Foods With Good Fats That Nourish Skin and Hair

If you want to have beautiful glowing skin and fast-growing, thick lustrous locks then be sure to make these particular foods part of your diet.

1. Salmon

Salmon nourishes the skin and the hair because it contains Omega-3 fatty acids. It is rich in one particular Omega-3 fatty acid known as DHA that is found mostly in fish and seaweed.

DHA is well known for its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to thin the blood. This in turn aids circulation, which in turn, helps speed up the body’s ability to not only bring nutrients to the surface of the scalp and skin so that they can be nourished but also its ability to clarify the system of toxins.

The fact that salmon is also an anti-inflammatory also discourages your skin from breaking out and your hair follicles from becoming vulnerable to the kinds of immune responses that can cause hair thinning and hair loss.

Wild salmon contains the highest amounts of DHA. It is quite easy to incorporate salmon in your diet by eating tinned fish, fresh salmon that is grilled or baked or by eating it raw rolled in sushi or as sashimi.  Sushi is especially recommended as the seaweed wraps also have high quantities of DHA acids.

2.  Sardines

Like salmon, sardines contain a remarkably high amount of Omega-3 fatty acids and especially DHA acids that can help give your skin elasticity and a soft glow.

Sardines are especially nourishing because they contain a lot of calcium and phosphorous rich bones.  Calcium and phosphorous improve the tensile strength of the hair strand, which means that if you pull the hair it does not break.  These two minerals also skin tissue connectivity making it less likely to wrinkle. 

Pile sardines on whole grain toast to maximize their nutrient potential as the B vitamins in whole grain bread are synergistic with oils in the sardines.

3.   Snapper

Snapper is a tropical fish that is natural source of selenium.  Selenium is the mineral that can helps the skin repair itself sunburn and skin breakouts and that also can help give it a youthful glow. Snapper is also very high in the DHA that keeps skin and hair youthful looking.

The ideal skin and hair enhancing meal would be red snapper, drizzled with olive oil and then baked with almonds sprinkled on top. The almonds provide extra calcium and the olive oil enhances the Omega-3 content of the meal.

4.   Olives and Olive Oil

Olives (and by extension olive oils) are another excellent source of omega-3 acids and oleic acid.  Oleic acid is a good fatty acid that is naturally clarifying and that helps keep your skin smooth and blemish free.

Olives can also be easily added to bread recipes, salads or just eaten raw.

They contain vitamins E and K. Although small black olives contain vitamins A, E, calcium, iron, and copper, they are quite high in sodium. Look for olives with lower sodium that are preserved in vinegar or extra virgin olive oil.

6.  Avocadoes

Avocados contain many B vitamins, vitamins, C, E, and K, magnesium, copper, manganese, and potassium. In fact, avocados contain more potassium than a banana. The synergistic action of these vitamins can help prevent hair loss and improve because they improve circulation.

Avocadoes contain soluble fat can also help your body absorb vitamins more efficiently. The antioxidants in avocadoes help repair damaged cells and prevent further damage to stressed-out skin and hair.

Avocadoes can be eaten raw, added to salads and blended in smoothies. You can also make a skin-and hair-enhancing guacamole from olive oil, garlic, onions, tomatoes and avocado.  The garlic and onions are anti-inflammatorily and contain the skin healing mineral selenium. The tomatoes contain lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant for the skin and the scalp.

7.  Sunflower Seeds

Sunflower Seeds lower seeds are good for hair because they are high in protein, biotin, potassium, calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium and vitamin E. They also supply and abundance of omega-6 fatty acids. Biotin, in particular, plays a role in improving the tensile strength of the hair. They pack a powerhouse of nutrition and are fat-free.

Sunflower seeds can be eaten raw as a snack, sprinkled on salads or mixed into bread or cookie dough.

The good fats in these foods help clean your arteries, increase circulation and assist with cell regeneration so that your skin always appears to be glowing with health and your hair strands always have tensile strength and shine.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41)440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Micheal Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

The Role of Calcium in Limiting Body Fat

Calcium does more than strengthen your bones it also helps you get rid of belly fat. Studies at Harvard Medical School have shown that those who ate three servings of dairy a day, the equivalent of 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day, were sixty percent less likely to be overweight. [1] A similar thesis study at the University of Tennessee also found that dieters that had calcium in their diet were more likely to lose weight than those who don’t. [2]  Two groups of subjects were put on the same 600 calories a day restricted diet but those who added yogurt to the diet doubled their weight loss.

Black Strap Molasses - a vegan source of calcium.

Of course, these studies are older and come before the advent of veganism that demands that we get our calcium from non-dairy sources, which of course is entirely possible given all of the calcium enriched nut milks, coconut milks and calcium-rich fruits and vegetables that are available to us today. The point is that people who tend to be nutritionally adequate in calcium tend to lose weight faster and also keep it off.  So even if you have quit eating and drinking dairy products, eating enough calcium should be part of your happy and healthy lifestyle.

Researchers speculate that calcium helps fight fat because it is a thermal (fat-burning) nutrient. You burn more calories eating calcium-rich foods then you would if you ate a food with the same amount of calories but with no calcium.

Sources of Calcium From Dairy

If you still eat dairy you stand the chance of losing the most calories and absorbing the most calcium.  Your goal is to eat about 1,200 milligrams of calcium per day so even if you are eating just one of these foods and combining them with vegan sources of calcium you are still ahead of the game.

Good example of calcium-rich dairy foods that provide approximately one quarter of your daily requirement for protein include –

• 1 once grated Parmesan cheese
• I cup large curd cottage cheese
• 8 ounces low-fat yogurt
• 8 ounces low fat milk
• 1 ounce Swiss chees
• 1 slice (1 ounce) cheddar cheese
• 1 once mozzarella cheese
• 1 scoop whey powder protein.

Vegan Sources of Calcium

In the world of veganism, the best sources of calcium are –

• Blackstrap molasses
• The dark green leafy vegetables including bok choy, broccoli, collards, kale, mustard greens, spinach and okra
• Soybean and soy nuts
• Calcium set tofu
• Beans and bean dips
• Grapefruit
• Melons
• Tahini
• Almond butter and almonds
• Cooked broccoli

However, the difference between these sources and the dairy sources is that vegan foods do not take as many carbohydrates to digest because they have fewer calories than dairy foods.  Most of these foods provide about one tenth of your daily requirement for calcium with the exception of blackstrap molasses, collard greens and calcium-set tofu which can provide as much as a third of your daily calcium requirement of 1200 calories a day.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41)440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Micheal Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

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[1] Danita R Shahar, Dan Schwarzfuchs, Drora Fraser, Hillel Vardi, Joachim Thiery,

 Georg Martin Fiedler, Matthias Blüher, Michael Stumvoll, Meir J StampferIris Shai, and for the DIRECT Group, Dairy calcium intake, serum vitamin D, and successful weight loss, “ The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition”. November 2010, Volume 92. Bethesda, MD: American Society for Nutrition. Retrieved online May 27, 2014, http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/5/1017.full.

[2] Bloom, Mary Millsap’s Bloom” Effects of Dietary Calcium on Weight Loss in Obese Adults (2001.) University of Tennessee Honours Thesis Projects. http//trace.tennesee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj/447. Retrieved online May 26, 2014.

Protect Yourself and Your Family From Eating Pesticides

Food needs to look attractive or it just does not sell. That is why farmers spray it down with pesticides, dye it and coat it with waxes. The same treatment is not given to food that is grown for mass commercial canning.  This is why, sometimes, canned food can contain less pesticides than fresh or frozen foods.  Also when foods are processed, they are often super-heated and peeled, which helps remove many pesticide residues.

This does not mean you should eat exclusively canned food, but if fresh, organic produce is not available, it may actually be a better choice.

Every year more than two billion pounds of pesticides enter our environment. Yet only 10% of the pesticides approved for use on food have been adequately tested for use in humans.  They are known carcinogens that cause impairment of the liver, kidneys and brain.  They also block the absorption of nutrients that are vital to healthy growth and development.

Pesticides also disables our ability to fight off infectious organisms, may impair fertility, and contributes to miscarriages and birth defects.

Pesticides are particularly lethal for children who tend to eat a small variety of foods rather than a great selection. This increases their vulnerability to consuming a pesticide, unless the limited food is one that is well known for not being sprayed down with chemicals.

To protect you and your family from eating pesticides do the following –

·      Be sure to remove the outer leaves of lettuces and cabbages and peel your fruits and vegetables if they are not organic

·      Thoroughly scrub unpeeled vegetables and rinse well with water

·      Soak foods that are hard to wash without damaging them in water. Examples would be grapes, strawberries, broccoli, lettuce and spinach. For foods that are more difficult to wash — like strawberries, grapes, broccoli, lettuce, and spinach.

·      Buy prewashed produce whenever possible

·      Stay away from mouldy, bruised or overripe produce

·      Trim all fat from meat as it  the fat that contains the most chemicals

·      Eat skinless chicken as the skin of animals also retains pesticide

·      Eat local to avoid waxes and preservatives that help produce grown far way survive the long trip to the grocery store. 

·      Purchase produce in season. Food grown out of season usually comes from another country and is covered with wax more pesticides.

The foods that contain the highest levels of pesticides according to the Environmental Working Group definition of the Dirty Dozen in the United States are: celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, spinach, cherries, kale/collard greens, potatoes, and imported grapes.

The foods that have the lowest pesticide residues are: onions, avocado, sweet corn, pineapple, mangos, sweet peas, asparagus, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapefruit, sweet potato, and honeydew melon.[1]

To lead a healthy and active lifestyle, make shopping for pesticide-free items a priority.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41) 440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Michael Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

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[1] Baby Center Medical Staff “Pesticides in Your Baby’s Food’, Babycenter 1997. < http://www.babycenter.com/0_pesticides-in-your-babys-food-what-you-need-to-know_1408813.bc?page>