Lavender: Health Benefits and Uses

Education, Lifestyle · July 15, 2018

Who doesn’t love the smell of lavender? Just a hint of this herb tends to relax and soothe us, but did you know that this plant is so much more than just a lovely smelling flower? In fact, it has many health benefits and uses, and it is no wonder why it is the most popular essential oil used today.

People have used this calming plant for a variety of reasons for over 2,500 years. Today, it is most commonly used as an essential oil and can be found in many bedtime teas to help you relax at the end of the day. It is also often found in perfumes and fragrances for the home. With all of these common uses, you will even notice it is used to flavor foods and drinks.

We don’t often think of lavender as a flavor, but it is quickly becoming a favorite flavor in mainstream markets used to flavor drinks and baked goods. Lavender isn’t just a plant the smells and tastes good with an endless list of uses; it also has many health benefits.

What are the benefits of lavender?

There are many benefits of using lavender, whether you use it as a supplement, herb or as an essential oil. It can help you increase your health, lower your stress levels, and even fight off migraines. With so many health benefits it is no wonder that lavender is becoming more and more popular than ever before. We’re used to seeing lavender used in household products, but the use of lavender goes so much further than just making your house smell nice.

Get a Better Night’s Sleep

Lavender is commonly used to improve the symptoms of insomnia and help the user have a better night’s sleep. This is due to the calming properties of lavender, and studies have shown that when inhaled before bed, lavender oil can substantially improve the quality of sleep throughout the night (1). The most common way to get the benefits of lavender to help you sleep is to use a few drops in a small essential oil diffuser and let it run while you sleep.

You can also rub lavender oil directly on your temples and chest before bed, or make a soothing lavender tea to help you sleep. For this, simply use dried lavender herbs and let them steep in hot water.

Reduces Anxiety and Depression

Anxiety disorder and depression are two of the of the most common mental disorders in America, and thanks to the calming effects of lavender this herb can also be used to help you relax, improve your overall mood and lessen anxieties. Studies have shown that using a lavender oil can alleviate symptoms of anxiety and was found to be more effective against general anxiety disorder and depression than the prescription medication, paroxetine (2,3).

Lavender oil has also been found to be useful in treating and relieving symptoms of PTSD, not only improving the overall health of those who have PTSD but also lessening depression by 33% (4).

Relieves Stress

Lavender can be used to help relieve stress that is caused by our everyday lives due to the calming effects mentioned above. Reducing stress can help you improve your overall health and lead a more satisfying life.

To relieve stress, you can dab lavender oil on behind your ears, make lavender tea, take lavender capsules, or diffuse lavender oil in a diffuser.

Reduces Menstrual Pains

Lavender oil has been found to be effective against menstrual pains and cramps when applied topically to the lower abdomen. If you are a woman who has painful periods without an underlying medical cause for the pain, this could be one natural way to relieve the pain without having to rely on medication.

Using lavender oil as a topical treatment has been found to be just as useful as other natural herb remedies and more beneficial than any other essential oil (5).

Improves Brain Function

Regularly using lavender can help improve overall brain function. Animals studies have shown promise in treating symptoms of Alzheimer’s by preventing oxidative stress and improving cognitive impairment. It has also been demonstrated that lavender may even be useful in treating neurological damage caused by strokes (6, 7, 8).

Alleviates Headaches and Migraines

Headaches, and especially migraines, can interfere with our daily lives. It can keep up from being productive at work and even keep up bedridden. Lavender oil has been shown to be one of the most effective essential oils for treating headaches and migraines.

To help alleviate your headache or a migraine, diffuse some lavender oil in a diffuser and relax. You can also inhale the lavender directly from the bottle. In a recent study, using lavender for migraines and headaches improved pain in 92 out of 129 participants (9).

Boosts Skin Health

We all want youthful, clear, glowing skin and lavender oil may be able to help you get it due to its microbial and antioxidant properties. Using lavender oil topically (mixed with coconut oil) can help you improve acne and prevent signs of aging.

It can also be used to treat skin conditions, such as canker sores and age spots.

What are some other uses for lavender?

Bug repellent

Do you ever just want to enjoy the outdoors and relax, but end up getting bitten by annoying insects? Lavender has been used for centuries as a natural bug repellent and is a great alternative to modern, chemical solutions.

To use lavender as a bug repellent, you can either use a few drops in a diffuser or you can mix a few drops to coconut oil and apply it directly to your skin like a lotion. This will help keep the bugs away so you can enjoy your time outdoors.

Relaxing Aroma

We all have those times when we just need to sit back and relax after a hard day. Lavender can help you unwind and de-stress from your long day. There are several ways you can use lavender’s relaxing aroma to your advantages, such as diffusing a few drops of oil, making some lavender tea or relaxing in a bath with Epsom salts and 3-4 drops of lavender oil.

Using lavender oil in a diffuser is also a great way to freshen your house. You can also add lavender to cotton balls and toss them into drawers and cupboards to freshen your linens.

Floral Food Flavoring

Lavender has been commonly used in products for a long time, such as bath soaps, cleaning products, and other household items to make them smell good. Although this plant is known for its lovely aroma, it is also becoming an increasingly popular flavor in foods, especially baked goods and drinks.

We may be used to the idea of lavender tea, but it is hardly thought of as a typical flavor. You can use organic lavender oil, and even use the dried lavender herb, to give your food and drinks a refreshing floral taste.

The taste of lavender can be described as a floral mix between mint and rosemary and can give you all the benefits listed above.

What are the most common ways to use lavender?

There are so many ways for you to get the benefits of lavender, and the benefit you get can depend on the form in which you consume or inhale it.

The most popular form of lavender is lavender essential oil. This can be used in an oil diffuser or mixed with a carrier, such as coconut oil or grapeseed oil so you can apply the oil topically. You can also combine your essential oil into bath water to help you relax.

Lavender can also be used to flavor food and drinks, or it can be purchased as a dried herb and steeped in hot water to make tea.

Another form of lavender use is to buy it in capsule forms and use it as a daily supplement.

Where can you buy lavender?

You can find lavender as an essential oil at most health stores, including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Vitamin Shoppe, and GNC. You can also more conveniently find it online through Amazon. This is also a great place to find it as a dried herb or in capsules to take as a supplement.

While your lavender oil should be pure, organic and unadulterated if you are going to be using it for any use, If you are going to use lavender oil in food, be sure you are using an organic pure oil (this way it is food grade), rather than the typical essential oil that you buy from the store as some of these can contain additional chemical.

Are there any side effects to using lavender?

Lavender can have some negative side effects if you are allergic or consume too much. It is generally considered safe for most people, but if you do find yourself having signs of an allergic reaction, call a doctor immediately. These signs can include hives, difficulty breathing, or swelling.

Other side effects if misused, or overused, can include:

• Severe drowsiness
• Constipation
• Headaches
• Increased appetite

If you are taking prescription medication, check with your doctors to ensure that lavender does not interfere with your medications, especially if you are using medications or other herbs that cause drowsiness.

Wrapping it up!

Lavender has been used for its health benefits for thousands of years, and now, we have the science to back it up. It is also becoming increasingly popular to flavor foods, primarily beverages and baked goods. You can easily find lavender essential oils at any health food stores or search on Amazon to find all different forms of lavender.

