10 Reasons to Eat Raw Foods

Prehistoric man learned thousands of years ago that it was a good idea 

to eat meat that was cooked, rather than raw. Since then, the human race has gone crazy, applying that same cooking idea to all foods. 

You can have too much of a good thing! Except for a salad, most people eat very little raw food. But in recent years, the focus on healthy eating and lessening the chances of contracting diseases like diabetes, heart disease and strokes has thrown the focus on raw foods. 

What we're talking about here is eating fruit, vegetables and nuts that taste good just as Nature intended them: in their raw state. That is quite a change for most people, so in order to make that change you need to know exactly why you should do it. You need to know why your raw food diet is good for you. 

1. Foods have a higher nutritional value when they are raw. Cooking food destroys vitamins, protein and fat. It even breaks down the enzymes which are naturally in the foods and would help you digest them. 

2. You will fuller more quickly in eating raw foods because they contain more water and more fiber and so fill you up more successfully. Your hunger will be satisfied so you can eat less on the raw food diet and that is one reason why people find the raw food diet helps them to lose weight. 

3. Raw food is more flavorsome than cooked food is. That means that you have less of a need to add flavorings like salt and spice, all of which flavorings can irritate your stomach and other parts of the digestive system and be too stimulating for internal organs like the liver, which valiantly struggles to detoxify the body pf these seasonings which it sees as toxic. 

4. The raw food diet is so low maintenance! People who hate spending hours in the kitchen preparing meals will love the simplicity of the raw food diet. You can even involve your children in preparing raw food; that way, they are more likely to eat it! That gives you a break and builds the child's self-esteem. 

5. You won't burn your fingers, mouths, tongues or lips with raw food! Also, you won't burn your house down in a kitchen fire because you won't be cooking much!

6. There is less cleaning up after making a raw food meal. You can put any leftovers right on the compost heap and give back to nature, and you won't have any greasy dishes with baked on food to deal with. 

7. A raw food diet is great for your overall health and has even been shown to have a positive effect on serious chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. This is because with the raw food diet one doesn't have the problems caused by free radicals which are created in the cooking process. Fewer free radicals means less risk of cancer.

8. A raw food diet is rich in nutrients and so it gives you great natural protection against common illnesses like colds and flu and even less common illnesses such as measles. Raw food helps to keep your body fit and working well. You are also less likely to suffer from digestive disorders like gas, heartburn, constipation and indigestion. 

9. The raw food diet is environmentally friendly. It encourages organic farming and we would use fewer energy resources because we wouldn't be cooking the food or transporting it as far as we do now. Emissions of carbon dioxide would be reduced and there would have to be new orchards planted to keep up with the demand for fresh fruit. This would release more oxygen into the air and we'd help to minimize the Greenhouse Effect. 

10. The raw food diet will enable you to save money. You will not only save money on food bills but also on energy bills, and also stoves, pots, pans and medical bills!The raw food diet is a great way to save your body, save your money and save the planet. 
One should try these meals and see you fitness level shout up.
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Better Your Memory by Eating Right

Leading a healthy lifestyle can cause so many benefits and that include helping you better your memory. This is a very important aspect because if you will not take certain steps in order to nurture it, you may end up with the disorders that are associated with this function of your brain. Your memory is your brain's ability to encode information, retain and store them and recall vital data whenever needed. 


Steps to Improve Memory

There are many things that you can do to help your brain perform at its best. This can be achieved by avoiding unhealthy vices like drinking too much alcoholic beverages, smoking and turning to prohibited drugs. You must learn how to control your vices if you can't stop immediately. Exercising also helps in giving your brain good supply of oxygen. This will enhance its performance and will make you remember things easier. It is also a must to get enough rest and good amount of sleep. The way you think will be gravely affected if you are tired, especially when you only got some hours of sleep that may leave you feeling weak and you also cannot think straight. 

