Posts Tagged ‘Coffee’

5 Ways to Boost Your Energy

June 21st, 2010

Energy is a precious thing, something to conserve, save, and try not to waste; we are forever searching for new ways to boost our ever-dwindling supplies. But I’m not talking about turning off the lights when you leave a room, or switching to solar power. I am talking about your own personal energy, something much harder to boost and even harder to conserve. Here are five ways that you can boost your energy reserves, while staying within the boundaries of a healthy lifestyle.

The first thing you can do to boost your energy is to start eating more raw foods. Of course, a raw food diet will help with more than just energy, but it is certainly an important reason to switch from a cooked and processed foods way of eating.

Many foods lose vital minerals during the cooking process – minerals that can help to give you the energy you need during the day. Raw foods also contain living enzymes that allow your body to work cleaner and easier, conserving the energy in your food for the work you choose to do, rather than the digestive work you need to simply keep going.

Another way to gain more personal energy is to plan to get more sleep. We all know that a good night’s sleep should be around eight hours, but few of us actually manage to get that much rest. Continued lack of sleep can result in a buildup of “sleep debt”, which can increasingly effect your concentration and ability to perform at your peak. A well rested body is an energized and recharged body, able to use the energy in your raw food diet more efficiently and effectively.

Another important factor in preserving your personal energy levels is the amount of water that you drink. You may think you are properly hydrating yourself, but if your liquids come flavored or altered, you may not be getting enough pure water. Hydration is key to staying in the zone – if your body becomes dehydrated, you run the risk of wearing yourself out prematurely. Make sure to drink a few glasses of water every day, and try to never wait until you are thirsty to have a drink. Thirst is your body’s way of telling you that you are already low in liquids.

Another way to get more energy is to quit the coffee. If you are a caffeine user, the idea of having less to get more energy might sound wrong, but many studies have shown that long-term caffeine users actually gain no energy or alertness from their morning coffee; they are simply fighting the effects of overnight withdrawal symptoms. Go cold turkey, and soon enough, you won’t need the coffee anymore.

Last but not least, get your daily required amounts of vitamins to maintain and gain energy throughout the day. With a properly calibrated raw food diet, you should not have to resort to pills and capsules to supplement your food; everything you need for great energy can be found within a raw food eating plan.

Benefits of Green Tea

June 4th, 2010

For many people, a coffee break is not something they want to be a part of. The bitter bite of a cup of coffee is not something they enjoy; others react poorly to the effects that coffee can wreck on your digestive system. But when given a chance to sip something hot, many people who spurn coffee will reach for a cup of green tea. Some people may be reaching simply for an alternative to java; others who routinely eat for energy know exactly how wonderful green tea can be for you.

Now, the words “tea” and “high energy diet” may not be the first association that you would choose, but there are all sorts of high energy benefits to green tea: it could lower your risk of developing certain types of cancers; it can help to reduce levels of bad cholesterol in the body; it can help ease the pain of some types of arthritis; it can aide in weight loss; it can provide an alternative source of caffeine; it can help to prevent food poisoning and tooth decay; it can help to soothe stress and anxiety levels; and many more ways, including wonderful rejuvenating effects when used topically on the skin.

The most exciting research into the benefits of green teas has to be its ability to retard the growth of cancerous cells. While a practical use for this discovery might yet be years away, it is great to know that green tea might help to keep us healthier for years to come.

Many of the other benefits of drinking green tea have been known about for centuries, thanks to its use in ancient Chinese medicine. Back then, green tea was used to treat or cure common ailments like headaches and other aches and pains.

But what is a green tea, anyway? It is a tea leaf that comes from a similar family of plant as many other types of teas, but the main difference is in how it is prepared. Other leaves are fermented to make their teas, converting a certain type of catechin polyphenol found in the leaves into other chemicals. Green teas are not fermented, but steamed to prepare them. The steaming process does not affect the catechin polyphenols in the same way, meaning they stay in the tea leaf intact and do not oxidize. The catechin polyphenol in green tea is what does the good work in cancer research, and offers similar but stronger protections to the body as the polyphenol called resveratrol does in red wine.

But perhaps one of the greatest aspects of green tea is that all of these wonderful benefits are held within a delicious hot beverage. Many people worry that eating for energy can mean having to resort to ingesting foods that they find repulsive or distasteful; neither worry can be found with green teas. Whether you want to improve your body, protect your health, or simply find an alternative to coffee, green teas can be, well, your cup of tea.

Why Raw Foods Give You More Energy

May 3rd, 2010

You have heard the term “eat for energy” as it applies to a raw food diet, and sure, it sounds wonderful. But when you stop to think about it, does it make sense to you? For most of us, “energy” foods are sometimes the least healthy options, and we pull our fuel from the caffeine, sugar and fats that we consume on the go as a quick option to get something into our stomachs.

Is that what energy has meant for you in the past? Have you felt the low, hungry craving for something sweet and filling? Have you felt the lack of energy that you thought could only be rectified by devastating a box of doughnuts?

Many of us have felt this way, and that is why the idea of a raw food diet being a high energy diet can sometimes sounds like a misdirection at best, and an outright lie at worst. But the truth is, someone who eats raw foods is going to get more energy than the rest of us.

Take, for instance, that essential “energy” food, the morning cup of coffee. Many of us swear by it, and fortunes have been made on our dependence on it. Yes, it gives you energy – the caffeine gives you a boost in attention and focus, and the sugar spikes into the bloodstream to give you the extra pep. But that caffeine kick fades fast, and the sugar jolt quickly becomes a deficit. Coffee leaves you worse for wear.

Compare that to the eating for energy alternative for a morning pick-me-up, the all-powerful and ever-popular green smoothie. There is no caffeine to be found here, and no processed sugars. Instead, you have great natural fibre to fill you up and keep you full for hours; tons of vitamins to provide your body with the elements needed to keep you running in optimal health; and enough healthy calories to give you the fuel you need to operate until lunchtime.

Another example is the energy bar. This candy-bar-in-disguise has been marketed to us as the best possible thing you could eat after a hard workout, but that is only true if you want to undo all of the hard work you just performed. Energy bars are empty calories and sweet nothings, and their “energy” comes from processed sugars and other additives. If you really want a healthy – and energizing – snack after a hard workout, nothing beats the raw rush of a handful of raw almonds and a tall glass of cold water. The water is essential to keep your body hydrated after sweating away a good deal of your fluids, while the almonds provide you with fats to feed your fatigued muscles and living food enzymes to help with the digestion of the fibre they contain.

A raw food diet may sound far-fetched to some, but rest assured, it can give you much more energy than the products you have seen in commercials that promise easy energy. Raw eating gives you more flavor, more vitamins, and more energy to live your life.

Energy Boosting Raw Foods

March 18th, 2010

When people think about foods that can give them a boost of energy, they don’t often think about non-processed and uncooked foods. You can blame the media if you like – there are no ads out there on television telling you about the benefits of blueberries, but there are plenty of advertisements to tell you about the newest blueberry-flavored energy drinks, with all the nutrients and benefits of real blueberries in every bottle.

Don’t you sometimes stop to wonder – if the ingredients are so good, why don’t we just skip all the other stuff, and eat the good stuff, without all the sugar and extra stuff that we don’t need? Here are three of the most heavily advertised energy-boosting items of the day, and a raw food alternative that will give you the same benefits, but with the added bonus of nothing else added after the fact.

Number one on most people’s stimulant list is the simple cup of coffee. Despite all the negatives associated with caffeine, many people still flock to this hot beverage every morning. Some studies have shown that the effects of caffeine may be more psychosomatic than actual, and we may just believe that coffee works, which makes caffeine seem all the more potent.

But if you want to avoid the boiling bean juice, and still want to get that jolt when you wake up, consider giving your body a burst of cold instead of hot. A glass of water can have the same invigorating effect as caffeine, without the chemicals, and it’s ready to serve much quicker. But don’t let that be your whole breakfast. Caffeine is to the body as nitrous oxide (or NOS) is to a race car’s engine: it gives a quick hit of power that burns out almost immediately and it can do real damage to the system. Instead, give your body a tank full of good fuel, and you’ll drive all day.

Another go-to food item for people looking for extra energy is that thinly disguised chocolate bar that they call an “energy bar”. Again, most of the energy comes from refined and processed sugars – hardly good fuel, but it does burn quick and bright. Instead of these heavy hitters, consider a handful of raw almonds. These nuts are just as portable as that chocolate bar, and will give you the calories your body needs to burn in order to operate, as well as some essential fats to help your body function.

The third item on this list resides on the ever-growing shelf of energy drinks. These caffeinated, sugar-enriched, chemical concoctions are full of all sorts of powerful but unhealthy additives, and in the long run, you are far better off going with a natural “energy drink” – the fresh fruit smoothie. They taste a thousand times better, give you much needed vitamins, and some natural sugars to burn in your engine. And compared to the high prices on the shelves, a smoothie will cost you pennies on the energy drink dollar.

Easy Way to Instantly Boost Your Energy

January 13th, 2010

If you’re like me and want on-going energy throughout the day, coffee and other stimulants are not the answer.

In reality, the answer to boosting your energy lies in consuming more alkalizing foods in their raw state. Basically that means – eat more raw vegetables and fruit!

Here’s a little video I put together to show you what I do: