This Recipe Will Easily Clear Your Lungs In 3 Days, Even If You Smoke More Than 5 Years

Smoking kills. It’s the second most preventable killer. Nowadays it’s even written on the pack!

Health officials have known that more than 1 billion people around the world smoke and 5 million people die each year from tobacco-related illness, according to the World Health Organization. That’s about one person dying every six seconds.

But, not only smokers have lung problems.

One thing is for sure, though; smoker’s lungs are a lot more damaged than the non-smokers’. The best advice for you is to quit smoking, but if you find it difficult to do so, you can, at least, prevent bigger damage. We are presenting you the ultimate natural recipe that will  clean your lungs in just 3 days!

Researchers have found that people, who smoke for longer than 5 years, experience bronchitis and cough issues more often. This is way, you should try this proven recipe, and the positive results will be guaranteed.

Ingredients:

400g clean and cut onion

2 teaspoons turmeric

1l water

400g brown sugar

1 small piece ginger root

Instruction:

In a larger pot, boil the water and the brown sugar. Then add the onion and the ginger root. At the end, add the turmeric and some grated ginger. When the mixture starts boiling, you should lower the temperature. Let it cool at a room temperature, and then store it in the fridge.

Use:

Drink this elixir every morning before breakfast and in the evening, 2 hours after your last meal.

For better results, you can do some exercise during  this treatment.

If possible, you should enjoy a hot bath every day also, but not more than 20 minutes. In this way, your body will eliminate the toxins more easily. Inhaling eucalyptus would be also beneficial.

Sources: Difference Mind

Train Your Brain to Boost Your Immune System

New research suggests mindfulness can strengthen our natural defenses.

By Jennifer Wolkin | March 23, 2016

Running half-marathons barefoot in the snow. Climbing mountains while wearing only shorts. Standing in a cylinder filled with 700 kilograms of ice cubes.
Self-proclaimed “Iceman” Wim Hof, claims that he can do all of these things by influencing his autonomic nervous system (ANS) through concentration and meditation. The “Wim Hof Method,” is an intensive meditative practice that includes focused concentration, cold water therapy, and breathing techniques. Until recently, the idea that anyone could influence their autonomic nervous system was thought impossible given its assumed “involuntary” nature. The ANS is the system that controls all of our internal organs and regulates body functions like digestion, blood flow, and pupil dilation.
Our brains also use the ANS to communicate to our immune system, which might explain another of the Iceman’s recent feats: suppressing his immune response after being dosed with an endotoxin (a bacteria), which in most people leads to flu-like symptoms and high levels of inflammation in the body. When researchers looked at the Iceman’s inflammatory markers after being exposed, they discovered the markers were low, and his immune response was 50% lower than other healthy volunteers. Basically, he showed very few signs of infection.
Hof is definitely a statistical outlier, though one recent study followed students trained in his method. Apparently, they replicated Hof’s results and experienced no symptoms after being injected with Escherichia coli, a bacteria that normally induces violent sickness.
So, outlier though he may be, researchers are intrigued by the mounting evidence showing that mindfulness has a positive impact on our immune system.

The Floating Brain: Our Best Defense

The immune system is one of the most critical purveyors of our physical wellness. It’s our defense system, our armed forces that work to protect us from foreign invaders like viruses or bacteria. It is so precisely designed that it can distinguish between harmful unwanted pathogens and our own healthy cells and tissue.

When our immune system struggles, it’s like a welcome sign for infection and disease.

It is so wise that the immune system has even been referred to as our “floating brain,” aptly named for its ability to communicate with the brain through chemical messages that float around inside our body. This means that if our immune system is weakened, perhaps as a result of chronic stress or invading pathogens, our whole body system won’t operate as usual. When our immune system struggles, it’s like a welcome sign for infection and disease.

Mindfulness and the Immune System

Beyond the Iceman’s superhuman experiences, there is increasing evidence that mindfulness meditation does impact our immune system.
A recent and groundbreaking review looked at 20 randomized control trials examining the effects of mindfulness meditation on the immune system. In reviewing the research, the authors found that mindfulness meditation:

• Reduced markers of inflammation, high levels of which are often correlated with decreased immune functioning and disease.
• Increased number of CD-4 cells, which are the immune system’s helper cells that are involved in sending signals to other cells telling them to destroy infections.
• Increased telomerase cell activity, the cells that help promote the stability of chromosomes and prevent their deterioration (telomerase deterioration leads to cancer and premature aging).

These results need to be replicated with more rigorous methodology, but they are promising, and potentially pave the way for using mindfulness-based techniques to boost the immune system, enhancing our defense against infection and disease.
And this isn’t the only study showing positive results. In another eight-week study, researchers at UCLA had 50 HIV-positive men meditate daily for 30-45 minutes. Doctors found that, compared with a control group, the more training sessions the men attended the higher their CD-4 cell count at the conclusion of the study (remember, CD-4 cells are the immune system’s helper cells). This study links mindfulness with a slowing down in CD-4 cell count drop, which is associated with healthier immune system functioning.
Richard Davidson, esteemed professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison, also conducted a study investigating whether mindfulness meditation could alter brain and immune function.
In his study, people were injected with the flu vaccine and were either part of a group receiving mindfulness training or a control group. After eight weeks, the mindfulness group showed greater levels of antibodies available to respond to, and prevent, potential illness.

