It’s natural that people feel down from time to time. Stress, dismal circumstances, or simply bad weather – there are a lot of reasons why our mood spirals downward. However, there are ways to prevent that. A nutritious diet and regular exercise will do wonders for your state of mind. If you don’t have time to hit the gym, then you can start working out at home. We provide a natural way to uplift your mood whenever you feel bad – by eating well.
Chocolate
Most people link chocolate with happiness, and for a good reason. Some people even say that the feeling of being loved is equal to eating a lot of chocolate, which is somewhat true. Anyhow, let’s get down to science – what does natural dark chocolate do to our system when eaten?
Plainly said, it makes the stress build up at a slower pace. Dark chocolate reduces the stress hormone called cortisol, so it’s only natural that we feel good after going at it. Strictly speaking, 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate every few days and you’re sure to feel good.
Our Recommendation to lift your mood instantly: Dark chocolate can be eaten whenever. Take 1.4 ounces before or after your meal, but even if you don’t feel like eating at all, take a bite.
Bread and food that’s high in carbohydrates
If you go with this, you might not such rapid results as with chocolate. However, eating a lot of carbs will improve your mood by a long shot substantially. It’s not so obvious, but there’s a lot of science in eating food which is high in carbs.
The leaching of serotonin (which is a special chemical that makes us feel happy and relaxed) is prescribed to these foods, and if you’re a bodybuilder or into fitness, don’t listen to the controversial myths about carbs being bad for you – they’re good for you.
Our Recommendation to lift your mood instantly: Combine – eat a dish that’s comprised of bread and other food that’s high in carbohydrates such as beans or yogurt.
Whole foods, fruits, and vegetables
This category of feel-good-food is entirely up to you – there are people who don’t like certain vegetables, but it’s a different story with fruits. The reason why this category of food is certain to lift your mood is because of the vitamins and antioxidants.
Going into the science mode, Omega-3 acid (fish have these in abundance), Folate and B vitamin (beans), and other vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables directly affect our neurotransmitters.
Simply speaking, by eating healthy we purify our body from all the negative factors which can dampen our mood.
Our Recommendation to lift your mood instantly: A salad is a vitamin bomb – doesn’t matter if it’s fruit or vegetables.
Fish
We mentioned fish in the earlier section, but it deserves more respect since it’s one of the foods that affect our mood greatly. The science behind it is that our body can’t produce the Omega-3’s on its own and it’s one of the key factors when it comes to our mood. Dopamine & Serotonin go hand in hand with feeling good.
If we’re to break down the exact process which happens upon the ingestion of fish in our organism, we could say that we receive a major boost of these chemicals which lifts us up as the result.
Our Recommendation to lift your mood instantly: Salmon tastes really good and it will definitely improve your mood. If you’re out of fish and too lazy to go out and buy some, even by seasoning other food with fish oil might do the trick.
Saffron
Even though it can’t be considered as food, Saffron can be very good for seasoning your food. Originally, it’s a flower which can be powered to produce an edible spice for your meals. Saffron doesn’t provide us with a mood-boost, but it clears the way for our neurotransmitters which makes the feel-good chemicals travel faster, thus reaching the brain more easily.
Our Recommendation to lift your mood instantly: Spice your food up with some saffron powder and enjoy.
Coconut
Coconut and Coconut Oil are perfect for when you feel under the weather. You might be surprised at the notion that the coconut is able to lift our spirits with as much as its scent. Smelling it reduces the pace at which your heart pulses while ingesting it also reduces stress and improves the blood circulation.
Our Recommendation to lift your mood instantly: As mentioned before, you can lift your spirits up by simply smelling a coconut.
Tea
It’s pretty common knowledge that drinking tea helps soothe the nerves. That feeling of comfort you get by taking a sip of tea is a result of increased alertness in your brain which was produced by Theanine – a kind of amino acid that is found in most teas. It would be even better if you combine it with a cup of coffee because the caffeine works wonders in unison with theanine.
Our Recommendation to lift your mood instantly: A cup of tea in the morning and in the evening a day and you will feel blessed.
HoneyColony redefines nutritional energy with a new super superfood called Equilibrium. Our specially formulated raw honey-based blend consists of organic and wildcrafted ingredients—cultivated with the highest standards to bring you energy and superfood yumminess with every serving.
To create this blend, we teamed up with former Bee Panacea formulator, Gosia Reed. Equilibrium is similar to Bee Panacea, but with turbo-boosted ingredients and quality control. Only the finest and most organic ingredients are used for Equilibrium, which we believe is the finest superfood mix available in the market today.
At the core of Equilibrium is raw honey. Eleven other potent superfoods are added—each one organic or wildcrafted, boasting numerous health benefits. The total 12 ingredients bring harmony to a life that faces any stress, toxins, and negative energy.
Equilibirum Superfood is made in small batches to ensure high quality, exact measurements, and consistency in every jar. To ensure our product never loses integrity, we use high-quality Biophotonic jars that only let sunlight in to improve the substances in each formula.