References:

1. Keshavarz Afshar, Mahnaz et al. “Lavender Fragrance Essential Oil and the Quality of Sleep in Postpartum Women.” Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal 17.4 (2015): e25880. PMC. Web. 13 July 2018.
2. Kasper, Siegfried. “An orally administered lavandula oil preparation (Silexan) for anxiety disorder and related conditions: an evidence based review.” International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice 17.sup1 (2013): 15-22.
3. Kasper, Siegfried, et al. “Lavender oil preparation Silexan is effective in generalized anxiety disorder–a randomized, double-blind comparison to placebo and paroxetine.” International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology 17.6 (2014): 859-869.
4. Uehleke, B., et al. “Phase II trial on the effects of Silexan in patients with neurasthenia, post-traumatic stress disorder or somatization disorder.” Phytomedicine 19.8-9 (2012): 665-671.
5. Bakhtshirin, Froozan et al. “The Effect of Aromatherapy Massage with Lavender Oil on Severity of Primary Dysmenorrhea in Arsanjan Students.” Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research 20.1 (2015): 156–160. Print.
6. Xu, Pan et al. “The Protective Effect of Lavender Essential Oil and Its Main Component Linalool against the Cognitive Deficits Induced by D-Galactose and Aluminum Trichloride in Mice.” Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM 2017 (2017): 7426538. PMC. Web. 13 July 2018.
7. Hancianu, Monica, et al. “Neuroprotective effects of inhaled lavender oil on scopolamine-induced dementia via anti-oxidative activities in rats.” Phytomedicine 20.5 (2013): 446-452.
8. Wang, Dong, et al. “Neuroprotective activity of lavender oil on transient focal cerebral ischemia in mice.” Molecules 17.8 (2012): 9803-9817.

Sasannejad, Payam, et al. “Lavender essential oil in the treatment of migraine headache: a placebo-controlled clinical trial.” European neurology 67.5 (2012): 288-291.

What is Activated Charcoal and Why Should You Use It?

Education, Lifestyle · July 11, 2018

You may have noticed an increasing number of products that are being sold that showcase the use of activated charcoal. You may have even seen products being advertised lately on your Facebook feed that is made from activated charcoal, and it seems that everyone is buying them up!

Some of the most popular and recognizable products on the market are the charcoal teeth whiteners. Not only is it fun to use as it turns your entire mouth black, but it helps leave behind a whiter smile.

But what is activated charcoal and how does it work? Just a few years ago if you asked the average person what charcoal was, they’d point to their grill and tell you that it is what you use to cook your food. Activated charcoal as a supplement has been around for a long time, but it is only recently that it has begun to gain mainstream popularity and recognition for its health and detox benefits.

What is activated charcoal?

Activated charcoal comes from the act of burning sources of carbon matter, such as when you burn wood, coconuts, sawdust, bamboo, etc. When you burn the carbon matter, the high temperatures remove the oxygen and creates a material with smaller pores and more surface area. It is these small pores that make the activated charcoal so useful. The smaller pores allow certain substances such as chemicals, toxins, heavy metals, and poison to be adsorbed within the charcoal. Unlike when a something is “absorbed”, “adsorbed” means that the substance binds to the charcoal, or rather is pulled into the charcoal and trapped, unable to be released.

For a long time, activated charcoal has been used by the medical field to help treat people who had ingested poisons because of its ability to adsorb and bind to specific poisons, toxins, and heavy metals. In fact, the use of activated charcoal goes back more than 10,000 throughout the ancient world. Today, the use of activated charcoal has expanded as the health benefits become more well known and its availability more present in everyday products.

Why should you take activated charcoal?

If you care about the health of your body, activated charcoal will be something that you want to include in your diet. Our environment is riddled with toxic chemicals and heavy metals that get into the body through the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air that we breathe.

Unfortunately, the modern age has polluted almost every aspect of the environment that we use and encounter. This means that no matter how clean you eat, how tidy you keep your home, and how hard you try to remove unhealthy substances from your life, you can’t entirely escape unhealthy toxins.

And if you live in a city, chances are you are consuming and breathing in more toxins that someone who lives in a rural area due to the heavier smog and contamination of your general environment.

Using activated charcoal can help remove these toxins from your body and create a healthier balance.

Activated charcoal comes in both powder and pill form, with the activated charcoal pill being the easiest and most convenient way to get it into your system.

You can also check out my favorite charcoal drink recipes for a fun and tasty way to get all of the benefits of activated charcoal!

How does activated charcoal work?

When you take activated charcoal, the charcoal draws in the toxins and gases and become trapped within the charcoal. This happens due to the positive charge that is given off by the porous substance. The several poisons, toxins, heavy metals and gases within your body hold positive charges, causing these chemicals to be drawn and bind to the charcoal.

Because your body does not absorb charcoal, it passes through your digestive system and exits the body, taking all of the unwanted toxins and chemicals with it.

When should you take activated charcoal?

Taking activated charcoal on a daily basis is a great way to help your body remove the toxins from your body that it encounters every day. These are the toxins that are found in the air that you breathe and even some of the food that you eat.

If you don’t take activated charcoal on a daily basis, there are more prominent times that would be beneficial. You can also take an activated charcoal supplement before eating processed food, when drinking unfiltered water, or when you are drinking alcohol.

What are the top benefits of activated charcoal?

Activated charcoal has many uses and isn’t only good for detoxing your body. The applications for activated charcoals seem to be limitless, which is why so many products use it as their number one ingredient.

Whitens Teeth

Using charcoal to whiten your teeth has quickly become one of the most mainstream uses, and you have probably seen these products on your Facebook feed. Many of these teeth whiteners come in powder form, but you can also find them in toothpaste and mouthwash.

One of my favorite brands that sell charcoal toothpaste and mouthwash is Hello. The charcoal toothpaste and mouthwash are natural and free of fluoride, artificial sweeteners, sulfates, dye, and peroxides. Plus, they are cruelty-free and very affordable.

Using a charcoal toothpaste is a great natural alternative to the expensive teeth whiteners that are full of chemicals and only work to eat your enamel. With activated charcoal, you can keep teeth looking great and, more importantly, keep your teeth healthy.

Relieves Gas and Bloating

The porous nature of activated charcoal allows the charcoal to adsorb gases within the body and remove this. Taking activated charcoal can help relieve gas and bloating, so it can be especially useful to take before you eat food that you know will cause either of these two symptoms.

For example, many people experience gassiness after consuming beans, due to the way they break down within the body. Taking activated charcoal before your meal can help reduce the amount of gas that is produced and alleviate some of the adverse side effects of the beans.

Adsorbs Alcohol and Prevents Hangovers

Most of us have been there. We drank too much alcohol and woke up with a hangover, and this can ruin the rest of our day. Taking a couple of activated charcoal pills before you begin drinking can help prevent or reduce the effects of a hangover by decreasing the amount of alcohol that enters into your blood system.

This has become part of many popular hangover cures. Next time you are planning on having a couple of drinks, remember to swallow a couple of activated charcoal pills. Your body will thank you in the morning.

