3 Immune-Boosting Recipes to Keep Your Body Healthy and Strong

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

The Ultimate Immune-Boosting Soup to Fight Colds

There’s something about a flavorful soup that makes eating your veggies easy.

This vibrant, immune-boosting soup is one of those loaded-with-vegetable recipes that makes healthful eating a cinch.

The key to this soup’s fragrant, slightly spicy taste is turmeric. It also gives the soup its immune boosting properties! Be sure to add a little black pepper to the recipe to help maximize the absorption of turmeric, turning this soup into an anti-inflammatory powerhouse.

This one-pot immune-boosting soup recipe is very simple – all you need to do is tenderize the veggies, let it simmer in vegetable broth, and blend it until smooth. Make sure to simmer the soup at a low heat, as overheating the ingredients will make them bitter. The longer you can simmer at a low temperature, the better!

The recipe adds coconut yogurt, which thickens the soup and balances the flavor of the turmeric. Try topping your bowl of immune-boosting soup with more coconut yogurt for swirling as you eat!

The recipe is large enough to feed a crowd. It is also great for meal prepping or storing in the freezer for an easy lunch or dinner. Serve your soup with a side of Paleo bread and your belly will be satisfied!

Tip: Want to make your own coconut yogurt? Try this homemade recipe here.

Recipe by Megan Olson

Tools:

• Pot
• Blender
• Ladle

Ingredients:

• 1 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup leeks, diced
• 3 cups broccoli florets
• ½ cup unsweetened coconut yogurt
• 6 cups organic vegetable broth
• ½ t turmeric
• ¼ t black pepper
• ½ t ground ginger
• ½ t dried thyme

Instructions:

1. Heat extra the virgin olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook for 3-4 minutes until fragrant.

• Add the broccoli florets and stir. Cook for another 5 minutes until the broccoli becomes tender, then add all the remaining ingredients.

• Cover the pot and simmer at a medium heat for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to low and cook another 30 minutes. (Note: Do not simmer at a higher heat as the soup will become bitter).

• Remove the pot from the heat and let the soup cool for 10 minutes.

• Carefully pour the soup into a blender. Blend on high until smooth, then transfer to a bowl and enjoy!

Easy Fire Cider Recipe (Gut-Balancing + Immune-Boosting) by Jennafer Ashley

To make your batch of Fire Cider, you’ll first need to decide which method is best for you.

For same-day cooking, you can combine all ingredients (except for the honey) inside a crockpot and set for four hours on low.

If you have a little more time to spare, option two allows you to combine the ingredients into a quart-sized jar and store in the refrigerator for 2-4 weeks.

Follow the same process for both methods during the last steps of straining and adding in the honey.

Store in the refrigerator for up to one month and take one tablespoon every few hours whenever you feel the onset of flu symptoms or need to restore your gut balance while traveling.

Fire Cider Recipe Crockpot Method

Tools:

• Crockpot
• Quart-size jar with lid
• Strainer

Ingredients:

• 1 white onion, roughly chopped
• 1 head of garlic, roughly chopped
• 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 1/8 t black pepper
• 2 T raw honey
• 16 oz. apple cider vinegar with “the mother”

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients (except raw honey) in crockpot. Cover with lid and cook on low for four hours.

• Strain liquid into a jar and stir in honey. Secure the lid and store in refrigerator for up to a month.

Fire Cider Recipe Traditional Method

Tools:

• Quart-size jar with lid
• Strainer

Ingredients:

• 1 white onion, roughly chopped
• 1 head of garlic, roughly chopped
• 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 1/8 t black pepper
• 2 T raw honey
• 16 oz. apple cider vinegar with “the mother”

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients (except raw honey) in a quart-sized jar. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 weeks.

• Strain liquid into a jar and stir in honey. Secure the lid and store in refrigerator for up to a month.

Immune-Boosting Mixed Green Spring Soup

Recipe by Jennafer Ashley

Put your springtime greens to good use with this one-pot soup you can have ready in minutes!

