Another Green Smoothie - Yum!

Today I decided to try a slightly different combination for my green smoothie.

Ingredients:

• 
• 4-5 Brocolli florets
• 3 celery sticks
• Cucumber portion
• Ginger
• Handful of spinach leaves
• 1 small banana
• Ginger
• Flax seed, one and half heaped teaspoon
• Omega oil (flax, hemp, evening primrose, pumpkin seed oils)
• Almond milk (found this particular one too sweet so next time will make my almond milk myself)

And blend the mix:

To get this:

Verdict: YUUUUUMMMMMMYYYYY!! And super filling, my goodness!

(Photographs taken by Davy - thanks kiddo!)

The Health Benefits of Coconut Oil...

This is one of the healthiest oils available to man, yet a lot of people are wrongly afraid to take Coconut Oil because of misguided concerns about its saturated fat content.

So before I talk about its health benefits, let me just clarify something here about fats.

Saturated fats from the right sources, such as cocounut oil, and meat of grass-fed, hormone- and antibiotic-free, free range animals -  are not evil...rather they are actually beneficial to your health, and I'll address the health benefits of the group in a separate post. Today's post is about Coconut Oil. 

Coconut contains Lauric Acid, which has been shown to help certain heart conditions, and maintain healthy cholesterol levels (so no, coconut oil won't raise your level of 'bad cholesterol' - processed sugars and fats will, though)

Trans-fats are the ones you're to worry about, those artificially hydrogenated fats found in fast foods, fries, most pastries - those are the enemy: they're responsible for a significant number of fatal heart attacks. They are the ones you must eliminate from your diet, not naturally pure virgin coconut oil!

Coconut oil is about the only one that's safe to cook with because of its chemical structure: it's very stable and doesn't change into dangerous trans-fats or dangerous by products of omega-6 conversion (which happens with many of the popularly used vegetable oils out there...). Its stability means that it retains all of its nutritional properties and health benefits when heated.

(Before you ask me about olive oil let me just say here that olive oil is best used raw as a salad dressing, it's not ideal for cooking because it's not quite as stable and so changes structure when heated, into something less than healthy: heat olive oil causes oxidative damage, and fats which have been thus damaged are bad for you...you could get away with heating it for real short periods though.)

So let me cut to the chase and list you just a few of the health benefits of this wonderful, healthy oil:

• Helps you maintain a healthy weight .
• Maintains healthy metabolism
• Good for your heart
• Helps reduce injuries in arteries, thus helping prevent arteriosclerosis.
• Supports your immune system
• Great for skin and hair (makes an excellent hair conditioner when applied directly onto hair, and contains some proteins essential for repairing damaged hair)
• Maintains healthy cholesterol levels, which you need for several functions of your body
• Helps maintain healthy cell membranes (linings) all over the body.
• Contains antioxidants which help slow down signs of premature aging
• Promotes healthy functioning of thyroid gland and other enzyme systems in the body.
• Improves calcium absorption so helps strengthen bones and teeth.

There are lots more, but I hope this snippet gives you a bit of an idea of just how important Coconut oil is as part of a healthy lifestyle.

So How Do You Really Lower Your 'Bad' Cholesterol ??

If you are worried about raising your bad fats/bad cholesterol levels, here's what you need to do, read this article I wrote on the subject a couple years ago: How To Lower Cholesterol Without Drugs.

• Cut out processed carbohydrates and oils (fast food, cookies, pastries, vegetable oils for cooking etc)
• Begin a regular exercise regimen such as the one described here: 12-week Jumpstart to Regular Exercise.
• Eat healthful foods and oils such as coconut oil
• Maintain healthy social habits stop smoking, minimise or avoid alcohol, etc.

Your 12-week Jump Start To Regular Exercise!

 

• Regular physical activity can prevent and treat type 2 diabetes, improve glucose control, positively affect blood fat levels, blood pressure, improve cardiovascular disease and improve mortality.
  
  
• These improvements are because of the short and long term benefits of exercise on insulin activity.
  
  
• Most of these benefits are accomplished with a combination of aerobic and resistance exercises.
  
  
• The experts recommend at least 150 minutes of AEROBIC exercise each week, spread out over a minimum of 3 days, with no more than 2 consecutive days between physical activity.
  
