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bopbopstyles · 5 years ago

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Temptation (pt. 3)

RATING: M/smut (cw: prior sexual harrassment mentioned)

WORD COUNT: 14.6k jesUs

CATEGORIES: fratboy!harry

He paid the price in Nora not being his. He couldn’t say anything when he saw guys looking at her from across the room, he couldn’t hold her hand when they walked down the sidewalk on campus, he couldn’t touch her whenever he wanted in public. There was a barrier they maintained during daylight hours—no contact in public. At night when everyone else was drunk they broke that rule and could barely keep their hands off each other, lasting on the dance floor of the parties for a mere thirty minutes before going up to Harry’s. But he couldn’t show her off the world, couldn’t sing her praises, couldn’t call her his. At least, not in the way that mattered. He called her his during sex, but that wasn’t the same, he couldn’t distinguish the fervor of sex from the reality of his feelings. And it pained him more than he had expected.

Because he was Nora’s.

She just wasn’t his.

Nora can’t figure out what she wants and Harry gets hurt in the process. (part three of this / fratboy!harry)

PART ONE | PART TWO

Harry woke to the sound of his door opening and an empty bed. Nora was standing at the end of his bed tugging on her pants, hair a beautiful mess.

“Oi, what’re you doing?”

Nora looked up and saw that Harry was awake, sitting up on his elbows and staring at her in confusion. She didn’t want to run out, but she had to. She had a fucking UTI and she was going to have to pee every five seconds, she needed cranberry juice, and she wanted to deal with all of those things not at a fraternity house. “I gotta run,” she said simply.

“Where?” Harry looked over to his alarm clock. “It’s eight AM on a Sunday. Where’re you going?”

“The store,” she replied. “Gotta pick up some things.” She buttoned her jeans and reached for her shirt, long forgotten on the ground.

Harry sat up fully, confused. Who would go to the store at eight in the morning on a Sunday when they could stay in bed? Especially with him? He didn’t want her to leave. “And get what?”

“Jesus Christ, you’re so nosy.” Nora pulled her shirt over her head, exasperated. “I’ve got to get some cranberry juice, okay? And then I have to go home and spend all day by my toilet.”

“What? Why?”

This boy was clueless. But then again, he was also a boy, so what was she to expect. “I’ve got a fucking UTI, H.”

Realization dawned on his face immediately. “Oh.” And then suddenly, he was out of bed, grabbing a fresh pair of boxers, a shirt, and a pair of jeans from his drawers. Nora watched him and tried not to ogle at his muscles as he lifted hisi arms to get his shirt on, or the way his hair flopped into his face ever so slightly when he pulled on his jeans.

“What are you doing?”

Harry stood up and grabbed his keys from his dresser. “Going to the store for you. Now get back in bed, put on some of my clothes that are comfortable, and tell me what exactly you need.”

“What—Harry—“

He pulled her into his body and pressed the most soft and delicate kiss to her cheek. “I’ve got an older sister. Know how much these things suck and I seriously doubt you want to move much farther than to and from the toilet. So get back into my bed and let me take care of you, okay?”

Looking back, that was the moment that Nora fell for him. Right there, Harry holding her close and telling her to let him take care of her. “Okay,” she said, because how was she going to deny him? Plus, his bed was more comfortable than hers, and he was right, the idea of getting in an Uber and going to the store and then home sounded horrific because she already had to pee again.

“Now, what do you need?”

“Pure cranberry juice,” she told him. “No sugars, no sweetener, no mixed with anything else—pure, unfiltered, cranberry juice, and two bottles of sparkling water.”

Harry nodded, memorizing her words. “That it?”

Nora bit the inside of her cheek. “Some Monostadt if you’re feeling courageous.”

“What’s that?”

“Medicine of sorts. Probably will be in with the tampons and stuff.”

Harry’s cheeks reddened—he couldn’t help it—but he just nodded. “Text me if you think of anything else, okay? I’ll be back in a jiffy. And ignore anyone if they tell you to hurry up in the bathroom.” He kisses her forehead with such kindness that Nora possibly melts right there on the floor, and then he’s out the door.

Harry finds Nora curled up in his bed in his Fleetwood Mac shirt, hair pulled up in a messy bun, and reading his copy of Americanah that he was reading for a Literature class. Looking back, this was the moment Harry fell for her. His heart stops a bit at her in his clothes, in his bed, waiting for him, but he pushes the thought from his brain.

“Got a few different kinds,” he says, rousing her attention from the book. “Wanted to make sure it was right.”

Nora sits up and watches him pull three cartons of cranberry juice out of the bag, two bottles of sparkling water, a pack of Monostadt, two bars of chocolate, and some chips. She hadn’t asked for the snacks, but he thought she would want them and that warmed her heart, and the fact that he braved the tampon aisle for her gave her immediately more respect for him. She surveyed the options and saw he had gotten two that would work. “Those two are good,” she said.

“Perfect,” he said. He grabbed a cup from his desk and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Supposed to mix the cranberry juice and sparkling, I assume?” She nodded. “And the juice is pretty strong?” She nodded again. “Ok. Let me mix something and you tell me if it needs more of one or the other.”

“Ok, Mr. Bartender,” she said and Harry chuckled. He poured the two together, focusing on making sure it wouldn’t be too strong for her to sip on. He handed her the cup and she took a sip—perfect. “S’good,” she said. “Thank you.”

He smiled at her, proud of his ability to make the perfect thing for her. “Course. Now shove over so I can get in with you.”

Nora blushed, scooted over, and watched him get undressed. He stripped down to just his boxers, and then crawled into bed next to her. “Thank you for doing this,” she said softly, carefully edging closer to him so her head was on his shoulder. “It’s a bit awkward, you know. We just...” Had sex, she almost said.

“Hey,” he said softly. He pushed a strand of hair that had fallen out of her bun behind her ear, fingertips trailing down her cheek. “I wanted to do it. Don’t care if it’s awkward.” He pressed another chaste kiss to her forehead, and then grabbed a remote from his bedside table. “Now, want to watch a David Attenborough nature documentary with me?”

“I’ve been meaning to watch Our Planet,” she said, settling in next to him.

Harry decided that she couldn’t get more perfect.

They laid in bed for most of the day watching nature documentaries and ended up cuddling without even thinking about it. Harry discovered that he loves Nora’s head on his shoulder, their legs tangled at the end of the bed, a thin blanket tugged over them to keep them warm in the late January cold that the heat can’t keep out. Sometimes her fingers found his skin and drew outlines over his tattoos, which never ceased to pull a sharp inhale from him and a plea that she didn’t pull away. But she always did. Nora was better at keeping her boundaries up—she didn’t hold his hand, she didn’t snuggle into him too much—there was almost a reticence to the way she relaxed into him. She wouldn’t stop fidgeting and even when she relaxed, he knew she wasn’t letting her full bodyweight lean into him.

She was up and down constantly to go pee and he kept pouring her more glasses of cranberry juice and sparkling water, but her UTI didn’t go away. He asked about it hesitantly, not wanting to make her uncomfortable, and she just blushed before shaking her head. After another trip to the toilet, she reached for the Monostadt from where it’s been sitting on his dresser.

“You okay, Cherry?” The nickname popped out and he immediately remembered saying it the night before, balls deep inside of her and the image made him harden immediately. He tried to disguise it with the blanket, but Nora saw it without him knowing. The image made her smile inside, the reality of what she did to Harry making her quite happy.

“S’not getting better,” she said. “Gonna take this and hope it helps.”

“Need anything?” He asked and she shook her head before heading back to the toilet. He leaned back against the pillows and sighed, keeping the documentary paused so she didn’t miss anything in her absence. His phone buzzed with a text and he grabbed it, swiping it open. It was Nash.

Who’s the girl who is going in and out of the bathroom and your room?

Nash lived upstairs, but he must’ve been cleaning the house and noticed Nora. Her name’s Nora. She’s not feeling too great.

Aren’t you a gentlemen

Harry chuckled before placing the phone back on the nightstand, the sound of Nora re-entering the bedroom making him want to forget everything else. She was on the phone, he realized when she stepped inside, but she was speaking in another language.

“Je vais bien, maman,” she said. It was French, he realized. He didn’t know she spoke French and the sound of it falling from her lips turned him on more than he wanted to admit. “Mon ami prend soin de moi.” She leaned against the door as she spoke to her mother, Harry understanding that much. “Non, un garçon. Non, on ne sort pas ensemble. Maman, arrête.” She sighed, her eyes catching with Harry’s, and she rolled her eyes. Sorry, she mouthed and Harry shook his head, as if to say No matter. “Maman, je dois y aller, d'accord? Je t'appellerai plus tard. Je t’aime. Salut.”

“You speak French?” He asked, amazed.

She nodded. “My mom’s French.”

“That’s so cool that you know French and German.”

Nora tried ignore the way the fact that he remembered that she spoke German made her heart warm. Without a word she laid down next to him, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders. “You can start it,” she said, and Harry followed her directions.

They laid in his bed until almost five o’clock, at which point Harry suggested they order food. They decided on sushi and they picked out a bunch of rolls and dumplings to try, and Harry grabbed the food when it arrives, making a spread on his bed for them. He didn’t tell her that he usually doesn’t let people eat on his bed because he made an exception for her, not being able to bear the idea of making her go downstairs and eat when she looked so cuddled up and warm in his blanket. They finished another documentary and it was seven o’clock when Nora declared it was time for her to go home. She was feeling better, she reassured a worried Harry, and Maddy was at home to take care of her. He insisted on driving her and Nora wore his Fleetwood Mac shirt with her jeans out of the frat house, since Harry wouldn’t let her give it back to him. He made sure she didn’t have to talk to any of his brothers downstairs, coming to grab her when he knew the coast was clear, and she appreciated it—she didn’t want to get whistled at or questioned, just to go home.

His car was a Prius, which Nora smiled at. He was so unlike any other fraternity brother she had ever met and he intrigued her more than she wanted to admit. When he turned on the car, Elton John blasted from the speakers and when Harry went to turn it down, Nora grabbed his hand and shook her head, telling him to keep it. He drove her home and they sang Elton John at the top of their lungs, both grinning from ear to ear, catching each other’s eyes sometimes. Harry loved seeing her in his car, loved having her around all day. When he dropped her off, she hopped out of his car without a kiss and he tried to ignore how it made his heart sink. He hated watching her walk away from him and inside her building.

It’s just sex, he thought to himself. It was what he had told himself time and time again and what he kept having to remind himself of.

The thing was, though, he was starting to have doubts.

In class, Harry checked in with Nora about how she was feeling and when she told him she was all better he smiiles warmly at her. They went and studied together after class, but Nora picked up her books around three and told him she was heading out, barely a look over her shoulder at him as she walked out.

She was creating distance. She needed it—after she’d spent all day with him she needed to remember that it was just sex, nothing more. When he dropped her off, she had gone into her apartment breathless purely from being around him and that whole night all she could think about was him. She needed space to figure out what was going on, to get her feelings in check. Nora had a life that she needed to focus on, grades to keep up, friends to see, an internship to search for. She filled her nights with homework and the job search instead of texting Harry, her mother reminding her that she needed to turn in applications soon if she wanted her dream internship position in London with the archival research department at the Museum of London. (She’d gone the past summer with her parents and fallen in love with the history of the city and decided she had to work there.) It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be around Harry, it was that she couldn’t. Everytime she was around him she felt this itch to fucking touch him and she couldn’t handle it anymore. She couldn’t handle how much she wanted to kiss him and curl her fingers in his hair and feel him between her legs. Nora needed air, she needed to re-calibrate, she needed to remember that she didn’t want to date and especially not a fraternity boy.

Harry’s texts went unanswered for the most part, other than the occasional quick response to something related to their classwork. He tried not to wonder if he’d done something wrong, but it was hard when he went from caring for her and her UTI to feeling iced out. Nora acted normal in class, small talk and shared laughter when their professor did something funny. But it wasn’t the same as usual and Harry was confused. When he asked Nash about it, he looked at Harry and said, “you’re just hooking up, right?” That made Harry self-concious—was he having feelings for her? And if so, did she not feel the same pull that he did between them? Being around Nora this week made him realize how much he just enjoyed her company, whether they were talking or studying or just sitting next to each other in class. He simply missed her, despite how much he tried to convince himself he didn’t.

He invited her to a party that weekend, hoping the weekend would mean he would be able to see her, but she responded a few hours later with a simple Sorry, I can’t :(. He spent the party sulking in the corner, sipping on whiskey and watching people have fun before going upstairs and calling it a night earlier than normal. Nash noticed and when he asked, Harry just replied, “She’s not here.”

The next week was just like before. They chatted in class, but beyond that it was radio silence. She responded to his texts even less and Harry was a confused mess. He threw himself into his school work, getting ahead on readings that he didn’t need to do for two weeks. All he wanted was an explanation, but he was too scared to even ask why she was doing it. Did she wants to stop hooking up? Had she been freaked out by his kindness? Maybe it was the nature documentaries. Did she want him to be more like Nash? More aloof? Did she want him not to care? Because he didn’t know if he could.

That weekend DSig had another party, but this time Harry told Niall, who was seeing Nora’s friend Maddy, he discovered, to invite them. Niall did as Harry had asked, but he didn’t know if they would come. And when Friday rolled around, Harry was stood in the kitchen, alone, drinking whiskey. Again.

Maddy and her friends had arrived, but Nora wasn’t with them. When Harry had asked her about Nora, Maddy had shook her head and said that Nora “wasn’t feeling it”.

“Harry!” It was Nash and he was properly drunk. “My man! Why aren’t you drunk, bro?”

Harry raised at his cup. “I’m drinking still.”

Nash looked in the cup and grimaced. “We’re doing shots,” he declared, looking around the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of tequila, two limes, and handed a shot glass to Harry. The shots were doubles and Harry wasn’t looking forward to it, but he did it anyways, because if Nora wasn’t going to be there then he at least wanted to have fun. He was entitled to have his fun—after all, he was Harry Styles, as Nash kept reminding him. He was hot and people were into him right and left, guys and girls alike.

So Harry decided to have fun. He did four shots, his mind whirring by the end, and followed Nash to the sweaty dance floor. The music overtook him and he let go, blissfully and fully. He danced with girls who he could tell were interested, but everytime he looked at them all he could think about was how they weren’t Nora. Sure, they were pretty, but they didn’t look at him like she did. He danced with them anyways, but when they leaned in to kiss him he stepped away and found his friends again, not wanting someone else to touch his lips because Nora had touched them last.

It was after midnight when he stopped dancing. He was hot, trashed, and wanted Nora. He just wanted her, not some other girl to fill the Nora-shaped hole in his night. It wasn’t until this moment that Harry, drunk off his ass, realized just how deep he was. Something was different with her and he didn’t know why or what it was, but he needed it more than he needed to be at this party. So he pulled out his phone and called himself an Uber, not even telling Nora he was coming because he didn’t want her to turn him away.

The knock on the door had Nora looking at her clock and sighing. It was almost one and she was exhausted—she was winding down for bed and watching a documentary on deforestation, finishing a glass of wine, skin fresh from a face mask. Maddy was out with Taylor and Lauren, but Nora had stayed in. She wasn’t sure why, but when they’d asked her to come to the party with them, she had said no. The idea of seeing Harry made her nervous—the last time she’d been at his party they had hooked up, and she didn’t know if she was in a place where she could do that and not have questions after. So she avoided the situation entirely.

But when she opened the door to find Harry standing in front of her, she was just as lost. “H?”

Harry smiled at the nickname, it settling the part of him that was nervous to see her. “Cherry. Hi.”

“What’re you doing here?”

“Seeing you.”

“I noticed,” she replied. “Why?”

“Wanted to see you.”

She took another look at him and realized he was drunk. Quite drunk, in fact. “How’d you get here?”

“Uber.”

That was a relief at least—he hadn’t drive himself. “Come on inside. You’ll freeze out there.” He’d not brought a jacket and Nora could see the raised goosebumps on his exmposed arms, the tattoos littering his body open for the world to see.

He kicked his shoes off in the entryway and watched as Nora poured him a glass of water. She rummaged through the cabinets before pulling out an Advil, which she handed to him. He took both, murmuring a thanks under his breath. She leans back against the counter and watched him, his presence in her apartment all consuming and more comforting than she had expected. He smelled of sweat and alcohol, but underneath it she could taste his cologne, the memories of it rushing back to her like a freight train. Him, close to her as he fucked her deep and fast, begging for her to finish. She pressed her legs together at the memory.

“Why are you here?” She asked him again, breaking the silence stretching between them.

Harry leaned on the kitchen island, his elbows digging into the granite countertops. “You didn’t come tonight.”

“Didn’t feel like going out,” she explained. She hadn’t expected him to be so disappointed, but she could read it on his face.

“You’ve been dodging my texts and not spending time with me.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Bullshit,” he replied, his voice hard in the quiet of the room. She wasn’t answering him and he was about done with it. She was standing there, staring him down, and completely ignoring the meaning behind his questions. He wanted answers, goddamn it—he wanted to understand her. “We’re all busy. It’s more than that and I don’t get it. Did I miss something? Did I do something?”

The way his voice trailed off at the end, emotion radiating through his words, had Nora’s heart aching. She hadn’t meant to hurt him—she had been selfish, needing the time away from him and ignoring how it would affect him, or that it would affect him at all. “I needed space,” she said, trying to find the words.

Harry’s eyes met hers and the way they bore into her soul made her stop fidgeting for once and concentrate on him. “But why, Nora?”

The way he said her name made her realize she had to be honest with him. “We’re just hooking up,” she said, the words sandpaper on her tongue. “And I needed space to make sure it stayed that way. I’m not in the position for anything more and I didn’t want you to be confused.”

Harry didn’t reply. He just looked at her. Maybe it was the alcohol or the hour, but Nora thought she saw disappoint and defeat in his eyes. And if she did, she had nothing to offer him. She didn’t have the psace in her life for someone else right now, only herself. People were complicated, especially relationships, and Nora didn’t want that. She wanted simplicity and hooking up with Harry would only stay simple if she kept it that way.

“I know we’re just hooking up,” he reponded finally. The lie was bitter on Harry’s tongue, because she did need to. The minute her words met Harry’s ears he knew that he was craving more. He had fallen with her, one way or another, somewhere in the week he had known her. His crush was full-fledged and suffocating, because when he looked at her he could barely look away. In her oversized sweatshirt and tiny shorts, her hair loose and messy, face clean of makeup and eyes weary with exhaustion. So when he looked away from her, it took every bone in his body, but he knew if he continued to look at her she would know he was lying. And he wasn’t ready to lose her yet. “You didn’t need to avoid me to make that clear, you know.”

His answer brought comfort to her—he felt the same way, that it was just sex. He didn’t need more, he wouldn’t complicate her life. He would let her be her and not ask for more. “I’m sorry,” she told him. “Shouldn’t have done it.”

He watched as she rounded the corner of the kitchen island and came up to him, her body mere inches away from him. Harry could smell her coconut shampoo and see the wrinkles between her brows from when she frowned. The desire to touch her was almost too much for him. “I survived.”

Nora wanted to touch him with every bone in her body. She wanted to feel his skin under fingers and watch him inhale as she scratched down his back. Since they were on the same page, she realized she had no reason to stop herself anymore.

Watching closely, he exhaled sharply as she touched him for the first time. It was soft, reticent, a reminder and a memory of before. A simple brush of her forefinger down the length of his bicep that had his heart beating faster in his chest. “Cherry,” he said, his voice gravely with desire.

