The Best Foods to fight inflammation

by Minx life

Whether it's aches and pains, stiffness, headaches, indigestion, stomachaches, yeast imbalances, low energy, weight gain, or free radical damage, it often goes back to two things, acidity and inflammation.

To understand how acidity plays a role in producing bodily inflammation, you first have to understand pH, or the measure of a solution's acidity or alkalinity from 0 to 14, 0 being the most acidic, and 14 being the most alkaline. Our bodies need a very specific pH balance to function and maintain homeostasis. Even slight changes to the pH balance of our blood, for instance, can be extremely problematic.

Our grocery stores and diets are overrun with highly acidic foods, Caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, sugars, refined flours, pasteurized dairy, animal protein are all highly acidic forming in the body, and if you are eating those on a regular basis, chances are you may experience at least some sort of chronic symptom of inflammation. Even natural processes of the body produce acidic byproducts. Stress also contributes greatly to an acidic environment.

So what can we do? How do we reverse the effects of these highly acidic foods and actions? Just as food plays a role in producing an acidic environment, it can be transformative and healing to the body, reducing inflammation and creating an environment that supports health.

The goal should be to consume 80 percent alkaline foods and 20 percent acidic foods. Not all acidic foods are unhealthy necessarily; however, extremely acidic foods like those stated above should be greatly minimized. Fresh fruits and vegetables that have been seasoned and cooked should be the focus of your diet.

Below is a list of some of the most anti-inflammatory foods you should be adding to your diet daily to restore alkalinity and relieve inflammation. Fight inflammation in the kitchen, not the Pharmacy, with:

• Green leafy vegetables

• Turmeric

• Fish Oils(Salmon and Sardines)

• Berries

• Walnuts

• Bone broth

• Coconut oil

• Avocados

• Olive Oil

• Ginger

• Dark Chocolate 70 percent and higher

• Beets

• Broccoli

Remember 80/20... That is the rule to being healthy but you can still enjoy a couple of Margaritas with chips and Guacamole every now and then:-)

5 Unexpected Health promoting Benefits of Yoga

by Minx life

From relieving stress to boosting your brain power, here’s how yoga can improve not just your strength but your well-being, too.

For 5,000 years, hardcore yoga practitioners have been touting yoga’s mental and physical powers. Luckily, you don’t have to be an expert to reap the benefits- adding just a few poses to your daily routine can help your health in all kinds of unexpected ways.

On a physical level, yoga helps improve flexibility, strength, balance, and endurance. On an energetic level, yoga teaches you how to cope better with stress by cultivating a sense of ease in both active and passive poses. On a psychological level, yoga helps to cultivate mindfulness by shifting your awareness to the sensations, thoughts, and emotions that accompany a given pose or exercise.

Research continues to unearth even more health-boosting benefits of various types of yoga- and here are 5 of them.

Emotional Health Boost

All exercise has been shown to help people with depression to feel better, and yoga is no exception. Studies suggest that yoga could benefit those living with depression, schizophrenia, other psychiatric conditions, and sleep problems.

Practicing in a group setting, such as a yoga class, stimulates the production of oxytocin, the love and bonding hormone. Practicing mindfulness through yoga and meditation also results in higher serotonin levels(the happiness hormone), and long-term practitioners have shown more mass in the ares of the brain associated with contentment.

Back Pain Treatment

Multiple studies have found yoga to be a more effective treatment for chronic back pain than usual care. In a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, people living with chronic lower back pain reported better back function, though similar levels of pain, after a few months pf practicing yoga.

In another study of 80 individuals with chronic lower back pain, the group that participated in just one week of yoga showed less disability and greater flexibility than patients who completed other physical exercises. Even if you don’t have chronic pain, yoga’s stretching exercises can improve your spinal flexibility.

Hangover Relief

After a night of drinking, yoga may be the last thing on your mind, but it’s exactly what you should do.

Yoga is a great way to detox your entire system. It also helps with metabolism. The poses 'shoulder stand’, ‘plow’, and ‘fish’ work on the thyroid gland and improve metabolism, thus getting rid of a hangover faster. Reversing blood flow and bringing more blood to the brain creates balance in the body. It helps you burn fat, and the increased blood flow from yoga might even help blast cellulite away!

Arthritis Fighter

When it comes to the benefits of different types of yoga, a study indicated that iyengar yoga, known for it’s use of props like belts, blocks, and other positioning aids, might help people with rheumatoid arthritis. This pilot study of eight people with RA showed that a six-week yoga program improved pain, pain disability, mental health, depression, vitality, and self efficacy. Other types of yoga might help arthritis symptoms, too. Arthritis loves gentle movement and heat, so styles like bikram or gentle yoga can be very beneficial.

Insomnia Buster

According to a recent study that looked at several complementary and alternative medicine strategies for treating insomnia, yoga was one of the most effective approaches for getting a good night’s sleep.

When experiencing insomnia, practice relaxing asanas or postures, such as forward fold (uttanasana) or lying on your back with your feet up the wall. This will help with circulation as well as calming your body and, most importantly, your mind.