There are exercises that you can do to help your brain improve. You can resort to various card games that promote such benefit. You should also be active in learning new things all the time even if you are already. This must not stop you to learn by reading and training. You must also engage in different physical activities that will help regulate the blood circulation on your brain. You must also learn how to control your emotions, especially the stress that you feel as a result of thinking too much about your problems. Depression causes a major impact on one's memory as well as emotional instability.


Eating Right

You must eat right for your brain to function well. It will not help if you will be distracted by your hunger for your thoughts to come out fluently. By eating right, it means that you have to eat the kinds of foods that are healthy in proportions that will help you stay fit and vigorous. If you are into some type of diet, just be sure that you follow the recommended intake of the food that you are allowed to eat. Here are some foods that can help you achieve the goal of attaining better memory. 

1. Sunflower seeds. Nuts contain healthy fats that you can incorporate on your diet. These seeds contain abundant source of Vitamin E, an antioxidant that help out in improving your memory as you grow older. Other rich sources of Vitamin E include hazelnut, spinach, kiwi, broccoli, wheat germ oil, mango and dry almond. 

2. Salmon. This contains Omega-3 fatty acids that are important in developing your brain and helping it to function better. Such acids can also be found in walnut, soybean, shrimp, scallop, tofu, winter squash, flaxseed and walnut. 

3. Blueberries. These are rich in phytochemical elements that can affect one's memory in a very good way. These are also good for your overall health. 

4. Lean beef. This is rich in iron that will help you boost and help better your memory if taken in moderate proportions. But make sure that you do not eat much of this because you may encounter weight problems if you do so.

Make eating right the the must.

10 Most Common Workout Mistakes!

Although regular exercise is good for body and soul, diving head first into an advanced exercise program is not encouraged. It can even be dangerous if you dont avoid some common mistakes.


If you're a beginner, your body isnt prepared for the types of strains exercise can place on it. As a result, engaging in an exercise program with little foresight and planning can lead to burnout, frustration and injury.
If you want to maximize your workout, it's going to take a combination of motivation and the correct information. So let's review the 10 most common mistakes that can be easily avoided. 


1. Skipping the warm-up. Muscles need time to adjust to the demands placed on them during exercise. Before hitting the gym or jumping into your regular cardio workout, you should take a few minutes to gently walk, cycle or whatever you choose to prepare the body for heavier activity. Breaking a light sweat will get your blood pumping, warm up muscles and ligaments, greatly reduce your risk of injury and increase the effectiveness of your workout.


2. Skipping the cool-down. Due to time constraints, many people head straight to the showers after their last repetition or as soon as the timer on the treadmill dings. Instead, take a few minutes to lower your heart rate close to its resting rate. This will reduce your risk of injury and give you a few minutes to incorporate some relaxation into your routine.


3. Not stretching. Flexible muscles are far less likely to be pulled than tight ones. Stretch before a heavy workout or after your workout as a warm-down. Never stretch a muscle without warming up first to reduce your risk of injury even further. Regular stretching greatly increases your flexibility.


4. Lifting too much too fast. Placing demands your muscles are not prepared to handle is the best way to injure yourself. Gradual, progressive resistance is a far more effective and safe way to increase muscle strength. You should select a weight that allows you to do 1015 repetitions. If you cant do 10 reps, the weight is too heavy. If you can easily do 15, then increase the weight by five percent.


5. Using too light a resistance. If you are doing over 15 reps or have not increased your resistance in over two weeks, it is time to progress. If you want to improve, you have to keep your muscles stimulated. If you continue to do the same weights with high reps, you will maintain your current physique and not advance.


6. Being a Weekend Warrior. The mistake of the person who tries to fit a week's worth of exercise into a Saturday afternoon! For weight loss, it's more effective to sustain a moderate workout for longer periods of time than to exercise intensely for only a few minutes. For others, the expectation that a workout must be intense to be effective can lead to burnout or injury while others abandon their training altogether.


