Need An Energy Boost?

Try these energy boosting foods to give you that extra lift.  Perhaps a sprinkle of these on your breakfast cereal or a tipple in your smoothie.

Article Source - Step into my green world.

Short On Time And Want A Quick 10-Minute Workout?

Short on Time? Try this 10-minute workout. You can roll out of bed on to your workout mat and before you know it, you are done.

Article Source - Hoganbo 

6 Ways To Help Improve Gut Health

"Having a healthy gut is so important," accredited practising dietitian and sports dietitian Chloe McLeod told HuffPost Australia.

"It's linked to a number of different medical conditions. When your gut isn't healthy it can have an impact on mental health, weight, mood and a number of other digestive disorders. Keeping your gut nice and healthy can help keep the rest of your body healthy."

How do you know if you have good gut health?

"Signs of good gut health include not getting bloating, gas, diarrhoea and constipation," McLeod said.

"You find you feel better in general -- better mood, more energy, a healthy weight and not feeling fatigued. These are all more pronounced when your gut is healthier."

How do you know if you have bad gut health?

"If you have poor gut health you may have loose, unformed stools, or you're really constipated, maybe your faeces are foul smelling, you feel gassy, feel foggy headed or have poor mood. These are some of the most common signs," McLeod explained.

What can negatively affect gut health?

There are a number of diet and lifestyle-related factors which can impact the health of your gut.

"From a nutrition perspective, factors that negatively impact gut health include poor diet, alcohol and having a high fat intake," McLeod said.

"Also, if you are someone with food intolerances, any large quantity of those trigger foods can have a negative effect on your gut health.

"Being highly stressed all the time impacts cortisol levels, and stress can be a factor for some people. Some medications can also affect gut health."

Ways to start improving your gut health

"Eating plenty of veggies, including healthy fats (and not going overboard on unhealthy fats) and including prebiotic foods can all help with gut health," McLeod said.

1. Eat more vegetables

"Vegetables provide our body with the nutrients it needs on a day-to-day basis and help to maintain general health," McLeod said.

"They also provide fibre to keep the gut healthy and help our body's systems run more effectively."

2. Focus on fibre

Speaking of fibre in veggies, aim to increase overall fibre content, especially if your intake of fruit, vegetables and legumes is low.

"Fibre can provide a huge variety of compounds and nutrients that will help improve gut health. The fibre is in whole grains, fruit, veggies, nuts and legumes," McLeod explained.

"This is why a lot of the time people focus on a plant-based diet for gut health, as many of the plant-based foods are great for gut health in so many different ways."

3. Eat plenty of prebiotic-rich foods

When we think of gut health, probiotics are the first thing to spring to mind. But prebiotics, a type of non-digestible fibre, are just as important.

"When prebiotic foods are digested they provide food for the healthy bacteria which are found in our gut, so include things like bananas, onion, garlic, veggies (brussels sprouts and broccoli), whole grains and other fruits," McLeod said.

4. Eat more probiotic-rich foods

Rather than choosing probiotic supplements as your first line of defence for gut health, McLeod recommends opting first for whole foods rich in probiotics.

"Probiotic supplements can certainly help and play a role, but it's such an emerging area that we don't know everything about them," McLeod said.

"Different types of probiotics can have different impacts on gut health. For example, some are targeted to eczema, some are better for mental health."

Before taking a probiotic supplement, speak to your GP to find the right supplement for you.

"It's a good idea to not take just any and hope it will fix anything -- they all have different actions. Some people also don't tolerate probiotic supplements too well.

"Aim to get probiotics from your food. Include foods which naturally contain probiotics, such as yoghurt and fermented foods (miso, sauerkraut, kimchi)."

5. Drink wisely

As alcohol can negatively affect gut health, reduce your overall intake of alcohol and remember to drink more water.

"Don't forget about water -- stay well hydrated and drink less alcohol," McLeod said.

6. Reduce junk food intake

Unfortunately, your gut doesn't like processed, fatty, sugary foods (aka a standard Western diet), even if you do. McLeod recommends reducing your intake of junk foods like soft drink, lollies, biscuits, chips and pizza, and make healthier alternatives instead.

Article Source - Juliette Steen, HuffPost 

Fun Facts About Brisk Walking if Running Is Not Your Thing!

No matter what your age is or what size you are, help celebrate Global Running Day by getting outside and enjoying the day.  It's great for Body and Soul.  

If like me, you don't enjoy running, try a 'Brisk Walk'.  Here are some interesting facts:- 

1.   Brisk walking helps reduce body fat, lower blood pressure, and increase high-density lipoprotein.

2.  The longest walk around the world was completed by a former neon-sign salesman, Jean Beliveau. He walked 46,600 miles around 64 countries. The trip took him 11 years.

3.   Given that the world is about 25,000 miles in circumference and that the average walking rate is 3 miles per hour, it would take a person walking nonstop approximately 347 days to walk around the world.

4.   Fire walking, or the act of walking over hot stones or embers with bare feet, is a religious ceremony practiced in several parts of the world, including the Indian subcontinent, China, Fiji Islands, and New Zealand. It was also practiced in ancient Greece and India. Fire walking is said to help guarantee a good harvest or purify the participants.

5.   Experts suggest walking 6,000 steps a day to improve health and 10,000 steps a day to lose weight.

6.  Researchers note that walking has become a casualty of modern life. With the loss of walking as a cultural activity, there is a loss of an ancient and profound relationship with the body, world, and imagination.