Equilibrium comes in three different flavors and offers three different functions. The first one, Energy, was designed for athletes or anyone who lives an active lifestyle. By naturally stimulating the nervous system, enhancing brain function, supporting muscle relief, and providing anti-inflammation support, each jar will keep you in the active zone. For those of us who who seize life in its whirlwind of activity, Equilibrium Energy offers the support you need for a mental and physical edge.
Phytoplankton – Phyotplankton is rich in trace elements and micro-nutrients, making it one of the most nutrient-dense superfoods on the planet. This helps support cell regeneration, repair DNA, reduce inflammation,boost immune system response, combat free radicals, and support organ, muscle, and joint function.
Double- Directory Adaptogenic Herbs – Adaptogenic herbs rebalance our body when we’re faced with environmental stressors, toxins from the food we eat, or stress from toxic people. They help stimulate the nervous system for a boost of energy without negative stimulant side effects.
ORMUS – Ormus is an element-rich substance that was discovered in 1975. A few of it’s many suggested health benefits include boosting immune function, increasing energy and strength, supporting healthier sleep, enhancing mood, improving brain function and promoting healthy pH balance.
Suggested Use: You only need a teaspoon a day of this super potent superfood blend, preferably on an empty stomach. However you can add it to a smoothie and have a teaspoon pre-workout. One 12 ounce jar should last you a month with a teaspoon per day. Extremely POTENT.
Why We Love It:
Superfood formula comprised of 12 inidvidual superfoods
Provides long-lasting, cellular energy
Increases stamina and endurance
Improves oxygen utilization for enhanced performance
Supports physical adaptability
Boosts electrolytes
Boosts anti-oxidants
Supports DNA and cellular repair
Enhances brain function
Anti-inflammation, anti-bacterial, anti-viral support
All bee products come from family-owned California farms
High quality jar protects from negative influences of light
Each batch receives Certificate of Analysis to ensure highest quality
Non-GMO
All ingredients certified Organic or wild-crfafted
Free of added sugar, gluten, soy, nuts, wheat, herbicides, and pesticides
PACKAGING
To preserve the sublime quality of the our products, we choose the highest quality glass jars. Comparable to the packaging materials available on the market, these innovative jars sufficiently protect the sensitive products from the quality-lessening influences of light. The Biophotonic jars work like natural filters, only letting in the sunlight that protects and improves the substances in each formula, making our products a trustworthy and essential food supplement in every household.
CONSISTENCY
Please note that due to the fact that we work only with raw, wild-crafted bee products and different types of honey, the consistency of the product may vary ( from more liquid to more solid) from jar to jar. It is normal to see some small particles on the top of the jar, these are simply herbs and superfoods. We recommend mixing the product before first use.
CUPON CODE: CLEAN
Six Plant-Based Foods You Should Try Today
By Vanessa Chamberlin
The glorious thing about plant-based eating is that your grocery store or farmer’s market is full of an incredible array of foods, flavors, and textures that are just waiting to be discovered. Even a typical grocery store has a produce section that carries seasonal and ethnic foods that often get passed-over, but are convenient, inexpensive, and yummy.
If you’re stuck in a rut of getting the same lettuce-tomato-onion-type foods that you always get, take a walk! Look at some of the other plant-based foods and see how you can work them into your diet.
Not sure where to start? In the spirit of a number that signifies longevity, here are six plant-based foods I totally love that are healthy and tasty, but not part of the average diet. What are some delicious food discoveries you’ve made and put on your grocery list each week?
Jicama
Jicama, also known as a Mexican potato, is a big, heavy, brown fruit that really does look like a weird potato. The excellent thing about jicama is that it is very crisp and crunchy, but has a mild flavor like a cucumber. Jicama can be sliced and used with dips as an alternative to chips, eaten in sticks like any other crunchy veggie, or added to salads for a snappy texture without confusing the flavor profile. It’s a great summer side dish served with a spritz of lime juice and a dusting of chili powder if you’d like a little kick!
Bok Choy
In Asian cuisine, bok choy is a staple! For most of us, though, we’d never think to work bok choy into a dish, which is unfortunate because of how versatile and healthy this veggie is. Bok choy can be added to a salad, but it can also be eaten like you’d eat celery with a little hummus or nut butter. It can also be added to soups or stir-frys, or braised or grilled on its own, and given a little seasoning to become a brilliant side dish.
Pluots
Pluots are an incredible, juicy little snack that comes from mixing a plum with an apricot. They’re so good! Plums aren’t terribly uncommon, but not a lot of people are familiar with pluots. It’s a shame because they’re easy to carry in a lunch for you or for your children, they’re a little sweet with the benefits of both plums and apricots, and they’re another inexpensive fruit. They might be seasonal depending on where you live, but look for a fruit that’s a little smaller than a plum, and more yellow, in the plum area of your grocery store.
Rutabaga
Rutabaga is popular in some countries around the world, but it frequently gets forgotten in the US. With a little bit of a punch like a radish, rutabaga is an awesome root vegetable. If you like the spicy snap of it, it’s great to be eaten as a raw veggie. Others would enjoy rutabagas along with things like potatoes, parsnips, and squash in a cold-weather harvest stew!
