10 Creative Tricks To Stay Hydrated

Summer is on! Which means: longer days, warmer nights and ... dehydrated bodies. Feeling thirsty? You might think that a few sips of water will do the trick, or assume that your body is on the verge of becoming dehydrated. Actually, being thirsty means your body’s asking to be rehydrated ASAP because it's already very dehydrated. 

And while the quickest solution might be to chug a lot of water, that’s not always the best or most convenient solution (unless you enjoy hanging out by a bathroom all day long). So how about eating your way to hydration instead? 

Try these 10 fun tips to eat your water to save yourself from chugging it:

 

1. Keep them raw.

Raw fruits and veggies, in general, are loaded with water. This is good news because in the summer, our bodies naturally crave raw foods. Enjoy produce as raw as possible throughout the summer and you’ll be hydrating like crazy.

Need another incentive? The water in fruits and veggies is where most of its nutrients lie, so eating them raw means you’re getting the best nutritional bang for your buck.

Trick: grab, wash and snack on raw fruits and veggies all day, every day. Your best bets? Berries (87% to 92% water), baby carrots (87% water), peppers (92% water), and celery (95% water).

 

2. Eat plenty of cucumbers (and juice them too).

Having a 95% water content makes a glass of cucumber juice just about as hydrating as a glass of, well, water. Cucumbers are affordable, easy to find and versatile, making them a perfect summer hydration plant-food.

Trick: You can slice them onto sandwiches, chop them into salads, or infuse them into water. A special way to enjoy them, though? Juiced! Simply juice one cucumber (peeled, if it’s not organic). For a special sweet treat, add a few slices of watermelon to your juicer and celebrate a perfect plant-based hydration marriage in your glass.

 

3. Blend watermelon.

Named after its amazing abundance of water, watermelon is plant-based hydration perfection hidden in a big green ball. How do you know if you’ve grabbed a winning watermelon? Find one that feels heavy for its size and makes a hollow sound when you tap it.

Trick: toss some in your blender (with seeds but without rind) to enjoy a decadent glass of pink, sweet plant-based hydration.

 

4. Soak chia seeds.

Did you know that soaking those adorable little seeds causes them to expand to 10 times their original size? How? Because when chia seeds get soaked, they drink 10 times their weight in water, making them hydration superstars. The key here is to soak chia seeds BEFORE consuming them, to prevent them from absorbing YOUR water, which would do the opposite of hydrate you.

Trick: make chia gel! Mix three tablespoons of chia seeds in one cup of water and let it chill in your fridge. When making a smoothie, add one-to-two tablespoons of this gel to really up the hydration factor. OR, make a chia pudding. Mix three tablespoons of chia seeds in one cup of almond milk and add a splash of sweetener. Let that chill in your fridge for 20 minutes. Enjoy topped with fruit for a healthy, hydrating snack or dessert.

 

5. Freeze bananas.

Aside from being delicious, bananas are full of potassium, which replenishes lost electrolytes from sweating in the heat of the summer. Bananas also contain magnesium, which helps balance and regulate the fluids in your body. Their sugars provide instant energy, making them an awesome treat when the heat’s draining you.

Trick: make banana ice cream! Peel a ripe banana and cut it into two-inch slices. Freeze them for at least five hours. Pulse those frozen slices in a high-speed blender or food processor 15 times, scraping down the sides as necessary. Then, blend until the banana has reached a soft-serve ice cream texture, adding a few teaspoons of water if desired.

 

6. Squeeze lemons.

You’ve surely heard of the numerous health benefits of warm lemon water, but in the summer heat, drinking warm water doesn’t sound all that appealing. So drink cool lemon water in the summer. It’s OK. The super hydrating benefits of vitamin C from the lemon still exist in cool lemon water.

Trick: try squeezing a ratio of 1/2 a lemon, juiced into one cup of cool water and enjoy throughout the day. (Cool is better than iced, since iced will hinder digestion.)

 

7. Make coconut water ice cubes.

Coconut water (or nature’s sports drink) boasts four times the amount of potassium as a banana plus B-vitamins, electrolytes and magnesium to boot. It’s very low in calories and sugar, which is deceptive because it tastes so sweet and luxurious! Enjoying coconut water is a phenomenal way to stay hydrated (or to get rehydrated).

Trick: make coconut water ice cubes! Simply pour coconut water into your ice trays and freeze them so you can pop them into a smoothie, cocktail or glass of regular water to add hydration without losing flavor.

 

8. Munch on melon.

Cantaloupe has a water content of over 90%, which explains why a perfect bite practically floods your mouth with watery, creamy, sweet goodness. Cut up cantaloupe makes a wonderfully hydrating snack, breakfast or midnight treat.

Trick: try sprinkling some lime juice and freshly chopped mint leaves on top of cantaloupe to mix things up.