Mindfulness Meditation and Possible Mechanisms of Increased Immunity

It’s tempting to get carried away by the implications of the research suggesting that mindfulness can help improve immune functioning. However, the question still remains as to the exact mechanisms involved in the mindfulness-immune system connection. Ask any researcher and they’ll tell you they don’t know yet. Some possibilities have been suggested, and it is likely that a convergence of all of these play a role. Here I present three possible ideas:

1. Decreased Stress, Increased Emotional Regulation: It has been confirmed through research that what we think and feel impacts our immune system via chemical messages from the brain. Therefore, stress, negative thinking styles, and certain emotional states can have a negative impact upon our immune system, creating an environment increasingly susceptible to disease. Mindfulness’s mechanisms toward greater well-being are complex and multifold, but practice is implicated in decreased stress, decreased rumination, and increased ability to deal with difficult emotions. In this way, practicing mindfulness might stave off impaired immunity.
2. Targeted Brain/Immune System Communication: Another link between mindfulness and the immune system is mindfulness’s direct impact upon brain structures responsible for talking to the immune system. More specifically, research indicates that mindfulness meditation increases activity in the prefrontal cortex, right anterior insula, and right hippocampus, the areas of the brain acting as our immune system’s command center. When these parts are stimulated through mindfulness, the immune system functions more effectively.
3. Activation of the Second Brain (the Gut): Mindfulness can boost immunity via the gut microbiota. As per a previous article I wrote here on Mindful, the human body is comprised of trillions of micro-organisms, most of which reside in the gut, which are called the gut microbiota. It turns out that the gut microbiota are key players in the development and maintenance of the immune system; the bacteria in the body that helps distinguish between intruder/foreign microbes vs. those that are endogenous. Studies have shown that stress tips our microbial balance, putting us at risk for dysbiosis, (a shift away from “normal” gut microbiota diversity), stripping us of one of our prime defenses against infectious disease, not to mention the cascade of reactions that ensue, which potentially wreak havoc on the central nervous system (CNS). Mindfulness-based stress reduction impacts our immune system by helping to maintain healthy gut microbiota diversity that is often upset by stress.

No matter the exact mechanisms, there is viable evidence that practicing mindfulness meditation helps boost our defense against disease, and fosters wellness. And while we are a long way from this becoming a mainstream treatment practice—given possible egregious side effects if not done properly and the fact that very few of us can be an Iceman—this research paves the way for the addition of a new wellness adage: “Meditation each day keeps the doctor away.”

Meditation and Running: a Treatment for Depression

New research suggests combining mindfulness meditation and running into a mental health program could help reduce depression.

By Mindful Staff | March 21, 2016

While previous studies have found that aerobic exercise and meditation can impact mental health, a study published last month in Translational Psychiatry combines the two.
“Scientists have known for a while that both of these activities alone can help with depression,” says Tracey Shors, a professor of exercise science at Rutgers and co-author of the study. “But this study suggests that when done together, there is a striking improvement in depressive symptoms along with increases in synchronized brain activity.”
The study included 52 participants—22 diagnosed with depression. For eight weeks, volunteers meditated for 30 minutes and completed 30 minutes of aerobic exercise twice a week. Researchers tested their ability to concentrate and mood before and after the eight weeks of training.
The 22 participants with depression reported a 40% reduction in their symptoms. The other individuals in the study without a diagnosis of depression also reported a decrease in ruminative thoughts, anxiety, and an overall improvement in motivation.
Brandon Alderman, lead author of the study, hypothesizes that meditation and running together might strengthen neural mechanisms in the brain.
From writer Gretchen Reynolds in The New York Times:

“We know from animal studies that effortful learning, such as is involved in learning how to meditate, encourages new neurons to mature” in the hippocampus, [Alderman] said.
So while the exercise most likely increased the number of new brain cells in each volunteer’s hippocampus, Dr. Alderman said, the meditation may have helped to keep more of those neurons alive and functioning than if people had not meditated.

Since this is a small study, it remains to be seen if these improvements are sustained.

The 5 Major Mind Traps that Hinder Happiness

These roadblocks keep us stuck in the depression loop: caught up in negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as the brain anxiously rehashes past events and simultaneously rehearses a hopeless, catastrophic future. Here are some ways to avoid falling into these traps.

By Elisha Goldstein | March 18, 2016

These voices keep us stuck in the depression loop. One of the keys to cultivating an antidepressant brain is realizing you are not these thoughts or the stories they tell. Here are some ways to avoid falling into these traps.

Doubt

Whenever you hear advice about how to work with challenges you have, you might notice the voice of doubt: “This might work for some people, but it’s probably not going to work for me.” The motive of this voice is to keep us safe from failure or disappointment, but ultimately it keeps us away from new experiences that can be supportive.

Emptiness

Longing to be elsewhere, our minds settle on the belief that the current moment is never enough, we’re not enough, or we can’t do enough, it’s all so empty. The problem with this kind of thinking: When the awaited event does occur, happiness may not come with it. This motive of trying to fix the current moment leaves you in a perpetual cycle of dissatisfaction.

By focusing on the idea that you’re not where you “should be,” your brain is constantly reinforcing the message that something is wrong with you, which then highlights a gap of deficiency that only grows wider as it tries harder. The root problem is not what you don’t have, but the fact that you really don’t feel whole or complete.

Irritation

Someone might be walking down the hallway at work humming his favorite tune, and thoughts come up: “Does he think everyone wants to hear him? Uh, what is he so happy about anyway?”

Meanwhile, who’s suffering? We’re the ones in pain, but our brains think if we project our irritation onto another person, we’ll find relief from the pain. If these voices continue to come up in our relationships and aren’t discussed, the feelings turn into resentment that inevitably eats away at the relationship like a cancer. But voices of irritation can alert us that something isn’t right and, with awareness, we can use this information to be constructive.

Sluggishness

Have you ever had the idea to do something that’s good for you—hang out with friends, exercise, meditate—but you hear this voice: “I want to do it, but I’m too tired. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

If we’re actually tired—maybe we haven’t slept enough or had an exceptionally taxing day—we need to listen to our bodies and rest. At other times, these sluggish voices are just another sign we’re avoiding being with ourselves because we fear that it will be uncomfortable. If we can recognize it, we can face it and when we can face it, we can work with it and break free.

