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cenniedolls · 7 years ago

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Kyprian ventures into the forest surrounding the bog wearing Zetherain’s red cloak, and even though these woods and the wetlands beyond are familiar, they feel deep and strange today in the fading light. The cedars loom over him, thick trunks covered in rough bark and cool moss, and even though he knows the texture, there is something off about it now, with the last full moon of autumn waxing bright far above. Damp and uneven beneath his feet, the forest floor is no different than any other day, scattered with shallow pools of still water and jagged rocks, but Kyprian feels threatened by it in a way that goes deeper than the risk of twisting an ankle in the dark. The seasons turn sharply here, but it is more than the simple seasonal change making the air itself feel heavy against what little skin Kyprian has bared to it.

The bog belongs to the witch, after all. This first ring of cedar swamp less than the moose meadows beyond, and that less than the acidic sphagnum heart of the bog proper, but the people of Havenswood don’t come this far without good cause. Kyprian knows the witch just as well as he knows the forest, though, and she doesn’t scare him. Nerai is unpredictable, capricious; but she is no villain like the witches in the village stories. It’s her creatures he is wary of, both those created by Nerai that are familiar vegetation given unfamiliar sentience, and those that are themselves, first, and merely give allegiance to the witch. First among these is the wolf. This time of year, he is even less predictable than usual.

The moon is glowing silver over the whispering sedges of the moose meadow by the time Kyprian makes it through the cedars. He pauses at the edge of the trees, eyes adjusting to the new light; it is nowhere near the light of day, as some stories might suggest, but after the near complete black behind him, the moonlight is too much. There is a lantern hanging cold at his hip, but it had felt too invasive to bring lit, and Kyprian does not want to risk a feeling like that, not now. He is beginning to feel that even the deep red of his cloak is too strong, tonight, the velvet nearly as dangerous as firelight. There is no substance to the danger, though, no definition and no rationalization - Kyprian knows this place, knows its creatures and its people, but still he has to draw himself together to step out into the moonlight.

Both quieter and louder than the cedar swamp, the moose meadow is full of the whisper of grass and sedge, yet empty of the sudden animal noises of the forest. The ground here is uniformly damp, sinking slightly beneath Kyprian’s feet as he parts the grasses to pass through. There are paths through the meadow, but he cannot trust them. That’s one thing the village stories get right.

Even though the rustling he causes passing through sounds deafening in the night, Kyprian knows that he won’t hear the wolf coming if Sage decides to sneak up on him. The wolf has long since mastered moving soundlessly, even here in the stiff sedge and crisp grasses.

Farther in, and there are hummocks of brush rising from the bog; the uniform meadow gives way to deeper water, masked in places by thick sphagnum moss looking like an innocent forest floor over sucking mud. Solid ground is tricky to find, here. One way is to stay close to the brush, but some of the hillocks are tiny floating islands just waiting to tip the unwary into the murky water. Narrow, bristly spruce trees spear up in places, golden tamaracks in others, but even the ground around these trees may be too unstable for human feet.

Kyprian has walked through the bog many times before, and knows all of its tricks. As many as anyone can, at least. Without living here, he is sure it’s impossible to truly understand the place, but Kyprian doesn’t step into the smooth floating carpet of sphagnum moss, or try to use the drifting brush islands to hold his weight. He doesn’t investigate the sweet smell, something between apple cider and the chocolates Zetherain used to love, wafting from the unnaturally large pitcher plant out in the bog, or follow the fluttering lights between the trees at the corner of his vision, or let the sinuous movements just under the surface of the open patches of water unnerve him. The bog is full of Nerai’s creatures, and he has seen all these before. She likes things that push at boundaries - makes creatures larger, faster; gives them more agency, intelligence, strange new traits drawn from somewhere else. Bats that glow like lightning bugs and live off moonlight; lightning bugs the size of bats that dip and dive through the water eating fish. All these creatures follow only their own natures and the will of the witch herself, though. Thus, they’re predictable. Nerai’s tentacle monsters are the stuff of nightmares, but it just goes to show that you can get used to anything, because Kyprian knows them now, and can avoid them accordingly. Not so with the wolf.

It’s not as though Sage is the wolf from village stories, a poorly disguised metaphor for the consequences of discouraged actions. He’s not the danger of leaving home given physical form - or perhaps he is that - or the pitfalls of new adulthood - although there are moments Kyprian can see the parallel - or some mindless beast, ravening in the woods. In stories, the wolf is a convenient symbol or a simple danger, but in the witch’s bog, her wolf is altogether more complicated.

Be careful of the wolf, Zetherain had said, one of the last things he told Kyprian before leaving. It was a bit late for that. Be careful of what? Sage’s sharp claws and canine teeth? The smoky edge to his smirks, and the way he stands a bit too close? Or the way he rolls in the sweet-smelling sedges behind the witch’s house in the warm days of summer, full of simple joy, and the softness of his furry ears?

All of these things, maybe. The wolf is a complicated figure, and carries a variety of dangers. On a night like this, full of moonlight and sharp with the first edge of winter, that danger is perhaps at its most literal. On a night like this, Sage is a creature of the bog, first, and something human after.

Kyprian picks his way steadily closer to the stand of trees near the center of the bog, where the witch has built her house. There’s an expanse of open water beside it, not quite a lake and nothing like the Pool where the bog meets the mountains. Still, it is the most predictable area in this part of the bog, with a paradoxically solid shoreline between the floating mosses and the ring of cattails and rushes surrounding the water. Kyprian allows himself a short breath of relief when he reaches it, and of course that’s when the wolf strikes.

There’s a howl that contains at least some of the sounds of his name, and Sage pounces out of a stand of golden tamaracks teetering at the edge of the solid ground. Kyprian gets a glimpse of shining eyes and bright teeth, before Sage barrels into him and they crash into the shallow water and crisp cattails. Startled despite knowing that something of the sort must be coming, Kyprian shrieks, spluttering as some of the bog gets into his eyes and mouth.

Sage is laughing at him, but even as they fell the wolf turned to take most of their weight, so Kyprian is not nearly as bruised or muddy as he could be. He barely has time for the thought before Sage is up again, bounding around with his tail thrashing behind him. So it’s one of those nights, after all.

“Trick or treat,” Kyprian says, as dry as possible while he’s sitting waist-deep in water, picking duckweed off his face. Sage just howls with laughter, rolling to a stop at the edge of the shore. He’s a bit more wolfish than usual, tonight, hands more clawed and feet more like paws, fur all the way to his rolled-up pants, but even though his eyes are full of wild energy, it’s not the dark kind Kyprian sometimes finds there.

“Nerai’s got the treats,” Sage says. “C’mon, come inside.”

Kyprian accepts a hand up, and leans into Sage when the wolf slings an arm around his waist. A few more steps around the curve of the shore, and there’s the witch’s house, lights gleaming in the windows. Orange, purple, strangely black; still, the light is welcoming, and Kyprian likes the way it reflects off the water, swirling through the silver moonlight. The witch has a flair for the dramatic, but an eye for beauty too.

There are pumpkins carved with faces on the step, and cobwebs hanging from the eaves. One of the pumpkins cackles at them; another winks, leering far more effectively than a vegetable should. A massive spider swings out of the way as Kyprian raises his hand to knock on the door.

“Trick or treat,” he calls, put somewhat at ease by the fact that Sage is still at his side. Not that the witch would think twice before pranking the wolf along with him, but at least they’re in it together.

She just opens the door with a gleeful shriek and an armful of candy, though. Everyone else is already here - Zetherain is waiting by the window, projecting indifference; Finael is slouched at the table with Lilon next to her; Lilon is pouting, looking askance at the massive pair of costume rabbit ears on Finael’s head. Nerai herself is wearing a ridiculously oversized witch’s hat in the style of children’s stories, and Kyprian is sure she’s responsible for Finael’s rabbit ears as well.

“Finally!” the witch crows. She snaps her fingers, treats abandoned to float in the air beside her, and Kyprian’s wet cloak sweeps off his shoulders to hang next to the hearth. Sage drags him into the next room, bundling him into a dry sweater and pants, entirely more hindrance than help. Kyprian stumbles, giggles, gets a mouthful of Sage’s hair and a faceful of his ears. He can just make out Zetherain’s low voice through the half-closed door, and Nerai’s laugh clear as a bell. She sweeps him into a chair when they come back out, and suddenly the table is full of pie and candies, and a bowl of shining red apples.

“Lilon did the baking,” Sage says, with a sly glance at Nerai. “So it’s all safe.”

She kicks his feet out from under him as he moves toward his seat, and Sage topples into Finael, who just sighs. Even she is smiling, though; it’s faint, but some of the chill is missing from her eyes. Across the table, Zetherain rolls his eyes.

“You’d think he’d learn,” he says, gesturing at Sage, but looking just at Kyprian.

Kyprian can hardly contain the warmth rising in his chest, entirely separate from the flickering candles and the fire in the hearth. He hadn’t expected Zetherain to make it back tonight, all the way from Merstithe; it’s almost as rare to see Finael and Lilon in the same room, and neither of them fighting with Nerai. The sweater Sage gave him smells like dog and musty wool, the candles are sparking in unnatural colors and the flames move like snakes, Lilon looks ready to bolt and there’s a cluster of lightning bats hanging in the rafters, but this is perfect.

Lilon slides his chair closer, away from Finael and Sage on the window seat, and hands Kyprian a plate. “Pumpkin,” he says, pointing to one pie, then the others. “Apple. Cherry, peach, pecan.” His ears twitch, luminous green eyes careful on the last pie. “Nerai made that one. I don’t trust it.”

The witch just scoffs, leaning against the back of Kyprian’s chair, but she won’t get rough with the bunny the way she does with Sage. “It’s perfectly safe. Delicious, even. I’m certain of it.”

The surface of the pie bulges, the movement not unlike Nerai’s creatures in the swamp. Kyprian takes a slice of apple pie, and Lilon adds a large spoonful of whipped cream.

“You try it first,” Sage says, leaning back in his own chair. “Me, I’ll stick with the bunny’s baking.”

Finael takes a pointed bite of apple, the crisp fruit snapping under her teeth. Her plate contains a thin slice of every pie but Nerai’s. “A shame to let it go to waste,” she says, without inflection.

Finael, the witch has no compunctions about getting physical with; Nerai drops herself into the one-time assassin’s lap, pulling her pie closer. “I know you’re just trying to be polite, and let me have the best pie all to myself, but I’m willing to share with you, Fina dear.” Her tone is almost as distressingly off as the pie, sweet and cloying.

“Leave them to it,” Zetherain says, glancing away as Nerai cuts into her pie. Something flickers, like static in the dark, and Kyprian averts his eyes as well. Lilon scoots to the edge of his chair, as far as he can get without leaving the table.

“Here’s to us,” Sage says, blithely ignoring the pie situation as he reaches for the cider in the middle of the table, pouring everyone a glass. He gets right up in Zetherain’s space as he leans back, earning a dismissive look; under the table, he tangles his feet with Kyprian’s.

It’s hardly a toast. Sage is drinking before anyone has a chance to respond, but Zetherain still raises his glass beside the wolf, with a roll of his eyes and the shadow of a smile. Kyprian clinks his glass against Lilon’s, and the bunny solemnly repeats Sage’s words.

The moment is broken by a shriek as Finael shoves Nerai off her lap, diving to the floor after her with a growl. Sure enough, the witch’s pie is… blooming, or something - bubbles of chocolate are oozing from the cut slice, growing and spreading with, as usual, far too much agency for comfort.

“Great party,” Sage says, leaning back with a grin. Lilon tumbles out of his own chair, popping up on the other side of Kyprian with a distressed moan. Zetherain takes care of the pie, raising one hand, limed with dark energy, over it, and slowing pushing down as though through heavy snow. By the time he’s close enough to touch, the pie is just a sullen pile of glop. It surrenders one final bubble, bursting over Zetherain’s hand; he sighs, but licks his fingers clean anyway.

“The chocolate is good,” Zetherain says, eyeing the women on the floor. Nerai puts her head up, smirking. “Leave off the special effects next time.”

“Where’s the fun in that,” Nerai grins.

“I don’t know, maybe we could have a civil meal for once,” Finael mutters, settling back into her chair.

“Again, where’s the fun,” Sage says. Zetherain elbows him.

Kyprian pats Lilon’s ears, and the bunny sighs, casting a wary glare over Nerai and Finael before returning to his seat. “I would be even more nervous if nothing like that happened,” Kyprian says.

“And that’s why I like you,” Nerai says, passing him a slice of the defeated pie. “See, Zethie? Your little brother goes with the flow. Stay away too long, and you’ll forget all the important stuff.”

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” His voice is haughty, but there’s a flicker of apology in Zetherain’s eyes as he looks at Kyprian.

Kyprian supposes that’s what’s important. Zetherain is here, everyone is fighting in their comfortable ways, and Nerai’s chocolate pie really does taste good, now that it’s not moving. It’s enough; it’s perfect. Kyprian can only hope that they get more nights like this.