When their eyes met, a simple understanding passed between them in seconds. And then Harry was pulling her up, her legs were around his waist, and he was walking her into her room, their lips melded together as if no time had passed. They hadn’t forgotten how to kiss one another, it was like muscle memory, the need for one another feeding through their skin as they kissed, a shared desire for more and more.

Nora dropped to her bed and she wasted no time with shedding her clothing, her shirt and pants coming off before Harry could even tug off his shirt. He wasn’t drunk anymore—their conversation had sobered him—but when he looked at her skin, he thought he might be intoxicated again because he couldn’t get enough. Sheets curled in her fingers as he pressed his lips to her body, murmurs of how beautiful she was and how much he wanted her flowing from him freely. Gasping, she reached for his chin and pulled him up to her, needing him to kiss her properly again. Which he did. He ground into her, desperate for her to feel him, and Nora moaned at the feeling. How had she managed to go two weeks without him between her thighs?

“Need you,” she said, breathless.

He looked up from where he was attached to her nipple. “Where do you want me, princess?”

“You know where.”

Once he might’ve made her spell it out, but he was too spellbound. He lowered himself flat on his stomach and tugged her panties aside without another word, pressing his tongue to her hot skin.

Things passed like that for a few weeks. They texted each other when they needed one another, Nora went to Harry’s parties just for Harry, and they flirted all through their class. Nora was comfortable with where they’d left things—clear and precise on the fact that they were nothing more than friends who were fucking. No relationship and no future of one.

Harry, on the other hand, couldn’t shake the disappointment he felt that night when she told him they were just hooking up. It poured through every fiber of his being and the more time he spent around her the more he knew that he had messed up. Royally. He had missed the opportunity to tell her how he felt, he had missed the opportunity to steer their relationship in a different direction and he was going to pay the price.

Because he was Nora’s.

She just wasn’t his.

It was a Friday night and Nora wasn’t at DSig—a rarity. Maddy, Taylor, and Lauren had convinced her to go to the bars with them, telling her they needed a girls night. That she had been spending all of her time with Harry (a lie) and they missed her. So she dressed up, looking hot as fuck if she said so herself, and got drunk with her girls. They played drinking games in her and Maddy’s living room until they were all perfectly wasted, before taking an Uber to Slots.

At first, it was just the girls. The music flowing, dancing at the table they get in the corner, dragging each other onto the tiny and cramped dance floor. It was sweaty and drunk and so much fucking fun.

But then, some boys who Taylor knows came over, and one of them had eyes only for Nora. He was tall, but not as tall as Harry, with dark brown hair, but not as curly and gorgeous as Harry’s, and blue eyes, but they didn’t pierce her heart the way Harry’s do. His name was Leo and he stuck to Nora all night. She let him too, basking in the attention, loving when he bought her drinks and asked her about her classes and her life. She asked him about his and the more they talked the more Nora thought he was cute. Not in the way that Harry was—Harry was hot—but Leo was cute in his own way. A bit unsure, fumbled for words, searching for the way to say something in a way that Nora would like. She loved the power that surged through her veins at knowing that she was desired by someone other than Harry.

Leo was a Economics major and planned on working on Wall Street after college. He was from a few towns over from their college and had planned to go here most of his life. He wasn’t in a fraternity, but he was in a couple of clubs and they discovered quickly that they had some mutual friends. He was kind and made horrible jokes that Nora laughed at anyways because she saw that he wanted her to laugh. No—he needed her to laugh. He listened intently when she told him about her major, about her interest in German history, about her time abroad. He asked her questions and listened, diving deeper and asking her more and more. She felt like he wanted to know her in a way she wasn’t used to and she was surprised, but also flattered. Harry didn’t ask her these things, they just came up in conversation. But Leo sought them out, desperate for more information about her.

So when he asked for her number at the end of the night, she didn’t hesitate to give it to him. She didn’t know what to expect, but it couldn’t be anything big.

But when he texted her in the morning asking if she wanted to get coffee that afternoon, she was thrown off guard. She had told herself she wasn’t going to date anyone. But it was almost March and she had been seeing Harry and a part of her was intrigued by Leo. She wanted to get to know him, see what he was about. If all else failed, she could always tell him it wasn’t going to work out, she decided. So she said yes.

Harry was working Saturday afternoon shift, aka his least favorite shift. He usually spent the afternoons in the library or his room working on readings or writing papers. He had to work on his paper for the Urban Studies class he had with Nora, actually, he realized as he flipped the switch on the espresso machine. Would she want to help him outline maybe? It would be an excuse to hang out with her in a purely PG environment, something he was increasingly trying to find excuses for. He wanted more from his relationship with Nora and had decided he was going to try and ease into the idea—take it slow. Maybe they’d just…end up dating?

Somehow he sensed her presence the second she stepped in the door of the coffeeshop. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, a simple white tshirt and jeans that showed off her body in the ways he loved seeing. He watched her eyes lift from the floor and then they met his, a look of shock running across her face. Somehow they’d yet to have the discussion about which coffee shop he worked at, but here she was when he was working behind the bar making espressos and fancy coffees. Then, her eyesight shifted without even a smile in his direction, and he watched helplessly as she made her way over to a boy who had come in 15 minutes earlier—he was seated in the corner. He’d ordered some flavored latte, and Harry decided that was reason enough to hate him. He had never seen the kid before, but that wasn’t impossible at their school, especially if he wasn’t in a frat or in his classes.

“Harry.” He turned and Lauren, the other barista was looking at him in confusion. “You okay?”

He glanced back at Nora, her eyes bright and a smile dancing across her face. “Fine.” He grabbed the coffee cup Lauran handed him and turned back to the espresso machine, placing the cup under the drip and staring daggers at the back of this kid’s head.

Not too long after, Nora rose, her wallet in hand, and made her way to the bar. This guy wasn’t even going to buy her coffee? Maybe it wasn’t a date, he thought to himself. Any guy who didn’t take Nora out was an idiot, but that was a thought for another time. He heard Nora order her coffee, the same drop coffee and skim milk that he remembered, and tried to avoid making eye contact with her until she was standing right in front of his station and said his name.

“H,” she said, words soft. The nickname she used jolted through his body and he hated it. How dare she use while she was on a date with another guy? But then again, she wasn’t his, was she?

“What?” Harry knew his voice was gruff, but he didn’t care. She should know that he was pissed, even if he had no right to be.

She sighed as he filled her cup. “Why are you acting like this?”

Harry grabbed the milk and filled the cup the amount he knew she liked, and then looked up at her again. He rested his hands on the corner of the counter and leaned towards her—he wondered if she could feel the tension radiating between them. “You on a date?”

“I—“ she looked over to the guy who waved at her, and then back at him. “I don’t know.”

Fuck that. It was obviously a date. “Did he ask you to coffee, no studying or other excuse?” He handed her the coffee, but she didn’t move.

“Yes.”

“Then it’s a fucking date, Nora.”

Her fingers slid up and down the cup, moving the sleeve with them. “Are you mad?”

The laugh that left his lips was dry, mocking almost, and Harry didn’t have it in him to care. “No, I’m perfectly fine, Nora. We aren’t doing any more than fucking, right?” He ignored the way the hurt look on her face stabbed his heart and turned away, desperate for literally anything else to do. A beat later, her heard her footsteps as she moved away from the counter, and Harry tried to blink the tears from his eyes.

Nora knew she had fucked up, but how did she fix it?

She was lying on her bed, staring up at her ceiling and running through every moment she had shared with Harry in the past few months. The sly gazes in class, the conversations as they cuddled in his bed, the sex—the sex. And him. He was unlike anyone she’d known, he was unlike Jonas in all the ways that mattered and the ones she didn’t know were important. Harry was someone she never saw coming and the feeling she had for him she’d been trying and trying to push down since she’d met him, because if she let herself feel them then she would be ripped open for him to see. All of her demons out of the closet laid bare for him to investigate, to judge, to tell her how handle. And she didn’t think she wanted that.

And Leo was simple. He might want to date her, but she didn’t feel the need to share everything about her life with him. He was…easy. They could date for a while, just enough to get her mind off of Harry, and then she could break up with him. She didn’t want something serious and Leo didn’t scream serious at her—he screamed pure, kind, caring. The kind of guy who wouldn’t push her when she didn’t want to talk, wouldn’t bed to know everything about her. And that was exactly what she needed.

And the exact opposite of Harry. Harry desperately wanted to know her—she could see it in the way he looked at her, and it scared the shit out of her. He knew all the surface things and was begging to see the depths of her in a way that wanted her to lock a door and never reopen it. But she had hoped to at least stay friends with him, she enjoyed spending time with him. After the way he’d acted today, though, she didn’t know if that was possible, though. He seemed royally pissed off, despite the fact that he didn’t technically have the right to be, she told herself. She wasn’t his, not in any real way. Despite the way he had said the words, they were true—they were just fucking.

Her phone buzzed next to her and she rolled over to see who it was—Leo.

I had fun today. Study tomorrow?

Nora considered her thoughts, the things she knew and the ones she didn’t. Leo was something to be explored, she decided. See you at noon, she replied, pushing the sinking feeling in her stomach aside.

When Harry saw her on the dance floor, his heart lept in his chest. She’d come to another DSig party, despite the date on Saturday he’d seen. Despite the fact that they’d barely spoken this week, no funny texts during the evenings or study sessions or picking up coffee before class. Just words shared about the lecture and reasons given for goodbye. He could see her messy waves bouncing as she jumped and he smiled, he’d always loved how she danced. Carefree, not giving a fuck what anyone thought of her.

He wanted to go to her, touch her, make her his. But then the face of that other guy flashed through his brain, and he couldn’t rationalize it. She was seeing someone else unless she said otherwise. Off-limits, at least for right now.

“That Nora?” Nash leaned against the doorjamb next to him, handing him a beer. “What’s she doing here?”

“Fuck if I know,” Harry replied. He’d told Nash about what had happened in a rare moment of honesty over one too many beers on Saturday night, but now he was thankful to have someone who got it. “Think I misread the situation?”

Nash shrugged. “Dunno man. She’s coming over here, though, I think.”

Harry whipped his head towards her and saw Nash was right—she was weaving her way through the crowd alone and heading straight for him. Nash left his side so he could be alone, and Harry was thankful for it. Nash was one of the rare good ones.

“H,” she said, voice barely audible over the thud of the bass. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He wanted to talk to her with every fiber of his person, but his brain was screaming at him to walk away, leave her alone, let her figure out her shit and come back to him after. Her fingers ghosted over his chest and Harry sucked in a breath. He looked at her eyes and realized she was pretty drunk—drunker than he was, at least. Is that what it took for her to touch him—alcohol? “Nora,” he said, covering her hands with his, “what are you doing?”

“Touching you.”

“Why?”

She shrugged, her tumbling down her back, “want you.”

Harry gulped. Did he have the self-control? “What about that guy?”

“He’s not here.”

“Are you dating him?”

“No.”

Harry considered her words, the look in her eye that was begging him to fuck her. And for some reason, he decided to do it. “I’ll only do this if you’re sure you want to.”

She nodded, curling her fingers into his black t-shirt, slightly damp from the sweat of being in a room this crowded. “Positive.”

And with that, he decided to shove all of his thoughts telling him that she was just using him to the side and kissed her. Her arms wrappd around his neck immediately and he grasped her waist, pulling her flush to his body. Fuck, he’d missed how she felt against him, like she was made for him. Nora’s fingers curled in his hair and tugged slightly, a moan falling from his lips that he couldn’t stop. “Upstairs,” he said, voice rough with desire and hurt and disappointment.

She followed him up the stairs, hand grasped in his, and pulled off her clothes the minute she was inside his room. He raked his eyes over her, knowing it might be the last time, and decided to fuck her like it was. Slow, deep—make her remember that she wanted him. Make her know how much he wanted her, that he regretted not telling her when he’d had a chance.

And so he did. He left hickies all over her body, telling whatever boy she was talking to other than him that she was his, fucked her so deep she moaned his name like a prayer, held her so close that their skin felt like one, and didn’t let her go after. When she rolled over and crawled down his body, he let her, wanting to have her go down on him one last time, to feel her mouth and watch her grip his hips as she bobbed up and down. And he fucked her again, this time a little faster, a little rougher, but just as deep. And he licked into her after, drawing another orgasm from her, trying to memorize her taste on her tongue, how his name sounded off of her tongue, the way it felt for her fingers to curl in his hair and pull. After, when she was curled up in his arms, eyes shut and asleep on his chest, he prayed that she wouldn’t regret it in the morning. That maybe she’d tell him it meant something, that she wanted him and not the other guy, that she was his and only his.

But when he woke up, the only trace of her was her perfume on his pillowcase.

Weeks passed without more than a few words in class and it pained Nora, but she understood. When she’d woken up in his arms, him holding her close so her faced was smushed in the crook of his neck, she knew it was going to be a bad idea to let herself do this again. He’d barely returned his texts or replied to her in class, the smiles she adored were forgotten. She avoiding the coffee shop where he worked and told Maddy she wasn’t going back to DSig. He didn’t want to be her fuck on the side anymore and she would respect that. She spent time with Leo in small doses, trying not to give too much to him, and when they had sex, she tried not to think of Harry. But it wasn’t as good, it wasn’t the same.

Leo introduced her to his friends and she struggled to stay interested in the conversation, her thoughts anywhere and elsewhere. When they studied together, she found herself on her phone stalking Harry’s Instagram, wondering who the girls in the photo he’d just posted were. It came time to work on the second paper for the class she shared with Harry and she missed his insights into her outlines. Leo couldn’t provide the same help and got frustrated when she didn’t take his suggestions (which weren’t good).

The trees changed colors and as she laid out on the lawns with a book, Nora wondered if Harry liked the Spring as much as she did. Maddy laid next to her with an iced coffee and her computer, working on an assignment for her GIS class, eyes flittering over to Nora every once and a while.

Finally, Nora heard her voice break the silence. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Nora lied. She was thinking about Harry.

“Bullshit.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“So you’re thinking about Harry,” Maddy said. She closed her computer and laid her head on her forearms. “Spill.”

Nora shut her book and sighed. She’d avoided talking about Harry with Maddy or any of her friends, never really telling them why it fizzled out. Just that it did and it was fine. Maddy had seen straight through her lies, but didn’t push. “I miss him,” she said simply.

“Then talk to him.”

“He doesn’t want me to.”

“Valid,” Maddy replied.

Nora whipped her head to her friend. “You’re supposed to say he’s stupid.”

“Well, he’s not,” Maddy said. “He’s got every reason to not want to talk to you—you started seeing another guy and then fucked him a week later.”

“But…”

Maddy sighed. “If you tell me you were just fucking, I’ll literally kill you.”

“We were, though!”

“Nora, you’re not stupid, so why are you acting like you are?” Nora narrowed her eyes at her best friend. How dare she?

“You’re supposed to always be on my side, you know.” “I am. You just aren’t thinking straight.”

Nora rolled over and shoved her face into the blanket they’d brought with them. “What am I supposed to do then?”

After a beat, she heard Maddy’s voice. “Do you like Leo?”

“He’s fine.”

“Fine.” Maddy parroted Nora’s word back to her and Nora grimed at how it souned. Bored, uninterested, which was exactly what she was most of the time. The interest she’d had in Leo had fizzled after the first two weeks, their conversations stalling, the desire dissolving.

Lifting her head nad making eye contact again, Nora said, “He’s boring.”

“And Harry?”

Harry. What was there to say and what wasn’t there to say? He consumed her thoughts and her dreams and she hated it. She’d had a sex dream about him last week while she was in Leo’s bed which was quite possibly the worst thing of all time. Sitting next to him in class was hell because she had to be close to his body, smell his cologne, just be around him, but she couldn’t switch spots because the other students would throw a fit. She missed the way he kissed her and touched her and said her name and laughed with her.

“He’s…Harry,” she said simply, becuase that’s all there was to say.

“Nor, I love you,” Maddy said, giving her a small smile, “but you fucked up.”

And Nora knew it the minute Maddy said the words. She’d hurt Harry and she just hoped there was some way she could fix it, because if she didn’t she didn’t know if she could forgive herself.

Leo was her first task. She texted him to see if he was at his dorm and when he said “yes!” she walked over, backpack thrown over her shoulder, a pit of dread in her stomach. Leo was perfectly nice, just not nice for her. He needed someone simple, easy, and most importantly, not completely infatuated with someone else, all things that she was not. Leo lived on the other side of campus in one of the nicer dorms, known for not having too many parties and only upperclassmen and thankfully for her, lived alone. If she had had to go in there and deal with a roommate after she broke up with him, nora didn’t think she could do it.

He answered his door immediately, a wide smile on his face, a pair of sweats and a loose t-shirt for their college adorning his body. “This is a nice surprise,” he said, kissing her cheek sweetly.

Nora nodded, making her way inside. “Are you busy?”

He sat down at his desk chair and gestured to the notes spread out in front of him. “Studying. Or trying to, at least.”

She sat down on his bed, the plaid bedspread reminding her of the nights she had spent cuddled up next to him in his Twin-XL, much too small for her tastes. Harry’s double bed in the frat hour was far superior. “I wanted to talk to you about something,” she said, the words rough on her tongue.

Leo cocked his head to the side but said nothing, shutting his laptop and giving her his full attention. Somehow, this was worse, having him stae directly at her. She almost wished he didn’t have the courage to look at her because she sure didn’t.

“I want to break up.” The words were blunt in the quiet of the room, the only sounds the soft echo of a door shutting in the hall. Leo blinked at her and Nora’s eyes shifted down to her lap, winding and unwinding her fingers. She knew she didn’t care deeply about Leo—not in the way she suspected he did—but she didn’t expect the words to come as easily as they did.

“Why?” Leo asked, his voice broken at the end of the word. Nora expected if she looked at him he would be tearing up; he was always more open with his emotions than she was. Vulnerable, something she did not excel at.

“I—I just…” Could she tell him? Be completely honest with him? Her eyes met his, trying to gauge what she should say.

But he beat her to it. “Is it Harry?”

“What?” She hadn’t even told him about Harry. Nora had kept those two parts of her life as far apart as possible, other than when Harry saw her first date with Leo. Otherwise, she made an effort to never mention Harry to Leo. She didn’t know if it was because she couldn’t bare it or if she said his name it would be harder to be around Leo. Either way, he wouldn’t have gotten Harry’s name from her.

“I saw his name on your phone one time. Asked around. Someone said that you and him were a bit of a thing before we started seeing each other.”

Thankfully this person seemed to have left out that Nora and Harry had last hooked up once she’d started seeing Leo. That was a truth that Leo didn’t need to hear. “It’s Harry,” she agreed, “but it’s also me. I’m…I’m just not right for you, Leo. I’m sorry it took me this long to figure that out, but it’s—this—just isn’t right.” That was about as honest as she could be with him without hurting him. And she didn’t want to do that, as much as she didn’t really care about him, she still cared about his feelings.

Leo studied her, his straight brown hair not falling into his face like Harry’s curls did. She loved Harry’s hair and somehow Leo’s always reminded her of Harry’s. Maybe that was the problem with Leo—he was a constant reminder of Harry, particularly of his not being Harry. “Why aren’t you right for me?” He asked, eyes darting around her face. “Like, how can you make that decision for me?”

God, so many things were wrong with them. “I’m not trying to make that decision for you,” she said, trying to backpedal, find her thoughts. “I—it’s...”

“So what you’re trying to say is that I’m not right for you.”

He was right. “Yes,” she said, voice soft. “But, fuck, it’s not like there’s something wrong with you. It’s just that I need someone and something else.”

Leo bit his lip, blue eyes hard as they looked at her. “And that someone is Harry?”

“Yes.”

