Your first priority when losing weight should be to eat a healthy diet. Of course, exercise is important, but consistently eating the right foods daily should come first. Follow these simple and effective tips to lose fat more easily.

Healthy Fats

Healthy fats are crucial to your weight loss efforts so aim to include healthy fats in most meals. Doing this assists your body to maintain the optimum hormone levels needed for fat burning and muscle-building. Healthy fats will also help to curb your appetite.

Include the following healthy fat foods in your diet: seeds, raw nuts, avocados, egg yolks (from free range, organic eggs), coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil. Grass fed meat is also an excellent source of healthy fats.

Here is a tip to quell your appetite and provide your body with protein, healthy fats and fiber. Try eating a handful of raw nuts half an hour before each meal 3 times daily. Nuts are nutrient dense as well so this simple trick will go a long way to improving your overall diet. Good choices are almonds, walnuts, and pecans.

Quality Protein

Include a quality protein with each snack and meal. High-quality sources include grass-fed meats, raw dairy, and plants sources such as beans and nuts. Protein helps with appetite suppression, which encourages you to ultimately consume fewer calories.

Eating enough protein assists your body to build lean muscle if you are working out. The more lean muscle you have, the greater will be the rate your metabolism runs at.

Eating enough protein at each meal also helps to regulate your blood sugar and insulin levels as protein slows down the breakdown of carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates

While it is not necessary to reduce carbohydrates to extremely low levels, many people do struggle to lose weight because they eat too many refined carbohydrates and sugars.

The sugars in fruits are better because the fiber in the fruits slows your body’s blood sugar response. An exception is fruit juices that are loaded with sugar and stripped of fiber during processing.

Try minimizing your consumption of carbohydrates from processed grains such as pasta, bread, cereals, bagels and so on. If you increase carbohydrate consumption from fruit and vegetables, you will most likely find it easier to shed body fat. This simple step alone can have a noticeable effect.

Follow these tips to a healthier smarter diet that will help you to lose fat more readily and build muscle, all the while providing more energy.

I hope this article helps you on the road to a healthy and hardy body.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to lose weight without feeling frustrated because you’re stuck on a rigid meal plan? A meal plan that doesn’t allow you to eat certain foods or go out for meals with friends and family? A meal plan that leaves you envious of your co-workers enjoy pizza Fridays! There really is a way to lose weight while still eating everything you love and it’s called flexible dieting or IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros).

The Science Of Weight Loss

You will have people argue that calories don’t matter but in reality they do for weight loss. When it comes to weight loss it’s calories in vs. calories out – that is the science. For example: let’s say you’re a small female who wants to lose weight and you calculate your calories for weight loss to be 1500. You can now eat 1500 calories of poptarts per day or you can eat 1500 calories of chicken, rice and broccoli per day or you can eat 1500 calories of beans and tofu per day, the end result is the same, you will lose weight. Now this example isn’t discussing overall health and energy so when it comes to being healthy as well that is where the type of foods you choose to eat play a role. But in terms of losing weight, your food selection actually doesn’t matter.

Flexible Approach

This flexible approach allows you to eat essentially whatever you would like as long as you stay within your daily macronutrient budget. Your macronutrients are your proteins, carbohydrates and fats – these will total up to your daily calorie intake. One gram of protein = 4 calories, one gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories and 1 gram of fat = 9 calories. Flexible dieters will use apps such as MyFitnessPal or MyMacros+ to keep track of their food intake, along with using measuring cups and kitchen scales for the best accuracy. Using this flexible approach you can now eat those cookies or chips, or have a donut at the office, or go out to a restaurant or eat with your family and still lose weight! While strict meal plans work for some, they are not maintainable in the long-term, they don’t teach people how to eat on their own and they have been known to cause eating disorders. Those who “fall off” of these strict meal plans because they had one little treat usually feel guilty and throw in the towel – they either go all out and eat everything they can or give up completely until perhaps the next Monday rolls around. So why not incorporate a bit of chocolate or a few cookies in the day and make the whole process easier and more enjoyable? It’s accountability with flexibility. Think about the 80/20 rule for your nutrition. Whole foods should make up 80% of your diet and treats can make up 20% of your diet. This will keep you sane and you’ll be more likely to stick to your weight loss plan without losing your sanity and social life.

