Last week the Today Show aired a special segment titled “5 Things You’ve Never Heard of . . . Foods That Could Change Your Life” with special guest Travel Channel host Andrew Zimmern who did extensive research and sought out the five powerful foods that could change your life on your path to health.

Here’s the link to the clip:

Five life-changing foods

The ones that he mentioned were:

• Alligator

• Laver Bread

• Açaí Berries

• Yerba Maté

• Cupuaçu

Now, the reason I found this interesting is because I know of a fairly new functional health beverage called FRUTA VIDA that combines three of these five superfoods that were mentioned! And let me tell you that it’s delicious!!!!!!!!

=================

#1 - Açai (ah-sigh-EE) “The Wine of the Amazon”

This berry is harvested naturally from the depths of the rain forests of Brazil, by the people who have been using it for thousands of years. Açai is the only super food on the market that has everything you need naturally from only the berry itself. It is packed with Vitamin B1, B2, B3, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Phosphorus, Calcium, Potassium, Fiber, Proteins, good fatty acids such as Omega 6 and Omega 9. Research on Açai has shown that these anti-oxidants are known to fight and regulate cholesterol levels in the body.

As an added benefit, Açai gives you the highest level of anti-oxidants on the market, with studies showing up to 33 times the anti-oxidant level as in red wine grapes. Besides being considered one of the “richest foods in Iron” the Açai fruit is also rich in fiber which makes it strongly recommended for the elderly and/or for people with digestive problems. For its microbiological characteristics, Açai is considered one of the most nutritive foods in the Amazon, and perhaps in the world.

The Açai fruit has a great berry flavor with the aroma of chocolate. In Brazil, they make a popular slurpie-like drink from it, and now it’s the new favorite energy drink in trendy cafes and spas in New York and California!

=================

#2 - Cupuaçu (coo pwAH soo) “The Taste of the Amazon”

When foreigners visit the rainforest, native Amazonians will often offer them Cupuaçu – the “taste of the Amazon”. But this delicious fruit happens to be a potent health resource, as well. Cupuaçu is a member of the chocolate family. The indigenous Indians have used the fruit as a primary food source for years. It contains unique antioxidant phytonutrients called polyphenols. You may be familiar with polyphenols from other common medicinal plants, notably green tea and grape seeds. Cupuaçu also contains at least nine other known antioxidants including Vitamin C and Vitamin A, making it a well-rounded antioxidant “cocktail”.

=================

#3 - Yerba Mate’ (yerba mah TAY) “The Green Tea of South America”

Unlike Açai and Cupuaçu, which are fruits, Yerba Mate’ is in the evergreen family and the leaves and stems of the tree are used to produce a tea.

In fact, this tea has been called “the green tea of South America” since it is the national drink of Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. Consumed in moderation, maté is recognized as one of the most healthful natural beverages on earth!

Often called “nature’s most perfect beverage” and “the beverage of the gods“, South American Indians have been consuming mate’ for centuries and today millions of South Americans drink Yerba Mate’ as a healthful alternative to coffee. Users report that although it gives the energizing property of caffeine in coffee, it does not result in sleeplessness and nervousness of coffee drinkers!

Safe, effective energy is not the only benefit of Yerba Mate’. Packed also with powerful antioxidants such as polyphenols, the drink has earned it’s name “The Green Tea of South America”. And, it has been shown to aid in weight loss!

** Source: Dr. Jeffrey Klein, Ph.D., “Nature’s Medicine Chest -The Anti-Aging Secrets of the Amazon Rainforest”, NGX Media, 2004. Get your copy of “Nature’s Medicine Chest” here. ( www.RainforestTools.com )

 ================

So…. check out the video, then check out Fruta Vida to get the goods and a mountain of health benefits info.

To your health!

~ Vilma

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Happy December everyone!  There are 20 more days left in 2007.  What are you going to do these last days which will help you avoid the holiday binging and weight gain?? 

Well, SparkPeople has posted their December calendar which can help you focus on one healthy habit each month. .  There are 31 daily tips that will each help you eat right, exercise more, and combat stress during the holiday season.

Click here to download and print your December calendar. (You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download this PDF.)

Happy Holidays & Merry CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

~ Vilma

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Sparkpeople has come out with their August 2007 calendar - 31 Days to Better Sleep.  This is something that I am defenitely going to implement… I NEED more sleep!!! 

CLICK HERE to check it out!  It’s a PDF file, so you will have to download it to your computer.