It was silent in his room, Nora’s eyes falling to her hands still clasped in her lap. She didn’t have a plan for how to leave the room, but now she felt like she needed one. “Leo, I’m sorry—“

“Jesus, Nor, don’t fucking apologize.” She hadn’t heard Leo curse before, not even during sex, so the word was jarring. “If that’s how you feel then that’s how you feel, I can’t argue with you about it. I mean, I wish you’d been more upfront with me about how you felt, but I’m not going to sit here and say I thought we were completely fine. I just thought you needed more time or something…I just liked you so much, I thought you’d get there.” He swiped at a tear that fell from his eye and Nora softened. Just because she didn’t care for him in the way he did didn’t mean she was completely immune to his pain.

“I was hoping I did too,” she admitted. “You’re a really good guy, Leo. I hope you find someone who loves you in all the ways I couldn’t.”

Leo exhales and wipes his palms on his sweats before looking up at her. “Can…can you go now?”

“Fuck, yeah, ok,” she said, eager to get out of there if he wanted her out. She scrambled to grab her backpack and her shoes, tugging them on at the door. “I’ll see you around, I guess?”

Leo stood behind her in the doorway and just nodded. “Bye, Nora,” he said, and then shut the door in her face.

Which she guessed she deserved.

Harry didn’t know who—or what to expect when he heard a knock on his door at 12:30 at night. There was a party still going downstairs, it being a Friday night and all. Harry didn’t feel like attending tonight though, and had decided to spent the evening curled up in bed with a pint of ice cream watching re-runs of That 70’s Show on Netflix. He’d get up early and go for a run, he decided, and forcing pledges to clean up the mess downstairs. He’d probably end up helping them, though, because that’s just who he was as a person, no matter how many times Nash told him the pledges were supposed to do it.

So when he opened his door in just his boxers and a shirt, his glasses on the tip of his nose, the last person he expected to see was Nora. She stood probably a foot away in leggings and a big sweatshirt, her hair in a messy bun, and Harry wondered what looks she had gotten downstairs when she’d tried to get in. Although basically all the guys knew her by now, since she’d spent so much time in the house when they were…fucking.

Harry leaned against the door, waiting for her to say something. He decided after the last time that he wouldn’t hook up with Nora again, not unless she was properly his. So unless it was to tell him that, he decided he would kick her out, tell her to go home. Have one of the guys call her an Uber though, since it was late and all.

“I broke it off with Leo,” she said finally, brown eyes staring at him with such hope in his eyes he didn’t know what to do with it.

“Good for you,” was all he could come up with to say. What was he supposed to say? Thank god, I’m kind of obsessed with you still?

She looked at him and then into his room. “Could we talk…please?”

Harry stepped back and let her into his room, shutting the door softly behind her. She stood in the space as if she was meant to be there, a piece of art that had been on loan but was finally back home. Harry couldn’t shake the fact that he had been waiting for her to come and see him for so long and now that she was here he had no idea what to say to her. So instead he was quiet, waiting for her to speak, and went and sat down on his bed.

“Are you going to say something?”

“What do you want me to say?” That I can’t decide if I’m happy you’re here or mad it took you this long? That you look gorgeous? That I want you, but all of you not just the bits you give me? He didn’t have the words for what he wanted to say, which was everything.

“Just…fuck. I guess I’ll talk first?” She said, her words rambling—he could tell she was nervous. “I fucked up, okay? I pushed you away and I don’t even know why—well actually I do. But it wasn’t a valid reason. I should’ve talked to you, told you what I was thinking, not just started seeing someone else without any explanation.”

“Why did you push me away?” He asked, the rest of it blending into the background, zeroing in on those few words.

“I—can I sit?” She asked, gesturing to his bed.

He nodded, shifting over to give them space and so he could face her while she talked. Harry had this feeling that this was when he might finally know Nora after being on the outskirts of her emotions for so long. And he so desperately wanted to know. It felt like the only way to know her before this was through sex, through seeing her when no one else was looking and her emotions and her pleasure took over and she was just…her. But if she could give him words and context for the rest of who she was, that would be even better. Then he might, finally, know all of her.

“When I was in high school I dated this guy—Charlie—and we dated for a year, almost a year and a half. And he knew everything about me. All of my secrets, all of my past, all of the things about me that I was scared of people knowing. But he was a year older than me and so when he was going to graduate I wanted to break up because I didn’t want to be that high school girlfriend left behind, you know? I didn’t want to be worrying if he was going to cheat on me with some college girl, and I thought if it was meant to be we’d find each other again. But then, when we did break up, he spread this video of me going down on him around the school and it destroyed me.”

Harry’s heart stopped. Of all the things he thought Nora would share with him, this didn’t even make the list of things he expected. He wanted to hold her but she was sitting bent over, her eyes not even meeting his, and he knew that she had to do this on her own.

“And he didn’t even care? Or get it? Like he didn’t understand why I was so hurt--or he pretended not to, because if he didn’t think it would effect me then why did he even share them in the first place, you know? And then he graduated and he could just leave, but I had a whole nother year there in that place. And it was hell. My friends stuck by me, thankfully, but everyone else treated me like I was trash. And I couldn’t bring myself to file a police report or something because rehashing it all to some police officer felt even more horrible than just dealing with it on my own. But anyways,” she said, running her hand through her hair, “ever since then I’ve had trust issues with relationships. Especially when I have feelings for someone and trust them. And so with you, it was like I had this trust in you from the beginning and you were so good but also wanted me so much and it just…it was too much for me. But Leo I could hold at a length, you know? Like I could keep him away from my heart, but you, you wormed your way in without me even realizing it.” Her eyes met his then, and they just looked at each other for a bit, Harry struggling to find the right words. If there even were such a thing as the right words. Which there probably weren’t.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Harry said, picking his words carefully. “For him to have done that to you…it’s horrific. And I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

She gave him a small smile, her hand flickering up to wipe a tear from her eye. “Thank you.”

“When you said I…I wormed my way into your heart,” he said, breathless, “did you mean that?”

She nodded, hair falling into her face.

Harry scooted closer to her, so close that their knees were touching. They both sat criss-cross-applesauce on his bed and somehow it felt so intimate, more intimate than anything they had done before because they were just looking at each other. “You wormed your way into mine, too,” he told her, a light chuckle leaving his lungs. “And you haven’t left. Did I?”

He ran his fingers over her knee and he could hear Nora’s inhale of breath. “No,” she said softly. “I just refused to believe it.”

“Well,” he said, taking her hands in his, finding joy in the feeling of her skin under his again after so long. “Do you believe it now?”

Her fingers interwined with his and when her eyes met his, Harry knew that she did. “Yes,” she whispered, and Harry didn’t pause before taking her face in his hands and kissing her the way he had been craving ever since he woke up in an empty bed.

Nora’s reaction was immediate, lips melding with his, body falling into him in the way he had missed. Her fingers scrambled up his back, pulling at the fabric with a desperation that Harry felt in his bones. After weeks apart, he wanted to see her—all of her—and feel her against him.

“Will you take this damn thing off?” Nora mumbled against his lips, pulling at the neck of his shirt. Harry smiled at her frustration and pulled it off, groaning from the way Nora traced his tattoos. Her mouth attached to her favorite spot—the place right above his swallow where she’d sucked a lovebite into the skin so long ago—and it felt like coming home. The pain of her teeth nipping the skin sent goosebumps up his spine and he couldn’t stop the helpless hum that left him, loving the feeling of her so close to him. He could smell her shampoo in her hair when he leaned his head down to rest on top of hers, and when he tugged her head up and traced a line from her earlobe to her neck, wrenching aside her sweatshirt that he wish was his instead, the scent of her laundry detergent filled his senses.

“Your turn,” he said, nudging up her sweatshirt so he could grab onto the bare skin above her leggings. “Wanna see you.”

Nora leaned back and smiled at him, one of the smiles she gave when she was perfectly at ease. The same one he earned when he brought her ice cream to the couch or tucked the blankets in around her in bed or wiped at a bit of toothpaste at the corner of her mouth. The fact that she was at ease with him again meant the world to him—he was safe for her. After so many men who weren’t, she trusted him, and Harry was never going to give her reason to think it was misplaced. She pulled off her sweatshirt and he helped her get it over her head when it got stuck, muffled curses leaving her mouth before their lips could reconnect.

But Harry missed her skin. So he gently laid her back and set about recreating one of their first moments together, kissing a line from the top to the bottom of her body. Trembling mewls fell from her lips as he went about his work, sucking on her nipples like it was his God-given duty. “I, missed, you,” he said against her skin, each word with a suck of his lips, earning him a wanton hiss that left his aching for her. “All of you.” He licked a stripe from her rib cage to her belly button, softly nipping at the skin of her belly. He loved digging his fingers into her skin and adored the fact that she let him suck marks onto her. Most girls hated them, but Nora didn’t mind in one bit, and Harry was an arrogant son of a bitch and loved the idea of her looking in the mirror and seeing proof of how much he cared for her.

When he made it to her leggings, Nora wasted no time in lifting her hips so he could peel them down her legs. Harry pressed his forefinger to the fabric right over her center and gasped, looking up to catch her eyes. “You’re dripping, love.”

The blush that colored her cheeks felt so out of place in the moment, but Harry loved it all the same. “Your lips are…” She paused, searching for the right word before settling on, “good.”

“Good?” He hooked his fingers in the hem and pulled them down. “You need to work on your vocabulary, baby.” He loved using that pet name on her and he loved even more when it made her smile.

“It’s not my fault I’m not a—fuck—literature major,” she replied, cursing when his tongue licked a circle on her folds. “H, please, Jesus.”

Harry peeked up at her and sucked harshly on her clit, a sharp squeal reverberating in his ears. “Not Jesus,” he teased, rubbing circles on her clit as he nosed at her skin, “just me.”

Nora snorted, but when Harry dipped his finger inside of her, it quickly changed to a gutteral cry that only rose as he found an even rhythm of his finger sliding in and out of her, his tongue licking cirlces on her clit at an even beat. It was like music to him, the most perfect symphony of sound. Her fingers wound into his curls and when he curled his finger inside of her she tugged on his locks, a groan leaving his lips and falling on her skin, drawing a gasp from her. It was give and take and give and take and it was Harry’s favorite game.

“H,” she said, tugging at his head, “need you.” She groaned as he sucked on her clit again, Harry ignoring her words. He had missed the taste of her on his tongue and he wasn’t about to give it up. “Please,” she cried, “I’m too sensitive, I want you.”

“What do you want?” He asked, adding another finger just to torture her for a little bit longer. He lived for her little whines and moans, he decided, the way her eyes fluttered shut and then open, desperately trying to keep him in view. “Use your words, princess.”

“Your dick,” she said, not even wasting a second. “Deep. Please. Please, H.”

“Fuck,” he breathed, drawing his fingers from her, storing the groan that left her deep inside of him to remember for later. Harry wasted no time in pulling at his boxers, tugging them off and dropping them to the floor. She bent at the waist, sitting up and pulling his glasses from his face—he wasn’t sure how they had survived his assault on her skin—and tugging open the drawer in his bedside table, searching around for a condom.

“You’re out,” she said, turning to look at him with a surprised look on her face.

Harry let out a string of curses and clambored over to the table to look inside. She was right though—the brothers must have stolen them in the weeks since he’d last seen her. He’d been low before then, but he hadn’t had any reason to restock. “I—I didn’t need to restock,” he said, looking at her, trying to gauge her reaction.

Nora wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him back down against her, his body resting on top of hers, his dick pressed against her skin. “You haven’t been with anyone else?”

He shook his head. “You…and him?”

She nodded slowly and Harry tried to ignore the part of him that hurt. She was with him now. In his bed, with him, no intention of leaving. “It wasn’t as good,” she whispered, runing her fingers across his jaw. “He didn’t know me like you do.”

That sure as hell made him feel better.

“And we always used a condom,” she continued. “So I’m clean.”

His eyes widened at her meaning. Bare? With her?

Harry thought he might cum from the thought itself. “Me too.”

Her voice was small when she asked him, “Is that okay with you?”

Harry took her face in his hands and kissed her nose, begging her to see how much he cared for her, wanted her in every which way. “Baby, that sounds like fucking heaven.”

She smiled, her lips crinkling at the edges, and Harry kissed a line across the freckles that danced on her cheeks. “I want to know what you feel like,” she said, testing the words, “bare. Inside me.”

The deep growl that left Harry was one he’d never heard before, but it perfectly encapsulated how he felt at hearing her speak like that. “You…are magnificent,” he told her and then he leaned his body up, just enough so that he could reach down. Her fingers drew circles on his arms as he pumped his dick once, twice, a hiss between his teeth filling the silence around them. When he brushed his tip against her folds, they both moaned and Harry recaptured her lips, wanting to feel her moan against his mouth. He wanted to not miss one single sound that left her when he pressed into her.

And when he did it was like remembering how to speak.

Nora’s hands grabbed at the skin at his shoulderblades, begging for purchase—something to grip as he pulled back and then in again. The feeling of being bare inside of her, of feeling the velvet of her walls and the way she gripped him when she clenched without meaning to, Harry decided this was better than any high. “Faster,” she mumbled against his chin, but Harry shook his head. He wanted her slow, he wanted to feel her.

“Want this to last,” he whispered, words threatening to expose his deepest fears.

But she knew immediately, her hands cupped his chin as he thrusted deep inside of her and she said, “I’ll be here in the morning. And every day after. Okay?” She kissed his nose, then his eyelids when his eyes shuttered closed at the grip she had on his heart. “We have all the time in the world.”

Harry gathered her in his arms, wanting to be as close to her as humanly possible, and drove himself as deep as he could. Her legs hooked around his waist, begging him deeper, the neverending stream of moans spurring him on. But he tried to hold back, wanting to enjoy every second of this. Because she—she was heaven and Harry didn’t want to leave.

“I know you want slow,” she said, digging her fingers into his skin, “but I need slightly faster. Please, H. Please.”

That was all he needed. He would have slower later. He wanted to please her, he wanted to give her everything she asked for and more. So he leaned her down on her back and lifted her foot to rest on his shoulder, earning him a deeper angle and drawing a gutteral moan from her chest as he slammed into her. Their hips met over and over again, the only sounds the sound of skin on skin and the moans and breaths that left them both. Harry drove deeper and deeper, wanting to find every inch of her and when he hit a spongy spot she keened, back arching up into him, her breasts bouncing up and down in a way that begged to be touched.

So he did, never wanting to let her be without his touch. “You’re perfection,” he mumbled against her skin as he licked patterns on her skin, kneading into the other breast as he drove his dick deeper inside of her, hitting the spot repeatedly. “Utter perfection. Goin’ to tell you all the time, yeah? Never want you to forget it. How perfect you are. Nora. Nora, fuck, you feel so good,” he said, words a mess in his brain. He didn’t even know what he was saying but from the way she gasped and clenched around him, he knew she liked it so she kept going. He told her that she was all he thought of, of how he’d tugged himself off in the shower to the thought of her, how he could barely stand to sit next to her in class knowing he couldn’t have her. How she ruled his every thought and dream.

“I’m about to come,” she said, arms hooking around his shoulder so he could press closer to her, “you?”

He nodded, hair sweaty against her shoulder where his face rested. Her legs had fallen back to the bed and they were impossibly close. Harry didn’t know two people could be this close, but with Nora it didn’t feel like enough. He wanted to be inside of her skin somehow. To see every nook and cranny of her. He dug his knees into the bed and kept up the pace, hands kneading every inch of her skin, words whispered in her ear for only her to hear, and she did the same. She told him how much she cared for him, how she missed him every moment of the day, how being with him was a new kind of solace. Her fingers drew lines down his back that he decided he would treasure for the rest of time.

Suddenly, her walls fluttered around him and then clamped down and Harry knew she was coming. Her back arched her hands scrabbled for purchase on his skin, his name leaving her mouth in an echo, a prayer, a desperate desire for salvation. Harry could feel himself falling after her and he slammed into her once, twice, and again, and then he fell, holding her still against him as he came, her name whispered in her hair.

She held him against her, arms a cage around him and Harry didn’t want to move. He didn’t have muscles left, he didn’t think.

“H,” she said, kissing his shoulder, “I should pee so we can sleep.”

“But I want to hold you.”

He could feel her smile against his skin. “After. Promise.”

“Fine.” He rolled to the side and she kissed his nose once before pulling on her sweatshirt and his boxers, padding over the door to go pee. Harry’s eyes fell to the sheets which they had claimed as their own and he smiled. He had missed her—everything about her, but this was how they had started in so many ways. This was where they learned each other, memorized one another.

The door opened and she was back, a smile on her face, a flush on her cheeks. It was quiet downstairs—the party must have ended while she’d been here, he realized. “C’mere,” he said, arms outstretched.

She answered by stripping off her clothes and falling back into him. Her chest pressed against his, legs intertwined, and they lay there. “Missed you,” she said softly. “A lot.”

“Me too.”

There was a pregnant pause before she asked him, “H?”

“Mhmm?”

“Can you…” She trailed off and Harry swiped at her hair, pushing it back so he could kiss her neck.

“What is it?”

“S’awkward,” she said and Harry chuckled.

“We just had sex, baby, you can’t say anything that’ll be awkward.”

She ducked her head so her chin rested on his arm which was wrapped around her. “Can you put it back inside me? Miss the feeling.”

He stilled. Fuck, he thought, where did she come from? “Course, love.” He lifted her leg slightly so he could fit there, and then tugged at his cock a few times before pushing gently inside of her. “Still wet,” he choked out. “How?”

“Always want you,” is what she replied and Harry keened.

He pressed kisses to the back of her head and tugged her closer into his body. “Sleep now, huh?”

“Love you,” she breathed out and Harry’s blood stopped in his veins. It was so sudden, but at the same time, so right. The words were what he needed to hear always, he realized. The ones he had been missing.

“Love you,” he answered and closed his eyes against her hair, thankful that she’d be there in the morning so he could say it again.

Waking up next to Harry, shirtless and holding her close, was a dream in of itself.

Nora blinked her eyes sleepily, adjusting to the sun streaming in his windows. He had these soft grey curtains that didn’t do much except hold off the harshest parts of the sun, so whenever she slept over she usually woke up fairly early. Not that she minded too much—it meant she got to watch Harry as he slept, which he hated her doing when he was awake. He always got twitchy under her gaze and ended up distracting her, usually with his lips.

She rolled slowly in his arms so that she could look at his face. His brown curls were smashed against the pillow, long eyelashes framing his cheeks with an impossibly sharp cut to themm. His nose—Nora had always loved his nose—and his perfectly soft lips. Nora reached out a hand and brushed her fingers across his jaw and Harry’s eyes fluttered, but didn’t open. Nora decided that was a good sign, and continued to trace the outlines of his features. She’d missed looking at him studying him, just being with him. She didn’t realize it until she was gone, how much she ached to be with him. And now that she was here, she wasn’t going anywhere. She pressed her lips to the column of his neck, right above his adam’s apple, before gently pulling his arms away from her waist. He was pliant under her touch, adapting quickly to her absence, which she tried not to think about too deeply.

A collection of paper had caught her eye. It sat in the opposite corner of his room, shoved up next to his guitar. It was the one he still had on loan from the guitar shop downtown. He’d taken Nora there once, wanting her to see guitars and understand them like he did. She tried to, but her favorite part was watching him appreciate them—that was enough for her. She slipped on his tshirt that was closest to her and her underwear and made her way over to the stack. Maybe it was snooping, but the truth was that Harry didn’t share this side of him with her all that often. She’d tried to get him to sing for her, but he had refused time and time again. Nora tucked her legs in and sat down on the floor, grabbing the stack to investigate further. The first couple papers were scribblings—words and letters—chords, she realized, Harry had shown them to her. Some chord diagrams too. But when she got fifth page, it was different. Full lines. Chords matched up with it, his handwriting crossing out things and changing them. It was lyrics, she realized. A song.

