Josh Bezoni's Blog - Posts Tagged "healthy"
Four Foods to Consume Before Sleeping
You have probably read that food before bed is something to absolutely avoid, especially if you are trying to lose weight. However, not all food should be categorized as off-limits after dinner. Consumption of certain foods actually can help boost your weight loss efforts. Here is a quick guide to help you healthily navigate through late night food choices.
It is important that you avoid consuming carbohydrates before bedtime. Instead, opt for slow-digesting protein that will supply you with a consistent source of amino acids while you sleeping.
Green Vegetables: While not necessarily a protein, green vegetables are a great late night snacking option as they are filling, contain high-levels of fiber, and lack calories.
White Meat Protein: Turkey and Chicken, the white variety of meat, can be a great food to eat before bed. These foods tend to digest slowly and boasts a low insulin response.
A Low-Carb, and Slow Digesting Protein Shake: Be sure to stay away from simple whey powder prior to sleeping as studies have determined it causes a very high insulin release. Instead, you should opt for a time-released blend. Plus, it serves as a sort of desert for those with a sweet-tooth.
Cottage Cheese: Not only is cottage cheese digest slowly, but it also coats the stomach in a manner that causes it to be assimilated slowly by the body. While this is a great choice, you have to be certain to stay away from the flavored options that come with a surplus of sugar.
It is important that you avoid consuming carbohydrates before bedtime. Instead, opt for slow-digesting protein that will supply you with a consistent source of amino acids while you sleeping.
Green Vegetables: While not necessarily a protein, green vegetables are a great late night snacking option as they are filling, contain high-levels of fiber, and lack calories.
White Meat Protein: Turkey and Chicken, the white variety of meat, can be a great food to eat before bed. These foods tend to digest slowly and boasts a low insulin response.
A Low-Carb, and Slow Digesting Protein Shake: Be sure to stay away from simple whey powder prior to sleeping as studies have determined it causes a very high insulin release. Instead, you should opt for a time-released blend. Plus, it serves as a sort of desert for those with a sweet-tooth.
Cottage Cheese: Not only is cottage cheese digest slowly, but it also coats the stomach in a manner that causes it to be assimilated slowly by the body. While this is a great choice, you have to be certain to stay away from the flavored options that come with a surplus of sugar.
The Problem with Giant Food Manufacturers
Are you aware of the fact that the vast majority of the thousands of items found in our local grocery store are actually produced by one of five gigantic multi-national food corporations. These companies have a singular goal in mind and it, unfortunately, does not deal with the welfare of your body. They are singularly concerned with the bottom line. To learn more about the industry, feel free to watch the documentary, Food Inc.
The corporations, often motivated by the demands of Wall Street and their desire to make a profit, employ chemists who create these Frankenstein foods.The production of such foods often takes place on an assembly line where worker after worker adds a slew of man-made preservatives, chemicals, and additives. With this cocktail of non-natural ingredients, these food items are able to last for months or years on shelves before expiring.
It is also important to note that these foods have been shown to alter the chemical composition of our brain. However, these corporations market these items to be consumer friendly while they are, in actually, detrimental to our bodies. While conducting research for his book Belly Fat Free, I interviewed scores of food chemists who are the employees of these food manufacturing giants. The interviews revealed that these chemists, per the requests of upper management, often tried to make their items as addictive as possible by sprinkling caffeine, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, or something else.
Many of these additives that can be found within staples of the American diet are as addictive as cigarettes, alcohol, and a number of drugs. You can find the alarming specifics of this in this more extensive exposé.
The corporations, often motivated by the demands of Wall Street and their desire to make a profit, employ chemists who create these Frankenstein foods.The production of such foods often takes place on an assembly line where worker after worker adds a slew of man-made preservatives, chemicals, and additives. With this cocktail of non-natural ingredients, these food items are able to last for months or years on shelves before expiring.
It is also important to note that these foods have been shown to alter the chemical composition of our brain. However, these corporations market these items to be consumer friendly while they are, in actually, detrimental to our bodies. While conducting research for his book Belly Fat Free, I interviewed scores of food chemists who are the employees of these food manufacturing giants. The interviews revealed that these chemists, per the requests of upper management, often tried to make their items as addictive as possible by sprinkling caffeine, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, or something else.
Many of these additives that can be found within staples of the American diet are as addictive as cigarettes, alcohol, and a number of drugs. You can find the alarming specifics of this in this more extensive exposé.
