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11 Benefits of Lemon Water

Why lemons?

Lemons are packed like a clown car with nutrients, including vitamin C, B-complex vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and fiber. (Fun fact: they contain more potassium than apples or grapes!)

Because of how hard lemon juice can be on the enamel of your teeth, it’s important to dilute it with water of any temperature (though lukewarm is recommended). Drink it first thing in the morning, and wait 15 to 30 minutes to have breakfast. This will help you fully receive the benefits of lemon water, which are listed below.

11 Benefits of Lemon Water

1. Gives your immune system a boost.

Vitamin C is like our immune system’s jumper cables, and lemon juice is full of it. The level of vitamin C in your system is one of the first things to plummet when you’re stressed, which is why experts recommended popping extra vitamin C during especially stressful days.

2. Excellent source of potassium.

As already mentioned, lemons are high in potassium, which is good for heart health, as well as brain and nerve function.

3. Aids digestion.

Lemon juice not only encourages healthy digestion by loosening toxins in your digestive tract, it helps to relieve symptoms of indigestion such as heartburn, burping, and bloating.

4. Cleanses your system.

It helps flush out the toxins in your body by enhancing enzyme function, stimulating your liver.

5. Freshens your breath.

It also helps relieve toothaches and gingivitis (say wha?). Because the citric acid can erode tooth enamel, either hold off on brushing your teeth after drinking lemon water or brush your teeth before drinking it.

6. Keeps your skin blemish-free.

The antioxidants in lemon juice help to not only decrease blemishes, but wrinkles too! It can also be applied to scars and age spots to reduce their appearance, and because it’s detoxifying your blood, it will maintain your skin’s radiance.

7. Helps you lose weight.

Lemons contain pectin fiber, which assists in fighting hunger cravings.

8. Reduces inflammation.

If you drink lemon water on a regular basis, it will decrease the acidity in your body, which is where disease states occur. It removes uric acid in your joints, which is one of the main causes of inflammation.

9. Gives you an energy boost.

Lemon juice provides your body with energy when it enters your digestive tract, and it also helps reduce anxiety and depression. (Even the scent of lemons has a calming effect on your nervous system!)

10. Helps to cut out caffeine.

I didn’t believe this until I tried it, but replacing my morning coffee with a cup of hot lemon water has really done wonders! I feel refreshed, and no longer have to deal with that pesky afternoon crash. Plus, my nerves are thankful.

11. Helps fight viral infections.

Warm lemon water is the most effective way to diminish viral infections and their subsequent sore throats. Plus, with the lemon juice also boosting your immune system, you’ll simultaneously fight off the infection completely.

How much?

For those who weigh less than 150 pounds, squeeze half a lemon’s worth of juice into a glass of water. If over 150 pounds, use an entire lemon’s juice. You can of course dilute the lemon juice more, depending on your personal taste.

Not only are the benefits of lemon water endless, it’s one of the most substantial yet simple changes you can make for your health.

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Which Impacts Your Weight More: Diet or Exercise?

Nutrition, Training

New research suggest that knowing the right answer to this question could affect the number on the scale

by Elizabeth Narins

You know you should exercise and eat healthfully to keep your weight in check. The thing is, research suggests that when people devote time to one healthy habit, they spend less time on the other. So which is more important if you’re worried about your waistline: your workout or your diet?

Turns out, people who think that diet is the most important factor in weight control tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI) than those who believe that exercise is the key, according to six new studies published in the journal Psychological Science.

In the studies, researchers asked a total of more than 1,200 people in the U.S., Canada, China, France, and South Korea about the main factor that makes people overweight. They also took participants’ height and weight measurements to calculate their BMIs. Interestingly, those who said it’s most important to stay active to prevent obesity had higher BMIs than the people who said eating right is the key to weight control.

As you might expect, people’s weight-control theories impacted their food choices. In two studies, when researchers offered participants unlimited chocolate, the people who said they think staying active is key to maintaining a healthy weight ate more.