If you’re looking for a fresh way to use up those hearty spring greens, this brothy soup has you covered. It’s full of immune-boosting antioxidants and essential vitamins to keep you nourished throughout the day. Plus, it’s versatile enough to enjoy with any kind of protein (like chicken or beef).

Add as Much Produce Power as You’d Like

When it comes to spring soup, there’s a bounty of seasonal veggies to choose from. Tougher greens like chard, kale, and collard greens give this soup nutritional substance. However, you can also add in other greens (like celery, leeks, or zucchini) if you want to switch things up a bit.

We bump up the overall staying power of this soup with hearty parsnips. They make a great low-carb alternative to white potatoes and can be easily paired with other root vegetables like carrots, turnips, or rutabagas.

Complement Your Soup with Savory Herbs

For this recipe, we use ingredients that infuse mouth-watering aromas with the zesty tang of fresh lemons. White onion and garlic make the perfect combination to sauté in buttery ghee, as it intensifies the broth’s flavor and overall richness.

Fennel is full of herby anise flavor, and is equally delicious raw as it is cooked. While we utilize the bulb in this recipe, its seed and wispy fronds are also edible and can be added to other dishes, like salads, meatballs, and coleslaw. Other great herbs to add include fresh thyme, a sprig of rosemary, dill, or fresh basil.

Helpful Tips to Get Started:

• Sauté your veggies with ghee. Ghee is ideal for high heat cooking and won’t burn easily like butter or other cooking oils.

• Make your bowl even more filling. While this recipe comes with plenty of versatile options, you can also add mustard greens, cauliflower, or sweet potatoes for even more nutrition.

• Swap out herbs. Try herbs like thyme, rosemary, or dill to pack in even more springtime flavor.

Nutrition facts: 9 grams of protein,18 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fat

Tools:

• 5-quart Dutch oven

Ingredients:

• 1 T ghee
• 1/2 cup chopped sweet white onion
• 2 cups chopped parsnips
• 1 t minced garlic
• 1/2 cup sliced fennel bulb
• 10 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups chopped collard greens
• 2 cups chopped Swiss chard
• 2 cups chopped kale
• 2 cups spinach leaves
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Melt the ghee over medium heat in a Dutch oven and add in the onions and parsnips.

• Cover and cook for 10 minutes, tossing in the garlic and sliced fennel halfway through.

• Pour in the chicken stock and allow the soup to come to a boil, about 10 minutes.

• Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the greens, lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper.

• Let the ingredients simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, then serve hot and enjoy!

Watch the 4 videos below for additional immune-boosting recipes to keep your body healthy and strong –

Immune Boosting Tonic Recipe (Boost Immune System Naturally With Whole Foods)

3 Immune Boosting Juices + JUICER GIVEAWAY! Healthy Grocery Girl

TURMERIC GINGER HONEY BOMB | immunity boosting recipe

Turmeric Ginger Tea | Immune Boosting Tea | Immunity Boosting Recipe | Natural Cold Remedy

Written by Megan Olson

Author Bio:

Megan is the author of the gluten free website, Skinny Fitalicious where she creates easy, low calorie recipes. Megan is also a nutrition practitioner specializing in weight loss. When she’s not in the kitchen or coaching clients, she’s in the gym teaching group fitness. To view more of her work, visit Skinny Fitalicious.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

Revealing Here the 6 Unexpected Benefits of Cold Showers

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

The thought of hopping into an ice-cold shower may be a hard sell, but there are many surprising benefits of getting chilly.

While a nice, warm shower or bath offers a relaxing reprieve from the day, taking a quick plunge into a cold shower may be just what the doctor ordered. Cold water immersion can boost fat loss, reduce depression, improve muscle soreness, and more.

The Benefits of Cold Showers

Discover how cold showers work their magic and the most effective ways to take them.

1. Boost Fat Loss

Our bodies contain two types of fat: white and brown. White fat is considered “bad”, as it’s the one that is stored in our body in response to weight gain from eating too many calories. It’s what causes “love handles” and other types of jiggles we’d rather not deal with, as well as the more serious issues associated with obesity, such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Brown fat, on the other hand, is a type of “good” fat that is denser and helps our bodies generate heat, keeping our organs warm in cold temperatures.