7.   A 2000 study reported that walking regularly (three times or more a week for half an hour or more) saves $330 a year in health care costs.

8.   A 20-minute walk, or about 2,000 steps, equal a mile.

Why not?

Article Source-  Karin Lehnardt, Fact Retriever. 

The Best & Worst Children's Menus in UK Restaurant Chains

Out to Lunch League Tables 

The alarming facts that some UK Restaurant Chains have an enormous amount of high sugary menus aimed at Children.  Some oversized desserts had over 100g of sugar in them.  That's approximately 20 sugar cubes!  Added to that are the unlimited 'Fizzy' Drinks supply. There is no wonder that the UK has an obesity problem which is growing at a horrific rate. Not to mention the increase in Diabetes. 

There is some great work going on with Soil Association and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall with the secret diners bringing together these results.  It has triggered the Restaurant Chains to amend their menus.  What a great start. 

Article Source - Soil Association  Food For Life & Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

How to Get Your Family on Board for Eating Healthy

How To Get Your Family on Board for Eating Healthy

Why is getting the whole family to eat healthily like pulling teeth? Everyone knows it’s the right thing to do, the healthful thing to do, but they all moan and groan like it’s the hardest task they’ve had to do in their entire lives.

Establishing healthy life practices takes patience and persistence to build a routine, but it doesn’t have to be as boring as the whole family expects. Here are a few fun and easy tips to get your family to eat healthier and live their best lives

1. Follow the 80/20 Rule

How many times do you order in during the week or month? Want to eat more real food?

Stop making the rules so challenging, and pick one rule to live by — eat real food 80 percent of the time and whatever else during the other 20 percent. Skip the expensive health-food store products, and buy real whole grains, vegetables and fruit, with a protein-rich diet. Vegetables contain protein, too. 

80 percent of the time avoid artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, refined flour, sugar and processed foods. The other 20 percent — eat whatever you each want. That means your kid eats a whole breakfast but can feel free to say yes to the mystery flavor sucker the teller at the bank offers. 

2. Eat Backwards

Choose a day out of the month where you eat backwards for the day. You serve dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner. If it’s on the weekend, you can wear your pajamas all day, too. If the kids watch cartoons at breakfast, allow them to watch cartoons in the evening before bed — but only for that one day.

Shake up your routine and see what happens. 

3. Volunteer

Show your family what real hunger looks like and how good it feels to give back. Research shows people who give back feel better about the world and themselves, increasing a sense of life satisfaction and accomplishment. 

Children have big hearts, but it’s easy to get caught up in the small world of the self and school. The tiniest of little ones making small contributions, such as donating their time or part of their allowance to a soup kitchen, shows that big impact doesn’t have to be big to feel big.

It’s even better if your family members pick charities that resonate with their abilities and passions. Donate tutoring skills or bake brownies for the local fire station. Get creative with volunteering and get to know your community.

4. Cooking Competition

Select several real-food ingredients and challenge the whole family to create a delicious recipe. It’s a fun way to learn how to cook and how to mix spices together. 

Create your own junior chef competition, such as trying one of Rachel Ray’s kid-friendly cooking challenges with a twist on a PB&J sandwich by including strawberries and bananas with bacon, pecans and chipotle powder.

The junior chefs can also create their own special PB&J recipe with a variety of food choices that you supply. Supervise uses of hot appliances, such as a panini press and oven. 

5. Microwave Meal Mondays

Instead of Meatless Mondays, declare the dreaded start of the busy week as Microwave Meal Monday. The only rule is that the meal must be mostly healthy. Keep the convenience factor and eat better.

There are many healthy recipes easily and quickly made in the microwave. You can poach eggs and fish in the microwave, and you can make cauliflower mac and cheese and gluten-free enchiladas. If you have a teenager starting their college applications, cooking healthy and tasty meals in the microwave is a survival skill that should be learned now.

6. Shake Up the Snacks

Instead of sneaking healthy foods into meals, strike a balance by shaking up snacks nutritionally. Teach your kids to make their own chips, and journey to a farmer’s market to choose colorful vegetables to dehydrate or bake. Kids are also more likely to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables when they have a dipping sauce — use cheese, honey mustard, ranch, balsamic vinegar and other experimental dipping sauces.

You can manage the nutrition of the dipping sauces by making them yourselves, such as baking brie or melting other organic cheeses down.

These six fun tips will get your whole family on board for eating healthy. Your teenager will know how to cook nutritious and “fancy” meals in the microwave, and you’ll develop little iron chefs of your own who care about giving back to their community. Besides, who doesn’t love the idea of breakfast for dinner with cartoons?

Article Source - A is for Adelaide.

What Time Do You Eat Dinner?

What time do you eat your evening meal?

Did you know that the time we eat our evening meal has moved from 17:30pm to 20:00pm?  This means we are eating the most of our calories late at night and our body struggles to use up this energy source at night as the body naturally slows down.  

If we could make one simple change to our eating habits, this will help with healthy weight loss.  

Remember - Small steps.

Source - Adelle Davis 

Colours of our Food for our Health

Now it makes sense!

Source - @katabairejdk

Walk Around Things Day

Let's get those steps up today in celebration of National Walk Around things Day. It's not to say we have to avoid challenges or tricky situations. It's more about having fun and taking those extra steps. Like this guy.

https://twitter.com/Teri_abb