Berry-Rich Diet Lowers Risk of Heart Attack by 32%

Author: Olivia Mungal
Click here for another source of anthocyanins.

The Study

According to A study by the Harvard School of Public Health , women who ate high amounts of compounds high in anthocyanins were at a 32% lower risk of heart attack. The study, involving 93,600 women ages 25 to 42, answered questions about their diet every four years for an overarching period of 18 years. During this time, 405 of these subjects suffered a heart attack.



Anthrocyanins have also been shown to reduce risk of cancer by as much as 50% in mice, also reducing inflammation and sometimes even inhibiting or slowing tumor growth. The American Heart Association (AHA) suggests eating a variety of foods rich in nutrients and anthrocyanins. Eating a well-balanced diet that includes vegetables, fruits, and whole grains can also help improve heart health. To reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems, Dr. Andrew Freeman of the National Jewish Health Center recommends eating as much of a plant-based diet as possible.

This study was cofounded by the National Institutes of Health and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom.

What are Anthocyanins?

Anthocyanins are a pigment which give fruits and veggies their naturally vibrant colors. Anthocyanins can also help prevent plaque buildup in blood vessels, helping reduce the risk of heart disease. These compounds have high levels of antioxidants, and exceptionally high Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity( ORAC) levels.

Good Sources of Anthocyanins

Acai
Blueberries
Rasberries
Blackberries
Huckleberries
Grapes

Calcium and Vitamin D Boost Body Fat Loss

Author: Olivia Mungal
Click here to view a high quality calcium/vitamin D supplement.

If you, like millions of other people, recently just started a new diet for your New Year’s Resolution, you may be in luck. A recent study shows adding calcium and vitamin D supplements to a calorie-restricted diet may boost the loss of body fat more than the diet alone.

The Study

Chinese researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Health Sciences in China tested 52 obese or overweight adults. All participants were asked to follow an calorie-restricted diet (-500 kcal/daily), but half were randomly selected to take a Calcium and Vitamin D supplement, and the other half were given placebos.

The calcium and vitamin D group achieved 55.6% augmentation of fat mass loss compared with the control, despite the face that there was no significant difference in body weight change between groups,” researchers noted in the Nutrition Journal.

About a quarter of the US adult population is obese, and even more are considered overweight. Over 300,000,000 adults are considered obese worldwide, according to statistics from the WHO and the International Obesity Task Force.

7 Healthy Vegan Snack Ideas On the Go

from youngandraw.com
Eating out isn’t always easy, especially when you’re doing your best to avoid fried foods, processed foods, oils and animal products. A lot of times, placing a special order can take longer and end up coming back wrong anyway resulting in you having to choose between being late to your next destination or not eating at all…or worse, going through a drive through somewhere.

Thinking ahead and taking a few extra minutes to plan is really all you need to be able to support your healthy choices on the go. Traveling on airplanes is a bit more challenging, but we even manage to bring our Vitamix with us wherever we go.

I would suggest first off that if you’re in the car a lot or at the office where there’s no kitchen, to invest in a small freezer bag or cooler. You can easily take it with you wherever you go and store food or drinks that need to be kept at lower temperatures.

Raw Vegan Green Smoothie

Here are a few Healthy Vegan Snack Ideas

1. Green Smoothies in a Jar. These are easy, nutrient packed and loaded with fiber. You can make a green smoothie or two in the morning, store them in sealed jars or in a to go cup with a strong lid. Jars are the best so the least amount of nutrients are lost by oxidation. Our Digestive Friendly Cheesy Miso Kale Salad would be another great option with the dressing pre-mixed in because kale takes a while to soften, making it a perfect option for carrying around with you for a while before eating it. You can also try out the Abundant Garden Salad with Sweet Ginger Tahini Dressing!
2. Kale Chips or Zucchini Chips. Bring a bag of dried veggie chips with you to snack on in between meetings or on a long drive.
3. Fresh fruit! Simple right? Apples, Bananas and Berries are very easy finger food for on the go and don’t make much of a mess in the process. Mangos and Papayas on the go are a different story, those require a little more attention. Bringing bags of fresh berries, whole apples and bananas can give you energy, loads of nutrition and more calories than you’ll get from vegetables. You need to get enough calories through out the day so you can focus without having cravings.
4. Salad in a jar. This is such a cool invention, I’m not sure who came up with it originally but it really makes taking a salad on the go much easier. Pour your dressing in the bottom of the jar, pile in your veggies and greens and store in your cooler bag (probably even fine without a cooler bag for an hour or two.) When you’re ready to enjoy your salad, just shake it upside down a few times to get the dressing mixed in and enjoy! P.S. – Don’t forget your fork.
5. Nuts, Seeds & Dried Fruit. These are good in small amounts, but in high amounts they can make you feel a little heavy and not as energized. Most trail mixes consist of things like goji berries, raisins, cashews, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc. You can pick up a really delicious Super Snack blend from HarmonicArts.ca or make your own at home.
6 . Raw Food energy bars. The only caveat with these is they usually use agave nectar which isn’t our preferred sweetener, but when you’re on a plane or in the middle of nowhere having one of these raw food bars is a really great options. The Organic Food Bars are pretty oily/high in fat so I find after eating 1 I don’t have much interest in eating another for a while. Here are a few plant-based food bars we’ve come across along our travels:

• Organic Food Bar
• MacroBar
• Vega Bars
• Raw Revolution Bar
• Pure Organic Bar

