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  • These foods could help keep your hair full, healthy, thick and hydrated

    These foods could help keep your hair full, healthy, thick and hydrated

    Taking care of your hair doesn’t just involve expensive products and regular trips to the hairdressers. Eating the right food is just as important for your hair as it is for your skin and wellbeing.

    Olichel / Pixabay

    In many cases, a simple change in diet can be helpful in slowing hair loss, making hair thicker and healthier. Much like the skin, the condition of your hair can be an outward sign of inner health.

    The Farjo Institute, a centre of excellence in the UK for hair transplant surgery, hair loss medicine, hair biology research and hair restoration education and has been for 25 years, have shared their top 5 foods for healthy, full, glossy, thick and hydrated hair.

    Lean meat

    moreharmony / Pixabay

    Low levels of protein can result in dry, weak hair, with extremely low levels even stunting hair growth and leading to hair loss. After all, our hair is made up of keratin – a protein that makes up the majority of the scalp – so to stimulate hair growth, it’s important to keep the hair follicles strong, with a regular intake of lean meats. This includes red meat, chicken and turkey. For vegetarians, lentils and beans, including kidney beans, split peas and soybeans, are the best sources of protein.

    Oily fish

    Robert-Owen-Wahl / Pixabay

    As well as being another fantastic source of protein, oily fish like salmon, herring and mackerel are packed full of B vitamins, which help to promote hair growth. The omega 3 that can be found in oily fish is an important fat that our body can’t make itself, so must be obtained through our diet. Omega 3, which is also found in avocados, keeps our hair hydrated, and a lack of it can result in a dry and flaky scalp.

    Green leafy vegetables

    CREDIT: mythja-bigstock

    Green, leafy vegetables are full of beneficial nutrients for the hair. Vitamins A and C aid in the production of sebum, an oily substance created by hair follicles to keep the hair naturally conditioned, and iron assists in the production of red blood cells that transport oxygen to the scalp. Kale, broccoli, lettuce and spinach are best, but other vegetables like bell peppers, carrots and asparagus can all assist with hair growth.

    Fruit

    silviarita / Pixabay

    Adding fresh fruits that are rich in vitamins A, C and E, to your diet is also another easy way to help keep your hair in great condition. For example, oranges, blueberries, limes and kiwis are a strong source of vitamin C – known for it’s antioxidant properties and assistance in producing collagen. This is an essential protein which strengthens the blood vessels that support hair shafts. A lack of these vitamins can result in hair being brittle and weak.

    Nuts and seeds

    Nuts
    CREDIT: bigstock-parkershots

    Not only are nuts easy to snack on, they’re full of vital vitamins and minerals. Zinc, in particular, is a mineral that regulates the production of androgens and low levels of androgen have been associated with stunted hair growth and dandruff. Vitamin E, which is present in nuts and seeds, protects the hair from DNA damage and UV rays, keeping it as healthy as possible.

  • 10 ways to losing body fat fast

    Not only is burning off some fat going to help your self-esteem, but it will also help you live longer. Ignoring all the talk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, lowering your body fat will help you move and sit more comfortably, protect your joints and your back, and can help you feel really good about looking after yourself.

    CREDIT: ©-livrakv-Depositphotos

    That being said, it ain’t easy. If it were we would all be flashing our 6-packs morning, noon, and night.

    1. Stop drinking so many calories

    This isn’t exclusive to alcohol, but we as a nation drink way too many of our calories. Sugary drinks, booze, fancy coffees, energy or ”sports” drinks, even plain old orange juice, they’re all packed with calories and sugar. And since you’re drinking them, those calories don’t seem to fill you up the way food does.

    It may seem boring but stick to water as much as possible.

    2. Drink more water

    Just to hammer this point home, drink a butt load of water to keep your body hydrated and feeling full at all times. Drink a glass of water with every meal and keep your metabolism online.

    Plus it’s free!

    3. Eat more

    CREDIT: mythja-bigstock

    Oh yeah, we’re telling you to eat more in order to reduce your body fat. By that, we mean more greens… sorry. Add a fistful or two of veg to every meal. Spinach with your omelette, broccoli with your chicken, a load of leaves on your burger; all of these are nutrient dense but low on calories and will help you feel fuller without being fattening.
    4. Sleep!

    Your muscles grow and recover while you’re sleeping, so if you’re smashing out sessions at the gym but burning the midnight oil you’re not going to see the benefits from your hard work. Plus you’ll be knackered, won’t be able to train as hard the next day, and are far more likely to eat more in order to stay awake.

    5. Lift some weights

    CREDIT: Dean-Drobot-bigstock

    A six-pack cannot be achieved by cardio and crunches alone, so you’ll need to pick up some weights in order to rev up your metabolism a bit. Adding 1.5kg worth of muscle to your body can potentially burn an extra 1,050 calories a week, according to a study by the University of Michigan.

    If you’re not bothered about building muscle and getting bigger, then train for strength with big, compound movements such as the power clean and squat. That way you turn every workout into a fat-burner.