Restlessness

These days our brains are being trained to be noisier, busier, and more distracted. You’re sitting alone waiting for a drink. Your eye catches your phone: “I wonder if I received any new messages. Nope, not one since a minute ago. What about Facebook, anything there? Some new updates, not that interesting. Twitter? Ah, that’s an interesting tweet. I wonder when the drink is going to come?”

When there’s a space empty of doing, restless voices rise up. We feel compelled to fill the spaces, but we don’t realize that in these empty spaces, we have a choice between doing and being; it’s where possibility and opportunity emerge, and where there is a chance to make changes for the better.

From Uncovering Happiness: Overcoming Depression with Mindfulness and Self-Compassion. Reprinted by arrangement with Atria Books, Copyright © 2015 Elisha Goldstein.

Wired for Destruction: Negative Thoughts can Literally Destroy Your Brain

It’s nothing earth shattering to point out that negative thoughts can have a negative impact on your life, but did you know that our brains are actually wired to focus on negative thoughts? What is even more surprising is that negative thought patterns actually do physical damage to our brains. This damage only makes breaking the cycle of negative thinking harder to break, but don’t fret – it’s not impossible.

Wired for Destruction

In an evolutionary sense, our brains are actually wired to focus on negative stimuli instead of positive rewards. Think about it, at one point in our evolutionary journey we were basically wild animals. We had to be wary of all of the environmental dangers around us, and therefore, our brains were developed to focus on threats. A stick snapping in the woods was a sign of a predator, not the potential for a new friend. By being wary and focusing on the worst case scenario, our ancient ancestors survived. Dr. Rick Hanson, a neuropsychologist and best-selling author, writes on his website, “Negative stimuli produce more neural activity than do equally intense (e.g., loud, bright) positive ones. They are also perceived more easily and quickly. For example, people in studies can identify angry faces faster than happy ones; even if they are shown these images so quickly (just a tenth of a second or so) that they cannot have any conscious recognition of them, the ancient fight-or-flight limbic system of the brain will still get activated by the angry faces.”
Just like memories are groups of neurons firing together, negative thoughts are groups of neurons that link together in a pattern. As neurons fire in a sequence, they link together and bad memories form faster than good ones. According to Hanson, “The alarm bell of your brain — the amygdala (you’ve got two of these little almond-shaped regions, one on either side of your head) — uses about two-thirds of its neurons to look for bad news: it’s primed to go negative. Once it sounds the alarm, negative events and experiences get quickly stored in memory — in contrast to positive events and experiences, which usually need to be held in awareness for a dozen or more seconds to transfer from short-term memory buffers to long-term storage.”
Read: 4 Easy Ways To Free Your Life Of Negative Energy

The Physical Effects of Negative Thoughts on Your Brain

What’s more interesting than our brains being predisposed to thinking negatively, is the fact that negative thoughts actually physically change our brains. For instance, cortisol – the stress hormone, destroys neurons in the hippocampus, which is responsible for storing memories. Also, once the brain had developed a certain way of thinking it will naturally revert to those patterns when storing new memories. There is a theory that our brains are physically shaped based on what we think and experience. “Experience-dependant Neuroplasty” basically means that the neurons that fire the most become the most sensitive in the brain. Hanson’s theory is that “the brain takes its shape from what the mind rests upon.”
Read: 3 Keys to Overcoming the Effects of Negative People

Breaking the Cycle

Despite our brain’s attempts to hold on to the negative thought patterns that we sometimes get into, there is a way to change the way we think. The simplest way to overcome negative thought patterns is to engage in an activity the occupies your entire brain. Something like a puzzle, crossword, or other cognitive activity can allow your brain to break out of those destructive patterns. Meditation is another great way to break up your thought patterns. truly clearing your brain and relaxing is one of the best things you can do for your overall mental health. Finally, and most importantly, it is important to be mindful of your situation. Mindfulness is a non-judgemental view of everything that is going on around you that can help you really figure out what you need to worry about and what you have no control over. Mindfulness is an active practice, and won’t just happen overnight. Stress management is a skill that can help break your thought patterns out of a negative loop.

7 Easy Ways to Lose Weight Naturally (Backed by Science)

1. INTRODUCTION

There is a lot of bad weight loss information on the internet.
Much of what is recommended is questionable at best, and not based on any actual science.
However, there are several natural methods that have actually been proven to work.
Here are 30 easy ways to lose weight naturally, which are supported by science.

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2. Lose Weight Naturally

Add Protein to Your Diet

When it comes to weight loss, protein is the king of nutrients.
Your body burns calories when digesting and metabolizing the protein you eat, so a high-protein diet can boost metabolism by up to 80-100 calories per day (1, 2)
A high-protein diet can also make you feel more full and reduce your appetite. In fact, some studies show that people eat over 400 fewer calories per day on a high-protein diet (3, 4).
Even something as simple as eating a high-protein breakfast (like eggs) can have a powerful effect (4, 5, 6)

Eat Whole, Single-Ingredient Foods

One of the best things you can do to become healthier is to base your diet on whole, single-ingredient foods.
By doing this, you eliminate the vast majority of added sugar, added fat and processed food.
Most whole foods are naturally very filling, making it a lot easier to keep within healthy calorie limits (7).
Furthermore, eating whole foods also provides your body with the many essential nutrients that it needs to function properly.
Weight loss often follows as a natural “side effect” of eating whole foods.

Avoid Processed Foods

Processed foods are usually high in added sugars, added fats and calories.
What’s more, processed foods are engineered to make you eat as much as possible. They are much more likely to cause addictive-like eating than unprocessed foods (8).

