10 Coconut Oil Secrets Every Fitness Fanatic Should Know

If there is one thing we have an abundance of here in Thailand, it is coconuts. There is so much goodness that comes from just one coconut- the water, the flesh, the oil and even the shell have an abundance of uses.

From a health perspective, coconuts should be a part of everyone’s diets, especially coconut oil,which has some really amazing health benefits.

Healthy Fats

Even though coconut oil is a fat, it is one of the good guys that we need to have for healthy muscles and brain functioning. A medium-chain saturated fatty acid, your body will metabolise this type of fat for immediate use (and won’t make you fat- promise!).

Boosts Your Immunity

There are three immune boosting compounds in coconut oil- lauric acid, caprylic acid and capric acid. These acids are known to have properties that are antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial, meaning they can strengthen your immune system and even help to naturally heal viruses.

Improves Digestion

The fatty acids mentioned above also have super powers when it comes to treating digestive concerns such as Candida, irritable bowel syndrome or even in soothing the effects of stomach problems caused by bacteria and parasites. Adding a tablespoon of coconut oil to your smoothie might help to relieve bloating and have a positive effect on overall digestion.

Reduces Hunger

Not only do these fatty acids help with metabolism of fat, but they can also help to reduce your appetite so that you eat less calories, making coconut oil a great weight management ingredient.

Increases Metabolism

On top of its ability to suppress the appetite, coconut oil can also aid in speeding up the metabolism to burn calories more quickly. Turns out that coconut oil hasthermogenic qualities, which means that it burns fats more efficiently than the same amount of calories from other fats.Help to keep your weight off by adding a tablespoon or two of coconut oil to your diet each day and increase your energy expenditure to about 120 calories per day!

High Smoke Point

Forget the olive oil for cooking and start using coconut oil, especially when making dishes at high temperatures. Coconut oil has a high smoke point of 171 degrees Celsius which means that you can heat it at very high temperatures and it won’t oxidise and cause disease-causing free radicals to be released into your food.

Look out for coconut oil brands that are neutral in taste and smell so that it doesn’t affect the flavour of your food, and always be sure to choose organic, cold-pressed varieties to get all the health benefits from using coconut oil.

Prevents Cravings

Often when we have cravings- particularly for sweets- it is because we are lacking in good quality fats. Coconut oil can be a great solution to sugar when you want a sugary hit which will leave you feeling satisfied. Try making some coconut oil bark by mixing coconut oil with cacao powder and pouring the mixture on a tray, then leaving it in the freezer to set. Break off small pieces when you have sugar cravings and find them dissipate in an instant.

Skin and Hair Nourishment

You don’t have to consume coconut oil to get all its benefits. You can also apply it to your skin to hydrate it and in your hair to condition it completely naturally. Coconut oil can help prevent stretch marks, reduce wrinkles, and is even good for treating skin disorders such as acne, psoriasis, and eczema.

Removes Toxins and Whitens Teeth

The ancient practice of oil pulling involves swishing a tablespoon of oil in your mouth on an empty stomach for around 20 minutes every day. This action draws out toxins from your body and can improve your oral health as well as whiten your teeth. Use coconut oil in this way daily to reduce bacteria, plaque, and infections in the mouth.

Tasty (Healthy) Treats

One of the best ways to enjoy coconut oil is in delicious desserts and snacks. This tasty recipe for raw cookies not only uses coconut oil but some of the coconut’s other awesome bi-products too (and the recipe is simple and easy!). You will need:

1 cup dry almonds

¼ cup coconut flour

¼ cup coconut palm sugar

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup coconut nectar

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Combine all the dry ingredients in a food processor for 30 seconds, then add the coconut nectar and oil to make a dough. Scoop teaspoonfuls of the batter onto a baking tray and press into cookie rounds. Put into the freezer until firm.

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Coconut Oil is a powerhouse when it comes to the health benefits it can bring- find out the top 10 reasons why coconut oil should be a part if your daily die

5 Simple Steps to Beat your Cravings

Almost everyone experiences cravings at some time or another. While sometimes our cravings can seem to overtake our rational thoughts and make us want to eat foods that we know are not good for us, they are not always a bad thing to be scared of.

