5 Health Benefits of Walnuts

If you want to include a healthy snack in your diet, walnuts are the way to go. Since ancient times walnuts have been a symbol of intellectuality, as the walnut shell looks like a human brain. Walnuts contain many healthy nutrients. They are especially high in omega-3 fat acids; these are essential fats for a healthy lifestyle. Let’s take a look at the health benefits walnuts have to offer.

Benefits

Reduce risk of breast cancer

Walnuts might reduce breast cancer risk due their high antioxidant levels and phytosterols. A study at the Marshall University School of Medicine in West Virginia has done a research on the reduction of cancer by walnuts. They did this by using mice. The mice were fed a daily diet with the human equivalent of two ounces of walnuts. The walnut-eating mice experienced a decrease in breast tumor size compared to the other mice. Also a slower tumor growth rate was recorded.

Walnuts are full of Omega-3 fatty acids

When you maintain a diet rich in omega-3s you will have a lot of benefits. It reduces depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. Strong evidence suggests that Omega-3s battle diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease.

Reduce risk of Diabetes

Harvard School of Public Health has done research into this matter. Women that ate 30g of nuts at least five times per week reduced their risk of type 2 diabetes by 30%. The fats in walnuts are also good for insulin sensitivity.

Heart Boosting Antioxidants

The University of Scranton in Pennsylvania has concluded that walnuts have a better quality antioxidants and a better mix of the healthful antioxidants then any other nut in the world.

Walnuts help dealing with stress

A research that was published last year in the ‘Journal of the American College of Nutrition’ stated that walnut oil and walnuts lowered blood pressure responses to stress in the laboratory. According to the researchers the study shows that a dietary change can help our bodies better respond to stress.

It’s not really hard to get walnuts into your diet. I always eat them raw or I just add them to a salad. Find more walnut recipes here.

The Power of Green Tea

In china Green tea has been used as medicine for thousands of years. Now it used as medicine throughout Asia and people drink it all over the world. Green tea is processed in a different way compared to black tea. I won’t go into to much detail but in the end, green tea retains its maximum amount of antioxidants and poly-phenols. Let these substances be the two substances that make green tea a great drink for everyone!

 

Health Benefits

Supports Weight Loss

Drinking green tea will increase your metabolism. A substance called polyphenol found in green tea intensifies levels of fat oxidation. This substance also increases the rate in which your body turns food into calories.

Battles Diabetes

Green tea helps regulating the glucose levels in the body. It also helps slowing the rise of blood sugar after eating; this can prevent the high insulin spikes and the fat storage that comes with it.

Kills Cancer Cells

Green tea helps killing cancer cells without any negative side effects. It kills cancer cells without damaging the healthy tissue around the cancer cells. I suggest reading this article about green tea and cancer.

Cholesterol

Green tea will reduce the bad cholesterol in the blood. Also it improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol.

Slow the effects of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Scientist think drinking green tea can delay the effects of brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. There have been studies with mice that showed green tea protected brain cells from dying and restored brain cells that were damaged.

Skincare

Green tea can help battle wrinkles and other signs of aging. Polyphenol as talked about earlier battles free radicals. This in turn helps fight aging and promotes longevity. Free radicals have also been linked to cause cancer. 

Prevent Heart Diseases

Scientist think green tea helps the lining of blood vessels. This means helping the blood vessels stay relaxed and deal with changes in blood pressure. Green tea also helps to prevent the formation of blood clots. Blood clots are the primary cause of heart attacks and strokes.

Other benefits from Green tea:

- Battles tooth decay

- Reduces high blood pressure

- Anti-viral and anti-bacterial (which makes it effective treating everything from the flu to cancer)

As you can see, there are some good reasons to add green tea to your daily diet. These effects cannot be achieved by just drinking a cup when you’re sick. To get the full benefits add 1-2 cups to your daily routine.  If you are already drinking black tea everyday, switching to green tea shouldn't be a problem. If you dislike the taste add honey or lemon. For the obvious reasons don’t add sugar to your drinks! Green tea has helped me a lot with weight loss and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, I hope it can do the same for you.

Why you should eat Blueberries!

As you probably noticed on my blog cover photo, I am quite the fan of blueberries.If you seek a healthy lifestyle blueberries are an excellent fruit choice and I will explain why.

In a recent study a scientist discovered that blueberries are one of the most vital fruits if you want to maintain your health at the highest level.

Blueberries have the highest antioxidant capacity of all fresh fruits!

