Do you have a dirty little dietary secret? And is it called Diet Coke?

By Well+Good NYC

For lots of healthy types, the frequently stated fact that Diet Coke might be “empty calories” actually goes down just fine compared to office cupcakes, which they’re not regularly scarfing.

And reaching for a diet soda fits nicely into the “allowable-exceptions” category of a healthy New York lifestyle. You know, along with a glass of Sancerre, the occasional dinner at Eataly, and watching the Real Housewives.

But should you allow Diet Coke a free pass? (Ditto: Housewives.)

Studies abound that caution against drinking diet soda

While sipping diet soda seems harmless, especially in the context of a generally healthy life, a surprising number of substantial studies show the opposite, that drinking Diet Coke and Aspartame can greatly interfere with your health.

As Dr. Helen Hazuda, professor of medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, found last year, “[Diet soda] may be free of calories, but not of consequences.” And she wasn’t talking about the caffeine.

Interpreting the data of two studies, Dr. Hazuda pointed out that it caused a blood sugar spike in mice, and suggested that diet sodas may inhibit the signal that tells you when you’re full.

Here are 6 more reasons to give up diet soda:  

1. It messes with your skin. Diet Coke lowers your pH levels, which can cause acne, and zap you of radiance. We need a high level of alkalinity for our bodies to be healthy and expressed in our glowing complexion, explainsDr. Jeanette Graf, author of Stop Aging, Start Living: The Revolutionary 2-Week pH Diet. As Dr. Graf told us recently, “If there’s one thing you should never consume, it’s soda. Soda is an extreme acid-forming substance which will lower your pH level dramatically.”

2. It alters your mood. The mood-food connection is ever-rising, and Aspartame in Diet Coke can really do a doozey on those with anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Aspartame is also on an EPA list of potentially dangerous chemicals contributing to neurotoxicity, right under Arsenic. So that’s kind of saying it could alter your brain, too.

Keep reading for more…

Keep it simple: The easiest, healthiest way to lose weight

By Mandy Oaklander for Prevention.com

Yup, you’re about to read another diet post, but not to worry: You won’t hear anything about calorie-counting or eating like a caveman here. Instead, new research reveals that the best way to lose weight is surprisingly simple: Eat more produce and sit less.

Researchers from Northwestern University studied how well four different health strategies worked over 20 weeks. The diets included: Eating less fat and getting more exercise; eating more fruits and veggies and working out more; eating more produce and reducing sedentary time; and cutting down on fat while lowering the amount of sedentary time.

The results surprised even the researchers, says Bonnie Spring, PhD, professor of preventive medicine and co-author of the study. That low-fat, high-exercise diet health experts usually advise? It performed the worst in the bunch. The winner: Eating more fruits and veggies and making an effort to sit less. In the winning diet, daily fruit and vegetable intake increased from about one serving to more than five, and leisure time spent sitting plummeted from 219 minutes to 89.

Keep reading…

Finding Ultra: From overweight and unhappy to elite (vegan) athlete

By Briana Rognlin for Blisstree.com

If Rich Roll’s before and after photos don’t capture your attention, his story of going from overweight and unhealthy to becoming an elite (and much happier) athlete will.

Laid out in his new book, Finding Ultra, Roll’s transformation isn’t just impressive on a physical level (although his completion of five Ironman-distance triathlons within one week is astonishing); it’s also inspiring to anyone who feels stuck in a rut, as he did just six years ago.

To learn more about how he went from an overweight, unhappy recovering alcohol to an elite athlete with hundreds of miles of competition under his belt, we talked to Rich about his new book and how he got to where he is. Check it out:

How would you describe yourself before you became an athlete? I was an athlete in high school and college, so I had experience being an athlete, but when college sports was over, that was it, and life became about law school, my job, career, getting married, raising kids, and all that “normal” stuff. So as I approached my 40th birthday, athletics, fitness, health and all of those things weren’t really a part of my life at all.

My life was really just about moving up the corporate ladder, and health-wise, I felt terrible. I had put on a lot of weight, I was lethargic, depressed, unmotivated, and I was like that Henry David Thoreau quote: “The mass of men lead quiet lives of desperation.” I’d done everything I was supposed to, I’d followed the rules, gotten into the good schools, got the right job and all that kind of stuff, and found myself dissatisfied and disillusioned.

And on some level, I guess, I felt cheated; I had everything I’d asked for and yet here I was dissatisfied. There was a hole in my spirit, so to speak, and a yearning for something more.

Keep Reading…

Pure Aloe Vera Juice Help with Hair and Weight Loss

By VIBRANT BEAUTY

The juice from the aloe vera plant is yellow in color and the taste is described as bitter. The gel, found in the same plant, is used to heal wounds. The juice is sold in general health stores in both a liquid and powder form.

