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Reasons Why You Need Mineral Supplements

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Minerals are an essential part of our lives and there is no doubt that our bodies depend upon them to carry out a lot of natural functions. In case of deficiency, not only does the normal functioning gets jeopardized, but there could be various health disorders as well. But despite being so vital for our normal body functioning, these have to be sourced from the diet or via use of mineral supplements.

Where Have The Minerals Disappeared?

When the crops, fruits and vegetables that we grow are cultivated in mineral rich soil, we can expect our diet to steadily fulfill our daily mineral requirements. Modern methods of agriculture and rampant use of strong and potent fertilizers have robbed the soil of its natural mineral content and it is our bodies that have to pay the price.

Add to these factors the bane of chelating pesticides and increasing use of genetically modified foodstuff and what we see is an entire population that suffers from mineral deficiency related health problems, despite consuming a balanced diet.

Blocks to Mineral Absorption

Not everyone is lucky enough to be capable of absorbing mineral from their diet even if they were available. Sometimes long standing infections or diseases of the intestinal tract, prolonged use of refined foods, food additives, gluten rich and raw food diet and certain congenital disabilities can all block proper mineral absorption from the diet.

Drinking tap water or water that is high in chlorine, aluminum, fluoride etc. and contamination of food or water with toxic metals and chemical can all hinder proper mineral absorption.

The most unfortunate case is of individuals who regularly consume mineral supplements but are still not seeing any benefits. These people are in all probability using the wrong kind of supplements that are incapable of getting absorbed properly or completely into the system.

Losing Minerals from the Body

Now there is another group of individuals who may be consuming and absorbing all the right amounts of minerals from their diet or through the mineral supplements that they consume, but still suffer from mineral deficiency diseases. These are the ones that are losing the minerals from the body at a much faster pace than they could be absorbed via the diet.

The reasons for losing minerals could be many like suffering from long continued periods of stress, prolonged fatigue which in turn could be resulting from other health disorders like thyroid or adrenal dysfunctions.

Accumulation of negative energy in the body by way of negative thinking patterns, emotional and mental dysfunctions, fear, built up resentments and anger etc. can all leave an indelible mark on the system by rapidly depleting the body stores of its mineral reserves.

Another important factor that contributes towards mineral loss in majority of us is our unhealthy lifestyle pattern. We work late hours, stress ourselves too much, travel a lot, are exposed to a lot of pollution, skip meals, eat irregularly, sleep late and exercise very little or not at all. At least this part of our lives are under our complete control and we can choose to follow a healthier lifestyle if we want to.

Ensuring Quality of Mineral Supplements

Mineral supplements are freely available in the market but as with other things, the quality of each brand differs a lot from the other. Most of these supplements are either in the colloidal form or may be contaminated with heavy metals. It is quite obvious that the quality has been compromised to provide cheaper pricing.

Ensuring that the supplements you are using are of high quality also ensures that your body is able to utilize them properly and prevent mineral deficiency related disorders. One of the high quality supplements are the chelated mineral supplements. These are attached to an amino acid in order to make them highly absorbable by the body.

7 Categories of Best Foods for Weight Loss

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Weight loss systems are dime a dozen but the most important component of any weight loss system is the diet. It is always perplexing to choose the right foods that will suit your weight loss regime.

But today’s post is about the best foods for weight loss and once you get familiar with the list, then you can easily choose the ones that suit your preference, dietary habits or specific weight loss regime. The best part about this list is that it includes both the vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods, so it will be useful for everyone.

Fish

Fish is the most helpful food for losing weight in the non-vegetarian category. Besides, it also has numerous other health benefits as well like providing adequate amounts of dietary iron (prevents anemia), iodine (for optimum thyroid health), omega-3 fatty acids (reducing inflammation, prevents depression, prevents obesity, boost heart health, reduces bad cholesterol) and also some amount of Vitamin D.

When speaking of fish as best foods for weight loss, there are numerous choices to suit your palate. Tuna, Herring, Salmon, Sardines, Atlantic Mackerel, farmed Rainbow Trout, Pacific Halibut, Black Cod, and Anchovies etc. are all great weight loss food choices with surplus health benefits.

Eggs

Next on this list of best foods for weight loss are eggs. Eggs are great sources of protein, calcium and of course are a great choice to include in your breakfast because they keep you satiated for longer hours.

A particular experiment conducted in women aged 25-60, with BMI of 25 and above demonstrated that eggs when included in breakfast could not only enhance satiety but also reduced food intake for the next 36 hours.

By the way, for the majority of us, eggs mean just chicken eggs. However there are so many other options when it comes to eggs, and many of them are healthier alternatives to chicken eggs. Turkey, duck, quail, goose and ostrich eggs are better in nutritional value when compared to chicken eggs, so next time you are shopping for eggs, don’t forget to look around for these better alternatives to chicken eggs.

