Why You Should Add These 10 Superfoods to Your Diet.

Superfoods are one of the trendiest topics in the health and nutrition world. It’s almost impossible to read any book or article about nutrition without the mention of them! But what exactly is a superfood and why are they so good for you?

The term “superfood” is a classification for foods that have the highest concentration of nutrients and vitamins. While you might immediately think of things like chia seeds or maca, which are added recipes to boost their nutrients, superfoods aren’t just additives! Many superfoods are actually vegetables, like kale or mushrooms, which can be eaten on their own!

For the most accurate information on superfoods, I went straight to the expert: David Wolfe. David is a health, eco, nutrition, and natural beauty expert as well as an advocate for the power of a plant-based diet. The first time I heard him speak was while I was a student at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where he talked about the benefits of raw food. I was instantly hooked!

David also speaks a lot about the healing powers of superfoods. Each superfood has a unique nutritional benefit, so you can pick which to add to your diet based on the nutritional benefits that you are looking for! Here are 10 of the most super superfoods to add to your diet for any and all health needs!

Spirulina or Blue-Green Algae

This superfood is a great addition to your morning green smoothie! According to David Wolfe, blue-green alga is the world’s richest source of complete protein. Spirulina, which is a type of blue-green algae that can be purchased at health food stores, provides minerals, phytonutrients, and enzymes. It’s a great dietary addition for healthy, strong skin and hair.

Camu Berry

The camu berry is a very good source of vitamin C. It can help your body to rebuild tissue, purify blood, enhance immunity, and increase energy.  Camu berries can be bought in powdered form and are an easy addition to raw desserts or smoothies.

Medicinal Mushrooms

These mushrooms include reishi, cordyceps, shiitake, and several others. Medicinal mushrooms are high in polysaccharides and have strong immune-enhancing components. They have even been effective in fighting off cancer cells. You can purchase them in powdered form or in capsules as a daily supplement, or as dried, whole mushrooms, which can be rehydrated or used in sauces.

Honey

Bee pollen and honey both have very high levels of vitamin B9 and all 21 essential amino acids, which makes them complete proteins. Both honey and bee pollen are also a great source of minerals, antioxidants, and probiotics. Bee pollen can be purchased and added to smoothies or taken as a supplement. Honey can also be eaten on its own or added to sweeten any dish, but for maximum health benefits, raw, local, organic honey should be used.

Seaweed

Seaweed and most other sea vegetables have tremendous health benefits. They contain nutrients that help to remove heavy metals and detoxify the body. They also provide minerals that can decrease the risk of cancer and regulate cholesterol. Dried and salted seaweed, called nori, is a great addition to any Japanese dish. Larger, dried pieces of seaweed, like kombu, can be added to boiling water for soup and removed before serving.

Hemp Seed

This smoothie addition is packed with protein. In fact, it contains 33% pure digestible protein. It is also rich in amino acids and vitamin E. Hemp seeds also  have a relatively bland taste, so adding a scoop to your morning berry smoothie won’t change the taste too much!

Raw Chocolate

Cacao is the superfood that everyone already loves to eat! Not only does it taste good, but raw chocolate is also the highest source of antioxidants found on earth. Plus, it helps to balance brain chemistry and boost your mood.

Avocado

This healthy food sometimes gets a bad rap due to its high fat content. In reality, the avocado is packed full of healthy fats including monosaturated fats and glutathione. These fats, along with nutrients like vitamin E, folate, and lutein help protect your body from terminal illnesses like cancer.  Spread some on your morning toast or whip up a batch of guacamole to stay healthy!

Kale

Calorie for calorie, leafy greens like kale provide more nutrients that any other food. They are full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals that help protect you against heart disease and cancer. To maximize the nutritional benefits, eat kale raw (be sure to massage it first!) or lightly steamed.

Goji Berries

Another berry that is very beneficial to your health! Goji berries can be purchased dried in either whole or powdered form. They are very high in antioxidants, iron, and vitamins. They also contain every type of essential amino acids. Goji berries can be snacked on plain, eaten with raw chocolate, or added to a smoothie! 

Do you have a favorite superfood?  How do you like to eat it? Tell us in the comments section below!

http://www.wellnesstoday.com/nutrition/why-you-should-add-these-10-superfoods-to-your-diet

Is the food we eat killing us?

The numbers in this video are alarming. Besides the community outreach program and the mass level healthy eating campaign, it is time for each one of us to rethink our food choices. We have to bring about changes and shifts in our food intake and the food we cook and fill up our plates with. These little changes can trigger positive outcomes for the whole nation. Here is how they could help:

- In managing weight and preventing obesity

- In reducing the risk of chronic disease

- In reducing the risk of early death

- In ensuring a long and disease -free life

The foods that form our daily intake can have many negative effects on our bodies; they make our bodies more prone to heart, gastric and weight problems. We may think we are eating healthy but are in for a huge surprise. Due to technological advances, everything nowadays is processed. This may make the food look scrumptious but this food, in fact, has little or no nutritional value. These everyday meals include:

1- Grains:

Photo:AFP

We have been eating polished rice, refined (white) atta (flour) and maida (finely milled flour). Processing grains may improve its texture, looks and taste but destroys the nutritional value like many important vitamins as well as the bran from the grains. To ensure its full nutritional value, you may want to switch to a healthier alternative such as: whole grains, bran rice, whole-wheat atta, whole grain barley, jai ka atta (oatmeal) and oats. These whole grains provide a substantial amount of intact vital nutrients like dietary fibres, several Vitamin-Bs’ (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and folate) and minerals like iron, magnesium and selenium.

2-Pulses:

Photo:AFP

We cook and eat washed/polished daals like Moong (green gram), Masoor (lentil seeds) and Maash (white daal) etcetera but by washing them, the companies industrially remove the husk and polish them which leave these pulses with zero nutritional value. Better alternatives to these types of daals are:  Chilka wali Moong (Green gram with husk), Masoor and Maash because these daals are known to be cooked with their husk providing maximum benefits of eating fibre.

We also eat chickpeas and black gram which are good in their original form. Continue eating these in the same form and anything else which is in its whole form. Other examples of pulses with their high nutritional value are red kidney beans, soya beans, black beans and several other beans. Do remember one-fourth of our meal plates should be lentils and beans.

3- Salads:

Photo:AFP

According to healthy standards, half of our meal should consist of vegetables and fruits. We, in Pakistan generally eat salads consisting of small portions of onions, tomatoes and cucumbers, and these are usually shared by the whole family! But switching to bigger servings of saladsmade with green leafy vegetables, iceberg lettuce, arugula (rocket salad), salad leaves, mustard seeds, methi (fenugreek), baby spinach and cabbage can be a more fulfilling and healthier choice. You can make your salad more enjoyable and tasty by adding bean sprouts and other raw vegetables with chunks of cottage cheese, depending on your choice to make the salad a side or a main course.  

Green leafy vegetables and fruits generally used in salads are rich in Vitamins A, C and K which help build strong bones and increase bone mass density. Green leafy vegetables are also known be rich sources of many flavonoids and phytochemicals that act as anti-oxidants and are used in preventive measures for many diseases including Cardiovascular heart disease and many types of cancers.

4- Vegetables:

Photo:AFP

Vegetable curries, shorba or bhaji are all cooked till the vegetables are discoloured. This is done in order to enjoy their optimum taste but leaves no room for nutrients. They might taste good but that is only because of the spices and oil they are cooked in. Make a healthy shift towards quick cooking techniques that preserve colour and nutrients at the same time. Select different coloured vegetables and cook them differently each time; you can sauté, stir fry, steam and grill vegetables using the same desi spices and herbs, making it a healthy move. In shorba salaam (broth) add vegetables in the last five minutes because, as stated before, vegetables can do without being heated for long periods of time.

