega 3’s have been found to be an essential component of a women's diet during pregnancy, as they promote the healthy development of the child's brain.
If you would like to read more about what to eat for a healthy brain, click here
Could help treat depression
Researchers noticed that depression is less common in countries where people eat higher amounts of fish, so it opened up the research question weather fish oils and Omega 3’s found in fatty fish can positively prevent depression and other mood disorders.
A study was done in 2009 where researchers reviewed three studies which were looking to find the effects of using EPA omega 3 fatty acid in the treatment of three different types of depression. Compared to the placebo group, those who were intaking more EPA showed a considerable mood improvement for all types of depression tested.
Furthermore a slightly older study from 2004 shower that people who suffer from minor depression, postpartum depression or suicidal thoughts had lower levels of both DHA and EPA in their bodies. Those patients who received a combination fo both EPA and DHA supplements shower a improvement in their depressive symptoms.
One proposed way in which omega 3’s work in treating depression is that these omega 3 molecules can “easily travel through the brain cell membrane and interact with mood-related molecules inside the brain” as was proposed by Harvard Medical School. Furthermore, omega 3’s also hold anti inflammatory proprietress which relieve depression.
May protect against vision in older age
When we talk about declining vision as we age we are referring to AMD also known as “Age Related Macular Degeneration”, for which there are two main types, wet and dry.
In 2008, researchers from 7 European countries had collaborated with the London school of Hygiene and Tropical medicine, in order to investigate a link between fish intake (omega 3’s) and the presence of wet AMD, while also including a control group.
The findings concluded that those people who ate at least one serving of fatty fish per week compared to the control group who ate none, were 50% less likely to have wet AMD which is an astounding difference. However it is important to mention that consumption of normal non fatty white fish did not have this effect, where it showed a clear inverse relationship between levels fo DHA/ EPA omega 3’s and the chance of developing AMD.
Lower risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis
The American College of Rheumatology had conducted a study in 2018 exploring the relationship between fish oil consumption (that is high in omega 3 fatty acids) and the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis. The results showed that those participants who ate more than 2 servings of fish per week had the greatest “control of other arthritis”, where a higher intake was associated with better arthritis.
Although this study does only show a correlative relationship and not a causal relationship, there is promising implications for using omega 3’s as a way of reliving arthritis discomforts.
Protecting against certain cancers
For the treatment of breast cancer, the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention took a look at the link between consuming omega 3 fatty acids from fish and the incidence of breast cancer in Asian patients. The results turned out promising and the researcher concluded that omega 3’s had a protective effect against breast cancer.
There has been some debate wether omega 3’s can also help with treating bowel and colon cancers, however the results of those studies remains mixed and inconclusive for now.
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
When choosing to add more fish into your diet, it is important to keep the following things in mind:
Sustainability: For sustainability purposes it is best to buy farmed fish compared to wild varieties, as it puts less stress on wild populations which gives them enough time to grow back in size
Mercury levels: Although the fatty fish which I have listed above are very low in any mercury traces, if you do decide to eat any other fish types (specifically shark, swordfish or ling), limit your consumption of those as they have much higher levels of mercury which is not beneficial for you.
Diversity: Feel free to experiment with different types of fish during your weeks, both fatty and non fatty types as all fish can offer amazing health benefits and taste great too, just avoid the ones with high mercury levels.
Considering canned or frozen: Wether you are tight on a budget or simply cant find fresh sources, canned or frozen fish are still incredibly good for you to eat and the best part is that they are much more affordable.
Eating 1-2 per week: When it comes to eating fatty fish, the science behind the omega 3 claims that it is recommend to eat these fish type 1 - 2 times per week to obtain most health benefits
Preparation & Cooking: For the fish to retain most of their valuable nutrients, it is best to prepare them either grilled, cooked in a pan or prepared in an oven. Once cooked, serve with a light drizzle of high quality extra virgin olive oil (I recently wrote a post about olive oil that can be found here). Avoid consuming fish mostly in deep fried varieties as that adds a lot of unnecessary fat, calorie and salt to your diet.
I learned a lot of new research and findings from this topic and I hope that you were able to able to learn a couple new pieces of knowledge too. At the end of the day it is all about keeping things including fish in a healthy sense of balance and moderation, along side a balanced diet rich in whole foods.
Try new foods including new fish you may have not tried before. Its all in the way you prepare and cook fish which really makes them taste amazing.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
The Importance Of A Good Posture
I got the idea for wanting to write a post on how to have good posture a while back, but only now did I realize that this is again one of those neglected yet super important topics especially now where we spend so much of our day sitting down; Working, eating, commuting etc.
I like to focus on things that we have control over in our lives, which also includes our posture. I took a look into why does good posture actually matter in the end and what are some simple ways we can start improving it, and the information I found was surprising.
I hope you enjoy this one and see for yourself what kinds of benefits having good posture can bring to you.
WHAT IS A GOOD POSTURE?
→ When talking about good posture, I am talking about the proper alignment of your body when we are standing or sitting down . Good posture is about holding your body against gravity in such a way that it puts minimal strain on your supportive structures like muscles and ligaments. This keeps our joints and bones in their optimal alignment and over time prevents excessive wear and tear.
Standing up:
Our chin is parallel to the floor
Our shoulders are even (To achieve this roll the up, back and then down)
Having a neutral spine (No flexing or arching)
Our arms hang naturally at our sides with elbows straight
Our abdominal muscles are active
Hips are even and not tilted
Knees point straight ahead
Our whole body weight is evenly distributed on both feet
Sitting down:
Both of our feet are placed flat on the ground in front of the chair
Our ankles are in front of our knees
Try to avoid sitting with legs crossed
Keep your knees below or at hip level
Your abdominal muscles are active
Relax your shoulders
Ensure that you chair supports your middle and lower back
10 REASONS WHY GOOD POSTURE MATTERS
Less headaches
Through better posture, we are able to keep the muscles around our neck area more relaxed and prevent them from getting tense which otherwise can lead to frequent headaches.
Less tension in shoulder and neck area
When our head is tilted forward too much or when we look down at our screens extensively, we can start experiencing uncomfortable tension in our shoulders which further encourages poor posture.
Improves spine health and eases lower back pain
Sitting for extensive periods of time especially with poor posture, results in more pressure and tension being put onto our lower back which can over time cause back pain and discomfort. Try to stand up and walk around a bit every 30 minutes.
Better and deeper breathing
When we are slouching over or in a bent over position, we are essentially compressing our lungs and our airways, so when we open up our chest and roll back our shoulders it becomes easier to breathe and inhale more fresh air.