Detoxes Your Body

As mentioned above, using activated charcoal can help remove the toxins and heavy metals that end up in our body every day through the foods we eat and the air that we breathe. Because our environment is so full of toxins and they are almost unavoidable, many people choose to take activated charcoal on a daily basis to help their body cleanse the toxins out.

You can either take an activated charcoal pill or add some activated charcoal powder to your favorite drink.

Purifies Water

Activated charcoal is often used in water filters to help clean toxins from the water we drink. Tap water can often contain contaminants like fluoride, lead, mercury, and other toxins, depending on where you live. If you are drinking tap water, I would recommend that you get a water filter, such as Brita, to help remove some of these toxins. They are relatively cheap and can produce a much cleaner and better tasting water. These water filters use activated charcoal to remove the toxins from your tap water in a natural way without introducing more toxic chemicals.

Over 4 million people in the United States live with water that is contaminated past legal limits. Use the free tool provided by the Environmental Working Group to find out what contaminants are found in your tap water. You may find yourself wanting a water filter after all.

Skin Health

Activated charcoal helps to draw out toxins and bacteria from your skin, making it an ideal product to fight acne. You can find many soaps and face washes that contain activated charcoal to do just that.

Chic Republic makes a facial cleanser with activated charcoal that detoxes your skin and your face so that you can be acne free. Plus, it is all natural, hypoallergenic, cruelty-free, and paraben-free, so you don’t have to worry about what you are putting on your skin. Activated charcoal is especially useful if you have oily skin, as it will help absorb some of these oils.

Using activated charcoal can also help keep your skin young and vibrant looking, effectively slowing the visual signs of aging.

Lowers Cholesterol

When you take activated charcoal with food, the charcoal can actually bind to cholesterol and help you lower your bad (LDL) and total cholesterol. Studies have shown that taking activated charcoal daily can be highly beneficial for those who have high cholesterol.

A study published in The Lancet showed that when people consumed 8 grams of activated charcoal three times a day, on average had their LDL and total cholesterol drop by 25% [1].

Increases Energy

One effect that many people notice as they begin to take activated charcoal and start detoxing their body is that they have more energy than before. Toxins that we get from our environment can often make us feel fatigued and by removing they we get a natural burst of energy. This can lead to a more productive life.

What are some side effects of using activated charcoal?

There are many benefits of taking activated charcoal, but sometimes these benefits can come with some unwanted, or just weird, side effects. Taking too much charcoal may cause:

• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Black stools (this is the weird one)
• Dehydration (drink lots of water!)
• Lung intrusion (when used for poison, vomiting can cause it to get into your lungs)

For proper dosage, check the label of your product to ensure you are getting the recommended amount. Each product is different, especially if you are consuming activated charcoal in pill form.

Start with a natural product with a lower dosage, such as from Detox Organics or Schizandu Organics.

Can you use activated charcoal with medications?

If you are taking any medications or supplements, do not take activated charcoal, or speak to your doctor first. Because of the nature of activated charcoal and its ability to adsorb certain chemicals, it can interfere with certain medications and supplements, causing them not to work.

Activated charcoal can be used to remove toxins and poisons from your body, but it can also be used to remove medications and other supplements as well.

Where can you buy activated charcoal?

You can buy activated charcoal and products containing activated charcoal at most pharmacies, grocery stores, and beauty shops. If you are looking for activated charcoal in pill or powder form, check the section of vitamins and supplements. If you want a product such as a facewash or toothpaste, look in the appropriate aisle of your store, and it should be with similar items.

The best place to get all of your charcoal needs is through an online store, such as Amazon. Here you can find affordable activated charcoal products of all kinds. And, if you have prime, shipping is free of many of them.

Wrapping It All Up!

Activated charcoal is quickly becoming a mainstream health and beauty ingredient in many products, and for good reasons. Daily doses can help detoxify your body and improve your cholesterol health. It can also be used to whiten your teeth and clean your skin of acne.

If you are taking any medications or supplements, talk to your doctor first as activated charcoal can interfere with these medications and supplements work.

You can also use activated charcoal to help remove poisons, but this is not recommended to do on your own. If you suspect poisoning, call a doctor immediately. You can also contact poison control by calling 1 (800) 222-1222. This hotline is available 24/7.

Kuusisto, P., Manninen, V., Vapaatalo, H., Huttunen, J., & Neuvonen, P. (1986). Effect of activated charcoal on hypercholesterolaemia. The Lancet, 328(8503), 366-367.

Can Botox be a Part of a Healthy Lifestyle?

Education, Lifestyle · June 7, 2018

What is Botox, is it safe, and what alternatives do you have?

Botox.

It seems like everyone is getting it these days. It’s becoming as common as using Crest White Strips, and yet there is still this mystery around what it is exactly and what it does. In fact, often people refer to it as a facial “filler” as if it cures the wrinkles under the skin by filling in the fine lines.

But that’s not exactly it. And aside from its questionable source, the side effects are vast and scary. But what are they, and why are they not as well known? Most of the hype around Botox has trickled down from Hollywood. It’s the youth injection that keeps the stars looking like they did 20 years before. Not a crack in sight. But with such casual use and talk of this drug, comes the consequence of more casual use as if this “face filler” just disappears out of your face after it’s done and you’re ready to go.

Not to mention the fact that the Botox industry is booming (more than 6 million Botox treatments a year). And it’s not all people who are older. The ages where women are seeking cosmetic Botox surgery for their fine lines and wrinkles are getting younger and younger.

What is Botox?

Botox is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The bi-product is called botulinum toxin for sure. It is made from what is classified as a neurotoxin produced by this bacteria [1].

Are You Alarmed Yet?

It’s more alarming to understand just how powerful botulinum toxin is. While one gram could kill a million people, just two kilograms could kill the entire human population. That’s the power in this stuff. And while the bacterium is largely found inactive in nature is harmless, it’s when the spores transform and cell population increases that the botulinum toxin is produced. And that highly toxic substance is what is being used in the cosmetic treatments of Botox [2].

At super tiny level Botox is considered “safe” and as some say the poison is in the dose. But why would you take sure a big risk with something so toxic being injected into your body at any level? I would guarantee that most people are not aware of the highly toxic nature of the base of Botox.

What Does Botox do in the Body?

Once inside the body Botox does not just simply fill in fine lines and wrinkles. The miracle of the crack-less face is actually from paralysis. Considering that Botox, filled with botulinum toxin, is a neurotoxin you can begin to connect the dots on how it’s working. Neurotoxins disturb and disrupt the nervous in our nervous system and prevent them from communicating effectively [3]. Botox works through the simple method of paralyzing the muscles by blocking the signals from the cells and thus not allowing your muscle to contract and wrinkle or crease.

Yes, you are literally paralyzing your face.

Once the Botox is injected in your face, it can take up to 72 hours for it to disrupt the neurons and effectively paralyze the muscle.

What are the Potential Side Effects of Using Botox?

While many people can tolerate botulinum toxin, there are always risks of side effects. Some, but not surprising side effects include dropping of brows, lips, eyelids, and other unwanted areas nearby areas of injections due to the toxins actions.

Other lesser side effects are a mild pain in the areas of injection as well as some numbness.

More severe side effects include weakness of the neck, rashes, swelling, blurred vision, bleeding, gallbladder dysfunction, and flu-like symptoms [4].

Is Botox Worth the Risk?

While these side effects might not scare you immediately, there are other things to consider. In 2008 the FDA had to notify the public that other adverse reactions had occurred in patients that were given Botox and Botox Cosmetic. These side effects included respiratory failure and death following the treatment of a variety of condition and different doses.

While it was suspected that the problem came from the toxin spreading to other unintended areas that lead to breathing problems, it also was linked to using too much [5].

With such a powerful drug, which can be used in tiny amounts that could paralyze your entire face, you must always consider the risk that a) it can spread to different areas, and b) it is risky that such a small amount could do so much damage.

With all that risk, it’s worth remembering that to keep up the facial paralysis patients typically go in for multiple treatments a year to keep up appearances.

Should You Get Botox?

While Botox carries all of that risk, there are other, much less risky, less pointy, less paralyzing ways to look younger and have silky, smooth skin. You do have other, very effective choices. If you are still considering Botox, be sure to contact and book your appointment with a well known, reputable doctor that has a healthy track record of taking care of their patients.

If Botox and the risks seem too much, but you want the skin from your best years, stay tuned as we dive into incredible ways to use natural treatments and foods to wipe years off your face and keep you looking forever young.

The Effect of Sleep and Water on Skin Aging

Education, Lifestyle · June 7, 2018

Outside elements like stress can contribute to bags under the eyes, or cold weather can contribute to chapped lips. But what is happening on the inside is just as big of a contributor to how your skin looks and feels on a daily basis. It also contributes in a huge way to how your skin heals and fights signs of aging. We are all trying to keep our youthful glow by slapping on sunscreen and using a nightly eye cream, but you can be doing so much more from the inside. While sleep and hydration may not seem like wrinkle fighters, they are some of the most powerful tools in your anti-aging toolbox.

What Does Hydration Do For Your Skin?

The obvious answer that it keeps it from getting dry. Keeping your cells hydrated from the inside out keeps them healthier and prevents you from having to slather yourself in lotion 24/7. And while dry skin can be anywhere from slightly irritating to extremely painful, there are other reasons that hydration shouldn’t be overlooked as a part of your anti aging beauty routine.

Does Dry Skin Cause Wrinkles?

Studies show that dry, dehydrated skin can long term cause more wrinkling [1,2,]. Yes, that means how moisturized your skin stays (from the inside out), can determine how many wrinkles you end up with. And while using a lotion helps, this isn’t the most effective or ideal way to combat dry skin. Things that go on the skin, such as oils, lotions, and chapstick should be considered a second line of defense. They can never truly heal and moisturize the skin from the outside the way getting enough water can from the inside.

How to Use Hydration to Detox Your Skin

Water is used in every cell of the body. Outside of keeping the cells hydrated so they can do their jobs, it also helps carry waste out of the cells and out of your skin.

One way to get the recommended amount of water a day is to fill a gallon jug or two half-gallon water bottles of water, and throughout the day sip on them, so you already know how much you need to drink. Another way to get your recommended water intake is to break up those larger jugs into smaller water bottles and set a timer so that it reminds you to drink one at specific points throughout the day. There are also apps that allow you to log your water intake throughout the day, so you know where you’re at.

Top Water Apps

Free Apps

Daily Water Tracker Reminder

This app not only lets you log your water intake throughout the day, but you can also set reminds. Set your goals, then sit back and tap till you reach them! It’s the best feature, it celebrates your water intake, and we can always use an extra pat on the back!

Available on iphone and Android.

Daily Drink Tracker

This app is set up to not only tell you how much you drank, but also what’s left for the day so you can plan ahead. It also shows your water intake in graphs to show your progress, and you can select other drinks besides water as well. One of the best parts is that is available on iPad and apple watch and is integrated into Apple health.

Paid Apps

WaterMinder

This app features reminders and sets your goal based on your body stats. You can also log other types of drinks like coffee, tea, or soda water throughout the day. It also syncs with your Apple watch and iPad.

Available on iphone. Price $2.99

Is Beauty Sleep a Real Thing?

And while your body is busy using water the flush out toxins through your kidneys and keep your cells working to flush waste out of themselves [3], the majority of the healing of these cells happens at night. That means while you’re snoozing, your body is doing the rebuilding work of the cells in your body, and that includes the delicate cells that keep your face elastic and supple looking.

Even missing just a few hours of sleep a night can cause your body to fall behind on healing. In studies, where rats were extremely sleep deprived, they developed lesions on the skin which suggests a deficiency in the healing process of the skin [4].  While sleep deprivation is a known stressor, it also provides your body the time and conditions to heal itself. In human studies sleep, deprivation showed a loss of nitrogen in the body. While this might not sound alarming, in controlled studies sleep deprivation leads to a wide deterioration of body tissue, and this means that while your body is supposed to be healing its cells, without sleep cells start to deteriorate and die off [5].

Think of your eyes when you don’t sleep. The skin around then starts to look puffier, darker and sometimes can look older just after a few days of missed slumber. While some people find it hard to get the whole recommended 7-8 hours of sleep a night, outside of the amazing benefits like extending your life and healing your body as a whole, you could be missing out on a powerful anti-wrinkle session that your body could be doing.

How to Get Your Beauty Sleep

One way to make sure you’re getting enough sleep is to prioritize it as if it was your favorite show at night you that wouldn’t want to miss. You manage to set the alarm and get up and go to work on time every day, so think of sleeping as your more enjoyable night job. Setting the alarm for starting your bedtime routine like washing up, changing or doing wind down activates like reading or self-care will help you turn off your electronics and get into bed. Establishing a routine, as you do in the morning to get to bed on time, is a great way to make sure you get to bed on time and get the right amount of sleep to ensure your body is doing all it can to fight signs of aging and heal your skin on a regular basis.

What Are the Best Sleep Apps?

There are sleep apps that are available to help you get your recommended sleep and can help you establish a bedtime routine as well as let you know when to get in bed, how well you slept and just how long you did as well.

There are 3 that really stand out for when you are looking to get a little extra help to fall asleep.

Sleep Better

Sleep better is a Runtastic app and I love this because this app monitors sleep in airplane mode. It allows for much less distraction that way. It’s also very in depth with how it tracks and helps you find your custom wake up window so that you’re waking up rested and easily.

It also helps you track what habits you have been doing during the day that are helping or not working with your sleep cycle to help you make changes to get the best sleep possible. This is my favorite app because it helps build better habits for sleep which I think works the best for getting your beauty sleep.

Sleep Cycle

This app works by analyzing your motion through the phone by placing it on the bed. It can help determine how deeply your sleeping and what phase of sleep you are in. It’s great for monitoring irregular sleep cycles and lets you know the quality of sleep through the night. I think one of the best features is the “intelligent snooze.”

Intelligent snooze wakes you up when you are in the best phase of sleep for an easy gradual wake up call up until your desired wake up time. It’s a nice change from the jarring alarm most people use.

Calm

This app is rated very highly and focuses on mediation for overall well being as well as sleep. If you want to know more about how meditation can help you in your daily life or just a quick how to mediate you can check out our guest blog post from Mad Wellness. The free version of this app contains a 7 day meditation and a free sleep story to help lull you into a deep and restful sleep. If you’re interested in meditation in both your everyday life and in creating deeper sleep this app is for you.

