How to Use Food to Help Speed Up Your Reaction Speed

When children are little, they are always told to eat up their healthy food so that they grow up to be big and strong like Popeye. Whilst this is just a traditional childhood saying, to help children make the right choices for their wellness, there is no doubt that adequate diet and nutrition has a huge impact on your health and wellbeing.

 

As children get older and start getting into sports and martial arts, they may be more receptive to the idea that certain foods will help them to improve in their chosen field. Anyone who wants to improve their reflexes (which are used in many different sports such as tennis, kickboxing and martial arts, as well as video games of various types) should eat more spinach and more eggs.

 

To this end, a spinach omelette might be exactly what you need to help you succeed in your chosen sport. Of course, you still have to put in all the time training and perfecting your art and skills, but those who have faster reflexes are more likely to succeed. Some people naturally have fast reflexes, but this is a skill that can be improved with practice. An amino acid called tyrosine can help you to improve your reflexes, and this is what is found in spinach and in eggs.

 

Tyrosine has been well-known for a long time as a brain booster, and recent research has shown that tyrosine can increase the human body’s ability to stop something for occurring by reacting quickly. Having tyrosine can help to increase your mental quickness and your academic performance, as well as your physical performance.

 

Other foods are known to contain tyrosine, such as soy protein, seaweed, fish, turkey, salmon and even some game meats.

Categories: Children, eggs nbsp, foods, martial arts, nbsp, reaction, reflexes, spinach, tyrosine

How to Get Your RDA of Seven Vital Vitamins and Minerals

You may turn to supplements to get you vitamin and mineral fix, but you’re doing no favours to your wellbeing by avoiding food sources. Food provides much more of the nutrients you get in pills, as well as the fibre that pills lack, which are essential for your cognitive wellness and your immune system (which needs nutrients to ward off big and small illnesses). Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, director of the antioxidant research lab at Tufts University, explains, ‘Vitamins should be used only as supplements to the diet, not substitutes for healthy food.’ So let’s take a look at the ones you need every day, and how you can include them in your diet.

 

1. Vitamins B6 and B12. These vitamins are vital for the functioning of your blood, nerves, and the immune system, and not getting enough could increase your risk for heart disease and stroke. You need 1.3 milligrams (mg) of B6 and 2.4 micrograms of B12 every day, which you can get from a cup of plain yoghurt and a banana, one ounce of sunflower seeds, and three ounces of roast beef.

 

2. Vitamin C. As you know, vitamin C is good for you immune system, but it also boosts you “good” HDL cholesterol. You need 75-200mg every day, which you can almost get from just one orange. Other food sources include strawberries, red and green peppers, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, spinach and kale.

 

3. Calcium. You need this mineral for bone health, which is vital as you age. Therefore, you want 1000mg every day before you turn 50, and at least 1200 thereafter. You want to spread your calcium consumption out throughout the day, as your body can’t absorb more than 500 milligrams of calcium at a time. The best daily menu is an eight-ounce glass of skimmed milk, one cup of yoghurt, one cup of cooked spinach, and one fig.

 

4. Vitamin D. As you need this vitamin to absorb calcium, a vitamin D deficiency can lead to osteoporosis, certain cancers, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and other chronic illnesses. Before the age of 50, you should be getting 200IUs every day, and 400-600IUs after that. Your body produces this vitamin when your skin is exposed to sunlight, so you only need to get out in the sun (without sun cream) for 10-15 minutes three times a week. Otherwise, you can get 200IUs from a 3½ ounce serving of salmon, or two cups of fortified milk.

 

5. Vitamin E. As a powerful antioxidant, vitamin E is an amazing nutrient, especially with regards to your eye health and the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. You generally need about 22.5IUs a day, but anything up to 150IUs won’t hurt. You can get all you need from a cup of raw broccoli coupled with two ounces of either almonds or sunflower seeds.