Meat

Most of us consider meat, especially the red meat to be a strict no-no when it comes to including it on a weight loss menu. But the truth is that red meat like lean beef can be considered as one of the best foods for weight loss because of its high protein content. Studies show that if 25-30 % of your daily caloric intake is sourced from protein, it can not only help to burn more fat, but also keeps you satiated for longer periods and reduces both your food cravings and intake.

You have choices when it comes to meat as well, like chicken, turkey, lean beef etc.

Vegetables

Vegetables have always been in the good books of health conscious folks, but they could also help in weight loss if you utilize their nutritional benefits properly. If you are looking for vegetables that could help you eat less and feel fuller, then root vegetables are a great choice.

Some of the great tasting root vegetables that you could try are white potatoes, sweet potatoes, yam, turnips, carrots, beets, onions, garlic, parsnips, rutabaga etc.

Next on the list of awesome vegetables to include in your daily diet are leafy green vegetables and herbs. Spinach, Kale, Swiss Chard, Turnip greens, Collards, Celery, Lettuce, Parsley, Chicory, Chard, Watercress, Mint, Coriander leaves etc. are some great options.

Other healthy vegetables to consider are avocadoes, cruciferous vegetables, lemons and bell peppers.

Fruits

Fruits are best consumed whole rather than juicing them, because whole fruits provide more satiety, fiber and nutrients and most of these are lost in the process of juicing. Your best fruit options to lose weight are apples, kiwi, pears, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, oranges, papaya, watermelon, nectarines and plums.

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are powerhouses of energy and nutrients and great to include in your daily diet. But be careful to use just a handful of these as they are rich in calories as well and can topple your weight loss plan if you binge on them. Nuts and seeds you can use are almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame and quinoa.

How to Kick Away Stress When It Comes Near You

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Unless you are a Buddhist monk living somewhere in the Himalayas having no deadlines at work or spouse trouble at home or peer pressure at school, you would be familiar with the word “stress” and the damage it can do.

Let’s face it: stress is a fact of life. There’s no one who’s not experienced it or felt like falling apart when hit by its full force.

While we can’t wish away stress from our life completely, we can certainly learn how to manage it better. Here are 4 tips to manage stress better and improve the quality of your life—and of those around you.

1. Figure Out the Source

What’s bogging you down? That’s the first thing you must figure out when you feel your head getting as dull and heavy as a rock under the weight of stress.

Often, when we are stressed, we feel stressors hitting us from left, right, and center. However, in reality, there are only one or a few underlying stressors that are causing the much of the trouble.

Identifying the causes is winning half the battle against stress. The other half is completing the following exercise and the other tips listed in the series:

  • Are the stressors under your control? More often than not, we worry over what’s not under our control. Once you’ve identified your stressors, list them on a paper under either of the two headings, controllable and not controllable. Stop worrying about what’s not under your control, and perform the next steps to better manage that’s under you control.
  • How severe is the problem? Using a scale of one to ten, with one standing for a minor problem and ten for a disaster, rate each stressor. This will help you see things in the right perspective, as most things we consider as disaster on a closer inspection reveal themselves as no big deal.
  • Create an action plan and follow it. Once you’ve identified the stressors over which you’ve control, create an action plan and follow it. Even when the situation is bad, we breathe so much better when we know we are doing all we can to improve things.

2. Take Time Out to do Things You Love

It becomes so much easier to manage pockets of stress if your life is filled with activities that you love doing.

Happiness is the antidote of stress, so do more of the things that make you happy. For example, you might feel like stuck in a rut on the job front and that might be giving you huge amounts of stress. While you might have charted a plan of action, things won’t change overnight. Till the tide turns, investing time and energy in your favorite activity after work will help lift your spirits after a hard day.

3. Exercise a Little

Exercise is a great stress buster, and that’s why it always finds a mention in almost every talk about how to manage stress.

When you exercise, the brain ups the production of its feel-good neurotransmitters, endorphins. As a result you feel better and have more energy to take on life’s challenges.

Another advantage is that your sleep improves when you exercise regularly. One of the side effects of stress is lack of sleep, which feeds on as well as feeds stress. That is, lack of sleep can lead to more stress and the greater the stress, the poorer your sleep is likely to be.

4. Count to 10

Ever snapped at someone or done something under stress to only regret it a few seconds later?

A simple tip to avoid this is to momentarily step away from the stressor and collect yourself. Count to ten, take a few breaths, stretch a little, and recite an affirmation are all good ways to get hold of your nerves and avoid doing or saying something that will become a cause for regret later.

Stress is an unwanted guest—we don’t invite it, but it still pays us a visit. Thankfully, there are tips to ensure its stay remains as short and underwhelming as possible.