Nopal/Cactus
A lot of people feel strange about eating cactus, but prickly pear cactus (also known as nopal) tastes great and is SO good for you! It can have positive effects on blood sugar and managing diabetes, and it can help lower cholesterol. I suggest buying it cleaned already because the spines can be difficult to deal with if you’re new to the food, but many average grocery stores (and I imagine every Mexican or Hispanic market) carry cleaned nopal ready to cook. Similar in texture to something like a green pepper, nopal is great in dishes like scrambled tofu, or really anything sautéed. It tastes like other green veggies (think green peppers or green beans) with just a little lemony tartness. It goes really well with spicy dishes.
Dandelion Greens
The wonderful world of leafy greens leaves us with plenty of options at pretty much every grocery store, but dandelion greens aren’t something most people eat every day. The green leaves are great in salads and slaws, but they can also be boiled like spinach or sautéed and seasoned. They’re just a little bitter, but fun to try, and you can even forage for them if you’re really up for an adventure!
When people tell me that they don’t do plant-based eating because they don’t want to limit themselves, I have to laugh. People limit themselves all the time! Even with great options and an endless menu of flavors and colors, most people fall into a routine of eating the same things all the time. This is your wake-up call to use plant-based eating as a way to EXPAND your diet, and bring in fantastic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and beans that you otherwise never would have enjoyed.
Vanessa Chamberlin is a Certified Holistic Health Practitioner and Lifestyle Coach and author of The Fire-Driven Life: How to Ignite the Fire of Self-Worth, Health, and Happiness with a Plant-Based Diet. For more information, please visit, www.vanessachamberlin.com and connect with her on Twitter, @vkchamberlin.
I absolutely love what uber is doing #uberhungerto check out below what they are doing to help hunger in Toronto.
At Uber, we want to do our bit to help - and help in a way that only Uber can. That's why we've partnered with local restaurant The Goods, along with food rescue organization Second Harvest, to bring meals to those in need on what we're calling #UberHUNGERTO day.
Here's how we kicked it off:
Pay it forward by popping open your Uber app between 11am-2pmtoday on Friday, September 25th, to order a meal through UberEATS. We'll match your order and will ensure someone in need receives lunch.
This is not a one day thing. Uber is committed to aid hunger relief by donating any extra UberEATS meals to local food banks daily.
Sugar - Why You Should Cut It Out Of Your Diet
What a great topic to discuss on Valentines Day. A staple of the day: SUGAR.
Did you know that today’s 12-ounce soda can contain up to ten teaspoons of sugar and that the average American eats 22.7 teaspoons of sugar a day (National Geographic, 2013). The reason the consumption is so high is because sugar is added to processed food to enhance both the flavour and texture. I suggest staying away from processed sugary foods all together, but often times this is hard to do. When you grocery shop the best way to avoid processed foods is to stick to the outside of the store and stay away from the aisles.
According to Phycology Today sugar can be addictive and have severe effects on the brain and body. “Sugar leads to dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens – an area associated with motivation, novelty, and reward. This is the same brain region implicated in response to cocaine and heroin.” How ridiculous is it to think that eating sugar stimulates the same response as an illegal drug does.
Fructose and sugars are also bad for you because they are processed in the liver and turned into fats. These fats can build up and also enter the blood stream. This can cause health risks that include obesity, hypertension and diabetes. According to AMA Wire these are all prevalent problems affecting the greater part of the American population. “Obesity impacts one in three Americans and is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes,” said AMA President .
If you are addicted to sugar there are a lot of affordable alternatives to sugar that are readily available and that I use regularly. These alternatives are available at grocery stores, health food stores, specialty food shops or even some corner stores. These alternatives include; Stevia, Xylitol, Coconut Sugar, Maple Syrup, Natural Honey and Brown Rice Syrup. Some times they can be an adjustment and when used in recipes and drinks you may not even notice the difference.
Do your body a favour and try to cut out as much processed and refined sugars that you can. Start by slowly replacing refined sugars and sweeteners and eventually your sweet tooth won’t even notice the difference.
Sex Boosts Your Immune System. Yep you read that right!
According to WebMd having sex often actually increases your immune system and “Sexually active people take fewer sick days,” says Yvonne K. Fulbright, PhD a sexual health expert. People who have sex have a higher immune system. This system protects us from germs and viruses. According to the article, researchers at Wilkes University found that college students who had sex once or twice a week had higher levels of the a certain antibody compared to students who had sex less often. So you should hit the sheets and not only make time for your relationship but tell your partner that it is flu and cold season and that this will help keep you healthy all winter long! It also burns calories so add it in for your workout routine!
Do you suffer from pain in your joints, arthritis, injuries or stiff joints? Try these 10 natural anti-inflammatory foods in your diet for a few weeks. I guarantee that you will start to notice a change.
1. Alaskan Salmon (wild is best)
2. Fresh whole fruits, vegetables
3. Bright multi-colored vegetables
4. Green tea
5. Olive oil
6. Lean poultry
7. Nuts, legumes and seeds
8. Dark green leafy vegetables
9. Old fashioned oatmeal
10. Spices, especially Turmeric and Ginger
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