#self-indulgent present tense with an abrupt tone shift #my fiction #Cedar Gate

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juniorformulamotorsport · 6 years ago

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Thursday, 7th March 2019 – Frog by Adam Handling, London

Back in London again for another theatrical event, and having kept costs down on our previous visit, post seeing Sir Ian McKellen, talking entertainingly and at surprising length about his career now he’s turned 80, at the Duke of York’s Theatre, we opted to go to Frog by Adam Handling. This place has been on my radar since it opened, given how impressive Handling was when propelled into the spotlight by Masterchef: The Professionals back in 2013. It it was clear then that he was something quite special in culinary terms. Now, at just 30 year’s old, he has a growing mini-empire of seven establishments across London and has clearly impressed the Belmond group enough for them to want his restaurant in their second UK hotel (their other UK hotel is Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons with the ever-wonderful Raymond Blanc so they have high standards).

It was a fairly unpleasant night outside and we kicked out of the theatre slightly too early, so we scooted past (to see the staff setting up for the evening) and went to The Port House for an aperitif of one of Niepoort’s white ports before turning round and heading back just before 6pm.

From the outside, the restaurant is very low key, and inside it’s perhaps not as flashy as you might expect. There are no tablecloths, just incredibly shiny black-topped tables, and the kitchen is open to the world. There’s a counter where you can also sit and from which you can watch the chefs in action in incredibly calm action. There are plenty of front of house staff, as well as a large number of kitchen staff and it all felt very Scandi in atmosphere, reminding me very strongly of the places I really like in Copenhagen. That was an impression that lasted all the way through the evening, particularly given the food that followed, and the way in which it was presented.

We were welcomed in, served a glass of excellent Champagne, a biscuity Lallier Grand Reserve, Grand Cru Brut from Aÿ (not Reims as the waiter who first served us claimed) and handed the menus to have a think.

We thought very carefully (for about a nano-second!) and decided the full tasting menu was doable and looked fabulous, and that we’d also take the “extra” course of lobster with Wagyu fat, along with the matching wine selection. A second glass of Champagne arrived after we figured we’d treat the first one as a second aperitif, along with the truly dramatic looking “Snacks”. These were delivered in a cloud of dry ice (I know it’s quite an old-fashioned thing to do but it’s also entertaining and I love the odd theatrical flourish), in a bowl and a box. Once the clouds cleared, further inspection revealed a pair of razor clams, beautifully garnished with hazelnut crumbs, apple, herbs and edible flowers, and that tasted as fresh as you could wish. I was briefly distracted by the way the liquid between the stones in the dish kept bubbling up every so often in the aftermath of the grand entrance, but I am sometimes very easily amused!

Next was a fabulous little tube filled with smoked cod’s roe (so a pretty posh taramasalata you might say). It was rich and creamy and densely textured, and I loved it. It had tiny blobs of caviar and of creme fraiche sitting on the top of the cylinder which added considerably to the richness.

The third and final snack was a duck meat bon bon, and it was a deliriously delicious little mouthful (though I stretched it to three bites because I didn’t want it to stop), with a crispy coating on the outside and full of dark leg meat cooked down perfectly. This is what most confit duck has ambitions to be when it grows up!

After we’d finished the snacks, a serving of bread arrived, an IPA-infused sourdough, served warm, and accompanied with the most delightful butter, whipped through with chicken jus, and sprinkled with crispy chicken skin. We tried to restrain ourselves, but it really was too good to resist for any length of time. Summoning all our reserves of willpower, we turned down a second serving, but it would have been soooo easy to cave in and eat a second portion. This is dangerous food, in the best possible way!

It’s tough to say whether the bread or the butter was the greater, but together they made the perfect match. I love good bread, and that was definitely good bread.

We now came to the second dish of the menu, named Mother, apparently because Handling’s mother suddenly announced she’d become a vegetarian the day he opened his first restaurant, and he had to very quickly figure out what he could possibly give her to eat. In an interview with Foodism he had this to say about it: “When I opened my first restaurant, we had 50 journalists, food critics and influential people coming in to taste my menu for the very first time. And my mother told me she was going to be vegetarian. So I created this dish, and I called it ‘Mother’ to try to embarrass her.” The result concoction of salt-baked celeriac, with a confit yolk, and apples, and liberally dusted in black truffle shavings, is a truly amazing dish. If all vegetarian food could be like this, I really could happily give up meat and not miss it. It was accompanied very successfully by a glass of Sepp Moser, Grüner Veltliner von den Terrassen from Austria’s Kremstal, which went down very nicely.

Things moved from vegetarian to marine-based now, with a glorious scallop, oyster and caviar dish. The scallops were not cooked, rather ceviche, with some incredible gel bobs and an oyster mayonnaise, dotted with micro-herbs and nasturtium leaves, and topped with the caviar. It was subtle, slippery, smooth and lovely and was a great pairing with a 2015 Chardonnay, Trinity Hill, Hawkes Bay, the Kiwis supplying an example of just what Chardonnay can do (as opposed to what it so often sadly is).

What came next was even better. Having recently discovered the joys of black garlic, it was used to tremendous effect in a pasta dish of agnolotti, stuffed with mushrooms and served with tiny little blobs of crumb covered deep fried bone marrow. The black garlic was incorporated into the pasta dough, which made it a tremendous shade of black, with a deep garlic flavour matched by the mushrooms which were enhanced by the wonderful crunch and stickiness of the bone marrow. It might not please the Italians, but it was definitely one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had the pleasure of eating. With it we drank a delicious 2014 Monopole Blues Kékfrankos from Hungary.

The wine stretched to the next course too, which was described as “crab, kimchi, tart” and was in fact a crab tart with kimchi at its base. The pastry was so short it almost exploded in the mouth when you bit into it. It was the lightest, shortest pastry imaginable, and while I don’t know who the pastry chef is, they are clearly blessed in their ability to create pastry. The crab was creamy, the kimchi delivered a bit of punch and the whole thing was a mouthful of pleasure, the surface glazed with cheese and dusted with paprika.

Next was the extra dish, where a portion of lobster is in effect marinaded in Wagyu fat for a day or so before being cooked. The initial bite, when your mouth fills with the seafood but also seems to flood with the oleaginous fat feels very odd, and as if it will be too much for the tastebuds. In fact it’s almost unpleasant, until the moment you start to chew and then it all miraculously comes together. I don’t think you could eat much of it; it’s far too luxurious to do that, but the smallish lobster tail was just right. We had a fresh white wine, slightly effervescent, with it, but it wasn’t listed on the menu, so I can’t say what it was, just that it was well-chosen.

We had one more fish dish still to come, a portion of cod, with tiny cubes of smoked eel, brown shrimp, kohlrabi and a selection of sea vegetables including samphire. The creamy sauce brought it all together in a very cohesive way. It was terrific. So was the bone dry 2016 Riesling Steinhugel Tatomer from California that went with it.

And then there was meat. In fact there was duck, sausage and foie gras. I mean, what’s not to like? It came with a jus so glossy you could see your own face in it, and was sumptuous, deep, a hug of a plate with all sorts of dark, autumnal notes to it. The meat was perfectly cooked, and it was simply allowed to stand very much on its own considerable merits. The wine with it was a plummy, deep red fruited 2017 Primitivo Rumirat Terre de Chieti from Abruzzo in Italy and it fully deserved its place in the pairing.

And thus, inevitably, we came to the sweet stuff. First up was pear, anise (in the shape of more tiny, perfectly deep-fried “croquettes” which gave off not the slightest hint of whatever they were fried in but just tasted of aniseed which is a damn clever trick) and sweet cheese. It was a refreshing plate after all the richness that had gone before and showed off the pears very well too. Pears are tricky, even trickier than apples; some varieties can be horribly grainy and gritty (as stones start to form, I’ve now learned), but I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that these were perfect. For dessert wine, we were back in Riesling territory again, this time with an Australian example, Mount Horrocks, Cordon Cut Riesling from the Clare Valley.

We’d now hit the home straight with one more dessert before the end, a light confection of bergamot, stout, miso and smoked Earl Grey. Handling was known for having something of a fascination with Asian elements, though he has by all accounts toned it right down in the last few years. It came through here though with a fascinating mix of savoury and sweet, done with a light hand. It was a good way to complete what had been quite an adventure. The final wine saw us back in New Zealand and again at Hawkes Bay, this time for a 2016 Chenin Blanc Late Harvest specimen, a medium bodied dessert wine full of honeyed tones. On a side note, if our visit was on a typical night, around a third of the tables were taken up by young Asian women, dining in pairs, and furiously Instagramming everything, which may or may not be an effect of the Asian flavours. Who can tell?

By now it was gone 10pm and although coffee and tea was on offer, we declined (I no longer drink coffee after around 2 in the afternoon, at least not if I want to sleep) but we were still presented with the petit fours, which were playful and fun. These little jellies had to be peeled off the plate they came on.

And these included coffee-flavoured chocolates made to look like coffee machine capsules to my probably unreasonable delight.

Nearly five hours after we’d sat down, we paid our bill, then wandered out into the night to catch our train promising ourselves we’d be back when we could afford it. We’d had a brilliant meal, served by attentive, friendly, knowledgeable (in the main) staff and while it really couldn’t be called cheap in any way, it was worth every penny.

Food 2019 – Frog by Adam Handling, London Thursday, 7th March 2019 - Frog by Adam Handling, London Back in London again for another theatrical event, and having kept costs down on our previous visit, post seeing… 1,957 more words

#2018 #Bars #Cooking #Dinners #Drink #Europe #Food #Food and Drink #Frog by Adam Handling #Hospitality #London #Michelin Guide #Restaurants #Travel #UK

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yewtongue8-blog · 5 years ago

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5 Minor Side Effects of Keto and How to Deal with Them

Keto is undeniably great for a lot of folks, but that doesn’t make it perfect! Several studies, like this one, have reported side effects ranging from minor irritations to pretty severe problems.

Here, we’re only looking at studies in adults eating keto for weight loss – people in these studies might have high blood pressure or some blood sugar issues, but they don’t have epilepsy or cancer. And we’re only looking at minor irritations, not serious medical problems. Think more “constipation” and less “hypoglycemic crisis.” (Serious problems, as always, are problems for a real doctor!)

This study is probably one of the most detailed papers on side effects in adults eating keto for weight loss. The researchers compared a keto diet to a low-fat diet and discussed the differences in side effects. Here are the side effects that were more common on keto than the low-fat diet (in other words, side effects that are specific to keto, not just dieting in general).

Halitosis – aka bad breath (38%) of keto dieters

Muscle cramps (35%)

Constipation (68%) and diarrhea (23%)

Feeling of weakness (25%)

Headache (60%)

Keto rash (13%)

Keto rash we’ve already covered in a previous article – read all about it here – but the rest of them deserve a mention as well.

1. Weird breath

“Keto breath” is a distinctive smell to your breath after you start eating keto: some people report it smells like nail polish remover; other people say it’s more sweetish or fruity. This is caused by a by a particular ketone, acetone (which is also a key ingredient in nail polish remover, hence the comparison). Ketogenic diets (or fasting) cause greater production of acetone, which then gets excreted through the breath, causing the smell. That’s normal and nothing really to worry about, but it’s annoying and not the greatest socially.

Mouthwash, brushing more, flossing more, breath strips, and other things won’t solve this problem. Keto breathisn’t caused by poor oral hygiene. Gum and breath mints will temporarily mask the problem but not actually fix the underlying issue.

The fix to this one is simple: give it time. Most people find that this is a temporary problem. It also depends on excess acetone, so you might experiment with techniques for reducing ketone production a little bit while still staying in ketosis (e.g., eating a bit more protein). Pick a favorite masking strategy in the mean time and give it time to settle down.

2. Muscle cramps

Muscle cramps are connected to exercise in most people’s minds, but some people who eat keto get really bad cramps even when they aren’t working out. The biggest potential culprit here is likely electrolyte imbalance, and luckily it’s an easy fix.

Electrolytes include sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium; they’re minerals that help regulate muscle function and body fluids. To contract properly, your muscles need electrolytes, and electrolyte imbalance can mess with your muscle function, causing the muscle to contract and stay contracted (aka a cramp). For example, one reason why people often get muscle cramps at the end of marathons is that they’ve been sweating too much and lost a lot of sodium (salt) without replacing it.

If you’re eating keto, because of the way ketones are processed, you need more electrolytes than you would on a “normal” diet. Put lots of salt on your food, drink salty broth or bouillon, or even take salt pills (they make these for endurance athletes and you can find them at running stores or online). Throw out everything you’ve ever internalized about avoiding salt and do the exact opposite! Eat lots of collards and other dark green leafy vegetables for the calcium (or eat dairy, if it sits well with you- dairy is also good for potassium). and try nuts for magnesium.

Magnesium supplements and lite salt (basically salt with more potassium) are also good options. And there’s a whole range of electrolyte powders and tablets made for athletes; just make sure it’s all sugar free (no Gatorade!).

3. Constipation or diarrhea

Depending on how you keto, you could get either. The study above on keto side effects found that 68% of adults reported constipation, while 23% reported diarrhea

Constipation

This is often the result of drastically lowering your fiber intake all at once, sometimes with dehydration as a contributing factor. Try a combination of these to fix it:

Eating more low-carb, high-fiber vegetables

Taking a prebiotic fiber supplement

Taking a magnesium supplement (this draws more water into the colon, which makes stool easier to pass)

Drinking more water (or broth or bouillon, to get those electrolytes in at the same time!)