~ Vilma

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Today is the day after my Fruit Flush Detox and as promised, I am writing a review about Jay Robb’s 3 Day Fruit Flush Detox program, the positives & negatives about the program, my experience/thoughts/before & after weight and measurements, and additional references & websites for those that want to research a bit more about it.

Please remember that this was my personal experience and you may have similar or different experiences/results than mine when/if you decide to do this.

I lost a total of 2.5 pounds & 6.75 inches (more stats below)

Also I used my own protein powder that I had on hand at the time. He recomends that you buy HIS protein…

~ Vilma
============

About the Diet: Jay Robb (clinical nutritionist/trainer/bodybuilder)

Website / Book

• Viewpoint: Fresh fruit is nature’s perfect cleansing food. It is high in water content, fiber and natural slow-releasing sugars. The nutrients in fruit help dissolve toxins, and the water and fiber helps flush out toxins. The Fruit Flush 3-Day Detox provides a safe way to keep your body fat levels low and energy levels high. Fruit should make up the majority of the diet. The food pyramid should be changed to fresh fruits on the bottom, followed by vegetables, proteins and fats on top. Grains are used to beef up cattle and (Americans) are beefing up on them
• Detox method:Three days of clean fruits and vegetables in limited amounts. A non-aggressive detox compared with herbs or laxatives. It’s a semi-fast (about 900 calories per day) intended for short periods. Otherwise the low caloric intake would slow the metabolism.

My Positives thoughts:

• All Natural
• Low Fat
• Low Sodium
• High in Fiber (more than 30 g a day!)
• Lots of Vitamins & Antioxidants
• Flushes out extra water weight
• Improved Energy
• Regular bowel movements
• Improved Skin Tone

My Negatives thoughts:

• Very Low Calorie (under 800 or less per day)
• No exercise recommended
• Not a long-term solution for fat loss
• Not a balanced diet
• Not ideal if you are on a Fat Loss program
• You have to buy HIS protein

My Final Thoughts:

I give this Detox an B+ as a detox program simply because its healthy (food wise). All natural foods (mostly fruits), no preservatives, chemicals, laxitives or pills required. I had loads of energy throughout the complete 3 days - enough energy to sneak in cardio workouts & weights. I know Jay does not recommend exercise during this time, but I couldn’t just let all this good energy go to waste!
While reading his book, it was interesting to find out that although some fruit have a very high gycemic index (GI) (like watermelon), they are VERY LOW in the glycemic load (GL).

A GI value tells you only how rapidly a particular carbohydrate turns into sugar. It doesn’t tell you how muchof that carbohydrate is in a serving of a particular food. You would need to know both things to understand a food’s effect on blood sugar. That is where GL comes in. The carbohydrate in serving of watermelon, for example, has a high GI. But there isn’t a lot of it, so the watermelon’s glycemic load is relatively low.

The same goes for all fruits. Fruits have high fiber, high water content, plant-based medicines and natural, slow-releasing sugars.

DAY 1 review

DAY 2 Review

DAY 3 Review

Do Detox Diets Really Work? - my thoughts a couple of days after my detox .

Review, feedback & opinions from various people

There are a couple of bad points about this detox as well starting with it’s advertising techniques. Losing 9 pounds in 3 days sounds very enticing, but it’s almost impossible to lose that much without losing lean body mass in the process. I was really scared that this would happen to me, and i’m soooo glad that it didn’t. I think Jay was meaning that you lose whatever fecal matter & yucky stuff that was built up in your body. Some might have 10 lbs of that, some 9 lbs… I had 2-3 & that’s good for me.

The only reason I went on this program was to flush all the yucky stuff (water retention, sodium, fecal matter) out of my body & fill it with much need nutrients. I was never looking for weightloss, although I expected it because it’s a VERY LOW calorie plan (less than 1,000 per day).

If you’re looking for a detox program, I do recommend this plan, however, PLEASE don’t stay on it as a long-term weight-loss solution. I recommend that you read Tips from Jay Robb for the Day AFTER your detox & how to maintain your weight-loss as well as a long-term solution to weight-loss.

A healthy, balanced diet consisting of Lean Proteins, Complex Carbohydrates & Healthy Fats combined with Daily exercise is the ONLY long-term solution to fat loss.

Here are my weight & measurement comparisons for my Jay Robb’s 3 Day FRUIT FLUSH Detox experience.

Inches lost on the detox: 5 inches

** Detox Results **
Fat Lost: 3 pounds (possible water weight???)
Lean Mass Gained: .50 pounds (1/2 a pound!!!)
Weight Lost: 2.5 pounds (possible water weight???)