One Quick Note: Fat Loss vs Weight Loss

Now, I don’t want to confuse weight loss with fat loss because these are two different things. Sticking to a calorie target will ensure weight loss (muscle, water and fat), but if we want to make sure we are losing mostly fat then we need to have a balance of our daily macronutrients. An increase of protein at roughly 0.8-1.1 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day is a good starting point. Eating adequate amounts of protein will spare muscle loss when you’re dieting and the body will use more fat as fuel instead of breaking down muscle tissue. A few examples of great protein sources are your lean meats, eggs, fish, protein powders, tempeh and lentils. There are several more but I will save that for another article.

What To Do At Restaurants

With the flexible approach there are a few things you can do:

* plan ahead by having a look at the restaurant’s nutrition information and eat according to your targets

* if there is no nutrition information available stay flexible by using your best estimations or find something similar in your app

* occasionally you can interchange carbs and fat (total calories) while keeping the protein the same. For example: if you didn’t have much fat allowed for the rest of the day but decided on a higher fat meal then keep carbs lower as long as you stay under your total calorie target

* structure your day to include more protein and vegetables because your “meal out” will most likely be higher in carbs and fat

* consider intermittent fasting (more advanced approach) to allow for more calories to be eaten later in the day

* just enjoy the meal in moderation and get back to your plan the next day

There you have it, it IS possible to lose weight (really we should focus on fat loss though) and keep your sanity and social life. Stay accountable with your nutrition but have some fun, live life, be happy and remain flexible in your approach.

You’re not a fitness buff. You don’t want to spend hours in a gym, sweating the stuff. You want a workout that’s less work, more fun. Something you’ll stick with for the rest of your life.

Care to dance?

NOT YET. But the writing is already on the wall. In trend-setter countries like the United States, strenuous exercise forms like high-impact aerobics as well as other heart-pounding regimes are slowly yielding ground to softer, slower, less rigorous disciplines – like yoga, tai chi, good old walking, and – what is, essentially, rhythmic walking – the tried-and tested forms of Western social dance.

If you’re looking for a workout that has not only physical pay-offs but emotional and spin-offs as well, you might give serious consideration to dances like the Samba or the Tango – a range that runs from the Foxtrot to the Rumba, from the Jive to Paso Doble, from the Quickstep to the Viennese Waltz.

Here’s why:

It’s low-impact!

In ballroom, or in social dance, you’re not tearing your ligaments, pounding your joints or damaging your nerves – all attendant risks in high-impact aerobic dance. But you’re getting the benefits of physical conditioning all right. As you go backward, forward, spin and sway, you’re working on many things. You’re moving, you’re on your feet (weight-bearing exercise), you’re lengthening and twisting your body for dips and swirls, you’re using coordination, maintaining balance, honing flexibility. And, especially where you’re using fancy footwork, you’re developing grace.

Many teachers say dancing is just rhythmic walking and may well enable you to walk with more balance and grace.

It’s adaptable!

Dance has so many variants and variations that, depending on your inclinations and your expectations from exercise, you can choose from among: the sedate Fox-trot and the English Waltz; the sensual Argentine Tango; the perky Cha Cha Cha; and so many more. If you do want to build up to aerobic level, step up to the pulse-quickening Viennese Waltz.

In fact, dance can be such a physical challenge that Ballroom Dance now has provisional status as an Olympic Sport!

It’s for everyone… almost!

Unless you’re bed-ridden or otherwise severely disabled, you can find some dance or other that you can comfortably, even skillfully, do.

You can have glaucoma and only peripheral vision – your partial blindness dies not stop you from dancing. Some experts who has been teaching dance for over 40 years, affirms that doctors often send patients (such as accident victims or those who have suffered injuries like arm dislocations) to learn dance during their rehabilitation period. Many of these referring doctors have found out for themselves the therapeutic value of dance.

Unlike high-impact aerobic dance or jazzercise, you don’t have to be physically fit as a pre-requisite to taking up non-discotheque dancing. Provided you stay within your limitations, you can be suffering from hypertension, diabetes, even joint problems – and still dance.