“Our beliefs guide our actions,” says study co-author Brent McFerran, PhD, an assistant professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Think about it: If you think exercise is the key to weight control, you might move more and focus less on what you eat. While exercise can definitely support weight loss—and make you feel awesome, among other benefits—people tend to overestimate the amount of calories they burn while working out and compensate for the extra activity by eating more, says McFerran.

On the flip side, if you believe that eating a healthy diet is the best way to maintain your weight, you might worry less about exercise—but closely watch what you eat. And that’s smart, especially because most people grossly underestimate the amount of calories they consume, says McFerran.

The problem: Many people think they can work off extra pounds—but there’s a ton of scientific evidence to support the fact that changing your diet is a more effective way to drop weight, says McFerran. “If we eat a 3000-calorie lunch, nearly no one has enough free time in the rest of the day to exercise it off,” he says.

Luckily, McFerran’s best advice for weight control doesn’t take much time: Steer clear of foods that are high in calories, and trade large plates and bowls for smaller ones to ensure you fill them with more restrained portions.

That said, you should probably hold onto your gym membership, too. Although it’s tough to slim down with exercise alone, staying active does help with weight control—and it’s absolutely crucial for your health, says Keri Glassman, RD, a Women’s Health weight loss expert. Not only does exercise produce endorphins that increase your metabolic rate and motivate you to eat better—it also supports heart health, strengthens your bones, helps you sleep, decreases stress, and boosts mental health. All awesome reasons to hit the gym when you can!

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Reduce Risk Of Injuries By Using Proper Warm Up Techniques

Training

Bryan Hamilton-Brown

Have you ever had a hard time achieving proper depth in a squat? Experienced poor shoulder mobility? Or simply have tight hamstrings? This can be caused from an improper or insufficient warm-up!

IMPROPER vs. Proper Stretching/Warm-up

Let’s say today is a heavy-ass leg day, think about what you do to warm-up for squats. Do you drink a pre-workout shake, walk over to the squat rack and start squatting or do you walk on a treadmill to “raise your heart rate and warm up your legs.”

Guess what? Both aren’t sufficient enough for a proper warm-up that’ll prepare your joints, muscles, and range-of-motion to perform a heavy squat movement. You may feel okay doing this, but not being able to warm up your hip flexors or hamstrings properly can put you at risk for injury as well as decrease your performance for whatever exercise you’re doing.

That being said, I’m going to give you examples and explanations of proper warm-up methods and techniques to optimize your performance and prevent injury.

Methods

Dynamic Stretching, unlike static stretching, doesn’t stretch the muscle or force the muscle into an uncomfortable position. Its utilization isn’t primarily to increase flexibility, rather, prepare the muscle for the task at hand by taking the muscle and joints they control through the full range of motion of the movement or exercise.
Scorpion stretch, opposing foot to opposite hand

For example, for our squat exercise, whether it’s a front or back squat, to get proper depth your knees, hips, and ankles all experience flexion and extension. Thus, what we need to focus on for a squat is taking your body through full flexion and extension of their range of motion.
Opposite toe touch with high kicks

Examples: Leg Kicks for hip flexion and extension, Arm circles for internal/external rotation of the shoulder joint, Ham-kicks/High-knees for knee flexion, hip flexion/extension as well as stretching and contracting of the hamstring, gluteal, and quadriceps muscles.
Inch worm, walk hands out and with legs straight walk them up to your hands

Mobility Exercises/training is the dynamic and static movement and drills to take your joints and muscles through full range of motion. The difference between this and dynamic stretching itself is that dynamic stretching is to prepare the muscles and joints for the task at hand. Mobility training; however, has the longer-term benefit of increasing range-of-motion (ROM) to allow you to improve your performance for the future as well as decrease your risk of injury.
Cobra stretch, focus on squeezing hips into the ground.

One thing to note, in mobility training you want to focus on the movement not the specific muscle. Find out what prevents or inhibits your mobility or inability to maintain proper technique.