Anti-aging isn’t just in an expensive bottle at the beauty store. Take care to hydrate and sleep well on a regular basis so that you can heal your skin and keep it youthful from the inside out. While beauty creams and treatment can help with anti-aging, the best treatments start from the inside.

If you, like so many people, struggle to drink enough water and get enough sleep take advantage of the many free apps there are out there to help you build healthy anti-aging beauty habits. The best part is most are free and you can try them all until you find one that is right for you. The app that’s right is the one that actually helps you drink more water and get more sleep!

Does Counting Calories Work: How to count calories successfully

Education, Lifestyle · June 7, 2018

How Many Calories Do You Need Each Day to Lose Weight

With any diet or weight loss program, counting calories are often touted as being essential to reaching your goals. Most programs are based on the idea that you need to eat less than what your body can burn during the day to lose weight and counting calories is the way to ensure that you burn more energy in a day than you consume.

While I don’t often promote strict calorie counting and feel that there are better ways of maintaining or losing weight, there are a few basics to calorie counting that may help you get to your goals if you choose to go that route.

How Do You Count Calories?

To count calories, you need one of the following:

• Journal – With a journal, you can record what you are eating on a daily basis and about how many calories you are taking in. You can quickly take notes in your journal that can help your meal planning as well. This will make it easy to see how many calories you are consuming on average every day.
• Calorie Counter or a Book on Calories – These show you the calories for many supermarket items including beef, chicken, fruits, and vegetables. This way, you have a good idea of what you are eating calorie wise. You can find books, PDFs, and even apps that can help you see how many calories are in the basic food items you are eating.

What Can You Do at the Grocery Store?

At the grocery store, your packaged items will list the ingredients and the calories. Be mindful of the calories per serving and how many servings are in a package. Too often the serving size shown on the box may not be a realistic portion size, so if you eat more than the size of the serving listed, be sure to take into account the added calories you are eating.

Your total number of calories will be the number of servings times the calories per serving that you choose to eat. With chicken, fish, and other foods like fruits and vegetables without nutrition labels you can use a calorie counter or book to figure out the calories for the portion size your eating of each food. With these types of fresh food, you may want to portion out your meals ahead of time, this way you’re not weighing and counting calories for each meal.

Six chicken breasts in a package possibly could be used for six different meals. By portioning the food, your purchase may last longer. Take advantage of your fruits and vegetables. You can make use of fruits and vegetables at every meal, including snacks, as they tend to have fewer calories per volume and more micronutrients for your health.

Use your calorie counter to determine the calories for each food item, then enter it as you eat to keep track.

What Can You Do When You Dine Out

Eating out could possibly be a nightmare for people who calorie count due to the nature of most restaurants. Restaurants are not geared for weight loss. They load up on fat and salt to make you feel more satisfied.  Many dinner portions contain much more than what you need for one meal. When ordering, you can ask a lot of questions to stay on track and still each out. Some things to glance at include:

• Salads – Check the toppings and dressing that comes with the salad, as this can add more calories to your healthy meal than you may realize. Some salads include fried chicken or bacon. You may also find eggs and croutons on your salad, that, again, add more unneccessary. As a rule, I bring my own oil and vinegar or salad dressing to the restaurant. The creamy salad dressings comprise of a lot of fat and sugars, so stay away from them.
• Fried Vs Grilled – At the restaurant, try ordering your meat grilled. Fried meats (even pan-fried) has a lot of fat and often additional breading and salt. These will only hurt your healthy efforts.  When you can, order grilled or baked versions of your proteins and most restaurants will be happy to give you the alternative.
• Cooked in Butter –  Fish and chicken are sometimes cooked with butter to enhance the flavor, so be sure to check when ordering these proteins to see how they are prepared. This adds unnecessary fat and salt to your meal, making the calorie count skyrocket. Check with your waiter and request that your entrée and vegetables are not cooked in butter.
• Bread – When you go to a restaurant, complimentary bread is often served before the meal. And, if you are hungry, the bread is very tempting and hard to resist. To avoid the bread, let your server know when you sit down that your table would like to pass on the free bread.
• Ask for a Calorie Menu – Now, more and more restaurants are providing calorie counts right on their menu for calorie-conscious consumers. If they are not listed on the main menu, most restaurants have a secondary menu that can provide all the nutritional information of their food. This will make it easier to track the calories for your meal in your journal or app.

What Can You Do At Home?

At home, make sure your cabinets are full of nutritional, clean foods and void of anything processed. Canned soups and boxed meals contain a lot of added salt, preservatives, and artificial flavorings. Processed, microwavable meals can also include a lot of empty calories that do little for your nutritional needs. And if you are munching on frozen foods that come in a box, be careful not to eat the whole box, or you might end up eating more than one serving. Also, be sure to need to avoid soda, diet soda, and fruit juices. These drinks contain sugar or artificial sweeteners which can add wasted calories to your diet or lead to food cravings.

When you stock your home full of healthy food, you’ll have less calorie dense foods in your house and be able to feel better about creating meals. You’ll still want to weigh or portion your foods and create meals for yourself, but sticking to clean, healthy foods will automatically lower your calorie count. Portioning your food helps you eat fewer calories and track how many calories you are consuming per meal. Once you portion your food you can add the calories for each meal to your journal or app to keep track of what you are eating.

What Foods Can You Have?

With calorie counting, the idea is to keep calories lower than what you burn per day. We will go over how to determine that more below, but for now I want to talk about what foods to look at. Although you could eat fewer calories of junk food and technically lose weight by burning more than you consume, you’d be doing a great injustice to your health. When counting calories, you also want to count in nutritionally dense food so that you don’t get deficient in essential vitamins and minerals. Keeping the calories lower is crucial but so is keeping your nutrition high.

Here are some nutritionally dense options that you can portion and keep below the calories burned and still get plenty of vitamin, minerals, and micronutrients in your diet:

• Proteins: You’ll want to include proteins in your diet to keep you full and to feel great. Proteins help your body rebuild and add muscle which helps burn calories because muscle burns more calories than fat. This includes the consumption of lean proteins, as well as fatty proteins in moderation. Lean proteins include chicken breast, white fish, turkey breast and 97% lean ground beef. Fatty proteins include dark meat chicken and turkey, most steaks and ground beef, and salmon. These are good in moderation and can be added to your diet to help you consume healthy fats.
• Grains: Most of the time, when an individual thinks of calorie counting they’re also thinking low-carb. This means no bread, no rice, no oats, and so forth. So many people are used to filling their meals with refined white grains so, in a way, there is some truth that avoiding them will keep you from consuming too many calories during the day. Having said that, you don’t have to avoid all grains. Whole grains may have a reasonable amount of carbohydrates, but they also are less processed and contain actual nutrients that can help nourish your body. This includes brown rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and sprouted whole wheat bread. Be aware of the calories you are eating, and you won’t have to banish these from your diet.
• Leafy Vegetables: Virtually any vegetable ought to be encouraged because they can be healthy for you. Having said that, a lot of new diets promote the idea that you should not eat any carbohydrates, including the ones found in many vegetables. The vegetables that have practically no carbs include most of the leafy vegetables; the most widely known of these is spinach. Other leafy vegetables consist of collard greens, bok choy, and kale. However, veggies, in general, tend to be low in calorie (potatoes are not vegetables), and you should include as many in your diet as you can. Other great veggies are tomatoes, all greens, onions, peppers, celery, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, asparagus, carrots, peas and green beans.
• Fruits – There is a lot of debate on whether or not fruit is good for weight loss. In reality, if you’re calorie counting, fruit is perfectly fine because you’ll still need to keep your calories lower than what you burn daily and you can track the calories in fruit. Fruit is also very nutrient dense. If you are sugar sensitive, then fruit is a better option than processed sugary foods and desserts like cake, cookies, and candy. If you are sugar sensitive, then stick to lower glycemic fruits in their whole form to get all the benefits of the fiber and nutrients. Lower glycemic fruits, like blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries are high in antioxidants and can help satisfy a sweet tooth.