She looked up at Harry, still curled up in bed, the sunlight hitting his face perfectly, and wondered if this was too much of an intrusion. But when she glanced down at the pages, she couldn’t resist. She wanted to know his brain, that was all. She wanted to know what he thought about and how. And so she read.

Don't you call him "baby" / We're not talking lately / Don't you call him what you used to call me

I, I confess / I can tell that you are at your best / I’m selfish so I'm hating it

I notice that / There's a piece of you in how I dress / Take it as a compliment

Don't you call him "baby" / We're not talking lately / Don't you call him what you used to call me

I, I just miss / I just miss your accent and your friends / Did you know I still talk to them?

Does he take you walking 'round his parents' gallery?

Don't you call him "baby" / We're not talking lately / Don't you call him what you used to call me

She couldn’t help the tears that fell from her eyes because the lyrics were about her. About them. About when she ended things and started seeing Leo. About her calling him “baby” over the phone when he was being annoying, about him seeing her with Leo and the pained look on the face, about the graphic t-shirts that he’d bought that resembled her own. About her accent when she spoke in French that he always loved, how Maddy told her that Harry still would stop and talk to her in the quad. Leo’s parents owned a gallery a few towns over and he’d taken her there on a date, and she’d mentioned it in class one day. “Don't you call him what you used to call me” hit her the hardest, because she never could. The nicknames that she gave Harry, baby especially, they were all just for him. Leo would give her pet names and she could never do the same. The words came easily with Harry, but for Leo, they would’ve been forced and even she couldn’t do that.

When she left Harry it had caused him so much pain—pain she didn’t even stop to consider. It was a snap decision, Leo, and when she thought about him she thought only of herself. How it would be easier for her to leave Harry, to stop what they were doing, to shove her feelings to the side, ignore them. But she had forgotten that she wasn’t the only person in whatever relationship they had. And she had hurt him, despite that being the utter last thing she wanted to do. She had wanted to save him from the trainwreck that she was, from her inability to care for people in the deep way that Harry did for her. But she had surprised herself, because what she had said to Harry last night after they’d had sex, right before they went to sleep, it was true. She did love him. She loved him with every bone in her body, every hesitant, dubious part of her soul.

She was his, even though it scared her.

“Cherry?”

She looked up at the nickname, one he hadn’t called her in a while. He was sitting upright in bed, looking at her on the ground with his papers in her hand. “I was curious, I read them. I’m sorry if they were private, I just—I wanted to understand.”

Harry shook his head at her, giving her a warm smile that immediately put her at ease. “It’s fine, love. What do you think?”

Nora looked back at the paper she was holding and then up at him. “Is this one about me?”

Harry’s eyes widen and she can see the panic on his face. He must not have known this one was in the pile or that she’d read it. “Fuck. Um, yeah—I’m sorry, I just…I needed to process, you know? And then I wrote it, I’m so sorry, it’s so personal, I—“

“H, stop.” She got up, feet padding on the rugs on his floor over to his bed. She laid the paper on the duvet and crawled over to him, throwing her legs over his so she could sit comfortably at his waist. “Don’t apologize, yeah? It’s okay. You have every right to write all about me, about how I make you feel, about your pain. It’s not mine just because I cause it, it’s yours because you feel it.”

Harry’s eyes searched hers, trying to discern if the words were honest. But he would find no hint of a lie, because Nora wasn’t mad. She was angry at herself for being so blind to how her actions had made him feel. “Are you sure?”

She nodded, curling a finger in his hair. “I’m sorry for hurting you,” she said, and shushed him when he tried to speak. “I didn’t think about how I was going to hurt you, I was thinking about how to protect myself. I tricked mmyself into thinking that somehow by distancing myself from you I was protecting me and you, and in the end I just hurt us both. So I’m the one who gets to be sorry here, ‘kay?”

He brushed circles on her thighs, chin dipped to think about her words. “It was so hard,” he said softly, words quiet in the silent house. No one else was up yet, it was just them, wrapped in their own world. “Seeing you with him. Knowing what you were doing with him and not with me. Having to see you all the time—it was like my own specialized torture.”

“Never again,” she said, pressing a kiss to his browbone. “I promise. I’ll tell you what I’m feeling, what I’m thinking. No secrets.”

Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, tugging her body in close, and rested his head right between her breasts. It felt so intimate in a completely different way than anything they’d done before. This felt vulnerable in that way where your heart is completely bared open, ready and willing to be taken from you. “Love you,” he said, words muffled in his t-shirt that she still wore. “No secrets.”

Nora kissed the top of his head and rested her cheek against his soft curls. “I love you too, H.”

They sat there on his bed, their body curled up against one another like two commas, perfectly aligned. Meant to be, as long as there were no letters separating them. And for now, it was just them, the two commas, in a sentence all of their own.

——————————————————————————————-

YEEEE SHE’S DONE!!!!! this took so long to get my shit together to write--I had like half written and just couldn’t figure out how to finish. there were supposed to be four parts, but I ended up just rolling it all together in this one. I’m planning to do an extra (#italy!harry anyone!?!?!?!!) and lmk if you have any requests for Nora + Harry. love u all to pieces!

ask me about fratboy!harry here | masterlist here | fratboy!harry tag

PART ONE | PART TWO

#Harry Styles #Harry Styles Fan Fiction #harry styles fic #harry styles smut #college #college au #harry styles college #college harry styles #harry styles writing #harry styles one shot #harry styles drabble #fratboy harry #fratboy!harry #fratboy harry style #harry smut

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jerrytackettca · 6 years ago

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Top 7 Kitchen Essentials

30 Tips in 30 Days Designed to Help You Take Control of Your Health

This article is included in Dr. Mercola's All-Time Top 30 Health Tips series. Every day during the month of January, a new tip will be added that will help you take control of your health. Want to see the full list? Click here.

Eating well and taking care of your health is easier when you have the right ingredients and utensils on hand at all times. Following are some top essentials with which to stock your kitchen — healthy fats, medicinal and health-promoting spices that can be added to a wide variety of dishes, and nontoxic utensils to avoid unnecessary exposures to toxins and harmful pathogens.

1. Healthy Fats and Cooking Oils

While dietary fats are an incredibly important part of a healthy diet, it's crucial to understand which are healthy and which are not. Processed industrial vegetable oils are best avoided at all times, as they're typically made with genetically engineered grains contaminated with glyphosate, and are prone to oxidation and produce dangerous byproducts when heated.1 Instead, stock your kitchen with the following healthy cooking oils and dietary fats:

• Coconut oil — This is what I believe is the best cooking oil. It has a number of valuable health benefits, including a positive effect on your heart and antimicrobial properties. It's also a great source of energy, thanks to its medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). When consumed, the MCFAs are digested and converted by your liver into energy that you can immediately use. Coconut oil also helps stimulate your metabolism to encourage a healthy weight profile.

As an added boon, coconut oil has countless other uses besides cooking and eating, from topical beauty applications to first aid treatments, to general household cleaning. Make sure you choose an organic coconut oil that is unrefined, unbleached, made without heat processing or chemicals.

• Grass fed butter — Raw, organic butter made from healthy grass fed cows' milk contains many valuable nutrients, including vitamins A, D, E and K2, along with minerals and antioxidants that support good health. Recent research2 has also noted that organic grass fed dairy has a "near-perfect" balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats, as well as higher amounts of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which can help reduce your cardiovascular and metabolic disease risks.

• Organic ghee — Ghee, also known as clarified butter, differs from regular butter in that it has fewer dairy proteins, making it a better choice for those with lactose sensitivity or intolerance. Starting with pure butter made from cow's milk, the ghee-making process involves heating and separating liquid fats from the milk solids, which become caramelized, and removing the milk solids, which also removes most of the lactose.

Ghee is darker and has a nuttier flavor than butter, and with a higher smoke point, it's a healthier option for sautéing. It also has a longer shelf life, lasting for around six months in the refrigerator or up to a year in the freezer. Ghee has been used in traditional cooking in India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia for thousands of years. It's also an Ayurvedic go-to for herbal ointments, massage and as a medicinal to remedy rashes and burns.

• Lard and tallow — Tallow is a hard fat that comes from cows. Lard is a hard fat that comes from pigs. They're both animal fats, and were historically two main fats used in cooking.

• Olive oil — This oil contains healthy fatty acids that can help lower your risk of heart disease. While the standard recommendation has been to avoid using olive oil for cooking and to only use it cold, recent research3 in which 10 popular cooking oils were compared contradicts this advice, showing extra-virgin olive oil actually scored best for both oxidative stability and lack of harmful compounds produced when heated.

A word of caution is warranted, however. Fake olive oil abounds, so it's important to take the time to investigate your sources. Tests reveal anywhere from 60 to 90 percent of the olive oils sold in American grocery stores and restaurants are adulterated with cheap vegetable oils or nonhuman-grade olive oils, which are harmful to health in a number of ways.4

For tips on how to assess the quality of your olive oil, see the short video below. For more information, see "Is Your Olive Oil Fake?" where I cover this topic in-depth.

2. Homemade Broth

Homemade bone broth is excellent for speeding healing and recuperation from illness, as it helps "heal and seal" your gut. Physicians harkening as far back as Hippocrates have associated bone broth with gut healing.

It also helps fight inflammation, supports joint health, promotes weight loss, improves sleep and brain function, and is a good source of not only healthy fat but also many important vitamins and minerals, including:

Calcium

Magnesium

Phosphorous

Silicon

Sulfur

Trace minerals

Chondroitin sulphates

Glucosamine

Bone broth, in its simplest form, is made using animal bones, vinegar and spices. It is simmered in a pot or slow cooker at least overnight, or as long as 24 to 72 hours.

Longer simmering times result in a more complete release of gelatin, minerals and other nutrients from the bones, which is key to realizing the many health-giving benefits and restorative properties this broth has to offer. Making your own bone broth is extremely cost effective, as you can make use of leftover carcass bones that would otherwise be thrown away.

One important caveat when making broth, whether you're using chicken or beef, is to make sure they're from organically-raised, pastured or grass-fed animals. For detailed instructions on how to make your own broth, please refer to my previous article: "Bone Broth — One of Your Most Healing Diet Staples."

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

Traditionally, apple cider vinegar is made through a long, slow fermentation process that renders it rich in bioactive components like acetic acid, gallic acid, catechin, epicatechin, caffeic acid and more, giving it potent antioxidant, antimicrobial and many other beneficial properties.

"Mother" of vinegar, a cobweb-like amino acid-based substance found in unprocessed, unfiltered vinegar, indicates your vinegar is of the best quality. Most manufacturers pasteurize and filter their vinegar to prevent the mother from forming, but the "murky" kind is actually best, especially if you're planning to consume it.

With its wide variety of health benefits, a jug of raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar is easily one of the most economical and versatile remedies around. I recommend keeping it in your home at all times. Some of the health benefits associated with apple cider vinegar consumption include:

Blood sugar control — Vinegar is said to be antiglycemic and has a beneficial effect on your blood sugar, likely due to its acetic acid content, which prevents the complete digestion of complex carbohydrates. Another theory is that vinegar helps inactivate digestive enzymes that break down carbohydrates into sugar, thus slowing the conversion of complex carbohydrate into sugar, preventing a spike by giving you more time to pull sugar out of your blood.

There are studies supporting the use of vinegar as a diabetic treatment as well. One study5 found vinegar treatment improved insulin sensitivity in 19 percent of individuals with type 2 diabetes and 34 percent of those with prediabetes.

Heart health — Polyphenols such as chlorogenic acid help inhibit oxidation of LDL cholesterol,6 while acetic acid helps lower blood pressure.7 Vinegar has also been shown to lower triglyceride levels and VLDL (very low density lipoprotein) cholesterol in animals.8

Weight management — Vinegar may aid weight loss by increasing satiety, another effect attributed to acetic acid. For instance, when volunteers consumed a small amount of vinegar along with a high-carb meal (a bagel and juice) they consumed less food for the remainder of the day. The reduction equated to about 200 to 275 calories a day — an amount that would result in a monthly weight loss of up to 1.5 pounds.9

Sinus congestion — Apple cider vinegar's ability to break up and reduce mucus in your body can help clear your sinuses. It also has antibacterial properties, making it useful for infections. Here's what to do:10

Directions

Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to a cup of warm filtered water. Stir until thoroughly mixed.

Using a neti pot, pour the mixture into one nostril at a time, while plugging the other nostril with the other hand.

Sore throat — The antibacterial properties of apple cider vinegar may be useful for sore throats as well. Gargle with a mixture of about one-third cup of apple cider vinegar mixed with warm water as needed. Apple cider vinegar with honey and ginger for a sore throat is also a popular and effective remedy. Another mixture for sore throat, recommended by Bonnie K. McMillen, a nurse from the University of Pittsburgh, includes:11

Ingredients

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon raw honey

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Optional: 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Digestive ailments — Acid reflux typically results from a lack of stomach acid. You can easily improve the acid content of your stomach by taking 1 tablespoon of raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar in a large glass of water daily. The pectin in apple cider vinegar may also help to soothe intestinal spasms. For everyday gut health, a mixture of 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar with 1 teaspoon of raw honey in 1 cup of warm water can help.

Skin irritations and warts — Apple cider vinegar also works for a variety of skin ailments, from bug bites and poison ivy to sunburn and even warts. You can either apply it directly to the irritated area or try soaking in a bath with about 1 cup of vinegar added. For warts, soak a cotton ball in vinegar and apply it to the wart, covered, overnight. Repeat until the wart disappears.

Energy boost — Apple cider vinegar contains potassium and enzymes to help banish fatigue. Plus, its amino acids may help prevent the buildup of lactic acid in your body, further preventing fatigue.12

Detox and immune support — Studies have shown apple cider vinegar can be beneficial for liver detoxification and helps cleanse your lymphatic system, which can contribute to improved immune system response. According to The Truth About Cancer:13

"Cider vinegar was … determined to be a strong antimicrobial agent … One of the most fatal bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is resistant to disinfectants but is found to be killed by acetic acid. Especially in patients who are immunosuppressed, apple cider vinegar is an excellent natural antimicrobial tonic to rid of harmful bacteria and provide immune support."

Candida — Candida overgrowth in your gut has been linked to many different health issues, including yeast infections, fatigue, poor memory, depression, headaches and sugar cravings.

Candida overgrowth usually happens when your body is too acidic from excessive consumption of processed foods or sugar, or if there are insufficient healthy bacteria in your system. Because apple cider vinegar is fermented with a beneficial yeast, it can serve as a prebiotic for healthy bacteria, essentially helping good bacteria grow.

4. Himalayan Salt

Salt is essential for life, and your body needs it for optimal function. But it's important to realize that there are major differences between the refined and highly processed salt found in processed foods and regular table salt, and unrefined natural salt such as Himalayan salt. The latter is important to many biological processes, including:

Being a major component of your blood plasma, lymphatic fluid, extracellular fluid and even amniotic fluid

Carrying nutrients into and out of your cells, and helping maintain your acid base balance

Increasing the glial cells in your brain, which are responsible for creative thinking and long-term planning. Both sodium and chloride are also necessary for the firing of neurons

Maintain and help regulate blood pressure

Helping your brain communicate with your muscles, so that you can move on demand via sodium-potassium ion exchange

Supporting the function of your adrenal glands, which produce dozens of vital hormones

While natural sea salt used to be a healthy source of salt, I shy away from it these days, as recent tests14 reveal 90 percent of sea salt is contaminated with microplastics. Himalayan salt is not plagued by this contamination.

On hot days, or after exercising and sweating profusely, you can make a wholesome sports drink to replenish lost electrolytes and minerals by mixing a pinch of Himalayan salt and a dash of fresh lemon juice in a glass of water. Apart from culinary purposes, Himalayan salt can also be substituted for bath salts, which will allow your skin to absorb valuable minerals from the water.

5. Black Pepper

Black pepper is another key staple few households would want to do without, and, like most spices, it has medicinal qualities that gives it value far beyond mere flavor. For example, Europeans have used black pepper for thousands of years in traditional medicine to treat inflammation and digestive problems.

Its effectiveness is due in part to a compound known as piperine. Research15 suggest piperine's ability to inhibit new fat cells from forming, known as adipogenesis, helps reduce waist size and body fat, and optimizes cholesterol levels.

Perhaps more importantly, research has shown growth of several types of pathogens are inhibited by black pepper, including Staph,16 E.coli,17 Helicobacter pylori (bacteria known to cause ulcers),18 and parasites.19 So, black pepper not only may have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial and fever-reducing actions, but immune system-enhancing properties as well.

I recommend using a hand-held mill for grinding fresh peppercorn, as whole peppercorns have an almost indefinite shelf life. Ground pepper only retains optimum freshness for about three months, and is sometimes "adulterated" with something other than black pepper. When cooking, use it at the last moment to retain the full flavor of the essential oils.

Frontier organic black pepper is a tasty choice. Another, which is my personal preference, is Indian long pepper which, as so eloquently described by Serious Eats has a flavor that is:20

"[M]uch more complex than black pepper, reminiscent of spice blends like garam masala more than a single spice. It possesses black pepper's heat and musk, but in a less harsh, more nuanced way, tempered by sweet notes of nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom. Its finish lingers on the tongue with a tobacco-like coolness; where black pepper stings, long pepper balms."

6. Medicinal Spices

While virtually all spices have medicinal qualities of some kind, the following stand out among the crowd:

• Turmeric — The reasons to make turmeric part of your life (if it isn't already) are almost too numerous to count, especially when you consider its incredible restorative, disease-healing and preventive capabilities.

Turmeric has been on the proverbial "top 10 superfoods" list in Chinese medicine for millennia21 and just as long in the Indian Ayurvedic healing tradition.

One component in turmeric, curcumin, has been proven so effective as an anti-inflammatory that it's compared to prescription medications, without the toxic side effects22 such as ulcer formation, internal bleeding and a lowered white blood cell count. Its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier also makes it a valuable agent against dementia Alzheimer's.23,24

Antioxidants in turmeric also neutralize free radicals throughout your body, including your brain, kidney, liver, heart and gastrointestinal tract. In addition, curcumin has been shown to induce expression of phase II antioxidant enzymes, thereby aiding glutathione synthesis, which is important for detoxification.

• Ginger — Ginger has been used for millennia in areas of India and China for much more than adding a sweet/spicy flavor to foods and drinks. It's proved over time to be a popular remedy to soothe away headaches, nausea — particularly motion sickness — and to treat several problems related to digestive health as well as pain and inflammation from arthritic conditions, to mention but a few.

More recently, research25 shows ginger is a viable antidote and protective agent against fatal poisoning from such agents as pesticides, environmental pollutants, heavy metals, bacterial and fungal toxins and even some cosmetic products and medications.

• Cumin — Cumin is the second most popular spice in the world, second only to black pepper, and is considered by many "the secret sauce" in most savory dishes. Cumin seeds have been prized for thousands of years and are best known in their ground form as a spice added to curry dishes.

Research26 reveals cumin helps stimulate secretion of pancreatic enzymes, which are necessary for proper digestion and nutrient assimilation. Cumin also has anticancer and antidiabetes properties, attributed to its active components, including terpens, phenols and flavonoids.27

In fact, cumin has been found to work better than the antidiabetes drug glibenclamide in treating diabetic rats28 and similar benefits were found in a human study.29

• Mustard seed — Mustard seed which, like broccoli, belongs to the brassica genus,30,31 contains compounds that inhibit cancer proliferation and metastasis.32 It also contains myrosinase — a compound that augments the cancer-fighting potential of other cruciferous veggies, delivering a double-punch when combined.

