Living Fresh Blog

Green smoothies in the morning. Green smoothies are very simple. You fill the blender with dark leafy greens like kale, collard greens or spinach… add some frozen or fresh fruit… along with some water… and blend away! Greens like kale, swiss chard, and spinach are great immune boosters.

Start lunch and dinner with a large salad, or some raw veggies with dip.

Cook foods like veggies, squash, sweet potatoes, whole grains, or meat with lots of garlic, ginger and onions to add immune-boosting power.

Avoid sweet foods as much as possible since sugar compromises the immune system for 4+ hours after consumption.

Avoid all processed foods, you don’t want your body to waste time and energy trying to figure out what to do with these “non-foods.”

Avoid milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream, and other dairy products… because dairy is a very mucous-forming, congesting protein.

Drink tons of water every day, and some herbal teas.

Avoid sodas, caffeinated drinks, fruit juice, etc. because those weaken the immune system.

Eat sauerkraut or fermented veggies with lunch and dinner to strengthen my intestinal flora.

Spend lots of time outside exercising and moving.

Wash our hands often with a natural anti-bacterial soaps infused with essential oils.

Tell yourself that you are healthy all the time. You know what? It always works. The power of the mind is truly amazing.

Don’t watch the news or read fear-inducing internet articles. The media does a great job of making people afraid and stressed out by inundating us with scary stories about all the impending “flu disasters.”  Stress makes you sick.

If you faithfully watch the news every night – stop this stressful habit right now! Use that extra 30 minutes to sleep or breathe deeply or take a bath. Your stress levels will go down, and you will be healthier for it.

Take high daily doses of vitamin D (this is a crucial part of any health plan, not just for preventing colds and flu but also for preventing disease).  If you haven’t gotten your 25 hydroxy Vitamin D levels checked in the last few months, I strongly encourage you to do so. Most people need MUCH more than the recommended 400 IU of vitamin D a day. Do research and talk with a health provider to figure out how much you need…

Take a daily dose of a high quality pure and clean fish oil (to get your essential fatty acids and boost your immune systems).

Take prebiotics, probiotics and digestive enzymes daily to strengthen the intestinal tract which is the main control center for our immune system.

Get a full night’s sleep. Everybody’s different: your body may need anywhere from 6 to 10 hours of sleep each night. Whatever your personal sleep requirement is, get it! Getting enough sleep has been linked to balanced hormone levels (including human growth hormone and the stress hormone, cortisol), keeping weight down, clear thinking and reasoning, improved mood, and vibrant, healthy skin.

Nurture yourself & Stay as STRESS-FREE as possible. Our bodies respond to our emotions – if you’re feeling harassed and anxious, it can manifest in a sore throat or a cold. Create a space within yourself and your living environment for harmony, self-love and joy (giving thanks, prayer and blessing the abundance in your life and of the world around you helps).

Get enough exercise. Exercise is a wonderful immune booster and good for virtually every part of you!

Avoid alcohol and cigarettes. Alcohol intake interferes with a variety of immune defenses. Research indicates that alcohol consumption is linked with certain types of cancers and infections. Cigarette smoke (inhaled or second hand) is saturated with toxic chemicals, most of which negatively impact immune response.

Avoid exposure to pollutants and toxic chemicals. Pollution is a major factor in immune suppression. Unfortunately, toxic chemicals are everywhere around us. Become informed! Learn to recognize harmful chemicals in the home and outside. Buy (or make) non-toxic cleaning fluids/sprays, and use natural cosmetics whenever possible.

This is a wonderful tonic that helps to prevent colds & is also a great soothing beverage if you have already gotten a cold.

Immune Booster Ginger Tea:

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Peel a two inch piece of ginger and slice into thing strips. Once water is boiling add ginger. Reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Strain ginger from the liquid and drink. Strain the tea. Add honey and lemon to taste.

Here are a few immune boosting supplements to have on hand and keep your immune system at its strongest:

Andrographis~Andrographis paniculata, an herb traditionally used in Ayurvedic formulas for supporting upper respiratory, liver, and immune system health. Provides amla fruit, a vitamin C-rich fruit, which supplies antioxidant and revitalizing properties.

ImmunoCore~ Ultra Potent-C® combined with zinc and a concentrated blend of mushroom extracts along with immune support from oleanolic acid and selenium. Ideal for long-term immune protection.

Vitamin D3 5000~ The most bio-available form of vitamin D. Clinically proven to boost immunity.

C-UltraTabs~ Provides antioxidant protection and supports healthy immune system function & Designed to deliver high levels of vitamin C in a short period of time.