Tilting forward during a back squat – Possible hip flexor tightness, weak lower back/posterior chain, tight hamstrings. If your problem is having a torso that dumps forward, then any number of these problems could affect your performance in a squat. Mobility training takes the movement, breaks it down and you as an athlete goes through exercises to fix those imbalances to improve your performance and reduce your risk of injury.

Example drills: For tilting forward on a squat – Deep forward lunge and focusing on flexing your back gluteal muscle forward, if you feel a strong stretch in that legs hip then you have a tight hip flexors. Likewise, if you cannot touch your toes while maintaining a rigid/flat back and stiff legs then you have tight hamstrings. Etc. Try to find your body’s ailments and alleviate them with a healthy prescription of 15-30 minutes of mobility focused training.

Myofascial Release better known as “rolling the shit out of your legs” or foam rolling has been popularized in the past year in gyms and fitness centers. If you haven’t noticed, now there are foam rollers or foam cylinders in your gym. Which is one of many devices to utilize myofascial release, which I’ll give some examples later.

Myofascial release is a form of soft-tissue therapy, also utilized in massage therapy to treat somatic dysfunction. It is done by relaxing contracted muscles and using palpatory feedback (foam rolling) to release myofascial tissue (muscle fascia). This increases circulation and lymphatic drainage and what we’re more concerned about, it stimulates the stretch-reflex of the muscle.

By simply laying any limb or specific “tight” muscle onto the foam roller, using your body weight as pressure to induce the palpatory effect and by relaxing the muscles in contact with the foam roller you’re able to release the tight myofascial tissue of the specific area. (i.e. tight IT band, quadriceps, a “knotted” back, etc.) This form of therapy which is prescribed by many physical therapists and being founded in the practice of osteopathy has been shown to increase performance sport-wise and decrease risk of injury.

It is important to note there are two types of myofascial release, direct and indirect. Direct myofascial release is deep-tissue work on the fascia of the muscle and indirect being lighter pressure onto the muscle and stretching it at the same time. Both serve a purpose and can both be used to the same benefit; however, individuals require both methods to work different areas of the body.

Types of devices

Lacrosse ball – great for hard to reach areas, specifically on your back or Gluteal muscles that need more specific or localized pressure.

Put pressure on tight or knotted areas

Foam Roller – good for overall myofascial release and have many different densities. I.e. the “rumble-roller” has notches and bumps on it as well as having a very dense substance to allow for a deeper-tissue work.

PVC Pipe – cheap and effective, for those that cannot afford a rumble-roller and need deeper pressure than a standard foam roller.

Tennis ball – cheap, but not as effective as a lacrosse ball as it sinks into itself, but useful for “indirect myofascial release”

Relax the muscle that you’re targeting and hold the pressure Onto a tightened area until its released

Recommendations/Advice

Utilize all methods of warming up to optimize your performance! Take the time to do each of these things before and after exercising, your body will love you for it and you’ll notice a significant improvement in your lifts, exercises, and overall wellbeing.

10-minutes of foam rolling

10-minutes of dynamic stretching

5-minutes of mobility work

5-minutes of warming up to your working-set/weight

That is 30-minutes, 30-minutes that you can do at home or at the gym right after you take your pre-workout, so you don’t sit down chatting with your buddies wasting your time waiting for your stimulants to “kick-in” and if you’re not taking pre-workout, then give yourself 30-minutes to do these warm-ups to simply improve your performance and abilities. You’ll squat deeper, you’ll be more explosive, and you’ll experience fewer injuries.

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The Diet That DOESN’T Involve Counting Calories

Nutrition

Because doing all of that math in your head gets old fast

By Annie Daly

iStock/Thinkstock

As an informed diet and fitness reader, you probably know that the verdict’s still out on whether it’s a good idea to follow a vegetarian diet solely for the purpose of losing weight. Some dieticians swear it’s smart, while others believe that eating a little meat is more beneficial—and new info keeps coming out, too. Well, here’s the latest veggie news: Dieters who follow vegetarian or vegan eating plans lose more weight than those who eat meat, according to a new study from the University of South Carolina.