It turns out that cold showers can help stimulate brown fat to generate more heat (which equals burning more calories), thus increasing your metabolism. One study found that exposure to cold temperatures increased the metabolic rate of brown fat in volunteers by 15-fold.

2. Reduce Muscle Soreness

Research shows that cold immersion can help treat and even prevent delayed-onset muscle soreness, which is the type you get post-workout. One study found that being exposed to cold water for roughly 15 minutes can help reduce soreness compared to passive recovery.

3. Boost Mood

Scientists theorize that our lack of exposure to alternating hot and cold temperatures like our ancestors did (like diving into a cold lake, then returning to the warmth of a fire) is causing negative changes in our brain chemistry.

Studies reveal that this theory has solid legs, showing that cold water stimulates your sympathetic nervous system, increasing endorphins (those feel-good chemicals).

Cold water also increases electrical impulses to the peripheral nerves in your nervous system, which could have an anti-depressive effect.

4. Boost Immunity

If you feel like you might be coming down with something during cold season, a cold shower just might help strengthen your immune system to fight off any bugs.

Studies show that cold water immersion can increase the number of leukocytes, granulocytes, and monocytes – the natural killer T cells of your immune system that help fight off “invaders” like cold and flu bugs.  One study even found that 29 percent of workers who switched from hot to cold showers took off less sick days from work.

5. Reduces Fatigue

Starting your day with a nice cold shower may also give you the morning energy boost you need to power through your day.

Studies show that when we’re tossed into the cold (be it in cold water or a cold environment), our sympathetic nervous system is activated, causing the release of hormones and chemicals like noradrenaline that boost alertness. 

As part of the “fight-or-flight” response, it’s your sympathetic nervous system’s job to prepare you to move quickly to get away from or defend yourself from any type of danger or stressor. In this case, it’s the shock of cold water.

Research on cold exposure and chronic fatigue also mention that cold exposure reduces serotonin everywhere in the brain minus the brain stem, which reduces fatigue in exercise-induced fatigue cases.

6. Improved Skin Tone

Cold showers may also give your skin a coveted glow. Many people claim cold showers have improved their skin tone, and researchers have discovered there may be a scientific basis for this phenomenon.

Studies show cold exposure can, in fact, increase peripheral circulation, which includes your skin along with your hands and feet. This could result in more nutrients and oxygen being delivered to your skin, improving tone.

Watch this video – 10 Unexpected Benefits of Cold Showers

How to Take Cold Showers

The easiest way to warm up to cold showers (pun intended) is to ease into them.

Start by slowly lowering the temperature at the end of your usual shower. Keep lowering until you start to get uncomfortable, then stay here for 2 to 3 minutes.

Each subsequent shower, reduce the temperature a bit more than the time before and begin increasing your time under the cold water. Aim to eventually reach 10 minutes.

The Bottom Line

Humans have been diving into cold lakes, oceans, and streams for at least several thousand, if not millions, of years. Considering this, hot showers and baths are a relatively new invention for our bodies and may be negatively affecting our mental and physical states.

Try cooling down your next shower. You may just find getting chilly has more benefits than you thought!

Written by Megan Patiry

Author Bio:

Megan is an inquisitive nutrition and wellness writer harboring an editorial love affair with the decadent and the nutritious. She is a dedicated researcher in all areas of ancestral health, a certified specialist in fitness nutrition, personal trainer, and professional almond milk latte addict.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

How to Prevent Parkinson’s from Progressing and Even Reversing Some Symptoms

 

Click HERE to Learn How to Slow Down the Progression of Parkinson’s and Repair the Effects It Has Had on Your Body

Prevent Parkinson’s from Progressing and Even Reversing Some Symptoms -Parkinson’s Disease Halted Using This Social Activity

There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease. So we’re always on the hunt for methods to halt its symptoms and improve quality of life.

Which is why we welcome a new study that just appeared in the journal NPJ Parkinson’s Disease, which reveals a social activity that improves the lives of Parkinson’s patients more than any known drug.