Post-Cheat Day Action Plan
Your going to have a cheat day. It is simply part of dieting and living. Eating a lot during a family BBQ or holiday is often inevitable. There are a few steps you can take for the days after your “cheat day” to ensure your remaining on schedule with your weight loss. Here is how you take full advantage of what your triggered during your cheat.
The First Day: Here, we suggest consuming only healthy protein powder that is mixed with almond milk. Consuming only shakes will facilitate the natural shrinking of your stomach allowing you to get full much more easily in the coming days. You can consume four shakes intermittently throughout out the day, so about one of 180 minutes or so. The consumption of these shake are only effective if they have loads of protein, contain zero artificial sweeteners, and have a low carb-count.
The Second Day: Now it is time to eat five small meals, again spaced about 180 minutes apart. These meals are made up solely of lean protein sources such as turkey, fish, chicken, eggs, low fat cottage-chews, and vegetables. Try to avoid heavier veggies such as corn as we want to avoid starch at this point. Also, fruits are not recommended due to their sugar content. Eating in such a manner to increase your fiber intake will work to cleanse you bloated digested track.
The Third Day: After limiting your calorie intake for forty-eight hours, it is time to start consuming the heavier carbs. However, you should still opt for five smaller meals that consist of lean meats and veggies. But now, you can include about half of a cup of high-energy carbs to a few of these smaller meals. Great sources for high-energy carbs for these meals include beans, sprouted grain bread or pasts, sweet or red potatoes, wild rice, quinoa, and more.
There is also one more important aspect of the third day. For a single one of these smaller meals, you should eat whatever suits your fancy, under one condition. You have to be sure no to overeat. You also should avoid having this splurge meal come right before bedtime.
The First Day: Here, we suggest consuming only healthy protein powder that is mixed with almond milk. Consuming only shakes will facilitate the natural shrinking of your stomach allowing you to get full much more easily in the coming days. You can consume four shakes intermittently throughout out the day, so about one of 180 minutes or so. The consumption of these shake are only effective if they have loads of protein, contain zero artificial sweeteners, and have a low carb-count.
The Second Day: Now it is time to eat five small meals, again spaced about 180 minutes apart. These meals are made up solely of lean protein sources such as turkey, fish, chicken, eggs, low fat cottage-chews, and vegetables. Try to avoid heavier veggies such as corn as we want to avoid starch at this point. Also, fruits are not recommended due to their sugar content. Eating in such a manner to increase your fiber intake will work to cleanse you bloated digested track.
The Third Day: After limiting your calorie intake for forty-eight hours, it is time to start consuming the heavier carbs. However, you should still opt for five smaller meals that consist of lean meats and veggies. But now, you can include about half of a cup of high-energy carbs to a few of these smaller meals. Great sources for high-energy carbs for these meals include beans, sprouted grain bread or pasts, sweet or red potatoes, wild rice, quinoa, and more.
There is also one more important aspect of the third day. For a single one of these smaller meals, you should eat whatever suits your fancy, under one condition. You have to be sure no to overeat. You also should avoid having this splurge meal come right before bedtime.
Carbs and Insulin Sensitivity
Our bodies and diet play an absolutely enormous role when it comes to achieving our physical transformation goals. Over the years, our society has increased our carbohydrate intake tremendously because it’s cheap and easy to mass produce, but our bodies don’t necessarily benefit from this.
In fact, because of how many carbs we consume, we have started building a tolerance to a tremendously significant hormone that can make all the difference when making the lifestyle changes we desire. It’s insulin, and it can either be an asset or a massive hindrance depending on how we use it.
Insulin is supposed to regulate your blood sugar by clearing it quickly from you blood stream after a carb-filled meal. It shuttles your blood sugar to muscle tissue instead of letting it remain stagnant and get absorbed into fat cells (which skyrockets weight gain).
But, many times, this is not the case. In reality, when we eat loads and loads of processed carbs, we build a carbohydrate tolerance which then resists much-needed insulin. This insulin resistance then results in dramatically reduced fat burning, increased blood sugar levels, and increased fat storage.
What’s more, insulin resistance often precedes and causes type II diabetes in addition to any number of health problems including but not limited to Alzheimer’s, premature aging, heart disease, and even strokes.
It pays off to be careful with carbs, but so many of us don’t even know what’s supposed to happen when we eat them. Check out below for how our bodies are meant to break down carbohydrates:
Minimum Insulin Release
When your body is very sensitive to insulin, only a very small amount is required to properly transport glucose from your bloodstream to the appropriate storage sites. If this is the case with you, then you’re in great shape because the body has an intensely difficult time burning off fat with insulin in your bloodstream. As a rule of thumb, the less insulin you have, the better.