More energy and better mood
With better posture we can experience and elevation in mood and energy levels due to deeper breathing and also the fact that our body and muscles can move with more ease when everything is properly aligned and we have proper posture.
Boosts circulation and digestion
With good posture we prevent any of our organs and internal systems from getting compressed, ensuring good blood flow, proper working of digestive organs as well as the delivery of nutrients and oxygen around our body.
Keeps your core strong
In order to keep good posture, some level of muscular effort is required, especially from our core and upper back muscles, which keeps them active and engaged.
Makes you appear taller
Although this is more of a side note, people who have good posture seem more attractive to us by looking taller and generally healthier.
Improves your form during exercise
With better posture your muscles and bones are properly aligned which allows you to execute certain movements more correctly. This over time means we become more mobile, flexible and also prevent any unwanted injuries.
Makes you feel more confident
Interestingly enough, some research has pointed out a link between people who practice good posture and a higher level of confidence, which might be due to the perceived image that people get of themselves when they have better posture which as we have seen improves their mood and appearance
5 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR POSTURE
Move and stretch your body: Over time when we are regularly active, our muscle and bone mass increase, which helps to stabilize our posture and stability.
Ergonomic Workspace: Ergonomics is the study of how to improve peoples performance in a work environment. An example can be investing in a ergonomic desk chair which effectively supports your back and optimizes your typing or writing position. Also it is encouraged to have your screen directly in front of your head, instead of looking down.
Backpack: If you often carry heavy things, opt for carrying them in a backpack on your back that will distribute the weight more evenly than compared to a shoulder or cross body alternative.
Increasing awareness: When sitting down or walking around we often simply forget about our posture and before we know it we are slouched over our desk or computer screens. Take a moment every so often during your day to check on your posture and adjust it accordingly. Become more aware of your posture and when you need to realign it.
Less bending down: Try to limit the amount of time you spend bending down or crouching and if you do find yourself being often in those positions, being aware of your posture is even more important.
I have to admit that I learnt a lot of new things about our posture and what are some practical ways of improving it. I hope that you learnt something new as well and that you found this topic interesting.
Even-though it is quite a small and often neglected topic, I think that if we begin to practice proper posture and become more aware of when we need to realign our body, we can set ourselves up for better health and physical condition when we are older.
Thank you so much for reading.
Making Healthy Eating Convenient & Affordable
With the new school year soon approaching and many university students including myself, entering a new stage of their lives full of independence and new choices to make about their future, which also includes choices about their health such as what food choose to buy and eat.
In this post I wanted to focus on how young people and students in general can find more joy in eating and cooking healthier which is not only better in the long run for their health, but is also done in a way that does not hurt their wallets or time in any drastic way.
I hope that you find this article useful regardless of your age, because I think we could all appreciate if we could find more ways of eating better for ourselves while still keeping our food spendings in check.
Enjoy :)
WHAT IS HEALTHY EATING?
Include a variety of different whole foods in your diet
Avoid consuming too much salt, processed sugar, saturated fats and trans fats
Stay within your caloric need range
Drink enough water
Finding the right balance for you in terms of nutritious foods and less nutritious foods that are eaten in moderation
Trying to include a serving of oil fish into your diet each week
Eating high quality protein sources and nutritious oils and fats
Emphasis on getting enough fibre from wholegrain foods
MAKING HEALTHY EATING EASY AND AFFORDABLE
Go to farmers markets or other local food markets
Buy food in bulk
Check out the discounted section of your supermarket
Buy fruits and vegetables that have been put aside due to their due date (most are still perfectly fine)
Avoid expensive supplement stores and high priced health food shops
Focus on buying whole foods - Specialized and highly processed foods that may be labeled as “healthy” can actually end up costing a lot
Buy foods that are in season and preferably locally produced
Make a list of ingredients to buy before entering a store
Try not to go to the grocery store hungry
Plan your meals ahead of time and buy ingredients accordingly
Try preparing most of your food at home
Buying frozen fruits and vegetables
Making larger batches of certain meals so you can have left overs
Bringing your own lunch or snacks to work
I hope that you found this post interesting and in some degree also useful for incorporating more healthy habits onto your plate.
I hope to inspire people with the idea that to eat well for your body and mind does not mean having to spend excessive amounts of money on groceries or going to expensive supplement stores. Healthy eating does not have to be time consuming or restrictive. The point is to make it enjoyable for yourself by mostly including delicious foods that are good for you but also foods that bring you joy and a sense of balance with your diet. Its all about longterm consistency.
Thanks for reading.
The Green Superhero - Olive Oil
Olive oil is believed to have originated from the Mediterranean region, where olive trees were first thought to have been grown in the 8th millennium BC and the production of olive is assumed to have started sometime before 4000 BC.
Today, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Tunisia and Greece are the largest producers of olive oil in the world, where most is consumed in Greece and Italy.
Olive oil has been a part of the Mediterranean diet since the start, where this type of diet has been shown to have positive impacts on our cardiovascular system and our mental wellbeing.
I got interested in olive oil because of all the acclaimed health benefits it can bring so I wanted to look into this subject further.
Hope you find this one useful.
TYPES OF OLIVE OIL
Extra Virgin
This type of olive oil is considered to be the best and of highest quality. It is extracted through cold pressing methods meaning that no heat is used to extract the oil which could otherwise damage the nutrient composition of the oil. Because of this, extra virgin olive oil has a lower acidity content while keeping the best flavor and aroma.
Virgin
This is second best in quality and is a unrefined form of extra virgin olive oil. It is also extracted with a cold pressing method so it also has a high flavor and nutrient profile, while having a slightly milder taste. The difference is that it has slightly more acidity (between 1 - 4 percent) and is also more temperature resistant and is therefore also suitable for low heat cooking.
Refined
Refined olive oil is extracted from black and ripe olives, where it is considered a lower quality of oil that is mostly used for cooking purposes with high temperatures and not for direct medical applications. In terms of nutritional composition, it still contains the same amounts of fat and calories.
Pure
Unlike the name, “Pure” olive oil is actually a mix of extra virgin/ virgin olive oil with a refined form of olive oil. This type of production method is used when the extraction quality of the oil is not as good as planned, so in this way the quality of the oil is improved by mixing it with a better one. In this way, the nutrient profile and taste of the oil is improved.
Pomace oil
This is considered to be the lowest quality of olive oil which is extracted from the residue after the olive fruit is pressed. This oil is also mixed with virgin oil to help improve the quality, making it only suitable for high heat cooking.
COMPOSITION
Based on the website Healthline, a table spoon of extra virgin olive oil contains the following nutrient profile:
Calories: 119
Saturated Fat: 14% of total calories
Monounsaturated Fat: 73% of total calories (mostly oleic acid)
Polyunsaturated Fat : 11% of total calories
Vitamin E: 13% of the Daily Value
Vitamin K: 7% of the Daily Value
Apart from oleic acid, extra virgin olive oil is also plentiful in linoleic acid and palmitic acid all of which are fatty acids that benefit our health.
The main antioxidants and phytonutrients in extra virgin olive oil include “oleocanthal” and "oleuropein” which have been shown to reduce levels of LDL cholesterol, fight inflammation and help with chronic diseases.
THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET
Olive oil is a core component of the Mediterranean diet which is heavily based on whole grains, fish, vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, seeds and moderate consumption of meats and dairy.
Olives, wheat and grapes are the most important food crops in the Mediterranean diet, along with daily physical activity and having a good social life.
Eating a Mediterranean diet has been linked with many health benefits such as:
Reducing risk of heart disease
Reduce risk of stoke in women
Preventing cognitive decline
Weight loss
Prevents against type 2 diabetes
5 MAIN HEALTH BENEFITS OF OLIVE OIL
Protects Against Heart Disease In Many Ways
Helps to Reduce Inflammation
Chronic inflammation has been believed to be one of the main causes behind chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
Oleic acid as well as the antioxidants oleacein and oleocanthal found in olive oil have been shown through studies to effective fight inflammation.
Reduces oxidation of LDL cholesterol
Extra virgin olive may prevent the harmful oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol which is usually a crucial part for heart disease.
Improves Strength Of Our Blood Vessels
Based on the website Healthline, “olive oil may improve the function of the endothelium, which is the lining of the blood vessels” helping our blood vessels tolerate blood pressure better.
Lowers blood pressure.
People living in the Mediterranean region eating a balanced diet with olive oil and regular movement, have been linked to having lower blood pressure which over time can help with management of blood pressure.
Lowers Risk Of Developing Type II Diabetes
Eating more extra virgin olive oil has for diabetics shown positive results, where it has beneficial effects on blood sugar management and insulin sensitivity.
Studies have shown that for people who are diabetic, that consuming more olive oil has been linked with a better glycemic response which means that the polyphenols and fatty acids in olive oil can prevent dangerous spikes in our blood sugar.
Additionally, consumption of extra virgin olive oil is also beneficial for long term blood sugar regulation as well as helping over weight people with loosing weight, which again prevents the development of type 2 diabetes.
Good Source Of Vitamins
High quality olive oil contains a modest amount of fatty acids and certain vitamins like vitamin E and K.
Vitamin E is crucially important for our vision and reproductive system, while also helping with out blood, brain and outlook of skin.
Vitamin K on the other hand, is known to be essential for proper blood clotting and the building of strong bones.
Possibly Protects Against Cancer
Some studies suggest that a greater consumption of olive oil can be associated with a lower risk of developing cancers, which could be due to the anti inflammatory substances fund in olive oil.
The growth of cancer cells can be further encouraged through having high levels of oxidative stress in our bodies, but due to olive oils high anti oxidant content, it is believed that extra virgin olive could help against the development of cancers by neutralizing those free radicals that are responsible for creating oxidative stress.
Oleic acid, an antioxidant found in olive oil, has been exclusively studied and certain test tube studies showed that this acid slowed the growth and spread of cancer cells, helping with combating the cancer.
Prevents Cognitive Decline
There is evidence to suggest that a greater consumption of extra virgin olive oil, as is found around the Mediterranean region, is linked with a lower incidence of mental decline and especially the incidence of Alzheimers disease, which is the main cause of dementia.
Alzheimers disease is believed to originate from a build up of proteins known as beta- amyloid plaques, which deposit on certain neurons in our brains. Scientists and researchers suggest that there are certain substances within extra virgin olive oil that prevent the build up of these proteins, protecting us from cognitive impairment.
COOKING WITH OLIVE OIL
Olive oil predominantly contains monounsaturated fatty acids, where unsaturated fatty acids (unlike saturated fatty acids), contain many carbon - carbon double bonds in their structure which are more prone to being oxidized during cooking and heat exposure, causing the oil to become damaged.
This means that certain plant oils such as olive oil that are high in unsaturated fatty acids are used only for low heat cooking or no heat at all, but other plant oils such as canola oil or rapeseed oil are more suitable for higher temperatures.
Overall olive oil is safe to use under low to moderate temperature cooking, but is not advised for frying or high heat exposure. For best used, use extra virgin olive oil without any heat as in salad dressings and final additions to foods.
After writing this post, I now know much more about olive oil than I did before and I hope that you also learned something new from this. Of course, while olive oil is healthy for us, it is still important to keep it in moderation in our diet, as it is quite high in calories and could in the long run lead to weight gain if eaten in too large quantities.
I encourage you to invest in some high quality olive oil and use it for a variety of different dishes and other uses such as applying it on your skin or hair.
Thanks again for reading.
Your Healthy Hair Handbook
The relationship between what we eat and the health of our hair is commonly miss-understood or underestimated, yet more and more research is coming out showing that we can greatly impact the wellbeing of our hair through our own dietary choices.
Issues such as thinning hair, hair loss or brittle and fragile hair are quite common conditions yet with the proper nutrition and maintenance of our hair, it is a miracle how well we can recover damaged hair and turn it into strong healthy strands again.
I hope you enjoy this post on a slightly different topic.
STRUCTURE OF OUR HAIR
Each hair strand has a hair shaft and a hair root. The hair shaft is the visible part of the hair which grows out of our scalp. The hair root lies in the scalp and is surrounded by a hair follicle (a sheath of skin and connective tissue) which is also connected to a sebaceous gland that secrets an oily substance called sebum that keeps our hair moisturized.
The hair shaft is made of keratin - a hard strong protein based material which is formed from inside cells from the germinal layer.
WHAT DOES HEALTHY HAIR NEED?
Protein
Each strand of our hair is made up of a protein based compound called keratin. This raw material that makes up our hair is made from proteins we get from food. If our protein intake is too low, the body will make less keratin and in turn our hair will grow less fast and will be more brittle.
It is generally advised to eat 0.8g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day to meet sufficient needs. If you are more active, increase that figure to about 1.2g.
Sources: Meat, fish, seafood, eggs, dairy, legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils, soy), grains, meat substitutes and nuts
B Vitamins
The fore mostly important B vitamin which helps promote hair growth is called biotin or vitamin B7. It is a nutrients which has been shown to stimulate the production of keratin by interacting with special cellular enzymes that turn amino acids into long chain proteins like keratin.
Other beneficial B vitamins include B12 and B9, where B12 is essential for the production of red blood cells and cellular DNA while B9 works closely together with B12 ensuring proper DNA production during periods of fast cell growth. Together these vitamins are able to transport oxygen around our body by it binding to iron in our red blood cells, which allows more oxygen to be delivered to our scalp and enhance hair growth and vitality.
B12 sources: Fish, meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products (Animal products only).
B9 sources: Dark green leafy vegetables (turnip greens, spinach, romaine lettuce, asparagus, Brussel sprouts, broccoli), beans, peanuts and sunflower seeds.
Biotin sources: Organ meats, egg yolks, fish, meat, seeds, nuts, sweet potatoes, bananas, broccoli and lentils.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is needed for cellar growth which includes the growth of fast growing hair tissue while also helping the skin glands make enough sebum which prevents our scalp from becoming too dry. Diets with little vitamin A could be linked with hair loss.
Sources: Spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, red peppers, mango, papaya and apricots.
Iron
Iron is needed for hemoglobin production - the red pigment in our red blood cells - which allows these cells to carry oxygen all around our body, including our hair and scalp cells which ensures proper hair growth. Each molecule of hemoglobin contains 4 iron atoms each of which is able to bind with one molecule of oxygen.
Sources: Shellfish, spinach, liver and other organ meats, legumes, red meats, pumpkin seeds and quinoa
Zinc
A deficiency in zinc is theorized to change the protein structure of our hair follicles which makes them weaker and more brittle. In this way, zinc is also needed for DNA and RNA production which is required for proper division of follicular hair cells allowing new healthy hair strands to be formed.
Sources: Red meat, shellfish, chickpeas, lentils, beans, hemp seeds, pine nuts, peanuts, cashews and almonds
Essential fatty acids
Essential fatty acids such as omega 3 provide essential nutrients to hair follicles, helps prevent hair loss by preventing hair follicle inflammation as well as promoting better blood circulation in the scalp that makes healthier hair.
Sources: Oily fish (Mackerel, salmon, herring, sardines), oysters, walnuts, seeds (flax, chia)
WHAT TO AVOID FOR HEALTHY HAIR?
Bleaching
Frequent heat treatments
Lots of sun exposure
Wearing tight ponytails for long periods of time
Washing hair with hot water
Shampooing too often
Low protein consumption
Eating a lot of the following foods:
Swordfish (High in mercury)
Processed sugar
Alcohol
High glycemic foods (Chips, sodas, sport drinks, fast food, doughnuts, white bread, sugary cereals, mashed potatoes)
HOW TO TAK THE BEST CARE OF YOUR HAIR
Eat a varied and balanced diet
Wash Your Hair Regularly
Use Chemical Free Shampoos
Condition often
Dry Your Hair Naturally
Oil Your Hair Properly
Use A Wide-toothed Comb
Style Your Hair Naturally
Trim Your Hair Regularly
Try hair masks once a week
Avoid excessive sun exposure
Lower shower temperature
Give yourself scalp massages for blood circulation
I learnt a lot of new information while writing on the topic of hair and I hope that you also found some interesting new information here. Thank you for reading and as always let me know what you want to hear about next and wether you would be interested in more beauty related topics.
10 Amazing Benefits Of Regular Exercise
Regular exercise can have profound impacts on our health and well being. I wanted to take a look into the topic of exercise as I have always heard that exercise is beneficial for us, but why exactly is it so important? How exactly does it impact our health?
I found out that the benefits range everywhere from from helping to protect against common chronic conditions, aiding with our sleep quality as well as our strengthening our immune system, and the benefits don't stop there.
Lets take a look at some of these powerful benefits a little further and also find out how we can actually incorporate more movement into our life as an enjoyable habit.
Hope you find this one interesting.
MAIN GUIDELINES
When starting to do exercise of any type, it is important to keep the following in mind for your own health and well being:
Minimum 30min of exercise per day: This is the generally accepted minimum that allows you to stay in shape and take care of your physical wellbeing.
Warm up before: This warms up your body, increases your range of motion as well as prevents possible injuries.
Stretch afterwards: This increases your flexibility as well as prevents excessive muscle soreness which helps with muscle growth.
Fuel your body before and after: This is fore mostly important for you to have enough energy for movement and proper execution of exercises, as well as promoting effective muscle growth and recovery after exercise.
Drink enough water: Water is needed for practically all bodily functions and biochemical reactions going on within us. Keeping properly hydrated enhances your physical performance and later recovery.
Move because it feels good: This is the most underestimated part of exercise, because movement should after-all be a celebration of our body and everything it is capable of doing for us. Don't treat exercise as a chore or something “you have to do”. Choose to do it because you are fortunate enough to be able to move and it makes you feel great. Focus on moving because it makes you feel good, not because it only yields you good looking physical results.
10 MAIN BENEFITS OF REGULAR EXERCISE
Prevents a myriad of chronic diseases
Type 2 diabetes: Exercise helps with regulating blood pressure, improving our insulin resistance as well as our glycemic control, all of which work to combat diabetes.
Heart disease. Regular exercise has been clearly shown to help protect against cardiovascular conditions, since it strengthens your heart muscle and improves your blood circulation.
Different types of cancer. Some of the cancers which can be prevented through exercise are: Breast, colorectal, gallbladder, kidney, lung, liver, ovarian and pancreatic cancers.
High cholesterol. Doing regular moderate physical activity has been show to increase HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) in our blood and lower the other bad LDL cholesterol that can otherwise block our arteries.
High blood pressure: Those who regularly move their bodies have lower blood pressures, since with exercise your heart becomes stronger meaning that is becomes easier for it to pump blood around your body and which in turn decreases the force exerted on your arteries.
Improves Mood & Mental Wellbeing
For a while now, sleep has been shown to release chemicals such as serotonin and endorphins which have been shown to improve our mood, emotional well being as well as decreasing the chance of developing a mental illness.
Regular exercise is known to decrease feelings of anxiety, depression and stress.
Better & Deeper Sleep
Moderate to vigorous exercise done during the day has been shown, according to the sleep foundation, to reduce the amount of time we need to fall asleep, improve our sleep quality and increase general feelings of relaxation. Additionally, being active means that we have elevated energy levels through the day, which means that we feel less of a craving for sugary energy drinks and caffeinated drinks which could further upset our sleeping patterns.
Read more about how to improve your sleep here
Weight Control / Weight Loss
Exercise is beneficial for helping us with our weight loss goals or just generally keeping our weight levels within our healthy range. It does this, by speeding up our metabolism, which means that we burn more calories during the day just for staying alive. Furthermore, exercise can increase our muscle mass, which furthermore means we burn more calories as we have more tissues to feed.
Increases Energy Levels
While exercising, you increase your pulse and circulation which means that more oxygen is able to enter your body. This allows the cells of your body to have access to more oxygen rich blood which enables them to make more energy, causing you to feel more energized.
Beneficial For Muscles and Bones
When you are physically active, you regularly apply pressure and tension onto your muscles and bones. With the adequate nutrition, your muscle mass starts increasing due to more muscle repair happening. Additionally, putting more pressure onto your bones, causes more cells in your bones to be synthesized which strengthens your bone tissue, helping to prevent further unwanted injuries.
Healthier Skin
Exercise increases blood flow to our cells, meaning that more oxygen and nutrients are deliver to our cells for optimal growth, as well as that any produced waste products and unwanted free radicals are removed by it. This benefits our skin, by improving its elasticity and youthful look.
Increased Cognition and Memory Retention
The direct effect of exercise improving our mood, mental state and lowering our levels of stress, has been indirectly shown to improve mental cognition, thinking abilities as well as memory retention.
The process of physical activity is associated with a greater synthesis of neurons in our brains, which allows us to think faster and have sharper memory. It has also been shown that people who are regularly active have a much lower chance of developing Alzheimers disease in their lifetime.
Here you can find out how diet can impact your brain health.
Boosts Your Immunity
Some studies have shown a link between people who are regularly active and a stronger healthier immune system. The believed reason behind this is that exercise stimulates the circulation of immune cells around our body, which helps our body detect any infections earlier on.
Furthermore, the rise in core body temperature during exercise is believed to prevent the growth from harmful bacteria that could make you feel sick. Lastly, moving our body reduces levels of inflammation and allows us to sleep better, which is again better for out immune system.
You can read more about strengthening your immune system here
Increases Flexibility
By being more active, you warm up your muscles and allow them to become stronger and be able to endure tension for longer periods of time. In this way, your muscles are able to become more flexible (stretch further), by increasing your range of motion with them and in turn being able to execute certain movements more correctly.
Click here to find out more about the benefits of frequent stretching
HOW TO MAKE EXERCISING A HABIT
Make it enjoyable:
Try some of the following ideas to make your workouts more enjoyable:
Use music
Try it with friends
Track your progress
Eat enough and balanced
Do an activity you love (This makes it sustainable in the long run)
Keep it varied (Exercise does not only mean going to gym)
Try doing it outside
Be specific:
When planning your workout, ask yourself the following questions:
When will you do it? (Set yourself a reminder)
How long will you do it for?
Where will you be doing it?
What will you do?
With who will you do it?
Keeping motivated:
In order to continue enjoying your workouts in the long run, try some of the following:
Set realistic personal goals
Start with small steps
Measure your progress over time
Prepare your clothes/ equipment in advance
Don't get discouraged about missing out sometimes
Surround yourself with positive media and people
The topic of this post wasn't particularly new or unique, however it was fundamentally important for our health. It is important for us to understand how exercise affects us, why we should bother to do it in the first place and also how to integrate it as a enjoyable activity into our life.
What ever physical activity or activities you choose to spend your time doing, I am sure your health will be thankful, both your physical and mental well being will profit.
Don't neglect these basic components of our health and also make sure to not take it to extremes (exercising too much all the time).
Enjoy your movement and celebrate your amazing body; It does so much for you already.
Berry Season - Don't Miss Out On The Best Freshness
It is summer time and it has been berry season for some time, especially for raspberries and blueberries.
Apart from their amazing taste, you may have heard that these small fruits are bursting with various amazing benefits for our health, ranging from their antioxidant levels to their beneficial effects for reducing inflammation. We are encouraged to include more of them into our diet as they help us intake more fibre while also helping others with better blood sugar regulation.
As part of the superfood series, I wanted to condense some of the information about berries, starting with why they are good for us in the first place while also giving you some more ideas for how to make the best use of fresh berries this summer.
BEST BERRIES BASED ON NUTRITION
Although all berries are very nutritious and extremely good for you, the following berries seem to rank highest in terms of nutrients they contain. All are high in fibre, rich in vitamins and are full of powerful antioxidants.
Blueberries
Raspberries
Goji berries
Strawberries
Black berries
Cranberries
BERRY BENEFITS - WHAT ARE THEY?
High in Fibre
Getting in enough fibre per day, about 30g, is associated with greater bowel health (lower risk of developing colon cancers) and of course keeping you more regular. Additionally, fibre slows down the release of sugar into your blood, which prevents unnecessary sugar spikes that disrupt your energy levels.
Loaded with Antioxidants
Our body naturally produces chemical species called “free radicals” during its many metabolic processes such as digestion for example. These free radicals are chemically unstable species which over time harm the health of your cells and cause inflammation, by robbing other healthy cells with their electrons. During this stage you body enters a state of oxidative stress.
Antioxidants on the other hand are able to lower the number of these free radicals in our body, which means that they restore the balance of free radicals and antioxidants in our body.
Improve Insulin Sensitivity
Insulin sensitivity refers how responsive your cells are to the hormone to insulin. If we reduce insulin resistance, that means our cells become more effective at up-taking available glucose in the bloodstream preventing a buildup of blood sugar, which over time lowers our chances of developing type II diabetes.
Beneficial for Cardiovascular Health
Due to the high antioxidant level of berries, these antioxidants also promote the health of our cardiovascular system alongside lowering blood pressure and levels of LDL cholesterol, which is the type of cholesterol that deposits on the inside of our arteries causing strokes.
Rich in Vitamins and Minerals
Most berries are rich in Vitamin C and K, as well as the mineral manganese, all of which contribute positively to our health.
Vitamin C is needed for the formation of collagen, absorption of iron and keeping our immune system, bones and teeth healthy.
Vitamin K is needed for making proteins needed for blood clotting and the building of strong bones.
Vitamin B9, also known as folate is needed for proper development of red blood cells which are critical for carrying oxygen around our body.
Manganese helps the body with making connective tissues, bone and blood clotting factors
Prevention of Urinary Tract Infections (UTI)
Cranberries especially are known to contain a specific compound which helps with treating Urinary Tract Infections (UTI), where this compound prevents the sticking of harmful bacteria on the insides of our urinary tract.
Boosts Your Immune System
Berries also have a positive impact on our immune system which is due to their high polyphenol content, which is a type of antioxidant commonly found in berries. With lower levels of oxidative stress, our body experiences less inflammation and infections, meaning that our immune response is triggered less often.
HOW TO EAT MORE BERRIES
Below you can find some ideas with how you can increase your intake of all kinds of berries, while they are currently in season:
Always have some frozen ones in stock (Cheaper + last longer)
Making your own jam at home
Add them into your smoothies, yogurt, oatmeal, cereals, baked goods or on top of refreshing deserts
Try incorporating them into salads
Try snacking on berries, fresh or dried, such as dried cranberries
Make infused water with different fruits including berries and mint
Making homemade ice cream with frozen berries
I hope you enjoyed reading into some of the amazing insights berries can offer us, because I certainly had fun writing this.
Now I urge you to go out to your local store, market or even nearby forest/ garden and get some yourself, because right now they really are the best balance of flavor and cost.
Enjoy your summer :)
Sauna - Benefits Behind The Heat
Saunas have been around for a long time, in-fact the first discovered remains of saunas were found 2000 years ago, built underground and lined with rocks. Saunas are still in use today, where nowadays we have more modern technologies and structures, but the main idea of them still persists - Heat and steam.
I have become increasingly interested in what ways saunas can help with our health and wellbeing. Below you will find details on the different types of saunas you can commonly find today, their respected health benefits and also the potential risks you have to be aware about.
I hope to inspire you to try out saunas some time if you have not yet and experience the acclaimed advantages yourself.
Enjoy the heat :)
TYPES OF SAUNAS
Finish sauna (80-100 ºC)
These have originated in Finland, and are both an integral part of finish and Estonian culture. These saunas can either be warmed through burning real wood or though means of electricity.
The heat produced from burning or electricity is used to heat up special rocks inside the sauna, onto which you pour some water to create hot stream.
These saunas are very hot, but low humidity, designed for you to spend no longer than 20 minutes otherwise you could risk becoming dehydrated or dizzy.
Infrared sauna (45 - 55 ºC)
Infrared saunas work differently to finish saunas in the sense that they are warmed through infrared panels that radiate electromagnetic radiation. which in turn warm your body.
These saunas operate at a lower temperature, but it is estimated that about 80% of the emitted radiation goes directly into your body which means that you actually experience more heat and sweating at a lower temperature. This also enables you to last longer in this type of sauna and tolerate the heat more.
Turkish steam sauna (30 to 55 ºC)
A Turkish saunas also traditionally known as a hamman is a steam based sauna that has its roots in the islamic world and was actually developed from roman bath houses.
These saunas are decorated with tiles, unlike dry heat saunas that use wooden components. Turkish saunas may have added oils and smells into the air which are designed to deepen your breathing and open up your airways.
BENEFITS OF SAUNAS
Relieving Muscle and Joint Pain
When being in such a hot environment as a sauna, your heart rate rises due to blood capillaries at the surface of your skin dilating to help with controlling your core body temperature by heat loss. This increase in circulation means that your muscles are able to get a greater blood supply and the lactic acid that makes muscle sore is able to be broken down faster.
In this way, better circulation helps with smoother joint movement and may also ease arthritis while simultaneously relaxing your muscle tissue.
Relaxation and Stress Reduction
Sitting in a sauna is commonly done as a way to relax your body and mind. The way this works is that saunas decrease the levels of the hormone cortisol in our blood which is responsible for making us feel stressed and rising our heart rate. Instead saunas promote the production of serotonin, which uplifts our mood. Feel free to read more about stress management here.
On another note, by reducing stress, saunas can also potentially strengthen our immune system, as being chronically stressed weakens our immure system. You can find out more about how to take care of your immune system here.
Improvement of Cardiovascular Health
Regular and consistent use of saunas has been shown by studies to over time lower your resting heart rate which is beneficial for your heart as this way the heart muscle is not over worked.
In this way, sauna use has been shown to lower cases of fatal cardiac incidents, strokes and lowering blood pressure, which are some of the most common health problems the world is currently facing.
Promotes Good Healthy Skin
Frequent use of saunas, depending on your skin type, could help with improving the appearance and health of your skin. The heat in saunas improves blood circulation which in turn causes you to sweat which makes it easier to remove and replace the top layer of dead skin cells while simultaneously boosting collagen production in you skin which gives it a more elastic and plump feeling.
Additionally, sweating in saunas cleanses your skin by rinsing bacteria out of the epidermal (top) layer of your skin as well as your sweat ducts, which keeps your skin in good working condition.
Helps with Muscle Recovery and Soreness
Some studies have indicated a link between using saunas and preserving muscle mass and athletic performance. Regular sauna use helps with muscle relaxation and in turn helps with muscle soreness, which can be very beneficial for people who are very athletic.
Additionally the increased circulation from saunas allows for better blood circulation around your lower back area which can help alleviate lower back pain while simultaneously making your muscles less tense.
Useful Treatment for Asthma
Saunas in particular high steam Turkish saunas may be helpful for people who suffer from asthma as the heat and humidity helps open your airways and in this way improve your breathing, removal of phlegm and easing coughing.
Better and Deeper Sleep
Interestingly, saunas have also been shown to improve your sleep quality after using them, as after using a sauna our body temperature and level of endorphins falls, especially around bed time, which helps our body fall asleep.
Find out more about how to depend and improve your sleeping here.
Detoxification
Although our liver is the primary detoxification organ in our body, through extensive sweating we are able to remove small quantities of toxins in our body such as any traces of heavy metals that we come into contact in our daily environment (copper, lead, zinc, mercury and nickel).
POTENTIAL RISKS
Going into a sauna and spending too much time in there can definitely lead to some negative side effects. It is also recommended that if you are a beginner with going to saunas, start with 5 -10 minutes and gradually increase your time spent in there as you feel comfortable.
If yo spend too long in a saunas you can risk the following:
Dehydration
Dizziness
Temporarily lower fertility for men
PRECAUTIONS
There is however a couple of things to keep in mind when going into saunas:
Amount of time spent in a saunas
Drinking plenty of water before and after a sauna
No drinking alcohol before entering
It is not suitable to enter a saunas if you:
Have elevated blood pressure
Have experienced serious heart issues in the past
Are pregnant
Are ill (although saunas can help with blocked sinuses)
I hope you found this guide on saunas and their respected health benefits useful and will potentially look into trying saunas for yourself to see the acclaimed benefits.
As stated above, start with lower time spans and lower temperature saunas and over time build up your heat tolerance.
Thank you for reading, I appreciate it a lot.
Honey - Nature’s Golden Gift
I have recently developed a very strong interest in honey and its acclaimed health and beauty benefits along with its variety of uses. I wanted to do some research into honey and why it is so potent with benefits in the first place and how can we diversify its uses in our life.
I believe we can all benefit from eating some honey, which is why I wanted to include various information on honey, starting from the basics - How its made.
I hope you enjoy this article on the topic of honey, which is part of a series I am doing on superfoods where I focus on a particular food or ingredient and discuss its health implications and other benefits it offers.
Happy reading <3
HOW IS HONEY MADE?
Almost of us know, honey is produced by honey bees which travel from flower to flower collecting sweet nectar from them with their long tube shaped tongue. Afterwards the nectar is stored inside their extra stomach during when it mixes with necessary enzymes which transform the nectars composition and pH that makes it more suitable fo long term storage.
Upon returning to the bee hive, the nectar is passed from one bee to another after which the nectar is finally deposited into a honeycomb for storage.
During this stage, the nectar is still more of a liquid than normal honey is, so in order to get additional water out of the nectar, the bees fan it with the flapping of their wings which causes water to start evaporating from it.
Once most of the water has been removed, the nectar is much thicker now and the bees can finally seal the honey comb by using a substance secreted from their abdomen, which eventually hardens into what we know as beeswax.
In this way honey can be stored as a food source for bees for months and even years. Other bee product include bee pollen, bee venom and royal jelly, which are not to be confused with honey
NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION
In terms of what honey is made of, it is mainly sugars (fructose and glucose) and water.
Apart form that, honey is also known to contain several different kinds of vitamins (B vitamins) and minerals (Sodium, potassium and magnesium).
Alongside that you can also find amino acids, antibiotic rich complexes, antioxidants and other micronutrients in smaller amounts.
PROPERTIES OF HONEY
Antioxidant:
This property is due to honey containing compounds called inhibins which together with glucose oxidase found in honey, give it its antioxidant effects that fight against free radicals. Int this way honey can have anti-aging effects.
Antibacterial
Raw honey is able to fight off bacteria due to the following two properties. First, honey is hydroscopic meaning that is attracts water which means that when it comes in contact with bacteria it attracts all of the water and dehydrates the bacteria. Secondly, honey is slightly acidic, making it unsuitable for some bacteria to survive.
Antiseptic and anti-inflammatory
Honey has been used to centuries to heal infected wounds and small burns on the skin, by topical (skin) application
Hydrating
This can help with moisturizing our skin, body and hair, as is often the case with beauty products that contain honey.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF HONEY
Effective treatment for colds:
Although colds itself are causes by viral infections, honey itself will not be able to cure the actual cold, however it can certainly help with treating some of the symptoms of a sore throat, coughs and any stuffiness that comes with having a cold.
The way in which honey functions in helping to soothe a sore throat is by coating our mucous membranes with a thick and sticky covering which prevents dryness.
Mixing honey with lemon juice or cinnamon, or just putting honey into your tea can also help with mitigating the negative symptoms.
Stronger immunity
Honey is known to strengthen your immune system because of its high antioxidant amount, with which it is able to reduce oxidative stress in our bodies (a condition that results when your antioxidant levels are low) by neutralizing free radicals, which are species that are unstable and accept electrons from antioxidant species to become stable again.
In this way we prevent too high levels of oxidative stress to occur which overtime damage out cells and DNA.
As a side note, the darker the color of the honey, the higher the antioxidant amount.
Apart from that, consumption of honey also stimulates the production of white blood cells (specifically T-Lymphocytes and B-Lymphocytes) that helps strength our immune response
You can read more about how to strengthen your immune system here
Faster wound healing
Raw honey is known to contain small amounts of the enzyme glucose oxidase which under the right circumstances is able to convert into hydrogen peroxide which is a disinfectant. In order for glucose oxidase to be converted into hydrogen peroxide, water and sodium need to be present, which are naturally found in our bodily fluids.
So when we apply honey onto a wound, the glucose oxidase is converted into hydrogen peroxide which disinfects the wound, as long as water and sodium are present in the surroundings
Improved digestion:
There is more a more research coming out that is showing that honey has a positive affect on our digestion and in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.
A possible explanation for this is that honey may act as a prebiotic (not probiotic), where prebiotics are plant fibres that nourish the growth of good bacteria in our gut. In this way, the more diverse our gut flora is, the better our digestion and wellbeing.
If you are interested, you can find more information about your gut health in this article
Helps with better sleep:
There is some evidence that suggests that eating a spoon of honey before bed can actually calm you down more and improve your sleep quality.
One explanation is that honey helps your body with releasing the sleep hormone melatonin. Another explanation is that our brain needs a steady supply of glycogen (made of glucose molecules) as fuel, where glycogen is produced by our liver when we have some excess glucose in our blood stream. In this way, a spoon of honey can stimulate our liver into synthesizing glycogen and making sure we sleep in one sold piece during the night.
Brain benefits
There has been some evidence suggesting that honey could act as a antidepressant while also offering anti anxiety affects.
Furthermore, some studies showed a link between honey consumption and improvement of memory disorders, especially in menopausal women.
USES OF HONEY
Here is a list of some of the diseases that honey can help with curing:
Eye diseases
Throat infections
Bronchial asthma
Tuberculosis
Dizziness
Fatigue
Hepatitis
Constipation
Eczema
Wound healing
On the other hand, honey has started to be incorporated more and more commonly into cosmetic products such as skincare and hair care products, where honey provides essential nutrients, moisture and calming properties to the skin.
Honey is also being researched fro its potential effects of slowing down aging through its high antioxidant content, which is once again interesting for cosmetics brands.
PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION OF HONEY
Don't store in the fridge
Honey does not go bad
Look for natural and “raw” honeys and stores
It is natural for honey to crystalize over time
Overall, a spoon or so of raw honey per day can be an amazing addition to your diet and for your general health. We have discussed everything from the initial stages of how honey is made and all the way to its amazing health prospering properties and the benefits it can gift us with.
I hope this inspired you to include a little bit more of this natures golden gift into your overall diet and give your life a little bit of extra sweetness.
Thanks for reading.
Building Confidence And Self Belief
Many of us would like to feel a bit more confident and have a healthier levels of self esteem, wether that means having a greater trust in our capabilities or simply just feeling confident and secure in our own skin.
What ever the reason, real confidence can make anyone shine from the inside out and show your real beauty and nature to the outside world.
So how exactly do we start building more confidence and why do we sometimes loose confidence in the first place.
Lest take a look at those questions.
Happy reading to you :)
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY CONFIDENCE?
Based on Psychology today, they have defined confidence as “a belief in oneself, the conviction that one has the ability to meet life's challenges and to succeed—and the willingness to act accordingly”.
Many of us would like to be more confident in our everyday lives, and find more trust in our own capabilities and knowledge about a given situation.
Being confident has many benefits to it, additionally to being seen as an attractive trait, as it allows other people to be more at ease if we are the more confident one there.
Additionally, confidence is crucial in the first impression that we form in others while dictating our ability to deal with pressure and various challenges in our life.
The point is not to be over confident in our selves, as that can leave the impression on people that we are too self centered and portray ourselves as being the perfect individual. On the contrary, we should strive to be confident and have a good level of self esteem, just enough so that we feel in control fo what we are doing and in that way make more progress in both our personal and professional lives.
WHAT CAUSES LOW LEVELS OF CONFIDENCE?
We were raised by people who were often too overly critical or reprimanding on us
Our caregivers limited our expression and exploration as a child
Feeling rejected by our peers or friends
Having difficulties transitioning into the societies constructed idea of "adulthood"
Representation of the “ideal standard” in modern media (For example, our appearance)
10 STEPS TO BUILDING CONFIDENCE
Figure out the origin: Where does your lack of confidence come from? Why is is there? When did you first start feeling unconfident?
Start with getting (small) things done: Making progress allows you to see that you are capable doing whatever you set your mind to. These tasks do not have to be large or highly demanding, start small and build your way up. You are more capable than you think.
Track your progress: This will allows you to both measure your success and also feel a greater sense of proudness for how far you have come.
Write down a list of your past achievements: This can be a fun way to look back and be proud of how much you have improved and grown as an individual.
Write down your personal strengths: Analyzing your strengths is in general a great thing to do and identify in yourself, but doing this will allows you to see all the ways in which you are unique and all of the beautiful contributions you can make to the world with your abilities.
Do what you promise yourself to do: Don't let yourself down. Consistency is key to anything, especially when it comes to building your confidence.
Surround yourself with positivity: This can come in the form of people or media, but either way it is useful to do this, as it keeps you motivated, uplifted and makes you feel good about yourself.
Don't compare yourself to others: This is something we all do at some points, but it is important to only compare ourselves to past self, as comparing ourselves to others makes no sense if each of us is unique, has had a different way of growing up and has different personalities and talents. We are all unique, so focusing on ourselves will really let that shine through.
Embrace your true self: Embrace your hobbies, interest passions and what makes you, you. Take advantage that you are unique and don't be shy to express your true self. Learn as much as you can about yourself and the world around you and use it to better the world.
Reward yourself: In order to keep the process of building confidence sustainable, make sure to reward yourself every so often with something you appreciate, as all of your efforts will surely pay off in the end.
How To Bring More Calm Into Your Life
With our everyday lives becoming more and more busy and full of demands and obligations, it is likely that we are experiencing more distress and generally less calm in our own lives.
I am sure that all of us would appreciate a bit more peace so that we can approach each of our daily activities with a calm and collected mind but with the distractions that we face everyday, that is getting to be more of a challenging task.
This is why I thought it would be useful to write a little piece on how we can introduce more calm into our lives, which will improve everything from our stress levels to our sleeping quality.
Hope you enjoy, and wishing you a great day.
❗️ What causes distress?
All of us experience feelings of distress sometimes, where a little bit of stress to our body is actually not bad, but even beneficial. The problem comes when that feeling of stress becomes chronic and constantly present in the background.
Bellow are some of the common causes of why we feel tense and stressed, some of which you may identify with yourself:
Feeling overwhelmed/ a lack of control
Feeling inadequately prepared for something
Holding past grudges and negative beliefs
Interpersonal relationship issues
Moving somewhere new
Academic/ work struggles
😰 Dangers of being chronically over stressed
Mental health problems: Depression, anxiety, and personality disorders
Cardiovascular disease: Heart disease, high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, and strokes
Sleeping issues: Insomnia and disrupted sleep
Diet related disorders: Obesity and other eating disorders
Sexual problems: Impotence in men, loss of sexual desire in both men and women. Menstrual problems in women.
Skin and hair issues: Acne, psoriasis, and eczema, and permanent hair loss
Gastrointestinal problems: Such as GERD and gastritis
Burn out: Feeling chronically tired, loss of motivation and feeling like a failure (Sense of defeat)
Loss of immunity: Falling ill more often, poorer wound healing
💙 Benefits of being a more calm individual
Better sleep
More creativity
Higher energy levels
Reduction in medical heart conditions
Slowing down aging
Better focus in the moment
Making more rational decisions
🧘🏼♀️ Practical methods of calming down
Breathing practices
Meditation: Meditation can be a useful way of calming down as it encourages us to slow down, focus on our breath and in that way turn our attention to the present moment.
Breath work: There are plenty of different methods of breath work, all of which work on the basis of breathing in different styles and pattens in order to calm our mind. A popular breath work technique is called the box technique, where for 4 seconds each you: Inhale, hold your breath in, exhale and hold your breath again, after which you repeat.
Diet and nutrition:
Avoid large amounts of processed sugar: While foods containing lots of processed sugar may taste good, in the long run they are not beneficial to us, as too much sugar intake can make us go through sugar highs and crashes along with unstable energy levels, that will disrupt our daily patterns of calm.
Regulating your caffeine intake: Caffeine is a powerful stimulant, which if taken in the wrong times of quantities, can negatively affect our brain and nervous system.
Relaxing teas: These come in many different flavors, but experiment with what you like and what makes you feel good. Often herbal teas such as chamomile or fennel are quite nice to calm you down, especially before sleep.
Movement and slowing down:
Physical activity and movement: We often find that after having done some movement, we feel a great sense fo achievement and calm as movement encourages our mind to focus either on our movement or the surroundings around us - all of which make us more peaceful.
Slow stretching: Just like exercise, doing some slow stretched can have the same effect as our movements are slow and precise.
Spending time in nature: Time spent in nature is healing and good for connecting us back to reality while temporarily disconnecting us out of the daly worries and stressors
Personal approaches:
Writing down whats on your mind: This can either be by using a notebook or a online note taking platform, where we can write down all of the worries and tasks which ware running across our mind and in that way try to rationalize wether it is worth being stressed about all of those things
Using routines: Routines can be calming as they allow our body to temporarily go into autopilot mode and not have to think through everything we do, because we are already used to the pattern.
Light reading: Reading before bed or during the day can be a great way of slowing down and temporarily getting lost in a good narrative.
Relaxing sounds: Listening to calming ambient music, or simply some nature sounds can be a simple method of relaxing in order to calm your mind and thoughts
Unplugging and reconnecting
Be aware of your device/ media usage: By using softwares that track how much time you spend on your devices and on which sites/ apps a lot of time is spent, you can get a rough idea of how you use your electronics and wether that time usage is doing you more harm than good.
Take time to disconnect: On the same note, take the necessary time to spend some time without your devices and avoid being constantly online.
Talk to someone about your distress: Lastly take time to talk through any issues that may be causing you stress either to a close friend or trusted family member, to which you can open up and alleviate some of your internal pressures.
