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Superfoods for Energy

Is your day just dragging on and you can’t seem to keep your eyes open let alone accomplish some major tasks? Try changing up what you eat to boost your energy levels and help you sail through your day.

An excess of sugars or foods that are high on the glycemic index can drain your battery quickly and leave you feeling sluggish and tired. Try to stay away from “white” breads and refined grains and choose items that may be higher in fibre. Flaxseed, fish oils and lean protein are your better choices to boost your energy. Try some of these superfoods:

  • Brown Rice – it’s better for you than the white variety and will help make you feel fuller for longer.
  • Oats – they are high in calcium, potassium, magnesium, vitamins E and B and high in protein. It will help keep you feeling full and aid with stress and tiredness.
  • Broccoli – has lots of cancer-fighting properties as well as being a great energy provider. It also contains lots of fiber, folate, potassium, and vitamins A and C.
  • Lentils – not only are they are colourful and add to a nice look to your plate, they will help keep your energy levels high.
  • Almonds – almonds are an easy and quick snack that contains vitamin E, B, magnesium and iron, all which help boost your energy.
  • Leafy Greens – iron is key to your energy levels. Not enough iron will keep you feeling fatigued. Add some romaine, spinach, or kale to your diet and increase iron, and vitamin C levels leaving you with added energy.
  • Coconut Oil – try a spoon full of oil to boost your energy. Coconut oil is quickly processed into energy.
  • Bananas – this snack can boost your energy level while taming that sweet tooth of yours. Bananas are high in vitamin B6 which helps produce energy more quickly.
  • Quinoa – contains B vitamins, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and iron. Quinoa will fill you up and energize you as well.

Keep some these foods on hand. Pack them in your lunch and when you start to feel a slump in the day, get some of these pick me up snacks. For a nearly instant energy boost that lasts, eat a healthy snack that contains protein and a complex carbohydrate. If you eat the right foods, you’ll have an energized, productive day.

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Add Fiber to Your Balanced Diet

One of the simplest ways to kick start a healthy diet is to increase your dietary fiber. Processed food and fast food are easy and quick but they can wreak havoc on your digestive tract. Not only that but processed foods, which are high in fat and high and calories are linked to obesity and other diseases.

What does fiber do for us? Fiber’s primary role is to promote healthy digestion. Fiber cleanses the digestive tract by speeding up the excretions and toxins from the body. It also helps to prevent waste from sitting in the intestines.

There are two types of fiber, insoluble and soluble. Insoluble fiber passes through most of the bowel system unchanged and promotes the growth of friendly bacteria. Since this type of fiber is not digested by the body it helps to slow gastric emptying and therefore can help to reduce your food intake because you will feel fuller for longer. Insoluble fibre is found in bran, wholemeal flour, brown rice, whole grain cereal, vegetables, edible peels and nuts and seeds. Soluble fiber helps to reduce the level of cholesterol by binding fats that cause high cholesterol and pushing them through the bowel. This helps to prevent the bad fats from being absorbed into the bloodstream. Soluble fiber absorbs water during digestion which acts like a natural stool softener. Soluble fibres include fruit, vegetables, lentils, peas, beans, oats, barley, oatmeal and potatoes.

In terms of weight loss increasing your dietary fiber can aide in reaching your goals if combined with a balanced healthy diet and exercise. Fiber helps in long term weight loss and your dietary fiber intake should be monitored to ensure you’re meeting the daily recommended dose. Speak with your Doctor or Trainer to find out how much fiber you should be consuming per day. You want to make sure that you’re not consuming too much fiber as well because it can cause a mineral deficiency.

High fiber foods are typically low in calories and are filling so they help to prevent overeating or snacking in between meals. Due to the slowing of digestion with added fibre you can also help to stabilize blood sugar levels which is beneficial to diabetics. Fibre will also help to prevent tiredness, hunger pangs and lack of energy.

Adding dietary fiber to your diet is not a fad and it’s not a passing trend in healthy eating. It’s a key part in maintaining a health and balanced diet which can aide in weight loss but also keep you healthy and your body functioning at an optimal level. There are many easy ways to add fiber to your diet but if you’re still unsure on how to make this healthy change then ask your Doctor or training to go through your eating habits and help determine where you can make some changes.