 

9. Chop up cauliflower.

An unsung hydrating hero, cauliflower is actually made up of 92% water. It’s great eaten completely raw.

Trick: Make raw cauliflower couscous! Pulse raw cauliflower in a food processor until it reaches the consistency of dry rice. Mix with nuts, herbs and spices to make a delicious couscous, or sprinkle on a salad for a crunchy, crouton effect.

 

10. Sneak in spinach.

While iceberg lettuce might be a more watery green, spinach is close enough and packs a more nutritious punch. Made up of 92% water, spinach is very helpful in keeping you hydrated.

Trick: sneak spinach in wherever you can. Throw a handful in a smoothie or a juice, layer it into a wrap or sandwich, chop it into a homemade pesto or hummus, add it to your pizza, or even puree a cup into your wet ingredients when baking muffins, banana bread or pancakes.

Happy hydrating! 

Source: Mind Body Green

Fiber-rich food is the best nutrition for dieting

In this article I will reveal some little known facts about the fibers and the beneficial effect they have over your body.

First of all let me explain what fiber is…fiber is an indigestible part of all plant foods. It is found in fruits, vegetables, grains and beans. Your digestive system cannot stomach fiber, so it is excreted undigested. Well, you may think you don’t need fiber, because it’s excreted undigested, but that’s not true.



Let's imagine the following :

You overeat at least once or twice a week, more often at weekends, and your regular menu doesn't include much fiber. Well, this might be your life style; however you should consider that it may cause you lots of health problems like:

 - indigestion
- discomfort stomach aches
- gases in the digestive tract
- constipation
- hemorrhoids
- you got tired faster
- can't concentrate on what you're doing

I mean you become less productive at work and more irritable at home. Besides all this, you gain weight and that’s the moment when you realize you have a problem.

In order to solve a problem, you should first find the reason for it. In this case it’s the lowered intake of fiber-rich foods and respectively - the higher intake of foods containing no fiber (like meat). The average amount of fiber intake is about 25-30 grams per day. Unfortunately most people regular diets include less than 10-15 grams daily.

You should start consuming more fiber-rich foods:

- all bran cereal
- beans
- peas
- spinach
- sweet corn 
- wholemeal brown bread
- red cabbage
- carrots
- baked potato with skin
- apples, bananas, oranges and all fruits
                           
There are two types of fiber - soluble and insoluble. If you start eating more food rich in fiber, you’ll be amazed of its beneficial effects over your body, health and way of life.

Soluble fiber forms glue like gel in the intestinal tract. The gel softens stools (no more constipation) and improves your digestion (no more indigestion).

Fiber slows down stomach emptying and you feel fuller longer. This effect helps you eat less, your body burns additional calories to digest fiber and you can lose weight.

Insoluble fiber is an excellent natural laxative, because of its abilities to hold onto water and to push waste faster along the intestines - this way fiber decreases the risk of colon cancer.

In conclusion I'd like to tell you that you won't be sorry if you start eating more fiber-rich foods. Like many other people I used to take not enough fiber, and I suffered stomach aches. Then I started to eat more fruits and fiber-rich foods in my daily menu. I must admit that it really worked for me, and now fiber-rich food is the most important nutritious part of my regular diet.

 

Source: Weight-Loss

Is Your Waistline Not Getting Smaller No Matter How Hard You Work Out?

Exercise May NOT Speed Up Metabolism (but it’s still good for you)

 

Wonder why your waistline isn’t getting smaller, no matter how hard you work out?

The truth is…

Exercise alone doesn’t keep you thin. Studies conducted by the International Association for the Study of Obesity show that after starting an exercise regime, people experience little if any weight loss as a result.

To explore this idea further, anthropologists traveled to Tanzania to conduct a study on the Hadza tribe, a group of hunter-gatherers.

Using the latest in field study equipment, the anthropologists fitted the willing Hadza members with GPS units. The scientists could then track the total distances walked as the tribe searched for food. The volunteers were also asked to drink “doubly labeled” water. In this liquid, tracers replace the normal hydrogen and oxygen molecules found in typical water. The scientists can later determine total energy expenditure and metabolic rate by studying the tracers when they later appear in the urine.

The experiment lasted a total of 11 days. In that time, the anthropologists calculated typical daily physical activity, energy expenditure and resting metabolic rates of the tribe. They later compared these results with those of the average Westerner.

As expected, the anthropologists found that the hunter-gatherers were considerably more physically active than the typical American. But what was interesting was that they weren’t burning more calories. The metabolic rates for both groups remained about the same.

The conclusion? Given a typical western diet, a hunter-gatherer would also struggle with weight. Exercise alone won’t keep the pounds off. And because almost all the people of the Hadza tribe were thin, the scientists determined it was their diet, not their amount of exercise, that keeps them slim.

