Health & Fitness

A great superfood with lots of benefits comes from a pumpkin. While meat is normally used for food and has many wonderful qualities and benefits, pumpkin seeds are the real hero that often isn’t recognized. If you call pumpkin seeds pepitas, you have good company, but you’d also be wrong. All pepitas are pumpkin seeds, but not all pumpkin seeds are pepitas. Pepitas don’t have the same color or the hard shell and the pumpkins they come from look extremely different from the traditional big orange pumpkins. However, many of the pumpkin seeds you purchase at the store are indeed pepitas.

Pumpkin seeds are packed with nutrition.

These are seeds, which means there’s a great amount of nutrition available to nourish the new pumpkin plant. They’ll nourish you, too. Whether you’re eating home-roasted pumpkin seeds or green pepitas from the store, they all have healthy protein and fat, like omega3 fatty acids. Vitamin K, manganese, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc and copper are also present in pumpkin seeds. They also have a lot of antioxidants, some potassium, B2, folate and fiber. They also contain phytonutrients, which can improve your overall health in many ways.

Eat pumpkin seeds to lower your risk of cancer.

If you eat pumpkin seeds regularly, there’s a good chance you’ll reduce the risk of breast, lung, stomach, colon and prostate cancer. They also help relieve the symptoms of BPH—benign prostatic hyperplasia. That causes an enlarged prostate gland and interferes with urination. Studies show that when people with BPH ate pumpkin seeds, it reduced the symptoms. Overactive bladders can benefit from eating pumpkin seeds too.

Early research indicates that pumpkin seeds may lower blood sugar levels.

Most studies so far have shown that pumpkin seeds, pumpkin, or pumpkin juice can help reduce blood sugar levels. However, they’re mostly animal studies. Human studies on people with type 2 diabetes found that taking a supplement of pumpkin powder or pumpkin juice could reduce blood sugar levels. It may be due to the magnesium levels in pumpkin seeds, since large observational studies show a diet higher in magnesium had a 33-34% lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

• Pumpkin seeds might improve heart health. Antioxidants, magnesium, fatty acids and zinc are important for a healthy heart and pumpkin seeds contain all of those. The oil may reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels, while increasing nitric oxide levels.
• The zinc in pumpkin seeds may help improve sperm quality. It’s known that low levels of zinc are linked to increased infertility in men. Pumpkin seeds also contain antioxidants that may boost testosterone levels.
• Pumpkin seeds contain tryptophan, which is associated with a good night’s sleep. They also contain zinc that’s necessary for converting that tryptophan to serotonin, which then becomes melatonin, a sleep regulating hormone.
• You don’t have to spend a lot of money or opt for exotic dishes to add pumpkin seeds to your diet. Add them to a smoothie, toss on a salad or eat them for a snack. Seeds from winter squash also have many of the same benefits.

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There’s a lot of misinformation on the internet, especially about dieting and the best type of food to eat. You might have heard about food that contains negative calories, so the more you eat, the more weight you lose. Is that a fantasy or a reality? Let’s start with the facts. Food has to be digested and to do that, it requires energy. In fact, digestion requires about 10% of the calories you consume. Foods high in fiber, such as celery, use approximately 20% of the calories they contain for digestion. Proteins are used the most at 30% and fats just require 3%.

It’s called the thermic effect and celery certainly qualifies.

Celery is not only high in fiber, but also in water, as well. Digestion may actually cause the body to burn far more calories than celery contains. A rib of celery has between 6 and 7 calories. While it might not be a negative calorie count, it’s close, and celery has one more feature that can cause quick weight loss. It’s a natural diuretic, so you’ll lose water weight when you eat a lot. The fiber fills you up and keeps you feeling fuller longer.

Celery may actually be a negative calorie food.

Food that is low in calories and high in water and fiber may actually burn more calories than they contain. Celery fits that description. With so few calories and so much fiber, it’s something to consider, but there’s no scientific proof that celery has negative calories. One thing is certain, it helps you lose weight, plus celery juice is a natural diuretic if you have water weight.

Celery may be king of negative and super low calorie foods, but it’s a close race.