5 Tips to Glow From Inside Out

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Spiritual development is all about travelling—but the distance here is not measured in miles but rather how far you manage to go beyond your ego and negative habits.

And this is a solo journey, and to stay on the track and progress, you need strong commitment. Of course, spiritual classes and gurus can help you unlock the door to happiness, but they will be able to help only if your commitment is hundred percent.

The following 5 tips will also help you on your personal journey. Before we take a look at them, let’s understand what spiritual growth actually means.

What is Spiritual Growth?

In truth, the term ‘spiritual growth’ is incorrect. It is also misleading.

The spirit is embodiment of perfection. It cannot be made any better than what it is, that is, it doesn’t need to be grown. However, it needs to be awaken, so that it is allowed to manifest itself completely in everything we do.

Spiritual growth is the name given to the process of dropping habits that hold back our growth, of getting rid of erroneous beliefs, and of increasing awareness of our real essence. It is the process of letting the inner self inside you shine out.

5 Tips for Spiritual Growth

1. Start small

Spiritual growth is not a sprint—it’s a lifelong walk. Your success in this endeavor doesn’t depend on how fast you get off the blocks, but rather in which direction you are moving and how persistent you are.

Instead of trying out everything that has ‘spiritual’ before it, start small by picking a technique or course you like or are more open to explore. Spend some time developing and honing the new skill before adding a new element.

For example, enroll into a meditation course if you had always wanted to try it out or join a yoga class in your gym. Once you’ve spend sufficient hours doing the selected activity, you may expand your horizon further by learning new things.

2. New adventures

Life becomes stagnant if you stop learning new skills, not to mention boring. So be open to new adventures.

You should take small steps when starting your spiritual awareness journey, but even then you can add several new activities to your life. For instance, you can begin by learning meditation or yoga and also invest some time in creative pursuits, like writing, painting, or even reading.

Three very important things happen when you embrace new activities and people: your fear of unknown diminishes, you acquire new skills and you open yourself to new ideas, all of which helps sprout spiritual awareness.

3. Give time for a new activity to work for you

Do not jump from one activity to other every two months. Once you’ve picked an activity and have spent some time doing it, the first question you should ask yourself is am I enjoying my new activity.

If yes, stick with the same activity for some more time, and then ask yourself another question: Is my new activity helping me?

If it’s again yes, well… just continue with what you are doing.

On the other hand, if you don’t think that the new activity is really working for you, ask another question: Is it working for others?

Some people sometimes learn a skill slower than others, and it would be a real pity if you gave up something great that you enjoyed just because you needed some more time to make it work for you.

For instance, let’s say you had enrolled yourself in a bi-weekly yoga class. It’s been a year since you joined, but you are yet to taste a small slice of inner peace. Somehow, this is not working for you, although you practice regularly. However, some others in the class who are as old to yoga as you are happy with the improvements in their physical and mental health since joining.

You are thinking of quitting, but it would be much better if you were to first talk to your yoga teacher. Maybe he / she might help you fine tune your technique or get over some mental block that might be preventing your progress.

The crux of the matter is if you’ve found a good thing and you enjoy doing it, stick with it. Sooner or later, it will help bring about positive changes in you, allowing you to go deeper into your journey of spiritual awareness.

4. Let go off the past

The past events are a good teacher; they give us an opportunity to identify our mistakes, learn from them, and change ourselves.

But they can also, and often does, become a source of a lot of unhealthy emotional baggage. This emotional baggage is a hindrance to spiritual progress.

Accept the lessons that past event teach—but reject the negative emotions they evoke.

5. Live in present

The present is a gift. That’s why it is called the ‘present’. Release the past and don’t worry too much about the future. Learn to live each moment to the full.

It is easy to fall into the trap of wants, needs, and desires—and stay in it. Pursuing possessions, however, results in you taking off eyes from what you already have. It also leads to a lot of dissatisfaction.

Instead of going after material things, go further into your spiritual development and develop what you already have. It will help bring stability and harmony into your life.

Spiritual growth needs time and persistence. Start small and pick an activity you like. Stick with it and in time positive changes will sprout in you, paving way for a more fulfilling and peaceful life.

Three Tips on How to Meditate For Beginners

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Physically here, mentally elsewhere—sounds familiar?

That’s called being in default mode—and it is not the best way to go about your day, because we tend to be unhappy when we are in this mode.

Being too much in default mode can alleviate stress and negative emotions. The antidote of default mode is active mode, in which you are physically as well as mentally present in the moment.

Through mediation you can learn to stay in active mode more.

Basic Tips For Beginners

How difficult it could be to be a passive observer as you breathe in and out?

Well, when you start meditation, you are likely to find it’s much harder than you thought.

