Men's Health

This World-Class Soccer Player Credits His Comeback To a Vegan Diet Men's Health Last Sunday, 34-year-old Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe scored in England's 2-0 win over Lithuania in a 2018 World Cup qualifier, adding yet another gem to his abundant highlight reel this year. Despite his advancing age, Defoe has maintained his ... Euro heartache and vegan lifestyle fuel Defoe | Borneo Bulletin OnlineBorneo Bulletin Online all 84 news articles »

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This World-Class Soccer Player Credits His Comeback To a Vegan Diet - Men's Health

The Paleolithic diet, in recent years, has basically clubbed America upside the head and dragged many of us around by our hair. Swept us off of our feet, as it were. The idea of consuming a diet based on what early humans might have eaten has captured the imaginations and bellies of many, including the scavengers.

The Paleo industry is closing in on $300 million in sales annually, according to a trade group known as the Paleo Foundation. Paleo products include personal training and specialized gear like "finger" shoes, but most of the sales are in goods of an edible persuasion. They include a dizzying array of certified Paleo foods like granola, mushroom coffee, cold-brew wellness tea, Filipino pili nuts with Himalayan sea salt, skillet taco sauce I think you get the pictograph.

The Paleo Foundation website says there is even a growing Paleo/vegan crossover market. At first this sounds like a joke. Are we talking free-range tofurkey bone broth?

I guess that Ive taken it as a given that our ancestors were feasting on wild game 24/7. But in many primitive societies, past and present, anthropologists have noted that the village gatherers regularly outperform the hunters.

A collection of DNA, carefully scraped from the teeth of Neanderthals, tells a story of diet diversity that varied by location. Some of the teeth did indeed indeed display the microbial fingerprints of a meaty diet woolly rhinos and wild sheep, specifically. But bits of dental plaque from other individuals showed no evidence of meat whatsoever. Instead, they suggested a diverse diet of things like mushrooms, tree bark, pine nuts and moss.

It suggests fiber, in its many forms, might be an unsung player in a real Paleo diet, perhaps even swept under the rug by the certified Paleo steak and buttered lobster contingent. But it isnt hard to imagine that more plants than animals were eaten, day in and day out. Maybe the Paleo vegans were a thing after all.

The low-carb part of the Paleo diet is less up for debate. Prior to the invention of agriculture, processed carbs of any kind simply didnt exist. No Twinkies and pasta and sugary drinks, obviously, and even the fruit and berries they ate were less sweet than todays fruit. The Paleo diet is hardly the only one built on a low-carb foundation, but only Paleo can lay claim so perfectly to that theoretical underpinning.

Most Americans eat more sugar and processed carbohydrate than they need, which is why so many of them respond to a low-carb diet.

Some human clinical studies suggest that following a diet low in processed carbohydrates produces better outcomes than a more typical high-carb diet. Diabetics, for example, have seen markers like insulin levels, insulin resistance and blood sugar improve.

A recent meta-study found that a Paleo-esque diet improves risk factors for metabolic syndrome, a constellation of chronic conditions including heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, belly fat and diabetes.

Movement and exercise is something that our Paleo ancestors had plenty of, but modern man tends to be more of a slacker. Some people climb trees or go to CrossFit class for their Paleo workout, but you cant get much more primal than foraging. It gets you moving in the fresh air, and engages your primal senses.

You approach the landscape differently when you forage then when hiking. More like a predator, and less tourist on a trail. More time crashing through the brush to where the landscape says you should go. More time staring at the ground, which is good because the plants you seek are probably under your nose. Keep a lookout for Paleo vegans. They are friendly but startle easily.

Springtime is an especially good time to forage, because the landscape is rich in edible shoots. Winter has historically been a tricky time to get your vitamins and minerals, and the young, often-bitter sprouts that push up through the mud have long been a source of a spring tonic.

Nettles are among the first edible plants to emerge. They evoke caution, thanks to their being covered with silica hypodermic needles full of formic acid, aka ant bite venom. Cooking them will take care of that problem, and what is left is a nutrient-dense plant full of forest umami and spring tonic. And fiber.