For long years, arthritis patients have been told what not to do in terms of physical activity. Today, doctors are encouraging arthritic patients to take up mild to moderate activity. And some arthritic patients have discovered, on their own, that some footwork on the dance floor can be marvelous medicine for their stiffness and pains.

(However, if you’re an arthritic patient or suffer from any kind of physical disability, first get the go-ahead from your doctor. If you have a severely inflamed joint, it may be too painful to dance. Also, some chronic illness can affect organs like the heart, which means that you may have to take it easy in the beginning and gradually build up).

It’s medicine for the mind!

Just learning and practicing and successfully performing your dance steps adds immensely to self-confidence. You’ve learnt a new skill – you can do it! – and that’s a potent potion to boost anyone’s self-esteem.

Dancing also allows a lot of emotional expression. And that helps to release bottled-up feelings, to lift your spirits. Experts talk of divorcees who have come to them – again, on medical advice – to get over the depression and other negative feelings that arise in the aftermath of the martial break-up.

As far as its spirit-boosting, exhilarating effects go, dance is a no-age-barrier activity. As grandpa and grandma take to the floor, and as they experience the enjoyment, the pizazz, the sheer exhilaration that comes from dancing, they feel like re-cycled teenagers all over.

How to get started?

Word of mouth is the best way to go when you’re deciding which dance class you should join. All the same, ask whether it’s possible to observe a lesson before you join up. If it is, then one of the things you must do is to take a good look at the instructor while he/she is teaching. Is he/she a leader or a teacher? A leader will simply walk you through a routine. A teacher will reach out to his/her students and make sure they have good posture and technique.

His/her own posture should be elegant. Not stiff or stooped, because the pupil will tend to mirror the teacher.

Once you start, you’re very likely to get hooked. And as you tune in and tone up, you may even find yourself singing a new tune, the one like ‘Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?’

Is it really possible to lose weight in one week? This question may be hovering in your mind given the testimonies of many persons who have been engaged in various weight loss programs without success. Knocking off excess weight could be a challenging task when you consider the discipline that is required. You may find it difficult shedding weight because of a variety of reasons such as your body chemistry, difficulty in keeping your scheduled work out programs, the nature of your job and a lot more. The important thing to note is that you can actually start losing weight right from today. It is a battle that starts up there in your mind. Whether you win or lose depend on the approach you choose to adopt. Some tips on how to lose weight in a week and start seeing results are put together to help you succeed in your weight loss program.

Have a scale at home

This is an invaluable device you must have if you are really serious to take off excess pounds from your body. The only way to know if the program you have chosen to follow is working after one week of trial is to measure your weight with a scale. Your initial weight before the commencement of the program should be recorded. Weekly progress report should also be recorded after the program must have commenced in full swing.

Eat more vegetables

One sure way to lose weight quickly is to watch your eating habit. Taking in plenty of vegetables and reducing the amount of carbohydrate you consume will help you realize your dream of getting a slimmer body. Cutting down your carbohydrate intake makes little room for conversion of the abundance of carbohydrate into fat and keeps your calories low.

Avoid eating out

When you are watching your weight one thing you must try to avoid is eating out of the home. The simple reason is that you have total control of what you prepare at home compared to what is made available when you eat outside. Whenever it becomes unavoidable that you eat out of the home, make sure you cover the lost grounds in the next couple of days cutting down the excess calories you consumed outside the home.

Use fruits for snacks in place of junks

Make provision for your favorite fruits and use them whenever the craving for snacks arises. One way many people add up weight easily is through intermittent intake of crappy snacks. You can get this checked with the use of fruits.

Exercising

Draw up a weekly work out plan for yourself and make sure you stick to your plan. Exercise is a good way to quicken your body metabolism and burn off excess calories.

Join a wealth loss forum

No person is an island. It is always good to flock together with likeminded individuals if you wish to get a good result. You can learn quickly through the experiences of other persons like you in such groups.

Losing weight is something that has to do with your mind. It is important that you capture in your mind how to lose weight in a week is possible before even venturing out to accomplish the programs you have set for yourself. Do not despise the days of little beginning. Whatever little improvement you achieve in your first week should be seen as a motivation to do better. With such a mindset the sky can only be a starting point in your weight loss program.