Diarrhea

It’s a bit strange for the same diet to cause both one problem and its opposite, but the connection between keto and diarrhea isn’t that tricky. For a lot of folks, it’s all about the MCTs.

MCTs are Medium-Chain Triglycerides, which are found very abundantly in coconut oil. MCTs are really great for ketosis, so a lot of people focus on them for keto purposes, but because of how they’re digested, MCTs can also move right through you. Maybe faster than you’d like them to move. If going keto for you involved ramping up your MCT consumption from 0 to 100, and your GI system is complaining, try adding MCTs more slowly.

4. Weakness

4a. Muscle weakness

Muscle weakness during workouts is a common problem as people start on keto, and 90% of the cure for this is just getting used to the diet. Research has shown again and again that athletes have trouble with strength and endurance in the first few days and weeks of keto as their bodies adjust, but a lot of athletes are able to adapt just fine in time as muscle strength returns.

Your body basically needs time to switch fuel sources and get used to the new way of doing things. It’s always possible that keto just doesn’t work well as an athletic diet for you personally, but give it at least a few weeks before you make that call.

4b. Dizziness/wooziness/brain fog/fatigue

As a related issue to muscle weakness, this is kind of a catch-all category of very similar issues that often go together and could have a lot of different causes.

One of the more common side effects of keto in this study was orthostatic hypotension – that’s a really long name for feeling dizziness and a head rush when you stand up after sitting or lying down. One way to address orthostatic hypotension is – you guessed it – electrolytes and water!

Another problem causing general fatigue and brain fog could be simply not eating enough. Even if weight loss is our goal, it’s not necessary to set up a calorie deficit so extreme that you end up dizzy and exhausted all the time. Occasional hunger pangs are one thing, but if you’re living on 800 calories a day of broth and coconut oil, you’re going to run into trouble. You don’t have to eat a ton of carbs, but eat more! Eat more eggs, butter, salmon, cheese, avocado, whatever you like – just more of it.

5. Headache

There’s actually a little bit of research on using ketogenic diets to treat headaches, but those studies are all in migraines and chronic cluster headaches and serious chronic headaches, not the garden-variety type. And the study linked up at the top did find that people eating a keto diet noticed garden-variety headaches more than people on a low-fat diet. What gives?

It might be the type of fat they were eating. This review found that increasing the ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fats improves headaches, while eating more Omega-6 fats was associated with worse headaches. This might explain the problem of keto headaches in people who go keto by eating tons of lard and bacon (or worse, tons of industrial processed oils) all the time: pork fat is relatively high in Omega-6 fats and industrial oils like canola oil are absolutely full of it. Keto diets that also increase daily Omega-6 intake might make headaches worse for that reason.

It could also be dehydration or electrolyte problems (yep, again!). Dehydration headaches really stink and there’s no reason to live with them since water has 0 carbs.

What’s your One Weird Trick to make keto better?

Got a magic fix for keto breath? Favorite way to get down some more electrolytes without popping salt pills? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

P.S. Have a look at Paleo Restart, our 30-day program. It has the tools to let you reset your body, lose weight and start feeling great.

+ The Paleo Leap Meal Planner is now also available. Put your meal planning on autopilot!

Source: https://paleoleap.com/5-minor-side-effects-keto/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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letterbead93-blog · 6 years ago

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5 Minor Side Effects of Keto and How to Deal with Them

Keto is undeniably great for a lot of folks, but that doesn’t make it perfect! Several studies, like this one, have reported side effects ranging from minor irritations to pretty severe problems.

Halitosis – aka bad breath (38%) of keto dieters

Muscle cramps (35%)

Constipation (68%) and diarrhea (23%)

Feeling of weakness (25%)

Headache (60%)

Keto rash (13%)

Keto rash we’ve already covered in a previous article – read all about it here – but the rest of them deserve a mention as well.

1. Weird breath

2. Muscle cramps

3. Constipation or diarrhea

Depending on how you keto, you could get either. The study above on keto side effects found that 68% of adults reported constipation, while 23% reported diarrhea

Constipation

This is often the result of drastically lowering your fiber intake all at once, sometimes with dehydration as a contributing factor. Try a combination of these to fix it:

Eating more low-carb, high-fiber vegetables

Taking a prebiotic fiber supplement

Taking a magnesium supplement (this draws more water into the colon, which makes stool easier to pass)

Drinking more water (or broth or bouillon, to get those electrolytes in at the same time!)

Diarrhea

It’s a bit strange for the same diet to cause both one problem and its opposite, but the connection between keto and diarrhea isn’t that tricky. For a lot of folks, it’s all about the MCTs.

4. Weakness

4a. Muscle weakness

4b. Dizziness/wooziness/brain fog/fatigue

As a related issue to muscle weakness, this is kind of a catch-all category of very similar issues that often go together and could have a lot of different causes.

5. Headache

It could also be dehydration or electrolyte problems (yep, again!). Dehydration headaches really stink and there’s no reason to live with them since water has 0 carbs.

What’s your One Weird Trick to make keto better?

Got a magic fix for keto breath? Favorite way to get down some more electrolytes without popping salt pills? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

P.S. Have a look at Paleo Restart, our 30-day program. It has the tools to let you reset your body, lose weight and start feeling great.

+ The Paleo Leap Meal Planner is now also available. Put your meal planning on autopilot!

Source: https://paleoleap.com/5-minor-side-effects-keto/

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jitesblog · 6 years ago

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weight loss tips

Raw Weight Loss: Lose Weight with Love

I've never stopped to count the myriad ways in which people try to lose weight. There's dieting, of course, which ranges from the healthy (raw foods) to the absurd (cabbage soup, anyone?). There are supplements and pills, exercise videos and DVDs, health clubs and diet clubs, frozen and packaged meals, drastic surgery and many, many more ways to lose weight. Yet what each of these diets lack is one simple ingredient that can transform dieting from a weight loss chore into a new lifelong habit: love. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Victoria Moran, a well-known motivational speaker and writer, published a book called The Love-Powered Diet in which she advocates a vegetarian diet. She cites many reasons why such a diet falls under the heading of a love-powered diet. Eating low on the food chain and mostly plants demonstrates love for animals and for the planet. However, more importantly, when we fill our bodies with healthy, life-giving foods and stop abusing ourselves with food, we love ourselves, which fills the primary need in our lives. Many of us, however, do not demonstrate love for ourselves when we diet. We mentally beat ourselves up over eating something not on our food plans. We listen to the inner critic while stifling the inner cheerleader. We look in the mirror and see a fat person instead of a healthy person emerging from a cocoon made of extra weight. Losing weight with love means treating yourself with kindness and compassion. For some people, this feels awkward. Many of us are so used to the notion that only a tough, critical, judgmental attitude will change our behavior that we feel as if gentle words of encouragement are ineffective. It's as if we were all raised with a drill sergeant lodged in our subconscious! If the mental image of a drill sergeant barking orders at us or an inner critic constantly belittling our efforts really worked, most of us would be at our goal weights by now. Since when did yelling, scolding, or calling anyone names motivate good behavior? Think about it this way: would you talk to a child like that? Sometimes when I catch my own inner critic, I'm appalled at how I talk to myself. I think, "If I heard a mother in the store talking to her child like that, I'd consider it child abuse!" Approach your weight loss efforts with compassion, love and kindness. Applaud the small successes. If you're not comfortable with this approach, you may want to seek help from a counselor, minister, or coach who can lovingly guide you into new pathways. There is a better approach to weight loss than constant nagging and criticism. Love yourself and the weight loss will follow.

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The Pros and Cons of Weighing Yourself

I once worked for a woman who was truly obsessed with her weight. If her designer label suits grew even a tad bit too snug, she'd starve herself until she was back to her waif-like figure. She had a cartoon on the door of her office showing a girl weighing herself and begging the scale, "Please don’t make me cry today."I worked with another woman many years ago who had a different relationship with her bathroom scale. Eileen ate the same lunch every day: sandwich, bag of snack chips, piece of fruit. (Not a raw food lunch, but follow my example, won't you?) She used her scale for feedback. If she noticed her weight consisting going up by more than two pounds, she would immediately cut out her bag of snack chips at lunch. If that didn't work, she would cut her sandwich in half. That was all. Within a week or two and without much fuss and bother, her weight would be back to what she considered normal and all was well.One woman punished herself with starvation if the scale reported a certain number; another had a healthier attitude towards her weigh-in. The scale holds magical powers in the minds of some people, particularly women. Many people grow obsessed with the feedback they receive from their weigh-ins to the point when the scale dictates their mood.There are many pros and cons of weighing yourself with the traditional scale. On the plus side, weighing yourself weekly or monthly provides hard and fast feedback. Although your weight can bounce up or down a few pounds due to water retention or loss, over time the trend should remain stable for those maintaining their weight or move downwards slowly and steadily for those eating raw foods for weight loss.On the negative side is the obsession. I myself must be cautious and actually psyche myself up for weigh-ins. I have flashbacks to grammar school when the school nurse would line everyone up and announce our weight loudly to the school secretary sitting at the desk; how mortified we were until someone spoke to her and she realized that her attitude and actions caused many children to be teased. I know that if my weight has gone up more than usual, my mood can plunge and I want to comfort myself – ironically, with food.A long time ago, during a period in my life when I shed 30 pounds, I learned to use clothing as a barometer of weight loss. Jeans are great feedback tools because denim is less forgiving than say a pair of elastic-waist sweatpants. A snug pair of jeans growing looser each week means your weight loss efforts are on the right track!Right now, I have a sexy gray sheath dress hanging in my closet. It was my best dress for ages until 20 pounds crept onto my once-slender frame. Now I cannot even get it over my hips. I use that dress as both my motivation and my weight loss gauge. If the fabric fits a little looser each week or month, I know I am on the right track!How do you feel about weight loss? Eating raw foods for weight loss is a positive, nurturing step. Many people have lost weight and let their weight stabilize at its natural level by consuming delicious fresh and raw fruits and vegetables. Think about your own relationship to the scale and to weighing yourself, and decide for yourself which method (or perhaps another method) of gauging weight loss success is right for you. Remember, above all else, be kind and loving towards yourself. If the scale gives you nightmares or causes you to act like the woman I worked with who would starve herself if she gained an ounce, why do it? Why beat yourself up like that? Be kind, gentle and caring towards yourself…and put the scale in the closet if it's stopping you from loving yourself! best abs exercises for men love handles how to get rid of them Flat belly exercises tips

Journal for Success

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The mind plays tricks on us. We forget little things throughout the day. If we didn't, I suspect that even with its amazing memory power, our brains would get completely overloaded by all the sensory input. The problem for those striving to lose weight, however, is that these little slips of memory make us feel as if we're eating next to nothing yet still not losing weight. We may remember our nicely balanced lunch and dinner but forget about the handfuls of nuts we snacked on in between meals, or the amount of raw chocolate truffles consumed while watching television. One way to overcome this is to keep a weight loss journal. Weight Loss Journals for Success Writing down everything you consume and other details may seem time consuming, but if you find a journaling style that works for you it really takes only a few moments and can yield great insights. A small notebook such as an old-fashioned memo book (like the one you probably wrote your homework in as a child) can help you keep track of the basics. Write the date, the time, and what you ate. You can group foods by meals or simply write them down as you consume them. What to track is a personal preference. Many commercially printed weight loss diaries and charts have spaces to write down the number of glasses of water consumed, for example. I sip water all day long at my desk and typically keep a large pitcher of filtered water on hand at all times. It's a habit I picked up from a commercial weight loss program I followed years ago, but a healthy habit. I have no need to note that I drank eight glasses of water today – I've certainly exceeded that amount. Yet I do need to write down how hungry I am, and what my emotional state is when I reach for the food because of my long history of overeating from stress and emotional reasons. By noting my hunger level, for example, I remind myself to wait until I'm at an "8 out of 10" before reaching for a snack. A little tummy rumble at a 4 or 5 level of hunger on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being "I'm stuffed" and 10 being "I could eat a complete raw turnip I'm so hungry" means I need to wait a little bit longer before eating. Find a journaling style that works for you. There's no right or wrong way to do it. Some people recommend a big book, others a small one so it's portable. Write in pencil pen or crayon. Whatever works for you is fine! Free Online Programs There are also free online programs to help you track your calories and nutritional intake. They work fine for typical diets but have some limitations for raw food diets. Each food is entered separately, so if you eat an apple, you type in apple and most programs give you a choice of serving size. It works fine for simple raw foods like this, but complex raw dishes may be tricky to track and monitor. Give them a try if they appeal to you. The top two are SparkPeople.com and FitDay.com but there are many others. What You Can Learn What can you learn by journaling? I'm always amazed, first and foremost, when I look over my food diary at how easy it is to slip into food ruts. I find that I'll eat the same breakfast for a week then wonder why I'm bored. It's not healthy to eat the same thing day in and day out. It may be convenient and safe, but our bodies need a wide variety of foods for optimal health. Journals can reveal eating patterns and ruts that may be hindering your weight loss effort. Another way that journals can help is to pinpoint sneaky calories in foods. Raw foods aren't calorie-free foods. If you're new to a raw, living food diet, you may find yourself reaching for high fat raw foods such as nuts and nut butters to mimic the same full feeling you got from cooked foods. By writing down what you're eating and looking at it weekly, you can discover sneaky, hidden sources of calories.