For the study, participants were told to either follow a vegetarian or vegan diet or an omnivorous one for two months—and the key is that they were told that they didn’t have to restrict calories. After that time, the veggie group had lost about 5 percent of their body weight, whereas the meat eaters only lost 2 percent.

So why does going green help you get lean? Experts suggest that it may be because of a theory called volumetrics. “It means that you can eat a larger volume of veggies without gaining weight because they’re lower-cal,” says Elizabeth Somer, R.D., author of Eat Your Way to Sexy. “That means you don’t have to pay attention to your portions as much, as long as you’re eating vegetables in a healthy way.”

The key, though, is to pay attention to the last part of that line—as long as you’re eating them in a healthy way. In other words, just because you’re sticking to a plant-based diet doesn’t mean you have a free pass to eat whatever meat-free thing you want. Somer says vegetarians and vegans need to beware of the vegetarian halo: “That’s when dieters eat lots of junk food or fatty toppings but then use the excuse that it’s vegetarian to justify it,” she says. Important: Fried mozzarella sticks, mayo, and the like, while meatless, are not healthy!

To avoid packing on the plant-based-diet pounds, Somer suggests eating tons of veggies and veggie proteins—but making sure they’re prepared in a diet-friendly way. So if you’re going to have, say, a veggie burger, watch the mayo and the cheese. And it’s fine to have pasta, too—but again, watch your serving size and opt for low-cal tomato-based sauces, not the creamier kinds.

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7 foods that HEAL your digestion (and bowel movements)

Nutrition

by Mike Geary
If you have any digestion problems at all, or don’t have “perfect” bowel movements daily… if you have constipation, diarrhea, bloating, gas, or just don’t go regularly, then you NEED to pay attention to these foods I’m going to show you today.

These foods can dramatically improve not only your digestion, but your immune system as well, helping to keep you from getting sick!

Please note: if you have food intolerances to foods such as gluten, dairy, or various grains, you’ll still need to find out about those intolerances and get rid of those foods in your plan if you’re going to completely fix your digestion issues.

But aside from food intolerances, I think you’ll be amazed to see how rapidly your digestion and bowel movements improve once you start incorporating a LOT of these 7 foods we’ll discuss below!

This is important… even if you’re already eating 1 or 2 of these foods below, it’s MUCH more powerful to include as MANY as possible to dramatically improve your digestion.

So what exactly are we talking about… well, we’re talking about probiotics from fermented foods!

Unfortunately, today’s modern diets are processed, pasteurized and basically ‘dead’ foods most of the time. What happens when people eat a diet heavy in processed, ‘dead’ foods, is that harmful bacteria can take over in the digestive systems, causing many problems—not only with the digestive system, but the body as a whole.

Many diseases start in an unhealthy environment in our guts. And this becomes even worse from taking antibiotics. While antibiotics can kill dangerous pathogens, they also kill off the healthy and beneficial bacteria in our bodies as well.

Probiotic actually means “for life,” and probiotics like lactobacillus, plantarum and bifidis help immune cells fight disease, prevent diarrhea and constipation, protect the mucous lining of the intestine, assist digestion and provide the proper nutrients for healthy blood cells. Probiotics are also responsible for the manufacture of B vitamins and vitamin K right in the intestines where are immediately absorbed.

Eating too much unhealthy, processed, starchy or sugary foods can cause bad bacteria to grow out of control, making our immune systems weak, and affecting our ability to metabolize and synthesize vitamins and nutrients.

The intestines also function as one of the body’s most important immune defenses. In fact, 70-80% or so of the body’s immune cells are present in the intestines. Of course our immune systems protect us from dangerous viruses, bacteria, and parasites, but they also control responses to foods and food allergies as well.

Negative changes in our intestinal flora can be associated with inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. It is now thought that many allergic reactions, asthma, and even obesity are tied to bacterial imbalances in the gut.

