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Smoothie Face.

The face we pull when we drink smoothies. I like to think of it as a perfectly balanced mixed emotion between ‘my god how can this be healthy?!’ & ‘this is heaven!’.

This week’s Smoothie Face is by Alexandra Nickoll

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Easy Peazy.

Love this tip from Meg Thompson of My Wholefood Romance. All you need to do is blend some watermelon, strawberries & mint together, pour them into moulds & freeze. 

We’ve tried and tested, and they are good! 

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We loved having Miss Lola Berry in the Proteini house Tuesday night for the launch of her new book: Lola Berry’s Little Book of Smoothies & Juices.

Congrats Lola! 

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Will My Bananas Ripen? (This is not a metaphor)

If you’re like me, you’ve been known to ponder, squeeze, try to understand and pray that you’re hard looking fruit will magically ripen and become luscious a few days after purchase, but how do you know? This week I came across these handy tips by Goop about which fruits continue to ripen after they’re picked and which just don’t. Click the image to read more

Mango - Yes! Mangoes ripen and get sweeter after they’re picked.

Watermelon - No! Avoid bruising, soft spots or cracks. Look for the yellow ‘field spot’ (the spot where the watermelon was sitting on the ground). If the field spot is white or non-existent it will probably be underripe.

Bananas - Yes! Bananas will ripen a great deal and can be picked green.

Peaches - Yes! They get softer & juicer, but not sweeter.

Rockmelon / Cantaloupe (depending on where you’re from) - Yes! They get softer and juicer, but not sweeter.

Pears - Yes! Pears get softer and sweeter.

Avocado - Yes! Avocados only ripen off the vine. Avoid bruising, soft spots and cracks.

Raspberries - No! Look for a uniform deep red colour. Avoid mushy, mouldy to leaking berries.

Pineapple - No! Pineapples can be green in colour but its best to look for a yellow colour at the base or all the way up the fruit. The leaves at the top should be green and the skin firm.

Strawberries - No! Look for strawberries that are red in colour. They stay light green when picked too early.

Apples - Yes! Apples get softer and sweeter.

Blueberries - Yes! They get softer and juicer, but not sweeter

Grapes - No! Look for plump, firm grapes that are strongly attached to fresh looking stems. Avoid bruising and brown spots.

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Take a dip this week (it’s good for you). 

Find out why swimming is the bee’s knees of exercise.

Did you know swimming has been called the ‘perfect exercise’. With all the benefits of an aerobic workout without the damaging impact on your joints we can see why. But just incase you aren’t convinced here’s a few other benefits to swimming a few laps.

Swimming improves muscle definition and strength in the entire body (while runners build muscle in their legs, swimmers use more muscle groups to move through the water). 

Swimming keeps you bendy. It requires you to reach, stretch and twist as you pull yourself through the water, over time improving flexibility

Swimming burns calories, lots of them. We all know swimming burns calories, after all you’re moving, but most don’t realise it can be just as efficient as running on the treadmill. Depending on your stroke and intensity, swimming can burn equal or greater calories than running.

Swimming can improve exercise-induced Asthma. Unlike working out in dry gym air or seasonal pollen environments, swimming allows you to breathe moist air while you train. Not only does swimming help alleviate asthma symptoms it can also improve the overall condition of your lungs over time.

Swimming can reduce stress and depression. Natural endorphins, yes please! We’ve heard people talk about a runner’s high but swimming can also bring out these feel good emotions. In addition to happy feels, swimming can also achieve a calming, meditative experience - a relaxation response similar to yoga. 

Salt water swimming for the skin. Swimming in salt water can be a great beauty treatment for your skin, moistening and detoxing to promote new cell growth.  

Research sourced via Life Hack

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Stay Zen. Happy mind, Happy life x

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I MUST have chocolate, GIVE ME the chocolate! 

This week we came across a great little article via Body Barre about what our food cravings are really telling us. Click on the image to read more.

We all know the feeling. 3:30pm comes along, and your body tells you it needs a hit of chocolate. But rather than just being a sign of a sugar addiction, could a true craving be a sign of a deeper need? As we suspected, Yes! It can. 

Our bodies never fail to amaze us, and creating cravings is certainly no exception. So if you’re craving a hit of something delicious on your tastebuds, here’s what your cravings could mean.