7. Waiting until you are thirsty to drink. Only camels can go without water! For the rest of us it's a necessity! Dont wait until you feel thirsty because you are already dehydrated at that point. Drink plenty of fluids before, during and after your workout.


8. Using bad form. It's much more effective to choose a lower level, speed or weight and perform the exercise properly than it is to go too fast or too heavy and use poor form and momentum. Lower the intensity to the point at which you can maintain good posture. An example of poor form would be leaning on the Stairmaster handrails or swinging the dumbbells during a bicep curl.


9. Resting too much. While it's true you don't want to overdo it, taking too much time in between exercises can decrease the training benefits and set you up for injury. Allow for about 30 seconds between toning exercises -- which is usually just enough time to move to the next station and set up. You should exercise intensely enough to work up a light sweat, get your heart beating and feel a sense of satisfaction for having completed your workout.


10. More is better. It's not necessary to spend over an hour doing cardiovascular exercise. Studies show that the risk of injury outweighs the benefits after 60 minutes. Sessions of around 45 minutes most days of the week are recommended for weight loss.


Remember, exercise is only one link to a complete program of well-being. Mental, spiritual and psychological "workouts" are just as important. Your body will repay you! The only thing left is to just do it... safely.
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Exercise and Stress Relief: Using Exercise as a Stress Management Tool

Exercise and Stress: You can strengthen your body and find inner peace with exercise.

As our society becomes more health-conscious, there has been an increased focus on the importance of exercise. Many people exercise to control weight and get in better physical condition to become more healthy or physically attractive, but exercise and stress management are also closely linked. Exercise can be an extremely effective stress reliever for several reasons:

Outlet For Frustrations:

When life’s annoyances or frustrating situations build up, you can feel stressed or experience low-grade anger. More high-energy forms of exercise like boxing, martialarts or running can also provide an effective release of these negative emotions, turning these otherwise potentially unhealthy emotions into motivation for increased health and well-being.

Exercise and Stress Hormones:

Exercise can decrease ‘stress hormones' like cortisol, and increase endorphins, your body's ‘feel-good’ chemicals, giving your mood a natural boost. (This is the chemistry behind a ‘runner’s high’.)

Distraction:

Physical activity itself can take your mind off of your problems and either redirect it on the activity at hand or get you into a zen-like state. Exercise usually involves a change of scenery as well, either taking you to a gym, a dojo, a boxing ring, a park, a scenic mountain, a biking trail or a neighbourhood sidewalk, all of which can be pleasant, low-stress places.

Looking’ Good:

I have to include this possibly superficial, but significant, benefit of exercise: it helps you lose weight, tone your body, and maintain a healthy glow and a smile. You may feel a subtle but significant boost as your clothes look more flattering on, and you project an aura of increased confidence and strength. Call me shallow, but this does impact many people, and can relieve stress for those who are concerned with their appearance and worry that they don’t look as healthy as they could.

Social Support:

The benefits of social support are well-documented and manifold. Because exercise and physical activity can often involve others, you can enjoy a double dose of stress-relief with the combined benefits of exercise and fun with friends. Whether you’re in a class with others, working out in the gym with a buddy, playing softball in a league or taking a walk or hike with a friend, having others work out with you can make you feel good as well as help motivate you to push harder to get a better workout without it feeling so much like ‘work’.

Increased Health:

While stress can cause illness, illness can also cause stress, with the physical pain, missed activities, feelings of isolation and other costs that come with it. So improving your overall health and longevity with exercise can also save you a great deal of stress in the short run (by strengthening your immunity to colds, the flu and other minor illnesses) and the long run (by helping you stay healthier longer, and enjoy life more because of it).

Resilience To Stress:

That's right, research suggests that physical activity may be linked to lower physiological reactivity toward stress. Simply put, those who get more exercise may become less affected by the stress they face. So, in addition to all the other benefits, exercise may supply some immunity toward future stress as well as a way to cope with current stress. If that's not a great reason to get more active, I don't know what is!