Getting Back on Track

If your holiday season was filled with too much merry-making, it's time to get back on track! Don't waste a single moment beating yourself up (mentally, of course) for not adhering to your raw food weight loss program. Refocus, breathe, and get back on track! Why It's Hard to Get Back on Track Physically and mentally, it can be difficult to return to your pre holiday eating habits. Why?

Physically, if you've gone off your eating plan and nibbled on processed foods, cooked foods, sugar and flour filled foods, or sipped alcoholic drinks during the holiday season, you've reintroduced many addictive foods back into your diet. As any addict will tell you, one sip is too much and one bite is too much. It tends to reignite cravings. To counter the cravings, it may be helpful to go on a raw juice fast for one or several days. Drinking fresh, pure, filtered or ionized alkaline water and raw juice drinks made from juices such as carrot, beet, cucumber, celery and other cleansing vegetables can help your body 'reset' to its pre holiday state. Mentally, many holiday treats are comfort foods. Special cookies or cooked dishes that only your family makes, for examples, can bring back comforting memories. It's natural to yearn for that comfort time and time again. It's important to recognize, however, that food brings no comfort in and of itself.

Perhaps there's something else that evokes comforting memories that's not food related? I have a childhood story book in my office that always evokes comforting memories for me. It's battered beyond belief, but when I need a bit of comfort, I open to the pretty illustrations.

I'm immediately back snuggled in my bed while my mother reads to me. Inside my head, I'm back in a warm, safe zone. I don't need a donut to make me feel that way – I just need something comforting to trigger that memory, and my blue story book does that for me. What can you find that will evoke similar comfort feelings without the food? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Rethink Resolutions So many magazine articles are filled with ideas for weight loss resolutions. Instead of weight loss resolutions, take each day as it comes. Make today your focus for weight loss and progress on your raw food journey. You can dream as much as you like about slimming down, but that magic moment comes only after many days of individual work. Have you ever completed a major project, such as writing a big paper for school, a doctoral dissertation, a project for work, building a house, even having a child? None of those happy moments occurred in one day. A house is built one brick at a time, one day at a time. A child is conceived on one day, but takes many weeks of daily growth and development before he's ready to be born, and then he continues to grow and develop for the rest of his natural life! You too are on a journey. You can build your future, one day at a time, starting today.

Keeping Holiday Weight Gain Away

I once read that the average person gains 5 pounds over the holiday season. Another friend of mine, an amazing woman who lost over 100 pounds and has kept the weight off for many years, calls this time of year the "Triple Crown of Eating", starting with Halloween candy and moving through New Year's Eve festivities. Depending on where you are in your raw food journey, you may be just starting to embrace this new way of eating, or you may have been eating 100% raw for many years. If you're in the latter camp, you probably have little to worry about with holiday weight gain. Although I suppose it's possible to overindulge in raw cacao and coconut truffles, refraining from sugar and alcohol is half the battle to keep calories at bay – and in those areas, most raw vegans are fine. For everyone else standing somewhere on this road we call the raw and living foods journey, the holiday season offers many temptations and opportunities for weight gain. It also offers the opportunity to refocus our celebrations from food to friends, family and faith, if we so choose – calorie free, joy-filled ways to celebrate the season. Tips to Keep Weight Gain Away • Focus on three of the four F's: There are four F's of the holidays: faith, family, friends and food. Focus on the first three and you'll naturally walk away from the fourth. At parties and gatherings, spend time talking to people and catching up. If you feel awkward without a plate of food in your hand, carry a glass of water. Listening is more important than eating. • Stay active and exercise: It's cold outside. There are fewer hours of daylight. Plus there are more activities to pack into each day. But no matter what, keep moving. Even if it means marching in place in front of the television at night instead of laying on the couch and watching a movie, keep moving. Movement makes you feel better, keeps your muscles toned, and burns calories. Don't let the business of the holidays keep you from exercising. • Avoid alcohol: Some people eating a raw food diet continue to drink alcohol. There are organic, unpasteurized wines available, but do you really need the extra calories? Alcohol can also lower inhibitions and make it easier to snack on all the unhealthy foods you're trying to avoid. Stay away from alcoholic drinks this holiday season and avoid empty calories. • Remember, it's just one meal or party:��People often eat at holiday meals as if they've never seen food before. Remember, it's just one meal! You'll eat again tomorrow, so don't overindulge today. Whatever you do, don't beat yourself up if you slip up and have a cookie or two or a holiday dish. Simply move on. Celebrate the successes in your life, enjoy time with family and friends, and embrace your holiday traditions with love and reverence.

Avoiding Temporary Weight Gain

It's the start of the most wonderful time of the year…the holidays! With family gatherings, office parties, school parties, and so many opportunities to overindulge, many people struggle with weight gain during the holidays. Hopefully as someone who enjoys the raw and living food diet you'll avoid most of the calorie-laden temptations, such as eggnog and alcoholic drinks, but if you've overindulged a bit too much in even raw, vegan treats, and you find your pants tough to zip up, don’t despair. You may be dealing with temporary weight gain.

Temporary Weight Gain Temporary weight gain can be caused by many factors. Whenever we eat or drink differently from our normal way of living, additional sugar, fat, and salt can cause the body to retain water or temporarily gain a pound or two. Additionally, when you eat a large, heavy meal such as Thanksgiving dinner, the food may take a little longer to digest than normal, leading to a temporary gain of a pound or two in just a day. Rest assured that this gain is only temporary. If you weigh yourself every day, you'll quickly drive yourself crazy trying to guess why today you're up a pound or two and tomorrow you're down a pound or two. Try weighing yourself once a week if you're trying to lose weight and once a month if you're maintaining. In reality, your clothing gives you enough feedback to let you know when you're overindulged one too many times. While a temporary pound or two weight gain shouldn't make your jeans feel tight, a gain of five pounds or so will, and that may be more permanent than you'd like it to be! Stay on Track During the Holidays With all the parties, gathering, food gifts and special treats out there during the holiday season, it may be tough to stay on track. Try some of these tips to keep holiday weight gain at bay: • Emphasize activities rather than food: Remember that "holidays" comes from the word "holy days". The original meaning of the word indicated a special day set apart to worship, honor and recognize the true meaning of the day. Try emphasizing the meaning behind the holiday rather than the trappings and trimming. Go to a Christmas Eve concert or visit a nursing home to cheer up the elderly. Visit the skating rink with your children, watch a tree lighting ceremony, or rent all those old holiday movies you love. When the emphasis is on fun rather than food, you'll find yourself eating less and enjoying more. • Bring raw foods to gatherings: Yes, you can tactfully bring your own raw food choices with you to family parties and even office holiday potlucks. Bring a tray of raw vegetables and dip, a healthy green salad, or even a yummy raw dessert. Who knows, you might just pique the interest of someone who asks you for the recipe! • Exercise more: You know the rule of thumb – exercise more, eat less. Sorry, but that rule doesn't change during the holidays! You've still got to move. So get out there and continue whatever you love doing – walking, skating, bicycling. If it's too cold to work out in the great outdoors, how about exploring indoor exercise options you've always wanted to try? Take a dance class, t'ai chi, karate, or yoga. Rent an exercise video or DVD and try something new inside. Who knows, you may find a new past time you love! • Choose wisely: If you do indulge, choose your indulgences carefully. Choose something and take one bite. There's something called the law of diminishing returns, which simply means that with each bite, you get less pleasure. One or two bites may be enough to satisfy you. • Be kind to yourself: And remember, even if you do put on a pound or two during the holidays, it's never a good idea to beat yourself up. After all, if you're not kind to yourself, who will be? Pretend you're faced with a recalcitrant child. Would you scream, yell and threaten the child if they did something wrong? Hopefully not! You'd probably tell them what they did wrong and show them the way to do it right, offering praise for each step taken in the right direction. Try this tactic on yourself and see what a difference kindness makes. While the rest of the crowd may be packing on the pounds this holiday, you can avoid holiday weight gain – even temporary holiday weight gain. If you do find yourself gaining a bit, cut back a little, work out more, and monitor food choices carefully. But most of all, find a way to enjoy this magical time of year…and be good to yourself.

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When You're Happy and You Know It – You Show It

So often we think that when we lose weight, we'll be happy. What if by becoming happy, you lose weight?It's true. When you're happy, you tend to feel positive, radiant and joyful. If you've been using food to comfort yourself, suppress anger or other emotions, or as a crutch to avoid feeling painful stuff, dealing with the emotional issues may help you shed those unwanted pounds. Come On, Get Happy!If you truly have some deep-seated problem, are mourning a major loss, or dealing with buried emotional trauma, seek out a qualified psychotherapist, psychiatrist or other mental health counselor to help you work through the emotions facing you. You don't have to deal with it alone. Twelve step groups, support groups, and religious organizations also offer counseling for free or a nominal fee. For many people, however, it's not some major lurking fear or life trauma that keeps them from feeling happy. It's simple thought patterns so deeply engrained that they play over and over again, reinforcing negative moods and behaviors.Emotions impact so much – our health, beauty, attitude, and yes, even our weight. So come on – get happy! You have only the present moment. Start today. Changing Mental MindsetsThere are probably as many mental mindsets that cause unhappiness as there are people in the world. But a few immediately come to mind that typically cause unhappiness. Do you suffer from any of these?• Comparing yourself to others: Shakespeare called jealousy the "green eyed monster" and indeed, this monster will eat you alive. Comparing yourself to others is a futile effort. You only see the outside of people. Sometimes people's outsides don't match their insides! Someone may look super thin, beautiful, trim and fit but on the inside they're a wreck. Someone else may drive that car you've always wanted or live in the house with the white picket fence that you thought should be yours but have an unhappy marriage. The truth is, everyone has his share of problems, pains and joys. Embrace who you are and what you have. Stop comparing yourself to others!• Impatience: We want it and we want it now! Being impatient, either with yourself or others, is a recipe for disaster. Always yearning for something that will happen tomorrow makes you forget to enjoy the beauties of today.• Fear: There's a reason Yoda told Luke Skywalker that fear led to the dark side – it does! Fear opens the door to hundreds of emotions that sap the joy right out of life. If fear becomes all-pervasive, it can lead to problems such as anxiety disorder, panic attacks and phobias. Learn to be HappyWhile some people seem naturally joyful, others need to learn how to be happy. If you fall into the latter camp, here are some ways to increase your daily happiness quotient. Think of it like a prescription for success!• Write a gratitude list. From something as simple as feeling grateful for the warm sun on your face to the birthday card you received from someone you love, start by listing 25 things you are grateful for today. Increase that until you're up to 100. Chances are you've got more to be thankful for than you know!• Change a negative thought to the opposite: A smile is a frown turned upside down. Turn your negative thoughts upside down to improve mood. A negative thought such as, "It's raining outside and I hate rainy days" can be transformed into, "It's raining outside, making the house seem nice and cozy." • Watch what you say. While it's important to talk about real problems, constantly complaining magnifies problems. Complaining about every little thing makes the world seem a darker place. Nip it in the bud and let thankfulness rise to your lips instead of complaints.• Affirmations can change a mental mindset. These short, positive statements can be taken from books, articles, or you can write your own. "I choose to be happy." "I love myself." "I approve of myself" are all affirmations that tend to make your mood upbeat.Change Your Mindset, Shift the ScaleWhile improving your mood won't guarantee weight loss, it's amazing how many people lose weight after a divorce or leaving a job they hate. They may not have been aware of eating for comfort during a time when they faced daily emotional turmoil. Perhaps working on happiness will help you shed some unwanted pounds. It's worth trying. As they say in 12 step programs, "If it doesn't work, your misery will be cheerfully refunded!"

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Breaking the Habit of Nighttime Eating

Step One: Recognize the Habit The first step to break the habit of nighttime eating is to recognize that you do it. While at first this may seem obvious, many people are unaware that they are snacking at night, or they don't realize it's a problem. Think about your daily routine. When do you typically like to snack? Are you a three meal a day type of person or a grazer? Grazers like to have a little something every few hours. If you're a grazer, you may have gotten so much into the habit of constantly snacking that you don't even realize you're eating at night. Step Two: Decide on an Approach Some people like to jump in right away and immediately try a new habit. That's fine, but what works for some might not work for others. Some people fail on a 'cold turkey' approach and prefer a gradual transition. The key is to identify your approach and make up your mind to stick with it. It's amazing how once you make up your mind to do something, you'll feel motivated to continue. Step Three: Start Today

Step Three may be the hardest for some people. Start today. Don't wait until tomorrow, when you have a day off or you're not so tired. Try it tonight. If you fail and hit the kitchen for a snack after supper, don't beat yourself up. Just try again tomorrow night. For those who are gradually cutting back on their nighttime eating, make a vow that if you have a snack, you will have something raw and healthy. A raw green smoothie or a raw sweet treat (many recipes for these are on RawPeople.com) is a healthy snack your body will appreciate. Fresh seasonal fruit also makes a delightful snack. For those craving salty or crunchy snacks, raw kale chips or dehydrated veggie chips have a delightful crunch. Step Four: Adjust Your Meal Time If you can, adjust your dinner time so that you aren't eating a big, heavy meal at dusk or after dark. While this may not be possible due to work hours for some, for those who have more flexibility in their schedules it's helpful to eat during daylight. Be sure that you're eating enough to feel satisfied, too. It's not good for your body to starve all day then gorge at night. That's a trap many people fall into, but it doesn't help you lose weight. Evenly spaced out, regular raw food meals or healthy meals are best to keep you satisfied and well fed. Substitution

To break a bad habit, it helps to have a good habit to fall back on - or at least a fun activity! If eating while you watch television is a problem, how about taking up something that occupies your hand, such as a craft or hobby? Knitting, crocheting, counted cross stitch, even a small handheld game or jigsaw puzzle keeps your hands occupied. Do you crawl into bed and feel very hungry as you try to fall asleep? It's probably habit. Drink water. Repeat a word or phrase over and over to yourself to distract the craving monster from his assault on your sanity. Unconscious Eating There's a rare eating disorder in which people actually wake up, leave their beds, walk down to the kitchen and eat in their sleep or wake up to find themselves gorging. Called Nocturnal Eating Syndrome, it's now recognized as a mental health issue.

