10 Foods to Stop Eating Now

These munchies are not kind to the waistline!

Whether you’re trying to lose a few pounds or simply clean up your diet, we all know that eating more fruits and vegetables is the way to go. But what shouldn’t we be eating? Conflicting messages are all around us, but here are the top 10 definite foods to stop eating now!

1. Soda: Soda consumption has been linked to allergy development, tooth decay, and osteoporosis. Plus, all of that high fructose corn syrup can cause obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Water, please!

2. Anything Fried: Fried foods, especially fried meats, nearly double a person’s risk for bladder cancer, not to mention clogged arteries, higher risk for asthma, sleep apnea, and heart disease. You can’t get healthy with a fried chicken leg in your mouth.

3. Fast Food: The average fast food meal clocks in at 830 calories (if you need a reminder, the average woman only needs about 1,800 calories each day). But fast food should really be regarded as edible chemicals since it’s chock-full of preservatives, trans fats, and food dyes.

4. White Flour: It starts out as a wonderful, whole grain but then gets stripped of all its nutrients, then pumped up with chemicals, deodorized, and bleached. It causes a spike and then a crash in blood sugar — a vicious cycle that can lead to pre-diabetes. When it comes to grains, stay whole!

5. Treats at the Coffee Shop: Commercial baked goods are everything that white flour is, but with a lot more sugar, butter, and fat. And all of those delectable toppings are actually vats of chemicals, preservatives, and oodles of trans fats. So not sexy!

The Flat Belly Smoothie

Here’s a cool way to slim down this summer

Hi, babes! Summer is coming! Ahhh! So excited. It’s time to get down to business, and this “flat-belly smoothie” will whip your butt right into shape. This smoothie was created to drink before and during bikini season.

Spinach aids in reducing puffiness; orange juice has potassium, which flushes out the system; and blueberries are full of antioxidants. The flat-belly smoothie hardly takes any time at all to prepare, and the blueberries and Greek nonfat yogurt camouflage the spinach taste (I promise!).

Check it out:

The Flat Belly Smoothie

Ingredients
1 handful of blueberries
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
2 scoops of Greek 0% fat yogurt
2 splashes of orange juice (make sure it’s 100% OJ )
1/2 cup of ice

Directions:
Blend all ingredients together.

Enjoy!!!

5 Brain Foods

Food for Brain Cognition

Do you have trouble concentrating? Do you walk into a room and forget why you went there?
Well, let me tell you that is not only because of age, diet and lifestyle has a lot to do with it as well. Since mother earth is so wonderful with us, we can find in nature all we need, there are “ brain foods ” that have been shown to improve brain function, protect against age-associated cognitive decline and encourage focus and clarity and will also help boost your concentration.

Before we start let me give you a couple of tips, first of all eating breakfast may help with brain preservation, having some fresh fruit and/or high-fiber whole grains like oatmeal and bran. High calorie breakfasts laden with sugar and fat tend to detract from concentration.

Eat lighter and combine the following foods, introduce them into your daily diet which will help prevent your brain from becoming sluggish! Getting enough sleep, exercising daily and managing stress are keys to a healthy cognitive function. So, let´s begin.

1. Walnuts

Walnuts even look like a brain, and they help it, great how that works! Walnuts are able to  reverse brain aging,  including age related motor and cognitive defects. If consumed daily, they are also rich in antioxidants which fight against free radical damage to the brain cells’ DNA.

2. Coffee and Dark Chocolate

A free-trade organic coffee can do great things for your focus and brain power. The caffeine found in chocolate or a cup of coffee first thing in the morning will wake up your brain and allow you to focus and concentrate, in addition to harnessing rich, brain-protecting antioxidants.

3. Berries

Berries protect the brain from oxidative stress while decreasing the effects of age related conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s, they also improve learning capacity and motor skills and one of the best anti-aging foods.

4. Spinach and Carrots

Spinach is a dark green leafy vegetable that is loaded with vitamin E, which helps increase brain tissue and releases dopamine, which controls information flow in the brain and has been shown to improve cognitive function. While carrots are great for vision they also help to reduce inflammation and restore memory, the compound found in carrots, known as luteolin, appears to reduce age-related memory loss and boost overall brain health.

5. Fish

Consuming fish weekly can reduce the risk of stroke and dementia while slowing down mental decline, its also one of the best Omega-3 sources. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish give our brain a huge boost!

FUN BEAUTY FACTS

Fun Beauty Facts

Cosmetic surgery continues to grow at a staggering rate. An excess of $10 billion a year is now spent on cosmetic procedures.

Ancient Egyptians used semi-precious gemstones like malachite, lapis and carnelian for coloring their cosmetics. They also used metals like copper and lead.

Egyptians invented the idea of masking body odor under the arms by using incense pellets and letting them melt into the skin. However, the first deodorant wasn't really produced until 1889.

A full one-quarter of all women won't leave home without their lipstick on.

If you want a quick, temporary face-lift, it can be accomplished by donning a headband.

Melanin loss in the hair causes it to turn gray or white.

The Romans had no tolerance for facial blemishes; not even freckles. They used odd methods to diminish, hide, or rid themselves of such things. These included milk baths and fowl fat.

A man's hair grows faster than a woman's.

Once upon a time, women used leeches to "bleed" themselves to achieve the pale look once considered the epitome of feminine beauty.

Many of today's most beautiful celebrities use urine as part of their beauty regimen. However, they aren't the first to use urine in a cosmetic form. The Romans used it to make toothpaste.

We have Coco Chanel to blame for the popular tanned look. She made if popular and even developed some of the first tanning products.

Helena Rubinstein is responsible for one of today's most popular cosmetics - - mascara.

Shimmery cosmetics often contain fish scales.

During the 5^th century, women aspired to be as hairless as possible. They plucked out all traces of hair, including their eyelashes, and shaved their foreheads.

Women of the Renaissance wanted a beautiful while look so they colored their skin with a combination of lead and vinegar or arsenic.

A debate rages on about who is responsible for the invention of nail polish. While ancient Egyptians tinted their nails with henna, it was the Chinese who were responsible for the first lacquer type formulas with which most of us are more familiar.

Victorian women of culture did not wear makeup. Cosmetics were only used by women of "questionable" character.

Egyptian men wore eye makeup for protection against the sun and nasty winged creatures like gnats.

Most women didn't begin shaving their underarms until the turn of the 20^th century.

For nearly two centuries women thought it necessary to dilate their pupils in order to achieve true beauty. They did this by using drops from the poisonous Belladonna plant.

Beauty giant L'Oreal holds a patent on nanotechnology. Wonder how that will be used in cosmetics?

Surgeons of the First World War banded together to demand plastic surgery procedures be regulated for patient protection.

Red heads have less hair on their head. Blondes have the most. No wonder, blondes have more fun.

Cutting hair doesn't make it grow faster. It does; however, make it look healthier.

The average person loses about 100 strands of hair per day.

6 Health Benefits of Eating Beets

If you are an avid beet lover, then my  post isn’t for you (but read on anyway for validation of your beet love)! You already know that beets are an extremely nutritious food choice that just happens to be tasty and delicious – you can eat the greens too! You already know that beets are an insane source of vitamins and minerals. But did you know that beets are the second largest source of sugar, after sugar cane?

If you’re not a beet lover, read on, and you soon will be.

1. Beets are nature’s Viagra

Seriously. One of the first known uses of beets was by the ancient Romans, who used them medicinally as an aphrodisiac. And that’s not just urban legend – science backs it up. Beets contain high amounts of boron, which is directly related to the production of human sex hormones.

2. Beets are high in many vitamins and minerals

Potassium, magnesium, fiber, phosphorus, iron; vitamins A, B & C; beta-carotene, beta-cyanine; folic acid. These are but a few of the many nutrients, vitamins and minerals that can be found in beets and beet greens. Beets are particularly beneficial to women whom are pregnant, as the vitamin B and iron are very beneficial to new growth cells during pregnancy and replenishing iron in the woman’s body.

3. Beets cleanse the body

They are a wonderful tonic for the liver, works as a purifier for the blood, and can prevent various forms of cancer. Nuff said, right? Tastes good and prevents cancer? Sign me up!

4. Beets help your mental health

Beets contain betaine, the same substance that is used in certain treatments of depression. It also contains trytophan, which relaxes the mind and creates a sense of well-being, similar to chocolate. Beets can also lower your blood pressure. So if you’re already steamed about not eating beets, you can get a two-fer by diving into them right away.

5. Beets are used as a stomach acid tester

How in the world does that work? Glad you asked. If you are eating a lot of beets or beet juice, and your pee turns pink, guess what? You have low stomach acid. Pee still clear? Ratchet it up and get juicing (use the greens too)! Nutritionists use beets and beet juice to test stomach acid levels, so stay ahead of the curve by adding beets to your diet now.

6. Beets are a high source of energy

At the same time they are low in calories and high in sugar (although the sugar is released into your system gradually, as opposed to chocolate). Very few foods found in the natural world are as beneficial as beets in this regard.

Beets are a wonderful addition to any dietary need. With their high volume of nutrients, delicious taste, and multitude of uses, anyone can jump right into beets without missing a beat.

Bet you didn’t know:

Beets were served in space when the astronauts of Apollo 18 met up with their brethren in Soyuz 19. They served borscht.

To-do:

If you are juicing, but haven’t gotten to veggies yet, give beets a try. Use a small amount at first to supplement your already yummy fruit smoothies. Work your way up to more as you see fit.

What are you using your beets for? Let me know in the comment box below.