The enzyme myrosinase is critical for the conversion of glucosinolates into chemoprotective compounds known as isothiocyanates. While all cruciferous veggies contain some myrosinase, you significantly boost conversion by eating them together with a particularly myrosinase-rich food such as mustard seed powder.

Mustard seed powder can also be used to whip up homemade topical remedies, such as plasters and baths to relieve pain. Part of the pain-relieving effect is due to the mustard seed's high magnesium and selenium content. In Ayurvedic medicine, it was used topically to improve blood circulation and detoxification. Taken internally, 1 teaspoon of mustard seed powder twice a day can be used as a remedy for constipation.

7. Essential Kitchen Tools

Lastly, the type of kitchen utensils you use during preparation and cooking can also have an effect on your health, for better or worse. To protect and support the health of your entire family, consider the following tips:

• Use ceramic knives for fast-browning produce — Ceramic knives are chemically inert, and said to slow the browning process.33 Ceramic blades are best for slicing fruit, vegetables and boneless meat, but not frozen foods, meat with bones or cheese (because of its tendency to stick). Also avoid using a ceramic blade to crush foods like garlic.

• Switch to ceramic or other inert, nontoxic cookware — The slippery surfaces of nonstick pots and pans comes courtesy of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found to be likely carcinogens.

When heated, nonstick cookware and bakeware release a related chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), linked to thyroid disease, infertility, organ damage, and developmental and reproductive problems in lab animals.

Hazardous toxins are produced after only two to five minutes of heating the pan. At 464 degrees Fahrenheit, the coating on nonstick cookware begins to break down and release toxins into the air. Stainless steel, aluminum and cast iron pans also have their drawbacks, as the metals may not be entirely inert, resulting in potentially toxic metal exposure.

Ceramic cookware circumvents all of these problems. A true ceramic pan or dish will be made only with water and inorganic materials and minerals from the earth's crust. Because it doesn't contain any metals, a ceramic pan is nonreactive and nontoxic. No odors or gases release into the air even when heated to extremely high temperatures.

• Use glass containers for food storage — If you're still using plastic containers, bags and plastic wrap for food storage, consider switching to glass containers.

Depending on what product you're using, your plastic might contain phthalates, bisphenol-A, bisphenol-S — endocrine-disrupting "gender-bending" chemicals that are causing males of many species to become more female — PVC and styrene, two carcinogens and more.

Virtually all plastic chemicals carry some risk to health and are best avoided as much as possible, especially if you have children. Glass is completely inert and reusable indefinitely, provided it doesn't break, in which case it's recyclable.

• Use separate cutting boards for meat and veggies — Kitchens are notorious breeding grounds for disease-causing bacteria, courtesy of contaminated meat products, including antibiotic-resistant strains of E-coli.

To avoid cross-contamination between foods, use a designated cutting board, preferably wood, not plastic, for raw meat and poultry, and never use this board for other food preparation, such as cutting up vegetables. Color coding your cutting boards is a simple way to distinguish between them.

Tip #27Eliminate Toxins From Your Body

from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/01/28/kitchen-staples.aspx

source http://niapurenaturecom.weebly.com/blog/top-7-kitchen-essentials

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paullassiterca · 6 years ago

Text

Top 7 Kitchen Essentials

30 Tips in 30 Days Designed to Help You Take Control of Your Health

This article is included in Dr. Mercola’s All-Time Top 30 Health Tips series. Every day during the month of January, a new tip will be added that will help you take control of your health. Want to see the full list? Click here.

1. Healthy Fats and Cooking Oils

While dietary fats are an incredibly important part of a healthy diet, it’s crucial to understand which are healthy and which are not. Processed industrial vegetable oils are best avoided at all times, as they’re typically made with genetically engineered grains contaminated with glyphosate, and are prone to oxidation and produce dangerous byproducts when heated.1 Instead, stock your kitchen with the following healthy cooking oils and dietary fats:

• Coconut oil — This is what I believe is the best cooking oil. It has a number of valuable health benefits, including a positive effect on your heart and antimicrobial properties. It’s also a great source of energy, thanks to its medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). When consumed, the MCFAs are digested and converted by your liver into energy that you can immediately use. Coconut oil also helps stimulate your metabolism to encourage a healthy weight profile.

• Grass fed butter — Raw, organic butter made from healthy grass fed cows’ milk contains many valuable nutrients, including vitamins A, D, E and K2, along with minerals and antioxidants that support good health. Recent research2 has also noted that organic grass fed dairy has a “near-perfect” balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats, as well as higher amounts of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which can help reduce your cardiovascular and metabolic disease risks.

• Organic ghee — Ghee, also known as clarified butter, differs from regular butter in that it has fewer dairy proteins, making it a better choice for those with lactose sensitivity or intolerance. Starting with pure butter made from cow’s milk, the ghee-making process involves heating and separating liquid fats from the milk solids, which become caramelized, and removing the milk solids, which also removes most of the lactose.

Ghee is darker and has a nuttier flavor than butter, and with a higher smoke point, it’s a healthier option for sautéing. It also has a longer shelf life, lasting for around six months in the refrigerator or up to a year in the freezer. Ghee has been used in traditional cooking in India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia for thousands of years. It’s also an Ayurvedic go-to for herbal ointments, massage and as a medicinal to remedy rashes and burns.

• Lard and tallow — Tallow is a hard fat that comes from cows. Lard is a hard fat that comes from pigs. They’re both animal fats, and were historically two main fats used in cooking.

A word of caution is warranted, however. Fake olive oil abounds, so it’s important to take the time to investigate your sources. Tests reveal anywhere from 60 to 90 percent of the olive oils sold in American grocery stores and restaurants are adulterated with cheap vegetable oils or nonhuman-grade olive oils, which are harmful to health in a number of ways.4

For tips on how to assess the quality of your olive oil, see the short video below. For more information, see “Is Your Olive Oil Fake?” where I cover this topic in-depth.

youtube

2. Homemade Broth

Homemade bone broth is excellent for speeding healing and recuperation from illness, as it helps “heal and seal” your gut. Physicians harkening as far back as Hippocrates have associated bone broth with gut healing.

Calcium

Magnesium

Phosphorous

Silicon

Sulfur

Trace minerals

Chondroitin sulphates

Glucosamine

Bone broth, in its simplest form, is made using animal bones, vinegar and spices. It is simmered in a pot or slow cooker at least overnight, or as long as 24 to 72 hours.

One important caveat when making broth, whether you’re using chicken or beef, is to make sure they’re from organically-raised, pastured or grass-fed animals. For detailed instructions on how to make your own broth, please refer to my previous article: “Bone Broth — One of Your Most Healing Diet Staples.”

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

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“Mother” of vinegar, a cobweb-like amino acid-based substance found in unprocessed, unfiltered vinegar, indicates your vinegar is of the best quality. Most manufacturers pasteurize and filter their vinegar to prevent the mother from forming, but the “murky” kind is actually best, especially if you’re planning to consume it.

Sinus congestion — Apple cider vinegar’s ability to break up and reduce mucus in your body can help clear your sinuses. It also has antibacterial properties, making it useful for infections. Here’s what to do:10

Directions

Add ½ to 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to a cup of warm filtered water. Stir until thoroughly mixed.

Using a neti pot, pour the mixture into one nostril at a time, while plugging the other nostril with the other hand.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon raw honey

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Optional: ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

“Cider vinegar was … determined to be a strong antimicrobial agent … One of the most fatal bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is resistant to disinfectants but is found to be killed by acetic acid. Especially in patients who are immunosuppressed, apple cider vinegar is an excellent natural antimicrobial tonic to rid of harmful bacteria and provide immune support.”

Candida — Candida overgrowth in your gut has been linked to many different health issues, including yeast infections, fatigue, poor memory, depression, headaches and sugar cravings.

4. Himalayan Salt

Salt is essential for life, and your body needs it for optimal function. But it’s important to realize that there are major differences between the refined and highly processed salt found in processed foods and regular table salt, and unrefined natural salt such as Himalayan salt. The latter is important to many biological processes, including:

Being a major component of your blood plasma, lymphatic fluid, extracellular fluid and even amniotic fluid

Carrying nutrients into and out of your cells, and helping maintain your acid base balance

Increasing the glial cells in your brain, which are responsible for creative thinking and long-term planning. Both sodium and chloride are also necessary for the firing of neurons

Maintain and help regulate blood pressure

Helping your brain communicate with your muscles, so that you can move on demand via sodium-potassium ion exchange

Supporting the function of your adrenal glands, which produce dozens of vital hormones

5. Black Pepper

Its effectiveness is due in part to a compound known as piperine. Research15 suggest piperine’s ability to inhibit new fat cells from forming, known as adipogenesis, helps reduce waist size and body fat, and optimizes cholesterol levels.

I recommend using a hand-held mill for grinding fresh peppercorn, as whole peppercorns have an almost indefinite shelf life. Ground pepper only retains optimum freshness for about three months, and is sometimes “adulterated” with something other than black pepper. When cooking, use it at the last moment to retain the full flavor of the essential oils.

Frontier organic black pepper is a tasty choice. Another, which is my personal preference, is Indian long pepper which, as so eloquently described by Serious Eats has a flavor that is:20

“[M]uch more complex than black pepper, reminiscent of spice blends like garam masala more than a single spice. It possesses black pepper’s heat and musk, but in a less harsh, more nuanced way, tempered by sweet notes of nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom. Its finish lingers on the tongue with a tobacco-like coolness; where black pepper stings, long pepper balms.”

6. Medicinal Spices

While virtually all spices have medicinal qualities of some kind, the following stand out among the crowd:

• Turmeric — The reasons to make turmeric part of your life (if it isn’t already) are almost too numerous to count, especially when you consider its incredible restorative, disease-healing and preventive capabilities.

Turmeric has been on the proverbial “top 10 superfoods” list in Chinese medicine for millennia21 and just as long in the Indian Ayurvedic healing tradition.

One component in turmeric, curcumin, has been proven so effective as an anti-inflammatory that it’s compared to prescription medications, without the toxic side effects22 such as ulcer formation, internal bleeding and a lowered white blood cell count. Its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier also makes it a valuable agent against dementia Alzheimer’s.23,24

• Ginger — Ginger has been used for millennia in areas of India and China for much more than adding a sweet/spicy flavor to foods and drinks. It’s proved over time to be a popular remedy to soothe away headaches, nausea — particularly motion sickness — and to treat several problems related to digestive health as well as pain and inflammation from arthritic conditions, to mention but a few.

• Cumin — Cumin is the second most popular spice in the world, second only to black pepper, and is considered by many “the secret sauce” in most savory dishes. Cumin seeds have been prized for thousands of years and are best known in their ground form as a spice added to curry dishes.

In fact, cumin has been found to work better than the antidiabetes drug glibenclamide in treating diabetic rats28 and similar benefits were found in a human study.29

Mustard seed powder can also be used to whip up homemade topical remedies, such as plasters and baths to relieve pain. Part of the pain-relieving effect is due to the mustard seed’s high magnesium and selenium content. In Ayurvedic medicine, it was used topically to improve blood circulation and detoxification. Taken internally, 1 teaspoon of mustard seed powder twice a day can be used as a remedy for constipation.

7. Essential Kitchen Tools

Ceramic cookware circumvents all of these problems. A true ceramic pan or dish will be made only with water and inorganic materials and minerals from the earth’s crust. Because it doesn’t contain any metals, a ceramic pan is nonreactive and nontoxic. No odors or gases release into the air even when heated to extremely high temperatures.

• Use glass containers for food storage — If you’re still using plastic containers, bags and plastic wrap for food storage, consider switching to glass containers.

Depending on what product you’re using, your plastic might contain phthalates, bisphenol-A, bisphenol-S — endocrine-disrupting “gender-bending” chemicals that are causing males of many species to become more female — PVC and styrene, two carcinogens and more.

Tip #27Eliminate Toxins From Your Body

from Articles http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/01/28/kitchen-staples.aspx source https://niapurenaturecom.tumblr.com/post/182365387076

0 notes

jakehglover · 6 years ago

Text

Top 7 Kitchen Essentials

30 Tips in 30 Days Designed to Help You Take Control of Your Health

1. Healthy Fats and Cooking Oils

• Lard and tallow — Tallow is a hard fat that comes from cows. Lard is a hard fat that comes from pigs. They're both animal fats, and were historically two main fats used in cooking.

For tips on how to assess the quality of your olive oil, see the short video below. For more information, see "Is Your Olive Oil Fake?" where I cover this topic in-depth.

youtube

2. Homemade Broth

Calcium

Magnesium

Phosphorous

Silicon

Sulfur

Trace minerals

Chondroitin sulphates

Glucosamine

Bone broth, in its simplest form, is made using animal bones, vinegar and spices. It is simmered in a pot or slow cooker at least overnight, or as long as 24 to 72 hours.

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

youtube

Directions

Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to a cup of warm filtered water. Stir until thoroughly mixed.

Using a neti pot, pour the mixture into one nostril at a time, while plugging the other nostril with the other hand.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon raw honey

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Optional: 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Candida — Candida overgrowth in your gut has been linked to many different health issues, including yeast infections, fatigue, poor memory, depression, headaches and sugar cravings.

4. Himalayan Salt

Being a major component of your blood plasma, lymphatic fluid, extracellular fluid and even amniotic fluid

Carrying nutrients into and out of your cells, and helping maintain your acid base balance

Increasing the glial cells in your brain, which are responsible for creative thinking and long-term planning. Both sodium and chloride are also necessary for the firing of neurons

Maintain and help regulate blood pressure

Helping your brain communicate with your muscles, so that you can move on demand via sodium-potassium ion exchange

Supporting the function of your adrenal glands, which produce dozens of vital hormones

5. Black Pepper

Frontier organic black pepper is a tasty choice. Another, which is my personal preference, is Indian long pepper which, as so eloquently described by Serious Eats has a flavor that is:20

6. Medicinal Spices

While virtually all spices have medicinal qualities of some kind, the following stand out among the crowd:

Turmeric has been on the proverbial "top 10 superfoods" list in Chinese medicine for millennia21 and just as long in the Indian Ayurvedic healing tradition.

In fact, cumin has been found to work better than the antidiabetes drug glibenclamide in treating diabetic rats28 and similar benefits were found in a human study.29

7. Essential Kitchen Tools

• Use glass containers for food storage — If you're still using plastic containers, bags and plastic wrap for food storage, consider switching to glass containers.

Tip #27Eliminate Toxins From Your Body

from HealthyLife via Jake Glover on Inoreader http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/01/28/kitchen-staples.aspx

0 notes

randomaccesslegacy-blog · 6 years ago

Text

honey face mask Secrets

home remedies via steptoremedies can utilize this moisturizing mask numerous occasions every week in case you’d like. It’s incredibly gentle on this pores and skin. It then hydrates and tightens pores and skin pores for very clear complexion. For making use of honey as a pore cleanser: Test mixing a single spoon raw honey with two spoons jojoba oil or coconut oil. Apply to wash, dry pores and skin, and massage Carefully inside a circular motion, averting your eye spot. Rinse with cold drinking water. Mild Exfoliator : I believe the admin of the Internet site is truly Functioning hard for his Web site, as in this article each and every things is excellent primarily based information and facts. All you require will be the orange peel powder lying as part of your pantry, expecting you to offer value to the identical and number of other simply manageable orange sourced solutions. I make use of a raw honey mask various situations weekly (from time to time every day), And that i’ve seen a definite enhancement inside the tone and softness of my pores and skin. I find it irresistible all the more for The reality that it’s totally edible and doesn’t expose my pores and skin for the substances present in most natural beauty items. The orange powder is A necessary and main part component of the comprehensive method. It can be geared up quickly at your house by creating using subsequent actions. Before applying any with the masks, its best to 1st test a little part of the mask onto your internal elbow or wrist to see if you could be allergic to it. Uncooked honey was prized for its therapeutic properties in historical civilizations. In Egyptian And Ayurvedic traditions, honey was used to treat skin wounds and disorders (examine more details on the ancient works by using of honey listed here). The banana infuses moisture in the pores and skin even though creating the powder spreadable, along with the lemon juice brightens. We might use conversion monitoring pixels from marketing networks for instance Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in an effort to discover when an ad has effectively resulted in the desired action, including signing up for the HubPages Company or publishing an posting around the HubPages Assistance. Turmeric lightens skin and it has powerful anti-bacterial Houses which make it a fantastic cure for managing both equally acne and blackheads. For https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_mask that peel is rich in vitamin C, it shields pores and skin from free radical problems, keeps acne at bay and encourages a healthier glowing pores and skin. The oatmeal deep cleanses your pores and drives out any Dust, grime and oil within the surface in the pores and skin. Listed below are 5 successful face packs for an acne-totally free skin. I failed to understand that strawberries In a natural way have salicylic acid in them! I understood to look for the component when shopping for face/acne washes, but by no means knew I had some in my fridge previously. I love learning new things such as that! :) Answer: Any true honey will do, but my own favorite is raw, unfiltered honey since it retains more of its strong healing Attributes. I can in fact tell the distinction between the kinds of honey I’ve useful for my honey mask.

5 Essential Elements For orange face mask

This really is accustomed to establish distinct browsers or products in the event the accessibility the provider, and is utilized for safety reasons. Strawberry fruit is excellent for the skin, it rejuvenates the skin and in addition minimizes the signs of growing old. These days we is going to be telling you about strawberry face mask, which happens to be really valuable to provide you with a pure glow and youthful skin. *Observe: this mask can also be used on eczema patches on other portions of Your whole body, for example inner arms, the backs of the knees, your neck, and many others. For locations aside from your face, you could depart the therapy on for the little bit for a longer period just before washing it off. Sit for 15 to half an hour to Permit the face mask settle and have absorbed deep into your skin. Once the time is up, rinse off with heat water, and pat dry having a thoroughly clean towel. Yummy recipes – I really like employing and recommending honey in my recipes Specially UMF Energetic honey as it’s super effective as being a therapeutic, antimicrobial and moisturising ingredient. But when I took it off, my pores and skin felt ridiculous soft, and I didn’t even need to have to use moisturizer that evening, nevertheless I did head to mattress craving a strawberry smoothie.” For anyone who is unsure no matter whether it is best to make yeast mask for that face, it is possible to always check with a dermatologist and cosmetologist. That will ascertain your skin sort, complications and therapies. Although some do-it-yourself face masks and scrubs perform very best on oily, dry or sensitive skin, I've pulled alongside one another a list of nine amazing masks and 8 scrubs that work on all pores and skin varieties. These recipes are perfect for parties and for teams since they Focus on every type of skin. and assists many of us spring-into-motion in the morning. The caffeine in coffee kicks the lazy molecule named adenosine out of your brain, so you really feel contemporary and warn. Seemingly, coffee don't just wakes up your Mind but will also has the aptitude to wake up the skin. Software: Use around the spots influenced with acne or you can utilize it on The entire face being a preventative strategy. Make https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial that the mixture experienced no lumps, thoroughly clean the skin and implement the mask, clean off following 15 minutes. Masks should really remain on for 10-15 minutes. I love washing masks off that has a steaming warm washcloth. I operate a washcloth underneath sizzling h2o, squeeze out the surplus drinking water and then push to my face for a complete moment. I then gently wash from the mask in the circular motion. Washcloths are brilliant for exfoliating. Stir while in the honey (contemplate warming up the honey in the water tub or within the microwave so it mixes better). Learn how to make Aloe Vera face mask to fix all skin problemsAloe vera is becoming a favourite ingredient In regards to Do it yourself homemade face masks...