5- Fried food and oil

Photo: AFP

To say that our meals consist of a lot of deep fried food would be an understatement. It is time we switched to a healthier lifestyle before it’s too late! A healthier alternative would be switching to shallow frying and consuming fried food as a rare treat. Even if you are a fan of fried foods, try cooking them in minimal volumes of oil because more oil does not mean better taste. We love dropping our food in boiling hot oil, followed by sizzling sounds and a whiff of aroma but the food becomes carcinogenic the moment it boils. We can get the same taste and texture cooking in hot, and not boiling, oil.

6- Sugar

Photo:AFP

Sugar and cocaine have the same traits; both are addictive and hazardous to our health. Scientists equate sugar with cocaine and consider it no less than a drug. Sugar is addictive, we crave it and all we consume are empty, harmful calories. We have become so used to adding white refined sugar to our teas and coffees – just think of the empty calories we are taking in! You must cut down your sugar intake if you want a healthy lifestyle. Starting having brown un-refined sugar, gurr/jaggery or if you can get maple syrup and stevia; these are sweet, contain nutrition and are not empty calories.

7- Fruits:

Photo:AFP

One fruit a day for an average adult is enough; there is no need to overdo it. Fresh juices have taken a popular spin since the advent of diets and detox regimes but it is still healthier to eat your fruits and not drink them. Crushing fruits for juicing purposes destroy the soluble fibres and fills your body, instead, with more sugar. This fruit fibre acts as a deterrent for the body and stops it from absorbing excess sugar. Read up on the nutrient content of fruits and try eating more of those that are high in nutrients but low on calories.

8- Proteins:

Photo:AFP

We eat fat-laden curries, meats, organ meats on an everyday basis but what we forget is that animal meat may be a great source of proteins, like any other meat, but they come with saturated fats and high intake of any of these proteins can result in obesity and many diseases. With that said, it is still important to take small portions, limited to 45-50 grams, of protein every day to maintain good health.

The key to becoming and staying healthy is to consume things is moderation.

Select good fat free and lean sources of protein. Try to adjust your protein intake by having more plant proteins and very limited lean animal proteins (excluding eggs). Pulses, soya beans, quinoa grains, nuts and seeds are all rich in protein and do not block arteries. Eggs, fish and seafood are the best form of protein and omega fatty acid intake. You can still treat yourself to protein with small amounts of fat occasionally!

9- Dairy

Photo: AFP

Too much of dairy is not the secret to keeping us healthy. Milk and milk products are believe to be healthy snacks but this is a popular misconception. Even though dairy products are rich in good fats and proteins, there is no need to consume too much. Our daily intake should be limited to two to three servings of low fat dairy including the ones we add in our teas, coffees and desserts. Having low fat skimmed milk, cottage cheese, strained or greek yogurt in meals is definitely an added benefit.

10- Water, juices and drinks

Globally-popular carbonated drinks contain chemicals that cause cancer, according to the California-based Centre for Environmental Health (CEH). Photo: AFP

The latest trend seen today is that of soda cans, bottled and packaged juices and sugary drinks. These drinks have become a significant part of our daily meals, available at local stores and school canteens. To be able to live an energetic lifestyle it is extremely important for us to scrap out all these carbonated drinks, bottled juices, vitamin water and the likes from our lives. Start drink water and you will see the benefit within a few weeks. 64 ounces of water a day should be the bare minimum.

So to summarise all the things needed to maintain a healthy and disease-free lifestyle, you must plan your meals and fill up your plate with:

• Nutrient-dense foods instead of calorie-dense foods
• Variety of fruits and vegetables in a rainbow of colours
• Low-fat or fat-free milk and dairy products
• Fibre-rich whole grains
• Protein foods that are low in fat

Balance calories:

• Eat calories according to your weight and height.
• Enjoy your food, eat more but in smaller portions. This increases your metabolism.
• Cut back on foods high in ‘SOFAS’ (solid fat and added sugars) and empty calories.