What Should You Drink?

Liquid calories are the killer of many diets. It’s something to seriously consider keeping an eye on if you are determined to make calorie counting work for you.

The first and best option is always water. Water is essential to so many functions in your body, and you need to stay hydrated to keep your body running properly. Other low-calorie options that are okay to drink are plain coffee and tea (no cream or sugar!). These drinks have very few calories if any at all. Staying hydrated can also help you better understand your hunger signals and keep you from mindlessly eating, or thinking your hungry when you are really just thirsty. When you are dehydrated, these signals can become confused.

Stay away from diet drinks even though they are calorie free because the artificial sugars could trigger sugar cravings and send you reaching for high-calorie foods to satisfy them. If you want to flavor your drinks, more natural options are available at the grocery stores like stevia or xylitol. These sweeteners can help you add a kick to your beverage without the calories or chemicals.

How to Spice Up Low-Calorie Meals

Some people worry about eating fewer calories with more natural foods because they think it will be bland. This is only partially true. If you eat steamed rice, chicken and broccoli at every meal, you probably will get bored, and these foods can be pretty bland on their own.

With your meals, you can add spices to perk up any food on your plate. The calories in spices are negligible so, add some cinnamon to your oatmeal, some pepper, and parsley to your salad, garlic powder to your soup and paprika to your vegetables. Now, you are cooking!

You Can Use Calorie Counting to Make it to Your Goals!

By counting calories, you can easily keep track of your diet and lose more weight. Your journal or counting app will help you by providing a record of what you eat at every meal and every snack. You can write your calories down and adjust them until you’ve reached your weight loss goal.

The best way is to drop calories slowly. Don’t do it so drastically that you are starving and give up, or even worse your body starts plateauing because you’re not providing it enough energy for the day.

Instead, find out how many calories you are burning, determine if you’re eating too many over it for weight loss, and then adjust down slowly by 100-200 calories at a time. If you’ve lost weight, chances are the number of calories you need to eat to continue to lose weight has changed.

How Many Calories Am I Burning?

Everyone ‘knows’ what we need to do to lose weight and get healthy. We need to take in fewer calories than we burn throughout the day, no matter what it is. This includes anything from breathing, sleeping, and all the way up to completing your kickboxing class or racing in an Ironman.

Did you know that lying down, perhaps while you’re watching TV, will give you a deficit of 90 calories in one hour? Now the moment you get up you start to burn even more calories. Now when you get up off the couch and decide to go for a run, you can burn up to 800 calories in an hour. Your body has this all figured out. You don’t have to do a thing except find ways each day to add more activity and burn more calories. There are a few daily adjustments you can make to burn more calories, such as taking the stairs, parking further out, walking to the store, or walking around your office building on your lunch break.

How to Use a TDEE Calculator to Determine Calorie Burn

Using an online calculator can help you determine an approximate number of calories you burn per day. You will enter things like sex, weight, height, age, and activity level to help you see what all of your daily activity adds up to. Some calculators provide BMR which lets you know the minimum of calories you need to just function each day before adding activity. This means you should not drop your calories below this number as you can stall your weight loss.

Your TDEE is the number calories from your BMR plus the activity you do each day. You can increase this by being more active. To lose weight you’ll want to eat less than your TDEE and above your BMR. Once you know your numbers you can easily determine what amount of calories works to help you lose weight each day. Often calorie counting apps provide these calculations to help you track your calorie intake.

How Many Calories are Too Many?

To lose weight, one lb to be exact, you need to decrease your caloric intake by 3500 calories. One pound of body weight =3500 calories. Calories are a measurement of energy. That’s all it is. Your body needs a certain amount of energy to survive (BMR) so don’t go below that. But you can drop your calories below your daily TDEE to help work towards a 3500 deficit over the course of a week.

Because it’s recommended to lose about 1 lb per week as a healthy pace you can drop your calories each day by 500 calories, and in 1 week you would be at a 3500 deficit. That would lead you to about 1 pound a week of weight loss, which is a healthy amount to lose.

What if You Don’t Have 500 Calories Between BMR and TDEE?

If you have a sedentary desk job and don’t work out much then you might not have a 500 calorie deficit to drop each day. There are a few solutions to this. The first is to decrease it to right above your BRM. Even if it’s not 500 a day, it’s still less than what you’re burning and it may take a week and a half or 2 weeks to hit the 3500 deficit to lose a pound. That’s a slower option but it still works. The second option is to up your activity level so that your TDEE is higher and you can drop your calories by 500 calories a day and still be above your BMR. This is more work daily but will allow you to lose weight quicker.

The moral of this story is that to need to watch your activity level. You also need to watch the calories you are putting into your body. You can not fool your body. It knows everything you put into it and is aware of your every move. You can do this, and your body will help you get rid of that extra fat if you let it.

Calorie counting is one way to lose weight, and with a little tracking and diligence, you can make it work for you. Although this works for many people, I prefer to start with this method and move to intuitive eating once you reset your body, make a habit of not eating processed foods, adjust your portion sizes, and get a feel for what works for you to lose or maintain weight. This is often better for people in the long run who are opposed to being on diets and do not want to have to count every calorie that goes into their mouth every at moment of the day. I also prefer this because it requires you to rely on more nutrient dense foods to help your body listen to its hunger signals.

If you are starting with calorie counting, this is an excellent way to do it. Stick to whole foods, track when you can, and listen to your body; learn what foods and portions your body likes for weight loss and do your best to add more activity to your life. You can make it work for you and your health goals when done right.

Guest Post: How to and Why to Meditate with Marin Turner

Education, Lifestyle · June 7, 2018

Welcome to a Guest Blog by Marin Turner or Mad Wellness. She is a wellness coach and lifestyle motivator who is showing us why meditation is good for everyone, as well as simple steps on how to mediate for beginners. You can learn more about her on her website MAD Wellness .

My journey with meditation started just like most everyone else. I was tired of trying everything to calm myself and feel better, but nothing was working. So, I thought… Hell! I guess I’ll give it a shot. Super committed to the process, right? Um, no! That came later.

I tried everything that I could find online to start meditating. I downloaded apps and turned on YouTube videos. I would listen to meditation podcasts hoping that I would be able to “still” my mind or clear it of all thoughts. But I would get about 30 seconds into the program and I would be thinking about a doctor’s appointment that I need to book for my daughter and trying to figure out what we were having for dinner. Not on purpose mind you — I really wanted this stuff to work. I had read so much about how this group and that group had done a study and mindfulness meditation had been proven to help with pain, anxiety, and depression. But I just couldn’t get my mind to shut up. Then, of course, I would end up feeling like I failed. Sound familiar?