Best of all, it’s free and doesn’t take a lot of effort.

A team from the University of California at Los Angeles and the Bastyr University Research Institute in Kenmore, Washington wondered how badly the loneliness and social isolation forced on the world by pandemics like COVID-19 affected people with Parkinson’s disease.

They sent out a survey to people who had been officially diagnosed with Parkinson’s to ask them about their social lives, their levels of loneliness, their perceptions of their social performance, their quality of life, and their experience of their own Parkinson’s symptoms. They were also asked about their dietary and exercise habits.

Of the respondents, 1,527 returned valid results that could be analyzed.

Overall, those who identified themselves as being lonely reported around 55% greater symptom severity than those who did not call themselves lonely.

Those with the most severe disease symptoms reported the lowest levels of social performance and social satisfaction.

Unsurprisingly, quality of life decreased as Parkinson’s disease symptoms worsened, and poor quality of life was most common in people who reported having few or no friends.

Interestingly, the subjects reported that tremor, one of the symptoms that most defines Parkinson’s disease, did not affect their quality of life nearly as much as loneliness did. Loneliness and friendships were better predictors of quality of life than their tremor severity score.

The subjects who reported poor quality of life were more likely to be single, while those in partnerships or marriages reported a better quality of life.

Those who reported engaging in stress management practices reported the slowest Parkinson’s progression, while those who were stressed reported the fastest deterioration.

The biggest differences between lonely and non-lonely patients showed that lonely people were more socially withdrawn, depressed, anxious, and unmotivated.

One of the most interesting findings of this survey was that meaningful social interactions were better at slowing down the progression of Parkinson’s disease than exercise.

But socializing may not be enough to hold back the onset of Parkinson’s. However, there is a way to prevent Parkinson’s from progressing and even reverse some symptoms. I’ll explain the exact steps to do that here…

Prevent Parkinson’s from Progressing and Even Reversing Some Symptoms -Potential Cure for Parkinson’s Discovered

Parkinson’s is a complicated genetic disease with no available cure and very few medical treatment options.

And although natural methods have been successful at keeping it from progressing, they will not cure it either.

A new study in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience is therefore celebrated as a breakthrough because it reveals a simple procedure that reverses Parkinson’s permanently.

There is currently no form of stem cell treatment available for Parkinson’s disease that has been authorized as definitively effective by health organizations, but this does not mean that the treatment is completely unavailable or that researchers have not been trying.

Although some health services do offer such treatments, regulatory authorities like the FDA have also sued some of them for marketing an unauthorized treatment.

Until now, medical scientists have harvested fetal stem cells or neural stem cells to implant in patients. The theory is that, since stem cells can develop into any type of specialized cell, they can repair or replace the brain cells in Parkinson’s patients that are supposed to produce dopamine but no longer do.

Scientists either inject the stem cells into the patients’ veins or inject them below the skin. But there is one major problem with this approach.

Stem cells do not cross the blood-brain barrier in sufficient amounts to make a huge difference for these patients, which means some other delivery method must be found for the stem cells to work properly.

Some scientists have tried to inject stem cells into the cerebral spinal fluid, with some level of success, even though the process sounds painful and cringeworthy.

In the new study, the researchers took mesenchymal stem cells and injected them into the facial tissue of two subjects.

Mesenchymal stem cells occur in fat tissue and can be reprogrammed to replace any other specialized cells.

The potential benefit of injecting cells into facial and nasal tissue is that there is a particularly rich blood supply to the brain from these areas.

The researchers harvested these cells from two subjects and injected them below the skin on their upper, middle, and lower cheeks.

Both subjects were being treated unsuccessfully with dopamine-increasing drugs and both were suffering from tremors to the extent that they were struggling to walk.

Both participants, a 72-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman, reported substantially lower tremors, reduced fatigue and disability, and improved quality of living. These improvements were noticeable two weeks after the treatment.

The researchers gave both of them a Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire that measured health status and quality of life (called PDQ-39) before the treatment, two weeks after treatment, and five years after.

The man reported an improvement from a score of 70 to 49, and the woman improved from 74 to 19 two weeks after treatment.

They also showed a huge improvement over five years on another questionnaire, the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. The man improved from a score of 20 to 4 and the woman improved from 18 to 3. Keep in mind that most Parkinson’s patients get progressively worse.

More and larger studies need to be performed to confirm these findings. Therefore, this treatment is unfortunately unavailable to the general public at this point.

But there are simple steps you can take to boost your dopamine levels naturally. It won’t cure your Parkinson’s, but it should stop it from progressing…

Prevent Parkinson’s from Progressing and Even Reversing Some Symptoms -Parkinson’s Disease Blocked by This Popular Drink

Some people are genetically more vulnerable to Parkinson’s disease than others. And the medical system claims there is nothing you can do to protect yourself from it if you are.

But a new study published in the journal Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, now shows that one popular drink can block the onset of Parkinson’s and even help reverse it.

Even if you’re genetically vulnerable to catching this disease.

Previous studies have proven that caffeinated coffee protects us from Parkinson’s disease if we have no genetic risk factors for it. This is why the authors of the new study decided to check whether coffee could be equally useful for people who are genetically vulnerable to it.

Some people have a mutation in a gene called LRRK2 for leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, which renders them vulnerable to Parkinson’s disease.

But this genetic mutation only increases people’s chance of developing Parkinson’s—it does not make it inevitable. As a result, researchers have been trying to find things that protect such people from this disease.

They recruited 368 people: 188 Parkinson’s sufferers and 180 healthy subjects for comparison. Both groups had subjects with and without the LRRK2 gene mutation.

To measure caffeine, the researchers used a combination of the amount of caffeine in their subjects’ blood, the chemicals in their blood that stem from the processing of caffeine, and questionnaires to record their caffeine intake.

Once they crunched the numbers, they could see that caffeine was protective against Parkinson’s for people with and without the LRRK2 gene mutation.

Those with the mutation who had Parkinson’s had 76 percent less caffeine in their blood than those with the mutation but without Parkinson’s.

Those without the mutation who had Parkinson’s had 31 percent less caffeine in their blood than those who had the mutation and had Parkinson’s.

For both those with and without the gene mutation, Parkinson’s sufferers consumed 41 percent less daily caffeine than those without Parkinson’s.

This seems to suggest that coffee and caffeinated teas can protect against Parkinson’s, even in cases where people are especially vulnerable to it.

Watch this video – How I Reversed My Parkinson’s – Manoj Agarwala’s Journey

But if you already suffer from Parkinson’s, drinking coffee is not enough. But you can prevent Parkinson’s from progressing and even reversing some symptoms, using the simple lifestyle changes explained here…

This post is from the Parkinson’s Protocol Program created by naturopath and health researcher, Jodi Knapp, to help you diagnose and treat Parkinson’s naturally and permanently. The Parkinson’s Protocol is a comprehensive program that teaches you simple ways to reduce your symptoms, slow down the progression of Parkinson’s and repair the effects it has had on your body.

The Parkinson’s Protocol Program has a four-part series (consists of 12 simple steps) that comes with an abundance of valuable information that teaches you the relation between dopamine and Parkinson’s, the different treatment options, causes, and more. It then provides you with easy, step-by-step instructions that allow you to improve your brain health to begin delaying Parkinson’s and healing the brain within. 

To find out more about this program, click on Prevent Parkinson’s from Progressing and Even Reversing Some Symptoms

7 Constipation Causes and 6 Natural Constipation Remedies

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

7 Constipation Causes You CAN’T Ignore (and 6 Natural Remedies)

Having trouble pooping? You might be surprised that the cure for constipation can be found in your kitchen. Let’s talk about the most common causes and all natural home remedies for your constipation.

If you’ve ever heard the myth that girls don’t poop, your bubble is about to burst. For a lot of people, going poop is something done in secrecy. There are even specially-made air fresheners on the market to disguise your porcelain presents.

It’s definitely not an ideal dinner table topic and it may seem super embarrassing to even think about discussing your poo with others. But believe it or not, this natural bodily function is something that a surprising amount of people struggle with on a daily basis.

What is Constipation?

Constipation is what can happen in between the time food goes from plate to bowl (toilet bowl, that is). Though you don’t need to check yourself into a hospital every time you get constipated (it’s not considered a disease), it is still a very real symptom to be aware of.

Constipation can turn you into a cranky, bloated version of yourself with a side of a headache, and it may even land you a trip to the doctor’s office. It’s important to learn to read your body and what your bowel movements are trying to tell you about your dietary and lifestyle habits.

During the last stages of digestion, your waste will move into the large intestine, known as your colon. At this point, your body has soaked up all possible nutrients and has left behind a watery and unformed waste mixture.

As the muscles in your colon push the mushy waste closer to the toilet bowl, your colon will absorb excess water and transform the mushy waste back into solid form.

If this process is slowed down, or if too much water gets absorbed, which makes your poo hard, dry, and difficult to pass, you’ll experience constipation.

Number two is something that should happen on a regular basis. Depending on the expert you ask, different recommendations on how often it should happen will be given for different people.

It really just comes down to listening to your body and making sure you’re going in a regular pattern. Having irregular visits to the bathroom for poo time is also a characteristic of constipation.

Getting constipated every now and again is not a big deal – chances are, everyone has experienced it at least once in their lifetime.

Chronic constipation, on the other hand, is something to be concerned about. If you’ve been having irregular poop cycles for several months, you’re chronically constipated and should definitely see a doctor. Don’t let the fear of talking about your poo stop you from going in to see a medical professional.

What Causes Constipation?

1. Poor Diet

Low in fiber, high in fried foods/chips, high in sugar, eating frozen dinners, high amounts of dairy, etc. – Diet is the most common cause of constipation.

2. Dehydration

This is another main cause of constipation. If there isn’t enough water to push your waste through your bowels, it’s literally like trying to push sand through a pipe. Water is going to make the process a whole lot smoother since poo is about 75 percent water and 25 percent solid.

3. Coffee

While coffee can trigger your digestive muscles, drinking too much coffee can make you dehydrated, which may lead to constipation.

4. Medication

Always consult your doctor if you are having issues with constipation and prescribed medications. If you are taking any over-the-counter meds or supplements, you may want to reconsider your intake.

Consult your doctor about them (opiates, narcotics, OTC painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen, antidepressants, high blood pressure meds, diuretics, antacids like Tums and Alka-Seltzer, and iron and calcium supplements can all be culprits of constipation).

5. Holding in Your Poop

If you have to go, just get to a safe place and make it happen. Delaying your body’s natural function can aggravate your body and cripple its ability to tell you when you need to go in the future. Don’t be embarrassed to go number two in a place other than your home. Everyone’s digested food has to evacuate at some point during the week, if not daily. We’ve all been doing it since birth, and will be doing it for the rest of our lives.

6. Inactivity / Lack of exercise

Exercise is good for your muscles, both inside and out. Movement helps stimulate the natural contraction of intestinal muscles to help pass stools.

7. Pre-existing Medical Conditions

Hypothyroidism, diabetes, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, neurodegenerative disease, autoimmune disease, etc.

Natural Constipation Remedies

Heading to the store to pick up laxatives is like taking the easy way out. While it sounds way easier to just take a pill and have everything magically fixed, in reality it’s not exactly magic.

Laxatives work by irritating the lining of your intestines — they literally cause your colon to spaz out. Unless prescribed, try to avoid using laxatives to help you go number two. Getting hooked on over-the-counter laxatives will train your intestines to get lazy, and you’ll likely have persistent constipation.

1. Eat More Fiber

Fiber is indigestible. Our bodies can’t absorb it. So why do we need to make sure to eat enough of it? Because it is the major key to making the perfect poo.

Fiber adds bulk to your bowel movements. It also makes your poo softer and easier to pass. Hemorrhoids and diverticular disease are both very common digestive problems that will benefit from increasing the amount of fiber in your diet.

According to the American Heart Association, you should get about 25-30 grams of fiber daily.

