You don't always need to hit the gym to work yourself into a fitness frenzy. A blue sky beats fluorescent lights any day of the week. Today's workout was short and not-so-sweet.
30 seconds on, 15 seconds rest. AMRAP. Four rounds.
Keep it quick and dirty.
Dr. William Davis lays the smack-down on the myth that whole grains are good for you.
I was chatting with a friend recently, and I pulled out my little plastic baggie of about 20 morning vitamins. I was given a classic "What in the...?" look. I stated what they were, and my pal said "just eat all your fruits and vegetables." If only it were that simple. Because of myriad factors, it is literally impossible to get all of the nutrition we need from even the most comprehensive diet. The Caltons are experts in the field of nutrition and have written books and done dozens of interviews and podcasts on the subject. In this video they discuss the benefits of supplementing with Vitamin K:
Nothing is more important than the food choices we make dozens of times each day. And according to Dr. Mercola's article on eatlocalgrown.com, some seemingly innocent choices can do more harm than good. (Click the link above for the full article, or see the abbreviated list below.)
Here are the Top 10 American foods that are banned in other countries:
"Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable." -George Bernard Shaw
I recently had the honor of working with one of the best photographers in the business, RJ Muna. He talks about his project Under The Big Top:
"You would think after shooting dancers for so many years, my path would have led me to circus performers long before now. I’ve shot a few dancers that were also circus performers, but it wasn’t until a recent shoot (see below) that I really got familiar with a group of individuals in our local circus scene. Now, as a photographer, you’ve got to think Circus + Pictures has to be a good thing. And you’d be right. You’d also be right that I’m not the first (or the last) to think that. As spectacular as the performances are, I really didn’t want to tread over well traveled ground. But as time and circumstances (again, see below) went by, I increasingly counted this family of circus performers among my friends.
The photographer in me finally overcame my reluctance and the imperative to make some pictures took over. I began to notice a small overlap between the circus world and the world of avant-garde fashion of say, Jean Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen, only with a little more contortion and a lot less money. I also wanted these pictures to be more portraits than fashion and more fashion than performance. Truth is, the notion of what they “should” be flew out the window after the first session. I did want to shoot them all on a black background. At least that stayed true to plan."
Click on the links above to see this inimitable artist at work.
I'm sipping a bottle of my favorite Kombucha and perusing this article by Sara Gottfried MD. Let's hear her thoughts on the latest health craze...
Fabulous Fermented Foods: Take Your Health to the Next Level
I believe that one of this year’s health food buzzwords is going to be “probiotics.” With everyone from Michael Pollan to NPR jumping on the gut bacteria bandwagon, the discussion and science that is emerging on the importance of bacterial health is fascinating.
Most people know that a daily probiotic or the occasional yogurt is a good idea, but do they know why? And do they know the wealth of options that are out there when it comes to getting their daily dose of healthy bacteria? Check out the webisode Dr. Pedram Shojai and I just produced on the topic:
She continues:
"Here are some rock-solid reasons to add fabulous fermented foods to your diet:
Why do you want to eat foods full of bacteria in the first place? Good question. In most cases, eating food that’s so old it’s fermented would be a big no-no. But in the case of a these traditional recipes, fermentation yields major bonuses for your health.
Traditional fermented foods like sauerkraut are surprisingly effective as part of a weight loss plan. Fermented foods are typically low in sugar and calories, but high in fiber, which makes them wonderfully filling. Made from fermented cabbage and occasionally other vegetables, sauerkraut is not only extremely rich in healthy live cultures, but might also help with reducing allergy symptoms. Sauerkraut is also rich in vitamins B, A, E and C. Want one more reason to add fermented foods to your diet? Some, such as kimchi, have high levels of beta carotene and after undergoing three weeks of fermentation the levels of B1, B2, and B12 double.
Fermented foods also help stabilize your blood sugar; this reduces food cravings, keeps insulin sensitivity high, and aids weight loss. In a new study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, subjects who ate the fermented cabbage dish daily saw drops in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (or “bad” cholesterol), and fasting blood glucose levels after just one week.
Studies done on kimchi have shown that this Korean staple develops helpful bacteria that fight bad bacteria for the prevention of conditions such as yeast infections, urinary tract infections, obesity, diabetes, and gastrointestinal cancers.
Plus, the more you eat, the more benefits you reap! A study from Pusan National University in Korea included 100 young men, some of whom ate huge amounts of kimchi daily, and some who ate just half an ounce. The subjects who ate a huge amount of kimchi (about half a pound) daily saw much greater drops in cholesterol levels than those who ate a small amount every day for a week. Both groups still saw a drop in total and LDL cholesterol levels over the course of the study.
