Soak Your Nuts -

Say what? Here’s what you need to know about “activating” nuts and seeds.






We know that nuts and seeds in moderation are a wonderful addition to a healthy diet. However, there will always be differing opinions as to which way is the best way (without differing opinions, most food magazines would not exist!). Some people go the taste route, and proclaim that roasted with a generous sprinkling of sea salt is the way to go. In addition, roasting can kill potentially harmful bacteria, like salmonella. Then there are the health junkies (let’s be honest, most of us at Ace fit into that category). The popular route to go as of late is to soak nuts and seeds. There are many reasons for doing this, but here are the top three (said in a David Letterman voice):

1) Enzyme activity: when a nut is growing, the right conditions, specifically rain, will help to activate the beneficial enzymes in the nut. When we eat a dry, unsoaked nut, the enzyme inhibitors may interfere with digestion. We will require the enzymes of our own organs, which puts undue stress on the body. Use the enzymes in the nuts instead, people!

2) Greater absorption of the food’s nutrients by the body. Soaked nuts and seeds begin the sprouting process, which bumps up the nutritional value by removing some of the phytic acid. Phytic acid is in the outer layer of the nut and can actively interfere with mineral absorption, such as calcium, magnesium and iron. Soaking the nuts not only makes these minerals possible to absorb, but also increases the amount of Vitamin B.

3) Easier digestion. As well as the aforementioned enzyme activity, soaking the nuts will also break down gluten and other difficult-to-digest proteins. Nuts are essentially gluten free, but do have traces of gluten in them. Soaking nuts help to prevent the heavy feeling that often follows nut eating. You can use your soaked nuts in your blender or food processor to add to soups, smoothies or raw desserts. Of course, you can always have them plain, letting their newfound creaminess speak for itself.

If the idea of eating a wet nut does not appeal to you, then you can soak the nuts for around 4 hours (you will notice them plump up) and then dehydrate them or dry them for a couple of hours on your lowest oven setting. This soaked, then dried technique is known as “activation” with some nut aficionados calling themselves “activators” (we imagine a superhero look to these people).

You can also keep a small portion of nuts in a bowl of water in your fridge, ready to consume within a few days.

Lemons: Your Citrus Savior. -

Lemon is a popular flavour in springtime desserts, but researchers have also identified several healthier uses for this tangy and delicious citrus fruit. It’s long been known that lemons are an excellent source of vitamin C, although more recently, several other health-promoting compounds have been found. Like other members of the citrus family, lemons are a source of several different flavonoid antioxidants (1). Due to their flavonoid content, eating lemons may play a role in the prevention of certain types of cancer and heart disease (2).

Lemon Flavonoids
Lemons have some flavonoid antioxidants in common with other citrus fruits. They also have many unique flavonoids that are not found in any other citrus fruit (1,3). The flavonoids in lemon have a moderate to strong antioxidant ability (1). Around 90% of the flavonoids in lemons are from a sub-class of flavonoids known as flavanones (2). Almost all of the flavanones found in the human diet are from citrus fruits (3), so lemons represent an important dietary source of flavonone antioxidants.

Heart Disease
Spanish researchers conducted a clinical trial in 2011 that demonstrated that a lemon juice beverage decreases several heart disease risk factors (4). Fifty-three middle-aged (50-65 years old) adults participated in the trial: 20 healthy participants and 33 participants with metabolic syndrome. Individuals with metabolic syndrome have an increased risk of heart disease due to several factors. These include high levels of C-Reactive Protein (CRP), which indicates the presence of chronic inflammation in the body, and increased oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol (4). For six months, each day participants drank either 300 mL of lemon juice and chokeberry mixture containing 95% lemon juice, or 300 mL of a placebo beverage. After 6 months, the amount of CRP and oxidized LDL cholesterol was significantly lowered in the participants with metabolic syndrome that drank the lemon juice beverage, compared with those that drank the placebo beverage. Levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that is associated with increased heart disease, were also significantly lowered in metabolic syndrome participants that received the lemon juice beverage.