 

6. Folic Acid (Folate). If you’ve ever had a baby, you’ll know how important folate is to your baby’s wellbeing. This B vitamin helps to prevent neural-tube birth defects, such as spina bifida, and deficiencies can increase your risk of certain cancers, heart disease, and stroke. You need 400 micrograms every day, which you can get from a ¾ cup serving of fortified breakfast cereal, or a combination of a cup of peas, a cup of cooked spinach, and about five spears of asparagus.

 

7. Iron. Iron-deficiency anaemia is common in women, as you lose a lot of the mineral during your periods, especially if you have heavy ones. To prevent this, you need about 18mg a day, which is best attained through a large spinach salad, a cup of lentil soup, and a small (three-ounce) serving of red meat.

Categories: calcium, cooked spinach, Food Sources, heart disease, nbsp, ounce serving, spinach, sunflower seeds, vitamin, vitamin c

How to Satisfy Your Need for Extra Magnesium Past Age 30

As you age, your body becomes less and less able to absorb minerals, which can threaten your wellness with a magnesium deficiency. This can lead to calf cramps, diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, muscle weakness and metabolic disorders, so you can see how essential it is to get enough magnesium in your diet on a daily basis. After the age of 30, your daily requirement for this mineral increases to 420mg for men and 320mg for women, so how on earth do you get all that magnesium in your diet?

 

1. Beans: There’s a good amount of magnesium in raw lima beans, which the great northern bean contains 340mg per cup – so that’s more than your daily allowance in one go (if you’re a woman). However, as cooked beans lessen in magnesium value by more than half, you should avoid cooking them, or try to cook them as little as possible.

 

2. Artichokes: These unusual vegetables are amazing sources of magnesium, containing 73mg in a medium artichoke. This is 18% of your daily value, and the vegetables will retain their nutritional value even if you boil them. When it comes to other cooking methods, the wellness experts are split on what to recommend for magnesium retention, so just stick with boiling.

 

3. Spinach: Almost every diet and nutrition article gives a special shout out to dark, leafy vegetables, as they are known for their incredible nutritive content. All of these veggies contain magnesium, but spinach leaves (pun not intended) them all behind. In a single cup of spinach, you can get a whopping 150mg of magnesium, making it one of the best sources. Still, the downside of spinach is that it contains a high concentration of oxalic acid, which can cause kidney-related diseases, so don’t consume it more than once a week.

 

4. Oysters: If you’re a seafood person then here’s some good news for you: adding oysters to your meal can give you an added 81mg magnesium boost. Whether you love them raw, steamed, stewed, roasted, broiled, sautéed, baked or poached, you can get plenty of the mineral in your diet. However, the bacteria associated with oysters have been known to cause gastrointestinal problems, so it’s recommended that you cook them to 140 degrees.

 

5. Dark chocolate: Here’s one for all the chocoholics out there: cocoa powder has a number of health benefits, one of which being a great magnesium content. In 100g of cocoa powder, you’ll find 499mg of the mineral, and when that powder is part of your favourite dark chocolate, you can expect up to 330mg of magnesium in 100g. You hardly need an excuse to eat more chocolate, but it helps! Just remember not to overdo it as chocolate still contains a lot of weight-gain-and-diabetes-inducing sugar.

 

6. Dairy products: Your body easily absorbs milk and its products, which makes it an excellent way to attain your daily magnesium needs. Milk and yoghurt are the best dairy sources of magnesium and potassium, and their calcium content is also beneficial as you age to prevent bone diseases like osteoporosis.

 

7. Cereals: Why not have cereal with your milk or yoghurt in the morning and get a magnesium two-for-one special? The best cereal sources of magnesium are the ones that are high in fibre, so opt for one with wheat, oats, buckwheat, rice and barley.