Stock Up on Healthy Foods and Snacks

Studies have shown that the food you keep at home greatly affects weight and eating behavior (9, 10, 11).
By always having healthy food available, you reduce the chances of you or other family members eating unhealthy.
There are also many healthy and natural snacks that are easy to prepare and take with you on the go.
These include yogurt, whole fruit, nuts, carrots and hard-boiled eggs.

Limit Your Intake of Added Sugar

Eating a lot of added sugar is linked with some of the world’s leading diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer (12, 13, 14).
On average, Americans eat about 15 teaspoons of added sugar each day. This amount is usually hidden in various processed foods, so you may be consuming a lot of sugar without even realizing it (15).
Since sugar goes by many names in ingredient lists, it can be very difficult to figure out how much sugar a product actually contains.
Minimizing your intake of added sugar is a great way to improve your diet.

Drink Water

There is actually truth to the claim that drinking water can help with weight loss.
Drinking 0.5 liters (17 oz) of water may increase the calories you burn by 24–30% for an hour afterward (16, 17, 18, 19).
Drinking water before meals may also lead to reduced calorie intake, especially for middle-aged and older people (20, 21).
Water is particularly good for weight loss when it replaces other beverages that are high in calories and sugar (22, 23).

Drink (Unsweetened) Coffee

Fortunately, people are realizing that coffee is a healthy beverage that is loaded with antioxidants and other beneficial compounds.
Coffee drinking may support weight loss by increasing energy levels and the amount of calories you burn (24, 25, 26).
Caffeinated coffee may boost your metabolism by 3–11% and reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by a whopping 23–50% (27, 28, 29).
Furthermore, black coffee is very weight loss friendly, since it can make you feel full but contains almost no calories.

Supplement With Glucomannan

Supplement With Glucomannan

Glucomannan is one of several weight loss pills that has been proven to work.
This water-soluble, natural dietary fiber comes from the roots of the konjac plant, also known as the elephant yam.
Glucomannan is low in calories, takes up space in the stomach and delays stomach emptying. It also reduces the absorption of protein and fat, and feeds the beneficialgut bacteria (30, 31, 32).
Its exceptional ability to absorb water is believed to be what makes it so effective for weight loss. One capsule is able to turn an entire glass of water into gel.

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3. Lose Weight Naturally

Avoid Liquid Calories

Liquid calories come from beverages like sugary soft drinks, fruit juices, chocolate milk and energy drinks.
These drinks are bad for health in several ways, including an increased risk of obesity. One study showed a drastic 60% increase in the risk of obesity among children, for each daily serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage (33).
It’s also important to note that your brain does not register liquid calories the same way it does solid calories, so you end up adding these calories on top of everything else that you eat (34, 35).

Limit Your Intake of Refined Carbs

Refined carbs are carbs that have had most of their beneficial nutrients and fiber removed.
The refining process leaves nothing but easily digested carbs, which can increase the risk of overeating and disease (36, 37).
The main dietary sources of refined carbs are white flour, white bread, white rice, sodas, pastries, snacks, sweets, pasta, breakfast cereals and added sugar.

Fast Intermittently

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating.
There are a few different ways to do intermittent fasting, including the 5:2 diet, the 16:8 method and the eat-stop-eat method.
Generally, these methods make you eat fewer calories overall, without having to consciously restrict calories during the eating periods. This should lead to weight loss, as well as numerous other health benefits (38).

Drink (Unsweetened) Green Tea

Green tea is a natural beverage that is loaded with antioxidants.
Drinking green tea is linked with many benefits, such as increased fat burning and weight loss (39, 40).
Green tea may increase energy expenditure by 4% and increase selective fat burning by up to 17%, especially harmful belly fat (41, 42, 43, 44).
Matcha green tea is a variety of powdered green tea that may have even more powerful health benefits than regular green tea.

Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are extremely healthy, weight-loss-friendly foods.
In addition to being high in water, nutrients and fiber, they usually have very low energy density. This makes it possible to eat large servings without consuming too many calories.
Numerous studies have shown that people who eat more fruits and vegetables tend to weigh less (45, 46).

Count Calories Once in a While

Being aware of what you’re eating is very helpful when trying to lose weight.
There are several effective ways to do this, including counting calories, keeping a food diary or taking pictures of what you eat (47, 48, 49).
Using an app or another electronic tool may be even more beneficial than writing in a food diary (50, 51).

Use Smaller Plates

Some studies have shown that using smaller plates helps you eat less, because it changes how you see portion sizes (52, 53).
People seem to fill their plates the same, regardless of plate size, so they end up putting more food on larger plates than smaller ones (54).
Using smaller plates reduces how much food you eat, while giving you the perception of having eaten more (55).

Try a Low-Carb Diet

Many studies have shown that low-carb diets are very effective for weight loss.
Limiting carbs and eating more fat and protein reduces your appetite and helps you eat fewer calories (56).
This can result in weight loss that is up to 3 times greater than that from a standard low-fat diet (57, 58).
A low-carb diet can also improve many risk factors for disease.

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4. Lose Weight Naturally

Eat More Slowly

If you eat too fast, you may eat way too many calories before your body even realizes that you are full (59, 60).
Faster eaters are much more likely to become obese, compared to those who eat more slowly (61).
Chewing more slowly may help you eat fewer calories and increase the production of hormones that are linked to weight loss (62, 63).

Replace Some Fat with Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is high in fats called medium-chain triglycerides, which are metabolized differently than other fats.
Studies show that they can boost your metabolism slightly, while helping you eat fewer calories (64, 65, 66).
Coconut oil may be especially helpful in reducing the harmful belly fat (67, 68).
Note that this does not mean that you should add this fat to your diet, but simply replace some of your other fat sources with coconut oil.