More often than not, cravings can be a way that your body is telling you something.  Maybe you are lacking in a particular nutrient which is why you are craving a particular food. The best thing you can do is to honor your cravings by getting to the root cause of them, and finding out what your body really needs.

1.    You Need an Energy Boost

If you are craving sugar or refined carbohydrates, then the reason for this could be because your body is looking for a quick energy fix. The need for extra energy can come when you are feeling tired, and is the reason we often crave sugary foods in the afternoons towards the end of our busy days.

You might feel like you must have a chocolate bar for example. What thebody is really wanting is a quick fix to help get you through the rest of the day.

The best way to avoid having sugar and carbo cravings is to make sure you are getting enough sleep each day, and that you eat after doing exercise when you body’s energy reserves are lowest.

You should also try and eat meals that provide sustained energy by eating foods that are low in glycemic load. To create a meal of low GL, whole unprocessed foods such as whole grains, vegetables, and beans are great choices. They are high in fiber, which is particularly important because it moderate the speed at which the sugar is absorbed by the body. Also, make sure you include a moderate amount of good fat and lean protein to slow down absorption and increase satiety.

2.    Maintaining Balance

Our bodies are remarkable, and are always trying to maintain a state of equilibrium and balance. However, we sometimes will make food choices that upset this balance and your body then tries to compensate for this by sparking a craving for a food that can balance this out.

For example, when we eat too many Yang foods – such as red meat, salt and egg- our body will want some Yin foods to restore balance. Sugar and alcohol are extreme Yin foods that our body would usually crave when trying to balance out the Yang overload.

Armed with this knowledge, you can reduce your sugar cravings by eating less extreme yang foods and instead, choose foods that are more neutral on the spectrum. Examples are whole grains, fish, sea vegetables, beans, root vegetables, and winter squash.

3.    Nutrient Deficiency

Cravings can be a sign of nutrient deficiency. For example, inadequate mineral levels produce salt cravings, and overall inadequate nutrition produces cravings for non-nutritional forms of energy, like caffeine.

Cravings for different flavor or texture can translate to a lack of various nutrients. If you are craving something crunchy, try eating apples, rice cakes, plain popcorn, or nuts and seeds.

To alleviate sugar cravings, try eating fresh, whole fruit, have a wheat grass shot or try having baked sweet vegetables such as carrots or sweet potatoes.

Salty cravings can be alleviated by eating olives, pickles and pickled vegetables, tabouli, hummus or edamame with sea salt.

Healthy creamy cravings can be satisfied by eating avocadoes, rice pudding, coconut milk or even a pudding made with silken tofu or mashed banana.

4.    Hormones

It is common for women to experience unique cravings at the times they are going through menstruation, pregnancy or menopause. This is caused by fluctuating testosterone and estrogen levels and they can be difficult to control. Preventing hormone disruption and imbalance by getting plenty of sleep, eating a wholesome diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, and doing regular exercise can keep your hormones- and the associated cravings- in check.

5.    Dehydration

Cravings can be caused by dehydration. Our body often misinterprets the sensation of thirst and translates that into hunger. Next time when you feel your cravings coming on, drink a glass of water and wait 15 minutes, and see if you are still hungry.

The key is to really get in tune with your body so that you can figure out exactly why your body is craving what it is, and to then feed your body what it needs to make the cravings go away. The more mindful you can become of the triggers and signs, the better you will be able to control your cravings and stop them from coming on again.

Healthy Eating Begins At Home

The sights and sounds of the circus are exciting and overwhelming. Don’t you remember? A three ring performance with clowns, wild animals and trapeze artists is a mesmerising experience. It’s amazing for an organisation to perform several different acts without dismal failure night after night.

Their success is contributed to establishing good habits, which earned your applause.

Your family may or may not have a three ring circus, but your family may have a demanding schedule, a single parent or new parents, which challenges the ability and knowledge to healthy eating at home. Without the basic knowledge and proper habits of eating healthy, your child will adopt the eating habits you instill in them for the rest of their life.

According to a BBC Documentary, “Fast Food Babies”, the short documentary illustrated three different real life family scenarios.

Scenario 1:

A family, two working adults with children, discovers it’s challenging to cook meals at home because of their long working hours. After work, the parents fight traffic, run errands and have minimal time to eat, therefore, fast food is convenient answer to their daily routine.

Because of their fast food diet, their youngest child is consuming half a liter of oil per week and six cans of soda per day. The child’s calorie intake is 3,200 calories per day, which is 700 calories more than an adult male. If the child continues on this diet regime, he is in danger of becoming anemic, and a primary candidate for heart disease.

Scenario 2:

Another family attempts to feed their child healthy food, the toddler refuses to eat, therefore, the parents resort to fast food, so their child will eat. The child is consuming 3,000 calories per day, and he is a future health risk for heart disease.

Scenario 3:

A young, single mother engages solely in a fast food diet because she is a student with minimal time in her schedule, therefore, her child follows the same diet discipline. The child consumes 150 grams of sugar per day, which is four times the daily allowance.

The child’s diet consists of the following week food allotments.

·         8 pieces of fried chicken

·         4 portions of chips

·         2 frozen pizzas

·         20 frozen nuggets

·         24 glasses of soda

These scenarios are drastic, but they are real.

Your family diet regime may not perfectly parallel one of these scenarios, however, your family’s diet regiment is a leading cause to your children’s future health and healthy eating habits.

The United Kingdom’s family diet is at risk.

·         1 in 8 children are iron deficient.

·         1 in 5 children are over-weight.

·         The fast food diet commands 3,000 to 3,200 calories per day.

Healthy diet changes require an effective plan.

If your family situation is challenged by time restrictions, you can start with eliminating one fast food meal per week. If you are a new parent, your toddler may be interested in a homemade meal by playing with the food textures. This seems completely foreign, however, children usually need 16 tastes before they accept a new food in their regular diet.

Whether your family is a dual or single parent home or your household is composed of one child, several children or teenagers, you have to accept your actions and habits will be absorbed by your children. Ultimately, a poor diet at home fuels the opportunity for increased health risks and a continuing dismal diet regime.

Fairtrade coffee

What is Fairtrade coffee and what are the social, environmental and economic benefits?

Never trust anyone that doesn’t drink coffee……

Coffee is an essential start to many people’s day. In the UK alone, consumers spend over £6.2 billion per year in the 18,000 coffee outlets found across Britain. So it is fair to say that coffee is a booming industry.

Did you know?

125 million people worldwide depend on coffee to earn a living.

25 million smallholder farms produce 80% of the world’s coffee, but many of those farmers fail to make a reliable living.

The coffee supply chain is complex as the beans pass from growers, traders, processors, exporters, roasters, retailers and finally to the consumer. Many of the farmers have little idea where their coffee goes and indeed how lucrative it can be.

What is Fairtrade coffee?

The Fairtrade foundation works with people who farm bananas, chocolate, gold, cotton and of course coffee. Fairtrade is about getting better prices, better working conditions and fair terms for work for people working in the coffee trade. Products with the Fairtrade logo means that the coffee has been produced by small scale farmer organizations or plantations that meet Fairtrade social, economic and environmental standards. This includes the protection of workers rights and the environment.

What are the social benefits?

The Fair-trade foundation gives the farmers a sense of control over their future and helps their voice be heard.

Fairtrade empowers communities and helps them to organise themselves into cooperatives which enables them to negotiate better positions within the supply chain.

Fairtrade helps to develop gender equality.

Workers employed on Fairtrade plantations benefit from investments into education, better housing, better schools and better medical facilities.

Fairtrade supports the workers helping them to realise their rights through trade unions and collective bargaining.

General improvement in rural lives.

What are the economic benefits?

Through a minimum price requirement, Fairtrade is helping farmers become more secure in their income and less vulnerable to poverty.

Fairtrade helps farmers to negotiate higher prices for their product compared to the conventional market.

Additional income through the Fairtrade Foundation is supporting better farming, strong cooperatives, and investment in collective assets, local infrastructure and helping communities to plan for the future.

What are the environmental benefits?

The Fairtrade Foundation provides access to finance which can help in tackling climate change and long term environmental sustainability.

Fairtrade improves access to agricultural services like organic training and premium markets       , as a result the farmers have an incentive to farm better and sell more.

Investment in agricultural equipment or techniques to improve crops and yields.