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/21519/is-the-food-we-eat-killing-us/

5 Lifestyle Changes Can Help Prevent 80 Percent of Heart Attacks

 

Heart disease claims the lives of about 1 million Americans every year, making it the leading cause of death for both men and women. The most common form of heart disease is coronary artery disease (CAD), which can lead to a heart attack.

This year alone, 920,000 Americans will have a heart attack, and close to half of them will occur suddenly without any prior warning signs.1

A heart attack occurs when blood flow to a part of your heart becomes blocked. This is often the result of plaque build-up inside your arteries (atherosclerosis), which may rupture and form a blood clot that blocks blood flow.

If the blockage isn't cleared quickly, a portion of your heart muscle will begin to die and be replaced with scar tissue, which can cause severe problems in the future.

For instance, a previous heart attack (especially if a large area of your heart was damaged) is a risk factor for sudden cardiac arrest,2 which is caused by abnormal heart rhythms and can be fatal.

5 Lifestyle Changes Could Prevent 80 Percent of Heart Attacks

It's remarkable that heart attacks are so common and cause so much pain (emotional and physical) and disability when they are nearly alwayspreventable. You're probably already aware that your lifestyle plays a role in your risk of heart disease (and heart attacks), but perhaps you've not yet taken it to heart…

If you need some motivation, consider a new study conducted at the Karolinska Institute. It found that engaging in five healthy lifestyle habits could prevent nearly 80 percent of first-time heart attacks in men. Even the researchers were surprised at how powerful a healthy lifestyle could be, noting:3

"It is not surprising that healthy lifestyle choices would lead to a reduction in heart attacks… What is surprising is how drastically the risk dropped due to these factors."

Still, this isn't the first time such a drastic risk reduction has been uncovered. The 2004 INTERHEART study, which looked at heart disease risk factors in over 50 countries around the world, found that 90 percent of heart disease cases are completely preventable by modifying diet and lifestyle factors.4

Unfortunately, most people are not using lifestyle habits to their advantage. The featured study involved men aged 45 to 79… and only 1 percent of them engaged in all five of the "low-risk" behaviors that could prevent a heart attack. So what are the five healthy lifestyle habits?

1. A healthy diet
2. Being physically active (walking/bicycling ≥40 min/day and exercising ≥1 h/week)
3. Healthy waist circumference (waist circumference <95 cm or 37.4 inches)
4. Moderate alcohol consumption (10 to 30 g/day)
5. No smoking

What Is a Healthy Diet for Your Heart?

Most of the heart-healthy lifestyle habits are self-explanatory, but the term "healthy diet" is ambiguous… and when it comes to heart health, it is probablynot what you think. Contrary to popular belief, refined carbs, sugar, andprocessed foods are the real enemy—not the saturated fats found in foods such as butter, lard, or eggs.

Part of the confusion on fats revolves around its impact on LDL cholesterol, often referred to as "bad" cholesterol. According to the conventional view, high LDL is correlated with heart disease, and saturated fat does tend to raise LDL. However, we now understand that there are TWO kinds of LDL cholesterol particles:

• Small, dense LDL cholesterol
• Large, "fluffy" LDL cholesterol

The latter is not "bad" at all. Research has confirmed that large LDL particles do not contribute to heart disease. The small, dense LDL particles, however, do contribute to the build-up of plaque in your arteries, and trans fat increases small, dense LDL. Saturated fat, on the other hand, increases large, fluffy—and benign—LDL.

More importantly, research has also shown that small, dense LDL particles are increased by eating refined sugar and carbohydrates, such as bread, bagels, and soda. Together, trans fats and refined carbs do far more harm than saturated fat ever possibly could.

