Protein Is Our Best Friend

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Protein Is Our Best Friend

Protein burns fat, builds muscle, keeps your fuller longer and continues to be one of the most satisfying food groups you can eat. Oh and did we mention there are some seriously delicious options? And now, new research shows losing weight highly depends on your protein intake and not just from the typical chicken but more veggies. The study published in Nutrition Journal found that plant protein intakes may play a role in preventing obesity. A little known fact is that protein is found in almost all plants. 

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Natural Ways to Add Sweetness

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Natural Ways to Add Sweetness

The average American consumes approximately one third of a pound of sugar each day, translating into nearly 130 pounds of sugar per person every year. As a nation sugar usage exceeds 9 million tons a year. As for sugar, it is nearly impossible and unnecessary to remove completely from ones diet. Sugar is naturally found in most foods, however avoidance of refined process sugar is key to a healthier lifestyle. Try to decrease the number of steps between the original food source and your table. For instance instead of eating candy when craving something sweet, choose a piece of fruit. Fruit is a natural source of sugar paired with fiber, which will keep you full longer and improve digestion.  

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8 Diet Mistakes Everyone Makes

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8 Diet Mistakes Everyone Makes

There are so many diets out there and weight loss tips. Many of them can work if integrated into a healthy lifestyle plan. We've talked about all types of weight loss strategies and trends recently on the blog. From intermittent fasting and weight loss myths to juicing and detoxing for losing weight, there are sure no shortages of tips. However many people make a lot of mistakes when they choose to go on a diet or lose weight. Here are the top 9 mistakes to avoid and a few tips to apply to your journey. 

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Drinks To Shrink Belly Fat

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Drinks To Shrink Belly Fat

Experts within the holistic and integrative medicine profession have spoken about drinks crafted from traditional herbs in the Ayurvedic principle helps people shrink belly fat. Carrying excess fat around the mid-section also known as central abdominal obesity means a type of fat called visceral fat, is more prevalent than it should be.  Visceral fat gets stored within the abdomen and is what creates a bulge in the belly area.  Because it is a more metabolically active fat, it increases inflammation and insulin resistance of tissues that increase the risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and possibly certain cancers.

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25 Delicious Foods Better Than Any Junk Food

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25 Delicious Foods Better Than Any Junk Food

Junk food and especially processed foods are just never going to be a good idea. They say everything in moderation, however with junk food, it's important to stay as far away as possible. The key is learning about healthier and more delicious options that still satisfy a sweet or savory craving. 

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Dining Out The Healthy Way

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Dining Out The Healthy Way

It's no secret that eating out isn't always the best option for a healthy lifestyle. But it's not always avoidable, nor should it be (We're talking to you, foodies!) So how can you eat healthy but still enjoy dining in a restaurant? Here's our tips. Next challenge: summertime.  You know what that means – outings, vacations……healthy eating?  Of course.  Just because you’re away from home doesn’t mean healthy eating goes on vacation too.  Traveling does mean more reliance on restaurants, convenience stores, airport food or other modes of eating.  We may think our only eating options are burgers, hot dogs, fries and soft drinks.  Surprisingly, this is not the case. 

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Banana Peels: The New Slimming Superfood?

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Banana Peels: The New Slimming Superfood?

Believe it or not, eating banana peels can help you lose weight. Nutritionists are touting banana peels as the new weight loss super food. Now maybe you're not into eating the banana peel in its natural state, but guess what? You can throw the peel whole in your smoothie along with the whole fruit, which will add creaminess. So why are peels the new superfood? Read on. 

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Importance of Self-Esteem for Weight Loss

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Importance of Self-Esteem for Weight Loss

We've talked about all types of weight loss strategies and trends recently on the blog. From intermittent fasting and weight loss myths to juicing and detoxing for losing weight, there are sure no shortages of tips. However, we wanted to bring it back to basics and to something that often overlooked as a weight loss strategy, and that's self-esteem. More often than not, people lose weight thinking they will develop self-esteem and while this can seem the case in the beginning of a massive weight loss journey, deeper self-esteem issues can make for a long and difficult or vicious cycle of crash diets and starving yourself. 

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Coffee may lower inflammation and reduce risk of diabetes

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Coffee may lower inflammation and reduce risk of diabetes

According to a new study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, drinking coffee may lower inflammation and reduce the risk of developing diabetes. The study found that people who drank coffee were about 50 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to people who did not drink coffee. The scientists believe that the reason for a reduction in the risk for type 2 diabetes could be the effect coffee has on the reducing the amount of inflammation in the body. 

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5 Foods With More Protein Than An Egg

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5 Foods With More Protein Than An Egg

Eggs have been touted as the ideal protein-delivery system for the last 30 years. Add it to any meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner, and pack a 6-gram protein punch. Protein fuels the muscles, boosts metabolism and keeps hunger at bay. But as versatile as these little round, white delectables, it's hard to eat them every day. The good news is there are a number of surprising superfoods that pack even more protein than eggs. 

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Junk Food Creates Drug-Like Addiction

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Junk Food Creates Drug-Like Addiction

A new study was published in the journal, Neuropsychopharmacology found that the saturated fats had a similar effect on our brains as drugs. The more saturated fat we eat, the less we enjoy it…and the more we crave it in order to get the same “high.” The scientists studied rats which are used for experimentation because their genetic, biological and behavior characteristics resemble those of humans. One group was fed a low-fat diet with equal amounts of monounsaturated fat derived from palm oil and the third was a diet high in saturated fat. 

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6 Food Scraps You Shouldn't Throw Away

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6 Food Scraps You Shouldn't Throw Away

We invest a lot of money in our fresh fruits and vegetables and overall produce purchases each week. When preparing these items, we often throw away half of the apple or other weird parts on the product themselves and discard before cooking. The truth is you aren't just tossing a few dollars in the garbage, but you're also throwing away some serious nutritional benefits. 

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Health Tip: Evaluate Your Beverage Diet

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Health Tip: Evaluate Your Beverage Diet

Our liquid diet is often an aspect of our eating habits we overlook, thinking that it's not affecting our overall health that much. Well that's the wrong approach. The majority of Americans are not aware or fully engaged in their drinking habits but they actually have a profound effect on our health. Many nutritionists refer to these drinks as "sugar-sweetened beverages" that most people don't think are sweetened. 

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What is food poisoning?

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What is food poisoning?

Food poisoning occurs when a person eats food that is contaminated with infected with bacteria, parasites, or viruses. It is also known as a food-borne illness. Food can become contaminated rather easily such as when processing it, producing it, handling it, or cooking it. Therefore, it is very important to handle and prepare food correctly. It is the toxins within the infectious organisms that contaminate the food.

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The Truth About Bread

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The Truth About Bread

No bread, no problem, right? Does this sound familiar? "I want to lose weight, so I'll stop eating bread." Sounds simple enough, sign me up. Well let's explore this. Many people are under so many misnomers about bread. the low-carb craze is going strong —pasta is overrated and bread is on its way out. But we cannot lump all grains into the same category. The effects on the body are vastly different when cutting say refined grains from your diet compared to whole grains. Here's why. 

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Coconut Vinegar is the New Vinegar

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Coconut Vinegar is the New Vinegar

We recently touched on the health benefits of coconut oil, which helps from everything to regulating our blood sugar levels to weight loss. The fats from coconut have special fat compounds called medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) that have been shown to help the liver burn fat. So, to take the coconut trend even further, enter coconut vinegar. 

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Eat Vitamin C for a Long Life

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Eat Vitamin C for a Long Life

Vitamin C is arguably the best known vitamin but many people misunderstood its value and the daily amount. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient that should be included as part of your daily diet. And luckily, as a water-soluble vitamin, too much won't hurt you. Vitamin C helps modify precursor proteins in order for collagen production. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. It is used to make and strengthen skin cartilage, tendons, ligaments, bones and teeth. Vitamin C also acts as one of the main antioxidants in the body. It protects cells from potentially damaging by-products. 

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It's Berry Season: Go Wild Eating Your Favorites

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It's Berry Season: Go Wild Eating Your Favorites

Berries are extremely high in vitamin C, high in fiber, and low in calories.  Vitamin C is important to helping our body reduce tension and boost the immune system. Fiber helps to regulate our blood sugar levels.  Regulating blood sugar levels is important because drastic changes in our blood sugar can cause us to have mood swings, which may contribute to anxiety.

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Dining Out vs. Fast Food

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Dining Out vs. Fast Food

About 1/3 of all Americans eat and drink their calories away from home.  Fortunately, slowly but surely many restaurants are beginning to offer healthier, lower calorie menu items, making it easier to eat nutritious while traveling.  Another thing that will help is by the end of 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will require calorie and other nutrition labeling for standard menu items in all restaurant chains with 20 or more locations.  Many of these restaurants have already complied with this ruling.  

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4 Healthy Fats For Losing Weight

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4 Healthy Fats For Losing Weight

Firstly, let’s briefly touch on the unhealthy dietary fats: saturated fat and trans fat.  These fats are commonly found in animal food sources.  Saturated fat raises blood cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad” cholesterol) and can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes.  Trans fats are most often a result of food processing and are often referred to as synthetic or industrial.  Synthetic trans fats can increase LDL and lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good” cholesterol), thus increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease.

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