If you have access to an actual aloe vera plant, use a sharp knife to cut off a mature leaf. Older leaves of this plant have more nutritional value than the younger leaves. Break the leaf in half, and squeeze the juice into a cup. Whole leaves can be purchased at health stores if you want to extract the juice yourself.

For your hair, use pure aloe vera juice as an overnight treatment to keep the hair hydrated. Wet your hair with the juice and cover your hair with a cap over night. Rinse it thoroughly once you wake up. For extra conditioning, mix the juice with olive or avocado oil before applying to your hair. After waking up, use shampoo and conditioner after rinsing the mixture out.

Two of the substances in aloe vera juice are rumored to be beneficial for growing hair. Aloe has natural anti-inflammatory properties that can help inflamed follicles.

For dandruff, aloe vera works to either prevent or cure it. Rub the juice into your scalp and leave it on for 20 minutes before taking a shower. To increase its working power, add a couple drops of tea tree oil if you have some handy. Do this several times a week for two weeks to see a decrease in dandruff.

The juice of the aloe vera plant is also good for a scalp that’s itchy, irritated or sunburned. Take a leaf, break it in half, and pour the juice directly onto your scalp. Leave it in and reapply when the irritation occurs again.

Some believe that aloe vera juice is also beneficial as a weight loss agent. It is proven to help regulate digestion, accelerate metabolism, cleanse the colon and work as a detox.

Aloe vera juice was approved as a laxative by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). Laxatives work to get digested food out of the colon before the body can absorb its energy or calories.

Unfortunately, using a laxative to lose weight is dangerous and considered an eating disorder. Abusing a laxative can cause stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, chronic diarrhea, bloating and gas.

Do vegans burn more calories?

Do these svelte celeb vegans have souped-up metabolisms?

By Well+GoodNYC

Vegans are stereotypically skinny. But according to Neal Barnard, MD and his research team, it may not be because their diets are nutritionally skimpy. Vegan bodies may just learn to burn calories faster.

Dr. Barnard, who’s the president of the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and a professor at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, noticed that in one of his studies, after transitioning a group of individuals with chronic weight problems onto an entirely plant-based diet that was low in oils, their metabolic rates (or how fast their body turned fuel into energy) seriously soared.

“We found that not only did their calorie-burning speed jump up after a meal—but that extra burn was significantly higher than it had been when the study started,” Dr. Barnard writes in his book, The 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart.

Dr. Neal Barnard

To find out why this had happened, Dr. Barnard peeked inside some muscle cells and came up with this theory:

Insulin escorts sugar and protein from your bloodstream into your cells, where calorie-burning mitochondria metabolize (or burn) fat.

But in people with high-fat, meaty diets, tiny fat droplets crowd the cell and inhibit the insulin’s ability to shoot the nutrients in. It’s like the 6 train during rush hour: the commuters are fat droplets, and you, the insulin, are just trying to fit inside the car so that you can get to work.

What does this have to do with burning calories?

“You want to get sugar out of your blood and into your cells,” says Susan Levin, MS, RD, the director of nutrition education at PCRM. “The less fat there is, the faster this process happens.”

Read the rest here…

10 Super Trendy Health Foods you shouldn’t ignore

By Well+GoodNYC

Chia Seeds

Found in: In bags and snacks at the natural food store, Organic Avenue pudding, a delicious muffin at Le Pain Quotidien, even Dr. Perricone’s Super skin-care line.

Merits: Chia seeds fueled the ancient Aztecs and are a great source of fiber and are loaded with omega 3 fatty acids. Because they absorb fluid well, they can naturally thicken smoothies, and they help you feel full longer.

Recommended use: 1 tablespoon a day sprinkled into smoothies, salads or soups.

Maca Root

Found in: Cinnamon Snail’s vegan food-truck shake, health guru David Wolfe’s kitchen, and in supplements and Gnosis chocolate.

Merits: Maca may help spice up your sex life, but more research is needed on that front, who confirms its other benefits. It’s loaded with amino acids important for skin and bone health, and sterols, which help control cholesterol levels. Bonus: Like ginseng, maca raises the body’s ability to ward off disease via natural hormone regulation.

Recommended use: 1 tablespoon of the root in ground powder form. Sprinkle over food or add it to tea or smoothies (possibly for the Barry White effect).

Acai Berries

Found in: Breakfast bowls at Juice Generation, Sambazon beverages, plus the frozen-food, skin-care, and supplements aisle, and your spam filter.

Merits: Antioxidants are trendy on their own, but the molecules really do protect against daily damage from free radicals, and acai packs a powerful dose. Contrary to some claims, the berries won’t result in miraculous weight loss. And, Remember, blueberries are probably just as great.

Recommended use: Add the fruit to smoothies or cereal, or stir acai powder or concentrate into a glass of water after a workout. Use on your skin help fight sun and free-radical damage.