Chocolate Craver. Chocolate cravings are generally a sign of needing magnesium or carbon. Curb the cravings with leafy greens, nuts & seeds, fish, and fresh fruit.

Sweet Shop. If you can’t seem to avoid a hit of ice cream, lollies or a can of soft drink, you could be deficient in chromium (which can be found in broccoli, asparagus, whole grains and almonds), zinc (found in oats, oysters and shellfish), vanandium (in parsley, mushrooms and sweet potato), or tryophan (found in spinach and turkey).

Carbs Carbs Carbs.  A hankering for a big serving of bread, pasta or pastries could be a sign that your body needs nitrogen. Ward off the cravings with beans, homemade nut butters, chia seeds and fatty fish, like salmon.

One serve of (Saturated) Fat please.  Bacon, burgers, pizza … They’re all fabulous in moderation, but if your body’s craving it more than your health desires, try upping your levels of calcium. Load up on broccoli, kale or edamame.

Salty Salt.  Whether loaded up on meals or a big serve of hot chips, salt isn’t too crash hot when consumed in excess. Feed your chloride deficiency with fatty fish and goats milk, or perhaps your silicon deficiency, with a serve of nuts & seeds.

Next time a craving hits, listen closely and nourish your body with exactly what it needs.

Thanks to https://barrebody.com.au/ for these insightful tips

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Real Food is messy & imperfect, and we LOVE it!

We’ve all seen the McDonald’s burger experiment (or if you haven’t, watch it) - where they leave a perfectly groomed burger for months and it remains unchanged - no mould, no deterioration :| You can only begin to imagine what kind of chemicals and rubber? it’s made of to last that long. We can’t say it enough, eat real food (grown from the ground) as much as possible.

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Finish the week with a Green Smoothie Bowl, we’re getting into the spring spirit by topping ours with fresh blueberries (for the brain, and the taste) - x

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What’s the deal with Colonics?

Your Colon is the last section of your intestines where the final bit of nutrients from food and water is absorbed into our circulation and where most of the waste product is eliminated. A colonic is designed to clean out built up toxins by filling the colon with warm water and then flushing the water out repeatedly. How often should you get a colonic and why, click the image to read on. 

The safety of colonics, like most cleanses, is highly debated – with pro camps declaring it a necessary procedure to ‘move things along’ & clear out toxins in our over worked bodies, while others argue the colon is designed to clean itself.

We say Colonics are helpful for clogged up, overworked colons when carried out in expert hands. When the body becomes constipated and the colon is unable to eliminate waste or frequent bloating is occurring, a colonic can help get your body back on track.

In plain mans terms a tube is inserted into the anus and water is flushed into the colon and then removed with built up matter repeatedly. They say ‘elimination’ (or poop) is the greatest indication of a person’s health. While you’re getting a colonic, see what passes. It sounds gross but it’s actually really fascinating. The darker in colour, the older the matter being removed. Any food you see is undigested or, as is common in today’s fast paced society, perhaps not chewed properly in the first place.

Like most things, there are people who overuse colonics as a way of loosing weight (which it actually doesn’t achieve). If you are changing your eating habits or beginning a cleanse we recommend 3 colonics (1 week apart) to start. It often takes more than one session to get the colon cleaned out properly, and depending on what you need to clean out – the expert administering the colonic will usually advise more sessions or move you to a bi-monthly or tri-monthly maintenance program.

We will say it’s important the colon maintains it’s own cleaning routine, so don’t overdo it with colonics. We also don’t recommend clinics that leave clients in the room unattended to administer the colonic by themselves - while the price at these clinics is cheaper we don’t feel this is a safe practise for newcomers.

Information sourced via Goop

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This week we had the absolute pleasure of meeting blogger Annabel Symonds. Her blog LondonerInSydney is an insightful hub for expats & healthy foodies, you can read her review on us here http://londonerinsydney.com/proteini-cafe-review/ , and salivate over this Big Vegan bowl here. 

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Raspberries stuffed with homemade chocolate; a little fiddly but oh so delicious! Use natural sweeteners like unprocessed Stevia leaf, or a little coconut to sweeten your raw chocolate