Glycogen Uptake
Glycogen, for our intents and purposes, is the stored carbohydrate in muscle tissue and the liver. Should these tissues be highly sensitive to insulin, then the lion’s share of glucose will be stored within them as an energy source. The point? If it’s stored as an energy reserve in your muscle tissue, then it’s not converted to fat—and that’s a good thing.
Minimum Fat Storage
By choosing to increase insulin sensitivity, your body will preserve carbs as energy in lean muscle and the liver, as opposed to unsightly body fat.
Basically, your body’s ability to break down carbs comes down to insulin sensitivity. So before you bite into that juicy burger, think about how it will likely affect your insulin levels. It’s an uphill battle to remain in control of our diet considering the prevalence of media and advertisement, but it’s a necessary battle to remain in control of our bodies.
In fact, because of how many carbs we consume, we have started building a tolerance to a tremendously significant hormone that can make all the difference when making the lifestyle changes we desire. It’s insulin, and it can either be an asset or a massive hindrance depending on how we use it.
Insulin is supposed to regulate your blood sugar by clearing it quickly from you blood stream after a carb-filled meal. It shuttles your blood sugar to muscle tissue instead of letting it remain stagnant and get absorbed into fat cells (which skyrockets weight gain).
But, many times, this is not the case. In reality, when we eat loads and loads of processed carbs, we build a carbohydrate tolerance which then resists much-needed insulin. This insulin resistance then results in dramatically reduced fat burning, increased blood sugar levels, and increased fat storage.
What’s more, insulin resistance often precedes and causes type II diabetes in addition to any number of health problems including but not limited to Alzheimer’s, premature aging, heart disease, and even strokes.
It pays off to be careful with carbs, but so many of us don’t even know what’s supposed to happen when we eat them. Check out below for how our bodies are meant to break down carbohydrates:
Minimum Insulin Release
When your body is very sensitive to insulin, only a very small amount is required to properly transport glucose from your bloodstream to the appropriate storage sites. If this is the case with you, then you’re in great shape because the body has an intensely difficult time burning off fat with insulin in your bloodstream. As a rule of thumb, the less insulin you have, the better.
Glycogen Uptake
Glycogen, for our intents and purposes, is the stored carbohydrate in muscle tissue and the liver. Should these tissues be highly sensitive to insulin, then the lion’s share of glucose will be stored within them as an energy source. The point? If it’s stored as an energy reserve in your muscle tissue, then it’s not converted to fat—and that’s a good thing.
Minimum Fat Storage
By choosing to increase insulin sensitivity, your body will preserve carbs as energy in lean muscle and the liver, as opposed to unsightly body fat.
Basically, your body’s ability to break down carbs comes down to insulin sensitivity. So before you bite into that juicy burger, think about how it will likely affect your insulin levels. It’s an uphill battle to remain in control of our diet considering the prevalence of media and advertisement, but it’s a necessary battle to remain in control of our bodies.
Healthy Hair, Healthy You
Have you ever watched a shampoo commercial and thought, How is her hair so smooth and shiny? No one’s hair actually looks like that! You wouldn’t be alone in those thoughts, but if you thought lustrous commercial-worthy hair was only possible thanks to professional products and some not-so-secret video editing, think again. Getting soft, strong, and shiny hair that’s healthy from root to tip is easier than you think. The cold winter weather and direct heat from the hair dryer can be especially rough on hair, but they’re not the only culprits. A poor diet may be the biggest offender, so simply adopting a healthy diet of nutrient-rich foods can do wonders for your hair, turning your dry, dull strands into the luminous locks you envy on tv.
Try incorporating these six healthy foods into your diet and marvel at the transformation of your hair!
1. Chicken Unless you’re a vegetarian, you should definitely be incorporating a healthy serving of chicken into your diet to get the protein benefits it provides. But any old chicken won’t fly. Unfortunately, chicken nuggets and fried chicken are high in fat and lose a lot of their health benefits. Try tossing some grilled chicken into a salad or with some healthy grains, such as quinoa or brown rice, on the side. Chicken is a high-protein food that is rich in the vitamins folate, B6, and B12 that are crucial for maintaining healthy hair. These vitamins aid in the production of red blood cells that deliver oxygen throughout the body so a deficiency of these vitamins could result in stunted hair growth, and weak and brittle strands.
2. Chickpeas Hummus not only tastes great, but it’s great for you as well! Chickpeas, whether ground up into hummus or tossed into a salad, are a perfect healthy snack. Chickpeas are a great protein substitute for vegetarians because they’re high in folate and zinc, as well as keratins, hardened proteins that keep hair strong and durable.