Add Eggs to Your Diet

Eggs are the ultimate weight loss food. They are cheap, low in calories, high in protein and loaded with all sorts of nutrients.
High-protein foods have been shown to reduce appetite and increase fullness, compared to foods that contain less protein (69, 70, 71, 72).
Furthermore, eating eggs for breakfast may cause up to 65% greater weight loss over 8 weeks, compared to eating bagels for breakfast. It may also help you eat fewer calories throughout the rest of the day (4, 5, 6, 73).

Spice Up Your Meals

Chili peppers and jalapenos contain a compound called capsaicin, which may boost metabolism and increase the burning of fat (74, 75, 76, 77).
Capsaicin may also reduce appetite and calorie intake (75, 78).

Take Probiotics

Probiotics are live bacteria that have health benefits when eaten. They can improve digestive health and heart health, and may even help with with weight loss (79, 80).
Studies have shown that overweight and obese people tend to have different gut bacteria than normal-weight people, which may influence weight (81, 82, 83).
Probiotics may help regulate the healthy gut bacteria. They may also block the absorption of dietary fat, while reducing appetite and inflammation (84, 85, 86).
Of all the probiotic bacteria, Lactobacillus gasseri shows the most promising effectson weight loss (87, 88, 89).

 Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep is incredibly important for weight loss, as well as to prevent future weight gain.
Studies have shown that sleep-deprived people are up to 55% more likely to become obese, compared to those who get enough sleep. This number is even higher for children (90).
This is partly because sleep deprivation disrupts the daily fluctuations in appetite hormones, leading to poor appetite regulation (91, 92).

Eat More Fiber

Fiber-rich foods may help with weight loss.
Foods that contain water-soluble fiber may be especially helpful, since this type of fiber can help increase the feeling of fullness.
Fiber may delay stomach emptying, make the stomach expand and promote the release of satiety hormones (93, 94, 95).
Ultimately, this makes us eat less naturally, without having to think about it.
Furthermore, many types of fiber can feed the friendly gut bacteria. Healthy gut bacteria have been linked with a reduced risk of obesity (96, 97, 98).
Just make sure to increase your fiber intake gradually to avoid abdominal discomfort, such as bloating, cramps and diarrhea.

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5. Lose Weight Naturally

Brush Your Teeth After Meals

Many people brush or floss their teeth after eating, which may help limit the desire to snack or eat between meals (99).
This is because many people do not feel like eating after brushing their teeth. Plus, it can make food taste bad.
Therefore, if you brush or use mouthwash after eating, you may be be less tempted to grab an unnecessary snack.

Combat Your Food Addiction

Food addiction involves overpowering cravings and changes in your brain chemistry that make it harder to resist eating certain foods.
This is a major cause of overeating for many people, and affects a significant percentage of the population. In fact, a recent 2014 study found that almost 20% of people fulfilled the criteria for food addiction (100).
Some foods are much more likely to cause symptoms of addiction than others. This includes highly processed junk foods that are high in sugar, fat or both.
The best way to beat food addiction is to seek help.

Do Some Sort of Cardio

Doing cardio — whether it is jogging, running, cycling, power walking or hiking — is a great way to burn calories and improve both mental and physical health.
Cardio has been shown to improve many risk factors for heart disease. It can also help reduce body weight (101, 102).
Cardio seems to be particularly effective at reducing the dangerous belly fat that builds up around your organs and causes metabolic disease (103, 104).

Add Resistance Exercises

Loss of muscle mass is a common side effect of dieting.
If you lose a lot of muscle, your body will start burning fewer calories than before (105, 106).
By lifting weights regularly, you’ll be able to prevent this loss in muscle mass (107, 108).
As an added benefit, you’ll also look and feel much better.

Use Whey Protein

Most people get enough protein from diet alone. However, for those who don’t, taking a whey protein supplement is an effective way to boost protein intake.
One study shows that replacing part of your calories with whey protein can cause significant weight loss, while also increasing lean muscle mass (109, 110).
Just make sure to read the ingredients list, because some varieties are loaded with added sugar and other unhealthy additives.

Practice Mindful Eating

Mindful eating is a method used to increase awareness while eating.
It helps you make conscious food choices and develop awareness of your hunger and satiety cues. It then helps you eat healthy in response to those cues (111).
Mindful eating has been shown to have significant effects on weight, eating behavior and stress in obese individuals. It is especially helpful against binge eating and emotional eating (112, 113, 114).
By making conscious food choices, increasing your awareness and listening to your body, weight loss should follow naturally and easily.

Focus on Changing Your Lifestyle

Dieting is one of those things that almost always fails in the long term. In fact, people who “diet” tend to gain more weight over time (115).
Instead of focusing only on losing weight, make it a primary goal to nourish your body with healthy food and nutrients.
Eat to become a healthier, happier, fitter person — not just to lose weight.

6. Free Cookbook

Over the past year, my friend Dave over at PaleoHacks has been working on a super secret cookbook project with our good friend Peter Servold ­­ a Le Cordon Bleu trained Chef and owner of Pete's Paleo... And today, this new incredible Paleo Cookbook is finally available to be shipped right to your door for FREE! That's right -- as a special launch promotion, we're offering our brand new Paleo fat loss cookbook to you for free (Chef Pete lost 60 lbs using these recipes!) -- All you have to do is just cover a small shipping cost (international shipping is a bit more).The cookbook is called Paleo Eats, and it's filled with over 80 chef ­created, insanely tasty Paleo recipes ­­ which means they are free from gluten, soy, dairy, and refined sugar. But most importantly, they are EASY and FAST to make when you see how Pete simplifies gourmet cooking. Pete has well over 10,000 hours of experience cooking these gourmet meals ­ refining his recipes over the past 10+ years for the absolute perfect taste. Inside, you'll find recipes like:

• Pan-­Roasted Pork Chops w/ Rutabaga Puree & Roasted Beets
• Mongolian Red Pepper Beef w/ Roasted Spaghetti Squash & Chard
• Pear & Proscuitto Salad
• Braised Pulled Pork w/ Sauteed Kale & Roasted Baby Carrots
• BACON BARS.