So you just got into lifting weights and you've heard all the hype around this powdery substance called creatine. Should you take it? Is it worth the hype people are putting around this product? Or is it something that does not really have any added benefits? Let's find out.

What exactly is creatine?

It is a compound that is formed in protein metabolism and is in much of our living tissue. It is involved in supplying energy for muscular contracting which, in turn, increases the body's ability to produce energy rapidly. It normally comes in a powdered substance that can be flavored for you to mix with your drink.

Benefits of using creatine:

• Improves strength
• Enhances muscle and size
• Helps with recovery
• Helps with brain function

As we all know, with supplementation comes a risk of benefits we did not ask for while using them and creatine has been one to have much controversy over the years. It has been viewed as potentially harmful however, if we use this supplement correctly, all is well.

Things that are not so great about creatine:

• You'll gain weight (do not worry it's nothing crazy, it's mostly just water and then slowly it'll be more muscle mass)
• Some people have reported having: heart problems, cramps, and diarrhea. These are not necessarily related to creatine, but it could be a combination of other things that have caused these types of issues.

For instance, too much iron leads to stomach problems which could be causing the cramping and other stomach issues someone may be experiencing.

What type of creatine should you take?

Powdered creatine is what my recommendation would be because it has personally worked for me in the past. Liquid forms of creatine are shown to break down in your blood system which is defeating the purpose. If you're purchasing creatine, my recommendation is to buy the 100% pure creatine. Sure some companies have additives with electrolytes etc. But what worked for me was mixing the pure creatine powder with some type of sugary juice (I used sugary Gatorade). I'm sure you're saying what? I thought you wanted me to avoid sugar ?! This is true however, when taking creatine, the supplement works best when mixed with sugar because it increases insulin levels that help increase the amount of creatine in the muscles resulting in growth.

Myth's about creatine:

• The more you take the better. False. It has been proven that lower doses of creatine are actually more beneficial than ingesting it as a loading dose.

• Creatine in liquid form is the best option. FALSE. Like I said earlier, creatine is best taken in a powder form due to the fact that when taken in liquid form, you may not even be getting any creatine in your system at all.

• Creatine is linked to kidney and liver damage. This is also false. Studies on long term use of creatine have proven that there are no effects on the liver or kidneys.

I'm not here to promote creatine in any way nor am I telling you to avoid this supplement. I am simply informing you about a product that I previously had taken in the past and that it has worked for me. I stopped taking creatine after about six months or so due to the fact that I was retaining a lot of water weight but not because I experienced any sort of symptoms that were harmful. I grow muscle quite quickly so creatine is not a necessity when it comes to my supplement intake.

When you see information about vitamins, you often see the word ‘essential’ right before ‘vitamins’. Have you ever wondered why? It’s actually quite simple. Our bodies require vitamins and minerals to function at optimum efficiency. It’s interesting, then, that our bodies are incapable of producing most vitamins and minerals for themselves. Instead we have to source these necessary vitamins and minerals from outside sources.

Vitamins occur naturally in many of the foods we at, as they are organic compounds. You can also get vitamins in the form of a vitamin supplement. A staggering thirteen vitamins are considered necessary to perform crucial functions in the body such as provide protection against infection and diseases, helping the body grow, helping the body’s metabolism and the removal of waste products.

The body uses vitamins a little like building blocks. It puts all the different blocks together in different combinations to produce the hormones and enzymes that control things such as heart rate, glucose levels, blood pressure and other chemical reactions.

Can I Have Too Many Vitamins?

Over the years, guidelines for the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of each vitamin and mineral have been formulated. These take into account a person’s age, gender, and current state of health. A pregnant woman, for example, needs a certain combination of vitamins in order to protect the fetus from birth defects. An adult man requires different types and amounts of vitamins to an adult woman. Also, the nutritional requirements of children, teenagers and the elderly are quite different.

Food basically acts like fuel for your body. If you give your body the best type of fuel it will be able to perform at optimum levels. Give it dirty or bad fuel, and you’ll begin to notice a decline in performance levels.

What Happens If I Don’t Have Enough Vitamins?