Give it a try!!!

Benefits of Rebounding

by Minx life

Rebounding is an exercise I do daily for my immune system and circulation. If you aren’t familiar with it, rebounding is basically jumping on a mini trampoline either in gentle bounces where your feet don’t leave the trampoline or in complete jumps where you rise 6 inches from the surface.

Many types of exercise are done to target specific muscles or just to increase cardiovascular function. Rebounding is unique since it uses the forces of acceleration and deceleration and can work on every cell in the body in a unique way.

When you bounce on a rebounder (mini-trampoline), several actions happen:

• An acceleration action as you bounce upward

• A split second weightless pause at the top

• A deceleration at an increased G-force

• Impact to the Rebounder

• Repeat

Here are the benefits:

• Boosts lymphatic drainage and immune function

• Great for skeletal system and increasing bone mass

• Helps improve digestion

• Helps to improve cellulite

• More than twice as effective as running without the extra stress on the ankles and knees

• Helps improve balance by stimulating the vestibule in the middle ear

• Helps to aid in weight loss

• Rebounding helps circulate oxygen through the body to increase energy

• Rebounding is fun!

Personally, I jump on the rebounder for 15 minutes and then dry brush my skin(both are good for avoiding cellulite). I also jump on it a few times a day when I remember, especially if I’ve been sitting at my computer all day. It’s very compact so I keep it in my bedroom so it’s accessible.

There are a lot of models on the Market so look for good quality springs that will help reduce the impact on your joints.

PAPAYA FOR GOOD DIGESTION

by minx life

While eating fruit with a meal is never recommended as it can have a negative effect on your digestion, papaya is one of the few exceptions.

Papaya fruit is a rich source of valuable proteolytic enzymes, such as papain, chymopapain, caricain and glycl endopeptidase, that can greatly aid in the digestive process. This is especially true of of meals that contain meat or other concentrated forms of protein.

But, as this page will show, papaya enzyme can have many other health benefits and may have an even more important role to play when taken on an empty stomach.

Many of us eat large amounts of low quality meat each week that can put great strain on our digestive system and enzyme producing pancreas. Processed meats, with additives such as the potentially carcinogenic sodium nitrite, are particularly worrying from a health perspective.

To make matters worse, rushed meals, extra large serving sizes, low digestive enzymes and stomach acid production, and poorly functioning digestive systems in general all contribute to this meat often ending up only partially digested by the time it reaches the lower intestines.

Here it can putrefy as it is acted upon by masses of flatulence causing bacteria. But smelly gas is the least of the potential health problems caused by undigested protein in the colon.

The place to fix flatulence and other more serious health issues associated with poor digestion, such as constipation, leaky gut syndrome and IBS, is not at the end of the process,  but at the beginning.

Proper chewing is important to break up food and can significantly assist carbohydrate digestion, but to get a head start on protein, proteolytic enzymes like the papain enzyme in papaya can really help. It's also a good idea to avoid certain foods for awhile, such as, meat, fried and fatty foods, eggs, refined sugars, dairy, caffeine, alcohol and processed foods. 

Papaya Enzyme on an Empty Stomach

While papaya enzymes are most often taken with food, another strategy that is gaining popularity is to take green papaya enzyme powder blended up in a smoothie or with water on an empty stomach.

Under these circumstances little hydrochloric acid would be produced and the papain and other enzymes could pass into the small intestines in larger amounts. From here they can be absorbed into your bloodstream where they exert an anti-inflammatory effect throughout the body .

Proteolytic enyzmes circulating in the blood are known to reduce inflammation in your body, most likely by scavenging damaged and oxidized proteins and breaking them down.

These damaged proteins are implicated in a variety of debilitating autoimmune disorders such as severe allergies, chronic fatigue syndrome and a weakened immune system that is much more vulnerable to infections and disease. 

If you are looking for better digestion and an improved immune system give papaya a try!

MACA'S EXTRAORDINARY BENEFITS FOR WOMEN

by Minx life

Maca is an exceptionally hardy root plant native to the Andean mountain plateaus of Peru. Traditionally, Maca is best known as an adaptogenic plant, which simply means that it balances the body's response in dealing with all different types of stressors. Adaptogens are among the most useful medicinal herbs, helping individuals to better cope with fatigue, anxiety, stress, depression, and sleep problems. Mac is also amazingly rich in amino acids, phytonutrient, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals.

Maca does not affect human hormones directly. Various studies even show that the herb does not contain plant estrogens or hormones. Rather, it has hormone-normalizing effects, which may be due to the root's unique nutritional profile. The plant provides optimum levels of of nutrients utilized by the body's endocrine system. This action regulates metabolism, energy levels, growth, sexual development and the sense of well-being and attitude.

More specifically, Maca has been known to nourish and calm the nerves with calcium, phosphorus, vitamins B1 and B12, and fatty acids, all of which work beneficially on the nervous system. At the same time it supports the adrenal glands so they don't have to rely on damaging cortisol steroids to fuel the body. The sterols, calcium, and vitamin C found in Maca help build muscle mass and it contains starches that aid in physical endurance.