And a LOT more! Over 80 amazingly delicious recipes that will help you lose body fat, improve your digestion, boost your energy & immunity, get clearer skin, control blood sugar and help to slow the aging process. You'll even see on this page how Chef Pete himself lost 60 lbs using these recipes! And let me tell you from personal experience ­­ Pete's meals are out of this world amazing ­­ you'll get to experience some of the tastiest versions of Paleo favorites ­and some new flavors and recipes that I can guarantee you've never tried. Get your FREE copy of Paleo Eats Here. (Grab this today, because we only ordered a small batch of these cookbooks for this freebie promotion, and they will sell out FAST!) Get The Free Cookbook Enjoy!  

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7. What Americans Don't Know About Fat

One of our top guest authors, Dr. Hyman, says you should forget everything you’ve heard about FAT… For decades, medicine and pop culture have told us that eating less fat (and exercising more) is the secret to sustained weight loss, health, and longevity.Yet Americans are sicker and fatter than ever! Clearly, something isn’t adding up. New York Times bestselling author Dr. Mark Hyman is on a mission to separate the FAT from Fiction during his upcoming event, The Fat Summit. Find out more right here: Free Fat Summit In The Fat Summit, Dr. Hyman will interview 30+ of the world’s top experts, as they reveal the truth about fat – and what it really takes to lose weight, feel great, and reverse chronic disease. Here’s a look at what you’ll discover:

• Why eating more fat (and less sugar) actually leads to weight loss
• Whether or not children should eat a high-fat diet
• How carbohydrates impact hunger
• The research on red meat (does “grass-fed” really make a difference?)
• How wellness impacts the financial health of our nation
• The connection between toxins and weight gain
• How to enjoy healthy meat (with minimal environmental impact)
• The best sources of plant-based fat
• The role of fat in aging
• And much more…

 

Could These Key Factors Be The Reason You Aren’t Losing Belly Fat?

June 10, 2015 by Jeff Roberts.

Many of us can likely attest to how uncomfortable it feels to have extra belly fat hanging over our pants every day. It can leave you feeling heavy, bloated, and sometimes even embarrassed around others.

It seems that people of all shapes, sizes, and fitness levels share this common issue, begging the question, why?

In his article, Are These the Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Belly Fat?, Dr. Mercola tackles this highly convoluted issue, pointing out that belly fat isn’t just an aesthetic problem, but a health issue as well, and it can lead to other, more serious conditions.

“Abdominal fat actually produces inflammatory molecules, and high inflammation levels in your body can trigger a wide range of systemic diseases linked with metabolic syndrome. This is why carrying extra weight around your middle is linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, strokes, and other chronic diseases.”

To help get to the bottom of our belly fat problems, let’s cover the often overlooked reasons why many of us can’t seem to shed extra weight in our abdominal area.

Exercise Choice – Opt For HIIT Instead of Lengthy Cardio

As Dr. Mercola points out, running on a treadmill is probably the most common defense mechanism against stubborn belly fat, but the least effective.

The majority of your training should be anaerobic (strength training/interval training), as opposed to aerobic (traditional lengthy and low-level) in nature.

If cardio is your go-to form of exercise, opt for high-intensity, short-interval training instead. Several studies have confirmed that exercising in shorter bursts with rest periods in between burns more fat than exercising continuously for an entire session.

HIIT workouts improve muscle energy utilization and expenditure due to their positive effects on increasing muscle mass and improving muscle fiber quality.

Muscle tissue burns three to five times more energy than fat tissues, so as you gain muscle, your metabolic rate increases, which allows you to burn more calories, even when you’re sleeping.

And really, why do a cardio workout in 45 minutes when you can do one effectively in 15?

One 2009 study showed that as little as six sessions of HIIT performed over two weeks – a total of fifteen minutes of all-out effort – increased maximal activity of the cell factory (mitochondria) and improved performance during tasks that previously relied on aerobic energy activation. HIIT increased the potential for glucose and fatty acid oxidation

To reap maximum results, you need to work out at maximum intensity, with rest periods in between spurts.

It’s also important to remember to keep upping the intensity as you get fitter.

Strength Training & Core Exercises

Strength training is rewarding because you see the results of your hard work every day as you continue to beat your previous weight or repetition number. It is also one of the most effective ways to increase Human Growth Hormone (HGH), the hormone responsible for fat metabolism and muscle growth.

If you are completely new to weight training or haven’t been able to see results with the weight training you’ve done thus far, I recommend starting with this extremely easy-to-follow routine. It’s called the 5×5 strong lifts routine, and it’s effective at teaching you the proper form for compound exercises that will give you the most bang for your buck in terms of results.

Sit-ups are not effective, so stop doing them. Opt for planks instead, which use far more muscles and do not put a strain on the neck or back if done properly.

Diet Is Your Saving Grace, So Listen Up

This is the bottom line, so it’s crucial to get this right above all else.

“Refined grains like white bread, crackers, and chips, as well as refined sugars in sweetened drinks and desserts increase inflammation in our bodies,” says Registered Dietitian Kate Patton. “Belly fat is associated with inflammation, so eating too many processed foods will hinder your ability to lose belly fat.”

Most people are not aware that leptin plays an enormously important role in the development of obesity.

Leptin is a hormone produced by your fat cells that is just as important as insulin in determining your risk for type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases.