Getting watch little herbs channel To Work

That is definitely a single attention-grabbing mask! Once i to start with noticed the Photograph I believed it was a mask according to Turmeric, considering the fact that Additionally it is an orange powder, but a mask produced out of floor orange peel would have never happened to me. Thanks for sharing! Strawberry face mask, ready using strawberry along with other natural substances are Superb for your skin and retains it healthy. Use the mixture onto your face working with thoroughly clean finger ideas in the circular movement. Let sit for 15 minutes. On coffee face mask , you normally takes a quick soak during the bath or go through a chapter of that e-book you’ve been intending to complete. Preserve by yourself relaxed. Rub gently more than puffy places until finally the shells are now not cold. Do this in the morning, before you’ve done anything else to the skin, to consider down less than-eye bloat which will have gathered overnight. Coupled with lemon juice, this mask removes excess sebum on the pores and skin's surface and cleanses skin pores from deep in. Egg White Face Masks—Egg whites are recognized for their capability to tone significant pores and cut down extra sebum, producing them perfect for people with In a natural way oily skin. mask need to be applied on thoroughly clean skin of the face and preserve for twenty minutes, then rinse beneath jogging h2o. • Shrink enlarged pores and maintain crystal clear, more youthful-searching pores and skin by routinely making use of clean orange juice on your skin for a couple of minutes. It can recover troubles like darkish places, pimples, and wrinkles also. Entering into the deeper layers from the pores and skin, yeast fungi begin to actively metabolize Extra fat inside the cells, take away toxins, and excellent impact on metabolism. Be sure to just take a little bit instant to accomplish your profile so we could personalize your expertise and ensure you get information and provides that happen to be appropriate for you. Curly, frizzy or straight hair, each individual fantastic hair fashion starts inside the shower. That’s why you’ll want to shield and address your hair with the ideal hair care merchandise which include shampoos and conditioners. There are a number of shampoo and conditioner formulation that can help you treat dull or ruined hair. Whether it's shampoos, conditioners, hair oils, hair colours, styling tools or treatment method items, you’ll locate everything on Amazon India less than one roof to your advantage. Acquire on the internet hair care and styling products and solutions, filter success depending on brand, selling price, client evaluations or Distinctive provides and discount rates. Another pleasurable update: Once you incorporate honey to this mixture, it doesn't dry stiff in the least. I did not be expecting that but it surely's great! Honey has antibacterial and calming Attributes, and I applied Manuka honey and that is noted for owning the best antibacterial Attributes. I'm certain it is possible to blend some other factors in it also. Right before making use of, clean your face with heat water and pat dry using a clear towel or steam your face. This is solely to open up up your pores And so the nutrients can sink deep into your skin. Oatmeal is well-known for its soothing and softening Homes. That’s what causes it to be these kinds of a fantastic addition to the skin care regime.

How Much You Need To Expect You'll Pay For A Good yeast face mask

This company lets you to join or affiliate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, to be able to get paid funds from adverts on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this element. (Privacy Coverage) Merge matcha powder, honey and oil in a little bowl and blend nicely. (In case you don’t have matcha powder, Slice open a eco-friendly tea bag and use the leaves.) Utilize this to your face and leave it for quarter-hour prior to washing off heat drinking water. If thereâs any mask remaining more than after you clean your face with it, incorporate a certain amount of h2o to it and utilize it as being a scrub for that backs of the arms and every other system component which could do with a few smoothing. Clay masks are amazing for managing oily pores and skin. Honey can help crack up extra oil and highly absorbent clay eliminates it while gently exfoliating. Bentonite and Moroccan Purple are two of the best clay choices for balancing oily skin. Then, include a handful crushed sunflower seeds, couple of drops clean lemon juice along with a spoonful of honey in it. I even have acne concerns and are on clendamycin lotion and a short while ago retin-a cream, so it isn't like this 'cured' my acne by yourself but I am continue to using it with the opposite matters. I use this Just about every day, It truly is wonderful how it's Light sufficient nevertheless dries acne places and allows moisturize at the same time. I looked up why yeast aids and it absolutely was attributed to encouraging mobile turnover so your places mend more quickly and fade faster/even tone and could perhaps also help with wrinkles; a similar motive folks use Retin-A. Picture this mask like a smoothie for the face: strawberries include salicylic acid (that's perfect for acne-susceptible skin), even though lemon juice helps to tighten pores and take away outdated, lifeless pores and skin cells. In case you are leaving the orange peels outdoors, address them with a thin cloth or Internet for cover versus Grime and insects. The cornstarch present With this face mask will draw out some excess oil additionally impurities. This mask is appropriate for oily pores and skin. SiO Elegance Raise collection patches come in 5 specially-built designs to help you goal the problems places on your own face, neck, and chest. (Incorporate a lot more drinking water as needed to get it to the best consistency.) Spread the mixture on your face and Enable it sit for 10 to quarter-hour, then rinse off, for a refreshing deep clean. These are definitely the very best attractiveness goods for oily pores and skin. Steaming your face can help you repair weakened skin Which might be prompted due to pollution, Sunshine publicity and so on. Check out ten advantages of face steaming & actions to do it appropriately below at our blog. When you are Sick and tired of the creams, crowded chemicals, give relaxation for the skin under the miraculous yeast mask. And really before long you will not be capable of take satisfaction from The attractive sight of your individual reflection inside the mirror. Superior, there's a spot for this. A friend on-line began chatting with me about skin and he or she encouraged a yeast face mask with milk. I under no circumstances heard about this type of factor but I figured why not, I like masks. So I attempted it. I just pour some dry yeast (the minor beads) into a small dish and include a handful of drops of milk.

5 Simple Techniques For honey face mask

To utilize orange peel powder as a pure cleanser, combine it with a bit water to make a paste. Apply it on your skin and depart it on until finally it dries fully. Lastly, rinse it off with lukewarm drinking water. Allow the mask within the face for about fifteen minutes and after that clean your face properly making use of warm h2o. Caution: Prolonged utilization of aspirin or weighty doses really should be avoided, as it might go away the pores and skin excessively dry and allow it to be appear yellow. Aspirin doesn't go well with all skins, and this should also be thoroughly regarded as when choosing which face mask to make use of. Application: Use the mask with your face (specifically on impacted spots), and leave it on for ten to 15 minutes. Then, rinse off your face with lukewarm drinking water. Adhering to that, wash your face again with chilly h2o. Details: Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid is an effective skin conditioner and is often found in pores and skin care products and solutions. On steptoremedies.com of that, it really works exceptionally properly to treat acne for people with oily skin. Minerals contained During this yeast nourish the skin and they are resistant to external microbes which deposit on our skin. Different types of honey masks for acne are made use of for different pores and skin varieties. Such as, dry pores and skin, oily skin, and sensitive pores and skin may possibly get pleasure from distinctive types of honey masks. Under are a number of the most widely used mixtures, and you ought to be capable of finding the 1 that matches your preferences. Combine yogurt and yeast in a very bowl and create a thick paste. Utilize this yogurt and yeast mask onto your cleansed face and go away for 20 mins until it will get entirely dry. Clean your face with Luke heat h2o and wipe it using a tender fabric. It can be employed 2 times per week for finest result. Depart the mixture on the face for approximately twenty minutes and afterwards wash off with water. With normal use, it minimizes blemishes and increases your skin tone. As enough time is up, gently rinse off this strawberry mask with warm h2o utilizing your fingers or a single warm washcloth. A face mask well prepared from orange peels may possibly seem like a wierd idea, but it really is extremely efficient. You don’t imagine it? Give it a check out and you may be surprised by the results! The coarse granules of aspirin do the exfoliation, and the rest is cared for because of the antimicrobial and antioxidant Qualities of honey. Then distribute the peels with a tray and place them in locations which acquire plenty of sunshine. Allow orange peels dry inside the Solar for daily or two then crush the peels right into a powder utilizing a blender. You are able to retail store the powder in an air-restricted container. Egg Yolk Face Masks—Egg yolks, Conversely, are noted for their power to moisturize and hydrate skin, leaving it using a healthier glow. These masks are great for people with dry pores and skin.

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organiclifestylemagazine · 7 years ago

Text

Consuming Essential Oils: The Secret Spring Ingredient for 2018 and One Immune Boosting Recipe

Not many people are aware that essential oils can be used medicinally both externally (via diffusers, massages, and baths) as well as internally (via food and drink). When we think of cooking with herbs and spices we usually reach for the fresh or dry versions of those ingredients to add flavor and depth to our culinary dishes. Now imagine enjoying those herbs and spices in a concentrated medicinal form that not only provides an intense spectrum of flavor but is packed with different compounds (some of which cross the blood-brain barrier because of their small molecular size) and medicinal properties in which their usage in your cooking will take your food to new healing heights.

A History of Medicinal Use

Ingesting essential oils is not something new and actually dates back to 3000-2500 B.C. and is believed to have been first used in food preparation and preservation by the ancient Egyptians, although there are references that it was used in China and India around the same time, if not earlier.

Related: Understanding Essential Oils: A Complete Guide For Beginners

In terms of healing properties, Dr. Eric Zielinski states that essential oils “combat pathogens (harmful microorganisms), are a source of antioxidants (needed to prevent and cure disease), and have been shown to contain advanced healing properties in addition to cancer cell cytotoxicity amongst other things.” Also, Dr. Jockers points out that, “since essential oils boost and uplift the mood, they can actively alleviate binge eating and unhealthy cravings.”

It is interesting to note, that currently doctors in Europe particularly England, France, and Germany offer their patients a choice between either pharmaceutical drugs or natural essential oils when prescribing remedies for a health condition. That is why essential oils are readily available throughout apothecaries across Europe.

Related: How I replaced Medications with Essential Oils

Already Edible

In the U.S. our food industry uses essential oils in many products ranging from sweets, drinks, and chocolate just to name a few, so as to add intense flavor and strong aroma into the ingredient mixes. Because of their internal usage the FDA has compiled a “GRAS List” for essential oils (generally recommended as safe), whereby the following oils are listed and are considered safe for ingestion: Lemon, Orange, Nutmeg, Black Pepper, Peppermint, Ginger, Mandarin, Sage, Tangerine, Lemongrass, Grapefruit, Fennel, Spearmint, Cinnamon Bark, Oregano, Lime, Dill, Rosemary, Clove, Basil, Geranium, Rose, Rosewood, Cumin, Cardamom, Lemon Myrtle, Tarragon, and Mountain Savory.

Approach With Caution

However, please be mindful that not all essential oils are meant to be consumed internally and you must always double check the oil name, bottle description and label recommendation before using any. Also, not all oils are created equally. Many companies use fillers, pesticides, and methods that do not make the oils safe for consumption. Make sure any oils you intend on using internally are 100% pure, organic, and unadulterated. If you are uncertain about specific brands and oil recommendations, consult with a holistic health practitioner just to be safe.

Related: Fight Cavities and Gingivitis Naturally With Homemade DIY Oral Health

Around this time of year, many people wish to keep their immune systems high; their respiratory, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular systems optimally functioning; and germs, viruses, and bacteria at bay. Below is my favorite original recipe, immune boosting peppermint essential oil tea I like to drink once a week during this time of year. It is great both for your mind and body. It is relaxing, uplifting, immune boosting, weight losing, and stress relieving all in one.

Peppermint Lemon Tea from the Alma Holistic Health Kitchen

Ingredients:

1-1.5 cups of distilled water, boiled

2-3 teaspoons of raw unfiltered wildflower honey

2 drops of food grade, 100% pure Peppermint essential oil

¼ frozen lemon grated

½ fresh squeezed lemon juice

Bring distilled water to a boil. In a ceramic mug, place honey, essential oil, grated frozen lemon, and lemon juice. Add the hot water to the ingredients in mug and stir. Cover with a small plate for 3-5 minutes. Before sipping, inhale the aroma and reap its benefits first via your nose. Then slowly start to drink the tea and cover your body with a warm blanket and relax on a couch or bed. Feel the warmth and light tingle envelope your throat, sinuses, chest, lungs, and body. Take a nap after if you are able to.

Recommended:

How To Correctly Use Essential Oils To Prevent the Flu and Other Illnesses

Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included

Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet

How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes

Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Sources

Ingesting Essential Oils: Are They Safe for Internal Use or Not? – Dr. Eric Living the Abundant Life

History of Essential Oils – Essential Oils Academy

The Benefits of Cooking With Essential Oils – Dr. Jockers

About Essential Oils – Essential Oil Cookbook

Consuming Essential Oils: The Secret Spring Ingredient for 2018 and One Immune Boosting Recipe was originally published on Organic Lifestyle Magazine

#essentail oils

0 notes

champ-wiggle · 7 years ago

Link

"She began experimenting with rat brains, freezing them in liquid nitrogen, then puréeing them with an immersion blender; her initial attempts sent chunks of crystallized neural tissue flying all around the lab. Next she tried pickling rodent brains in formaldehyde, which forms chemical bridges between proteins, strengthening the membranes of the nuclei. After cutting the toughened brains into little pieces, she mashed them up with an industrial-strength soap in a glass mortar and pestle. The process dissolved all biological matter except the nuclei, reducing a brain to several vials of free-floating nuclei suspended in liquid the color of unfiltered apple juice."

#scientists are scary motherfuckers

0 notes

foodlamor · 8 years ago

Text

Peach Freezer Jam {No refined sugar & No pectin)

Where I live there isn’t a whole lot of agriculture left. That isn’t just due to expansive population or the withdrawal from living off the land. It also has lot to do with the desert climate. However, what is left are small family owned peach and pecan orchards and a few other similar farms. So, at the end of every summer I have my eyes and ears peeled for any news of local, organic surplus produce from these local mini farms. Lucky for me, the last couple years the peaches have been plentiful.

I drove the 20 minutes to a small family orchard the other evening and picked peaches as a full moon rose over the mesas in the distance. Sound enchanting? It was. The smell of the sweet fresh air, as well as some good company and expert advice on how to pick the best peaches from the 18 year old daughter in charge of peach sales made it even more so. She asked what I planned to do with all these peaches? I was surprised that her family only dried or froze what they needed from their harvest. So, I told her all about peach pie filling sweetened with honey, fruit leather, and peach jam – and while I may not look it, I have an old soul that loves doing things the way my grandma and her grandma did (with maybe a few health-improved variations).

Peaches all by themselves could count as dessert to me, and these peaches I picked can only be eaten while standing over the sink as the juice drips down to your elbows. Mmmm! So good. Unfortunately, perfectly ripe peaches don’t last forever and while I agree with my new friend that freezing peach slices for smoothies are a must, and drying them for snacking is the best, there’s so many other yummy and healthy ways to enjoy them all year long (well…all year, unless you live at my house and it’s gone in a few months. I’m working on rationing the goodness, but even so, it’s still totally worth it.)

Let me just define real quick what makes this jam recipe better (as in better for you – healthier) than your typical peach preserves or homemade jams:

Refined Sugar vs. Honey

First, most jam recipes call for loads of refined sugar. Excessive sugar consumption is a major culprit for blood sugar handling issues, weight gain, and plays a role in the progression of a host of ailments and regulatory responses in the body. True, honey is a form of sugar too. However, it differs in some significant ways that your body can distinguish. Chemically, refined sugars are made of fructose and glucose. But in sugar they are bound to make sucrose, which must then be broken down (i.e. sugar high, insulin spike, addictive response in the brain, etc). Honey on the other hand, is also composed of mostly fructose and some glucose, but unlike sugar they are not bound. This means that honey is digested and absorbed differently and there is even some evidence which shows it could lower blood sugar levels. Because honey is mostly fructose it’s actually sweeter than sugar, so you don’t need to use as much to get the same amount of flavor – thus less calories.

Pectin vs. Grass-fed Gelatin

Pectin is made of soluble fruit fibers and in it’s true form is very healthy to eat – it’s true form being in fruits and other plants. The trouble comes due to the fact that almost all commercial pectin is made from genetically modified (GMO) fruits that have been heavily treated with chemicals. The pectin actually has nothing to do with the preservation of the jam/jelly and is simply a thickening agent. There is pectin already found in most fruits so you really don’t need it except as a thickening agent. That’s where grass-fed Beef Gelatin Natural Powder comes in. Gelatin is basically just dehydrated beef broth powder made from bones, cartilage, collagen, and all the vitamins and minerals found in them (don’t worry it is tasteless). Gelatin from organic, grass-fed beef doesn’t have any of the hormones, antibiotics, and harsh treatment that their non-grass-fed counter parts have. All that gelatin and collagen goodness can promote skin, hair, and nail health, liver and mental health thanks to amino-acids, and digestion as well.

Peach Freezer Jam {No refined sugar & No pectin}

Peach Freezer Jam {No Refined Sugar & No Pectin}

Recipe Type: Jam

Author: Melissa Cornwall

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 2 mins

Total time: 32 mins

Serves: about 6 pints

Simple ingredients with no refined sugars or pectin. This recipe is clean eating, organic, paleo, and autoimmune friendly. Oh, and it’s so yummy!

Ingredients

8 cups fresh organic peaches, pureed (frozen and thawed works too)

3/4 cup raw, unfiltered honey (or 1 1/2 cups raw, organic sugar)

7 tsp. organic gelatin powder

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup filtered water

Instructions

Peel, pit, and slice ripe peaches into a large measuring bowl

Use a potato masher or pulse in a blender until pureed (I prefer to leave some peach chunks in mine)

If using sugar, stir the sugar into the peaches now

In a small sauce pan on the stove heat the lemon juice, water, and honey if using.

Whisk the gelatin as you add it into the pan

Bring gelatin honey lemon water to a low simmering boil for 1 minute

Remove from heat and slowly pour into peaches stirring as you pour

Stir for another minute to be sure it’s all incorporated

Pour into glass jars or freezer containers

Place in the fridge to set for 24 hours

Store in fridge for 1 month or in the freezer for 1 year

3.5.3208

Peach Freezer Jam {No refined sugar & No pectin) was originally published on Gluten Free and Paleo Recipes | Food L'amor by Melissa

0 notes

milenasanchezmk · 8 years ago

Text

The Definitive Guide to Children’s Nutrition

Feeding infants is quite simple. There’s a ton riding on you getting it right, of course—a developing immune system, the fact that the kid’s growing an inch a week, a permeable blood-brain barrier, synaptic pruning—but the answer is usually always “feed them more breastmilk.” Even if you can’t nurse, you’ve got formula, which, for all its limitations, is a decent proxy for breastmilk and getting better all the time. Feeding children, however, is a different ballgame altogether.

I’ve gotten a lot of requests for a post about children’s nutrition, so it’s long overdue. When it comes down to brass tacks, kids really are just small people. They aren’t a different species. They use the same nutrients their parents do. They need protein, fat, and glucose just like us. So in that sense, feeding kids is simple: Give them all the nutritious foods you already eat and know to be healthy.

But it’s not easy.

Adults have been around the block. We’ve already spent several decades eating, so what we do today won’t have as big an impact. Kids are starting from square one. They can get away with a lot in the sense that they have fast metabolisms, they heal quickly, and they carry less physiological baggage. That makes them appear impervious to damage. A Snickers bar may very well send a diabetic’s blood sugar to the stratosphere or trigger weight gain in a middle-aged man, while the average toddler will channel that candy bar into pure ATP and use it to scale bookshelves, leap from sofas, and sing the feature song from the latest Disney flick twenty times in a row.