Extremes That Hurt Progress: Overeating and Undersleeping

Two extremes that plague modern society may actually be contributing to the rise in debilitating illnesses: overeating and undersleeping. These two natural activities that should be simply matters of instinct have become so twisted in the modern world that people are constantly abusing their bodies through neglect. Overeating Our bodies were designed by nature to exist on a diet of mostly plant-based foods. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate seasonal, natural, raw foods. They gathered fruit and plants from the fields and snacked on nuts and seeds. Think about today's modern man. Instead of roaming the fields and forests, he's roaming the shopping mall or office park. Instead of picking ripe fruit from the tree, he's picking up a large coffee to go and a cinnamon bun from the food court. Instead of ingesting natural fruit sugars, vitamins, minerals, fiber and enzymes that nurture the body, he's kicking his adrenals into dumping more hormones out through stimulants like caffeine and sugar to keep him revved for his late night meetings and movie date. Is it any wonder we're all sick – and tired? Overeating takes its toll on the body in many ways: • We tend to overeat on processed foods – fast food, sugar, white flour, packaged products. None of these foods are good for us. They provide calories and inadequate nutrition. They flood our bodies with chemicals that must be removed, further stressing our overtaxed systems. • We eat all day and night, never giving our digestive systems a break. The pancreas, adrenals, liver, stomach, intestines and more are constantly in use. • We eat too many calories, and the extra energy is stored as fat throughout the body. Fat is also a storehouse for chemicals. The more fat we have, the more chemicals we may have stored throughout the body, which can have adverse affects. • The heavier our bodies, the less likely we are to move and get healthy exercise. This only leads to feeling more tired and gaining more weight. • Higher body weight is linked with higher rates of diabetes, some types of cancer, and many other diseases. Eating Raw Foods Counteracts Overeating Eating raw foods counteracts overeating naturally. It's difficult if not impossible to eat too many calories on a raw food diet especially if the diet is based on fruits and vegetables (instead of nuts, seeds and oils, which can indeed be calorie-dense). Eating fruits and vegetables to the point of satiety rarely fills the body with more calories than it needs. Following natural cycles of eating also reduces obesity. By eating during daylight hours only, we reduce the number of hours available to eat. We also follow our body's natural cycles of digestion, elimination, and assimilation. Adequate Sleep and Health Today's modern lifestyle seems to shun sleep as a luxury. "I'll sleep when I'm dead" used to be a saying on Wall Street and the power canyons of Manhattan, meaning that people would work until all hours of the night to get ahead with their careers. Unfortunately, too little sleep may indeed lead to premature aging and death! The body needs its down time to rest, refresh and restore. Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Few people get this much rest and instead try to exist on five hours or so of sleep each night. This can lead to chronic sleep deficits. Many people try to make up for this deficit on the weekends by sleeping late, but the body can only make up so much. Over time, too little sleep may impact cognitive function and heart health. Natural Cures: Follow Natures Patterns Nature is indeed the best teacher when it comes to health. Following the natural patterns of sunshine and moonlight to guide us when to eat and sleep are turning out to be powerful natural prescriptions. You may want to try: • Eat only during daylight hours • Focus on raw fruits and vegetables for filling, nutritious foods • Rest when the moon is out. Cut down on late-night television and computer use, which stimulates the brain and glands and creates a false sense of wakefulness, making it more difficult to fall asleep. • Kick the habit of using caffeine early in the day to rouse yourself and sleep aids, even natural sleep aids such as herbs, at night. • Allow your body at least seven to nine hours of sleep each night. • If you can, get rid of your alarm clock and sleep and rise when your body tells you it needs to. Natural cycles of eating, sleeping and elimination follow the master plan for health. Incorporate these small steps daily into your life for a healthy, supportive living.

Eating According to Nature's Cycles

As someone interested in the power and promise of raw foods, you're probably interested in natural health and healing too. Our bodies evolved over thousands of year based on the climate, geography and conditions in which our ancestors lived. These ancestors didn't have access to clocks to tell time, nor did they have refrigerated food, packaged goods, and 24/7 convenience stores. Our Bodies Evolved on the Pattern of Light and Darkness Our ancestors rose with the dawn and lay down to sleep when the stars peeked out from the veil of heaven. Light dictated their natural rhythms. While they had fires, candles, torches and lanterns to light the way, these conveniences were expensive and time consuming. The wealthy and powerful could use candles to enjoy evening soirees. For the majority of people, natural light from the sun guided their daily rhythm. History Confirms this Pattern Eating too followed seasonal and cyclical patterns. Until approximately a century ago, people in America and Europe generally ate two meals a day: breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was consumed between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and consisted of a hearty and by today's standards, heavy meal.

Dinner was served in the early afternoon, sometime between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m, and was the second major meal of the day. If additional food was served, a light meal in the evening before sunset was the norm. Thomas Jefferson Lived into His Eighties and Followed This Pattern A recent tour of Monticello, the home of the great Thomas Jefferson in Charlottesville, Virginia, underscored this fact. The tour guide described Jefferson's typical day: "He rose at dawn, bathed in cold water, worked on correspondence until approximately 10 a.m, then took his first meal of the day. It usually consisted of bread, cheese, wine diluted with water and fruit in season.

Then he worked until approximately early afternoon, when he had exercise time. Exercise time consisted of horseback riding or walking the grounds of Monticello. After exercise time came family time when he played with his many grandchildren. Then the family dined together.

Jefferson's major meals consisted of vegetables, bread, and some meat to flavor the vegetables, but he treated meat as a condiment rather than a main dish. If he ate anything else, the family had sweets, tea and fruit later in the evening." Can you imagine a family today eating so little? Jefferson's day at Monticello sounds like an ideal mix of intellectual pursuits, social and family time, exercise, and adequate rest. And although not a vegetarian, Jefferson ate differently from his contemporaries, relying upon the prodigious variety of fruits and vegetables from Monitcello for sustenance. It's no wonder that he lived well into his eighties. How to Eat Naturally In the past 20 years, the rate at which obesity and lifestyle related diseases has skyrocketed. Not surprisingly, according to Paul Nison, a raw food expert, this coincides with the dietary advice to eat small, frequent meals. The problem with this advice is that most people forget the word 'small' and instead graze all day, eating 5 to 11 times throughout the course of the day. Our bodies weren't meant to eat constant big, heavy, cooked meals. Instead, Nison gives this advice to eat according to nature's cycles: • Eat during daylight hours only. The sun gives energy and life, and our bodies are suited to process the energy from food when the sun is shining. So eat when it's light outside, or approximately from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. • Allow your body to rest when the moon is out. Our bodies cleanse at night. Eating in the evening, before bed, or during the night puts stress on the body's natural cleansing cycles. Avoid any foods in the evening. • Eat adequate amounts during the day so you're not starving and tempted to graze at night. Eating more whole foods during the day is a great way to fill the body with nutrients during the time of day when it can process them effectively. Nison recommends a three phrase approach to eating that follows natural cycles. The three phrases are: • Phase 1: Eat only when it's light out. Get out of the habit of nighttime eating. • Phase 2: Eat only between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. This allows the body plenty of time to assimilate foods and cleanse. • Phase 3: Eat only two meals a day. This may be the hardest for most people, but Nison believes that our bodies naturally need nourishment only twice a day. Eating adequate amounts of fresh, raw and whole foods ensures proper nutrition and satisfies hunger. Our bodies evolved not on a clock schedule, but on the natural cycles of light and darkness, day and night. Following natural cycles makes sense and brings us not only greater health, but greater harmony with our surroundings.

Sugar Detoxification: Raw Food Snack Ideas

When you're at home, you have the luxury of a full kitchen and an open schedule. When you're hungry, you can simple pad into the kitchen and grab a nice shiny red apple from the bowl on the counter or grab some raw snacks from the fridge. But when you're on the go – back to school, at work, or just the hustle and bustle of every day life – you need snacks on the go.

And while it may seem difficult, raw food snacks are simply a matter of planning. You don't plan to snack on Cheetos because you're so used to grabbing a shiny, crinkly bag of orange colored things off the 7-11 shelf that it seems easier than remembering to pack a few pieces of fruit in your purse. But with a bit of attention, you can eat raw on the go. Fruit Fruit is a godsend for those who crave sweets. If you typically snacked on sugar-filled foods, one way to continue your transition off of sugary desserts is to keep yourself well supplied with fruit. Here are suggestions for fruits that travel well in the car, to school, or to work. Pack a few napkins and a bag for cores and peels. • Apples: Apples are your friends. They're tough and can take a bit of a beating, although you don't want them too beaten up. You can grab a few and stuff them into your briefcase, purse or a backpack. They don't need refrigeration or peeling. Best of all, they won't leak juice all over your stuff. Don't be afraid to pack several if you'll be out of the house for a few hours; much on them, and include a small bag in your car or purse for the cores so you can discard them properly. • Oranges: While a bit messier than apples, they also travel well. Peeling an orange can be difficult when away from home. If you don't have a knife and you don't want to use your fingernails, wash a paperclip and bend it open; use the pointy end to make a hole in the orange skin so you can get a grip on it and peel it. • Pears: Their tender skin makes pears a bit iffy to transport, but tougher skinned varieties like Bosc (brown skinned) stand up better to travel. • Plums: Summertime wouldn't be the same without purple plums. Choose a few that are on the harder side to prevent squishing during transportation. • Peaches and Nectarines: More juicy goodness, but same problems as plums – make sure you transport them in a bag, and bring napkins! • Grapes: Grapes are a great portable snack. Seedless grapes travel well. Pack bags of them for your children, too. They're a healthy snack kids love. Dried fruits are great in a pinch too. Raisins are very healthy and easy to find in most convenience stores. Prunes, dates, and dried cranberries and cherries also make health treats. Vegetables As you continue your sugar detoxification you may find that even a sweet piece of fruit sets off cravings for white sugar. Fortunately, vegetables transport easily too. Wash, peel and slice carrots, celery, cucumber, broccoli, pepper strips and cauliflower; all transport well. No drips, no mess, and they satisfy that urge for a solid crunch when you need it! Nuts and Seeds Raw almonds, cashews, walnuts and more…yum! Pack a small supply for days when you need energy and won't have time to stop. While calorie dense, they provide great nutrition, healthy fats, fiber, and protein. Water Take water with you wherever you go. Fill your bottle at home from an ionize alkaline water machine or at least your filtered tap water. Keeping well hydrated will also keep hunger pangs and temptation at bay when you're shopping at the mall, volunteering for your school mom duty, or watching your son's baseball game. It's All About Planning You can be the typical person and rush out of the house in the morning without thinking about what you eat and drink and succumbing to all sorts of temptations later in the day. Or, you can embrace a raw and living foods lifestyle and plan some simple, easy on the go snacks.

The choice is yours. It probably takes as much energy, if not more, to decide which fast food restaurant you'll eat at when you're shopping than if you took a few moments at home to pack your snack. Decide now to embrace a new, healthier lifestyle – and choose raw foods to go!

Judging Ourselves by Others

One thing most people fall prey to at one time or another in their lives is judging themselves by others. Maybe it's hardwired into us. Maybe it's taught when we're young children and Mom or Dad tell us to be nice like Suzy or smart like John. Who knows? What's important is recognizing when this happens and short circuiting it to keep ourselves on the path to success. The Sneaky Inner Critic

People following a raw food lifestyle or embracing holistic practices are no exception to this. Perhaps an intriguing story like Angela Stokes' personal testimonial of how she lost 162 pounds on a raw food diet attracted you to this way of living in the first place. Now as you reach your third month of changing to a raw food diet, you find that the scale has barely budged and you're not the svelte, happy, energetic person you thought you'd be at this point in the journey.

"But if Angela did it, why can't I?" That's when the ever-helpful inner critic begins whispering sweet nothings in your ear.

"Perhaps you're not trying hard enough."

"You're not as good as she is." "You're just lazy and fat." And so on.