Ultra Flora PLUS Capsules~ High potent probiotic blend. Designed to boost immunity and aid in healthy digestion.

Zinc A.G.~ Promotes healthy immune  function. Features a proprietary, patented chelate that utilizes the amino acids glycine and arginine for enhanced zinc absorption.

Phone: 1-800-692-9400 To place order, Call and give them the code: W-8257 for access. Or go to www.livingfresh.meta-ehealth.com

Website: www.metagenics.com (Cannot place order through general website)

It’s very common to experience plateaus when trying to lose weight. They can occur for many different reasons. A few of these reasons may be an increase in muscle mass; your body’s adjustment to your calorie level; or your body’s adjustment to the makeup of your diet. Most people think the only way to lose more weight and get out of their plateau is to cut their calories further. This will not only prevent you from long term weight loss, it will also slow your metabolism down- which in turn, will not only prevent you from losing weight but when you do start eating a sufficient amount of calories again, your body will not be as metabolically active and will therefore store the excess calories as fat! The best thing to do is boost your metabolism is to shock your body! You can do this a number of different ways.

• Never skip breakfast and try to get healthy carbs to power up your body before 2 pm – and lighten up on your energy meals towards the end of the day.
• Downsize your treats – make treats miniature, instead of giving them up altogether. Instead of trying to live without dessert, choose smaller portions. Sometimes, restricting sweets can often times lead to a binge later on.
• Fiber fitness – because men eat less salad than women they are more likely to suffer constipation. Simple remedies are adding bran to your breakfast cereal, drinking more water, bulking up those lunch times with wholegrain sandwiches that include salad & veggies and ensuring you include a range of veggies on your dinner plate. Fiber is filling and lessens the cravings. Reduce the cravings, you will reduce the belly fat!
• Strength training – bigger muscles create a smaller body. Muscle burns calories so you can actually eat more food without gaining weight, and strength training is the only way to do this. You need to lift weights or use other equipment that forces you to work your muscles against resistance so that they work harder than they’re used to. If visiting a gym is an issue, try body weight exercises like the pushups, the plank and lunges with little rest in between – it’s a great way to measure and improve your strength.
• Boring cardio, stay away! For beginners, any exercise is great – but the best way to slash your body fat is to look at High Variable Interval training and challenging resistance training. Studies have shown that a combination high variable training will boost your metabolism during and after a workout!
• Change up your routine. For example, if you walk regularly, try breaking it up with spurts of jogging, or add hills and stairs to your daily walk. Switching intensity will challenge you more than just staying at the same pace. As well as increasing your likelihood of losing weight, you’re most likely to stay motivated if you participate in a range of activities. So, instead of running four times a week, why not cycle, do some laps at your local pool or play a game of tennis!
• Try to cut out or reduce the sugary drinks including the diet kinds. Those sugar fixes are not great for the body. Instead, just stick to water, green tea and low fat smoothies.
• Another fabulous way to boost your metabolism and burn fat is to supplement your diet with high quality nutrients.

 Here are a few pharmaceutical-grade supplements to get your engine going!

Green Tea 600~ Take one capsule daily

ConjuLean 1000~Take one softgel after each meal

These nutrients are provided by Xymogen, a pharmaceutical-grade supplement company that delivers the highest standard nutrients.

Phone: 1-800-647-6100

To place order:  Call and tell them Nicole Andrews referred you!

Website: www.xymogen.com (Cannot place order through general website)

“The Coffee Debate: Is it really that bad?”        

There has been a lot of controversy over java lately so I just wanted to clear up any mass confusion. There have been a number of studies conducted lately regarding coffee’s effect on our system…. 

The Coffee Debate: Is it really that bad?        

There has been a lot of controversy over java lately so I just wanted to clear up any mass confusion. There have been a number of studies conducted lately regarding coffee’s effect on our system, and believe it or not- coffee is appearing to be the next superfood.

A study performed by Harvard researchers found that drinking coffee (up to six cups) has the potential to cut diabetes risk in half! Of course more research is needed, although overall research does show that coffee is actually more helpful then harmful. Other studies show that people who drink coffee are 80 % less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, have a 25% reduced risk of colon cancer, 80% reduced risk of colon cancer, and are 50% less likely to develop gallstones. Other beneficial properties of coffee include fewer asthma attacks, headaches, cavities and elevated mood.

These beneficial boosts to our health are attributed to the compounds discovered in coffee. It appears that coffee contains the antioxidants, chlorogenic acid and tocopherols.