Here’s the thing… You will never shut your mind up. The human brain thinks somewhere between 50,000-70,000 thoughts each day. In a typical meditation session of 20-30 minutes, that’s close to 1260 thoughts. And let me tell you, your brain is stronger than you think. Try and silence her, she’ll just think louder.

I went back into research mode cause damn it, I was gonna get this right! What I figured out is that the thoughts and sensations that we experience are neither good nor bad. They are not to be judged. The important thing is that they are to be experienced, acknowledged, accepted, and then released. Released is the main thing to note here. It can be very easy to bring up a feeling and then just dwell on it. How many of us stand in the shower thinking about all the things that we should have said to “Carla” during that argument last week? Think about the way that your body feels when you are doing this. Those are not the sensations that we are aiming for today. And no, there is no guerilla warfare version of meditation. We can’t just tackle it head-on. This is a process that is practiced with gentleness.

Now for the cool part. Some of those studies I read showed that by using this technique, subjects have been able to self-regulate the pain responses that can be associated with chronic illness and injuries. See, the mind is strong. While engaging in activities that normally cause discomfort, simply breathing and acknowledging the sensation (like you would a thought) and releasing it can enable you to use less energy and leave more for life. I know that we could all use a little less energy focused on discomfort and more on the fun.

I am so excited to be able to share this with you. I am a woman living with more than 3 separate chronic illnesses. Through my own mindfulness practice, I have been able to continue working a job in which I must stand on my feet for almost 8 hours per day and manage my own business on the side, while still having the energy to take care of my physical fitness and enjoy time with family and friends You may be wondering how to start incorporating this into your life. Well, I recommend starting at the start…

How to meditate

1. Find a place to meditate

I want you to find a quiet place to be. When you are more advanced, you will be able to meditate almost anywhere and tune out the noises, but for now, let’s minimize the distractions. I recommend sitting unless you are physically unable to sit up. It doesn’t matter if you are sitting in a chair or on the floor, in fact, you may find it helpful in the beginning to sit somewhere that you have support for your back. Again, we are trying to minimize the distractions and sensations that you must work with, so back support may be beneficial.

2. Find uninterrupted time to meditate

Take a few moments to make sure that you will not be bothered for at least 10 minutes. At first, you may only be able to get through 5 minutes before your monkey mindfully takes over but hold the space for yourself in case you find that you are able to go longer. This is a quick and easy type of meditation that can be done just about anywhere.

3. Find your mantra

Now it’s time for the mantra. I am sure that you have seen yogis repeating “om mani padme hum” like a drone. This is used to focus the person on the breathing and keep them centered when the mind tries to wander.

You are welcome to use this mantra or the simpler “Om”, but I tend to favor one that is more in line with my desired outcome. This way, I can come back to it when I experience stress that needs to be addressed quickly. There have been many times when walking through the grocery store I was struck by a pain and had to stop.

Using this method almost always gets me back to myself in a matter of moments because my mind now knows the pattern of “say it, hear it, feel it.”

4. Simple relief mantra

Let’s start with a simple relief mantra: I acknowledge my pain/stress/anger/sadness and I release it. Starting in your same sitting position, as you relax, say the mantra out loud 3 times slowly… “I acknowledge my ___ and I release it, I acknowledge my ___ and I release it, I acknowledge my ___ and I release it.” Feel the words leaving your mouth and the tension releasing.

Take three to five long deep breaths to show your body that you are ready to start. Beginning at your head, feel how the emotion or feeling effects this part of you. State your mantra a few times, until you feel release. Move to your neck, shoulders, and so on acknowledging each part as you pass through it and letting it go to the universe. Continue moving down the rest of your body until you reach your feet.  Give your feet a little squeeze and wiggle your toes. As you do, realize that your body has let go of all the individual sensations and is now ready to come around. Taking one last deep breath, open your eyes and return to full wakefulness

Meditation can be used to help with everything from a problem that you are looking for a solution to, anxiety, increasing concentration, communing with your higher power, to pain management as I have shown here. I encourage you to explore your practice and incorporate it further into your life. The more you do it, the easier it will become and the more relief you will feel throughout your life.

I hope that you can build your own mindfulness practice and use it as the basis for gaining a greater sense of balance in your life.

By Marin Turner

Thank you for joining us with Marin Turner of Mad Wellness and learning about meditation. Want to go deeper? She’s offering a FREE mindfulness guide: http://www.madmeditation.com/ and if you like this, leave a comment below. Do you already meditate? How did you get started? Are you interested in learning more about meditation? Let me know!

Health Benefits of Ceylon Cinnamon

Education, Lifestyle · May 24, 2018

I’ve always I heard that cinnamon had amazing powers for the body and so I wanted to do more digging to see if this super spice could be more than just a tasty additive to my pumpkin pie recipes. In my research, I came across Ceylon cinnamon and found that this spice had been studied quite a bit for its healing powers.

Since then, I have been using it for about two years now and really love adding it to everything possible. After much studying I found, here is what I found…

Top Benefits of Ceylon Cinnamon for Your Health:

• Boosts weight loss
• Improves metabolic disorders
• Acts as an anti-cancer agent in the body
• Assists in preventing acne

So what exactly is Ceylon cinnamon and how does it do all these wonderful things?

What is Ceylon Cinnamon?

Ceylon cinnamon, also known as true cinnamon, is an evergreen tree that belongs to the class Lauraceae. This tree is native to Sri Lanka, and the spice is obtained from the bark of this tree.

Besides it is used as a spice, cinnamon has been used for thousands of years as traditional medicine. Today, cinnamon is also used as a dietary supplement for medical conditions such as lack of appetite, diabetes, and gastrointestinal disorders. According to scientists, cinnamon is among the most popular herbs and medicinal spices in the world. Its protective antioxidant levels make cinnamon the most common medicinal herb in the world.

Several studies have been performed to find out the medicinal value of cinnamon. In 2012, a study was conducted on people who were diagnosed with type 1 and type 2 Diabetes. The randomized clinical trials concluded that the consumption of cinnamon could lead to a significant drop in the levels of fasting blood sugar.

Besides its benefits to people with diabetes, cinnamon is also considered useful for other ailments, including gynecological problems, respiratory conditions, and neurological conditions.

How Does Ceylon Cinnamon Help With Weight Loss?

Several studies explain the use of cinnamon during weight loss trials. One study was published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism in 2011. The study used rats to find out the effect cinnamon had on post-meal blood glucose level.

The researchers concluded that cinnamon was a potential remedy for hyperglycemia and the spike in blood glucose levels that occur after a meal. Another study was published in the journal Diabetes Care in 2003. The study assembled 50 people who had been diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes. The individuals were then divided into two groups and the study lasted for a total of 40 days. The first group was put on either 1, 2, or 3 grams of cinnamon on a daily basis. The second group was administered a placebo.

Once the study was concluded, the researchers found out that the group taking the cinnamon had reduced their blood sugar level by 18-29 percent. It was also found that the levels of triglycerides in the body of these people had dropped 23-30 percent.