The inner critic says thing we wouldn't let ourselves say to others. In fact, we probably wouldn't scold a pet using words like this. Yet on and on the Critic babbles, sometimes as a constant murmur in the back of our minds but mostly resting on the waters of the unconscious and lapping just at the shores of consciousness. Look to Others for Inspiration, Not Comparison Raw food testimonials are in the public arena for a reason. They're meant to motivate and inspire others to join the crusade for a healthier, happier lifestyle. When the inner critic picks them up to use as a stick to beat you up with, it's time to remember a few things. You are: • Unique. No one has ever existed like you, and no one in the future will ever be like you. Even if science cloned you, your clone would have different life experiences and consequently be a different person. Think about that for a moment. • Special. This flows from the concept of being unique. If you're unique it stands to reason that you are quite different from everyone else. Consequently your journey through the raw and living foods lifestyle will be different from anyone else's. You may have food allergies or sensitivities. You may crave sweet or salty foods. You have a certain metabolism and genetic makeup that affects your weight loss. Comparing yourself to others is futile. • Loveable. This may sound like a strange note to end upon, but go back and read the inner critic dialogue again. You are a person worthy of dignity and respect, not abuse. While you can't control what others say and do around you, you can change the voice of the inner critic. Affirmations, positive imagery, and filling your mind with uplifting and inspiring thoughts is a much better way to support yourself than beating yourself up with comparisons to others. Love yourself first and everything becomes much easier. Nothing Happens Overnight While we may all daydream once in a while about winning the lottery, even millionaires didn't get their money overnight (inherited wealth doesn't count). They had to work day by day towards building their business, investing their money, and making wise choices.

So too a raw and living foods lifestyle doesn't happen overnight. Once in a while you'll find testimony from someone who was able to transition smoothly and quickly, but for the majority of folks, it's a daily step by step process. It can take up to five years to become fully raw, and that's okay.

Ever little change you make – every step in the journey – adds to your health and wholeness. Start today. Outwit the inner critic. Take your first step now.

Lifestyle Changes Versus Dieting

We've all seen those celebrity diets – you know, the diet programs in which celebrities eat only prepackaged foods, or diet shakes, or special snack bars. They drop 50 pounds, shimmy into a skin tight little black dress, and look spectacular for the trip down the red carpet.

Next thing you know they're on Oprah's couch bemoaning gaining back the 50 plus 25.

What happened to these people? They went on a diet. You're not going on a diet, even if it is called the raw food diet. You're making lifestyle changes…changes that will last you a lifetime! Dieting Mentality The dieting mentality is famous, or perhaps infamous. The mental self-talk or the constant chatter in your head when you have a dieting mentality goes something like this: "Well, I really, really want that slice of pecan pie…but I'm on a diet…so I guess I won't have it…but next week when I reach my goal weight, I can have the pie…oh yeah maybe I'll eat the whole pie…and then get some ice cream for it…and I haven't had chocolate in a while…." And so on, until you've gradually worn away your last remaining shred of will power and motivation. Instead, you've installed a little switch, like a light switch. Your brain will flip that switch the day the scale hits your goal weight or you reach the magic day when you go "off" of your diet. Lifestyle Change Mentality Now contrast this with the inner chatter of someone who has more of a lifestyle change mentality. "Well, I really, really want that slice of pecan pie…but I know that sugar isn't good for me…and I love how I feel when I eat raw foods…I have so much energy now…my skin is clearer…I feel lighter, happier….I never felt that way on the pecan pie…I'm going to pass on that and have some fruit instead." Do you see the difference? Because the second person is in it for the long haul, she's focusing on all the wonderful aspects of eating raw. She's remembering how she feels. That's something she wants to keep for a long time to come – energy, healthy, glowing skin, a new attitude. She want this for keeps. She can pass the momentary pleasure of eating a slice of pie for the long-term pleasure of looking and feeling good. An Unfolding Process

Changing from a dieting mentality to a lifestyle mentality takes time. Give yourself credit and praise for taking baby steps towards lifestyle changes. Going out for a walk instead of watching television, eating fruit instead of sugar-filled treats, and enjoying a healthy raw food dinner rather than cooked fast food are wonderful steps you've taken for your health and well being. Continue your good work. Soon, eating raw will feel so natural, you'll hardly believe this was once new to you!

What to do When you Slip Up!

Talk to people who have tried to make major health changes, whether it's quitting smoking, starting an exercise program, or eating a raw food diet, and they'll all say the same thing. There are times when even the strongest will power fails. They slip up.

Why is it that when you start something positive, like changing to a raw food diet, that you're full of energy and enthusiasm – but somehow along the way, you lose that drive and determination? Food Can Be Addictive Throughout these articles on detoxification, we've mentioned that detoxifying from white sugar, flour, and caffeine are usually the hardest substances to wean oneself off of during the transition to a raw food diet. There are many reasons for this, but one reason that most people overlook is that quite simply, these substances are addictive.

Sugar is addictive? But we feed it to kids at Halloween! Gorging on candy is a child's rite of passage.

Sugar is actually highly addictive. According to William Duffy in his famous book Sugar Blues, sugar forms the same addictive pathways in the brain as hard drugs such as heroin! Yet on the Standard American Diet (SAD), a donut and sweet coffee are morning fare.

Detoxifying from such a highly addictive, insidious food can be quite difficult. In addition to the strong physical hold it has on the body, the pleasant emotions associated with sugar are equally strong. It takes a while to detoxify from it. Often too, it sneaks back in through a food we think is safe. Sugar can be a hidden ingredient in many foods and once ingested after detoxifying from it, it can trigger a whole cascade of cravings for equally unhealthy foods, all things that can under mine your best efforts at detoxification. Old Habits Die Hard This may be a cliché, but clichés always came from truth. It is difficult to break habits. Experts tell us that it takes 21 days to break a bad habit and instill a new one, but experience demonstrates that it may take longer for some people than for others. If habit has undermined your detoxification efforts and cooked, junky foods found their way back into your diet, it's important to identify the habits and thoughts that led to the slip. Keeping a food diary, in which you record all the foods you've eaten, the time of day, and what you're feeling when you eat the foods, may help you pinpoint exactly what happened to derail your detoxification efforts.

New Attitude

Many people beat themselves up when they slip up. Don't! You're a human being and it is hard to make changes, even positive, healthy ones like changing to a raw food diet. If you've slipped up… • DO go back to eating raw foods – don't allow one slip to turn into a slide (or an avalanche!) • DO begin keeping a food journal or diary so you have something written down to help you pinpoint hidden trigger foods or situations that can derail your progress • DO give yourself time to detoxify again if you've eaten a lot of something unhealthy. While it probably won't take as long to detoxify, you will still need to readjust. Give yourself credit for honesty and perseverance. Here's another cliché to keep in mind: if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. It's probably what your parents told you when you were learning to ride a bike, swim in the deep part of the swimming pool, or roller skate. And it's what you need to tell yourself to get your detoxification back on track after a slip.

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athriftymom · 7 years ago

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Keto Diet - What is it and what results can you get and pros and cons

Keto Diet – What is it and what results can you get and pros and cons

The Keto diet has been around for centuries. Many of us have just heard about it recently. My brother-in-law went on it this summer and lost forty pounds doing the keto diet. This past summer I, Matt the hubby, decided to give it out. With every venture I tend to look deeply into it and become somewhat excessive about it. I try and figure out if the Keto Diet works, is the Keto Diet safe, What are the pros and cons of the Keto Diet. This is my journey on my research, who I looked into to learn about the Keto Diet and my results after 5 weeks on it. Also find out if I maintained it, do you put weight back on after the Keto Diet and would I do it again.

How long has the Keto Diet been around

A form of keto diet has been around for centuries. The name itself hasn’t been around for centuries but the method has been. Even before 500BC they have been using diet modification and fasting or not eating as a way to treat epilepsy or seizures. So way before Christ was on the earth, man realized that by fasting you could help with seizures. It wasn’t until the turn of the 20th century that modern science came into play. In the 1920’s that two doctors at Harvard Medical School noticed that seizures improved in patients who were fasting after the first 2-3 days of treatments. About the same time in 1921 scientist first learned of two chemicals found in patients that were fasting and not eating, acetone and beta-hydroxybutyric acid.

Acetone and beta-hydroxybutyric acid are collectivly known as Ketone Bodies

So what do these two chemicals known as ketone bodies mean? It means that trough fasting and not eating the body has been put into a state of ketosis and the body is burning fats instead of glucose. Effectively this is a keto diet plan. Except in modern day we try not to starve ourselves and we increase the effectiveness of ketosis by giving it fat to burn and maintaining those levels of fat burning. We had a family friend who had a daughter who started having almost continuous seizures. Their little child went from a normal toddler to being in a wheelchair and practically a vegetable in just a few weeks. A doctor put her on what they called at the the time the John Hopkins Diet. A couple doctors became famous in modern time when they developed a program at John Hopkins Hospital and a child of a famous actor went to them to help treat seizures. our friend went on this same diet to help their child as well.

John Hopkins Diet

At the time we thought that this family was a bit desperate and frankly kind of crazy. They weighed their kids food, they restricted intake and counted everything. I mean everything down to the milligram. They had a digital scale and had strict times to eat and incredibly strict food requirement and restrictions. One time we were there for a party and they were weighing their daughters “sugar free jello”. I watched as they weighed this jello and just thought how does this work! Not long after they put her in this diet, just a few months, she went from a medical wheelchair that held her daughters head up because she couldn’t move at all to a little child running round and playing like all the other kids. We saw the changes ourselves and too this day their child acts and behaves completely normal.

What is the Keto Diet

The Keto Diet or a ketogenic diet is converting your bodies main source of fuel or energy from burning carbohydrates or sugars to burning fats. Who doesn’t want to burn fat? By putting your body into a state of ketosis your body burns fat as its main source of fuel. So instead of burning that candy bar or soda or even just pasta and bread as energy, your body burns fats primarily as fuel. Now we could go into the molecular structures, the ATP process and what happens to everything, but that can put people to sleep. In simple terms the keto diet is dramatically reducing the intake of net carbohydrates or sugars and increasing fat intake. The percentages of fats to proteins to carbs is somewhere in the ballpark of 75% fats, 20% proteins and 5% carbs/sugars.

Sugars VS fats in the body

When we eat carbohydrates or sugars our body converts it in to glucose and uses what it can. Any extra glucose is converted into glycogen and then stored in your muscles. When we eat fats it is converted into fatty acids which the body stores as body fat. Now that seems a bit strange to recommend a diet high in fat and is stored as body fat when we are trying to loose body fat. But the issue is how our body is relying on the type of source of energy as fuel. When we drop sugar and carb consumption to low levels our body goes into a state of ketosis or “keto” and starts to suck up all the fat it can get as fuel. Perfect diet plan huh?

Is Keto diet hard to do

Just like the John Hopkins diet example, you do need to start tracking what and how much you eat. I tried to keep my daily net carb intake to under 20 grams of net carbs a day. It can be real tricky to watch what you eat. you have to start looking at the labels and doing some basic math. To get enough fat intake in and reduce enough sugar intake you really have to start watching what you eat and start looking at every and I mean every food label. if you noticed I started saying “net carbs”. So what is net carbs? Net carbs is the form of measuring your sugar or carb intake after its been subtracted by the fiber you eat.

How to calculate Net Carbs

On a keto diet it is important to monitor your carbs. Carbohydrates or sugars are what we really want to focus on. Too much sugar and it reverses all the the process, time and effort it took to get us into ketosis. Net carbs is fairly simple once you understand what to look for. On all nutritional labels if you look under the subheading Total Carbohydrates you will see two items. One is Dietary Fiber the other is Sugars. Calcualte net carbs using this nutritional label. You have 37g of Total Carbohydrates and you have 4g of Dietary Fiber. To get Net Carbs subtract 4 from 37, so you would have 33g of Net Carbs using this label.

So how much carbs do I need to stay under

Personally I tried to stay under 20g of Net Carbs per day. It can be tricking considering an average slice of bread contains around 20g of net carbs per slice! An average size medium apple has around 22g of Net Carbs per apple! And a normal size yogurt container, a national brand that starts with “Yo”, contains around 25g carbs. That one little container is over your daily limit all by itself! Monitoring what you becomes your life and your eyes become opened to percentages of nutrition in food very quickly. Some people I know have tried to loose weight trying to stay under 50 or so grams of carbs with some success. I have found it to be a slower process, which in my eyes just prolongs the results.

Check out the next keto post

Make sure you check out the Keto Recipes we have tried

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Low Carb Keto Recipe

Low Carb Chicken Parmesan

Low carb Jalapeno Pepper Dip with bacon

Spaghetti sauce with Spaghetti squash, side tossed salad and crusty garlic bread

Ragu Chicken Parmesan

Baked Pork Chops with Lime and Chive

#Keto #Keto diet #keto diet results #Keto recipe #what is the keto diet #A Thrifty Dad #Keto Diet #Keto Diet recipe

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johnclapperne · 7 years ago

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Eat The Damn Dessert

Back in 2008 I did a story for Men’s Health where I got crazy lean. Originally the story was supposed to be about “How to lose the last 10 pounds.” But being that this was for a major magazine, the focus took on a similar premise: getting abs.

During a 12-week process, I worked my way all the way down to 6.8 percent body fat.