Kale

Found in: You can’t escape it! Salads at every healthy restaurant (and City Bakery), at Whole Foods in the form of overpriced chips, and every green juice.

Merits: Kale is the “green giant” because of its abundant vitamins and minerals. It’s packed with calcium and vitamin K for healthy bones and has a whopping 5 grams of fiber per cup, which is great for digestion. It also has 45 different flavonoids, potent antioxidants that research has linked to lowering the risk of cancer.

Recommended use: Get a cup of kale daily. Steam for 5 minutes, drink it up in a juice, or massage in a delish raw salad.

Hemp Seeds

Found in: The cabinets of celebs like Alicia Silverstone and Dr. Andrew Weil, and lots of dishes at Candle 79.

Merits: Hemp seeds contain omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids and are loaded with potassium, iron, and calcium. They’re one of the only plant-based complete proteins containing all eight essential amino acids that your body can’t make and must obtain through food. They may also lower bad LDL cholesterol—and help you get or stay regular.

Recommended use: 1 tablespoon per day as a snack, or add to salads and soups.

Kombucha

Found in: Park Slope Food Co-op shopping carts, yogi tote bags, skin-care products, and in the fridge of many a DIY fermenter.

Merits: Kombucha got a bad rap when Whole Foods pulled it from the shelves due to higher-than-advertised levels of alcohol. But since it’s made from the fermentation of sugar in tea by bacterial yeasts, its probiotic properties may improve digestive health. By adding good bacteria to the natural flora of the gut, probiotics keep your GI tract happy and healthy.

Recommended use: 1 cup to drink (maybe not while operating heavy machinery).

Goji Berries

Found in: Dried in bags like Craisins and often in supplement form, chocolates, and snacks.

Merits: Like acai, goji berries are antioxidant rich. Vitamins A, C, and E boost your immune system and fight inflammation. Chinese medicine says these berries will help you live to be over 100. But they may in fact be similar to blackberries and raspberries in terms of nutrition. More research is needed to support claims like improved cognition, sleep quality, and athletic performance.

Recommended use: 2 tablespoons daily, dried or in smoothies.

Coconut

Found in: The water is in every deli fridge for post-workout hydration and the meat is a vegan favorite for milk and ice cream. The oil and sugar is used in cooking and baking.

Merits: Coconut meat is packed with fiber, protein, vitamins B1, B6, C and E, folic acid, calcium, and iron. And although coconut oil (extracted from the meat) is high in saturated fat, it’s a form that is more readily used for energy and less likely to be stored as fat.

Recommended use: 2 teaspoons in place of vegetable oils, or spread coconut butter on toast. Beware too much coconut water, which has a lot of natural sugar.

Quinoa

Found in: The bulk bin, plus salads, wraps, bowls at Jivamuktea Cafe, and maybe even your morning cereal.

Merits: Quinoa is a great source of vitamins and minerals and has more protein than almost all other grains. Its high magnesium content may help those prone to migraines. It’s also an excellent source of B vitamins, important for energy and cell repair.

Recommended use: Eat quinoa as porridge for breakfast with fruit. Combine with veggies and chickpeas for a lunch salad. Use in place of brown rice at dinner.

Quercetin

Found in: Green tea, apples, red wine, citrus fruit, the supplements aisle, and in skin-care products.

Merits: Quercetin is not an actual food, but a phytochemical. (Even phytochemicals can be trendy!) It has been shown to decrease the incidence of colon and lung cancer through its powerful anti-inflammatory agents.

Recommended use: Eat whole fruits and vegetables to reap its benefits. Even for your skin.

My Five Beauty Obsessions: Kathryn Budig

By Well+GoodNYC

Kathryn Budig is one of the youngest widely-renowned yogis on the scene.

She regularly teaches at YogaWorks, in Santa Monica, but she’s also taken up traveling around the globe, spreading her message of a challenging, playful practice.

Budig launched her first DVD, Aim True Yoga, with Gaiam this past year. And you may have seen her serious yoga tricks while modeling grippy Toesox.

What she reaches for to keep her skin healthy while on the go?

Here are the fresh-faced beauty’s five favorite picks of the season (spring & summer):

1. Pangea Organics French Rosemary With Sweet Orange Facial Toner ($26)
Pangea Organics is my all-time favorite line—totally eco-friendly, cruelty free, and delicious. I have this toner in full size for home and tiny for travel to use between cleansing and moisturizing—or anytime I need a pick-me-up. It’s awesome to have on a long plane ride, too. (Note: Budig is a brand ambassador for Pangea Organics.)

2. Lanolips 101 Ointment ($17.95)
This rad line from Australia makes the best lip balm ever. I bring this with me on flights when I always get dehydrated and come off the plane with happy, plump lips. I seriously can’t leave home without it.

Read the rest of the picks here.

Got Office Body? Tara Stiles’ 3-step yoga cure

By Well+GoodNYC

The yoga world may be buzzing about injury, but Tara Stiles is focused on how yoga can cure.

In her new book, Yoga Cures, which hits shelves tomorrow, the celeb yogi explains how yoga can help ease an alphabet of more than 50 ailments, from anxiety to not getting enough Zzzs.

“The health benefits of yoga are old, but they’re new in the minds of the general public,” says Stiles. “You don’t have to be a super-advanced practitioner to feel better—you can do just a few things that can change your life.”

One ailment that’s super-relevant to overworked New Yorkers?

Office Body—an unofficial but pervasive condition that includes cramped wrists, locked-up hips, and slumped shoulders.

We asked Stiles to help treat what ails us—and maybe you? Here’s her simple 3-step prescription, excerpted from Yoga Cures. —Lisa Elaine Held

Hands and Knees Wrist Release

What it does: Stretches wrists and fingers cramped from too much texting and typing, and boosts circulation to your digits.

How to do it: Position yourself on your hands and knees, with a neutral spine, wrists under your shoulders, and knees under your hips.

“Turn your right hand as far to the right as it will go, so the heel of your hand is facing forward and your fingers are facing your body. Roll your body around slightly, getting the stretch into different areas of your wrist,” says Stiles.

“Stay with this for five, long, deep breaths and then do the other side.”

Read the rest here…

Fantasy Fitness Spa: The Ranch at Live Oak

By Well+GoodNYC

To banish the winter blues, we’re declaring this Fantasy Fitness Spas of the West week! What exactly does that mean? Are we sending flying you and a friend to Palm Springs? Not exactly.

Instead we’re kicking off a week of cubicle travel (cause who really sits in armchairs?), during which we whisk you away to our five favorite spas. (More precisely, the five spas we’ve visited recently and loved.) Given that our former life was dedicated to writing about spas, you can take our picks pretty seriously.

Something we’ve learned along the way: While luxe details like bedding thread count make for good living, they don’t necessarily make for good reading. So we’re focusing on the top three awesomely memorable experiences at each of our five fantasy spas. Here’s today’s…

THE RANCH AT LIVE OAK IN MALIBU

Kettlebell workouts—after a 13 mile hike

The Ranch at Live Oak, in Malibu, California, is a five-star boot camp. It combines a seriously strict program of long hikes and workouts with a spartan (yet delicious) diet. There are 16 just guests at a time, and everyone stays in luxe private cottages.

The Ranch says the reason to visit is to detox and lose weight. (And you will—I lost 3.5 pounds, a lot for me percentage-wise.)

But we think the real reason to go—and why the Ranch has become so popular since it launched in October 2010—is to prove that you can, like climbing a mountain or running a marathon. That, and you feel INCREDIBLE when it’s done. Hence it appeals to the already somewhat fit and Type-A personalities galore.

You have to consent in advance to the Ranch terms, like no second helpings, cell phones, or watches. And absolutely all of the fitness experiences are mandatory, rain or shine.

But if you’re like the rest of us who got through a week here, you’ll be bragging for the rest of your life that you did. —Reporting by Ann Abel and Melisse Gelula

1. Tough-Love Workouts
The main part of every day is spent hiking a 10-to-13-miler, rain or shine, and in the gym (four hours or so). There’s no sleeping in, skipping a class, or bowing out early from a hike. You’ll feel like a bad-ass when you’re done. Or a stupid ass, if you didn’t take the program’s advice to begin to wean yourself from your vices 30 days in advance. Vomiting and migranes are common to those who don’t heed the Ranch’s instructions to cut out sugar and the like. And, no, getting sick doesn’t excuse you from a hike.

Keep reading the rest here…

Study Hall: Weight-loss supplements won’t help you lose weight

By Well+GoodNYC

A recent study proves what you’ve always known (but wished wasn’t true): Quick-fix weight-loss supplements are the products of snake-oil salesman.

A research review published online in February in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise found that many weight loss supplements have little or no impact on an person’s ability to slim down.

The study: Researchers from Oregon State University reviewed all of the available studies that had been done on four categories of supplements: carbohydrate or fat blockers, stimulants, products that claim to change metabolism, and appetite suppressants.

The results: “There is no strong research evidence indicating that one specific supplement will produce significant weight loss, especially long-term,” the researchers found. The supplements had no or few randomized clinical trials (the gold standard in scientific research) examining their effectiveness or proving their claims. Also, many studies on supplements (especially the metabolic stimulants like ephedra) showed adverse side effects ranging from bloating to strokes.

What it means: Don’t be fooled by miracle weight-loss claims on pill bottles. A healthy lifestyle full of vegetables and boot camp classes is still your best bet. —Allison Becker