Healthy Living

Top 5 Health Benefits of Vitamin C

If you’re looking for an immune system boost, get some vitamin C into your diet! Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a water-soluble vitamin (which means that it dissolves in water. Leftover amounts leave your body as urine). Vitamin C is considered one of the safest and most effective nutrients to get into your daily life. Although it won’t cure your cold or flu alone, it may help protect you against serious complications.

Your body requires vitamin C for the healthy growth and repair of tissues in every part of your body. Vitamin C is needed to form blood vessels, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments, and collagen (an essential protein that makes skin). Vitamin C is also important to heal wounds, and to repair and maintain healthy bones, teeth, and cartilage. Vitamin C also helps with iron absorption.

Since your body doesn’t make vitamin C on its own and it doesn’t store this nutrient, it’s up to you to get enough vitamin C into your diet. Getting enough vitamin C will keep you healthy and feeling good. You can either take a vitamin C supplement, or eat foods containing vitamin C – such as oranges and citrus fruits. [Read more…] about Top 5 Health Benefits of Vitamin C

Food Labels for Dummies

by Guest Writer 4 Comments

Guest Post.

Reading food labels is a huge part of dieting. They provide all the information you need to know about a food, from the serving size to the ingredients. The problem is that many people ignore food labels and simply guess the contents of their food and make up their own serving sizes. This is a factor that contributes to obesity: ignorance with food labels. If you are looking to have a healthier diet, looking at food labels is the first step to take. [Read more…] about Food Labels for Dummies

Change Your Exercise Routine to Reap Benefits

by Guest Writer 8 Comments

Guest Post by Ryan.

Most exercise routines are designed to help the body build endurance and strength. But there comes a point when the body stops responding to the workout. When this happens to you, then you have reached a plateau. This happens when the body becomes too used to the routine that you are doing. In order to grow and to develop, the muscles of the body need to be challenged during workouts. If you are doing the same exercise over and over again, your muscles are not challenged anymore. This is the reason why you need to change your exercise routine regularly.

Why You Really Need to Change Your Routine

Some people may ask, “but shouldn’t we stick to what works?” While it is important to stick to workout routines that seem to work for you, doing the same thing over and over again will not do your body any good. Sure, you can stick to the same old routine for the rest of your life, just don’t expect them to get you nearer to your fitness goals. The reason why “the last 5 pounds” is hard to get rid off is because by the time most people are near to their ideal weight, their bodies start getting accustomed to the things that they are doing.

Drink More Water and Lose Weight

by Guest Writer 32 Comments

Guest post by Sharon Hurley Hall

Will drinking water really help you lose weight? Yes, it certainly will! Read on to find out why it is often a big difference and read on to get strategies for making drinking more water an effortless part of your day.

Calm Hunger

The next time you’re thinking about having a snack and you know there’s no real reason for you to be having anything to eat, try drinking a glass of water instead. In many cases, your body is actually thirsty rather than hungry and the glass could help tide you over until your next proper meal.

A good strategy for reducing your snacking is to at least resolve to wait half an hour after drinking that water before eating something. If you still feel like having something to eat 30 minutes after drinking it, go ahead and have a snack.

The fact that you’ve waited thirty minutes will also increase the chances of your choosing a more sensible snack as you’re making conscious efforts when eating and that is something that minimises mindless snacking – the most dangerous kind of snacking there is!

Eat Your Way to a Flatter Stomach: 7 Fat Burning Foods

by DP Nguyen 14 Comments

Who doesn’t want to have a flat stomach? Let’s face it – we all want to have flat abs, or just a leaner belly. Whether we’re single women, or a postpartum mom struggling to lose that pregnancy weight, we all want to look like supermodels and we’re envious of Miranda Kerr and how quickly she bounced back from pregnancy (or at least, I am).

Believe it or not, but you can actually eat your way to a flatter stomach? How? It’s all in the foods that you eat. Incorporate the following fat burning foods into your every day diet, and you may be surprised that you start to feel leaner, more fit. (Exercise is also beneficial, so don’t forget to workout when you can.) [Read more…] about Eat Your Way to a Flatter Stomach: 7 Fat Burning Foods

Nationwide Cucumber Recall – April 2011

by DP Nguyen 1 Comment

Just in case you haven’t heard about the cucumber recall…

Roughly 1,600 cartons of Florida cucumbers are being recalled due to a possible salmonella contamination. The cucumbers were harvested on March 29, and since they’re generally only good and edible for 14 days after this date, these cucumbers are no longer on shelves at grocery stores.

They might be, however, in your refrigerator. (Cucumbers can last for a while in the frige.)

L&M Companies Inc. of Raleign, NC is recalling the cucumbers, just in case people still have the cucumbers in their home fridges. The recall was announced last Friday, April 22, after a routine test detected salmonella bacteria in cucumbers in a cooler at Four Seasons Produce of Central Florida, Inc.