It also impacts how much you eat and how much fat you burn, and leptin resistance specifically causes your body to produce and accumulate visceral fat around your midline.

So how do you become leptin resistant? In short, by:

• Eating a diet that includes too many sugars and grains (grains turn to sugar once you consume them).
• The sugar metabolizes (turns into) to fat and is stored in your fat cells.
• This activity in turn causes a surge in leptin.
• Your body becomes resistant to leptin just as it can become resistant to insulin.

When you’re leptin-resistant, your body no longer hears its own signals to stop eating, burn fat, or pass up sugary foods.

As a result, you feel hungry and crave sweets, and your body continues to store fat even though it already has more than enough. When your body routinely stores this excess as visceral fat, you increase your risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, vascular disease, atherosclerosis (hardening of your arteries), and an increased thickness in the walls of your heart.

Two Dietary Changes You Should Implement Right Away

Dr. Mercola makes an inarguable case, these two factors should be implemented in the diet of anyone looking to keep their stomach slim.

1) Swap processed foods (including restaurant or fast food) for whole, ideally organic fare, focusing on raw vegetables.

• Cooking them will destroy many of their valuable micronutrients and biophotons.
• Juicing can help you boost your vegetable intake if you’re having trouble getting enough of them into your diet.
• By removing processed foods, you automatically cut out most of the refined sugars and carbs (grains) from your diet, along with a whole host of other health-harming chemicals and additives.
• If you opt for organic, you’ll also automatically avoid hazardous pesticides and herbicides, as well as genetically engineered ingredients.

 2) Replace the missing carbs with healthful fats.

• Fat is actually the preferred fuel of human metabolism, and this can be traced back to our evolutionary roots.
• Avoid highly processed and genetically engineered omega-6 oils like corn, canola, and soy, however, as they will upset your omega 6:3 ratio.
• All trans fats should be avoided, but contrary to popular advice, saturated fats are a key component of a healthy diet that will promote weight loss.
• These recommendations appear to be useful for most that are struggling with insulin or leptin resistance (overweight, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol ratios, or diabetes).
• Healthy fats include: coconut oil, organic grass-fed butter, raw nuts, egg yolks, avocados.

Bottom Line

Cutting processed carbs, increasing your healthy fats, and sticking to an effective HIIT or strength training routine will surely lead to the results you desire, but it will take commitment.

Some people may see results immediately, while with others it may take months, so it’s crucial to stay consistent and have patience. Unfortunately, there isn’t a magic pill that will zap your belly fat.

Lastly, try to find a way to get inspired by eating well and working out, whether that’s putting together a motivational playlist, having a picture of your goal in front of you, or something more creative. Being inspired by fitness will lessen the feeling of it being a chore, helping you look forward to getting your sweat on.

Do you have any helpful tips for shedding belly fat? Share with us in the comment section below!

Source: Dr. Mercola

A Complete Guide To Dopamine Imbalance: Symptoms & Reactions

March 19, 2016 by Dan Fries. 

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Are You Suffering From A Dopamine Imbalance?

You know how it feels.

That unmatchable sense of satisfaction you get after you accomplish something that you had always wanted to.

Whether it’s breaking the weightlifting record at your gym, getting into an energetic mode and completing eight hours of work in five hours, or achieving a long-term goal that your friends (and even your Dad) thought you’d never do, that feeling can be highly motivating to take the next big step in your life.

That feeling is dopamine rushing down your spine.

What is Dopamine? It’s a chemical compound present in the body as a neurotransmitter. It acts as a messenger between brain cells. Despite being generated by just a handful of brain cells, it acts as a powerful stimulant for many major physical and cognitive functions, including memory, movement, motivation, and pleasurable reward.

Because of its ability to control feelings related to pleasure and reward, it’s also called “the pleasure neurotransmitter.”

However, it’s also the chief regulator of addictions related to food, drugs, gambling, sex, shopping, and many other behaviors.

If you wonder why certain drugs are so addictive, it’s because they stimulate the production of dopamine and create a long-term craving in the brain.   

How does Dopamine influence your behavior if you are not a drug addict?

Have you been too obsessed with something in your life? Like reading, playing games, achieving your goals… Well, that’s addiction too. You keep thinking about it the same way an addict thinks about drugs.

That thought can make you the most motivated and productive person you know!

The good news is, your brain is already tuned for greatness, because dopamine produces positive results too. It works in your favor when you work out in the gym, interact with someone you love, and every time you strive to progress faster towards accomplishing your goal.     

Dopamine boosts several aspects of cognitive functioning such as memory, focus, and motivation. Laboratory studies have revealed that dopamine is as critical for memory development as it is for motivation-based learning and goal-centered behavior.

In simple words, dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for long-term memory growth and motivating a person to “go after something” and accomplish a particular goal.

While having a good memory is going to be absolutely important for your success, it can’t be defined as the only ‘essential’ to make you a champion performer.

Your success is largely determined by your ability to learn from your past mistakes and apply appropriate solutions to similar challenges in the future. This is what we call distinguishing the ‘good from bad.’

In a study conducted by Nature, volunteers were fed with drugs that altered their dopamine levels. Each of them was asked to participate in a learning task that involved becoming familiar with different sets of currency symbols in which profit or loss was used as a metric to analyze the value of their total money.

At the end of the study, it was found that the winners had the highest dopamine activity in their brain. During the test, players were rewarded for choosing the best symbol pairs, and it turned out that their dopamine reacted positively and helped them remember and perform better in subsequent rounds.                

Another study proved that people with higher dopamine levels in their brain were less impulsive than those with lower levels.

These are clear evidences that dopamine has a strong influence on the mental functioning of a person. The more the amount of this neurotransmitter is, the better will be your memory, planning, decision making, and learning ability.