Vitamin deficiencies tend to grow over time, so the first signs may be hardly noticeable. However, down the road they can lead to serious health issues. Not enough people eat a nutritionally balanced diet nowadays. It’s common for adults to have very poor eating habits. Healthy, natural foods have been replaced by processed foods, high fat foods, fast food and restaurant food.

Unfortunately we can’t take a look inside our body and see what exactly is going wrong in there thanks to our poor dietary habits. Most people don’t even think about what they’re eating until they start to put on excess weight and it becomes very noticeable. Excess weight is often one of the later signs, and by the time you notice the extra weight, there could already be serious trouble brewing inside.

A lack of Vitamin C can lead to tiredness, weakness, sore muscles and bleeding gums. If you’re low on Vitamin D, you can end up with weak or possible even deformed bones. Not enough Vitamin E can cause the destruction of vital red blood cells. In extreme cases vitamin deficiencies can even lead to death.

If you’re concerned you may be lacking some essential vitamins thanks to bad eating habits, than a vitamin supplement can be a good way to fill the gaps. The only way to know for sure if your body isn’t getting enough vitamins is to have a blood test. Generally, though, if you think you might not be getting enough vitamins, you’re probably right. Try a daily multivitamin supplement and you might just be surprised at how much better you feel overall.

When talking about fitness big arms or the glamour muscles are put in the conversation very easily. Are you pleased with the size or definition of your biceps? If not try these bicep exercises to get them looking nice.

1. EZ-Bar Bicep Curl – One of the most common curl exercises. This one lives up to it’s name. Using an ez-bar to do curls makes life easier. It makes it easier to do the exercise.

When doing these make sure to not rock the weight for momentum or allow elbows to move forward. If you can avoid these two common mistakes you will get the most out of your bicep workout.

2. Resistance Band Curl -Using resistance bands are a great way to attack any muscle group if weights are not an option for you.

Stand on resistance band with feet a little wider than should width apart to do the curls.

3. Concentration Curl – While sitting on a bench with feet on the ground. Bend over and grab a dumbbell with palms up. While doing curl your elbow should be touching the inside of your thigh. Switch arms since you will be doing curls with one arm at a time.

4. Hammer Curl – Stand shoulder width apart with dumbbells at your side with palms facing in. Curl dumbbells one at a time. When you get to the top squeeze bicep, pause briefly and return back to starting position.

5. Standing Dumbbell Curl – Similar to hammer curls with the starting position. The only difference is when you lift the weight. When lifting the weight you want to turn your wrists and the dumbbells toward your body.

6. Kettlebell Bottoms up Clean – With 1 kettlebell on your side swing it back and then curl it up. The bottom of the kettlebell should be facing towards the ceiling. Not only will this build strength in the biceps it will also build forearm strength.

7. Seated Dumbbell Curl – Same as standing dumbbell curls but you are sitting down on a bench. It is just a different option. Maybe you are feeling a little fatigued and want to sit down and work your biceps.

8. Kettlebell Towel Curl – Put a towel through the dumbbell (obviously by the name). Perform a curl. Make sure the towel end toward the kettlebell is facing the outside of your hand with your thumb facing forward. Do this one right and you will torch your biceps.

Whether its spring, summer, fall, or winter you can have your glamour muscles looking awesome if you add these bicep exercises into your workout routine.

When it comes to gaining weight and building muscle, most people think it is going to be a long process involving a great deal of work. This is because the majority of people don’t have a clue as to what the best techniques are. Given below are 5 easy ways of gaining weight and muscle mass with ease. Use these natural methods and you will be good to go.

1. Eat protein before your workout and bedtime

According to a new study published in a popular journal, consuming protein after a workout and 30 minutes before bedtime may help you gain muscle fast. As to the amount of protein, experts say that 20 grams is enough.

2. Resistance exercise training

One of the most effective methods of gaining muscle strength and mass is known as resistance exercise training. This type of exercise is done with weight machines or free weights. But fast sprints can also help you achieve the same purpose.

If you want to make sure that you don’t burn out while resistance training, you can consume carbohydrates after each exercise session. This is to restore the depleted glycogen as fast as possible.

3. Use creatine supplements

If you want help with the resistance training in order to enjoy faster results, you can use a couple of proven supplements. And one of the best supplements is known as creatine. If taken for several days, the supplements can develop your muscle mass as they help your muscle retain water.