Does this mean you should quit exercising?

No way! Exercise has a whole list of health benefits, which can indirectly influence your weight:

1. Exercise Helps Mood – Exercise releases chemicals in the brain, which lowers stress and keeps you calm. Since stress often causes weight gain, lowering the amount of stress you experience can help shrink your waistline.
2. Exercise Gives You Energy – Physical activity delivers oxygen and nutrients to your muscles to keep your cardiovascular system running smoothly. Exercise also increases your endurance and strength and keeps your body fit.
3. Exercise Helps You Sleep – Exercise helps you fall and stay asleep. If you’re familiar with the Gabriel Method, you know how important proper sleep is to regulating weight – most often, the less you sleep, the heavier you are. Try to avoid working out right before bed, as you’ll be too stimulated to fall asleep right away.

Which is More Important: Diet or Exercise?
While exercise is essential for overall health, diet remains priority. As the study in Tanzania demonstrates, exercise alone won’t keep your weight where it needs to be.

The average Western diet which is full of unhealthy fat, sugar and carbs negatively affects your weight and overall health. No amount of exercise can offset the damage done by poor food choices, therefore skipping your exercise routine every once and awhile will affect you less than continually indulging in junk food.

The Perfect Combo
So, while diet may have a more immediate effect on your health and waistline, adding exercise into your weekly routine will keep you stress-free, well-rested and happy – three key factors in achieving your ideal weight!

For more information go to: The Gabriel Method

REFERENCES
(1) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22681398
(2) www.well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/dieting-vs-exercise-for-weight-loss/?ref=health
(3) www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676
(4) www.cisionwire.com/the-investor-relations-group/r/diet-more-important-than-exercise-for-optimal-health–experts-say,c9226805

7 Foods That Activate Your Fat Triggers

 

If you’re interested in healthy living, chances are you already know which foods to avoid. However, keeping these foods out of your diet is often a lot easier said than done, especially if you’ve been eating a typical Western diet for years.

That’s why starting small can be more manageable than completely transforming your diet. A few changes alone can have a great impact on your health.

Finding healthier substitutes for these 7 kinds of foods will aid in your weight loss journey.

1. Beverages Containing Artificial Sweeteners – Despite popular belief, diet sodas and other artificially sweetened diet-beverages, which contain aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), saccharin (Sweet’N Low), or sucralose (Splenda) will not keep you slim.

They actually do the opposite. Not only are artificial sweeteners linked to obesity, but they could also make you sick. Excessive consumption of artificial sweeteners can be linked to Crohn’s Disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and irritable bowel syndrome among others.

Substitute these beverages with unrefined sugars or natural sugar substitutes like pure stevia extract.

2. High Fructose Corn Syrup – Besides being genetically modified, high fructose corn syrup can cause obesity, diabetes, brain damage and even mercury poisoning.

Unfortunately HFCS is found in many of the foods you might not expect, such as breads, cereals and even tomato sauce! Read labels carefully and try preparing your own ingredients to avoid this toxic additive.

3. Hydrogenated and “Trans- fat” Vegetable Oils – For years, we’ve been told that saturated fats make you fat and to always opt for unsaturated fats. The truth is that these oils not only turn rancid when heated but they’re also high in omega-6 fats. Foods high in omega-6 fats have been linked to heart disease, depression and even cancer.

To make matters worse, some vegetable oils like corn, canola and soy are genetically modified. Try tastier and healthier alternatives like grass fed butter, ghee, olive and hemp oil, or coconut oil (great for cooking at high temperatures).

4. White Breads and Pastas – A key culprit in America’s battle against obesity, these refined flour products add inches to our waistlines and take years from our lives. Stripped of all nutrients during processing, these foods offer little more than empty calories. And because they are bleached and bromated, they’ve been linked to cancer as well.

Avoid all processed wheat products if you can. Brown rice, quinoa and barley are healthier grain options.

5. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) – Another chemical to avoid, MSG can cause headaches, heart problems and even brain damage.

6. Carrageenan – Another additive, used even in some organic foods, can cause gastrointestinal upset and even colon cancer.

7. Refined salt – This type of salt can cause stroke, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Because it is stripped of all trace minerals, refined salt depletes your body of essential nutrients. Unrefined sea salts are a healthier option.

The cravings you might experience once you give up these foods will decrease over time. Most junk food cravings result from low blood sugar or some other nutritional deficiency. To fill this nutritional need, your body naturally tends to crave the kinds of foods it’s normally given.

After regularly being fed whole, nourishing food, your body will begin to crave healthier options. A proper diet just makes you feel better. Your body will learn which foods it needs to function well over time and eating healthy will become second nature.