But from another perspective, a child’s nutrition is way more crucial and precarious. You have an untouched, uncorrupted member of the most complex, creative, intelligent, courageous mammalian species in the known universe. A being of pure potential. You have the opportunity to realize that potential by nourishing it with the best food—or you can tarnish it.

A prudent position is the middle one: Feed healthy foods, but don’t flip out because they ate Baskin Robbins ice cream cake at their friend’s 5th birthday party. After all, look at your own history. Many of you spent decades eating the standard American/Westernized diet. You ended up fat and unhealthy. And you and thousands more turned it all around just by going Primal.

It’s also the position that promotes sanity in a world full of industrialized food. Candy’s going to slip through the cracks. They’re going to be at a friend’s house and have boxed mac and cheese for dinner. Full-on food intolerances or allergies aside, be a little flexible. Your lives will be less stressful, believe me, and you’ll all be a bit saner.

With this in mind…

What are some nutrients to watch out for? Calcium

Growing children are constantly laying down new bone. They need calcium (and collagen, but we’ll get to that later) to do it.

RDA: 1000 mg/day (4-8 years), 1300 mg/day (9-13 years)

Bone-in sardines, hard cheeses, raw milk, full-fat yogurt/kefir, and leafy greens are the best sources of calcium.

Suggested recipe: A hunk of Emmental cheese.

Iodine

It’s the most common cause of preventable cognitive disability; nearly a third of 6-12 year olds worldwide eat inadequate amounts of iodine.

Growing children need iodine to produce thyroid hormone, an important regulator of the growth factors that determine mental and physical development. Kids with iodine deficiency are less likely to reach their maximum height, and studies show that iodine deficiency can lower IQ scores by up to 12.5 points.

RDA: 90 ug/day (4-8 years), 120 ug/day (9-13 years)

Seaweed, with kombu/kelp being highest and nori being lower but still higher than other foods. Milk (storage vats are disinfected with iodine).

Suggested recipe: Toasted nori snacks. Kelp granules sprinkled on everything.

Iron

Iron is another important mineral in children’s nutrition, providing support for growth, neurological development, and blood cell formation. Keep in mind, however, that kids between the ages of 4 and 8 actually need less iron than babies, toddlers, and teens because they grow more slowly.

RDA: 10 mg (4-8 years), 8 mg (9-13 years, prior to menstruation for girls)

Red meat, especially organ meats (including chicken liver), is very high in iron. The heme iron found in animal products is also far more bioavailable than non-heme (plant) iron. If you’re going to eat and attempt to absorb non-heme iron, pair it with a source of vitamin C.

Suggested recipe: Chicken liver paté.

Zinc

Zinc is really important for children’s physical growth and immune development. In one study, modest zinc supplementation to the tune of 5.7 mg/day helped growth-delayed kids hit their growth targets compared to placebo. Other research has found that correcting zinc deficiencies reduces diarrheal infections and pneumonia in kids under 5.

RDA: 5 mg/day (4-8 years), 8 mg/day (9-13 years)

Red meat (especially lamb), oysters, crab, and lobster are the best sources of zinc.

Suggested recipe: Place a can of smoked oysters (drained), 8 olives (I like Kalamata), and a tablespoon of avocado oil in food processor or mortar and pestle. Turn into paste. Eat with a spoon or spread on crackers. You can also add lemon juice and pecorino romano cheese for some extra calcium.

Vitamin A

Full-blown vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness and permanent blindness. Mild deficiency increases the risk of catching an upper respiratory tract infection.

RDA: 400 ug/day (4-8 years), 600 ug/day (9-12 years)

Pre-formed (more bioavailable) retinol: liver, cod liver oil, eggs, full-fat dairy.

Plant vitamin A: Sweet potato, kale, spinach, carrots.

Suggested recipe: Liver pate.

Vitamin B12

Myelin is the protective sheathing around nerve fibers. It insulates the nerves and increases the efficiency of impulse transmission. Vitamin B12 is a vital co-factor in myelination—the laying down of the sheathing—which takes place in infancy and on through early childhood. Without adequate dietary vitamin B12, the myelin will be weak and ineffective.

RDA: 1.2 ug/day (4-8 years), 1.8 ug/day (9-13 years)

Animal products are the best and only sources of vitamin B12.

Suggested recipe: Meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish cooked any way.

Vitamin C

We can’t make vitamin C like most other mammals, so we have to eat it if we want its benefits, which include collagen formation and deposition, tissue healing, and immune response.

RDA: 25 mg/day (4-8 years), 45 mgday (9-13 years)

Vitamin C is present in most fruits and vegetables. If your kid eats plenty of those (what kid doesn’t like fruit?), he or she will be fine.

Suggested recipe: Tall glass of Florida orange juice! Kidding. Some oranges will do.

Vitamin D

If your child is getting unfiltered sunlight on a regular basis, vitamin D probably isn’t a concern. But sometimes the sun’s not out (for months). Sometimes your kid needs to eat some vitamin D.

RDA: 15 ug/day for everyone

Great sources include meat, fish, eggs, and cod liver oil. New research has shown that animal-sourced vitamin D is about 5 times as potent as the vitamin D3 found in supplements (which isn’t too shabby in the first place).

Suggested recipe: Cod liver oil capsules, swallowed whole or pierced and the contents squeezed into smoothies.

Vitamin K2

One way to think of vitamin K2 is that it tells calcium where to go. Low vitamin K2 could mean your calcium ends up in your arteries. High vitamin K2, and it’ll end up in your teeth and your bones. I know where I’d rather have it, especially if I’m an 8-year-old human laying new bone daily.

RDA: Unknown. But it’s quite safe.

Natto is the best source. “Best” as in densest, not “best” as in “tastes great.” The flavor takes some getting used to, but once you do… Other options include goose liver, gouda cheese, and more speculatively, some fermented foods like kefir and sauerkraut. Chris Masterjohn did a whole series on vitamin K2 that contains some food sources.

Suggested recipe: Aged gouda (at least 2 years) on rice crackers or eaten Costanza-style.

Choline

Choline helps the liver process fat and clear toxins, and it’s a precursor to acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that plays a major role in forming memories and learning new skills.

RDA: 250 mg/day (4-8 years), 375 mg/day (9-13 years)

Egg yolks are pound for pound the best source. Livers of all kinds are runners-up.

Suggested recipe: Scrambled eggs with an extra yolk (creamier).

EPA and DHA

Preformed long chain omega-3s are very important for brain development. That’s been the case in humans for a very long time.

Suggested recipe: Ikura, or salmon roe. Sockeye salmon with crispy skin (fish bacon always lures them in).

Saturated Fat

A curious thing occurs when a child turns 2, according to the powers-that-be. Saturated fat goes from being an essential, dominant, and healthful component of the breastmilk upon which they rely for sustenance to being a lethal toxin. Parents are urged by many health professionals and public service messages to switch to low-fat dairy at this time, and “When should my toddler switch to skim milk?” is now a common query on children’s health websites.

It’s horrifying.

Our cell membranes are about half saturated fat, which is more stable and less vulnerable to peroxidation. This stability makes our cell membranes more resistant to oxidative stress. Kids certainly need cell membranes.

Our bodies use saturated fats to shuttle proteins between cells, release neurotransmitters, and form memories. Kids certainly need to send proteins around the body, release neurotransmitters, and remember stuff.

Saturated fats often come attached to other nutrients kids inarguably require. The more parents restrict saturated fat in their kids’ diets, for example, the less calcium, vitamin E, and zinc they get. It’s hard to “reduce saturated fat” without also reducing lots of other good foods.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is another one of those weird nutrients that becomes toxic once you stop getting it from breastmilk. I didn’t buy it with saturated fat, and I’m not buying it with cholesterol.

Parents who follow the official advice and “limit cholesterol” deprive their kids of a vital nutrient responsible for production of steroid hormones and vitamin D. Sure, while a kid’s liver will make plenty of cholesterol on its own, limiting cholesterol means limiting some of the most nutrient-dense foods, like egg yolks and shrimp.

Probiotics and Prebiotics

Ideally, children will get access to plenty of microbes by interacting with the natural world around them. But food-based probiotics are good, too. They provide unique nutrients, as the fermentation process often creates new forms of the nutrients or makes existing ones more bioavailable, and they offer novel flavors that promote a more sophisticated palate. A kid who learns to love kimchi will probably try anything.

Prebiotics are arguably as important as probiotics. Both work in concert to modulate the immune response and set children up for a healthy immune system. Remember that infectious diseases used to kill a ton of kids. Even though we can usually take care of acute infections with modern medicine, it’s nice to be able to count on your immune system, too.

I suggest everyone punch their children’s meals into a food tracker for a week or so to get an idea of their nutrient intakes. Cronometer and MyFitnessPal are good.

Should You Manage Your Kid’s Macros?

Make sure they’re getting enough protein/fat/carbs?

Not really. I’m a fan of the “unfeeding” approach. Like the unschooler allows the child to make decisions about his education, providing only resources and guidance when requested, the unfeeder provides a meal with all three macronutrients represented and lets the child decide what and how much to eat.

If it’s obvious, and your kid’s eating sweet potato after sweet potato and totally ignoring the beef and broccoli on the plate, make some rules. But for the most part, kids eat as much as they need. This laissez faire approach to feeding kids, however, only seems to cause problems when they have unfettered or regular access to industrial foods and beverages like French fries, pizza, crispy snacks, soda, candy, and other food products designed to trigger the reward system and override natural satiety signaling. It tends to work well when you offer things like this:

Eggs (especially the yolks)

Bone marrow

Bone broth

Gelatinous meats (oxtail, cheek, shank, etc)

Organ meats

Fish eggs (ikura, or salted salmon roe, is a great option at sushi places or Japanese markets)

Fish (fresh, canned, bone-in)

Cheese

Yogurt/kefir

Raw milk

Berries

Starchy tubers

Colorful fruits and veggies

Beets

Seaweed

Coconut milk/butter

Legumes, properly prepared and tolerated

Bananas, slightly green for moderate resistant starch content

As a longtime parent, I’ve learned a few things. I’ve developed a few tricks. I’ve made some observations you may find illuminating. What follows are the tips, tricks, and rules I’ve found very useful in feeding kids well.

Don’t assume your kid is intolerant of everything.

Don’t ignore obvious intolerances or allergies. Just don’t seek them out when they don’t actually exist. Chances are, your kid can enjoy and benefit from full-fat dairy, white potatoes, nightshades, eggs, and even the occasional legume.

“Seven bites.”

7’s a good number, but it could be anything. Make a household rule that you have to take at least 7 bites before deeming a food “yucky.”

Calories count.

But not like you’re thinking. Overall calorie intake is very important for growing children. They’re like CrossFitting endurance athletes training for an MMA fight—they need to eat. Big things are happening constantly in their bodies, and they need plenty of food to support the changes. Don’t consciously limit (or let your kid limit) your kid’s calorie intake unless you have a valid medical reason.

Egg yolks disappear into everything.

Spaghetti sauce? Add a few egg yolks after you’ve turned off the heat.

Mac and cheese? A few egg yolks enrich it without changing the flavor.

Scrambled eggs? Add an extra egg yolk.

There’s nothing wrong with a smoothie.

There’s a lot right. A well-designed smoothie can provide tons of important nutrients. An example:

Baby kale (vitamin K, phytonutrients, magnesium, calcium, folate, potassium)

Frozen green banana (resistant starch, potassium)

Kefir (probiotics, fat, folate, vitamin k2)

Egg yolk (choline)

Whey protein

Brazil nut (selenium)

Cod liver oil (vitamin A, vitamin D, DHA/EPA)

Frozen mango (vitamin C, vitamin A, folate), coconut water (potassium, magnesium)

Kids will eat anything in popsicle form.

Take the leftovers of the nutrient-dense smoothies you make and freeze them in popsicle molds. There, that’s “dessert.”

Rice is an excellent vehicle for nutrition.

Rice is just empty carbs. Right? Not necessarily. Sub bone broth for water, add a dash of Trace Minerals, throw in a few shakes of kelp granules? Suddenly, your rice is a repository of magnesium, collagen, iodine, and other nutrients they may not be getting elsewhere.

Plus, kids are whirlwinds of energy. If they’re doing childhood right, they’re moving constantly. They can actually use those empty glucose molecules.

Crackers are good vehicles for nutrient-dense dips.

Sure, you don’t want your kid killing a box of rice crackers by themselves. As vehicles for things like tuna salad, liver paté, good cheese, hummus, however, they excel.

Fish sauce as a training tool for picky eaters.

Real fish sauce made from fermented salted fish is a potent source of glutamate, a flavor-enhancing amino acid that can teach picky eaters to like novel foods. It also makes food taste good on a subjective level, so you’ll be hitting them from two angles.

Frozen fruit is dessert.

If it’s cold and sweet, kids assume it’s a popsicle. Mangos, strawberries, blackberries, cherries. Forget ice cream for dessert. Serve up a big cup of frozen blueberries, perhaps with some real whipped cream. (This may work on adults, too)

Toothpicks make everything delicious.

If your ungrateful kid won’t eat your seared scallops, or your perfectly medium rare lamb chops, stick some toothpicks in. For whatever reason, kids just can’t resist toothpicked food.

Bribing works…in the short-term.

On a population level, at least. School children offered small prizes in the lunch line if they chose the “healthier” option were more likely to choose it. Be wary of relying on this. Negotiating with terrorists may work in individual instances, but it sets a bad precedent for future incidents.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. I hope you come away with a better grasp of children’s nutrition needs. Let me know how any of those strategies and rules work for you and your family. And please chime in down below with your own tips for feeding kids right. I know we’ve got a ton of parents out there.

Thanks for reading.

The post The Definitive Guide to Children’s Nutrition appeared..

0 notes

watsonrodriquezie · 8 years ago

Text

The Definitive Guide to Children’s Nutrition

But it’s not easy.

With this in mind…

What are some nutrients to watch out for? Calcium

Growing children are constantly laying down new bone. They need calcium (and collagen, but we’ll get to that later) to do it.

RDA: 1000 mg/day (4-8 years), 1300 mg/day (9-13 years)

Bone-in sardines, hard cheeses, raw milk, full-fat yogurt/kefir, and leafy greens are the best sources of calcium.

Suggested recipe: A hunk of Emmental cheese.

Iodine

It’s the most common cause of preventable cognitive disability; nearly a third of 6-12 year olds worldwide eat inadequate amounts of iodine.

RDA: 90 ug/day (4-8 years), 120 ug/day (9-13 years)

Seaweed, with kombu/kelp being highest and nori being lower but still higher than other foods. Milk (storage vats are disinfected with iodine).

Suggested recipe: Toasted nori snacks. Kelp granules sprinkled on everything.

Iron

RDA: 10 mg (4-8 years), 8 mg (9-13 years, prior to menstruation for girls)

Suggested recipe: Chicken liver paté.

Zinc

RDA: 5 mg/day (4-8 years), 8 mg/day (9-13 years)

Red meat (especially lamb), oysters, crab, and lobster are the best sources of zinc.

Vitamin A

Full-blown vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness and permanent blindness. Mild deficiency increases the risk of catching an upper respiratory tract infection.

RDA: 400 ug/day (4-8 years), 600 ug/day (9-12 years)

Pre-formed (more bioavailable) retinol: liver, cod liver oil, eggs, full-fat dairy.

Plant vitamin A: Sweet potato, kale, spinach, carrots.

Suggested recipe: Liver pate.

Vitamin B12

RDA: 1.2 ug/day (4-8 years), 1.8 ug/day (9-13 years)

Animal products are the best and only sources of vitamin B12.

Suggested recipe: Meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish cooked any way.

Vitamin C

We can’t make vitamin C like most other mammals, so we have to eat it if we want its benefits, which include collagen formation and deposition, tissue healing, and immune response.

RDA: 25 mg/day (4-8 years), 45 mgday (9-13 years)

Vitamin C is present in most fruits and vegetables. If your kid eats plenty of those (what kid doesn’t like fruit?), he or she will be fine.

Suggested recipe: Tall glass of Florida orange juice! Kidding. Some oranges will do.

Vitamin D

If your child is getting unfiltered sunlight on a regular basis, vitamin D probably isn’t a concern. But sometimes the sun’s not out (for months). Sometimes your kid needs to eat some vitamin D.

RDA: 15 ug/day for everyone

Suggested recipe: Cod liver oil capsules, swallowed whole or pierced and the contents squeezed into smoothies.

Vitamin K2

RDA: Unknown. But it’s quite safe.

Suggested recipe: Aged gouda (at least 2 years) on rice crackers or eaten Costanza-style.

Choline

Choline helps the liver process fat and clear toxins, and it’s a precursor to acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that plays a major role in forming memories and learning new skills.

RDA: 250 mg/day (4-8 years), 375 mg/day (9-13 years)

Egg yolks are pound for pound the best source. Livers of all kinds are runners-up.

Suggested recipe: Scrambled eggs with an extra yolk (creamier).

EPA and DHA

Preformed long chain omega-3s are very important for brain development. That’s been the case in humans for a very long time.

Suggested recipe: Ikura, or salmon roe. Sockeye salmon with crispy skin (fish bacon always lures them in).

Saturated Fat

It’s horrifying.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is another one of those weird nutrients that becomes toxic once you stop getting it from breastmilk. I didn’t buy it with saturated fat, and I’m not buying it with cholesterol.

Probiotics and Prebiotics

I suggest everyone punch their children’s meals into a food tracker for a week or so to get an idea of their nutrient intakes. Cronometer and MyFitnessPal are good.

Should You Manage Your Kid’s Macros?

Make sure they’re getting enough protein/fat/carbs?

Eggs (especially the yolks)

Bone marrow

Bone broth

Gelatinous meats (oxtail, cheek, shank, etc)

Organ meats

Fish eggs (ikura, or salted salmon roe, is a great option at sushi places or Japanese markets)

Fish (fresh, canned, bone-in)

Cheese

Yogurt/kefir

Raw milk

Berries

Starchy tubers

Colorful fruits and veggies

Beets

Seaweed

Coconut milk/butter

Legumes, properly prepared and tolerated

Bananas, slightly green for moderate resistant starch content

Don’t assume your kid is intolerant of everything.

“Seven bites.”

7’s a good number, but it could be anything. Make a household rule that you have to take at least 7 bites before deeming a food “yucky.”

Calories count.

Egg yolks disappear into everything.

Spaghetti sauce? Add a few egg yolks after you’ve turned off the heat.

Mac and cheese? A few egg yolks enrich it without changing the flavor.

Scrambled eggs? Add an extra egg yolk.

There’s nothing wrong with a smoothie.

There’s a lot right. A well-designed smoothie can provide tons of important nutrients. An example:

Baby kale (vitamin K, phytonutrients, magnesium, calcium, folate, potassium)

Frozen green banana (resistant starch, potassium)

Kefir (probiotics, fat, folate, vitamin k2)

Egg yolk (choline)

Whey protein

Brazil nut (selenium)

Cod liver oil (vitamin A, vitamin D, DHA/EPA)

Frozen mango (vitamin C, vitamin A, folate), coconut water (potassium, magnesium)

Kids will eat anything in popsicle form.

Take the leftovers of the nutrient-dense smoothies you make and freeze them in popsicle molds. There, that’s “dessert.”

Rice is an excellent vehicle for nutrition.

Plus, kids are whirlwinds of energy. If they’re doing childhood right, they’re moving constantly. They can actually use those empty glucose molecules.

Crackers are good vehicles for nutrient-dense dips.

Sure, you don’t want your kid killing a box of rice crackers by themselves. As vehicles for things like tuna salad, liver paté, good cheese, hummus, however, they excel.