  
• RESISTANCE TRAINING should  ALSO be done at least 2ce a week - ideally 3 x per week - every other day. See below for examples of resistance exercises that anyone can do..If you're just starting out, get a personal trainer to guide you to make sure you don't injure yourself, until you get the moves right.
  
  
• Using a pedometer regularly is a good idea as it helps you quantify your progress when you set a measurable goal eg to walk 10000 steps per day. Also, a study found that people who used a pedometer increased their physical activity by 27% over their baseline.
  
  
• You must exercise regularly to get the full benefits of it.
  
  
• Exercise improves your insulin activity for 2-72 hours after the exercise. It's got to be moderate to vigorous exercise to be of benefit.
  
  
• If you lead a sedentary life, you need a pre-exercise assessment if you plan to do exercise more than brisk walking. Visit your doctor and ask them to arrange this.
  
  
• If you are at high risk of cardiovascular disease (get your doctor to confirm this), and you have no symptoms, you may benefit from having an Exercise Stress ECG done before you commence your improved exercise program.
  
  
• Works best also if you're part of a support system of one or more people...

About Those Resistance Exercises...

Here's the link to a post I wrote, with pictures of 6 simple resistance training exercises you can do every other day...
Strength Training Blog Post

As For Aerobic Exercises...

Examples include:

• Walking
• Skipping Rope (great because it's both aerobic and resistance training...)
• Climbing up and down your stairs at home
• Cross trainer
• Treadmill
• Swimming
• Running
• Sports eg tennis, basketball, football, martial arts...

There are others of course. The point is you've got to pick one you enjoy and can stick to. Then do it for up to 150 minutes per week (break it down to say 30 minutes per day) - and add resistance training every other day to the mix. Feel free to vary your workout routine so you don't get bored.

Getting Started...First, choose your preferred aerobic activity or activities

• Break it down into baby steps.
  
  
• If you've been sedentary, don't expect to be able to easily exercise for 30 minutes each day from day 1.
  
  
• Start with 5 minutes of aerobic activity each day. This will get you into the habit of doing something each day. Setting aside a regular time to do it each day, works best for some people.
  
  
• When you've done 5 minutes exercise each day for 1 week, upgrade to 10 minutes each day.
   
• Do this for 2 weeks.
  
  
• Upgrade to 15 minutes each day
  
  
• Add in resistance training every other day: aim to go through the 6 exercises I mention in the article at least once every other day.
  
  
• Stick with 15 minutes aerobics daily and resistance training every other day - for 3 weeks
  
  
• After 3 weeks, upgrade your aerobics time to 20 minutes daily
  
  
• Stick with this for 4 weeks
  
  
• After 4 weeks, upgrade to 25 minutes of aerobic activity daily
  
  
• Do this for 2 weeks
  
  
• After 2 weeks, upgrade to 30 minutes of aerobic activity daily
  
  
• CONGRATULATIONS!!!!  You've just completed a 12-week jumpstart to a regular exercise program that has been proven to improve your blood sugar, blood pressure, reduce LDL cholesterol and improve quality of life overall!
  
  
• By now regular exercise should be a habit for you. You can't remember or imagine what your life was like without it.
  
  
• Now hook up that pedometer and let's see how many steps your 30 minutes get you. If you're not walking 10000 steps in your 30 minutes you'll need to gradually increase until you do.

A Better Way...High Intensity Interval Training

At this point you may be ready to try out a type of exercise that's more efficient especially timewise, than the regular aerobic you're used to doing. It's called 'High Intensity Interval Training' (HIIT): this is where you take your chosen aerobic activity and do it as hard and fast as you possibly can, for about a minute, then slow down for the next couple minutes, followed by another minute of high intensity workout.

Note that there are two ways to raise the intensity of your workout, so you can choose the method that suits you best:

a) You could increase your speed to the maximum you're able to do, and maintain that maximum speed for a minute then slow down for the next couple minutes, repeating the cycle for about 8 times.

b) You could increase the resistance against which you are moving, keeping the speed constant, to the highest level of resistance you're able to work against, maintaining this level of resistant work for a minute, then reducing it back to a regularly manageable level for a couple minutes. Again, aim for a cycle of about 8 minutes.