Unfortunately, when the cholesterol hypothesis took hold, the food industry switched over to low-fat foods, replacing healthy saturated fats like butter and lard with harmful trans fats (vegetables oils, margarine, etc.), and lots of refined sugar and processed fructose.

Ever-rising obesity and heart disease rates clearly illustrate the ramifications of this flawed approach. I recently interviewed Dr. Fred Kummerow on this topic. If you missed it, I highly recommend taking a moment to listen to it now.

A True Heart-Healthy Diet Plan

If you want to protect your heart, you need to avoid trans fats by eliminating all processed foods (which would also include most restaurant food). You also need to address your insulin and leptin resistance, which is the result of eating a diet too high in sugars and grains. To lower your heart disease risk, you need to adhere to the following suggestions, which are explained in detail in mynutrition plan.

1. Avoid sugar, processed fructose, and grains. This effectively means you must avoid most processed foods
2. Eat a healthy diet of whole foods, ideally organic, and replace the grain carbs with:
• Large amounts of vegetables
• Low-to-moderate amount of high-quality protein (think organically raised, -pastured animals)
• High-quality healthy fat (saturated and monounsaturated from animal and tropical oil sources). Most people actually need upward of 50-85 percent fats in their diet for optimal health—a far cry from the 10 percent currently recommended. Sources of healthy fats to add to your diet include:

Avocados	Butter made from raw grass-fed organic milk	Raw dairy	Organic pastured egg yolks
Coconuts andcoconut oil	Unheated organic nut oils	Raw nuts, such as almonds, pecans, macadamia, and seeds	Grass-fed meats

Balancing your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio is also key for heart health, as these fatty acids help build the cells in your arteries that make the prostacyclin that keeps your blood flowing smoothly. Omega-3 deficiency can cause or contribute to very serious health problems, both mental and physical, and may be a significant underlying factor in up to 96,000 premature deaths each year. You can do this by avoiding most vegetable oils and increasing your intake of small wild-caught oily fish (sardines and anchovies) or taking a high-quality krill oil supplement.

Should You Eat More Fruit for Your Heart?

A study presented this year at the ESC Congress in Barcelona, Spain found that people who ate fruit daily had a 40 percent lower risk of heart disease, and a 32 percent lower risk of death from any cause, than those who did not. Further, the more fruit they ate, the lower their risk of heart disease became.5 Fruit can be an excellent source of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and other phytochemicals, many of which have heart-healthy anti-inflammatory effects. For instance, research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ)6 found that simply eating an apple a day might help prevent cardiovascular-related deaths in those over 50 to a similar degree as using a daily statin.7

I would caution against eating too much fruit, however, especially the sweeter fruits that are commonplace today. Many of the most beneficial phytonutrients found in fruits actually have bitter, sour, or astringent taste, and are found in the skin and seeds. To satisfy the modern palate, farmers have, throughout time, opted to selectively breed the sweetest varieties, which makes fruit far less nutritious than it once was. Still, carefully chosen fruit – such as organic apples, blueberries, or cherries – can certainly be beneficial when eaten in moderation. Fruit contains varying levels of fructose, and you will want to avoid over-consuming fructose to protect your heart. My recommendations on fruit (and fructose consumption) are as follows:

1. If you're insulin or leptin resistant (are overweight, diabetic, hypertensive, or have high cholesterol), which includes about 80 percent of Americans, then it would be advisable for you to limit your fruit intake. As a general rule, I recommend limiting your fructose intake to a maximum of 15 grams of fructose per day from ALL sources, includingwhole fruit. You can find a chart of fructose levels in common fruits here.
2. If you are not insulin/leptin resistant, (are normal weight without diabetes, hypertension, or high cholesterol) andregularly engage in strenuous physical activity or manual labor, then higher fructose intake is unlikely to cause any health problems. In this case, you can probably eat more fruit without giving it much thought.
3. However, if you are in category two above, you might benefit from a further refinement. Fruit will still increase your blood sugar and many experts believe this will increase your protein glycosylation. So my approach is to consume the fruit typically after a workout, as your body will use the sugar as fuel rather than raise your blood sugar.
4. Additionally, if you're an endurance athlete, you can probably get away with eating fairly large amounts of fruits since your body will use most of the glucose during exercise, and it won't be stored as fat. (That said, I still believe athletes would be well-advised to consider becoming fat adapted rather than relying on quick sugars).
5. If you're still unsure of just how stringent you need to be, get your uric acid levels checked and use that as a guide. 