Nevertheless, the link between dopamine levels and mental functioning also follows an inverted U-curve pattern in certain circumstances. That is, anything in excess or lesser than the required level could lead to negative results. So finding the right balance in dopamine levels is the key to getting the best of this neurotransmitter.    

Effect of dopamine on your physical activities

When you’re trying to achieve peak physical performance, what do you think plays a major role?

Is it your muscles? Lungs? Heart?

Well, it’s none of the above.

The central governing authority of fatigue in your body is your brain. And dopamine is the neurotransmitter that drives the brain and elevates or lowers fatigue.

Have you tried to push yourself too far beyond your capacity and felt completely exhausted for the rest of the day? It always happens, right?

With less dopamine in your brain, your heart runs out of oxygen, and if you keep doing that for a long period of time, then you could even end up damaging your organs temporarily or permanently.  

The amount of dopamine in your body also has a huge impact on your physical activities. It alters results when you work out in the gym, perform yoga asanas, and participate in athletics.

Of course, mental functioning such as learning, memory, focus, and motivation has a significant effect on our physical performance naturally, but dopamine does more than that.

Laboratory studies on rats have confirmed that running boosts the activity of brain cells that produce dopamine. And the effect is even more pronounced in trained rats (that have been trained for at least 8 weeks) vs. untrained rats. (Eight weeks in a rat’s life is approximately two years in human life.)

It was found that rats that were nurtured for high-intensity running reacted better to dopamine than untrained rats. They had a higher percentage of dopamine and they were more active. Again, this study proved that having more dopamine in the brain results in better physical performance. So, if you wish to go from 100% to 110% (or maybe more) with your physical activities, then adequate quantities of dopamine is what you need.

Okay, what impact does dopamine have in humans?

Unfortunately, there is no strong evidence like the rat case to determine the effect of dopamine in humans. The results have varied from one study to another, mainly because, unlike the case with rats, there is no control over human environment. However, the men in lab coats believe that dopamine can boost an individual’s physical performance in certain conditions.  

Much like the case with rats, genetic differences determine the capacity of physical activity in humans. In one study, it was concluded that high levels of dopamine didn’t have a major impact in cyclists in mild weather but it boosted their performance and scores in hot weather. So, it worked in their favor under stressful conditions. This experiment reveals that dopamine activity may help increase the exercise capacity of humans under challenging conditions. Scientists claim that this increase in physical capacity stems from the fact that dopamine slows down the process of fatigue in the CNS during intense physical activity.       

The above studies suggest that even in average people, physical activities like exercise boost dopamine activity in the brain naturally, which is why we all feel fresher and more focused after exercising. However, over time, dopamine levels go down gradually and result in tiredness. That is exactly the reason why we feel tired after intense workouts.

In the case of best performing athletes, the process of dopamine depletion is slow, hence they have more endurance and stamina and go on for a longer duration than their counterparts. Increased dopamine activity in the brain also results in better focus and concentration in individuals.

The Worst Symptom Of Dopamine Deficiency

More evidence about the effect of dopamine on the physical and mental performance of humans comes from people with Parkinson’s disease.

Few people are aware that Parkinson’s disease is caused by the loss of cells that are responsible for producing dopamine in the brain. Because of low levels of dopamine, patients experience slow movements, muscle rigidity, stiffness of limbs, tremors, and poor cognitive functioning such as poor focus, planning, and memory.

Fortunately for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease, an increase in dopamine levels with medical treatment can improve their motor abilities and cognitive functioning and result in better movement, planning, focus, and memory.

Parkinson’s disease is the worst known symptom of dopamine deficiency. But there are other mild symptoms, too.

Other symptoms of dopamine deficiency:

• Chronic Depression
• Fatigue
• Forgetfulness
• Depression
• Mood swings
• Restless Leg Syndrome
• Sudden weight gain
• Low sex drive
• Inability to concentrate
• ADHD
• Gastrointestinal disturbances

None of the above symptoms are caused just because of dopamine deficiency. But having a healthy amount of dopamine in the brain helps improve the condition. This is important because low levels of dopamine are caused by simple dietary and lifestyle factors such as stress, insufficient sleep, overtraining, drugs, and excessive intake of caffeine, alcohol, and sugar.        

“Dopamine imbalance is influenced by lifestyle and eating and drinking habits ranging from overtraining to alcohol abuse.”

It’s not so difficult to stay away from the common factors that cause dopamine deficiency, but there are others that are difficult to avoid.

Activities that alter dopamine levels

When it comes to dealing with dopamine imbalance, there is always a right way and a wrong way of doing it. Some of us try to improve our dopamine activity by meditating, exercising, and eating nutritious food. These are the right methods.

On the other hand, there are people who take several cups of coffee a day to fight sleep deprivation, eat junk food to tackle late-night hunger, and even work out until extreme exhaustion (overtraining), hoping to build muscle faster. These are the wrong methods of boosting dopamine activity.

People in the second category will see an immediate increase in their dopamine levels, but they will find themselves extremely tired and exhausted in the long term. In turn, they will start experiencing more stress, poor focus, and low productivity. That’s what dopamine can do to your physical and mental activities.

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Numerous experiments have revealed that dopamine affects the major aspects of human ability such as memory, focus, and stamina. The more the dopamine activity in your brain is, the better will be your physical and mental performance. Whether you’re looking to gain an edge over your colleagues at the office and produce an impressive performance or if you’re training for your next marathon, having adequate quantities of dopamine will help bring the best out of you and ultimately get the work done in the best way possible.

You may be interested to check out Dopamine brain foods.

These supplements contain a range of ingredients that help neutralize dopamine deficiency and improve its activity in the brain so that you can be your best at every challenge that you take on.