These antioxidants are very important to us because they support our overall health as well as our immune system. How deeper blue the colour of the blueberries the richer in antioxidants they are.

Let’s look at the benefits of this awesome fruit.

Health Benefits

Reducing Belly Fat

A study performed at the Michigan University found out that blueberries might reduce belly fat. The study was conducted on mice for a 90-day period. The scientists have proven the fact that the mice with a blueberry diet had less belly fat then the mice with a normal diet.

Helps improving memory

Blueberries have proven to be the best fruit for your brain. This is because they:

-       Protect the brain against oxidative stress

-       Reduce the age-related memory problems (Dementia, Alzheimer)

-       Researchers found out that a diet including blueberries increases memory and brain functions significantly!

Slows the Aging Process

The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties assist in building a layer around the brain to fight ageing and deterioration. 

Act as natural Anti-Depressants

Eating blueberries help to keep you in a good mood and help reduce depression symptoms.


Neutralizes Free Radicals
Blueberries are full of Anthocyanin. This is a pigment which also gives the blueberries their dark blue color. Anthocyanin is a powerful antioxidant that helps to neutralize free radicals. Free radicals can lead to cancer and other age related diseases, to read more about this click here. So remember when picking your blueberries make sure you pick the darkest colour as possible as they contain more Anthocyanin.


Maintaining Eyesight

Nutrients within the blueberry have proved to be enhancing and maintaining eyesight. Blueberries are full of Vitamin A, which is essential for maintaining good eyesight.

Lower Cholesterol

One of the awesome things blueberries do is that they lower your cholesterol levels naturally. A recent study shows that a substance found in blueberries prove to lower cholesterol as effective as prescription drugs without side effects. As the blueberries keep your cholesterol under control they also contribute in improving your heart health. Which automatically reduces the risk of a heart disease.

Prevent Urinary Infections

A recent study showed that blueberries contain compounds similar to cranberries, which help preventing and threating urinary infections.

Boosting the Immune System

All the antioxidants help the body’s immune system. They enable the body to fight viral and bacterial infections.

If all these benefits don’t convince you yet, blueberries taste great as well! I usually mix them with muesli and yoghurt for breakfast or just eat them straight away. Blueberries are a great snack between meals. Try them, you won’t regret!

How to live a healthy lifestyle

Want to feel awesome? Start living in a healthy way!

Before I start posting on different foods and drinks, I would like to address how to live a healthy lifestyle in the first place.

A healthy lifestyle would at least consist of the following practices:

•        Good sleep
•        Exercise
•        Eating fruits & vegetables
•        Drinking water

There are of course many other things that contribute to a healthy lifestyle. In my opinion these four are key in attaining and maintaining healthy lifestyle.

Sleep

The benefits of sleep are endless. We need sleep to maintain our normal body functions.

Benefits

•        Improve memory
•        Live longer
•        Perform better
•        Improve your emotional stability

Lack of sleep has been linked to depression, weight gain, various cancers and diabetes. Try to maintain the average 7-9 hours of sleep then u should be okay.

Exercise

The recommended exercise time is 30 minutes 5 times a week. Go out for walking, jogging, swimming or cycling. Also one strength training each week is recommended. The first step to exercise is the most difficult for most people. Just look in the mirror

And ask yourself: ‘Am I satisfied with my body today?’ .If the answer is no then you know you need the change. After a while exercise will become easier. Once you lose the weight and gain strength you’ll feel awesome!  

Benefits

•  Controls weight
•  Improves your mood
•  Boosts energy
• Combats diseases and health conditions

 

Eating fruits & vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are among the healthiest foods. They are low in calories and almost all of them are fat free. They help the body getting vitamins, minerals and other natural nutrients your body needs to stay healthy.

Benefits

•        Control your weight
•        Lower your risk of stroke, heart disease, and high blood pressure
•        Reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes
•        Lower your risk of some types of cancer
•        Boost your energy level
•        Look and feel great!

Drinking water

As 55-78% of your body is mainly water, it should be no surprise drinking water is healthy. Water is our natural drinking source and it cleanses our body from toxins. Men need an average of 3L (13 cups) per day while women need 2.2L (9 cups) per day. Just make sure water becomes your main drinking source during the day.

Benefits

• Helps losing weight
• Natural remedy for headache
• Better Exercising, as water regulates your body temperature and also fuels your muscles.
• Water detoxifies your body
• Good mood

All the subjects above will be discussed more in detail in later posts. This post is just a beginning of things to come. My goal is to provide you with the information you need to live healthy and become awesome!

The choice is yours....