=========

Additional Resources:

What is a DETOX diet?

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detox_diet
• http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/dietarytherapy/a/DetoxBasics.htm

Review from real people:

• WBAL-TV 11 News health reporter Donna Hamilton - lots of video clips & a story about a lady that lost 25 lbs. by following the principles of the Fruit Flush Detox.
• Andrea’s Experience on her bodybuilding.com Blog
• The DIET LIST review
• Amazon Customer Reviews
• Mike Adams Review

The 48-page Fruit Flush Dietis available as a down-loadable e-book for $5 at the Jay Robb website: http://www.jayrobb.com/cat_fruitFlushDietEbook.asp

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I fell asleep last night with a piercing headache- I ate HORRIBLE (white bread, lots of cheese, & hot cheetos). So, this morning I get up on the scale and i’m up 5 pounds!!!

However, this doesn’t worry me, because, it’s water weight retention (I ate ALOT of sodium & starches yesterday).

Read the article that I posted a while back titled: Weight fluctuations throughout the day

So, back to day 68. I feel like i’m losing my focus. I started working full time this week & it has been a HUGE change for me. I haven’t been planning my meals so I haven’t been eating on target as I would like to. My workouts have been good though. Cardio almost every day (except yesterday because I bummed it!). 2 of my 4 weight training splits down, 2 more to go (Today - Back & Calves; Saturday - Shoulders, Triceps & Abs).

I’ve been wanting to get up around 5:30 am or so to get a good walk/run around my neighborhood (aprox. 3 + miles) but all this week I have slept right through my alarm clock. To change this, I will need to start going to sleep earlier. I’m improving though - from 12:00 am down to 11:00 pm bed time. My goal is to get atleast 6-7 hours of sleep in every night.

So for this weekend & next week (Week 11) I want to do a couple of things:

1. 3 Day Fruit Flush Detox (will probably start this weekend - Saturday)
2. Plan next week’s meals during the weekend
3. Clean the apartment
4. Update Budget
5. Update Stats & measurements
6. Start experimenting with the principles of the Fruit Diet while maintaining BFFM core nutrition principles. Basically, for 14 days I’m going to replace all my complex carbohydrates & dairy with fruit, fibrous veggies, and non-grain carbohydrates (yams, sweet potatos, white potatos) . I’ll still be getting my carbs in, but they will not be from grains. I have a feeling that I might be allergic/senstitive to gluten, grains & possibly cheese as well (I am lactose intolerant), so I want to take these (brown rice, oatmeal, whole wheat/whole grain bread, cereals, cheese & dairy products) out of my diet for a couple of days and see how I feel. After the 14 days I will start re-introducing grains & dairy slowly.
7. Go to sleep every night at 11:00 pm & wake up at 5:30 am to go for my morning walk/run.
8. Most importantly, spend time with God everyday - meditating on His Word & being in constant comunication with Him.

Here are the rest of Day 68 re-caps:

• 6.5 hours of sleep
• Exercise for the day - cycling class
  • TOTAL time: about 55 minutes
  • TOTAL calories burned: 798 calories
• TOTAL steps walked = 6,896
• Water - 160 oz.
• Eating- Good! (Trying to cut out all grains & dairy today)

Meal #1 - Fruit/Protein Shake: (1.5 scoops of Whey protein, 1 cup of mixed berries, 1/2 organic banana, 1 peach, water)
Meal #2 - 6 egg whitle omelet w/ brocolli, 1 peach
Meal #3 - 4 oz. of chicken breast, 1 banana
Meal #4 - Baby Carrots
Meal #5 - Luby’s (ate Honey BBQ Grilled Chicken Breast, Spinach Salad, Green Beans, and fried Okra, water)
Meal #6 - Banana Split (1 cup of Dreyers Slow Churned Cookies & Cream Sugar Free Ice Cream, 1 banana, 1 TBSP sugar free Chocolate Syrup) about 350 calories

One thing I noticed today is that my hands didn’t feel so swollen by the end of the day. Maybe bacause I cut out most grains??? Hmmm….

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Become More Physically Active with These Tips

– By Nicole Nichols, Fitness Instructor & Health Educator

SparkPeople’s calendar feature will help you focus on one healthy habit each month. For June, that means achieving an active lifestyle.

Here are 30 daily tips that will help you add a little more activity to your day. Click here to download and print your June calendar. (You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download this PDF.)

If you think your friends or family members might benefit from these heart-healthy tips, share this calendar with them!!!

~ Vilma

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!