Fish sauce as a training tool for picky eaters.

Frozen fruit is dessert.

Toothpicks make everything delicious.

If your ungrateful kid won’t eat your seared scallops, or your perfectly medium rare lamb chops, stick some toothpicks in. For whatever reason, kids just can’t resist toothpicked food.

Bribing works…in the short-term.

Thanks for reading.

The post The Definitive Guide to Children’s Nutrition appeared..

0 notes

fishermariawo · 8 years ago

Text

The Definitive Guide to Children’s Nutrition

But it’s not easy.

With this in mind…

What are some nutrients to watch out for? Calcium

Growing children are constantly laying down new bone. They need calcium (and collagen, but we’ll get to that later) to do it.

RDA: 1000 mg/day (4-8 years), 1300 mg/day (9-13 years)

Bone-in sardines, hard cheeses, raw milk, full-fat yogurt/kefir, and leafy greens are the best sources of calcium.

Suggested recipe: A hunk of Emmental cheese.

Iodine

It’s the most common cause of preventable cognitive disability; nearly a third of 6-12 year olds worldwide eat inadequate amounts of iodine.

RDA: 90 ug/day (4-8 years), 120 ug/day (9-13 years)

Seaweed, with kombu/kelp being highest and nori being lower but still higher than other foods. Milk (storage vats are disinfected with iodine).

Suggested recipe: Toasted nori snacks. Kelp granules sprinkled on everything.

Iron

RDA: 10 mg (4-8 years), 8 mg (9-13 years, prior to menstruation for girls)

Suggested recipe: Chicken liver paté.

Zinc

RDA: 5 mg/day (4-8 years), 8 mg/day (9-13 years)

Red meat (especially lamb), oysters, crab, and lobster are the best sources of zinc.

Vitamin A

Full-blown vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness and permanent blindness. Mild deficiency increases the risk of catching an upper respiratory tract infection.

RDA: 400 ug/day (4-8 years), 600 ug/day (9-12 years)

Pre-formed (more bioavailable) retinol: liver, cod liver oil, eggs, full-fat dairy.

Plant vitamin A: Sweet potato, kale, spinach, carrots.

Suggested recipe: Liver pate.

Vitamin B12

RDA: 1.2 ug/day (4-8 years), 1.8 ug/day (9-13 years)

Animal products are the best and only sources of vitamin B12.

Suggested recipe: Meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish cooked any way.

Vitamin C

We can’t make vitamin C like most other mammals, so we have to eat it if we want its benefits, which include collagen formation and deposition, tissue healing, and immune response.

RDA: 25 mg/day (4-8 years), 45 mgday (9-13 years)

Vitamin C is present in most fruits and vegetables. If your kid eats plenty of those (what kid doesn’t like fruit?), he or she will be fine.

Suggested recipe: Tall glass of Florida orange juice! Kidding. Some oranges will do.

Vitamin D

If your child is getting unfiltered sunlight on a regular basis, vitamin D probably isn’t a concern. But sometimes the sun’s not out (for months). Sometimes your kid needs to eat some vitamin D.

RDA: 15 ug/day for everyone

Suggested recipe: Cod liver oil capsules, swallowed whole or pierced and the contents squeezed into smoothies.

Vitamin K2

RDA: Unknown. But it’s quite safe.

Suggested recipe: Aged gouda (at least 2 years) on rice crackers or eaten Costanza-style.

Choline

Choline helps the liver process fat and clear toxins, and it’s a precursor to acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that plays a major role in forming memories and learning new skills.

RDA: 250 mg/day (4-8 years), 375 mg/day (9-13 years)

Egg yolks are pound for pound the best source. Livers of all kinds are runners-up.

Suggested recipe: Scrambled eggs with an extra yolk (creamier).

EPA and DHA

Preformed long chain omega-3s are very important for brain development. That’s been the case in humans for a very long time.

Suggested recipe: Ikura, or salmon roe. Sockeye salmon with crispy skin (fish bacon always lures them in).

Saturated Fat

It’s horrifying.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is another one of those weird nutrients that becomes toxic once you stop getting it from breastmilk. I didn’t buy it with saturated fat, and I’m not buying it with cholesterol.

Probiotics and Prebiotics

I suggest everyone punch their children’s meals into a food tracker for a week or so to get an idea of their nutrient intakes. Cronometer and MyFitnessPal are good.

Should You Manage Your Kid’s Macros?

Make sure they’re getting enough protein/fat/carbs?

Eggs (especially the yolks)

Bone marrow

Bone broth

Gelatinous meats (oxtail, cheek, shank, etc)

Organ meats

Fish eggs (ikura, or salted salmon roe, is a great option at sushi places or Japanese markets)

Fish (fresh, canned, bone-in)

Cheese

Yogurt/kefir

Raw milk

Berries

Starchy tubers

Colorful fruits and veggies

Beets

Seaweed

Coconut milk/butter

Legumes, properly prepared and tolerated

Bananas, slightly green for moderate resistant starch content

Don’t assume your kid is intolerant of everything.

“Seven bites.”

7’s a good number, but it could be anything. Make a household rule that you have to take at least 7 bites before deeming a food “yucky.”

Calories count.

Egg yolks disappear into everything.

Spaghetti sauce? Add a few egg yolks after you’ve turned off the heat.

Mac and cheese? A few egg yolks enrich it without changing the flavor.

Scrambled eggs? Add an extra egg yolk.

There’s nothing wrong with a smoothie.

There’s a lot right. A well-designed smoothie can provide tons of important nutrients. An example:

Baby kale (vitamin K, phytonutrients, magnesium, calcium, folate, potassium)

Frozen green banana (resistant starch, potassium)

Kefir (probiotics, fat, folate, vitamin k2)

Egg yolk (choline)

Whey protein

Brazil nut (selenium)

Cod liver oil (vitamin A, vitamin D, DHA/EPA)

Frozen mango (vitamin C, vitamin A, folate), coconut water (potassium, magnesium)

Kids will eat anything in popsicle form.

Take the leftovers of the nutrient-dense smoothies you make and freeze them in popsicle molds. There, that’s “dessert.”

Rice is an excellent vehicle for nutrition.

Plus, kids are whirlwinds of energy. If they’re doing childhood right, they’re moving constantly. They can actually use those empty glucose molecules.

Crackers are good vehicles for nutrient-dense dips.

Sure, you don’t want your kid killing a box of rice crackers by themselves. As vehicles for things like tuna salad, liver paté, good cheese, hummus, however, they excel.

Fish sauce as a training tool for picky eaters.

Frozen fruit is dessert.

Toothpicks make everything delicious.

If your ungrateful kid won’t eat your seared scallops, or your perfectly medium rare lamb chops, stick some toothpicks in. For whatever reason, kids just can’t resist toothpicked food.

Bribing works…in the short-term.

Thanks for reading.

The post The Definitive Guide to Children’s Nutrition appeared..

0 notes

cristinajourdanqp · 8 years ago

Text

The Definitive Guide to Children’s Nutrition

But it’s not easy.

With this in mind…

What are some nutrients to watch out for? Calcium

Growing children are constantly laying down new bone. They need calcium (and collagen, but we’ll get to that later) to do it.

RDA: 1000 mg/day (4-8 years), 1300 mg/day (9-13 years)

Bone-in sardines, hard cheeses, raw milk, full-fat yogurt/kefir, and leafy greens are the best sources of calcium.

Suggested recipe: A hunk of Emmental cheese.

Iodine

It’s the most common cause of preventable cognitive disability; nearly a third of 6-12 year olds worldwide eat inadequate amounts of iodine.

RDA: 90 ug/day (4-8 years), 120 ug/day (9-13 years)

Seaweed, with kombu/kelp being highest and nori being lower but still higher than other foods. Milk (storage vats are disinfected with iodine).

Suggested recipe: Toasted nori snacks. Kelp granules sprinkled on everything.

Iron

RDA: 10 mg (4-8 years), 8 mg (9-13 years, prior to menstruation for girls)

Suggested recipe: Chicken liver paté.

Zinc

RDA: 5 mg/day (4-8 years), 8 mg/day (9-13 years)

Red meat (especially lamb), oysters, crab, and lobster are the best sources of zinc.

Vitamin A

Full-blown vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness and permanent blindness. Mild deficiency increases the risk of catching an upper respiratory tract infection.

RDA: 400 ug/day (4-8 years), 600 ug/day (9-12 years)

Pre-formed (more bioavailable) retinol: liver, cod liver oil, eggs, full-fat dairy.

Plant vitamin A: Sweet potato, kale, spinach, carrots.

Suggested recipe: Liver pate.

Vitamin B12

RDA: 1.2 ug/day (4-8 years), 1.8 ug/day (9-13 years)

Animal products are the best and only sources of vitamin B12.

Suggested recipe: Meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish cooked any way.

Vitamin C

We can’t make vitamin C like most other mammals, so we have to eat it if we want its benefits, which include collagen formation and deposition, tissue healing, and immune response.

RDA: 25 mg/day (4-8 years), 45 mgday (9-13 years)

Vitamin C is present in most fruits and vegetables. If your kid eats plenty of those (what kid doesn’t like fruit?), he or she will be fine.

Suggested recipe: Tall glass of Florida orange juice! Kidding. Some oranges will do.

Vitamin D

If your child is getting unfiltered sunlight on a regular basis, vitamin D probably isn’t a concern. But sometimes the sun’s not out (for months). Sometimes your kid needs to eat some vitamin D.

RDA: 15 ug/day for everyone

Suggested recipe: Cod liver oil capsules, swallowed whole or pierced and the contents squeezed into smoothies.

Vitamin K2

RDA: Unknown. But it’s quite safe.

Suggested recipe: Aged gouda (at least 2 years) on rice crackers or eaten Costanza-style.

Choline

Choline helps the liver process fat and clear toxins, and it’s a precursor to acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that plays a major role in forming memories and learning new skills.

RDA: 250 mg/day (4-8 years), 375 mg/day (9-13 years)

Egg yolks are pound for pound the best source. Livers of all kinds are runners-up.

Suggested recipe: Scrambled eggs with an extra yolk (creamier).

EPA and DHA

Preformed long chain omega-3s are very important for brain development. That’s been the case in humans for a very long time.

Suggested recipe: Ikura, or salmon roe. Sockeye salmon with crispy skin (fish bacon always lures them in).

Saturated Fat

It’s horrifying.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is another one of those weird nutrients that becomes toxic once you stop getting it from breastmilk. I didn’t buy it with saturated fat, and I’m not buying it with cholesterol.

Probiotics and Prebiotics

I suggest everyone punch their children’s meals into a food tracker for a week or so to get an idea of their nutrient intakes. Cronometer and MyFitnessPal are good.

Should You Manage Your Kid’s Macros?

Make sure they’re getting enough protein/fat/carbs?

Eggs (especially the yolks)

Bone marrow

Bone broth

Gelatinous meats (oxtail, cheek, shank, etc)

Organ meats

Fish eggs (ikura, or salted salmon roe, is a great option at sushi places or Japanese markets)

Fish (fresh, canned, bone-in)

Cheese

Yogurt/kefir

Raw milk

Berries

Starchy tubers

Colorful fruits and veggies

Beets

Seaweed

Coconut milk/butter

Legumes, properly prepared and tolerated

Bananas, slightly green for moderate resistant starch content

Don’t assume your kid is intolerant of everything.

“Seven bites.”

7’s a good number, but it could be anything. Make a household rule that you have to take at least 7 bites before deeming a food “yucky.”

Calories count.

Egg yolks disappear into everything.

Spaghetti sauce? Add a few egg yolks after you’ve turned off the heat.

Mac and cheese? A few egg yolks enrich it without changing the flavor.

Scrambled eggs? Add an extra egg yolk.

There’s nothing wrong with a smoothie.

There’s a lot right. A well-designed smoothie can provide tons of important nutrients. An example:

Baby kale (vitamin K, phytonutrients, magnesium, calcium, folate, potassium)

Frozen green banana (resistant starch, potassium)

Kefir (probiotics, fat, folate, vitamin k2)

Egg yolk (choline)

Whey protein

Brazil nut (selenium)

Cod liver oil (vitamin A, vitamin D, DHA/EPA)

Frozen mango (vitamin C, vitamin A, folate), coconut water (potassium, magnesium)

Kids will eat anything in popsicle form.

Take the leftovers of the nutrient-dense smoothies you make and freeze them in popsicle molds. There, that’s “dessert.”

Rice is an excellent vehicle for nutrition.

Plus, kids are whirlwinds of energy. If they’re doing childhood right, they’re moving constantly. They can actually use those empty glucose molecules.

Crackers are good vehicles for nutrient-dense dips.

Sure, you don’t want your kid killing a box of rice crackers by themselves. As vehicles for things like tuna salad, liver paté, good cheese, hummus, however, they excel.

Fish sauce as a training tool for picky eaters.

Frozen fruit is dessert.

Toothpicks make everything delicious.

If your ungrateful kid won’t eat your seared scallops, or your perfectly medium rare lamb chops, stick some toothpicks in. For whatever reason, kids just can’t resist toothpicked food.

Bribing works…in the short-term.

Thanks for reading.

The post The Definitive Guide to Children’s Nutrition appeared..

0 notes

cynthiamwashington · 8 years ago

Text

The Definitive Guide to Children’s Nutrition

But it’s not easy.

With this in mind…

What are some nutrients to watch out for?

Calcium

Growing children are constantly laying down new bone. They need calcium (and collagen, but we’ll get to that later) to do it.

RDA: 1000 mg/day (4-8 years), 1300 mg/day (9-13 years)

Bone-in sardines, hard cheeses, raw milk, full-fat yogurt/kefir, and leafy greens are the best sources of calcium.

Suggested recipe: A hunk of Emmental cheese.

Iodine

It’s the most common cause of preventable cognitive disability; nearly a third of 6-12 year olds worldwide eat inadequate amounts of iodine.

RDA: 90 ug/day (4-8 years), 120 ug/day (9-13 years)

Seaweed, with kombu/kelp being highest and nori being lower but still higher than other foods. Milk (storage vats are disinfected with iodine).

Suggested recipe: Toasted nori snacks. Kelp granules sprinkled on everything.

Iron

RDA: 10 mg (4-8 years), 8 mg (9-13 years, prior to menstruation for girls)

Suggested recipe: Chicken liver paté.

Zinc

RDA: 5 mg/day (4-8 years), 8 mg/day (9-13 years)

Red meat (especially lamb), oysters, crab, and lobster are the best sources of zinc.

Vitamin A

Full-blown vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness and permanent blindness. Mild deficiency increases the risk of catching an upper respiratory tract infection.

RDA: 400 ug/day (4-8 years), 600 ug/day (9-12 years)

Pre-formed (more bioavailable) retinol: liver, cod liver oil, eggs, full-fat dairy.

Plant vitamin A: Sweet potato, kale, spinach, carrots.

Suggested recipe: Liver pate.

Vitamin B12

RDA: 1.2 ug/day (4-8 years), 1.8 ug/day (9-13 years)

Animal products are the best and only sources of vitamin B12.

Suggested recipe: Meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish cooked any way.

Vitamin C

We can’t make vitamin C like most other mammals, so we have to eat it if we want its benefits, which include collagen formation and deposition, tissue healing, and immune response.

RDA: 25 mg/day (4-8 years), 45 mgday (9-13 years)

Vitamin C is present in most fruits and vegetables. If your kid eats plenty of those (what kid doesn’t like fruit?), he or she will be fine.

Suggested recipe: Tall glass of Florida orange juice! Kidding. Some oranges will do.

Vitamin D

If your child is getting unfiltered sunlight on a regular basis, vitamin D probably isn’t a concern. But sometimes the sun’s not out (for months). Sometimes your kid needs to eat some vitamin D.

RDA: 15 ug/day for everyone

Suggested recipe: Cod liver oil capsules, swallowed whole or pierced and the contents squeezed into smoothies.

Vitamin K2

RDA: Unknown. But it’s quite safe.

Suggested recipe: Aged gouda (at least 2 years) on rice crackers or eaten Costanza-style.

Choline

Choline helps the liver process fat and clear toxins, and it’s a precursor to acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that plays a major role in forming memories and learning new skills.

RDA: 250 mg/day (4-8 years), 375 mg/day (9-13 years)

Egg yolks are pound for pound the best source. Livers of all kinds are runners-up.

Suggested recipe: Scrambled eggs with an extra yolk (creamier).

EPA and DHA

Preformed long chain omega-3s are very important for brain development. That’s been the case in humans for a very long time.

Suggested recipe: Ikura, or salmon roe. Sockeye salmon with crispy skin (fish bacon always lures them in).

Saturated Fat

It’s horrifying.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is another one of those weird nutrients that becomes toxic once you stop getting it from breastmilk. I didn’t buy it with saturated fat, and I’m not buying it with cholesterol.

Probiotics and Prebiotics

I suggest everyone punch their children’s meals into a food tracker for a week or so to get an idea of their nutrient intakes. Cronometer and MyFitnessPal are good.

Should You Manage Your Kid’s Macros?

Make sure they’re getting enough protein/fat/carbs?

Eggs (especially the yolks)

Bone marrow

Bone broth

Gelatinous meats (oxtail, cheek, shank, etc)

Organ meats

Fish eggs (ikura, or salted salmon roe, is a great option at sushi places or Japanese markets)

Fish (fresh, canned, bone-in)

Cheese

Yogurt/kefir

Raw milk

Berries

Starchy tubers

Colorful fruits and veggies

Beets

Seaweed

Coconut milk/butter

Legumes, properly prepared and tolerated

Bananas, slightly green for moderate resistant starch content

Don’t assume your kid is intolerant of everything.

“Seven bites.”

7’s a good number, but it could be anything. Make a household rule that you have to take at least 7 bites before deeming a food “yucky.”

Calories count.

Egg yolks disappear into everything.

Spaghetti sauce? Add a few egg yolks after you’ve turned off the heat.

Mac and cheese? A few egg yolks enrich it without changing the flavor.

Scrambled eggs? Add an extra egg yolk.

There’s nothing wrong with a smoothie.

There’s a lot right. A well-designed smoothie can provide tons of important nutrients. An example:

Baby kale (vitamin K, phytonutrients, magnesium, calcium, folate, potassium)

Frozen green banana (resistant starch, potassium)

Kefir (probiotics, fat, folate, vitamin k2)

Egg yolk (choline)

Whey protein

Brazil nut (selenium)

Cod liver oil (vitamin A, vitamin D, DHA/EPA)

Frozen mango (vitamin C, vitamin A, folate), coconut water (potassium, magnesium)

Kids will eat anything in popsicle form.

Take the leftovers of the nutrient-dense smoothies you make and freeze them in popsicle molds. There, that’s “dessert.”

Rice is an excellent vehicle for nutrition.

Plus, kids are whirlwinds of energy. If they’re doing childhood right, they’re moving constantly. They can actually use those empty glucose molecules.

Crackers are good vehicles for nutrient-dense dips.

Sure, you don’t want your kid killing a box of rice crackers by themselves. As vehicles for things like tuna salad, liver paté, good cheese, hummus, however, they excel.

Fish sauce as a training tool for picky eaters.

Frozen fruit is dessert.

Toothpicks make everything delicious.

If your ungrateful kid won’t eat your seared scallops, or your perfectly medium rare lamb chops, stick some toothpicks in. For whatever reason, kids just can’t resist toothpicked food.

Bribing works…in the short-term.

Thanks for reading.

The post The Definitive Guide to Children’s Nutrition appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Article source here:Marks’s Daily Apple

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