Fibrous fruits and vegetables are naturally low in calories, plus those numbers are lowered by the calories it takes for digestion. Another tough competitor in the race to negative calories is watermelon. Watermelon is not only loaded with fiber, but also primarily liquid. In fact, it’s 92% water. Thermogenesis—the calories used to digest the food—-takes a big bite out of the minimal calories it already contains. It’s also a diuretic. Leafy greens are another almost negative-calorie food.

Add more flavor to your meals can also reduce your calorie count.

Adding herbs and spices adds nutrition to food, but also has nutrients and several other health benefits. For instance, cinnamon is a true negative calorie food. It boosts metabolism and uses more calories to process than it contains. However, a half teaspoon is just three calories and quite a lot to season any single serving. The fiber makes it more thermogenic. It also reduces blood sugar levels and increases insulin sensitivity.

• Celery is excellent for reducing inflammation, lowering blood pressure, boosting metabolism and helping the body in other ways.
• There are many types of cinnamon, some healthier than others. The cheapest type, Cassia cinnamon, is high in coumarin, a compound that is toxic in high doses. Ceylon cinnamon— “true cinnamon”—has almost no toxins and is healthiest.
• Raise the temperature of the body and eat hot spicy foods that make you sweat. Cayenne peppers or other hot peppers increase the heat in your body, burning more calories to cool it down.
• Asparagus is not only low in calories, but also high in the thermogenic effect. Add it to a meal that contains a beet, kale or spinach salad and you’ll burn calories and fat, plus boost your health.

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It’s hard to get everything done throughout the day and still have time for yourself and your loved ones. Whether you live in Louisiana or any other state, you’re probably rationing time between work, family and your own personal care. One way some people have solved the problem is to exercise as a couple or as a family. It actually can be a lot of fun. It can help create memories that will last a lifetime, while providing quality time and good habits for everyone.

Exercise doesn’t have to be aerobics, weightlifting, yoga or calisthenics.

Whether you’re with your partner or the whole family, a walk through the neighborhood or at the zoo, a nature reserve or park can provide both exercise and a time to bond. Family biking, hiking and even shooting hoops or playing ball can provide the family with the exercise they need, while making it fun. You don’t have to buy expensive equipment, either. Jump ropes and hula hoops can be quite inexpensive.

Build your own exercise program and get nutritional coaching, too.

We provide videos that can help you and your partner with exercise programs that are made for you. For less than a dime a day, you also get free meal plans with recipes and a grocery list. You can even spend more quality time and work together to create the meals on the weekend, so during the busy work week, all you have to do is heat and serve. You’ll keep each other on course and hold each other accountable at the same time.

It takes a real commitment.

If you’re working out as a couple, both parties have to be dedicated to the cause. Start by scheduling your workout throughout the week. Keep it at the same time every day. It takes real honesty and maybe even a penalty for not following through, like the partner that fails has to do a specific chore for the month. The chore should be something physical that lasts as long as your workout, so they can do it while the person who kept the commitment is exercising.

• Your plan should include strength training, endurance training, flexibility and balance training. All of these are important. Don’t forget to warm up and cool down after the workout ends.
• When you’re planning your workout, start by committing for a month or two of exercise and reevaluate when it ends. Making it a shorter term goal doesn’t make it look so overwhelming and is easier to maintain.
• You don’t need weights for strength-building. You can use resistance bands or bodyweight workouts to achieve the same results. You can also modify some exercises to make them couple friendly, like doing squats in a back-to-back position with arms linked together.
• Working out together improves not only the emotional bonding, but also boosts both parties sex drive, according to studies. You’ll look better, feel better and have more endurance during sex and get even more exercise in the process.

For more information, contact us today at Wellness On A Dime Coaching

Vitamin D is important for good health. It boosts the immune system. It’s been estimated that about half of Americans are deficient in Vitamin D. You can do safe sunning, which is short exposure to the sun to most of your body between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Some people want or need to avoid the sun, out of fear of skin cancer, while with others, it’s not always possible. In those situations, you need to ensure you get it from your diet.

The older you are, the more you need.

If your age is between one and seventy, you need 600 IU of vitamin D daily. Anyone over the age of seventy needs 100 IU more each day—800 IU. Too little vitamin D can cause weak muscles, osteoporosis, cancer and depression. If you have a severe shortage, it can cause death. Studies from the pandemic showed that 80% of the hospitalized patients with covid were vitamin D deficient. There are even studies that link obesity to lack of vitamin D, but it’s not determined whether obesity caused the deficit or the deficit caused the obesity.