Women who ate small desserts four times a week lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The hardest part of the process? It wasn’t what you’d probably imagine.

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About 4 weeks into the program I broke my foot. But at that point I was just a young assistant editor trying to make a name for myself, and I viewed the article as one of those opportunities you couldn’t miss.

So like any hard-headed hustler, I stayed on the story, didn’t tell any of my bosses, and informed my diet coach (the one and only Alan Aragon) that cardio was out the window.

Instead, we’d have to get creative and make it work because I didn’t have much time, and I wanted to create a story that would benefit real people.

That meant nothing too extreme or insane. No two-a day-workouts or $1,000 diet plans that required a chef. More importantly, I had one specific request.

I wanted to eat dessert each week. I wrote a post about it and titled something along the lines of, “Eat your cake and see your abs too.” [Sadly, my old blog on Men’s Health was buried and erased sometime after I left, and all this time I never thought to save my old content.]

I wanted dessert because I believe in eating good food. I also happen to love cheesecake, brownies, cookies, and ice cream.

I’m not anti-sugar or anti-enjoyment.

But I also wasn’t blessed with the world’s greatest genetics. In fact, I was overweight my entire childhood. So this became the ultimate test.

Can real people eat dessert and still lose fat and look good naked?

Why You Should Eat Dessert (On Any Diet Plan)

Complete food withdrawal is a mistake and is more likely to lead to crashing the dieting bandwagon rather than experiencing long-term success.

This is my opinion. But there’s also quite a bit of science to back this up. [Note: I’m not saying you shouldn’t occasionally try to remove foods from your diet that seem to be causing issues. That’s a different story. I’m talking about creating a plan based on complete and absolute restriction.]

My deal with Alan was that despite my broken foot, I wanted to show that you could be lean and still eat dessert. So that’s what we did. For the first 4 weeks I had dessert every day.

After that, as I became leaner we shifted to twice per week. Less frequently, but still enough to make the process enjoyable.

And you know what? I’ve never been on a “weight loss” diet that was enjoyable or less mentally exhausting. I ate real food, desserts, and treats. No, I wasn’t crushing cheesecake three times per day, but I wasn’t starving for sugar, either.

In many ways it was the anti-diet approach, but a proactive way to prevent where most diets go wrong: cravings, withdrawal, and miserable-diet-itis.

If you’re not familiar with miserable-diet-itis it’s basically what happens with 98.3 percent of diets that prescribe so many limitations and rules that you end up following a plan there’s no way you’ll possibly be able to maintain for the long term.

Is there magic that makes one particular diet better than another? If you’re a believer in science and research, then no.

Landmark research conducted by Dr. David Katz suggests that when you compare most diets you’ll find that a lot of them work. So why choose one that makes you miserable, you eventually abandon, and you can’t stay on long enough to see the real results.

Yes, you still need to create a diet the consists of vegetables, fruits, proteins, and healthy fats. But that’s a message we all know by now. What’s still lost in translation is that what you eat on a day-to-day basis doesn’t have to make you miserable.

Remember, part of the trick to healthy living is consistency and patience. It works for diet and exercise. No magic. Just consistency and sustainability.

The Dessert “Rules” (Sugar Not Sold Separately)

When you’re trying to lose weight, the worst thing you can do is ban all indulgences, which creates a feeling of withdrawal. Even science supports the approach.

German researchers discovered that this mentality makes it harder to stick to a plan and more likely to pack on the pounds.

A more effective approach is one that allows you to satisfy your cravings in controlled portions.

Research from the University of Alabama found that when overweight women ate small desserts four times a week, they lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The small sweets provide the psychological edge that allows you to stay motivated, without derailing your eating plan.

Within any diet, 10 to 20 percent of your calories can be directed toward a little treat. The key is watching the portion size (yes, always tricky), so that a cup of ice cream doesn’t turn into an all-night feast at the 24-hour buffet. Or in many situations, putting yourself in a position where you have the support to make sure that those types of binges are harder to occur.

But you know what? Going from once scoop to an entire carton of ice cream is much less likely when you don’t feel like the food is off limits, or that it’s been forever since you’ve tasted something you enjoy.

Learn your limits. Understand your triggers. And build a system that helps you succeed. But don’t remove all the foods you love. It’s a common recipe for disaster and one of the most common reason why so many diets actually fail.

The Abs Workout: A Real Way to Transform Your Midsection

Want to Burn More Calories? Add This to Your Fat Loss Plan

Why Weights are Better Than Cardio for Fat Loss

The post Eat The Damn Dessert appeared first on Born Fitness.

http://ift.tt/2qGGHlo

#Eat The Damn Dessert

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ruthellisneda · 7 years ago

Text

Eat The Damn Dessert

During a 12-week process, I worked my way all the way down to 6.8 percent body fat.

Women who ate small desserts four times a week lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The hardest part of the process? It wasn’t what you’d probably imagine.

youtube

So like any hard-headed hustler, I stayed on the story, didn’t tell any of my bosses, and informed my diet coach (the one and only Alan Aragon) that cardio was out the window.

Instead, we’d have to get creative and make it work because I didn’t have much time, and I wanted to create a story that would benefit real people.

That meant nothing too extreme or insane. No two-a day-workouts or $1,000 diet plans that required a chef. More importantly, I had one specific request.

I wanted dessert because I believe in eating good food. I also happen to love cheesecake, brownies, cookies, and ice cream.

I’m not anti-sugar or anti-enjoyment.

But I also wasn’t blessed with the world’s greatest genetics. In fact, I was overweight my entire childhood. So this became the ultimate test.

Can real people eat dessert and still lose fat and look good naked?

Why You Should Eat Dessert (On Any Diet Plan)

Complete food withdrawal is a mistake and is more likely to lead to crashing the dieting bandwagon rather than experiencing long-term success.

My deal with Alan was that despite my broken foot, I wanted to show that you could be lean and still eat dessert. So that’s what we did. For the first 4 weeks I had dessert every day.

After that, as I became leaner we shifted to twice per week. Less frequently, but still enough to make the process enjoyable.

In many ways it was the anti-diet approach, but a proactive way to prevent where most diets go wrong: cravings, withdrawal, and miserable-diet-itis.

Is there magic that makes one particular diet better than another? If you’re a believer in science and research, then no.

Remember, part of the trick to healthy living is consistency and patience. It works for diet and exercise. No magic. Just consistency and sustainability.

The Dessert “Rules” (Sugar Not Sold Separately)

When you’re trying to lose weight, the worst thing you can do is ban all indulgences, which creates a feeling of withdrawal. Even science supports the approach.

German researchers discovered that this mentality makes it harder to stick to a plan and more likely to pack on the pounds.

A more effective approach is one that allows you to satisfy your cravings in controlled portions.

Research from the University of Alabama found that when overweight women ate small desserts four times a week, they lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The small sweets provide the psychological edge that allows you to stay motivated, without derailing your eating plan.

The Abs Workout: A Real Way to Transform Your Midsection

Want to Burn More Calories? Add This to Your Fat Loss Plan

Why Weights are Better Than Cardio for Fat Loss

The post Eat The Damn Dessert appeared first on Born Fitness.

http://ift.tt/2qGGHlo

#Eat The Damn Dessert

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neilmillerne · 7 years ago

Text

Eat The Damn Dessert

During a 12-week process, I worked my way all the way down to 6.8 percent body fat.

Women who ate small desserts four times a week lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The hardest part of the process? It wasn’t what you’d probably imagine.

youtube

So like any hard-headed hustler, I stayed on the story, didn’t tell any of my bosses, and informed my diet coach (the one and only Alan Aragon) that cardio was out the window.

Instead, we’d have to get creative and make it work because I didn’t have much time, and I wanted to create a story that would benefit real people.

That meant nothing too extreme or insane. No two-a day-workouts or $1,000 diet plans that required a chef. More importantly, I had one specific request.

I wanted dessert because I believe in eating good food. I also happen to love cheesecake, brownies, cookies, and ice cream.

I’m not anti-sugar or anti-enjoyment.

But I also wasn’t blessed with the world’s greatest genetics. In fact, I was overweight my entire childhood. So this became the ultimate test.

Can real people eat dessert and still lose fat and look good naked?

Why You Should Eat Dessert (On Any Diet Plan)

Complete food withdrawal is a mistake and is more likely to lead to crashing the dieting bandwagon rather than experiencing long-term success.

My deal with Alan was that despite my broken foot, I wanted to show that you could be lean and still eat dessert. So that’s what we did. For the first 4 weeks I had dessert every day.

After that, as I became leaner we shifted to twice per week. Less frequently, but still enough to make the process enjoyable.

In many ways it was the anti-diet approach, but a proactive way to prevent where most diets go wrong: cravings, withdrawal, and miserable-diet-itis.

Is there magic that makes one particular diet better than another? If you’re a believer in science and research, then no.

Remember, part of the trick to healthy living is consistency and patience. It works for diet and exercise. No magic. Just consistency and sustainability.

The Dessert “Rules” (Sugar Not Sold Separately)

When you’re trying to lose weight, the worst thing you can do is ban all indulgences, which creates a feeling of withdrawal. Even science supports the approach.

German researchers discovered that this mentality makes it harder to stick to a plan and more likely to pack on the pounds.

A more effective approach is one that allows you to satisfy your cravings in controlled portions.

Research from the University of Alabama found that when overweight women ate small desserts four times a week, they lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The small sweets provide the psychological edge that allows you to stay motivated, without derailing your eating plan.

The Abs Workout: A Real Way to Transform Your Midsection

Want to Burn More Calories? Add This to Your Fat Loss Plan

Why Weights are Better Than Cardio for Fat Loss

The post Eat The Damn Dessert appeared first on Born Fitness.

http://ift.tt/2qGGHlo

#Eat The Damn Dessert

0 notes

joshuabradleyn · 7 years ago

Text

Eat The Damn Dessert

During a 12-week process, I worked my way all the way down to 6.8 percent body fat.

Women who ate small desserts four times a week lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The hardest part of the process? It wasn’t what you’d probably imagine.

youtube

So like any hard-headed hustler, I stayed on the story, didn’t tell any of my bosses, and informed my diet coach (the one and only Alan Aragon) that cardio was out the window.

Instead, we’d have to get creative and make it work because I didn’t have much time, and I wanted to create a story that would benefit real people.

That meant nothing too extreme or insane. No two-a day-workouts or $1,000 diet plans that required a chef. More importantly, I had one specific request.

I wanted dessert because I believe in eating good food. I also happen to love cheesecake, brownies, cookies, and ice cream.

I’m not anti-sugar or anti-enjoyment.

But I also wasn’t blessed with the world’s greatest genetics. In fact, I was overweight my entire childhood. So this became the ultimate test.

Can real people eat dessert and still lose fat and look good naked?

Why You Should Eat Dessert (On Any Diet Plan)

Complete food withdrawal is a mistake and is more likely to lead to crashing the dieting bandwagon rather than experiencing long-term success.

My deal with Alan was that despite my broken foot, I wanted to show that you could be lean and still eat dessert. So that’s what we did. For the first 4 weeks I had dessert every day.

After that, as I became leaner we shifted to twice per week. Less frequently, but still enough to make the process enjoyable.

In many ways it was the anti-diet approach, but a proactive way to prevent where most diets go wrong: cravings, withdrawal, and miserable-diet-itis.

Is there magic that makes one particular diet better than another? If you’re a believer in science and research, then no.

Remember, part of the trick to healthy living is consistency and patience. It works for diet and exercise. No magic. Just consistency and sustainability.

The Dessert “Rules” (Sugar Not Sold Separately)

When you’re trying to lose weight, the worst thing you can do is ban all indulgences, which creates a feeling of withdrawal. Even science supports the approach.

German researchers discovered that this mentality makes it harder to stick to a plan and more likely to pack on the pounds.

A more effective approach is one that allows you to satisfy your cravings in controlled portions.

Research from the University of Alabama found that when overweight women ate small desserts four times a week, they lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The small sweets provide the psychological edge that allows you to stay motivated, without derailing your eating plan.

The Abs Workout: A Real Way to Transform Your Midsection

Want to Burn More Calories? Add This to Your Fat Loss Plan

Why Weights are Better Than Cardio for Fat Loss

The post Eat The Damn Dessert appeared first on Born Fitness.

http://ift.tt/2qGGHlo

#Eat The Damn Dessert

0 notes

albertcaldwellne · 7 years ago

Text

Eat The Damn Dessert

During a 12-week process, I worked my way all the way down to 6.8 percent body fat.

Women who ate small desserts four times a week lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The hardest part of the process? It wasn’t what you’d probably imagine.

youtube

So like any hard-headed hustler, I stayed on the story, didn’t tell any of my bosses, and informed my diet coach (the one and only Alan Aragon) that cardio was out the window.

Instead, we’d have to get creative and make it work because I didn’t have much time, and I wanted to create a story that would benefit real people.

That meant nothing too extreme or insane. No two-a day-workouts or $1,000 diet plans that required a chef. More importantly, I had one specific request.

I wanted dessert because I believe in eating good food. I also happen to love cheesecake, brownies, cookies, and ice cream.

I’m not anti-sugar or anti-enjoyment.

But I also wasn’t blessed with the world’s greatest genetics. In fact, I was overweight my entire childhood. So this became the ultimate test.

