What Boosts More Growth Hormone: Intermittent Fasting or HIIT

Seven Anti-Aging Foods That Make You Look Younger Than Your Real Physical Age

Is it only genes that make some people look younger than their real physical age? Studies have shown that the world's longest-living communities are remarkably similar in two aspects: they eat mostly plant-based foods and they look younger than their real physical age.

If this is true, it makes sense to include these plant-based, anti-aging foods in our diet to make us look younger; delay the effects of aging; improve our skin elasticity; and stave off wrinkles.

What are these anti-aging foods? These are natural foods rich in selenium and powerful antioxidants such as Vitamins C and E.

Here is a list of seven anti-aging foods to help you look younger than your real physical age:

1) Avocados

Avocados are nature's best moisturizers.

Avocados are loaded with anti-aging nutrients such as Vitamin C and E, and Omega 3 fatty acids. Though a medium-size avocado has 30 grams of fat, all of it is healthy monosaturated fats that lower cholesterol and protect the heart.

Want to look younger? Eat an avocado a day to stave off wrinkles and keep your skin looking soft and supple.

2) Cucumber

Whether you eat it as a cucumber salad or make it into a cucumber cleanser, cucumbers are an excellent anti-aging food for improving tired, dehydrated skin. This reason is cucumbers are high in water content and contains high amounts of silica, a necessary mineral for smooth and glowing skin.

3) Lemons

Lemons are a Vitamin C powerhouse, an antioxidant vital for healthy skin and gums. One medium size lemon contains more than 45% of the daily recommended intake of Vitamin C. Lemons are the body's natural internal cleanser which aids digestion and clears toxins; leaving our skin clear and radiant.

Wake up in the morning to a glass of lemon juice or lemon water will help cleanse your skin and make you look younger.

4) Almonds

Almonds are an anti-aging food that is excellent for healthy skin, hair and nails because of their high content of Vitamin E.

The body needs Vitamin E to protect the cells from the onslaught of free radicals generated by air pollution, peroxides and ultra violet rays.

Eat ten to a dozen almonds a day. A quarter cup of almonds a day provides about 45% of the daily-recommended intake of Vitamin E.

5) Sunflower Seeds

Sunflower seeds are a remarkable anti-aging food and a Vitamin E and selenium powerhouse with very effective youth-enhancing qualities.

Eat a handful of sunflower seeds a day will help you look younger, stave off wrinkles and improve skin elasticity. In fact, a quarter cup of sunflower seeds will provide nearly 91% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin E!

6) Brazil Nuts

Brazil nuts are a very rich source of selenium, a mineral that works very well with Vitamin E to stop oxidative stress and cell damage caused by free radicals; thus, slowing down the aging process.

Eat Brazil nuts are a powerful anti-aging food which must be eaten in moderation because of its high fat content. Eating just two Brazil nuts a day will provide you with enough selenium for younger skin and a younger you.

7) Blueberries

Look younger by eating one to two cups of blueberries a day for your daily 'dose' of anthocyanin, an anti-aging antioxidant that increases the potency of Vitamin C, one of nature's best moisturizers and a collagen-stimulating nutrient for the skin.

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In the TIU Kitchen with Megan Batoon!!

6 Healthy Banana Smoothie Recipes

Are you a smoothie lover? Looking for some new smoothie recipes that use bananas? If so, I would like to share 6 of my favorite banana flavored smoothie recipes with you.

Why are banana smoothies good for you? Bananas are high in potassium and low in sodium making them the ideal healthy fruit. Bananas are great for reducing depression, achieving bone and intestinal health, and for regulating high blood pressure.

All of these smoothie recipes use bananas, along with some additional ingredients. If you are looking to cut calories, you can substitute the milk with skim milk, or the ice cream with low-fat yogurt.

If you like your smoothies really sweet, try adding 1-2 tablespoons of honey to your recipe. I always serve my smoothies in a chilled glass but you can serve them any way that you like. You can drink them straight from the glass, use a straw or eat them with a spoon. It is best to always serve your smoothies immediately.

Banana Mango

1 c. cubed peeled ripe mango 
3/4 c. sliced ripe banana 
2/3 c. milk 
1 tsp. honey 
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine all of the above ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana

1 medium banana 
1 1/4 c. milk 
1 c. chocolate ice cream 
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter

Cut the banana into 1" pieces. Wrap pieces in foil and freeze. Unwrap the banana pieces. In blender container combine banana, milk, chocolate ice cream and peanut butter. Cover and blend until smooth.

Blueberry Nana

5 oz. Frozen blueberries 
2 bananas 
2 c. ice 
1 c. water

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Kiwi Banana

1 c. milk 
2 scoops vanilla ice-cream 
1 ripe banana, sliced 
2 Kiwi fruit, peeled and finely diced

Blend the milk, ice-cream, and banana together in a blender till smooth. Add the Kiwi fruit, blend briefly, then pour into glasses.

Banana Cantaloupe

1/2 sliced cantaloupe melon 
1 peeled banana 
1 c. vanilla ice cream 
1 tbsp. honey

Mix all of the above ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth.

Boysenberry and Banana

3/4 c. boysenberries 
1/2 c. low-fat boysenberry yogurt or vanilla yogurt 
1/2 banana, sliced 
1/2 c. grape juice

Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until well blended (about 1 minute).

 Source:

How to Fight Wrinkles Using Coconut Oil

Balance Your Hormones Naturally

Hormone imbalance is a common happening among most women at some point in their lives. Hormones can't protect us from everything; the body does crash on occasion. Hormones can get thrown off in even the healthy of women and at any age as long as the woman has hit puberty. Basically, for most women they have a fairly constant hormone balance with glitches that can happen every so often. Hormones help keep Women on a pretty regular menstrual cycle, maintain weight levels, sleep well, look young, and keep full of energy.

Symptoms occur when hormones balances are off. Not everyone will experience symptoms of hormone balance, but for most they will at a few different times of their lives. Often hormones can change in minutes if they are not imbalance. Symptoms of hormone imbalances are most common between the ages of 20 and 40, they tend to increase as the women ages, hence, menopause.

Hormone imbalances include any or some of the following symptoms. Allergy Symptoms, low sex drive, PMS, endometriosis, fibrocystic breasts, urinary tract infections, uterine fibroids, osteoporosis, and wrinkly skin are all signs of hormone imbalances. Some other ones include depression, fatigue, anxiety, weight gain, water retention, bloating, hair loss, and facial hair growth.

There are 2 types of female hormones, progesterone and estrogen. Any symptom of hormone balance can be caused by an incorrect level of one or both of these hormones. It is a very delicate and sensitive balance. Any little variations of there balance have a dramatic effect on health because it causes the symptoms mentioned above. Stress levels, nutrition, exercise, and ovulation all can be factors of how much hormones are produced.

There is 28 days in a healthy women's menstrual cycle. For the first 10 to 12 days of it there is only estrogen being produced. When ovulation happens progesterone is then produced by the ovaries. On 28 when the menstrual cycle restarts, hormone levels drop, causing menstruation. If by chance the ovulation did not occur the progesterone level never balances out with the estrogen but you still have a period. You have estrogen but your progesterone levels dropped very low. This causes the symptoms of hormone balance to occur.

A few things you can do at home to ensure your hormones stay in balance will help maintain a great balance. Check your diet, are you consuming high carbs, junk foods, processed vegetable oil, fatty foods, stimulants, and soy products. If you are consuming these kinds of foods it will cause a hormone imbalance. Eating a diet high in animal proteins, fish oils, coconut, and fresh veggies and fruits will help keep them balanced. Women who cut grains and other gluten products out of there diet tend to feel better shortly after eliminating them.

Eating non organic dairy products such as milk, cottage cheese, and ice cream can be treated with bovine growth hormone and antibiotics. Both of the steroids and antibiotics tend to stay in the milk cause interferences with female hormones. Organic dairy products were produced in a natural way and do not contain any of those steroids or antibiotics so they are safe to be eaten.

Commercial salad dressings can cause disruption of the natural regulation of hormone production. Cut down on coffee, black tea, chocolate, and soft drinks. They can over stimulate the adrenal gland and can disrupt hormones as well.

To help stabilize your hormones you can get some sunshine. Everyday exposure to full spectrum light will naturally balance your hormones. Celebrating your monthly cycle, recognizing and appreciating your feminine power rather than calling it annoying and a pain in the you know what. Looking at things in positive way will influence your health in a positive way as well. Yoga, meditation and deep breathing exercises will help to protect the women's biochemistry and can reduce PMS symptoms.

One more thing you could try is taking an herbal supplement. Alternative Health Supplements offers a few products that can help to naturally balance female hormones. Enhance Her is an all natural product that contains lots of herbs that are used for balancing the female hormones. This is an all natural product so it is safe to use and take daily; there are no negative side effects either. Any woman who has passed puberty can take this product. It will help to balance your female hormones naturally and give you a sense of over health and balance.

All of the following herbs can be found in this product. Saw palmetto is an herb used for bladder problems, breast enlargement, frigidity, hormone regulation, and weight regulations. Kava Kava is for urinary tract infections, vaginitis, anxiety, and fatigue. This product also has Dandelion to prevent breast cancer, tumors, organ disorders, PMS symptoms, water retention, yeast infections, age spots and lethargy. Motherwort is for menstrual cramps and pain, and sleeplessness. Wild yam is for miscarriage, morning sickness, nervous tension, and PMS. Blessed thistle is to help with cramps, menstrual headaches, eliminate vaginal discharge, and pregnancy.

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