translated from Yahoo Brasil
written by Rocío Gaia
What better way to begin the day than to make love with your partner after a refreshing night’s rest? Without a doubt, morning sex is a great energy tonic that helps you confront the day with renewed enthusiasm. But more than this, it has been proven to be beneficial not just for the soul, but for the body too.
According to a study at Queen’s University in Belfast, sex in the morning keeps your body’s organs healthy, stimulates the immune system, improves circulation, and lowers blood pressure. It also burns calories, reduces risk of diabetes, strengthens muscles and bones, and helps alleviate arthritis and headache. Among other discoveries, the study publicized in the British magazine “New Scientist” points out that making love in the morning can burn up to 3,000 calories per hour.
Couples who begin their days with love making tend to have a healthier appearance, as orgasms augment estrogen levels and other hormones that directly affect the tone and texture of both skin and hair. The study also shows that men show signs of increased testosterone after morning sex. Women were shown to have improved mood and decreased tendency toward depression.
On a more bio-chemical note, morning sex can stimulate creativity, improve mood and self-esteem, and promote self-awareness. The cardiovascular benefits also help with muscle movement and agility.
March 3rd, 2009
Many ancient alternative health systems believe that each male ejaculation depletes a “fixed amount” of energy stored in our body’s “bank account.” Once it’s used up…that’s it! But modern alternative medicing shows that frequent ejaculation actually strengthens the prostate, increases sperm count, and stimulates hormone production. That’s like getting interest from the bank!
May 11th, 2008
This is the first of a series of articles on Red Berry Antioxidant Drinks and how they form the second major pillar of a successful natural health diet (the first pillar being green superfood drinks). Return here for more articles, product comparisons and tips on finding, buying and using red superfood drinks.
Fighting Free Radicals
The best way to prevent free radical damage to your cells is with a diet rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants are positively charged molecules that combine with negatively charged and oxidized free radicals — thus gaining the name anti-oxidants. Some of the most powerful antioxidants include the vitamins A, C, and E, beta-carotene, and the minerals Selenium, Zinc and Copper. Others include flavonoids, uric acid, plant-based phytochemicals, and co-enzyme Q-10. Many of the mineral elements, such as Zinc and Selenium are encountered in meats, nuts, fish, and grains. The beta-carotene and vitamin antioxidants (and some of the minerals) are commonly found in fruits and berries, especially those with dark colors.
Vitamin E is lipo-soluble, and acts directly on the cellular membranes, inhibiting oxidation. Vitamin C acts to neutralize free radicals by supplying electrons that disarm the free radicals and eliminate their detrimental effects. It also helps to protect vitamins A and E from oxidation, thus extending their effects in the system. Beta-carotene is technically a precursor to vitamin A. It works on certain types of free radicals and supports the production of vitamin A in the system.
Co-Enzyme Q-10 is essential in the conversion of food into energy — a process that occurs in the cells. Supplementing CoQ-10 helps the cells convert energy, making them stronger and more protected against free radicals. Flavonoids also act on the body’s cells, helping to regulate many cell functions. They are also known to seek out and eliminate free radicals, especially in “active” cells. As such, are an important part of the body’s immune system. They also sustain the effects of enzymes, including co-enzyme Q-10 and they stimulate the “genetic expression” within the cells, which is a way of saying that they “pump up the volume!”
As you can see, these different antioxidants work together to fight oxidation and it’s important that you get a combination of all of these substances in your diet. One of the best and easiest ways to do that is with a red antioxidant drink.
Sources of Antioxidants
Vitamin E is found in abundance in wheat germ, dark colored vegetables, avocado, soybean oil, nuts, egg yokes, brown rice, cottonseed oil, grape seed oil, chicken and turkey, apples, and peaches. Vitamin C, as most people know, is encountered in citrus fruit but also in legumes and dark green leafy vegetables (spinach, kale, parsley, etc.). Tomatoes have plenty of vitamin C, along with cabbage, green peppers and garlic. Here are five of the best sources:
- Red and yellow peppers
- Guava
- Kiwi
- Broccoli
- Acerola Cherry
Co-enzyme Q-10 is found in oily fish like sardines, salmon and tuna. It’s also encountered in broccoli, spinach and sesame seeds and peanuts. Flavonoids can be found in green tea, dark chocolate, red wine and red fruits.
Red Drinks
Given the variety of antioxidants and the many different foods in which they are encountered, how does a person get a wide variety of these elements on a daily basis? The easiest way is with a red antioxidant berry juice. Just as a green superfood drink is the best way to get food nutrients, a red drink is the best way to get the antioxidants. All healthy diets should include a green drink and a red drink to provide a wide range of health benefits.
Finding red antioxidant berry drinks is not difficult. It’s an exploding category in the health food business. Some drinks focus on a single fruit, such as pomegranate, acai, black currant or blueberry. All of these are great berries and full of antioxidants. Personally, I look for a mixture of berries in my red drink and when I taste it, I measure that dry, tannon taste in the back of my mouth. The more of this the better! A red drink should taste thick, strong, slightly bitter, slightly sour and very dry.
In my next article in this series, I’ll look at a variety of red antioxidant drinks and offer some comparisons. I’ll also talk about ORAC values…the official measurement of antioxidant power.
photo credit
March 22nd, 2008
Antioxidants are not just for older adults trying to slow the aging process. Antioxidants combat the negative effects of oxidation in your system — a chemical process that occurs when your body converts food into energy. The negative effects include the production of free radicals, electrons that fly off of atoms and into cell walls, causing diminished cell functioning which leads to aging, sickness, heart disease, and countless types of ailments. If you smoke, drink, eat too much, or consume or breathe harmful toxins (such as those in many food products and household chemicals), you increase the amount of free radicals and speed up the damage they do.
Antioxidants buffer the cell walls from free radicals and even inhibit the creation of certain free radicals. Used in combination, they are perhaps the single most important natural cure in existence. Everyone should increase their intake of antioxidants! Here’s how:
- Drink more green tea.
- Drink an antioxidant-rich juice. You can make your own from berries and carrots or buy one of the pre-mixed concoctions, such as “Berry Young Juice” from Young Living. There are others.
- Eat more antioxidant-rich foods, such as tomatoes, dark green leafy vegetables, deep-colored fruit, nuts (especially walnuts and hazelnuts), and pure cocoa powder (not sweetened or processed). An excellent pre-mixed antioxidant-rich food is “Maharishi Amrit Kalash.” Other combinations of Indian and Ayurvedic herbs are also available.
September 7th, 2006