Have you ever eaten knock-off brand anything and it just wasn’t the same? The same goes for fiber. Make sure that this fiber is from food, not supplements—supplements may work, but they just aren’t as good as the real deal.

Fresh fruits and vegetables have more fiber than their canned counterparts. Vegetable and fruit juices are not the best options for fiber intake either, since fiber is removed for the most part during the juicing process.

These foods are high in fiber:

• Nuts (almonds, pistachios, pecans)
• Flaxseed, sesame seeds
• Prunes (dried plums)
• Figs
• Avocados
• Artichokes
• Brussels sprouts
• Acorn squash
• Chia seeds

2. Drink More Water

Keep your body hydrated. There are a number of reasons to stay hydrated, and having healthy bowel movements is definitely somewhere at the top of the list.

As mentioned earlier, water helps the poo process run smoothly, since your colon will do its best to absorb water to turn your body’s waste from mush to solid.

3. Get Enough Exercise

If you laugh at the thought of exercise, but find yourself having trouble in the bathroom, you should stop laughing and think about changing up your couch potato lifestyle.

According to the 2016 Participation Report released from the Physical Activity Council, about 28 percent of their surveyed population was inactive.  They also found that the largest age group found to be inactive were those 65 and older. This is usually the same age group that experiences constipation more frequently.

Though it can be tough to get started, getting into an exercise routine is super important for keeping your bowel movements regular.

It’s never too late to get moving. The more you work out, the more you force your body into absorbing nutrients and circulating blood and oxygen, which will help to stimulate your colon.

Specifically, aerobic exercise, or cardio, is the type of exercise you want to do. This will pump up your breathing as well as your heart rate to get your intestines to naturally contract and help stools pass through quickly.

4. Use a Footstool

Putting your legs up allows your poo to move through a straighter canal, as opposed to angled, which means you’ll have to put forth less effort to part ways with your waste. 

You can use any object to give your legs the lift they need, watch this squatty potty video.

5. Try Yoga Poses

Yoga is not only great for making your body look good on the outside, it can also make you feel great on the inside.

Aside from its many mental health benefits, yoga can also help to prevent constipation. There are many poses that can provide some relief to you. Here are a few:

• Wind relieving pose: Lie down on your back so that your spine and tailbone are parallel with the ground. Pull your knee (one at a time) up into your chest. Grab your shin with your hands and draw your leg into your belly.

• Plough pose: Start by laying down on your back. Lift your legs using your ab muscles until your toes touch the ground behind your head. Roll your shoulders underneath you, straighten your arms, and interlace your fingers. Make sure your hips are lifted and in line with your shoulders.

• Child’s pose: Kneel down on your knees and rest your butt on your heels. Bring your forehead to the ground by bending at the hips, and rest your torso on your thighs. You can either actively stretch your arms out in front of you, palms facing down, or rest them down by your sides, palms facing up.

Watch this video – 3 Easy Yoga Moves for Constipation, Bloating & Improved Digestion

6. Eat Fermented Foods

Besides helping form your poo, fiber is necessary to maintain a healthy gut bacteria environment.

Your whole digestive system is loaded with neurons, called your enteric nervous system, and it is often referred to as your second brain. Of course an upset tummy is going to make you feel unhappy, but it’s also possible that the upset tummy is causing your unhappy mood (i.e. the communication is going both ways).

When your gut bacteria environment is unstable, it sends out signals that something isn’t right. Eating fermented foods in addition to fiber can help to replenish healthy gut bacteria. 

If yogurt came to mind, think again. Make sure to check the labels on store-bought yogurt. Most are high in sugar and pasteurized, meaning that they have been heated, which actually kills off the health-promoting bacteria. Try these foods instead:

• Sauerkraut
• Kimchi
• Kombucha
• Raw kefir

Written by Liz Lang

Author Bio:

Liz Lang is a Clinical Research Coordinator with the Southern California Institute for Research and Education in the field of Gastroenterology. Liz graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a degree in Public Health Sciences. She has an insatiable thirst to learn how the human body works in order to keep people healthy. When Liz isn’t in the clinic, she enjoys exploring nature, yoga, and trying new things (especially food!).

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook