healthy eating Archives - Page 2 of 18

The Best of Beans: 14 Health-Boosting Recipes with Legumes

Beans are the perfect pantry food: they’re affordable, long-lasting and packed with plant-based protein. Legumes like black beans, chickpeas and lentils also make healthy sources of fiber, iron and antioxidants.

What’s more, research indicates that people who consume beans regularly have a lower risk of getting cardiovascular disease. Legumes also help stabilize blood sugar levels and may even help prevent diabetes type 2 due to the high fibre content. Dan Buettner’s study into the longest-living people even in the world even suggests that eating one cup of beans a day adds four years to your life expectancy.

To get the most value out of those tiny pods and make them more digestible, you could soak or spout dried beans beforehand. But if that’s too much hassle, a quick rinse will do.

So now that you know the benefits of beans, how can you add more of them to your meals?

Beans are very versatile, and you can make so much more with legumes than just chili and enchiladas. Try these 14 health-boosting recipes to get the best of beans!

Cookie Monsters Unite: 11 Healthy Cookies for Every Food Style

It’s the ideal rainy day activity: baking cookies. What’s cozier than the smell of freshly baked goods coming from the oven when it’s cold and grey outside?

There’s nothing I like better than traditional shortbreads. But often, classics like chocolate chip cookies and thumbprint cookies contain more sugar, butter or refined grains than preferred. Thankfully, nowadays you can find healthy cookie recipes for every food style online.

So no matter if you follow a vegan, gluten-free or Paleo diet, get your rolling pin and cookie cutter out to enjoy an afternoon of baking with these 11 healthy cookie recipes!

5 Mistakes to Avoid to Maintain Good Gut Health

This article is written by Shadan Jameela.

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract has the important function of digesting the food you eat. However, this is not the only job it has; it also has other ones that help keep the body healthy and fit.

The gut also houses over two-thirds of the immune system; if it is healthy, you are less prone to getting sick. Additionally, more than 90 percent of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract. Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter that regulates your mood, memory, sleep patterns and quality, appetite, and other bodily functions.

Since a healthy gut equates to a healthy body, it is vital that it is always at its peak of wellness.

Unfortunately, certain habits can cause an imbalance in your gastrointestinal tract. This can lead to issues with your digestion, lower immunity, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, and other symptoms that can affect your daily activities.

If you want to keep your gastrointestinal tract healthy and be at your best all the time, make sure you do away with these mistakes and unhealthy habits:

10 Warm Winter Salads to Nourish You on Cold Days | The Health Sessions

10 Warm Winter Salads to Nourish You All Season

Is it just me, or do you also struggle to eat fresh salads when it’s dark and cold outside?

We all know that greens are good for us. Especially dark leafy greens are packed with vitamin C, minerals and health-boosting antioxidants. And even though springtime is mostly known for its abundance of lettuce and chards, you can find plenty of nutritious greens in winter that’ll make perfect base for your salad.

Just toss some kale, collard greens or cabbages together with a (warm) salad dressing and seasonal favorites like roasted Brussels sprouts, pumpkin and cranberries. Next, add grains or (plant-based) protein of your choosing. Turkey, warm lentils or goat’s cheese all add some winter flavor to your salad. Finally, top your bowl with a crunchy element like honeyed walnuts or toasted chickpeas.

Whether you’re looking for a healthy side dish of a meal-worthy salad, these 10 warm winter salads will keep you nourished throughout the season.

How to Start Any Kind of Medical Diet

Food is medicine.

More and more medical experts agree that what you eat has a significant impact on your health. After all, nutrients like protein, healthy fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals are the building blocks or your body. And to function optimally, your body and brain require good fuel.

Unfortunately, Western diets high in refined sugars and trans fats cause insulin resistance and inflammation in the body, which contributes to diabetes, heart disease and cancer. And it’s not just your physical health that’s affected by what you eat – the budding field of nutritional psychiatry also links the foods you consume to how you feel and behave.

It’s no wonder that a growing body of doctors are prescribing healthy foods as part of their treatment plan. What’s more, lots of chronically ill people themselves turn to wholesome diets to alleviate or manage their symptoms.

But with an overwhelming amount of information out there, where do you begin?

Take a look at these 10 psychological principles for starting any kind of medical diet.