Other changes that were observed included a reduction in the amount of total cholesterol by  12-26 percent and a reduction of LDL cholesterol by 7-27 percent.

The research results on cinnamon consumption have shown a positive control of blood sugar and insulin levels in the blood. Low-blood sugar and increased insulin levels are also associated with more significant weight loss, meaning that the consumption of Ceylon cinnamon could have a positive effect on those who are trying to lose weight. Plus, studies have also shown that the impact brought on by the consumption of cinnamon is almost immediate. According to researchers, people with liver problems should only consume Ceylon cinnamon to avoid toxicity that can occur in high levels of cassia cinnamon.

How does Ceylon Cinnamon help metabolic disorders?

Metabolic disorders are known to be among the leading causes of death globally. A metabolic syndrome is a group of diseases that comprise of hyperglycemia, hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance.

Metabolic syndrome is also one of the primary causes of cardiovascular diseases. People who are diagnosed with metabolic syndrome had an increased risk of acquiring long-term cardiovascular disorders. Statistics have shown that close to 17.5 million people succumbed to cardiovascular disease in the year 2012. This number represents about 31 percent of global deaths.

According to recent scientific studies, cinnamon contains active ingredients such as cinnamate, cinnamic acid cinnamaldehyde, and eugenol. These active compounds have been shown to have therapeutic effects against metabolic disorders.

Metabolic disorders are largely caused by insulin resistance. This resistance to insulin has been shown to cause other metabolic complications such as dyslipidemia, obesity, and hypertension. Scientific studies show that cinnamon can help activate the insulin receptor kinases, which helps enhance the performance of the insulin receptor.

The active components in cinnamon that have anti-diabetic effects have been shown to activate glycogen synthase enzyme. This enzyme is involved in the synthesis of glycogen from glucose. The conversion of glucose to glycogen helps reduce blood glucose levels. The chemical compounds lower glucose absorption in the small intestine by increasing the concentration of glycosidase enzymes.

A study that was published in the Journal of Agricultural Food and Chemistry by Anderson et al., found that the bioactive compound, methylhydroxychalcone polymer extracted from cinnamon, stimulates the phosphorylation of insulin receptor [1]. Another study that was published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology by Qin et al., revealed that cinnamon extract potentiated the effect of insulin in rats by stimulating glucose uptake in adipocyte cells. The rats were administered with cinnamon extract at a dose of 30 and 300 mg/Kg body weight. The study lasted for a period of three weeks [3].

Other bioactive compounds such as catechins, rutin, and quercetin extracted from cinnamon had insulin-like activity. The anti-diabetic activity of cinnamon extract depends on its polyphenolic content.

Cinnamon has an antioxidant that is known to help treat several metabolic disorders. Metabolic disorders have been associated with the presence of free radicals as well as oxidative stress. The presence of reactive oxygen species may cause several metabolic disorders such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and hypertension. Cinnamon’s extract, such as the essential oil and the bioactive compound eugenol, contains a robust radical scavenging activity. The studies conducted on the therapeutic effect of insulin on metabolic disorders have shown that the medicinal plant can help reduce the morbidity and mortality rates that are associated with metabolic disorders.

How Does Ceylon Cinnamon Help in Preventing Acne?

Studies show that the antibacterial effect that Ceylon cinnamon has can help prevent and reduce acne because it has therapeutic activity against the bacteria that is responsible for the development of acne. The bioactive compound, cinnamaldehyde, kills the bacteria by inhibiting the enzyme nitric oxide synthase. The reduction of nitric oxide helps prevent inflammation which is associated with acne. The other mechanism involves the inhibition of the cyclooxygenase 2 enzyme, also known as COX-2. This enzyme also plays a significant role in the process of inflammation.

The Anti-Cancer Property of Ceylon Cinnamon

Extractions from cinnamon have been shown to inhibit the activity of the vascular endothelial growth factor subtype 2. The enzyme inhibition prevents angiogenesis (the development of new blood vessels), a condition that is common in cancer patients. Scientific studies have shown that cinnamon can be used in the prevention of cancer because it prevents the development of these new blood vessels.

A study that was published in Journal of Nematology by Kong et al., showing that CB403, a compound that is made from 2′-hydroxycinnamaldehyde can prevent tumor growth. The anti-tumor activity of CB403 has shown that cinnamon can be utilized as an anticancer agent [2].

How is Ceylon Cinnamon Made?

Ceylon cinnamon is synthesized from cinnamon sticks. Young branches are obtained from trees and left overnight for fermentation to take place. After fermentation, the external and median crust is removed. The inner crust is then dried and then either ground into a powder or shaped into sticks. You can then use these forms of Ceylon cinnamon to flavor several different types of foods and drinks.

Where Can I Buy Ceylon Cinnamon?

There are several Ceylon cinnamon brands available on the market. Some of the most common ones include the Indus Organics which is available in the form of sticks. Sticks can be steeped into hot teas, coffee and soups.

Other Popular Brands of Ceylon Cinnamon Include:

• Frontier
• Feel Good Organics
• Simply Organic

I love the brand Organic Wise, which I found on Amazon because it is ground into a powder which makes it the easiest to use in recipes.

These Ceylon cinnamon brands can be bought from Amazon or at your local grocery stores. Amazon has a variety of brands from which you can choose from, and if you really love it, you can do a subscription service which makes restocking super easy.

How to add Ceylon Cinnamon to your diet

There are two ways you can add this spice to your diet. The first is the way I take it and that is just by using loose the loose powder and adding a tsp to my smoothies, sauces, and other desserts. It is so easy to add and tastes amazing in my favorite chocolate smoothie. I buy it on Amazon so that I can save money on their autoship option. Another great way to add it to your diet is to dust it into your morning coffee as an added flavor or into your nightly tea with some honey (use raw organic honey for max benefits). You can find my recipe for nightly tea on the blog.

Tops Ways to Add Ceylon Cinnamon to Your Diet:

• Coffee
• Cider
• Chia or black tea
• Nighttime teas
• Sauces
• Soups
• Breads
• Cinnamon buns
• Pies

I also love to offer simple tricks so you can add more Ceylon cinnamon into your diet, and because I’m so in love with cinnamon I also have some cinnamon capsules. I still think it’s important to use organic capsules so I use the brand Nutriflair which has capsules that contain organic Ceylon cinnamon. These are convenient to add to your morning routine, especially if you do not like the taste of cinnamon or are in a hurry.

 

References:

1. Anderson, R. A., Broadhurst, C. L., Polansky, M. M., Schmidt, W. F., Khan, A., Flanagan, V. P., … & Graves, D. J. (2004). Isolation and characterization of polyphenol type-A polymers from cinnamon with insulin-like biological activity. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 52(1), 65-70.
2. Kong, J.-O., Lee, S.-M., Moon, Y.-S., Lee, S.-G., & Ahn, Y.-J. (2007). Nematicidal Activity of Cassia and Cinnamon Oil Compounds and Related Compounds toward Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Nematoda: Parasitaphelenchidae). Journal of Nematology, 39(1), 31–36.
3. Qin, B., Panickar, K. S., & Anderson, R. A. (2010). Cinnamon: Potential Role in the Prevention of Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Syndrome, and Type 2 Diabetes. Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, 4(3), 685–693.