Have you been feeling moody, depressed or anxious lately? Has your focus been off? Perhaps it’s time to take a look at your diet. Dr. Daniel Amen shares with us six toxic foods that can cause our mental health to take a turn and what you can do to feel better.

1. Sugar and Refined Carbohydrates
Often when we feel bad, we crave sugary sweetness. We love the comfort sweet foods provide, but they don’t love us back. Sugar (and even natural honey and maple syrup), as well as refined carbohydrates (white bread, pastries, pasta, and crackers), cause blood sugar levels to spike and then drop, impacting your mood and sense of wellbeing. Diets high in sugar increase inflammation, cause fatigue and cravings, and lead to erratic brain cell firing that has been implicated in aggression, a 2021 study indicates. Another recent study showed increased markers of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (lower overall brain and hippocampal volume, poorer episodic memory, and cognitive...

Watching the Olympics, you can’t help but be amazed by the athleticism, power, strength and mental resilience of the athletes. Their dedication is truly admirable! Although we may not be Olympians, we can certainly learn from these athletes. Personal trainer and international motivational speaker Brett Klika has worked with Olympic hopefuls. In the American Council on Exercise blog, Klika shares training secrets that help these athletes become better at their health and fitness to someday bring in the gold.

While you may not be suiting up to compete in the Paris Olympics, non-Olympians like you and me can learn a lot from the world class athletes who are. The same process that helps these champions hone their bodies and minds to set world records can actually help non-Olympians improve their health, fitness and overall well-being. From the importance of coaching to effective recovery strategies, these training secrets can take your fitness to the next level.

Prior...

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of watermelon
• 2-4 cups of spinach
• 3 cups of strawberries
• 1-2 inches of ginger (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare your ingredients.
2. Turn on your juicer to begin juicing, starting with some of the watermelon and then alternating between the rest of the ingredients.
3. Serve and enjoy!

What you eat after your workout is as critical as your pre-workout nutrition. The food you take after a workout plays a significant role in muscle repair, growth and overall recovery. Health expert JJ Virgin shares what you need to take and why it’s important to do so.

After your workout, you’ll want to combine carbohydrates with protein. This pairing helps support muscle repair and growth. It optimizes recovery by replenishing the glycogen stores that your body uses during exercise.

Studies indicate that the synergistic effect of carbohydrates and protein is more efficient at restoring muscle glycogen than carbohydrates alone. This combination aids in muscle repair and can improve performance in workouts, even up to 60 hours after the initial exercise session.

Combining carbohydrates and protein also enhances muscle protein synthesis during and after your workout, optimizing muscle repair and growth. Moreover, it contributes to the broader context of whole-body protein...

What you eat before and after a workout will affect your performance and recovery. According to fitness expert JJ Virgin, eating the right balance of nutrients before a workout can provide you with the energy and strength necessary to perform at your best. After exercising, your focus should shift to recovery, which involves repairing muscle tissues, replenishing energy stores, and reducing inflammation. Here are her tips on what you need to know about the food you should eat before working out.

• Eating the right foods before working out boosts your exercise effectiveness. The right pre-workout fuel impacts your performance, how your body builds muscle and burns fat, and your overall health goals.
• Carbohydrates are essential for energy before resistance training. Choose slow-releasing, low-glycemic carbs like berries or sweet potatoes to keep blood-sugar levels steady, ensuring consistent power and performance.
• Research indicates that a mix of carbohydrates and protein better...

With summer just being around the corner, it’s time to head outdoors and enjoy the sunshine! In fact, exercising outdoors provides more benefits than working out indoors. Here’s an article from the American Council on Exercise that talks about the benefits of green exercise.

Studies have found that green exercise—or exercise performed in natural environments—can yield benefits beyond those seen with performing the same exercise indoors. You likely know that regular exercise provides countless health benefits, including the prevention and management of hypertension, obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, not to mention the stress relief and mental health benefits that moving regularly can provide. But did you know that you can boost those benefits simply by taking your movement outdoors? 

Here are the findings from five key studies on the benefits of outdoor exercise:

• Compared to exercise alone, green exercise was found to be more...

Ingredients:

Cabbage Pancakes

• 5 cups shredded green cabbage
• ½ large red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch scallions, roots removed, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• cup cassava flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 3 tablespoons avocado oil

Coconut Chile Sauce

• cup avocado mayonnaise
• ¼ cup canned full-fat coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon organic rice vinegar or coconut vinegar
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• ¾ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon chile flakes

Poached Eggs

• 4 eggs (or can be doubled for 2 eggs per person)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons organic rice vinegar or coconut vinegar

Garnish

• Fresh chives, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Start by making the pancakes: In a large mixing bowl, combine the cabbage, red onions, scallions, sea salt, cassava flour, and baking powder. Use your hands to mix well. Beat the eggs and add to the mixing bowl. Mix well and set...

This week we will be learning about courage. What does courage look like? Taking care of your health, establishing new goals or even taking the steps to meet established ones - these are acts of courage. When you step out of your comfort zone, you are being courageous. Why is it important to have courage? For one, courage helps us overcome limitations like fear and anxiety. Courage can also help us heal.

So how can we develop a mindset of courage and become better at it? According to Psychology Today, these are the factors that will help you develop courage.

1. Pursuing a meaningful goal
Courageous people are often dedicated to causes they find meaningful and that gives them a sense of purpose. People with a sense of purpose feel less anxiety and stress. Self-growth can mean pursuing learning for its own sake, not just for external achievement (e.g., playing music, helping the vulnerable, or spending time in nature).

2. There is no courage without fear
As Mark Twain said,...

Ingredients:

• 1 cup lactose-free cottage cheese (such as Good Culture or Green Valley Organics)
• 1 head garlic
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cashew milk
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 teaspoon Healthy in a Hurry Cajun Seasoning
• 2 8-ounce boxes grain-free pasta (such as chickpea or cassava), cooked al dente
• Optional: fresh parsley or basil for garnish

Dairy-Free (DF) Option: Use dairy-free ricotta and butter brands such as Miyokos and Kite Hill

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. Cut the top off a head of garlic to expose the tops of the cloves.
3. Drizzle with olive oil, wrap and cover tightly with tin foil, and roast for about 30-40 minutes until the garlic is soft and fragrant. Allow to cool, then squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves.
4. While the garlic roasts, season...

Just like our bodies, our brains also need exercise. According to functional medicine expert Dr. Will Cole, he sees patients in their 40s and 50s and many ask him if there are ways to exercise their brain and stave off cognitive decline in their 70s and 80s. He tells us in this article that there are some simple ways to exercise your brain, based on peer-reviewed research, that may strengthen your cognitive skills.

1. Fast

Fasting might seem like an exercise for your body, but your brain reaps a good portion of the health benefits from fasting. A study published in the Trends in Cognitive Sciences journal suggests that continuous consumption of food causes changes in epigenetic molecular DNA and protein that negatively impact cognition. 

Allowing your body to fast for at least 14 hours overnight is one of the best ways to reverse this cycle and exercise your brain’s repair mechanisms. Experts call this non-eating period “intermittent fasting” or...