For more information go to: The Gabriel Method

  REFERENCES (1) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21138816
(2) www.naturalnews.com/034378_artificial_sweetener_disease_ASD_aspartame.html
(3) www.naturalnews.com/035889_HFCS_brain_function_soft_drinks.html
(4) www.healthwyze.org/index.php/component/content/article/539-why-rancid-healthy-oils-are-more-dangerous-than-the-bad-oils.html
(5) www.naturalnews.com/022860.html
(6) www.naturalnews.com/020837_white_bread_grocery_warning.html
(7) www.cornucopia.org/tell-the-usda-to-remove-carrageenan-from-organic-foods
(8) www.naturalnews.com/028724_Himalayan_salt_sea.html
(9) www.wisegeek.com/what-are-some-causes-of-food-cravings.htm
(10) www.thegabrielmethod.com

DIETS DON'T WORK - The Gabriel Method Review

In this Gabriel Method Review, we’ll review the best program on weight loss I have ever found in many years of researching health and wellbeing. No other methodology for losing weight that I’ve seen has such a clear understanding of the underlying causes of weight gain and how to resolve them.

In this Gabriel Method Review:

• Who Is Jon Gabriel And What Is The Gabriel Method?
• Why Diets Don’t Work And This New Methodology Does
• Most Overweight People Are Starving Nutritionally No Matter How Much They Eat
• Using The Gabriel Method

Who Is Jon Gabriel And What Is The Gabriel Method?

Jon Gabriel was over 400 pounds and had tried every popular diet around, from low fat Pritikin to high fat, high protein Atkins. After some initial weight loss he always gained it back and more.

Eventually he realized that at some level his body wanted to be fat and all the dieting and fighting it simply wasn’t working. That’s when he set about understanding why and how to change it.

With a background in biochemistry and an intense period of research and discovery, Jon came up with a completely different approach to losing weight. He personally lost over 220 pounds and now teaches thousands of people around the world how to achieve permanent weight loss without dieting.

 

Why Diets Don’t Work And This New Methodology Does

While so many dieting books of the past were focused on pointless calorie restriction, The Gabriel Method shows how starving yourself actually makes things much worse. Essentially restriction style diets are only teaching your body to go into emergency mode and conserve fat.

Weight gain, at an underlying level, is more of an emotional, psychological and hormonal issue than just about overeating. Accumulation of body fat is an outward manifestation of certain genetic survival programs that have very good reasons for working in the way they do.

The Gabriel Method goes into great detail about what these emotional, psychological and hormonal issues are and how to free yourself from their control. All the calorie counting and willpower in the world is useless long term unless you learn to work with, instead of against these deep seated survival programs that your mind controls your body with.

Most Overweight People Are Starving Nutritionally No Matter How Much They Eat

Even if you eat a ton of food and thousands of calories, you can still be hungry if you’re not getting what you need nutritionally. This hunger is part of your basic survival program that keeps you alive and is as powerful as the need to go to sleep when you’ve been up too late. Trying to fight it with willpower is pointless.

However, when you give your body what it needs nutritionally it will naturally subside. The Gabriel Method reviews exactly why certain essential nutrients are missing from your diet and how to get them back into your meals. This is about eating more, not less.

It also examines in detail how not digesting and assimilating your food properly can lead to overpowering hunger and how to resolve this situation. If any of these issues are affecting you then going on a diet is about the worst thing you could do.

Stop dieting and reach your ideal weight naturally with a different approach. There is no restriction on any food you want to eat with The Gabriel Method. Instead, as you add certain nutrient rich foods into your meals, you’ll find your cravings naturally fall away.

It isn’t about controlling yourself. It’s about understanding, respecting and working with the underlying genetic survival programs that ultimately control your body weight at a deeper level.

Using The Gabriel Method

This is not some quick dieting trick where you lose weight rapidly and then put it on again as soon as you stop following unmaintainable directions. As such, it’s unlikely to be suitable for people who give up unless they are getting dramatic results in the first few weeks.

Because you are dealing with real causes of weight gain, that you are probably currently unaware of, it can take longer for some people than others to recognize them fully and begin seeing serious results.

That said, I believe you’ll understand the truth behind this method once you start reading the first few chapters of the book. If you don’t, and you think it’s not right for you, then there’s a 60 day money back guarantee with the program.

The Gabriel Method is far more than just a great book on how to lose weight. It also contains 12 videos on creating a new body, a series of powerful guided visualizations, Jon’s favorite healthy recipes and special audio programs on effective weight loss.

I’ve personally recommended The Gabriel Method to friends and even a family member as I think it’s the best resource out there for losing weight. I’d really suggest listening to what Jon has to say (the pictures of his transformation alone speak volumes).

So many people are punishing themselves each day with restrictive diets that simply do not work. The path to weight loss does not involve struggle or even willpower.

For more info, go to: Gabriel Method

Source: Health Ambition