3. Peanuts Salted peanuts may be high in sodium, but eaten in moderation, they are full of the vitamins biotin and folate, both great for healthy hair. Biotin, another B vitamin, contributes to hair growth and a healthy scalp.
4. Beans You know that joke about beans being good for your heart, despite causing flatulence? Well, they really are good for you, and not just your heart, but your entire body…so maybe you should have listened to your mom when she tried to get you to eat your beans! Legumes are high in folate and iron, which both contribute to healthy hair. Folate helps produce red blood cells, while iron helps blood cells transport oxygen and other nutrients throughout the body, together working to prevent hair loss and strengthen your strands.
5. Kale You probably don’t need me to tell you healthy kale is. It’s one of those green superfoods touted by nutritionists everywhere for its health benefits. You should listen up, though, because kale is rich in iron and beta carotene. Beta carotene is converted by the body into Vitamin A, which is needed for cell growth and replenishment. Without enough vitamin A, you’ll be left with a dry, itchy scalp. Vitamin A also produces sebum, a natural oil put out by hair follicles, keeping hair well-hydrated.
6. Strawberries See, this list is really not so painful, right? Strawberries are a sweet, delicious fruit and they also happen to contain a high level of Vitamin C, which helps the keep collagen (the fiber that maintains hair structure) healthy. A deficiency in this vital vitamin can cause dryness and split ends, making hair more prone to breakage. Eight strawberries is all it takes to reach the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C, so fill up on strawberries or each just a couple and wash them down with a swig of orange juice, and you should be good to go!
Who knew that healthy hair and a healthy body were so closely related? A simple diet combining high-protein foods such as fruits, veggies, nuts, and legumes can transform your hair from blah to wow in a matter of days, while keeping you healthy at the same time.
Try incorporating these six healthy foods into your diet and marvel at the transformation of your hair!
1. Chicken Unless you’re a vegetarian, you should definitely be incorporating a healthy serving of chicken into your diet to get the protein benefits it provides. But any old chicken won’t fly. Unfortunately, chicken nuggets and fried chicken are high in fat and lose a lot of their health benefits. Try tossing some grilled chicken into a salad or with some healthy grains, such as quinoa or brown rice, on the side. Chicken is a high-protein food that is rich in the vitamins folate, B6, and B12 that are crucial for maintaining healthy hair. These vitamins aid in the production of red blood cells that deliver oxygen throughout the body so a deficiency of these vitamins could result in stunted hair growth, and weak and brittle strands.
2. Chickpeas Hummus not only tastes great, but it’s great for you as well! Chickpeas, whether ground up into hummus or tossed into a salad, are a perfect healthy snack. Chickpeas are a great protein substitute for vegetarians because they’re high in folate and zinc, as well as keratins, hardened proteins that keep hair strong and durable.
3. Peanuts Salted peanuts may be high in sodium, but eaten in moderation, they are full of the vitamins biotin and folate, both great for healthy hair. Biotin, another B vitamin, contributes to hair growth and a healthy scalp.
4. Beans You know that joke about beans being good for your heart, despite causing flatulence? Well, they really are good for you, and not just your heart, but your entire body…so maybe you should have listened to your mom when she tried to get you to eat your beans! Legumes are high in folate and iron, which both contribute to healthy hair. Folate helps produce red blood cells, while iron helps blood cells transport oxygen and other nutrients throughout the body, together working to prevent hair loss and strengthen your strands.
5. Kale You probably don’t need me to tell you healthy kale is. It’s one of those green superfoods touted by nutritionists everywhere for its health benefits. You should listen up, though, because kale is rich in iron and beta carotene. Beta carotene is converted by the body into Vitamin A, which is needed for cell growth and replenishment. Without enough vitamin A, you’ll be left with a dry, itchy scalp. Vitamin A also produces sebum, a natural oil put out by hair follicles, keeping hair well-hydrated.
6. Strawberries See, this list is really not so painful, right? Strawberries are a sweet, delicious fruit and they also happen to contain a high level of Vitamin C, which helps the keep collagen (the fiber that maintains hair structure) healthy. A deficiency in this vital vitamin can cause dryness and split ends, making hair more prone to breakage. Eight strawberries is all it takes to reach the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C, so fill up on strawberries or each just a couple and wash them down with a swig of orange juice, and you should be good to go!
Who knew that healthy hair and a healthy body were so closely related? A simple diet combining high-protein foods such as fruits, veggies, nuts, and legumes can transform your hair from blah to wow in a matter of days, while keeping you healthy at the same time.