Can real people eat dessert and still lose fat and look good naked?

Why You Should Eat Dessert (On Any Diet Plan)

Complete food withdrawal is a mistake and is more likely to lead to crashing the dieting bandwagon rather than experiencing long-term success.

My deal with Alan was that despite my broken foot, I wanted to show that you could be lean and still eat dessert. So that’s what we did. For the first 4 weeks I had dessert every day.

After that, as I became leaner we shifted to twice per week. Less frequently, but still enough to make the process enjoyable.

In many ways it was the anti-diet approach, but a proactive way to prevent where most diets go wrong: cravings, withdrawal, and miserable-diet-itis.

Is there magic that makes one particular diet better than another? If you’re a believer in science and research, then no.

Remember, part of the trick to healthy living is consistency and patience. It works for diet and exercise. No magic. Just consistency and sustainability.

The Dessert “Rules” (Sugar Not Sold Separately)

When you’re trying to lose weight, the worst thing you can do is ban all indulgences, which creates a feeling of withdrawal. Even science supports the approach.

German researchers discovered that this mentality makes it harder to stick to a plan and more likely to pack on the pounds.

A more effective approach is one that allows you to satisfy your cravings in controlled portions.

Research from the University of Alabama found that when overweight women ate small desserts four times a week, they lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The small sweets provide the psychological edge that allows you to stay motivated, without derailing your eating plan.

The Abs Workout: A Real Way to Transform Your Midsection

Want to Burn More Calories? Add This to Your Fat Loss Plan

Why Weights are Better Than Cardio for Fat Loss

The post Eat The Damn Dessert appeared first on Born Fitness.

http://ift.tt/2qGGHlo

#Eat The Damn Dessert

0 notes

almajonesnjna · 7 years ago

Text

Eat The Damn Dessert

During a 12-week process, I worked my way all the way down to 6.8 percent body fat.

Women who ate small desserts four times a week lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The hardest part of the process? It wasn’t what you’d probably imagine.

youtube

So like any hard-headed hustler, I stayed on the story, didn’t tell any of my bosses, and informed my diet coach (the one and only Alan Aragon) that cardio was out the window.

Instead, we’d have to get creative and make it work because I didn’t have much time, and I wanted to create a story that would benefit real people.

That meant nothing too extreme or insane. No two-a day-workouts or $1,000 diet plans that required a chef. More importantly, I had one specific request.

I wanted dessert because I believe in eating good food. I also happen to love cheesecake, brownies, cookies, and ice cream.

I’m not anti-sugar or anti-enjoyment.

But I also wasn’t blessed with the world’s greatest genetics. In fact, I was overweight my entire childhood. So this became the ultimate test.

Can real people eat dessert and still lose fat and look good naked?

Why You Should Eat Dessert (On Any Diet Plan)

Complete food withdrawal is a mistake and is more likely to lead to crashing the dieting bandwagon rather than experiencing long-term success.

My deal with Alan was that despite my broken foot, I wanted to show that you could be lean and still eat dessert. So that’s what we did. For the first 4 weeks I had dessert every day.

After that, as I became leaner we shifted to twice per week. Less frequently, but still enough to make the process enjoyable.

In many ways it was the anti-diet approach, but a proactive way to prevent where most diets go wrong: cravings, withdrawal, and miserable-diet-itis.

Is there magic that makes one particular diet better than another? If you’re a believer in science and research, then no.

Remember, part of the trick to healthy living is consistency and patience. It works for diet and exercise. No magic. Just consistency and sustainability.

The Dessert “Rules” (Sugar Not Sold Separately)

When you’re trying to lose weight, the worst thing you can do is ban all indulgences, which creates a feeling of withdrawal. Even science supports the approach.

German researchers discovered that this mentality makes it harder to stick to a plan and more likely to pack on the pounds.

A more effective approach is one that allows you to satisfy your cravings in controlled portions.

Research from the University of Alabama found that when overweight women ate small desserts four times a week, they lost 9 more pounds than those who enjoyed a larger splurge whenever they wanted.

The small sweets provide the psychological edge that allows you to stay motivated, without derailing your eating plan.

The Abs Workout: A Real Way to Transform Your Midsection

Want to Burn More Calories? Add This to Your Fat Loss Plan

Why Weights are Better Than Cardio for Fat Loss

The post Eat The Damn Dessert appeared first on Born Fitness.

http://ift.tt/2qGGHlo

#Eat The Damn Dessert

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sherristockman · 7 years ago

Link

How to Grow Basil Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola Savory green pesto sauce, tomato and mozzarella salad, nearly any egg dish, wild-caught Alaskan salmon — these and many more meal options take on a fresh tweak of flavor when basil is part of the equation. If you've ever headed for the produce section of your grocery store to pick up a small package of basil, though, you know how expensive it can be. Growing your own is super easy, even if all you have in the way of a garden spot is a balcony, deck or patio. Basil (ocimum basilicum, a member of the mint family) grows beautifully in pots or in your backyard garden, offering a pretty pop of greenery that you can snip off and pop into any number of delicious recipes. Gardener's World features a video clip of horticulturalist Monty Don, who says no other herb goes quite as well with tomatoes as basil, as the basil cuts through the acidity of the tomato to create a perfect flavor balance. Further, tomatoes and basil share the same growing standards and conditions: "It's worth remembering that basil is not a Mediterranean herb. It comes from tropical Asia. It likes heat, and it likes a certain amount of moisture, too (it doesn't like to be sodden), and the harsher it is, the more water it can take. If you're watering your tomatoes right, you'll guarantee you're watering your basil right."1 Another key point he stresses is that basil, as a "sub shrub," requires a lot of space to grow — perhaps more than it may appear to require. "It's a generous plant," he adds. "It wants to grow strongly and vigorously, especially if given enough heat." Dried basil will do in a pinch, but once you try fresh, green basil leaves, you learn the flavor is much more intense. Used in combination with other herbs, such as thyme and savory, meats and soups take on a deeper, more complex essence. Interestingly, cold dishes with chopped basil in the mix lend a fresh, spring-like quality. While fresh basil is the most fragrant and flavorful, you can dry basil leaves quickly by following these simple directions: Directions Warm your oven to 140 degrees F Place a single layer of basil leaves on a baking sheet Place your pan in the oven and turn the oven off Let the basil leaves set for 20 minutes, then remove and allow to cool Store immediately in airtight jars or zip-close bags, away from sunlight Reasons to Grow Basil: Incredible Health Benefits Medical News Today2 notes that the pronounced clove scent of the most common variety, sweet basil, is due to its high concentration of the phytochemical and essential oil eugenol. Lime and lemon basil emit a strong citrus scent because of their high concentration of limonene. A Purdue University study3 showed that the essential oils in basil are "rich in phenolic compounds and a wide array of other natural products including polyphenols such as flavonoids and anthocyanins." The highest antioxidant levels were found in sweet basil. Holy (or sacred) basil (ocimum sanctum, known as "tulsi" in Hindi) is mentioned in Ayurvedic medicine as a treatment for "pain, fever, vomiting, bronchitis, earache and diseases of the heart and blood," but its use for treating diabetes, arthritis and asthma4 is supported by scores of pharmacological studies.5 Between the high amounts of vitamins A, C and K and manganese, and several less common essential oils such as cinnamate, geraniol, citronellol, linalool, terpineol and pinene (which may support its purported ability to act as an aphrodisiac in Ayurvedic circles), studies show basil yields a wide array of impressive health benefits:6 ✓ Immune boosting ✓ Anti-inflammatory ✓ Blood-vessel protecting ✓ Diabetes preventing7 ✓ Pain-reducing (analgesic) ✓ Adaptogen (stress fighting)8 ✓ Liver protective (hepatoprotective) ✓ Fever reducing (antipyretic) ✓ Cancer fighting9 ✓ Antioxidant ✓ Age fighting ✓ Antibiotic/ Antimicrobial10 Basil Growing Tips and Tricks Choosing the variety (or varieties) of basil you want to grow depends on what you'd like to use it for. According to Rodale's Organic Life, you can start plants from seed in a south-facing window because, again, it prefers a warm, sunny spot. Basil is considered a tropical plant, so it doesn't do well in cool conditions. Because basil plants are light lovers, grow lights or heating mats to simulate the warmth of sunlight — 70 degrees Fahrenheit is about right — really helps until it gets warm enough for them to be transplanted outside. Planting seeds directly in the soil is another option after the last frost (granted, a tricky thing to determine), making sure the plants will be in full sun and based in soil that drains easily. You can also buy basil "starts," or seedlings, which usually come in a small pot, but they're not intended to stay there for long because the roots like room to grow, among other things. You could say harvesting frequently is like a shot in the arm to a basil plant. Snipping the right leaves at the right time is key for encouraging bushier growth. One hint for ensuring the freshest taste is to make sure the plant doesn't flower, which triggers an end to the plant's life cycle, called bolting. Once it starts that process, there's not a lot you can do to halt it. Natural Living Ideas explains: "If you keep your basil in the tiny pot it came in, you are not going to have a large, luxurious plant, even if you provide water and fertilizers regularly. The roots need space to stretch out, so transplant it into a larger pot or plant it out in the garden. Most gardening advice regarding basil supports keeping the plant compact and bushy. But large plants provide more leaves … Even a small quantity of pesto requires quite a large amount of leaves. If you want a large basil plant, refrain from pinching the tip when the plant is 6 inches tall, as most gardeners advise. Allow the plant to grow fast and furious until it is between 12 [and] 15 inches tall … Remove around 2 inches of the stem tip. This promotes branching from lower nodes. The side branches can be allowed to grow and fill out before their tips are pinched."11 To reiterate, here are some basics basil needs to thrive: Requirements Full sun Well-drained soil that's not packed too hard Adequate space between plants encourages roots to spread and helps prevent fungal diseases Use of compost, aged manure and/or other organic material Plenty of water, but not swimming in it Once Your Basil Is Growing Outside Once your seeds have sprouted, or the bedding plants you've purchased are in the ground (following the aforementioned directions) a few things are necessary to make sure your basil plants keep producing: Mulch around the plants to retain moisture, especially in warmer weather Harvest leaves to encourage bushier growth Pinch off flower buds frequently so plant energy is expended on the leaves Rodale's Organic Life notes that to keep fresh basil at the ready all year-round: "Grow a few basil plants in containers so you can bring them indoors before fall frost. Or make a second sowing outdoors in June in order to have small plants to pot up and bring indoors for winter. As frost nears, you can also cut off some end shoots in the garden and root them in water to be potted later."12 Basil Varieties From Cinnamon to Lime You'll discover several different types of basil, some with distinctive flavors or colors compared to sweet basil, the most common variety. Some are more purple or burgundy than green, such as dark opal, which is very aromatic, or the red rubin. Exotic Thai sweet basil cultivars, such as Siam queen with its hint of licorice or anise, can be heated to higher temperatures for certain dishes. Here are a few more basil offerings to consider: The lettuce leaf variety of basil has larger-than-average leaves, so they require a bit more space in the garden Green ruffles basil looks just as one might expect, looks as lovely in salads as it does in the garden, and grows 20 to 24 inches high in comparison with most other basils, which reach a top height of 12 to 18 inches Lemon basil, easily identified when you crush a leaf between your fingers and smell its lemony scent, is wonderful for chicken dishes and grilled vegetables Holy basil, which Hindus consider to be sacred, is another variety with a sweet, musky fragrance, often cooked into Indian dishes, as eating it raw it's slightly bitter Cinnamon basil is one variation that can be used in fruit dishes, such as stewed pears, or in stir-fries and grilled veggies. You’ll also note basil varieties featuring hints of cinnamon, clove and lime. What to Do About Pests or Fungal Diseases Attacking Your Basil It may seem a little archaic, but to keep pests like Japanese beetles at bay, picking them off by hand is easiest. Other pests include slugs and aphids. The three represent the incredible diversity of pests that can make lace out of your basil leaves. While you want to deal with those smaller critters with haste, you also want to do the job naturally. Chemical pesticides can be much more damaging to the environment, including water, soil and air, than you may realize. There are safer, more natural options. According to Beyond Pesticides, boric acid formulated from a natural mineral is "an effective insect stomach poison" that, when properly applied, has low toxicity in comparison. Boric acid is another solution: "While boric acid is somewhat slower acting than other materials, it is highly effective over a long period of time. But remember, all pesticides are poisons designed to kill, and should be handled carefully. Boric acid should be applied only in areas where it will not come in contact with people … Applicators should wear protective clothing, gloves and a filter mask. Other least toxic pesticides include diatomaceous earth, vinegar, oil of lemon eucalyptus, Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt), neem and horticultural soaps."13 Fungal diseases such as fusarium wilt, black spot or powdery mildew can be treated with a simple, natural solution, Gardening Know How14 advises, containing: Ingredients 1 cup of vegetable oil 1 tablespoon liquid dish soap (not for dishwashers) 1 quart warm water 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar Directions Mix the ingredients and spray affected plants (or those that likely will be) thoroughly on the tops, bottoms and stems of plants using a spray bottle. Watch the weather to avoid treating if rain is imminent, and avoid spraying blossoms that bees, hummingbirds or other desirable critters enjoy.

#VitalityPath

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