What’s worse, the harder you try, the hazier your focus becomes. And if you let go, as many meditation teachers so frequently tell, you are more likely to doze off than gain any sharpness in your observation.

But all this is natural…

Being completely in present and developing razor sharp focus requires patience and regular practice. Some useful tips are:

  • Don’t be hard on yourself and don’t try harder (give it some time; your focus will improve.)
  • Practice daily (there’s no shortcut to learning meditation.)
  • Keep things simple

Expanding on the third tip, here are a few practical meditation techniques for beginners that are easy to follow.

Meditation Techniques For Beginners

1. Start small

Many meditators start with 3 to 5 minutes. You can do the same.

When you start, you may find that even 3 minutes is a too long a time period. Again, that’s ok, because many novices feel just what you are feeling.

The solution is to shorten the time. Why not start with focusing on say 5 breaths at first and gradually increase the duration?

There’s no shame in starting small. Meditation is not a race; your sharpness of focus, not the duration, determines the quality of a meditation session.

2. Do it your own way

Some like meditation mp3, some like walking meditation without any prop. Who’s to say which one is better? You do what works for you.

If you want to try meditation mp3, you can try those in which the presenter prompts you to do a body scan, that is, focusing on one part of the body for a few seconds and then another and so on while observing the sensations you experience as your focus is on each body part.

One advantage of this type, and other meditation mp3, is that they can be done while lying down. One feels relaxed and refreshed after completing a session. You can also use meditation mp3 to help you fall sleep after a rough day. Those who find initiating sleep difficult can do a session of meditation daily just before sleeping.

Walking helps many people concentrate better. Here’s a 10-min walking meditation program that you can give a try. It involves paying attention for one minute to each of the following:

  • The feeling of you walking.
  • The feeling of inhaling and exhaling.
  • The sensations caused by wind touching your skin as you walk.
  • The sounds you hear.
  • The things you see.

Following these, for next 5 minutes, allow anything that you see or hear or sense to rise up in your awareness. If in this period if your mind wanders into the past or the future, gently bring it back to the present.

3. Use a mantra

A mantra is a repetitive vibration or sound that soothes and calms the mind. The most common mantra is “om”, but you can use any other too.

You can also listen to peaceful music, which helps you relax more quickly and better, making it easier for you meditate.

Meditation is simple; however, attaining a good level of focus requires practice. Adopt a meditation technique that you find most comfortable and practice regularly.

Six Science Proven Benefits of Meditation

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There’s hardly a stress reduction technique as effective as meditation, and many studies back this.

However, this is not the only benefit it provides. In fact there are many science proven benefits of mediation, top six being the following.

1. Meditation Helps Preserve Grey Matter Volume

Everybody loses grey matter volume as he or she ages—but meditators lose it slowly than non-meditators.

According to a recent study, individuals who had been practicing meditation on average for twenty years had better-preserved brain than those who didn’t meditate. Of course, experienced meditators showed loss of grey matter volume as they aged, but not as much as non-meditators.

2. Meditation Helps Tame Monkey Mind

When you meditate regularly for a few years, the activity in the brain network responsible for self-referential thoughts and mind wandering (a.k.a. monkey mind) reduces.

Activity in the default mode network of the brain is linked with monkey mind, that is, the pattern of jumping from one thought to another. Mind-wandering, besides being an aimless activity, is linked with being less happy.

Meditation has a calming effect on the default mode network (which is also known as DMN). Moreover, experienced meditators are able to regain control of their mind quickly when their mind wanders.

3. Meditation is as Effective as Antidepressants for Anxiety & Depression

Researchers at John Hopkins studied the effect of meditation on the symptoms of anxiety and depression. At 0.3, the effect size was found to be moderate.

At the first glance, this may look not much. However, when you see it in the light of the effect size of anti-depression medication, which is also 0.3, the effect size for meditation rightly appears to be pretty good.

The finding looks even better when you consider that almost every anti-depression medication has side effects, whereas meditation has none.

Of course, meditation is not a magic formula for treating depression—but then the same is equally true for other treatments.

4. Meditation Helps Manage Stress

Stress is a fact of life. It is like an unwanted guest: none of us invite it into our life, but it every now and then pays each of us a visit.

Well, while it’s almost impossible to get rid of stress completely, we can learn to manage it better. One such stress management tool, and an effective one at that, is Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, a meditation course that helps reduce stress.

Research has revealed that this course is useful not only in management of stress but also social anxiety disorder. This course, called MBSR for short, is a special sub-genre of meditation and was developed by John Kabat-Zinn to help people cope better with stress.

5. Meditation is Beneficial for People With Addiction

Studies reveal that meditation has a positive effect on that part of the brain that’s correlated to self-control.