Of particular importance to menopausal women is Maca research on the production of sex hormones, enhanced sex drive, stimulation of body metabolism, control of body weight, and increased energy, stress reduction, antidepressant activity, and memory improvement.

Recent research shows that Maca has actually stimulated estradiol levels, suppressed follicle stimulating hormone(FSH) and increased HDL. In addition, Maca significantly reduced both the frequency and severity of hot flashes and night sweats. Furthermore, studies on Maca are now showing a significant reduction in psychological symptoms as well, including anxiety, depression, and sexual dysfunction. As such, Maca tends to treat menopausal symptoms as a whole; it doesn't treat any one specific symptom of menopause(such as hot flashes) alone.

In Peru, Maca flour is used in baking as a base and flavoring. The supplement industry uses both the dry roots and Maca flour for different types of processing and concentrated extracts. Gelatinized Maca is stronger than powdered root, and is employed for mainly therapeutic, medicinal and supplement purposes. Theres is also freeze-dried Maca juice, which is a juice squeezed from the macerated fresh root, and subsequently freeze-dried. The recommended dose of Maca extract is 500 mg twice daily. Sounds good to us!

Is Dry brushing good for your skin and health?

by Minx life

Scan almost any spa menu, and you'll likely find an offering that mentions dry brushing. The practice-which involves scrubbing down your dry skin with a scratchy brush-sounds far from pampering, if not a bit austere. But spa pros and enthusiasts alike swear by it and sing its praises for supposedly doing everything from exfoliating to reducing cellulite. Sounds a bit too good to be true, so here are the facts.

The exfoliation part is easy to understand. "Gentle dry brushing will slough off dead, dry skin, improving its appearance and allowing it to hydrate more efficiently when moisturizer is applied afterward.

As for detoxifying, dry brushing is similar to massage. "The light pressure against your skin and the direction in which you brush helps move lymph fluid into the lymph nodes so this waste can then be eliminated. Your body naturally does this, but dry brushing speeds up the process and at the same time boosts circulation, delivering oxygenated blood to the skin and other organs, which help do their job better.

Because dry brushing helps eliminate toxins, many pros claim it can smooth those unsightly lumps and bumps for good. This procedure helps remove "stagnant toxins" that break down connective tissue, leading to cellulite.

But there's no conclusive scientific evidence that dry brushing can permanently reduce cottage cheese thighs, which are caused by a combination of fat and connective tissue. It's believed that the reduction is more of a temporary skin plumping and swelling. Bottom line, Temporary or not, we'll take fewer derriere dimples any day.

First you need a proper brush, which you can purchase at most health food stores. Look for bristles-typically cactus-or vegetable-derived-or else the process won't work. A long handle is also handy to help you access hard to reach areas such as your back.

Because dry brushing energizes and stimulates the body, most pros suggest doing it in the morning before your shower, but you can do it any time of the day you prefer.. Using long , upward strokes, start brushing your skin at your feet and work your way up your legs one at a time. Then move up your mid-section(front and back) and across your chest. Finish by brushing up your arms toward your armpits.

Now it's shower time, with an added bonus : "You've just opened your pores, so any of your body treatments you apply in the shower and afterward will penetrate better.

Your skin should feel softer and smoother after just one session. Some people even say that the detox and circulatory boost helps with digestive issues and skin problems such as acne; others claim to feel more energized, most likely a result of the increased blood flow.

Give a try!

IS APPLE CIDER VINEGAR REALLY THAT GOOD FOR YOU? YES!

by Minx life

Unless you've been living under a rock,chances are you've heard about the much touted health benefits of vinegar-in particular, apple cider vinegar. The ancient condiment- the earliest known use of vinegar dates back more than 10,000 years and has been used as both food and medicine-is enjoying a real resurgence lately.

So we did some digging and found some valid, science-backed benefits to vinegar that are worth sharing. In fact, research shows that vinegars contain antioxidants, which slow premature aging and reduce the risk of cancer, for example.

Here are a few more ways vinegar can give your health a boost:

Vinegar improves blood sugar levels. Drinking apple cider vinegar before a high -carbohydrate meal improves insulin sensitivity-slowing the rate of blood sugar levels rising-in people who are insulin resistant( a pre diabetes condition) or have type 2 diabetes, according to a 2004 study.

It kills bacteria. Vinegar is thought to have antibacterial properties that can help fight the infection behind a sore throat. The acidity decreases the pH of tissue, which helps prevent bacteria from growing on the surface. In addition, a 2014 study even found that vinegar's ingredient , acetic acid, which gives vinegar its tart flavor and strong odor, acts as a non toxic disinfectant against tuberculosis bacteria.

Vinegar may help reduce the risk of cancer. Vinegars are a rich source of polyphenols, compounds synthesized by plants to fight oxidative stress. According to 2006 research, consuming polyphenols enhances antioxidant protection and reduces cancer risk.

We like to start our morning with warm water, 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar,lemon, ginger and turmeric but you can also use it in your favorite salad dressings or put it in your smoothies. Cheers!