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Healthy Inside, Healthy Outside

The healthy look of our skin and hair is directly related how healthy we are on the inside. Many of the healthy foods that we eat can also provide excellent benefits to the skin and hair. Diet plays a big role in maintaining healthy skin and hair. Your diet needs to have the proper protein, fats, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, and vitamins and minerals. Foods containing omega 3s are key to healthy skin and hair.

When it comes to the skin, omega 3s in the form of fish oil or flax oil can help maintain its good healthy state. One of the major concerns in skin is aging. Wrinkles tend to appear in the face as we age. Omega 3 increases the level of essential fatty acids in the body that helps in the prevention of wrinkle formation. Without these fatty acids, the skin may turn dull and eventually lead to eczema or psoriasis. Taking in enough of these vital supplements can help maintain healthy skin thus helping to prevent many negative skin conditions.

When it comes to hair, omega 3s can also prevent many problems. This fatty acid can help prevent and even reverse hair loss which is one challenge that most do not want to experience. The fatty acids can also prevent the inflammation of the hair follicles or what is better known as folliculitis. Dandruff can also be largely prevented with a diet that includes the omega oils. An added benefit is that is also makes the hair shinier and keeps it more moisturized.

Foods rich in vitamins such as vitamins A, B, C, D, and E aid in keeping your skin healthy. Vitamin A foods include dairy products, eggs, tomatoes, green leafy vegetables, melon and papaya will help with healthy blood circulation and give your skin healthy glow.

The vitamin B family is very important in skin health. B1 aids in circulation while B2 can stop the formation of liver spots and B6 will improve eczema. Foods rich in vitamin B include green leafy vegetables, nuts, whole grain cereals, meat and liver.

Rich vitamin C foods such as broccoli, green peppers, tomatoes, lemons, oranges, cantaloupe, strawberries, kiwi, potatoes, cherries, black currents and grapes works in conjunction with protein for the production of collagen which helps keep your skin from sagging and wrinkling as well as essential for healthy hair. It will strengthen the capillaries so that your skin has a nice even tone and will reduce dryness. Vitamin E is helpful to prevent wrinkles and premature aging. Whole wheat breads, milk, asparagus, broccoli, egg yolks, olives, nuts and leafy green vegetables are all great sources of vitamin E. Avocado is truly a super food for the skin. It is packed with oil and high levels of vitamin E both which are essential for soft skin and shiny hair. Avocado oil is also gentle enough to use with eczema without causing any skin irritations.

In creating diets for healthy skin make sure that you eat a variety of foods so that you get all the nutrients you need. A diet for healthy skin and hair is also a diet for healthy organs and an overall diet for health which will not only keep you young and healthy on the outside but also on the inside too.

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Healthy Choice or Bad Diet

A healthy diet is an integral part of any weight loss program. Generally, a balanced diet composed of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and lean meat will give an individual the necessary energy to perform the daily activities and function at their most optimum level. More than this, well-planned meals protect against diseases. It also aids in tissue and muscle repair to enable an individual to rapidly recover from illnesses. However, society has put such importance on losing weight that people desperate to see a drop on the scale will go on “crash diets”.

The best thing is to look at dieting as part of an overall fitness plan to stay healthy physically, psychologically and emotionally, and choose foods from all sources and keep them in moderate proportions because that’s what’s good for our bodies. Meals for a healthy diet will be spread out evenly throughout the day. Drinking sufficient amounts of water will keep metabolism running helping to burn fat. A healthy diet would be coupled with exercise.

A diet that is seen as a mere means to losing weight as opposed to a lifestyle change, will result in unhealthy dieting practices that will wreck havoc on the dieter’s systems. Crash diets will literally starve the body of the most basic nutrients needed to function. Unhealthy diets are usually the ones that make outrageous claims. If it is too good to be true, then it is most likely not true at all. If any diet claims it is, then be prepared to do your due diligence and thoroughly investigate what the diet involves. Do not go on a diet that suggests you eat certain foods or certain quantities of foods that would result in you being malnourished.

