'Tis the season to be Brain-full

BRAIN BOOSTING FOODS 

- Cheer up for Christmas
- Easily make & remember the "Gifting" list
- Attack all those exams


'Tis the season to be jolly...   Indeed, but it's also the season to be stressed and worried. Lists and lists pile up in your mind, who's been naughty, who's been nice, who gets what and who deserves what. then to top it all off Schools decided to Gift us with the Exam Burden.

So as I'm in need of all of the below as well, I've decided to create some Brain Boosting Power foods to help you organise and eliminate stress, all while ACING each and every class.

Do note.. these are great year round foods, don't just limit their use to stressful times. Prevention is Key, so if your body & brain are well equipped prior to the stress. It'll even save you a lot of stressing about stressing.





Wild salmon.
Not only a Brain food... but beneficial for a myriad of other things pertaining to the body such as Mood elevation, Heart Health & blood vessel maintenance, Helps reduce the risk of stoke, Alzheimer's or Dementia, Improves Brain Matter & helps with synaptic connections (Yay to learning). Wild salmon is a great source of Essential Fatty acids (such as Omega-3). It's also a rich source of Protein with low saturated fat. It has been shown that of all the fish, Salmon is one that generally has low contamination (eg. Mercury)

Wouldn't you love to live here? I wouldn't

Please note WILD,  unfortunately these days, most of our salmon is farmed, meaning we humans control them from point A to point Dish.. and you know we love money more than anything. so the Salmon doesn't get what life truly intended it to have. The food it's fed has been altered, living environments changed, and all which provides it with it's health has been stripped away. If we eat it, we are provided with just that. Un-health. Moreover, the 'farms' for Salmon are sometimes contaminated, almost always restrict full salmon potential movement and, Provide Genetically Modified plants such as corn or soy as the main diet. SALMON don't eat Corn.. they aren't intended to (& we know that because they have no legs to walk the corn fields). Usually the 'Lack of Health' of a Fish can be seen by it's colour, the amount of Meat it has. But we've done it again and found a solution to hide all that - Food colouring and additives.
Don't get me wrong. Not ALL fish Farms are money crazed; there are the few that are health-focused and do it the right way as much as they could, it's just a matter of finding out who those are. In the mean time if you could get your hands on the WILD.. your brain is waiting.



Cacao Beans
Ok yes this is chocolate, or the beginning of chocolate, But minus the butter & milk & sugar & processing & heating & artificial flavours. Cacao is Excellent - only when minimally processed. so when all the other ingredients & methods are added to it, you can say bye bye to all the "health".  The Cacao Bean is packed with vitamins, minerals & nutrients - and A lot of it too - some even claim that it's one food on this planet that contains the most nutrients. It's a powerhouse all on it's own, providing us with antioxidants, flavonoids, catechins and many other brain & body enhancing nutrients. The Theobromine in cacao beans helps improve our mood and our Cognition is greatly enhanced. Just remember, heat kills a lot, vitamin C for example is diminished greatly with heat. To get your hands on this wonderful Bean - opt for cacao Nibs (broken cacao bean) or Cocoa powder - Go for the 100% organic (non-alkalised).

Make your self a morning drink with cocoa powder, milk (try nut milks) and perhaps some Cinnamon or cayenne pepper. {Protein - Blood Sugar Stabilising - Brain enhancing - Circulation & respiratory enhancing Drink}

If you really can't get your hands on the good stuff, you can opt of the Dark Dark chocolate bars (75% or more)

Butter is Better
As posted in one of the comments by a dear friend at FullFat.ca Butter is definitely better. We have been given the notion that butter is bad for our heart and health in general. But further studies have shown that butter contains 63% saturated, 26% mono-unsaturated, and 4% poly-unsaturated fat. Knowing the constituents of butter, along with the extensive research that has been done on saturated fats, we can conclude that such fats are very important in maintaining and building cell walls, brain cells, vision, skin rejuvenation, energy and heart heath as well as increasing HDL in blood - good cholesterol. Moreover butter provides us with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (poly-unsaturated), omega-9 (mono-unsaturated) and, mouth watering flavor!

With this idea - don't go adding butter on everything. Combinations of foods may be detrimental to the body, even though the constituents are 'healthy'.   Do add butter to vegetables, the butter itself helps your body absorb the nutrients present in the vegetables. Don't add butter to bread (or carbohydrates), butter and carbs act together to form bad cholesterol LDL and promote inflammation - leading to heart diseases.

Note: When I say butter, I mean a proper form of butter. Sadly, not all our cows are grass-fed, which leads to bacteria filled milk, and hence not so good butter. If you can get your hands on grass-fed cow butter or milk that's the better way to go.
Note: Margarine is NOT butter..and it's no where near as good. It's best if you could avoid margarine

And always remember, moderation is best. Don't over do it and never go to the extreme.

Want to make your own butter?  Ask doc0c

‘Tea’ for a better Tomorrow

Some Health Benefits of Tea:

‘Tea’ for a better Tomorrow

I say tea, and you may think 1 or 2 kinds, but it’s an endless variety. Tea consists of a dried plant, herb, peel, seed, berry, fruit or fruit pits steeped and infused in boiling water. It’s the natural chemicals that leech out of the dried tea and into the water, which are responsible for all the benefits a tea could have.

When choosing tea – try to opt for the loose leaf rather than the tea bags. Loose leaf tea contains more antioxidants. Simply put, the tea bags usually contain the remnants of the loose leaf (lower quality powdered leaf). 

 
Try to avoid Decaf tea’s – their cancer fighting properties are usually decreased in the decaffeinating process.

Don't add Milk to your tea  - Milk decreases and sometimes eliminates the positive health effects that the natural compounds in tea provide. It was found that proteins in milk (caseins) decrease catechins in tea, which boost protection against heart disease.

BENEFITS OF TEA
Aging	Allergies	Colds/Flu	Arthritis	Bone Strength
Cancer	Cholesterol	Heart Health	Weight Loss	Inflammation
Antioxidant	Diabetes	Immune system	Metabolism	Circulation

1.    Protects against cancer. Today, scientific research has shown that those people who often drink tea have significantly lower risk of cancer. Polyphenols can help prevent the growth of cancer. This particular ingredient has a power to completely kill off cancerous cells by inhibiting enzymes that cancer cells need in order to grow. Tea also has the ability to prevent healthy cells from turning malignant or cancerous after exposure to cancer causing compounds.

2.    Antioxidants & Aging. They protect the body from the negative effects of aging and the effects of pollution. Oolong tea as other teas may help in reducing the signs of aging.

3.    Increases Metabolism. Flavonoids in tea help body burn fat and speed up metabolism. It is an ideal drink for those who wish to lose weight.

4.    Reduce the risk of Heart attack and stroke. Blood clots formed from cholesterol and blood platelets cause heart attack and stroke. Drinking tea helps keep arteries clean, helps in preventing blood from clumping or forming clots.

5.   Lower ‘Bad’ Cholesterol. Tea helps drop levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or Bad Cholesterol.  

6.   Protects the Bones. Tea promotes healthier and stronger bones, protecting people from such diseases as osteoporosis. The Flavonoids act as bone builders – increasing bone mineral densities.

7.   Promotes a healthier immune system. Drinking tea may help the body's immune system fight off infection. There is higher immune system activity in the blood of the tea drinkers.

8.   Tea has less caffeine than coffee.

9.   Allergies. Green tea rich in antioxidants that protect against heart disease and cancer, now shows to be an allergy fighter. These antioxidants block the biochemical process involved in producing an allergic response.

10.Prevent diabetes. Oolong tea can help in the treatment of diabetes.  This tea contains components that regulate insulin levels in the body.

11. Tea helps to keep you hydrated.

12. Arthritis. Some teas help with reducing inflammation and slowing cartilage breakdown. Catechins in green tea are chondroprotective and are prophylactic for arthritis – benefiting the patient.

13.Inflammation. Tea helps in reducing or controlling inflammation in the body. This is not only useful for arthritis patients, but also those who experience inflammation due to injury or disease.

14.Tea also has a positive effect in fighting gum and tooth disease. Tea contains fluoride component which reduce the main bacteria involved in decay. Tea can reduce the buildup of bacteria-causing plaque and give you a brighter smile.

By drinking tea daily, eating healthy food, and doing regular exercises, people can dramatically reduce the risks of health problems. Tea is a healthy delicious beverage for everyday life.

Tea comes in a wide variety. Main Categories being :

White – Green – Black – Herbal – Flowering – Red

Below is a List of Teas… Think outside of the box, Tea is leeching natural chemicals into water so our body can absorb it. This means tea could be made with anything that leeches these chemicals out when placed in water.  Some people use the stems of cherries as a tea – this is helpful for gout.  Others use the corn hair for their tea – helps with colds and coughs.  I use spices like Turmeric powder in my Tea. 

Corn Hair	Cardamom	Chamomile	Chrysanthemum flower	Black	Green	White
Cinnamon	Cumin	Licorice	Cherry Stems	Cranberry	Oolong	Hibiscus
Matte	Assam Tea	Ceylon Tea	Lemon peel	Fruit pits	Gingko	Seaweed
Turmeric	Herbal	Red Clover	Orange Peel	Matcha	Nettle	Nutmeg
Anise	Clove	Lavender	Flower Tea	Jasmine	Rosehip	Cardamom
Mint	Fennel	Senna	Vanilla Bean	Ginger	Roobios	Lemon Balm