Trigonelline is another compound in coffee that gives it its bitter taste and contains antibacterial properties.  The caffeine in coffee can also enhance our athletic ability by causing our muscles to make stronger contractions, which in turn helps us to burn fat more efficiently.

The downside however is that drinking coffee may cause you to ignore fatigue and your body’s natural cry for relaxation. If we choose to ignore these signs and continue to drink down the “jo” –day in and day out– we may end up with what’s known as chronic fatigue syndrome due to exhausted adrenal glands.

If you suffer from anxiety, drinking coffee can exacerbate symptoms and may cause more frequent panic attacks. This reaction is very individual so if you find that coffee causes nervousness, rapid heartbeat or trembling, you may want to start decreasing your intake to prevent such reactions.

Coffee also takes between 3-6 hours to get out of our system depending on your metabolism, and very often times sleep is affected by caffeine intake. If you have problems getting enough sleep, you may want to limit your coffee to a morning cup if at all. In addition, coffee may also increase cholesterol levels in some people.

Other folks that should limit or avoid caffeine include heart patients, pregnant women, and people at risk for osteoporosis since caffeine intake has been shown to cause calcium loss in the urine.

There are pros and cons to everything, so depending on your current state of health and what issues you are dealing with, coffee may or may not be a superfood you need to include in your daily routine.

Other helpful antioxidants to include in your daily diet are:

CoQ10 ST-100 (1 softgel daily)~ A blend of CoQ 10, Vitamin E and Beta-Carotene

Celapro (1 softgel daily)~ A blend of Green Tea, Sweet Orange Peel, Lycopene and Tumeric

Oxygenics (1 tablet twice/day)~ A blend of nutrients and vitamins

These nutrients are provided by Metagenics, a pharmaceutical-grade supplement company that delivers the highest standard nutrients.

Phone: 1-800-692-9400

To place order, Call and give them the code: W-8257 for access

Website: www.metagenics.com (Cannot place order through general website 

Other helpful antioxidants to include in your daily diet are:

CoQ10 ST-100 (1 softgel daily)~ A blend of CoQ 10, Vitamin E and Beta-Carotene

Celapro (1 softgel daily)~ A blend of Green Tea, Sweet Orange Peel, Lycopene and Tumeric

Oxygenics (1 tablet twice/day)~ A blend of nutrients and vitamins

These nutrients are provided by Metagenics, a pharmaceutical-grade supplement company that delivers the highest standard nutrients.

Phone: 1-800-692-9400

To place order, Call and give them the code: W-8257 for access

Website: www.metagenics.com (Cannot place order through general website

“What are the Health Benefits of Yoga?”

Yoga has been in the world since more than 5000 years. Every year more and more people are discovering its advantage and have started practicing to enjoy health benefits. Yoga has been in the world since more than 5000 years. Every year more and more people are discovering its advantage and have started practicing to enjoy health benefits. One can benefit from these forms and enjoy good health.

Here are some of the yoga health benefits:-

Benefits of yoga for flexibility-Age is nor bar when it comes to yoga. Elderly people and arthritis patients are extremely worried about flexibility. The muscles can be safely worked out by various yoga poses and the range of motion can be increased. Yoga increases the natural lubrication of body and softens all the body tissues.

Benefits of yoga for strength-Some fusion forms of yoga like the power yoga and asthanga yoga offer more health benefits and they are vigorous.

They tone the muscles. The iyengar yoga lays less stress on movements with precision in poses. These are good to give strength and stamina benefits.

Benefits of yoga for posture-With flex and strength the posture improves. Further the core strength gets developed with standing and sitting postures. Another important benefit of yoga comes with increase in alertness. 

Benefits of yoga for better breathing-All the yoga asana and the yoga postures are well structured with breathing techniques. This is important to improve the lung capacity and

increase the blood flow in the body. With improvement in endurance the performance also perks. Yoga lays stress on deepened and lengthened breathing technique. 

Benefits of yoga for reducing stress and increasing calmness-Even a beginner can feel the difference in his/her first yoga class. Numerous yoga styles make particular meditation technique to calm the mind. Some other yoga forms focus on breath. Yoga is popular on account of its anti-stress benefits.  

Benefits of yoga for concentration- It’s true that with absorption of yoga in life the concentration improves and the mood swings arrested. Yoga has tremendous effect on depression and anxiety. Yoga is said to ease some of the obsessive compulsive disorder. 

Benefits of yoga for heart-Even studies support that yoga is capable in alleviating cardiovascular diseases. It reduces heart rate and control blood pressure. People can get benefited with yoga and they can control hypertension, stroke, cholesterol etc. some studies even show the anti-oxidant effect of yoga for better health. 

Benefits of yoga for other ailments-In the west the researchers have found the benefits of yoga on account of its therapeutic effects. Yoga benefits arthritis, asthmas, back pain, insomnia and even in sclerosis too. 

Benefits of yoga for memory & energy -Yoga builds memory. It also slows down the aging process and boosts energy level. On a spiritual level to the awareness increases. Yoga practitioners opine that even on personal front yoga works miraculously.

With practice of these yoga practices one can witness and benefit all the good health. It infuses entirely in one’s individual’s life.

What are the Health Benefits of Yoga?

Yoga has been in the world since more than 5000 years. Every year more and more people are discovering its advantage and have started practicing to enjoy health benefits. One can benefit from these forms and enjoy good health.

Here are some of the yoga health benefits:-

Benefits of yoga for flexibility-Age is nor bar when it comes to yoga. Elderly people and arthritis patients are extremely worried about flexibility. The muscles can be safely worked out by various yoga poses and the range of motion can be increased. Yoga increases the natural lubrication of body and softens all the body tissues.

Benefits of yoga for strength-Some fusion forms of yoga like the power yoga and asthanga yoga offer more health benefits and they are vigorous.

They tone the muscles. The iyengar yoga lays less stress on movements with precision in poses. These are good to give strength and stamina benefits.

Benefits of yoga for posture-With flex and strength the posture improves. Further the core strength gets developed with standing and sitting postures. Another important benefit of yoga comes with increase in alertness. 

Benefits of yoga for better breathing-All the yoga asana and the yoga postures are well structured with breathing techniques. This is important to improve the lung capacity and 

increase the blood flow in the body. With improvement in endurance the performance also perks. Yoga lays stress on deepened and lengthened breathing technique. 

Benefits of yoga for reducing stress and increasing calmness-Even a beginner can feel the difference in his/her first yoga class. Numerous yoga styles make particular meditation technique to calm the mind. Some other yoga forms focus on breath. Yoga is popular on account of its anti-stress benefits.  

Benefits of yoga for concentration- It’s true that with absorption of yoga in life the concentration improves and the mood swings arrested. Yoga has tremendous effect on depression and anxiety. Yoga is said to ease some of the obsessive compulsive disorder. 

Benefits of yoga for heart-Even studies support that yoga is capable in alleviating cardiovascular diseases. It reduces heart rate and control blood pressure. People can get benefited with yoga and they can control hypertension, stroke, cholesterol etc. some studies even show the anti-oxidant effect of yoga for better health. 

Benefits of yoga for other ailments-In the west the researchers have found the benefits of yoga on account of its therapeutic effects. Yoga benefits arthritis, asthmas, back pain, insomnia and even in sclerosis too. 

Benefits of yoga for memory & energy -Yoga builds memory. It also slows down the aging process and boosts energy level. On a spiritual level to the awareness increases. Yoga practitioners opine that even on personal front yoga works miraculously.

With practice of these yoga practices one can witness and benefit all the good health. It infuses entirely in one’s individual’s life.

Body Brushing – Have you tried it?

One of the best ways to revitalize the look and feel of your skin is to start brushing your skin with a dry bristle brush. Not only does this help to remove the top layer of dead skin, it also works to stimulate circulation, which adds a youthful glow. Believe it or not, washing with soap daily can start to remove the skin’s protective oils and alter the natural acidity of the skin. Skin brushing on the other hand gentle removes the top layer of dead skin cells and dirt without altering the skins pH.

It’s one of the easiest ways to clean the pores and you don’t even have to get wet! In addition to cleaning the skin, dry skin brushing also stimulates the lymphatic system. This powerful system of the body works to remove toxins from the cells and carries them out of the body through the lymphatic system. When skin brushing stimulates cells, the toxins are released and are carried by lymphocytes to the colon where they are dumped out of the body.

SUGGESTED USE: This is a dry process, so the best time to brush your skin is before you shower. Use a dry, natural bristle brush and use as little or as much pressure as you find comfortable. Use gentle circulation strokes and cover the entire body – begin at the end of extremities and work your way up & in towards the heart.

For example: begin at feet and work your way up your legs / begin at hands and work your way towards your shoulders. You will start to notice a slight flushing in your skin although this is perfectly normal and just shows that that brushing is working. Do not brush any irritated part of the skin- such as skin affected by psoriasis, rashes, poison ivy, etc.

Skin brushing helps you feel invigorated and is a great way to really wake up the system and gently cleanse you body. And it only takes about three minutes before your shower! It’s really one of the best-kept secrets for a natural detox and beauty aide!