7. Home made energy balls or raw donut holes. Of course this isn’t all you should eat all day while you’re on the go, but if you are craving something sweet – throw a few of these in your lunch bag. Try this base recipe and add in your favorite berries or seeds:

Raw Vegan Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes

Base for Energy Balls:

• 12 Pitted Medjool Dates
• 1/2 Cup Cashews
• 1 Cup Coconut Flakes
• 2 tbsp. Almond or Coconut Butter

Choose your add ons: (pick 1 or more to add to your base recipe)

• 1 tbsp. Maca Powder
• 2 tbsp. Goji Berries
• 2 tbsp. Raisins
• 2 tbsp. Chia Seeds
• 2 tbsp. Sunflower Seeds
• 2 tbsp. Carob Powder (kind of tastes like light/caramel flavored chocolate)
• 1 Scoop Plant Based Protein Powder

Tips for Healthy Eating

Tips for Healthy Eating

Greens are Alkalizing and High in Minerals

from youngandraw.com

Now, lets remember that greens are highly alkalizing for the body. They have an overall anti-acidic effect, and being that oxalates are acids, this stands to show that the over all effect of having a diet that is rich in greens mean that you will have a diet that is over all alkalizing, not acid building. Greens are amazing for helping to bring down any kind of inflammation because they are so alkalizing for the system. Remember that inflammation = acid, and alkalinity = anti-inflammation. One of the reasons that greens are so effective at bringing down inflammation in the body is because they contain so many minerals. Minerals are alkaline in nature, and thus when we ingest them we become more alkaline. The more minerals you have in your system, the more those minerals can bind with oxalates in your gastrointestinal tract and usher them out of the body, blocking them from being reabsorbed and causing harm.

If you want to be cautious, then your best bet is to cycle your greens. This simply means that you do not eat the same greens over and over every day. If you are putting greens into a juice or a smoothie, do Kale one day, Romaine Lettuce the next, and Spinach on the third. The two highest oxalate containing greens are Spinach and Swiss Chard, so as long as you do not eat these two greens every single day, you should be just fine.

It should also be noted that the foods that truly contain dangerous and damaging levels of oxalates are soda pop, processed animal foods, processed sugar and processed salts. These are the foods that we should be keeping out of our smoothies, and out of our diets in general.

Greens are a fundamental component of a healthy, balanced and well-rounded eating style. They contain so many health boosting phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, fiber, water and other compounds that science has yet to even identify and name. To exclude or limit these foods would be a disservice to your health and well-being, so make sure to get your greens on!

Resolve to Love Your Body this New Year

From Yoga Journal

Every January hoards of people crowd health centers and yoga studios everywhere in an effort to get a healthy start to a new year. Weight loss, of course, is one of the most common New Year’s Resolutions. And while yoga can be a tool to help people reach their health goals, some in the yoga community been cautioning yoga teachers to keep their language positive, especially when it comes to body image.

It’s such a big part of our culture that many teachers might not think twice about suggesting poses that help with weight loss, but it can be harmful and send the wrong message to students battling body image issues.

“Seemingly innocuous statements about burning off what you ate for the holidays may not even register for some people in class, but other people may be triggered into negative behavior by such statements,” says Anna Guest-Jelley, a yoga teacher and founder of Curvy Yoga, a yoga system that supports healthy body image for people of all shapes and sizes. She notes that 24 million people in the U.S. have eating disorders and many more have disordered eating habits that might not constitute a clinical disorder.

It’s a message that’s been echoed a lot recently in yoga blogs. “Every time we speak in terms that portray food, exercise, reward, even love(!) as part of an economy of exchange, we are latently affirming a message of: you are not good enough as you are,” wrote Jamie Silverstein on The Grinning Yoga blog.

Guest-Jelley acknowledges that weight loss and personal transformation is a big part of the conversation this time of year, but instead of contributing to a negative dialogue she suggests that the yoga community can shift the conversation by placing an emphasis on honoring the wisdom of the body instead. “Teachers can honor students’ new year desire to change their body while leaving the decision about what that means up to the students themselves,” she says.

“Yoga teaches us that who we are in this very moment is enough—and that’s a message that’s much harder to find,” she adds. “How lovely for yoga teachers to be able to offer that respite.”

Link Between C-reactive Proteins and Depression Found

Author: Olivia Mungal
Researchers at Copenhagen University Hospital and Herlev Hospital found evidence that people who have higher levels of C-reactive protein –an precursor to inflammation- have a higher risk of depression.

What are C-Reactive Proteins?

Produced by the liver, C-reactive proteins are present in the blood stream and rise when the body is experiencing inflammation. C-reactive proteins bind to phosphocholine, a molecule released by dead or damaged cells. A C-reactive protein (CRP) level above 10 miligrams per liter of blood may be a sign of an inflammatory disease such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, arthritis or other types of infection.

The Study:

The study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, included 73,131 subjects from Denmark between the ages of 20 and 100. Subjects were given 2-single item self-reports to ascertain their medical history and current researchers found the higher the C-reactive protein levels, the higher the odds of also being prescribed antidepressants, abusing antidepressants, or being hospitalized because of depression.

Image Courtesy of http://www.yalescientific.org/

Scientists noted that only a correlation was identified- not a cause and effect situation- and that more research must be done to explain this association.

However, past research also suggests a potential link between depression and inflammation. Researchers at Michigan State University found that levels of a brain chemical called quinolinic acid, which is a byproduct caused by inflammation, are elevated in people who are severely depressed or suicidal.