In one study, research compared the efficacy of meditation and “freedom from smoking” program initiated by the American Lung Association’s to help smokers quit cigarettes. After 17 weeks, researchers found that the success rate was significantly higher in participants who underwent mindfulness training.

6. Meditation Increases Volume in the Hippocampus

The hippocampus part of the brain governs memory and learning. An 8-week course of MBSR, researchers found, increased volume in this area of the brain. Not only this, participants also showed increase in the cortical thickness in some brain parts responsible for emotional regulation as well as self referential processing.

Moreover, reduced cell volume was recorded in that part of the brain that is responsible for stress, fear, and anxiety. The stress reports of the participants also made for a better reading. In other words, not only meditation causes structural changes in the brain but it also improves our perception as well as the way we feel.

There are many benefits of meditation. Make it a part of your daily routine. Moreover it is not difficult to do or time consuming.

4 Yoga Poses For Weight Loss

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Sweat, sweat, and then sweat some more is the traditional advice for losing weight. This line of thought stresses on burning more calories through scorching, high-intensity workouts. After all, to lose weight one must burn more calories than one consumes.

Yoga ascribes to the indubitable weight loss formula of burning more than what you consume too, but it works in a different way. While you burn calories when you do asanas, yoga is not a high-intensity workout. The focus in yoga is not on burning as many calories as possible but rather on restoring harmony in the body and the mind.

Regular practice of yoga improves the functioning of the internal organs, restores hormonal balance, flushes out toxins, improves sleep and reduces stress—all of which are factors for weight gain.

Yoga also improves our mindfulness and the way we relate to our body. We become more aware of what we are eating and start making better food choices.

In short, yoga for weight loss is a great idea. It helps you lose weight and also improves your overall health. Here are 4 yoga poses that provide multiple health benefits, aiding weight loss being one of them.

Ardha Chandrasna (Half-moon Pose)

How to do it:

  • Stand upright with feet firmly planted on the floor.
    Go to Trikonasana on the right side, that is, the right hand should touch the right foot and left hand should be placed on your left buttock.
  • Bring your right ahead a little ahead of your right foot (about 12 inches) and then lift your left leg up, making a 90 degree angle or slightly more with the right leg.
  • Take your left hand upwards and bring it in one line with the right hand.
  • Gently turn your neck and look at the middle finger of the right hand.
  • Bring your left leg down and then repeat the pose on the left side.

Breathing:

Inhale while raising the leg and exhale while bringing it down. Breathe normally while in the pose. Hold the pose for 15-20 seconds initially and then gradually increase the time spent in the pose.

Benefits:

It helps remove fat from waist, hips, and buttocks and also nourishes the spine by making it flexible and strong. It is good for boosting digestion and also provides relief from gastro-intestinal problems.

Uttanasana or Forward Bending Pose

How to do it:

  • Stand upright with your feet planted firmly on the floor and heels touching with each other (Those with locked knees can keep their heels a little apart).
  • Bend forward and place the palm on the floor by the side of your feet (If this is not possible, hold your ankles).
  • Touch the forehead to the knees (If you can’t, bring it as closer as possible).
  • Move the hips a little forward as the tendency to take them back. Move them forward only till the legs are perpendicular to the floor.
  • Slowly raise the head from the knees and the palms from the floor and come back to the starting position.

Breathing:

Exhale as you go down and inhale as you come up. When in the pose, breathe normally. Stay in the pose for 5-10 seconds initially and then increase the duration gradually. Do not bend the knees in any position, that is, while going down, in the pose, or coming up.

Benefits:

Uttanasana or the forward bending pose stretches your hamstrings. It also puts a considerable amount of pressure on the abdominal organs and tones the liver, the spleen, and the kidneys. It also rejuvenates the spinal nerves, has a calming effect on the mind, and slows down the heart beats. The full benefits of Uttanasana are felt when you hold the pose for at least 2 minutes and do it regularly.

Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Spinal Twist)

How to do it:

  • Sit on the yoga mat with the legs stretched out. Keep the feet together and the spine erect.
  • Bending the left leg, bring the heel close to the right hip. (You can also keep the left leg stretched out on the mat, perpendicular to the floor, if you want.)
  • Bring the right leg over the left knee. Hold the right knee with your left hand and take the right hand behind you.
  • Twist the abdomen from right to left, then chest from right to left, then shoulders from the right to left, and then turn your neck finally and look over the right shoulder.
  • Stay in the pose for a few breathes and then, releasing the right hand, gradually come back to the starting position.
  • Repeat on the other side.

Breathing:

Exhale while turning and while returning to the normal position. Breathe normally while holding the pose. Do not turn with a jerky movement and do not release the pose abruptly. Turning should be smooth and swift and the release gentle and gradual.

Benefits:

This is a great pose for toning the abdominal muscles and the thighs. Your spine gets a good stretch in this pose. Ardha Matsyendrasana or half spinal twist also stimulates the digestive system and provides relief from common digestive problems, like acidity, gas, bloating, etc. Your lungs become stronger if you do this pose regularly.

Halasana or Plough Pose

How to do it:

  • Sit on the yoga mat with the legs stretched out. Keep the feet together and arms by your side with palms facing downwards.
  • Using the abdominal muscles, raise your legs to 90 degree.
  • Use your hands to support your back and hips and raise them off the ground.
  • Bring your legs over your head and try to touch the ground with your toes (This may be difficult. The focus should be on keeping the spine perpendicular to the floor. One way to judge if this is so or not is by looking at the stomach. If it is rolling over the chest, your spine would not be straight. Stomach rolling over the chest also puts unwanted pressure on the chest, which negates the effect of the plough pose, in which the chest is fully expanded and light.)
  • Hold this pose for a few breaths.
  • Gently come out of the pose, avoiding any jerky movements.

Breathing:

You should gently exhale as you go into the pose and inhale as you come back to the supine position. Hold the pose as long as you can in the beginning and increase the duration gradually, until you could hold the pose comfortably for 3 minutes. Breathe normally when you are in the pose.

Benefits:

This pose is extremely beneficial for toning the buttock muscles and strengthening the shoulders and thighs. It is especially recommended for those who spend a major part of their day sitting as they are prone to having bad posture.

Halasana or plough pose help rejuvenate the abdominal organs due to contraction. It is also good for people with back pain. In this asana, because of the forward bend, the spine receives a greater supply of blood, which helps relieve pain in the back. Halasana or plough pose helps maintain hormonal balance and works directly on the thyroid glands, parathyroid glands, abdominal organs and lungs.

Done correctly and religiously, these four poses help you lose weight faster. Each of them also provides a range of health benefits and improves your overall health.

4 Rules to Burn More Fat, Faster

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There are many good rules for losing weight, rules that follow the slow and steady approach. The following rules are not that.

These are for those for whom good is no longer good enough, for those who want more, for those who want to lose more fat in less time.

And surprise, surprise, you don’t actually need to overhaul your daily life to lose mega calories. These small changes will help you get a newer, better, and fitter look faster.

Rule #1 – Exercise in the Morning

Lace up in the morning and you’ll be three times more likely to exercise regularly.

According to a study, involving 500 people, 75 percent of morning exercisers work out on a regular basis. The number for afternoon and post-work exercisers is 50 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

The other perk of sweating in the morning is better performance at work. According to one study, concentration and cognitive function improves after a short aerobic workout session (of 20 minutes or more) in the morning.

Rule #2 – Pump Some Iron Before hitting the Pedal

Some exercisers start their workout with cardio; some do a quick sculpting pre-cardio (that is, resistance training) before pedaling hard. Guess what? The second type of exercisers loses more fat.

According to a study, cardio done after 20 minutes of weight lifting results in losing more fat. The other advantage of lifting weights before doing cardio is that this sequence is good for your heart.

Resistance training causes arteries to stiffen and consequently blood pressure to rise. A cardio workout, on the other hand, has the opposite effect: it brings arteries to normal.

What’s more, you are able to get more out of resistance training when you do it first. Lifting weights requires coordination as well as good technique and achieving both in a fatigued can prove a tad difficult. In comparison, cardio is a low-skill activity and easier to do when tired, physically and mentally.

In short, resistance training followed by cardio is an effective (perhaps the most effective) fat burning workout.

Rule #3 – Increase Your Pace, Boost Your Metabolism

Did you know that high-intensity exercise helps you burn more calories not only while you exercise but also even after it?

After a high-intensity exercise, your metabolism stays elevated by 10 to 15 percent above its normal rate. This, in turn, translates into burning of more calories at rest.

To get the effect, do cardio at a speed which is challenging for you. Another option is to do interval training, one of the most effective fat burning workouts. In interval training, you alternate between high-intensity and low-intensity.

The high-intensity sprint must be at close to 90 percent of your maximum capacity and the low-intensity recovery period at a pace that you can manage while breathing normally.

An example of interval training is sprinting (interval training can be done with any other cardio exercise, like swimming, cycling, elliptical trainer, etc.) for 1 minute and brisk walking for the next one minute or minute and a half to recover and then repeating the sequence for a few times.

Rule #4 – Do the Two-Step

Next time you take stairs, take two of them at a time.

The two-step climb activates the fast-twitch muscle fibers of your legs, which lead to burning of more calories. The other advantage is that this way you would be able to use that part of your muscles which you normally don’t use.

You must up the ante if you want to burn more calories faster. Simple but better and more effective workouts can get you to ‘slimmer you’ more quickly.

7 Reasons to Say Good Morning with Oatmeal

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There’s no better way to welcome a new day than with a warm bowl of oatmeal—it is tasty and super healthy!

Here are not one but 7 reasons why oatmeal makes for a great breakfast food.

Nutritional Breakdown of Oats

Here are some important oatmeal nutrition facts that you must know:

Dietary Fiber: One of the most healthy aspects of oats is their high-fiber content. They are especially rich in one special type of fiber, called beta-glucan, which studies have linked with lower risk of high cholesterol. One serving of oats (1 cup of oats = 81 grams) offers you 8.2 grams of fiber, which is over 30 percent of daily recommended intake of fiber of women and over 20 percent of daily recommended intake of fiber for men.

Minerals: Oats are an excellent source of a range of minerals, such as:

  • Magnesium – Helps maintain normal nerve and muscle function and a healthy immune system, important for bone and heart health.
  • Zinc – Needed for the immune system to work properly, important for cell division and growth, assimilating carbs, and wound healing.
  • Iron – Responsible for production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells.
  • Manganese – Important for bone health and absorption of calcium.
  • Phosphorus – Needed for healthy, strong bones and teeth.
  • Copper – Plays a role in red blood cell formulation, helps keeps the nervous and immune systems and bones healthy.
    Selenium – Important for good cell health.

Calories: A single serving of oats (equal to one cup) provides you with about 300 calories.

1. Oats Promote Satiety

Satiety plays a vital role in weight loss and weight management. Eating foods that keeps us full for a longer time leads to consumption of fewer calories daily.

In one study, researchers studied how 38 different foods (oats was one of them) affect satiety. Porridge (that is, cooked oatmeal) was ranked third from the top overall and first in foods eaten for breakfast.

The ability to oats to promote satiety is mainly because of its high water-soluble content, which increases stomach distention, aids the release of satiety hormones, and delays stomach emptying.

2. Oat Can Help Reduce Cholesterol

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women in the world. In the United States alone, about 61,000 people die of heart disease every year.

High cholesterol is a risk factor of heart disease. Excess cholesterol in the blood attaches itself to the walls of the arteries, making them narrower and in turn affecting the flow of the blood. Severely blocked arteries result in blocking of blood flow to the heart and consequently a heart attack.

More than one study has shown that oats, thanks to high beta-glucan content, are effective in reducing cholesterol and offering protection from health conditions resulting directly because of high cholesterol levels.

3. Oats Can Lower the Risk of Diabetes Type 2

Oats are a great source of magnesium, which is found to play an important role in production of over 300 enzymes, including those enzymes which regulate the use of glucose and secretion of insulin.

In an eight-year long study, researchers found participants eating magnesium-rich foods were at a lower risk to diabetes than those who didn’t eat magnesium-rich foods.

4. Oats Can Offer Protection Against Breast Cancer

In a study, researchers found that pre-menopausal women consuming more fiber from whole grains were at a significantly lower risk to breast cancer than women eating foods that were not rich in fiber.

The risk of breast cancer was about 50 percent lower in women consuming more than 30 grams of fiber daily in comparison to women eating less than 20 grams of fiber daily.

Further, it was found that fiber obtained from whole grains offered the best protection against breast cancer. Pre-menopausal women who ate a lot of whole grain fiber (13 grams or more every day) had a 41 percent lower risk of breast cancer than women who obtained only 4 gram or less fiber daily from whole grains.

5. Oats Can Enhance Immune Response to Infection

As the oatmeal nutrition facts chart shows, oats are a good source of beta-glucan, a special type of fiber. This fiber provides many health benefits, one of which is improving the response of the immune system to bacterial infection.

According to one study, beta-glucan can result in faster healing of a bacterial infection. Start your day with oatmeal, it not only improves your morning energy levels but also may boost your immune system.

6. Oats May Help Lower the Risk of Colorectal Cancer

Researchers in Europe pooled data, covering nearly 2 million people, to establish if the risk of colorectal cancer is lower in people eating a high fiber diet, a diet that includes high amounts of whole grains as well as cereals such as oats.

The researchers found that every additional 10 grams of fiber in diet lowered the risk to colorectal cancer by 10 percent. If not for the taste, eat oats for the health benefits they provide.

7. Oats (along with fish) May Protect Against Childhood Asthma

One study reveals that increasing the intake of whole grains (like oats) and fish can cut the risk to childhood asthma by half. In the study, researchers found children consuming a lot of whole grains and fish had significantly lower risk than those eating a diet lacking in both.

Adverse Effects

Oats are usually well tolerated, but they may be contaminated with gluten. Individuals who are sensitive to gluten should only consume “pure” and non-contaminated oats.

Rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber, oats are super healthy and provide a host of health benefits, not to mention they also promote satiety and aid weight loss.

6 Reasons Why Eggs Are Good For You

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The humble egg is actually a powerhouse of nutrients. In fact, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to call it a super food.

There are not many foods that boast as healthy a nutritional chart as eggs. Here are top 10 reasons backed by good science why you must include eggs in your diet.

1. Eggs are Loaded With Healthy Nutrients

Eggs are the extremely rich in protein. They also offer many essential minerals and vitamins that are part of a healthy, balanced diet. Egg nutrition facts, along with a brief description about main benefits of each nutrient present in it, are as follows:

  • Protein: Builds as well maintains muscles and tissues and plays a vital role in production of enzymes, hormones, and antibodies.
  • Iron: Needed for production of red blood cells and transportation of oxygen in the body.
  • Phosphorus: Maintains bones and teeth and helps energy metabolism.
  • Selenium: Aids immune system, protects body cells against oxidative damage, and helps thyroid gland function properly.
  • Lutein and zeaxanthin: Helps maintain normal vision and prevent age-related eye disease.
  • Iodine: Needed for thyroid gland function.
  • Choline: Important for brain health.
  • Vitamin A: Helps maintain the immune system, normal vision, and skin.
  • Vitamin B2 and B12: Helps energy metabolism, the nervous system, and formation of red blood cells.
  • Vitamin B5: Useful for mental functioning as well as energy metabolism.
  • Vitamin D: Essential for bone and teeth health and absorption of calcium.
  • Vitamin E: Needed for healthy muscles, nervous system, and reproductive system.

When it comes to providing nutrients, there are not many foods that can match eggs. A medium-sized egg offers 5.53 grams of protein, 5 grams of healthy fats, and 77 calories.

Organic eggs are healthier than regular ones as they have a higher omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin A and E content.

2. Boosts Brain Power

Eggs, as the above-listed egg nutrition facts, show contain many constituents essential for brain health, namely choline, vitamins B12 and D, and omega-3 fatty acids.

While choline improves cognitive power and memory, vitamin B12 (one hardboiled egg provides you with 19% of recommended daily intake of this vitamin) helps reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Omega-3 fatty and Vitamin D, too, aid brain health. The former helps increase brain volume and the latter improves brain function.

3. High in Cholesterol, Eggs Don’t Cause a Spike in Blood Cholesterol Levels

The recommended daily intake of cholesterol is 300 mg. A single medium-sized egg offers 212 mg of cholesterol. That’s about 70% of your recommended daily intake. Even then eating eggs does not negatively affect blood cholesterol.

Consuming more dietary cholesterol does not necessarily mean higher blood cholesterol. In fact, each day the liver produces a lot of cholesterol. Increasing the intake of eggs actually results in liver producing less amounts of cholesterol, and this in turn compensates for the increased consumption of dietary cholesterol.

According to one study, 70% of participants who ate eggs didn’t report any increase in blood cholesterol while 30% recorded a mild increase in LDL (the bad) and total cholesterol.

The egg yolk is a good source of lutein, which, as per the American Heart Association, protects against early heart disease.

4. Aids Weight Loss

Did you know that eating eggs in breakfast can help you lose weight? Contrary to the popular belief, eggs are better than bagels as a breakfast food, especially when the focus is on losing weight.

In the study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers noted that participants who ate an egg-based breakfast lost more weight than those having bagels in the morning.

In another study, researchers found that eggs for breakfast helps reduce the daily calorie count by as much as 400 calories. In other words, you can lose about 3 pounds every month with this single dietary change.

This ability of the egg to aid weight loss is attributed to its high protein. Gram for gram, protein keeps you full for more time than carbs—and this explains why you consume fewer calories when you eat eggs for breakfast.

5. Eggs Change Small LDL Particles to Large Particles, Associated With a Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

LDL cholesterol is bad for your heart. Almost everyone knows this.

But did you also know that there are subtypes of LDL cholesterol and one subtype is more harmful for heart health than the other?

LDL particles, on basis of their size, are categorized as small and large LDL particles. People with more small LDL particles have a significantly higher risk to cardiovascular disease than those with predominantly large LDL particles.

Eggs convert the small LDL particles in your blood to large particles, which is not bad for your heart.

6. Keeps Eyes Healthy

As you can see from the egg nutrition facts, they are a good source of lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoids that studies have shown to lower the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts.

Both these compounds have a strong antioxidant effect, which in turn strengthens the retina and keep the eye protected from UV rays and free radical damage. Green leafy veggies also contain lutein in good amounts, but many nutritionists believe that this compound is absorbed better when taken through eggs.

Eggs are a great source of protein (probably the best source) and many other healthy nutrients. Eat them daily for better health and weight management.

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