Cod liver oil is high in vitamin D.

Not only is cod liver oil high in this vitamin, so are organ meats, like liver, from all animals. Fatty fish, like salmon, are also higher in vitamin D. Farmed salmon has a much lower amount of vitamins than wild salmon. Other animal products that are high include offal, which is a catch all phrase that means internal organs and entrails. It came from the German phrase off all, meaning the meat cast aside. It can include head cheese and French foie gras (duck liver). Poultry contains the highest amount. Speaking of poultry, eggs are a very important source of vitamin D.

Besides animal meats and eggs, there are other sources of vitamin D.

Mushrooms are one of those sources and the only source that doesn’t come from an animal. Mushrooms synthesize vitamin D when they’re exposed to UV rays, but it’s a different type of vitamin D. Unlike animals that produce D3, mushrooms produce D2. It’s helpful and can raise blood levels of vitamin D, but not as efficiently as vitamin D3. A cup of “spongies,” morels, has about 17% of the body’s daily requirement. Other sources of vitamin D are sources that have been fortified, like cereal, milk and orange juice.

• If you select the meat or organs of animals that have been grass fed or pastured—in the case of poultry. The content of vitamin D is far higher than that of factory farms and even cage free.
• Vitamin D really isn’t a vitamin but has a structure and functions more like a steroid hormone, like sex or adrenal hormones. It binds to the receptors of the cells and triggers specific actions.
• If you want strong bones and teeth, most people understand they need calcium, but vitamin D is also important. It helps the body to absorb calcium and is important for preventing osteoporosis and maintaining good bone health.
• Safe sunning is the easiest way to ensure you have adequate vitamin D. Depending on your complexion, it may be 5 to 15 minutes of unprotected sun exposure. While it’s the hottest part of the day, it’s also when the sun rays are safest.

For more information, contact us today at Wellness On A Dime Coaching

You don’t have to live in Louisiana to know that the price of everything is going up, including food and gas. How can you save money? Shopping online for food can be one way. You can even shop online at your local grocer’s site. Online shopping can allow you to save time, too. You often have the option of pick-up, which saves time, or delivery. Depending on the price of gas, how far you are from the grocery and any charge for delivery, it may be cheaper to have food delivered to your home.

You’ll have access to food that is difficult to find in local groceries.

For a while, there was a shortage of many food items in brick and mortar stores, so online shopping became necessary for some items. However, limited demand for that product may also be the problem. The grocery has only so much area to display items, so it’s often devoted to more popular items. If an item doesn’t sell, unless it’s a non-food product, it also has a shelf life. As that shelf life gets closer, any items that don’t sell are often drastically reduced in price, sometimes lower than the cost, to get it off the shelves and not stock it again.

You can buy in bulk when you shop online and find items not offered in the local store.

It’s difficult to find any brick and mortar stores that offer bulk purchases. That’s not true of online shopping, even if you’re shopping online at your local store. If you have items with a longer shelf life that you use frequently or are making meals ahead and freezing, bulk shopping can save you money. Many local groceries may have online items available for pickup or delivery that they don’t offer in their store. Instead of stocking shelves, they get a daily delivery from a distribution center that services multiple stores in the area.

Are you an impulse shopper?

If you’re trying to lose weight and find you’re constantly drawn to the snack aisle in the store, even if you already ate supper, you probably should shop online for the items you need. Our nutritional programs of customized meal plans can help. We provide everything you need, from meal plans to recipes and even the grocery list. If you’re an impulse shopper, shopping for groceries online not only is easier, but it can also prevent some of those treats from ending up in your cart.

• Online items may also be fresher, especially specialty items. If you’re shopping from a major outlet that has a high inventory turnover rate, it’s bound to be fresher. There’s a wider audience for the product.
• You can save money when you shop online by comparing the sales at different stores. If you use several stores in your area, you can opt to shop at the one that offers the lowest price or divide your list between the stores for the lowest prices.
• You’ll be able to budget better when you shop online. As you add items to your cart, you can watch the price increase. If you run out of money before you run out of items, you can decide which ones to remove from the cart far easier than it is in the checkout line in the store.
• Rather than spending your family time at the grocery with the kids, you can shop when they’re asleep and enjoy other activities with them.

For more information, contact us today at Wellness On A Dime Coaching