Let's Talk About Goji Berries

Have you ever heard of goji berries? I bet some of you have while others have no idea of what I’m talking about.
Goji berries (also known as the wolfberry) are bright orange-red berry that comes from an Himalayan tree.
In Asia, goji berries have been eaten for generations in the hopes of living longer. Goji berries have been used for 6,000 years by herbalists in China, Tibet and India to: protect the liver, help eyesight, improve sexual function and fertility, strengthen the legs, boost immune function, improve circulation and promote longevity. Not bad uh... Goji berries can be eaten raw, cooked, or dried and are used in herbal teas, juices, wines, and medicines.
Studies have shown that this berry is one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world.
Goji berries taste like a vibrant blend of berries and chocolate, it’s a kind of mild tangy taste that is slightly sweet and sour. They have a similar shape and texture as raisins.
Hidden within its ruby pigment is the magic that makes it nature’s perfect energy fruit. Goji is packed full of antioxidants, amino acids and essential fatty acids. Although Goji may not be available in your local supermarket but you can find it in several health food, gourmet stores and on-line health stores.

Robbie Williams, Lady Gaga and Ashton Kutcher: Three Bikram Yoga Devotees!

What Robbie Williams, Lady Gaga and Ashton Kutcher have in common?
Ok, yes, they’re famous people, we know that, but they also share one passion: Bikram yoga!
I just picked three VIPs but there are a lot of other personalities that are devotees of this practice; for instance Carmen Electra, Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy are also raving about it.
But wait, the aim of this post is not to do name dropping. I mean, if I can convince you to give Bikram yoga a shot just by mentioning the like of Gaga I’m more than happy.
But actually what’s interesting is how practicing Bikram yoga has helped those three personalities in different ways.
Let’s explore a little bit more about it...

Improve Your Metabolism

We already discussed how (and why) you should reprogram your metabolism. Today I want to give you eight tips that I use to improve my metabolism and make it more efficient.
Just a remainder: a better metabolism burns more calories and prevents fat storage...that’s good enough for me!

How To Reprogram Your Metabolism

There are numerous diets, weight loss programs and nutrition plans in today’s world, however almost all of them fall short on one crucial factor: to reprogram your metabolism in order to get on the fat-burn mode.
The consequence of this failure is the infamous yo-yo cycle: you lose weight but you gain it back again once you stop dieting.
This happens predominantly because the diet does not reprogram your metabolism, which is still imbalanced and remains programmed to store fat.
Once you achieve to reprogram your metabolic switch to burn fat, you will naturally become healthy, lean and fit.

Is There Anything Like Too Much Green Tea?

I’m big time addicted to green tea. I drink at least two “Venti” green tea first thing in the morning with my breakfast; then one during the morning, one after lunch, another one at mid-afternoon and after dinner I usually have decaffeinated green tea.
I'm so into green tea that one time I asked a green tea at 1OAK (a very hip club in the Meatpacking district) and to the surprise of all my friends (and myself as well) the barman brewed me a cup of green tea at 2am in the morning...I know, that was pretty weird...
Pouring all this green tea inside my body (besides forcing me to stop at the restrooms every half hour) got me thinking: “Is it possible that I'm abusing it?"

The Best Protein Brownies

As sportsmen, in order to get the necessary daily protein intake we have sometimes to resort to protein bars. There’s nothing wrong with it. Your body needs readily available amino-acids and these snacks do the trick.

However, most of the protein bars you can buy at the health store contain a bunch of stuff with unpronounceable names. In addition, the taste is often off-putting (personally, I still have to find one that I really like).

The solution? Make your own, simple as that.
I tried several recipes over the last couple years and perfected this one, which is has become a staple of my diet.
These are truly amazing brownies, loaded with protein!

Is Whole Milk Really Fattening?

You’re at the supermarket about to grab the milk’s carton for the week or at Starbucks looking at the pitchers deciding what kind of milk to put in your coffee. What's going on in your mind? Probably this: should I choose the skim milk and keep the pounds off or go for the taste and have reduced-fat milk?
If you were to follow the USDA recommendations (and probably your trainer) you should go for skim. Actually the idea that skim is better has become so popular that in some coffee houses you can't even find reduced-fat milk not to mention whole.
But is it really true? Let’s dig into this question a little bit more.

Hummus: The Perfect Snack For Being In Shape!

There’s one snack that you should never be out of, and that is hummus.
Hummus is a dip or spread made from cooked and mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini (sesame spread), olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic.
Hummus is healthy, has a great nutritional value and most of all is yummy.
I always have some in the fridge so whenever I have a binge I take a carrot or a celery stalk and dip them in this delicious sauce.
If you’re not convinced about the goodness of hummus, let me add this: English male supermodel David Gandy (i.e., the dude in the Dolce&Gabbana Light Blue perfume ad) claims that he keeps his fridge junk-free and stocked, among other things, with hummus to keep his metabolism fuelled whenever he has a craving.
Convinced? Now let’s discover more in detail what is this about...

Flexible Is Better

Does having flexible muscles has any advantage except that you can do the splits and such?
Like, do you get hurt as fast as people who don’t stretch a lot? What exactly are the advantages of it? And how will it affect weight training?
Those are all good and legitimate questions that I’ve been asked a lot lately; especially since I’ve became a yoga “freak” and began preaching how increased flexibility has helped me a lot in my training for triathlons as well in my everyday life.
Let’s remember that flexibility is the ability to move the joints and muscles through a normal range of motion, and it’s an important fitness measure; in fact, it’s one of the five health-related components of physical fitness, along with muscular strength, muscle endurance, cardio respiratory endurance and body composition. We lose flexibility as we age, which means we need to develop it while we’re young and then maintain it when we’re older.

The Goodness Of Cayenne Pepper

Writing this article is for me somehow challenging, at least as challenging as it has been to integrate cayenne pepper in my eating regimen.
Why? Because I’m not a big fan of hot/spicy food. I know, my taste buds have some limitations. I tried to overcome them but it proved to be a very difficult task.
Still, I now make use of cayenne pepper because its health benefits are almost unbelievable.
It can do almost everything from kill cancer cells in the prostate, lungs, and pancreas to immediately stop a heart attack within 30 seconds. Amazing right?
Cayenne’s reputation keeps growing among medical researchers as well as alternative health afficionados.
So let’s explore a little bit more what this is all about...

Foods To Avoid To Be Healthy

We have already said it a million times but it’s worth saying it once more: “You are what you eat!”
Since looks and youth are the natural reflection of health and well-being, you need to eat correctly to stay healthy. Period.
Today we are talking about some “everyday” foods that you should to avoid as they can cause damage to your health when taken in excess. 
Actually, the best thing will be to take out these foods from your diet.
So let's see what those evil foods are...