Cancer
More research is needed to better understand the role that lemons play in cancer prevention, but some recent studies have demonstrated positive results. For example, one cell culture study found that lemon extract helps to prevent breast cancer cells from spreading (5). This was accomplished by causing a type of programmed cell death known as apoptosis (5), a process that is normally impaired in cancer cells. As well, a comparison of 11 studies conducted in various countries across the world found that in general, higher citrus intake was associated with lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer (6).

Digestion
Another benefit of lemons is that they improve digestion. As lemon juice enters the mouth, it causes an increase in saliva production (7), which is one of the first steps involved in digestion. Aromatic compounds in the lemon rind can also increase saliva production (7). This increase in saliva production then influences digestion in the stomach as well (7). Specifically, there is an increase in the amount of the digestive enzyme pepsinogen, which breaks down protein, and stomach acid that is released by the stomach (7). In addition, the acid in lemon juice has been found to increase pancreatic secretions (7), which help to break down and absorb fats in your diet.

The Power of Pomegranates -

Pomegranates have grown incredibly popular over the last 14 years. This incredible fruit has helped create the modern anti-oxidant movement. You can’t find a supermarket that doesn’t sell them individually, nor the popular health beverages that contain pomegranate juice. The fruit is an excellent source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B, Calcium, and Fiber. But the real claim to fame for the fruit lies in its role as an antioxidant. The levels of antioxidants found in a single pomegranate far exceed the amounts found in similar fruits, such as cranberries and oranges. Pomegranates are recommended by doctors and nutritionists to help reduce the risk of heart disease and lower high blood pressure. Considering that heart disease is the number one killer in North America, it’s easy to see why pomegranates are becoming an essential fruit for the averagehealthy adult.

In 2007, Harvard Medical School published reports of two clinical trials involving the effects of pomegranate juice on mice. The first trial’s results showed that pomegranates slowed cancer growth and caused cell death for the cancerous cells. The study also stated, “in a preliminary study of men with prostate cancer, pomegranate juice lengthened patients’ PSA doubling time (the longer the doubling time, the slower the tumor is growing) from 15 months before treatment to 54 months on the juice” (Harvard Health, 2007).

Those are pretty incredible results for a single fruit. The same Harvard report also went on to show that pomegranate juice helped prevent artery inflammation, the hardening of cholesterol, and overall better blood flow in the heart.

Another study, outside of Harvard Health, took 45 people with known heart disease and then divided them into two groups. One group would ingest pomegranate juice on a daily basis, and the other group would drink a placebo with a similar taste and look as pomegranate juice. The study showed that “participants who drank the pomegranate juice experienced a 17% improvement in blood flow to the heart muscle, whereas those given a placebo beverage had an average worsening of 18%” (Chealth, 2012).

POM Wonderful is the market leader in pomegranate juice. The company has taken an active role in the modern research of the health benefits of the fruit since 1998. Since then, a total of 70 studies as well as 16 clinical studies have taken place as a direct result of this funding. All of this research can be found at www.wonderfulpomogranateresearch.com. With a mountain of research supporting the beneficial and medicinal effects of pomegranates in relation to various forms of cancer and heart disease there is no doubt that thepomegranate is a super food. Given the incredible amount of popularity the fruit has gained since 1998, it is very possible that we will see pomegranates as an essential part of our diets.

ab exercises for ripped abs

Getting fit in 2010

Dr. Melina Jampolis has tips from delicious low-fat chips to food journals that will help on the path to healthy living.

How to prevent weight gain

Dr. Melina Jampolis, a physician nutrition specialist, answers your diet and fitness questions.

Daniel Cortés

Chris Comfort Fitness: Glutes

Exercise keeps you from aging

Daniel Cortés Vida y Armonia rutina de ejercicios Hechos AM

A 4minutes abs workout: how to get a six-pack at home

These are 3 good and simple exercises to make your abdomen really strong and to make your core fit: "Knees-up", "Classic crunches", "Side plank": you can do them in a row or you can perform them separately: anyway, you should do a total of 10-12 sets of 10-12 reps with just 5 secs of rest between sets...Eat good and train your abs every day, mixing all these 3 exercises in different ways.

Daniel Cortés Vida y Armonia ejercicios Hechos

Work That Butt!

Daniel Cortés

Daniel Cortés

Working the Chest
There are many chest exercises to choose from but only a few are really good for building up and adding bulk to the chest area. The best exercises are the ones which require more effort such as bench presses and parallel dips. Flys are a great exercise for the chest but do NOT have much ability to produce intense stress. For this reason they will not add much muscle size to the chest, the same goes for chest exercises like cable crossovers and pullovers.

Now you know the exercises needed, next you need to make a workout plan such as the number of sets and repetitions required. Often beginners mistake the length of a workout with effort. In other words they may believe the longer the workout the harder they have trained. In fact it is impossible to train hard for long periods. The secret to adding mass to the chest muscle is NOT to do tons of exercises during one chest routine but to select one and workout very hard for only a few sets. Don't overdo it!

Also its best only to do a total of 3 sets. In fact its best to use 2 sets as warm ups where you use a lighter weight and gradually build up until your warm enough to perform a lest set. This is the one where you'll attempt to reach failure with the 6-12 repetition range. Its when we reach failure that muscle growth is best stimulated, so once this is done why do any more, leave that enthusiasm for the next chest workout, this way you'll keep stimulating muscular growth without overtraining.

A word of warning though!

Remember training to failure requires lots of effort so you must warm up thoroughly, also make sure you have a partner or someone around who can spot you on the exercises. You must also remember to make sure the chest muscles are fully recovered before attempting another workout, this will help avoid an over-trained state.

If we train very hard (after thoroughly warming up) for only a few sets its possible to place all effort into that set. Once done the muscle need rest to recover in order for growth to take place.

Later on you can attempt to hit the muscles from all angles by using a multi-joint chest exercise. Remember the muscles become used to exercises which are repeated over and over. The best way to gauge how long an exercise should be used is to change it when you cease to make any strength gains within three consistent workouts. Remember to do only a few sets and concentrate more on weight increases!

Best exercises for building chest muscles are 1)Bench Press 2) Incline Bench Press 3) Decline Bench Press 4) Parallel Dips 5) Push Ups 6) Dumbell Flyes.

Healthy Snacking

Dr. Jennifer Ashton showed Jeff Glor some nutritious snacks that are high in antioxidants.
Watch CBS Videos Online

How To Perform A Complete Abdominal Workout

Abdominal Workouts:
How To Perform A Complete Abdominal Workout
The Truth About Abs
There are MANY abdominal exercises... crunches, leg raises, situps, hip thrusts, side bends, weighted situps, crunches with your legs bent, not bent, straight up in the air, 100's of different ab machines, 1000's of ab exercises and workouts on video tapes, 100's of abdominal exercises and machines shown in infomercials, etc. The list goes on and on. BUT, let me ask you a question.

The truth is, every one of those abdominal exercises that mentioned above, plus every ab exercise that we didn't mention, will NOT help you have a perfect 6-pack. EVERY one of these abdominal exercises will only help to strengthen and build your ab muscles. BUT, that won't do a thing for you if you have a layer of fat covering them! The reason is that no abdominal exercises burn fat. None of the ones you see in infomercials, none of the machines you see in your gym, no special ab workouts, and even good old crunches and situps, none of these abdominal exercises will burn the fat on your stomach. All they will do is help make your ab muscles stronger, and help build them. You can make your abs as strong as you want, and build them as nice as you want for as long as you want, but as long as you still have fat, even the slightest amount of fat on your stomach, your abs will not be visible.

You see, nothing, I repeat, NOTHING will burn the fat off of your stomach to let your abs become visible except for a perfect diet and enough cardio/aerobic work. The key to getting perfect abs is having a low bodyfat. That is it right there, if you have a low bodyfat, then you have visible abs.

No matter how many abs exercises you do, if your diet and cardio/aerobic workout isn't getting rid of the fat, you will NEVER be able to see your abs! Forget what you saw in those TV infomercials featuring athletes and ab machines and how you will get great abs using this machine. WRONG! If you are thinking that, then you now know how these people make money. They don't want you to know all of the stuff that we just told you, because once you know the truth, you will never buy their useless products, and they won't make money!

So, now you know the big secret and the truth about abdominal exercises. Before you look to the ab machines and different types of crunches, look at your diet and your cardio/aerobic workout because those are the two things that will get you perfect abs

How To Exercise Your Triceps Using Weights

Weight Training:
How To Exercise Your Triceps Using Weights
Building big biceps does not mean performing set after set of arm exercises like bicep curls and dumbell curls. Arm muscles are made up of two-thirds triceps and one-third biceps. Both triceps and biceps muscles are relatively small, meaning it wont take much stress to stimulate muscle growth for the arms. Performing too many sets will simply cause the biceps to become over-trained.

The secret to building big biceps and arms is to use the push and pull principle. All pulling movements place stress on the biceps muscle and although this stress is secondary, its often more intense than performing the single-joint exercises like curls.

The same is true for the triceps. All pushing or pressing movements place stress on the triceps as the arms straighten to push the weights. The intense movement causes more fibres deep within the arms to respond resulting in a higher muscle cell stimulation.

As the triceps muscle makes up two-thirds the size of the arms it would also make sense to train the triceps as hard as the biceps in order to build big arms quickly.

The best exercises for building big arms are 1)Bench Presses 2) Bar Dips and 3) Shoulder Presses for triceps. For biceps use 1)Chin Ups 2) Barbell Rows.

Remember: concentrate of building strength in the push and pulling exercises
train less on the arm exercises
concentrate on the bigger triceps muscle for big arms

How to get really big biceps!
The above suggestions will give you nice arms but if you really want super arms then this is the routine for you. First of all building really big biceps is hard work! No one ever said it was going to be easy. You can read all day about how to get big biceps but it's the hours in the gym and the hard work you put in that will really give you big biceps!

Step 1:- Eat Lots!
In order to get big biceps, you need to eat, eat eat. Your body needs to have an excess of calories each day before you can start to build muscle. Make sure you eat lots of protein (meat, eggs and fish) and lots of carbs (brown bread, brown rice and potatos). Protein is what makes up your muscles, and you need a lot of it to actually build muscle. Eat as much protein as you can.

For an extra boost, try a protein shake (a protein drink) or a good meal after your biceps workout. This is when your bicep muscles are repairing and need the nutrients. Also, make sure you eat before you go to bed. Most of actual muscle building happens while you are asleep.

Step 2:- Lift Heavy, Low Reps!
Don't overdo the sets and reps! If you want to get strong and big biceps, you need to lift heavy weights at low reps (from 2 to 8, depending on the exercise).

Step 3:- Rest Up!
Most of your muscle building is done in your sleep. So if you want to get big biceps, get plenty of sleep (9 hours would be good, but 8 is fine). Also try to limit your cardio to 1-2 workouts per week. When you're training your biceps, cut out the cardio.

Step 4:- Vary the Routine!
No matter how many hours you spend building your biceps, sooner or later you'll hit a plateau You've hit a plateau. This is why you need to vary your biceps workouts and shock your muscles into growth! Your muscles tend to get "used" to the biceps training exercises, so you need to change you biceps workout every 2 - 3 months.

Step 5:- Train Smart!
Only train your biceps once per week and hit them with 5 different exercises, train your back at least 48 hours before/after your biceps (because the biceps are secondary muscles in back exercises), never train your biceps if they are still sore from the last workout and always do the biggest and heaviest biceps exercises in your routine first (bicep curl, chin up, preacher curl).

Weight Loss Strategies

What should I do if I cannot lose any weight? How do I lose weight in a specific part of my body? How can I tell if I have lost weight? Why do I quickly gain the weight back that I just lost? How can I lose weight faster? Can I lose weight by exercise alone?
General Nutrition:
Weight Loss Strategies