HIIT benefits you not only while you're working out, but also for at least 24hours AFTER such a session. And a complete total body resistance and aerobic workout (which is what you get from HIIT), lasts less than 30 minutes! You'd be adviced to do this every other day though - give your body time to recover in the in-between period.

Here's wishing you a fit, healthy and happy new year!

The Trouble With Fluoride

For years, fluoride has been touted as being good for your teeth. For this reason it's been included in your drinking water (anybody find anything wrong with the concept of being given a drug without your informed consent?...Whatever happened to freedom of choice in this matter? I say if you're going to include an industrial toxin in my drinking water at least let me know so I can choose an alternative source of drinking water!).

There is ample evidence to show that even at the low concentrations found in drinking water, fluoride is harmful to the body.

Here are some facts about fluoride, you need to be aware: ignorance can be deadly.

First, here's a quick video from the Fluoride Action Network (http://www.fluoridealert.org/).

• Fluoride is a poison (more acutely poisonous than lead), which is why your fluoride-containing toothpaste carries a warning that if you accidentally swallow it you must contact the Poisons Control Centre asap!
  
  
• Fluoride disrupts major hormones such as your thyroid hormone
  
  
• Fluoride suppresses thyroid function - up until just the 1970s it was used in Europe to treat over-active thyroids...could this be why there is a huge number of hypothyroid people today?...(FYI, symptoms of hypothyroidism include weight gain, lethargy/fatigue/tired all the time, depression, etc - if you have any of these symptoms get your doctor to send you for a blood test to make sure an underactive thyroid is not the cause...)
  
  
• Fluoride reduces cellular energy (Archives of Oral Biology vol 27, 1982)
  
  
• Fluoride in kids leads to enamel damage, the so-called 'dental fluorosis' (see the videos below)
  
  
• Fluoride accumulates in the Pineal gland, which secretes melatonin, and disrupts melatonin production. Melatonin influences the onset of puberty. Could this be the reason we're seeing more and more early puberty in this day and age? Altered melatonin has also been linked with increased risk of Alzeheimer's dementia, cancer and other diseases.
  
  
• Fluoride causes bone damage known as skeletal fluorosis which can mimic osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
  
  
• Fluoride decreases IQ. There have been at least 24 published studies showing the link between repeated fluoride exposure and reduced IQ. Yes folks your drinking water is making you dumber!
  
• China does not allow fluoridation of their water because of the dangers of fluoride.

From Australia:

Is there Any good about Fluoride?

Well, according to the Fluoride Action Network, the current consensus in dental research circles is that:

Fluoride's (possibly only) benefit comes from applying it directly to the teeth, not from ingesting it.

Yet, recent large scale studies have found little difference in tooth decay in communities with fluoridated water and those without...

From the UK CAF (Council Against Fluoride http://www.ukcaf.org/)




So What Do You Do About It?
If you wish to reduce the level of fluoride you ingest:
a) Use a fluoride-free toothpaste.
b) Filter your water with a Reverse Osmosis filter
c) Limit your intake of foods and drinks that contain fluoride eg teas (Black, green...)



But How Do You Then Keep Your Teeth Healthy?
By eliminating sugars and highly processed foods from your diet and brushing regularly with a fluoride free toothpaste!


You have been informed.


The choice is yours what you do with this information!

My First GREEN Smoothie :)

My first Green Smoothie! Yum!!
Packed full of nutrients and fiber as fresh as can be, and oh so filling!

Ingredients (all raw): 

• Broccoli 
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Apples
• Ginger
• Coconut milk

All you need is a good blender: chop the veggies and apples into small pieces (roughly the size of small ice cubes, put them all in the blender, add enough coconut milk to give the smoothie the degree of thickness you're comfortable with.

Play around with all sorts of raw veggie combinations, sweetening with some fruit, to make it more palatable.

Have fun with it, that's the main thing. Variety is also key, and keeps you from getting bored.

Now you have another way to pack in your '5-a day' in one glass! After this glass, any other veg or fruit you eat that day (eg the salad I had for lunch or the steamed veg i had with salmon for dinner) is just a bonus!

How about you? Have you tried any green smoothie combination? Do share your ideas below!