If you are on a mission to improve your digestive system and immune system more naturally, paying attention to what goes into your body is going to make the biggest difference. After you transition to clean eating from the standard American diet, one way you can seriously level up your health is by ensuring you have enough vitamins and minerals. An easy way to do this is by juicing regularly. Why Does Juicing Improve Digestion? Today, digestive issues having become far too common, whether it’s constipation, gas, cramps, nausea or other digestive upset. For some, a clear solution might seem out of reach. But there is growing evidence to suggest that these issues can be alleviated through natural means. In order for your body to have efficient digestion, there needs to a presence of the healthy gut flora, also known as gut microbiota. Vegetable and fruit juices provide polyphenols, oligosaccharides, fiber and nitrate (beet juice), which may induce a prebiotic-like effect. This study found that drinking a juice diet induced significant positive changes in the intestinal microbiota—and as a bonus, resulted in an increase in Bacteroides. Bacteroides help our digestive systems break down diverse plant fiber and complex polysaccharides, including

Anyone who has tried to lose weight knows that it can be difficult. And if your metabolism isn’t on your side, it’s even harder! It can be frustrating to keep returning to the scale only to see little or no progress. When you’ve tried every new diet, and bought every book, things can seem frustrating and impossible. If any of that sounds familiar, then it could be due to a sluggish metabolism. Understanding How Metabolism Works The term “metabolism” is the name given to the chemical process carried out by the body when it converts the food or stored body fat into energy. Even if you are lying still, your body requires an energy source to keep its involuntary functions working. During sleep, the body is making repairs and replacing cells that have become too damaged or weak. During these rest periods, the food or fat your body has collected is converted into nourishment for your body and to build new cells. The number of calories an individual burns at rest is called the basal metabolic rate (BMR) or resting metabolic rate (RMR). When you have a slower metabolism, this number will be lower. As we age, the body loses

What is “clean eating?” Clean eating basically means eating whole foods that are altered as little as possible from their original state, giving us the most possible nutrients without any added toxins. (Source) It’s somewhat of a trendy term as more and more people move away from eating heavily processed foods that cause allergies, sensitivities, or chronic inflammation—and for a good reason. Benefits of Clean Eating Decrease Inflammation – When your cells are inflamed, this leads to increased fat accumulation, accelerated development of chronic disease and decreased overall vitality. Eating “clean” is an important way to rebalance the fatty acids in your blood that cause cellular inflammation. Manage Blood Sugar – Processed foods spike insulin and glucose levels, which puts us at risk for diabetes. Frequent blood sugar spikes also age us at a cellular level. It’s crucial that we manage our blood sugar! Remove Toxicity – Refined foods with artificial ingredients and pesticides expose our bodies to toxins that have been linked to disease and make us more susceptible to chronic illness. These are just a few of the benefits of clean eating, plus we receive more vital macro and micronutrients. So, now that we know clean eating has

Losing unhealthy fat is a worthwhile cause, and not just because of the way you’ll feel about how you look afterwards. When we aren’t carrying excess fat, our blood sugar balances out, our hormones start coming into alignment, and we reduce our risk for several diseases like heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure. However, when trying to lose weight, all the diets, pills, cleanses and more can be overwhelming to choose from. It doesn’t help that we currently have a diet culture that constantly pushes different fad diets and diet products everywhere you look… some being more viable than others. On the positive side, having different options available allows you to find a diet and lifestyle program that works best for your unique body and lifestyle. Questions to Consider When Choosing a Diet Plan What is your current lifestyle? Do you travel a lot? Don’t pick a diet that requires intensive meal prepping. Do you love to work out? Steer away from diets that require you to ruthlessly slash calories, leaving no energy for your gym time. Do you prepare meals for a family? Look for a diet that is family friendly so you don’t have to cook two

Sugar, sugar, and more sugar! It’s everywhere and in everything! According to the American Heart Association, the average American consumes up to 22 grams or more of sugar per day.  Many people don’t even realize they are consuming so much sugar! It can be hidden in our foods using tricky words like syrup and words that end with “ose,” like fructose and glucose. Needless to say, there is sugar in more foods than you realize. Iced teas and caramel lattes probably contain more sugar than you expect. “Healthy” foods such as yogurt, granola bars and protein bars  tend to have tons of added sugar as well. Next time you’re at the store, check on the spaghetti sauce label and ketchup bottle. You might be surprised by what you’ll find! How sugar is harming your body With all this added sugar in the average American diet, it is no surprise that many people have sugar addictions. A neuroscientist used MRI scans to discover that sugar triggers the same part of the brain that is activated when drugs like cocaine are used. The bottom line is… sugar is addictive. (Like we didn’t know that! LOL) Too much sugar intake can create many

Weight loss can be a challenge, especially when you notice your progress slowing down and your motivation hits the road. To help get the most out of your weight loss program, there are some vitamins and supplements you can add to your diet to help kickstart weight loss. While you can’t solely rely on pills and supplements to make your fat melt away, you can use them to optimize your progress in combination with a healthy diet and regular exercise schedule. After all, when your body is deficient in micronutrients it can’t function properly! Vitamin B Vitamin B is great vitamin to take for weight loss because its purpose is to help metabolize carbs, proteins and fats. Vitamin B consists of many different vitamins such as, thiamine (B-1), riboflavin (B-2), niacin (B-3), pantothenic acid (B-5), pyridoxine (B-6), biotin (B-7), folate (B-9) and cobalamin (B-12) (source). In particular, B6 helps protein to metabolize, while B12 works to metabolize fats and proteins. Thiamine helps with the metabolization of all three; fats, proteins and carbs (source). Find your vitamin B in foods such as rice, eggs, bananas, nuts, seeds, nutritional yeast and grapes. One of my favorite B vitamin supplements is Max B-ND