 

8. Banana: This fruit is a great source of magnesium and, if added to your breakfast bowl, can make a magnesium triple threat! In 100g of banana there’s a good 27mg of the mineral, which can help you get a quick magnesium fix when you’re on-the-go. However, if you’re diabetic or on an anti-cholesterol diet, you should perhaps avoid getting your magnesium needs from this fruit.

Categories: cereals, cocoa powder, daily, diet, Magnesium, mineral, nbsp, spinach

Could These Foods be a Natural Substitute for Viagra?

There is a common misconception that when men are suffering from sexual health problems, such as erectile dysfunction, that Viagra is the only way to go. There are, however, other things that you can do to help improve your sexual wellness and wellbeing, without resorting to medication. For example, there are many types of food that can act as a natural substitute to Viagra.

 

If you’re looking for a side-effect free way to boost your sex life, you should try tackling this through your diet. You may be surprised at just how effective it is!

 

Spinach and Leafy Greens are packed full of Vitamin E, and this is known to stimulate the body’s production of sex hormones. Also, the high zinc content in spinach has been known to improve the quality and quantity of sperm in men, which can help with fertility problems. Spinach really is a wonder plant, as the manganese in it can also help the female body to produce increased levels of oestrogen, boosting sex drive and increasing fertility.

 

It may sound like a cliché, but spicing up your sex life could really be the way to go. By ingesting chilies on a regular basis, you boost the blood circulation in your body, and this directly translates to more blood going to your reproductive organs and improved sexual pleasure. Chilies also stimulate your body to release endorphins, which are feel-good hormones and help you to feel aroused.

 

Pomegranates are one of the best kept sex-food secrets. Just one glass of pomegranate juice per day can significantly boost your sex drive, as it is packed with antioxidants which help to free your body of harmful radicals and increase the blood flow around your body. Men who drink pomegranate juice also help to protect themselves against other conditions such as prostate cancer.

Categories: Blood, body, Food, libido, natural substitute, nbsp, pomegranate juice, Sex Drive, sex life, sexual, spinach, Viagra

How to Eat to Prevent Disease and the Signs of Ageing

It’s easy to say that you want a healthy diet, but what should you actually include? Your wellness doesn’t just come down to eating a few more salads here and there – although that’s better than nothing – but, if you want to guard your wellbeing against chronic disease and the premature effects of ageing, you need a balance of antioxidants, phytochemicals, soy, soluble fibre, omega-3s and other components of food. Luckily, registered dietician and nutritionist Susie Bond, of Health First’s Pro-Health & Fitness Centres, is on hand to tell you the super foods that contain an abundance of these healthful components.

 

1. Vital veggies. As spinach is rich in folic acid, vitamins E, C, B6, beta-carotene and calcium, it’s a food to stick on your shopping list. Bond adds, ‘Spinach is rich in the antioxidant lutein, which may reduce the risk of macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in older adults.’ However, if green and leafy isn’t your thing, try something a little more cruciferous. According to Bond, broccoli ‘and other so-called “cruciferous” vegetables are especially rich in sulforaphane, which is a very powerful anti-cancer phytochemical. Other cruciferous vegetables include cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts.’

 

2. Necessary nuts and beans. ‘Nuts contain an abundance of important nutrients for heart health, including omega-3 fatty acids, monounsaturated fats, vitamin E, plant sterols and fibre,’ says Bond. She recommends an ounce of nuts every day, as well as a weekly intake of beans. ‘These include kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc,’ she explains. ‘These little powerhouses provide a healthy dose of cholesterol-free protein and contain an abundance of other essential nutrients such as fibre, zinc and folic acid.’

 

3. Something sweet and special. The next time you want to indulge your sweet tooth, try some berries with Greek yoghurt. ‘Include strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and cranberries often,’ Bond urges, as all berries are extremely high in antioxidants. She adds, ‘Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is higher in protein than regular yogurt and lower in sugar. It is also a great source of calcium. Yogurt contains probiotics, essential for a healthy digestive tract.’

Categories: Greek yoghurt, nuts, spinach