Some of the biggest risk factors for unhealthy dieting are high cholesterol, kidney damage, lack of important nutrients, metabolism can slow, loss of energy, anxiety, acne, headache and depression. Unhealthy dieting practices may include crash diets, fasting, the use of laxatives or pills and self induced vomiting.

Some Dieting Tips to ensure you stay on a healthy track:

  1. Forget strict fad diets (Atkins, Zone, South Beach, Low Fat, Low Carb, etc).
  2. More fruits, veggies, lean meats and fish.
  3. Fewer simple carbs and less grease (white-flour breads, pastas, fried foods etc).
  4. Exercise – move your body more.
  5. Change your habits, change your life – make the healthy choices your new habit.

A responsible approach to dieting would be to help dieter’s understand the risks associated with unhealthy dieting and then provide them with the proper information needed to ensure proper dieting. Important to this game plan would be eating fresh fruits and vegetables, drinking plenty of water each day, and enjoying a balanced meal plan consisting of 40% carbohydrates, 40% protein, and 20% healthy fats.

There is no secret to dieting and losing weight. Unhealthy dieting can be avoided. If you eat three meals a day all of which provide you with all the nutrients that you need and add some exercise to your daily routine, you can lose the weight that you need to over time. Patience and a healthy lifestyle will shed those unwanted pounds.

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Adding a Little Quinoa

For breakfast, lunch or dinner, quinoa is a healthy option to add to your diet. Quinoa is a seed grain that has been cultivated in the Andean region for over 7,000 years and was considered sacred by the Inca Empire. It was later replaced almost completely by cereals such as barley, wheat and corn. Quinoa is considered a “super crop” because it is a complete protein. Quinoa has a slow releasing, high level of carbohydrates that give the stomach a full feeling for a long time – ideal for weight control and to maintain adequate blood sugar levels. It is a complete protein because it contains all 9 essential amino acids, and includes lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair. A cup of quinoa contains about 8 grams of protein, about twice that of other grains. Quinoa is a very good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus, making it especially valuable for persons which migraine headaches, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. It is a good source of riboflavin, which is necessary for energy productions within cells. Quinoa is gluten-free and is a great source of fiber.

Cooking with quinoa is simple and is just like cooking rice. The most basic method of cooking quinoa is to boil it in water and simmer for 10-12 minutes. You need 1 measure of quinoa to 2 measures of water. All the water will be absorbed by the quinoa. Some quinoa still has a coating of bitter tasting saponins. In that case, you need to pre-rinse the quinoa to remove this coating before cooking. You are unlikely to buy coated quinoa as most shops sell it pre-rinsed but its best to be sure. Once you have cooked the quinoa you can add it as a base for meat dishes instead of rice. You can also include it in salads and soups. It will take on the flavor of the foods you cook with and adds its own little bite to the taste.

Another way of incorporating quinoa in your meals is in the form of quinoa flour. Quinoa flour has a pleasant, nutty taste. It makes delicious bread, muffins, bagels, pasta, milk, cookies, gravies, sauces, pancakes, flatbreads, donuts, dumplings and more. When using quinoa flour in baking, substitute half the amount of all-purpose flour with quinoa, and then use all-purpose flour for the remaining half. Depending on the taste you are looking for in your baked good, you may want to use less quinoa flour than all-purpose. Experiment yourself and find what suits your taste buds best.

Try this easy Quinoa Recipe

Ingredients:
2 small onions, finely chopped
1 large red pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup of Quinoa
2 cups of water
2 vegetarian soup stock cubes

Directions:
First add the finely chopped onions, the minced garlic and sea salt to the olive oil in a pan or wok.
Saute until onions are slightly brown. Then add chopped red pepper and continue to sauté until onions are caramelized. Add water, then the stock cubes and quinoa and bring to a simmer. Stir once after 5 minutes then simmer for 15 minutes until water has been cooked in.

Enjoy Quinoa in your diet. Experiment by adding it to dishes you normally use rice. You’ll find it is a healthy addition to your food!

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