The good news though, is that adding the right types of probiotics and good bacteria will maintain or restore a healthy balance in your intestinal tract and improve overall health in the entire body, and fight aging.

Although we typically think of probiotics benefiting just the intestines, they actually benefit the entire digestive system, including the mouth, throat, stomach, etc.

Some of the other ways probiotics can benefit your body:

• Probiotics can help prevent wrinkles and give you a glowing complexion by eliminating the toxins and fighting free radicals that can damage skin and cause early signs of wrinkling and sagging. And probiotics help you digest your food better, so you get more nutrients in your body.

• Probiotics can help you burn fat better by reducing cravings for carbohydrates, sugar and alcohol and help you have more energy to be more active.

• Probiotics help to protect your liver which is reflected in your skin and eyes. When you keep toxins from building up in the liver, you have younger looking skin with less liver spots, moles and skin tags, and you have bright, clear eyes.

• Probiotics help your hair and fingernails grow faster and stronger by keeping the blood vessels surrounding your hair follicles nourished. Healthy blood nourishes hair, skin and nails. Probiotics also help to break down proteins in the diet that benefit hair and nails.

So what are the best sources of probiotics?

Kimchi (also spelled Kim Chee sometimes) -This traditional spicy Korean condiment is made of cabbage and other vegetables and seasoned with salt, garlic, ginger and chili peppers. Fermented vegetables make them easier to digest as well as increasing the vitamin levels. I like to have some Kimchi with my morning eggs for an extra daily probiotic boost. The types of beneficial bacteria in Kimchi are quite different than the organisms in yogurt and other fermented foods, and variety works best when it comes to probiotics!

Kombucha Tea – This tea is made from a culture of symbiotic beneficial bacteria and yeasts that has been popular in China for thousands of years. Kombucha contains many important amino acids, B vitamins, and powerful substances that enhance the immune system. It’s also known to help prevent cancer.

Yogurt – Avoid the sweetened, heavily processed yogurts, and instead go for unsweetened, plain, organic types of yogurt. And be sure the label says, “Live cultures”.

Kefir – A cultured milk product and is generally helpful to those with lactose intolerance. Kefir contains different types of beneficial bacteria than yogurt does, as well as beneficial yeasts. Kefir contains more bacterial strains that remain viable in the digestive system, increasing the likelihood of intestinal colonization. As with yogurt, try to avoid the sweetened varieties and get plain kefir and then add your own stevia if you need it a little sweeter. Kefir is great to use in smoothies!

Sauerkraut – This cabbage dish has been salted and lacto-fermented over a period of weeks. The healthy bacteria in sauerkraut produce beneficial enzymes as well as having anti-carcinogenic substances. Make sure it’s fresh and not canned sauerkraut which is likely to be “dead” from the heating during canning.

Tempeh – A healthier form of fermented soybeans (generally soybeans are not a healthy food-unless they are fermented). This soy food is easier to digest and provides many valuable vitamins and nutrients, as well as protein, calcium and iron. The mold that is produced from the fermentation produces a natural antibiotic that strengthens the immune system.

Fermented drinks – Besides kombucha and kefir, there are beginning to be many fermented fruit and vegetable drinks showing up on the shelves of many healthy grocery stores and health food stores. One of my favorites is called, “Inner Eco”, which is a fermented coconut water, and can be found at Whole Foods and other health food stores or specialty stores. This product contains one of the highest concentrations of beneficial bacteria that I’ve seen with over 100 billion probiotics per Tablespoon!

Some people don’t enjoy the taste of fermented drinks like kombucha tea, so what I often suggest for them is to mix kombucha tea with regular iced tea to balance the taste. Personally, I love the taste of most brands of kombucha tea, and some of the newer flavors brewed with ginger (or other flavors) in them too are really delicious in my opinion.

In addition to the naturally fermented foods we’ve talked about here, considering that we consume a lot less bacteria in our food compared to our natural ancestral diet, I think one of the smartest supplements you can take to FIX your digestion and boost your immune system is a probiotic…

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