Aside from this, the supplements can help you lift heavy weights while improving your ergometer performance.

4. Detoxify your body

If you want to build your muscle, your system should be free of toxins. At times, people don’t develop muscle because their body is full of toxins. If your intestines are not clean, you may not achieve the success you desire. That is the reason many athletes take detox teas first thing in the morning or after lunch. They take the tea in order to flush the harmful toxins from their bodies in addition to treat the inflammation.

If you also want to detoxify your body, we suggest that you go for some yummy, caffeine free detox teas. However, what you need to do is go for teas that are natural and are herbs-based. Aside from the detoxification of your system, these teas help you resolve a lot of skin issues for better energy.

5. Stay Away from Steroids

Some people take steroids in order to develop their muscle fast, which is not a good idea. Instead, you may want to try out Conjugated Linoleic acid aka CLA. As a matter of fact, CLA is important for your health as it is a modified form of Omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-6 is taken from various foods, such as dairy products and meat.

So, if you have been looking for some easy ways of gaining muscle fast, we suggest that you check out these 5 ways. Hopefully, you will be able to develop your muscle within a few weeks.

All fruits and vegetables have a combination of different phytonutrient families and it is the combination that determines what colour that they are. The terms polyphenols and bioflavanoids or flavanoids are used interchangeably by media sources. They are used to describe chemical compounds that we call phytonutrients and it makes it all confusing. In a nutshell, phytochemicals come from different families and each family tends to represent a colour, as mentioned before with all foods have some type of combination: researchers study the chemical – they do not study the food and by doing this they learn the health properties such as anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatories, anti- cancer and heart protective, etc.

Consider this:

• Pick a food and read up on its phytonutrient benefits

• It is hard to not be impressed how complex these plants are and the benefits they provide for our health

• The research done to date is just at the beginning

• We just need to simply eat them, it’s easy!

What The Colours Mean

Red – represents the lycopene family as found in tomatoes

Yellow & Orange – the carotenoid family as found in carrots

Green – represents the chlorophyll family as found in kale

Purple & Blue – represents the anthocyanin family as found in blueberries

Black – the richest source of anthocyanins as found in black beans

Brown – catechins as found in tea and chocolate

Heritage Varieties

Known as heirloom plants or heritage fruits and heirloom vegetable, they are old cultivars that are being maintained by gardeners and farmers. Before the age of industrialized agriculture and mono-cropping, farmers routinely grew many varieties. It is believed now that mono-cropping improves consistency.

Practicing crop diversity is beneficial because it:

• allows for natural hybrids to occur

• farmers continue to learn

• creates healthier plants

• protects the soils

Seeds of Diversity in Canada and Seeds of Change in the US both protect heritage varieties. They work with farmers to maintain heritage seeds. They can be purchased for you to use in your garden and heritage plants are showing up in nursery for you to plant as well. The heritage varieties show you the diversity of any type of food and they come in multiple colours. Look for them in your grocery stores and at farmer’s markets.

The Benefits of Phytonutrients

Lycopene:

A type of carotenoid that is heart protective, helps with male fertility, prevents aging of the skin. It also helps prevent diabetes and osteoporosis. It is found in tomatoes, red peppers, guava, papaya, watermelon, pink grapefruit and mangos.

Carotenoids:

The other carotenes such as lutein, beta-carotene and zeaxanthin are just a few of the carotenoids and are represented by yellow and orange-coloured foods. All are anti-oxidants and may be helpful in preventing cancer. All of them are helpful with eyesight. Think of carrots, cauliflower, summer zucchini, sweet potatoes, yellow peppers and all yellow squash as good sources of carotenoids.

Chlorophyll:

This is the green pigment found in all plants. It cleanses and builds the blood, and helps detoxify the body. It helps promote good bacteria and is a major antioxidant. It supports the immune system and helps fight infection and may help protect against cancer. Good sources of chlorophyll are found in green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach, broccoli, parsley, cilantro and wheat grass.

