October 03, 2018 at 04:14AM The F word gets throw around a lot in the wellness world. (That would be fiber. Why, what were you thinking?) A run-down of some of what it does for you: helps boost gut health, lowers inflammation, supports heart health, and even speeds up metabolism. Fruits and veggies are great primary ways to get your fill, but one easy way to up your intake: Pour on the seeds (chia and flax seeds, that is). Besides being a great source of fiber, chia and flax are nutritional powerhouses in their own right. So what exactly is the difference between chia and flax? For starters, chia looks like small seeds (yes, exactly like the ones you used to grow your chia pet) and have a distinct mild yet earthy taste. Flax seeds are most often found ground (although you can buy ground chia too if you don’t want the seed texture) and have more of a nutty flavor. Photo: Stocksy/Babette Lupaneszku The whole chia pudding trend has made chia a lot more popular the last five years, but they’ve actually been around for a long time—since 3500 BC in fact, when they were considered food of the gods. Like chia, flax goes back to ancient times and has been used forever in food and for medicinal uses. When it comes to their nutrient breakdown, they have some similarities and differences. Here’s the 411 on what you need to know about the nutrition in flax versus chia seeds: Nutrition breakdown Chia
Category: Keto
We went to Antoni Porowski’s new restaurant, and the menu caters to basically every possible diet plan
October 01, 2018 at 11:11AM Hear ye, hear ye, Queer Eye and healthy-eating fanatics: Your favorite, totally Fab food expert’s long-awaited restaurant is open for business starting today. And despite Antoni Porowski’s pretty strong obsession with all things avocado on the Emmy-winning Netflix show (I mean, no judgment at all—we’re biologically predisposed to love the green smash on toast, after all), the fibrous fruit is hardly the star of the menu at The Village Den, the fast-casual joint in Manhattan’s West Village. Rather, when we went to check out the airy, plant-laden eatery for lunch on opening day, it was clear that the salad-slinging spot’s central mission is to cater to a heavy handful of popular nutrition plans. Porowski—who previously told Well+Good that his eating habits include a combo of keto-style, Paleo, and veganism—may well have created the menu with himself in mind, because each offering is adorned with icons noting whether it’s Whole30, Paleo, ketogenic, plant-based, vegetarian, dairy, gluten-free, or detox (which seems to superfluously indicate the inclusion of a “detox powder” supplement). For example, a $7 oven-baked frittata impressively boasts six icons—holy health! Each menu offering is adorned with icons noting whether it’s Whole30, Paleo, keto, plant-based, vegetarian, dairy, gluten-free, or detox. The robust smoothie menu features a variety of the fruit and veggie usual suspects in some inspired concoctions like the Watermelon Spice, which includes, duh, watermelon, coconut water, strawberries, ginger, lemon zest, and mint. More specialized ingredients, like MCT oil, spirulina, and matcha, make an appearance in some
Torch every muscle with Kirsty Godso’s 5-move, full-body workout
September 28, 2018 at 08:35AM Even if you walk through the doors of your gym with a pep in your step and a pair of kicks fresh enough to turn (sneaker)heads, one glance around the room might spark a bout of workout-move amnesia. (Like, how do I use resistance bands again?) So rather than sweating the details of how to string together a full-body sweat sesh yourself, let Kirsty Godso—Nike master trainer and HIIT queen—design a game plan for you. In an IG post from yesterday, the New York-based fitness instructor demonstrated five moves designed to torch your bod from head to toe, including variations on pikes, burpees, and mountain climbers. To replicate the sequence, you’ll need to scour your gym’s equipment stash for its bosu, balance, and medicine balls. Then, make sure your ponytail is tight, and get down to business. Keep scrolling for Godso’s full sequence. View this post on Instagram Your body is for using, not just looking at. Put it to the test with some of these moves @pyrogirls 1. Swiss ball single leg tuck to Pike – 8 reps each leg 2. Slam to chest pass – 45 seconds 3. Heel tap burpee – 45 seconds 4. Bosu wall mountain climber – 45seconds 5. Elevated single leg hip bridge – 16 reps each leg Recover and repeat 3x YOUR TURN! #letsgo #pyrogirls #nikewomen #niketraining A post shared by KIRSTY GODSO (@kirstygodso) on Sep 27, 2018 at 1:23pm PDT //www.instagram.com/embed.js Recover, then repeat the whole sequence 3 times. 1.
How your microbiome can clue you in on the most effective way to lose weight
September 27, 2018 at 08:38AM In some circles, September is considered to be a second January, aka another shot at resolving to curb or enhance various behaviors in order to achieve your goals. One such resolution may, for some, include healthy weight loss—you know, the kind that focuses on diet rather than dieting and reasonable levels of targeted physical activity—and it’s not uncommon for this to become a frustratingly evasive unicorn to chase. Sometimes, no matter what you do, you cannot shed a single lb. But why? Of course, there are many reasons your weight may stay stubbornly stuck. One, however, is quickly becoming a central player not just within this conversation but in dialogues around a broad spectrum of health questions: your gut microbiome. It turns out, there is a relationship between weight loss and the 100 trillion bacteria living within your digestive tract. Status: It’s complicated. When I call Emeran Mayer, Ph.D, author of The Mind-Gut Connection and Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Physiology, and Psychiatry at UCLA, he says that research is still in the early stages, but explains what scientists know so far. First, he describes a couple of studies used to prove a connection. In one version, lean, germ-free mice raised in sterile environments were transplanted with bacteria-rich feces from genetically-modified obese mice with voracious appetites. They not only gained weight but also developed the same uninhibited food intake as a result. A similar experiment was done with fecal material taken from obese humans and transplanted into lean, germ-free
Ancient super-ingredient tahini is now popping up in *all* the foods—but is it healthy?
September 26, 2018 at 11:11AM When the internet deems a certain superfood “cool,” it follows that foodies everywhere will start dreaming up ways to pack the newest darling into meals both sweet and savory. (Case in point: The avocado craze has officially breached even baked goods.) So when I noticed sesame-seed-derived tahini—a tan condiment that’s a mainstay in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine—starting to play the food-course field (sorry, hummus), I found myself experiencing Jonathan Van Ness–levels of curiosity. Why is this seed butter worthy of oatmeals, quinoa bowls, and desserts alike? Its benefits must be pretty great. The first reason is the flavor. The sesame derivative has a robust, slightly bitter taste that’s just as rich as your standard almond or peanut butter. This trait allows the ingredient to stealthily disguise itself in, well, just about anything. And second, tahini is dairy-free, keto-compliant, and packed with nutrients. (More on that below.) Basically, it’s a versatile yet nutritious powerhouse. Check out 3 reasons a tablespoon of tahini can boost vegan mac and cheese and ice cream alike. View this post on Instagram what vegan pasta dreams are made of a sauce I truly will never get sick of: dairy free tahini mac. so simple and goes well with basically any pasta/veggie/protein combo. my go-to meal after a busy day. recipe below! _____________ I made a double batch, but you can cut this in half for 1-2 servings: 1/4 cup tahini 1/4 cup plain, unsweetened almond milk (hemp or coconut milk for nut
5 drinks to reach for when you’re dehydrated (other than water, because duh)
September 26, 2018 at 09:01AM Yeah, yeah, we all know “drinking lots of water” should be at the top of everyone’s wellness to-do list. But when life gets busy—like, so busy you don’t even have time to prep breadless avocado toast in the morning—it’s easy to forget a trip to the Brita now and then. Let your reusable bottle sit unfilled for most of the day, however, and the telltale signs of dehydration will reliably come creeping in: headaches, dry mouth, and turmeric-colored pee among them. Of course, the best way to avoid this fate is to be mindful of your water intake in the first place. “We never want to wait to feel thirsty to drink—in fact, the sensation of feeling thirsty is already a late indicator of dehydration,” says Ilana Muhlstein, MS, RDN, the in-house dietitian at Beachbody and co-creator of the 2B Mindset nutrition program. “This is why I always recommend that people start every meal and snack by drinking 16 ounces of water first.” If you’re eating three meals and two snacks a day, that hack will give you a head start in meeting your daily hydration requirements, which Muhlstein says you can calculate by dividing your body weight in half. But there are certain situations in which you’ll want to up that number even further. “A person’s water requirement will be heightened with exercise, sweat, stress, and an increased salt and protein intake,” Muhlstein says. Yes, that translates to a lot of H2O, which admittedly can get,
Low-carb diets are trending—do we even need the macronutrient at all?
September 25, 2018 at 02:12PM Americans certainly have a love-hate relationship when it comes to carbs. European and Asian cultures steadfastly make room for pasta, bread, and rice on their plates, but here in the States, carbs are like fanny-packs: in one day, out the next (and then, back in again?). With the low-carb, high-fat ketogenic diet dominating as the eating plan of the moment, the current consensus seems to mimic that of the early ‘aughts when the popularity of the Atkins diet was at its peak: Carbs are no good. Keto devotees limit their carb intake to just 5 to 10 percent of their diet—vastly lower than the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendation that 45 to 65 percent of overall calories come from the macronutrient. The discrepancy between the recs is so big, it feels like both can’t be healthy. So, what’s the deal? Are carbs a vital part of your diet or not? First, it’s important to know the difference between the various types of carbohydrates out there. “Simple carbs are found in foods like sugary soda and bread, which get absorbed in the body quickly,” explains Wahida Karmally, MD, the director of nutrition for the Irving Center for Clinical Research and associate research scientist at Columbia University Medical Center. “But foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, and whole grains have complex carbs, which are full of more nutritional benefits and get absorbed slower.” So when experts talk about carbs being “bad,” it’s mainly the first category they’re discouraging—there is merit to consuming the second category
I tried the ketogenic diet to help with my anxiety—here’s what happened
September 25, 2018 at 07:50AM When you’ve had anxiety most of your life like I have, you’re familiar with all the tricks. Meditation, essential oils, probiotics, wine…I’ve tried it all. And while I’ve mastered some tools for feeling better in the moment (deep belly breaths do actually work, it turns out), nothing has been 100 percent effective in preventing the anxious feelings from rising up in the first place. Not everyone with anxiety experiences it the same way—or for the same reasons. Sometimes, I don’t even know why I’m feeling anxious. I just am. Other times, like if public speaking is involved, it’s almost a given that my heart will race and my stomach will feel queasy. As Well+Good’s food editor, I’m well aware of the mind-gut connection and that certain foods can boost your happiness levels. But experiencing anxiety isn’t quite the same as feeling depressed (though the two are often coupled). Recently, I’ve noticed that scientists are linking the high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet to the treatment of certain psychological disorders including depression and anxiety, but also bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). That seems pretty darn powerful, right? So besides being the diet of choice for Vanessa Hudgens, Adriana Lima, and yes, even Kim Kardashian, the mental health benefits were enough to really intrigue me. I decided to commit to the ketogenic diet for a month to see if I noticed a difference in my body and mood. Can the ketogenic diet ease anxiety? Keep reading to find out. Photo: Stocksy/Michela Ravasio Meeting the nutritionists