Diabetes Drug Increases Heart Disease Risk

Metformin, a drug that makes your body's tissues more sensitive to insulin, is one of the most common diabetes drugs on the market. However, new research shows that among people with hypothyroidism, the use of metformin was associated with an increased risk of low thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels.8 If your TSH levels become too low, it may lead to serious damage, including heart problems such as atrial fibrillation, which in turn could lead to congestive heart failure.9 Separate research has also shown that treating type 2 diabetes with glucose-lowering drugs actually showed the potential to increaseyour risk of death from heart-related and all other causes. Researchers noted:10

"The overall results of this meta-analysis do not show a benefit of intensive glucose lowering treatment on all cause mortality or cardiovascular death. A 19% increase in all cause mortality and a 43% increase in cardiovascular mortality cannot be excluded."

These risks are typically unnecessary, as type 2 diabetes is easy to reverse without drugs. If you want the short version… simply swapping processed foods for whole organic foods lower in sugar and sugar-forming carbohydrates -- combined with a few minutes of regular high-intensity exercises -- will quickly put you on the road to reversing diabetes. See my nutrition plan for a healthy eating guide and, for more specifics, read my diabetes prevention (and treatment) plan here.

A Warning About Beta-Blockers and Scientific Misconduct

Beta-blockers are drugs commonly used in the treatment of high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. They work primarily by blocking the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and epinephrine (adrenaline) from binding to beta receptors, thereby dilating blood vessels, which reduces your heart rate and blood pressure. Until recently, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) recommended using beta-blockers in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. Earlier this year, however, researchers calculated that this guideline, which they found was based on "questionable and probably fraudulent research," may have caused up to 800,000 deaths over five years in Europe alone.11

The beta-blocker guidelines were based largely on research done by a scientist who was fired for scientific misconduct in 2011, and who was also the chairman of the committee that drafted the European treatment guideline. You would think that once this was known, immediate action would result. However, it took two years before the ESC withdrew the beta-blocker recommendation once the scandal had unraveled. This is absolutely scandalous as nearly a half of a million people died unnecessarily due to the delay.

In that two-year span, many European clinicians may have felt that their hands were tied, as failing to follow guidelines can lead to being penalized—even if the doctor knows the guidelines are likely to do more harm than good. Last month, a revised version of the article was published,12 which went into even more detail of the harms that occur when fraudulent research is published and put into clinical practice… even years after the fraud is uncovered. As Forbes reported:13

"They write about a culture of neglect in which few if any participants have anything to gain by finding or reporting scientific misconduct. They cite numerous examples in which misconduct has been alleged but the responsible actors– authors, home institutions, journals, and medical societies– have responded in only the most minimal and nonaggressive fashion. The portrait they paint is of a scientific and medical establishment devoted to not rocking the boat."

Avoid Becoming Another Heart Attack Statistic

There are many strategies that can protect your heart and virtually eliminate your risk of heart disease. Please don't wait until you've suffered from a heart attack to take action because the most common symptom of heart disease is sudden death, so you will be dead before you even know you have a problem. Do so now in order to prevent any long-lasting damage:

• Eat unprocessed saturated animal fats, and ignore the media, as you will benefit from these fats. Many may also benefit from increasing the healthy fat in their diet to 50-85 percent of daily calories
• Avoid all sugars, including processed fructose and grains if you are insulin and leptin resistant. It doesn't matter if they are conventional or organic, as a high-sugar diet promotes insulin and leptin resistance, which is a primary driver of heart disease
• Exercise regularly, as physical activity along with a healthy diet of whole, preferably organic, foods may be just as potent—if not more potent—than cholesterol-lowering drugs. Use a combination of high-intensity interval training, strength training, stretching, and core work.
• Avoid excess sitting; aim for three hours a day or less of sitting and try to take 10,000 steps a day (exclusive of your exercise).
• Avoid statins, as the side effects of these drugs are numerous, while the benefits are debatable. In my view, typically, the only group of people who may benefit from a cholesterol-lowering medication are those with genetic familial hypercholesterolemia. This is a condition characterized by abnormally high cholesterol, which tend to be resistant to lifestyle strategies like diet and exercise
• Optimize your vitamin D levels, either through appropriate sun exposure, a tanning bed, or as last resort an oral vitamin D3 supplement
• Regularly walk barefoot to ground with the earth. When you do, free electrons are transferred from the earth into your body, and this grounding effect is one of the most potent antioxidants we know of, and helps alleviate inflammation throughout your body
• Manage your stress daily. My favorite tool for stress management is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/10/06/5-healthy-lifestyle-changes.aspx 

The Best Foods to Eat with Your Favorite Workouts.

Hey LC.com readers, it’s Shira, your resident dietitian-nutritionist! Since the New Year is often synonymous with reigniting healthy routines, I thought I’d offer some advice for refueling post-workout. Whatever exercise you’re doing (hot yoga, resistance training, barre classes, dance cardio or endurance running), you want to make sure you’re eating foods that will help repair muscle fibers and replenish glycogen stores (your muscles’ main energy source), which are depleted after strenuous activity. You do this with ample, high-quality protein, combined with a carbohydrate source that the body converts quickly into energy.

For best results, these snacks should be eaten 15-30 minutes after your workout, so ideally it’s portable and not too complicated! Below are my picks for the best foods you should be eating with each workout…

For hot yoga…

Have maple water + 1/4 cup roasted and salted nuts.

Although coconut water seems to get all the attention these days, maple water is serving up some healthy competition. I tried the Canadian beverage back in August, and I’ve been fairly obsessed ever since! With half the sugar of coconut water (only 4g), and nutrients like manganese, iron and calcium, maple water makes for an A+ option for replenishing fluids after a sweaty yoga session. The protein and sodium from the salted nuts help restore fluid balance and assist muscle repair.

For resistance training, pilates or a barre class…

Have hard-boiled eggs and 1 date.

Eggs are one of the richest sources of leucine, which is responsible for triggering protein synthesis in muscle, while the healthy sugars from the date delivers a speedy energy boost. Do yourself a favor and hard boil a dozen eggs Sunday evening, so you have them ready to go Monday morning.

For a dance cardio class…

Have an apple and 2 tablespoons of nut butter.

Vitamin C-rich apples help support the healthy cartilage needed for joint shock-absorption during all those flying attitudes, while fructose helps restore glycogen stores. If you’re concerned about how to store this snack, look no further. Lunchbox adaptors convert canning jars into vertical bento boxes, making it easier to transport condiments like nut butter, without fear of soggy ingredients (or almond butter stained sports bras).

For long distance running and endurance sports…

Have avocado toast on whole grain raisin bread.

Avocado toast combo provides the perfect mix of complex carbs (whole grain bread), simple carbs (raisins) and healthy fats (avocado). When combined, these will help keep blood sugar in check after an intense workout. And the omega-fatty acid rich avocados are also great in terms of counteracting oxidative damage caused by demanding physical activity.

Do you have a favorite post-sweat snack?

Enjoy!

http://laurenconrad.com/blog/2015/01/healthy-habits-the-best-foods-to-eat-with-your-favorite-workouts/