If you want to take a preventative approach to your health management (and I strongly encourage everyone to do so), adding probiotic-rich foods to your weekly diet is a wonderful place to start. Not only are they delicious, but fermented foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt, and kefir help weight loss, are full of vitamins and fiber, and deliver a much-needed serving of disease-fighting bacteria to your gut with each mouthful. Lastly, they boost your immunity more than any powder you can get mixed into a smoothie at Jamba Juice.
Now, where is my fork?"
Of Barbara Frederickson's Top 10 List on CNN Health, I thought these were particularly fascinating:
"Love fortifies the connection between your brain and your heart, making you healthier.
Decades of research show that people who are more socially connected live longer and healthier lives. Yet precisely how social ties affect health has remained one of the great mysteries of science.
My research team and I recently learned that when we randomly assign one group of people to learn ways to create more micro-moments of love in daily live, we lastingly improve the function of the vagus nerve, a key conduit that connects your brain to your heart. This discovery provides a new window into how micro-moments of love serve as nutrients for your health.
Your immune cells reflect your past experiences of love.
Too often, you get the message that your future prospects hinge on your DNA. Yet the ways that your genes get expressed at the cellular level depends mightily on many factors, including whether you consider yourself to be socially connected or chronically lonely.
My team is now investigating the cellular effects of love, testing whether people who build more micro-moments of love in daily life also build healthier immune cells.
Small emotional moments can have disproportionately large biological effects.
It can seem surprising that an experience that lasts just a micro-moment can have any lasting effect on your health and longevity. Yet I learned that there's an important feedback loop at work here, an upward spiral between your social and your physical well-being.
That is, your micro-moments of love not only make you healthier, but being healthier builds your capacity for love. Little by little, love begets love by improving your health. And health begets health by improving your capacity for love."
SHAKE IT
When I'm rushing around the city going from training to dance rehearsal to walking my tiny hounds, sometimes it's easier to drink my lunch. This is my own recipe which I alter slightly depending on what's around. Try to use as many organic ingredients as possible.
Toss it all in a blender or food processor and show no mercy.
Why? Read what Dave Asprey, the Bulletproof Executive, has to say about this beneficial brew:
"Good coffee is magic. It’s no secret that Bulletproof® Coffee is one of the best ways you can supercharge your brain function and turbo charge fat loss. Every day, more and more people are improving their cognitive performance and shrinking their waistlines thanks to Bulletproof Coffee.
It can promote brain function, memory, and energy levels. It can serve as a massive source of antioxidants and is associated with all sorts of positive health outcomes. Coffee can even effect your body and mind like Chi Gong exercises. It can even help you build muscle without exercising. You never feel hungry, get low energy, and as evidenced by our conversation with Chris Masterjohn, the saturated fat is good for you.
However, the wrong coffee can sap your health and hurt your performance.
I start the day with a cup of Bulletproof coffee. I learned about the power of butter at 18,000 feet elevation near Mt. Kailash in Tibet when I staggered into a guest house from the -10 degree weather and was literally rejuvenated by a creamy cup of yak butter tea. The biohacker in me asked, “why?” and that was the genesis of my recipe below, which is widely heralded as a cognitive enhancing recipe.
Upgraded™ Coffee is the result of an obsessive pursuit to engineer the absolute highest performance coffee beans on earth. It’s taken more than 10 years to identify every step of performance-robbing toxin formation in coffee and to create a reliable, perfect source of beans that always makes you feel great – even though “normal” coffee gives people headaches, jitters, and crankiness. Upgraded Coffee makes you feel noticeably better than any other coffee. You’ll never go back to Starbucks again. These beans are meant for drinking black or best of all, for making Bulletproof Coffee with grass fed butter.
If you’re like most of my friends who try this, your body is so starved for healthy fats that you feel like you can’t get enough. It will take your body a week or two to fully turn on its fat digestion systems when you switch to a high healthy fat breakfast of Bulletproof coffee. If at first it is a little too rich, try using less butter at first and build up to the amount you like. Taking a betaine HCl or digestive enzyme supplement with your coffee will also help your body digest the butter.
Bulletproof Coffee is becoming popular for a reason. Aside from tasting awesome, it makes you feel lean, focused, and energized. It allows you to transform your diet without resorting to chewing on sticks of butter (though that’s not a bad idea…)."