Anthocyanins:

Break open the bottle of red wine and enjoy the benefits of anthocyanins. Okay, not too much wine though. Anthocyanins are major anti-oxidants that help protect the blood, brain, nervous system, as well as support the growth of collagen and connective tissue. They help protect eyesight and have heart protective and cancer preventative properties. Blueberries, red and purple grapes, raspberries, black currents, black berries, black raspberries, pomegranate, red cabbage, eggplant are all good sources. Foods that are black like black beans, black sesame, black rice and black cherry tomatoes are also sources of anthocyanins.

Catechins:

Catechins are found is green tea, black tea and chocolate. All catechins are potent antioxidants. They are heart protective, they improve cognitive function and help prevent cancer.

Experience the Rainbow

The best health is going to be achieved by having a combination of all colours. Rotate the foods in each colour group so you are not always eating the same red food or the same yellow food. Combine the colours on your plate every day and try to have some in every meal. Enjoy!

Testosterone is the primary male characteristic hormone. Most men, particularly young men wish to optimise production of this hormone in order to boost muscular gains and/or maintain muscle mass. Additionally, older men want to optimise testosterone levels so as to enhance libido and general sexual function.

Boosting testosterone naturally can be achieved through dietary and lifestyle changes, and further enhanced via the use of certain nutritional supplements. These are outlined in the following key testosterone enhancing tips:

1. Eat organic. Organic foods are less likely to contain hormone disruptors such as pesticides, herbicides, plastic compounds and fluoride. These chemicals may either mimic the effects of the female hormone estrogen in the human body and/or directly interfere with healthy testicular function. Obviously this would tend to reduce testosterone levels or reduce its proper functioning in the body.

You are also best advised to drink fluoride free water. Gravity fed water filters with fluoride attachments can filter out the fluoride from water.

2. Eat the right carbohydrates. Consumption of poor quality carbohydrate foods (e.g. white wheat flour products: breads, cakes, biscuits, chocolates etc) and/or sugar (sodas are a major dietary source of sugar) negatively affects healthy blood sugar balance, potentially reducing proper sensitivity to the blood sugar control hormone insulin. Research on obese individuals with lowered insulin sensitivity indicates an association with lowered testosterone levels, which can be raised back to normal once insulin sensitivity is improved. This can be achieved by sticking to low GI slow releasing carbohydrate foods, good examples being sweet potatoes, basmati rice, whole grain wheat/rye breads (sour dough is best) and durum wheat pasta. You should also avoid or massively reduce sugar (a common equivalent to avoid is high fructose corn syrup).

3. Take a zinc supplement. Zinc is needed for proper testosterone production. It is also needed for testosterone’s conversion to other important forms of this hormone. A zinc deficiency actually reduces the number of testosterone receptors; meaning testosterone is less able to exert its effects. Zinc has been shown to boost lowered testosterone levels back to normal or optimal levels. A good multivitamin/mineral normally has a decent level of zinc and other important nutrients that help to optimise testosterone levels. Look for zinc in the form of an amino acid chelate, citrate or gluconate. Nuts and seeds are a good food source of zinc (pumpkin seeds are great).

4. Take a magnesium supplement. The often-deficient mineral magnesium has demonstrated the ability to boost levels of total testosterone and free testosterone. Free testosterone is the unbound active form of testosterone. Magnesium can be obtained from a good quality multivitamin/mineral. The other option is a ZMA supplement, which usually contains a good combination of zinc and magnesium, specifically formulated to optimise testosterone production. Again, nuts and seeds are a great source of magnesium and many other beneficial minerals.

5. Avoid BPA plastics. BPA stands for bisphenol A, a plastic compound that seems to mimic the female hormone estrogen. Estrogen has a feminising effect in men. BPA has been linked to a lowering of testosterone and a shrinking of the testicles in rat-based studies! As far as possible avoid food and drinks in plastic containers, avoid storing foods in plastic containers and don’t wrap foods in plastic. Also be aware that till receipts are often coated in BPA, many dental sealants contain BPA and tin or steel food/drink cans are often lined with a plastic BPA containing layer. Don’t heat food in plastic containers, for example in the microwave, this is potentially more likely to leach BPA into the food. Look for BPA free plastic containers and bottles. Some sports shakers actually state that they are BPA free for example.

These tips should help fulfil your desired goal of optimal testosterone levels and boost general well-being in the process.