    6. Low-intensity cardio

    CREDIT: Flynt-bigstock

    Now I know what you’re thinking, “But you’re always going on about high-intensity training!” And while HIIT is often our go-to form of cardio, don’t discount the benefits of some steady state cardio.

    Low-intensity steady state (LISS) cardio lowers the stress hormone cortisol, which has been associated with increased fat storage. It also burns calories (obviously) and can even be used as active recovery the day after an intense training session.

    7. Fill up on fibre

    Fibre is great at keeping you regular and is an important part of every bottom’s day-to-day life. But wait, there’s more. Research has shown that fibre can boost your fat-burning by as much as 30%. Add whole grains and fruits to your diet and aim to eat about 25g of fibre per day.

    8. Spice up your life!

    SLAM IT TO THE LEFT! … sorry, got carried away. Developing a taste for spicy food can give your metabolism a serious boost. So add some chillis to your next stir-fry and some paprika to your next batch of homemade burgers to torch some extra body fat while you eat.

    9. Get plenty of D, vitamin D

    Vitamin D is essential in order to preserve muscle tissue and is best obtained from your food, so we recommend getting your D orally. Giggle. Which is good because depending on sunshine would be frustrating as hell in the UK.

    You can get 90% of your recommended daily intake from a 100g piece of salmon. So eat plenty of fish, eggs, milk and cereals to get your intake up.

    10. Fat-burning workout once a week

    Add a fat-burning workout to your weekly routine, something that will have you sweating, burning calories, and building muscle.

    We’ve got a load of ’em, so sign up to our weekly workouts to get them sent straight to your inbox once a week.

  • Harry Styles Has An Unusual Way Of Keeping In His 26 Inch Jeans

    Harry Styles Has An Unusual Way Of Keeping In His 26 Inch Jeans

    It seems that Harry Styles has embarked on a diet consisting of nothing but Coffee, Butter and Coconut oil.

    CREDIT: DFree/bigstock

    ◼︎ Diet consists of just cups of black coffee, butter and coconut oil.

    ◼︎ Diet dramatically reduces your calorie intake

    ◼︎ Star looking tired and drawn in latest press conference

    One Direction star Harry Styles is reportedly on the Bulletproof diet, a diet that claims to keep hunger pangs at bay, but is helping maintain his 26 inch waist.

    Speaking about the diet, Harry has claimed that the diet which consists of nothing but black coffee, butter and coconut oil stops him from feeling hungry. It is said that he replaces meals with the foul sounding concoction.

    In an interview with The Sunday Times Style magazine, Harry explained how his hunger pangs are avoided on a busy day,
    “Bullet coffee. It’s black coffee with a spoonful of butter in it and a spoonful of coconut oil, all mixed up together. I’ve been on it for two days. You don’t get hungry.”

    The British Dietetic Association has said that the diet is not a good idea. Saying,”While the idea of minimising alcohol and processed food is positive, the classification of foods is at odds with health recommendations and lacks evidence. Time restricted eating is also at odds with many lifestyles.

    “The negative of the recommended Bulletproof Coffee is that consuming 400-plus calories from one beverage provides a lot of energy but few nutrients from a drink, rather than individuals choosing food and drink with more nutritional content for the same calorie value.”

  • How to fight obesity naturally

    Natural remedies for fighting obesity

    CREDIT: ©-tish1-Depositphotos

    Anti-obesity drugs can have some hazardous side effects which make the use of natural supplements more attractive. Most drugs that fight obesity either do it by reducing fat absorption or by suppressing appetite through neuronal regulation. There are some fruit and herbal extracts that are found to possess components that can regulate body weight through similar mechanisms.

    Polyphenols inhibit pancreatic lipase
    Pancreatic lipase (PL) is crucial in regulating the digestion of fats into absorbable forms. Saponins, polyphenols, flavonoids and caffeine have been found to possess PL-inhibitory activity. These compounds are found naturally in different types of tea, oolong, green and black. They are also found in fruits like berries, apples, lemons and in grape seeds and several other herbs. A multitude of studies have sought to explore the anti-obesity effect of polyphenol-rich extracts in animal models and have found promising results.

    Hoodia and Garcina species suppress appetite
    Another way to reduce weight gain is to suppress appetite by regulating the respective control centres of the brain. The perception of fullness has been linked with the intake of some herbal extracts like, Hoodia gordonii and Hoodia pilifera, leafless plants common in South Africa. Cissus quadrangularis and Garcina cambogia possess natural hydrocitric acid which boosts the release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates appetite. Garcina exerted anti-obesity functions by reducing lipid accumulation in adipocytes in experiments on cell cultures.

    There are many supplements that contain extracts from Hoodia, Garcinia and Cissus plants and have proven to be effective in suppressing appetite and promoting weight loss. However, the exact mechanism by which this regulation is achieved by these extracts is not clear. Crude ethanol extract from Caralluma fimbriata, a type of cactus, and saponins from Korean red ginseng, have also been shown to have a suppressive effect on the hunger cycle.

    Fish oil
    Consumption of fish oil has also been linked to increased energy expenditure. Diet composed of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Dosahexaenoic acid (DHA), both components of fish oil, decreased body weight gain in mice. DHA caused 90% increase in lipolysis in different studies.

    Caffeine, rich in oolong tea
    The principal component of tea leaves, caffeine, has shown a reduction in weight gain through numerous mechanisms. Caffeine has lipolytic action and therefore increases lipid metabolism in the body. Increasing the energy expenditure of the body through non-shivering thermogenesis is also a way to regulate body weight. Caffeine and catechins found in tea have shown increased energy expenditure in multiple experiments.

    Ginseng
    Panax ginseng, a type of berry common in Korea, expresses moderate anti-obesity properties by suppressing appetite, increasing energy expenditure, and downregulating accumulation of triglycerides. The active components of ginseng that are used in supplements are ethanol extracts, ginsenosides and saponins.

    Resveratrol and quercetin
    Naturally occurring compounds like resveratrol, found in grapes and berries and quercetin, found in teas, apples and onions, are also associated with reduced accumulation of triglycerides. Resveratrol and quercetin inhibit adipogenesis and promote apoptosis in adipocytes and can therefore be used as an anti-obesity treatment.

    Other than the above mentioned compounds, extracts from cinnamon, garlic, capsicum, palm oil and green tea have also demonstrated anti-obesity properties in studies.

    Dr Clovis Palmer heads the immunometabolism group at the world renowned Burnet Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia. Dr Palmer is a reviewer for several top ranked international journals including Hepatology, AIDS and Antioxidants and Redox Signalling. He is the chief scientific editor for Natural Immunity-Health, Australia (www.naturalimmunity.com.au).

  • Is sugar the modern addiction?

    Sugar. It’s the latest in a continuing circle of foodstuffs to be condemned.

    You’ve probably heard about Dr Robert Lustig’s diatribe against it, at least in passing. It seems like common sense. We all know too many sweets or fizzy drinks are bad for you, but is it really as bad as he says? Isn’t it just about moderation?

    In his book, Fat Chance: ‘The Hidden Truth About Sugar, Obesity and Disease’, Dr Lustig claims that we have underestimated the dangers of sugar. It is not just an unhealthy additive, but an addictive substance on a par with tobacco, alcohol and cocaine. The symptoms of withdrawal can be just as strong, which is why that diet can be so hard to keep up. It’s a relatively recent problem, he says, ironically caused by our own discoveries about health.

    As we realised the dangers of excessive fat consumption, food producers started to create foods with less fat. But in doing so, they had to add sugar to keep it tasting good. The more sugar they added, the more we bought their foods, and so added sugar became profitable, not just a necessary replacement for the fat. And that’s why those same producers will fight so hard to tell you that a little is ok, and that you don’t need to cut it out completely – because they will lose profits if we avoid their sugary foods.

    While you can’t argue with his basic premise, this is all starting to sound a bit conspiracy heavy though, isn’t it? Well, so did the tobacco story, but now the truth is out that the conspiracy really did exist. I’m not paranoid – they really are out to get me!

    Certainly, there are plenty of stories out there that give anecdotal weight to his argument. There’s Michelle Allen, 47, who weighed over 26 stone at her heaviest and was a size 32. She was addicted to cake and claims to have spent £87,360 over 30 years before changing her ways. She’s now lost an impressive 17 stone and has dropped to a size 12. And Denise, who shared her story on this blog about weight loss, saying ‘The most interesting thing I’ve discovered is that in giving up sugar and starch, the “emotional eating” went with it. Speaking strictly for myself, I have concluded that it was not emotional eating, it was addiction, a very physical addiction to sugar and starch. Because it went away when I quit eating them.’

    But David Katz, Director of Yale Prevention Research Centre, calls for a little calm on the matter, and says it’s unhelpful to demonise sugar like this. Of course too much is bad for you, he says in a rebuttal to Dr Lustig’s book, that’s what excess means. Anything to excess is harmful. But he says there’s a reason we crave sugar, and just because we see withdrawal symptoms doesn’t mean something is bad for you. The reason drugs are addictive is because they fool the body’s natural reward system, but that reward system operates the same way for things that we need. That’s why we’ve developed it. You’d expect to see withdrawal symptoms from giving up water, but you wouldn’t conclude that we should do that. Equally, drinking water to excess can cause headaches, nausea, fatigue, vomiting and even death.

    Perhaps they’re both right – sometimes it takes a shocking exaggeration to bump us out of bad habits, so Dr Lustig’s attitude may be what we need right now. Long term, though David Katz advocates normal common sense. He still warns against processed foods with added sugars, but thinks naturally occurring sugars shouldn’t be avoided. Eat fresh, mostly plants and moderate your quantities. And that seems to be the answer to most of these ‘health scares’. Learn to recognise your unhealthy habits, and adapt to that simple rule of thumb and you can’t go far wrong.

    If you think sugar is the ultimate evil, or you just need to cut down on your intake, we can help. All our food is super fresh. We use no refined or added sugar whatsoever. So if you’re trying to wean yourself off gradually, or want to go cold turkey, we can tailor your diet plan specifically to your needs and personal taste.

    Contact us 7 days per week on 020 86269360 between 9.00am and 21.00pm or via www.totaldietfood.com
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