They hang out in spots that are moist but not wet, in areas that are open but not super-sunny. Deer tend to keep a wide birth, leaving the plants around nettle patches a bit overgrown.

When you find some, snip off the top few inches just above a joint, like topping a basil plant the tender part. Use gloves or scissors, or your bare hands, to put the nettle tip into a bag. The tingling isnt that bad, and vanishes quickly. Some people even think a few nettle stings can cure various ailments, like natures acupuncture.

A good way to start eating nettles is to first blanch them in boiling salted water, where after 90 seconds the formic acid injectors irreversibly wilt. Immediately transfer the blanched nettles to a pot of ice water to keep them bright green.

From there, any number of options await. Drizzle them with olive oil and soy sauce, or grind them into pesto.

Or make this nettle soup. It doesnt prove that Paleo-vegans exist, but it does prove that if they do exist, they eat well.

1 clove of garlic, grated or pressed

Chicken stock (or mushroom, to keep it vegan)

Slice the onions and sautein butter or olive oil (or both). When they are translucent, add carrots, celery and a quart or so of stock, and simmer with about a teaspoon each of cumin and garlic powder. Meanwhile, blanch and shock the nettles.

When the carrots are soft, add the fresh garlic, stir it around and kill the heat. When cool enough to blend, puree the whole thing. Puree the nettles separately and stir them in. Adjust seasonings and serve.

The addition of those nettles at the end transforms a relatively bland, pedestrian bowl of seasonal vegetable soup into something spectacular, primal and deep green. A little wild goes a long way.

Read more here:

Flash in the Pan: Paleo-vegan nettle soup - The Missoulian

The Imperial Orchestra and the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority sponsor the weekly event from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each Monday from October through March.

LAKELAND Today is the last opportunity this season to start out the work week with Music Munndays, a lunchtime concert in downtown Lakelands Munn Park.

The Imperial Orchestra and the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority sponsor the weekly event from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each Monday from October through March.

Todays concert will be by Motett with Lemay Olano-James. Motett is a jazz trio featuring Davis Collister on bass, Jody Marsh on keys and Jean Bolduc on drums.Olano-James is a violinist.

Expect to hear some swing, foxtrot, rhumba and mambo.

The original ideain October 2015 was to provide a break for downtown office workers, said Julie Townsend, executive director of the Downtown Lakeland Development Authority.

Mondays kind of bum people out," she said. "This way they can start their work week out with a relaxing time in the park.

And it has been a way to promote the park, she said.

Instead of rushing by on their way to and from lunch, people can stop at the park with a blanket or sit on one of the benches and relax, listen to music and play board games or fill out one of the adult coloring pages available at a tent on the Kentucky Avenue side of the park, she said.

Over timethe office crowd morphed into more of a community crowd, Townsend said. Retirees and young parents with toddlers come from home for the free concert, bringing lawn chairs or blankets and lunch, Townsend said.

And sometimes school groups or community groups make a field trip out of it, she said.

The Imperial Orchestra arranges the musical entertainment, Townsend said.

As examples of the type of entertainment the Monday crowds hear, Imperial Orchestras Facebook page lists the entertainment for the month of March as an ISO Brass Quintet, Acoustic Dose (acoustic guitar and vocals), Jazzanovoa (Latin-influenced instrumentals) and todays entertainment by Motett with Lemay Olano-James (jazz with electric violin).

We try to mix it up, to expose people to different types of music, Townsend said. It is just a good time -- just a couple of hours over lunch to hang out, have a good time playing board games and relaxing with coloring while getting exposed to something you may not normally listen to.

Marilyn Meyer can be reached at marilyn.meyer@theledger.com or 863-802-7558. Follow her on Twitter @marilyn_ledger.

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Music Munndays is wrapping up the season with one last concert ... - The Ledger

Digital design studio ustwo best known for its mobile gaming chops is doubling down on a move into mindfulness and well-being apps in recent years, with the launch of a second interactive meditation app, called Sway.

This follows a journaling app (Moodnotes) with a cognitive behavioral therapy twist, which launched in August 2015, and a visually guided meditationexperience, called Pause, in October 2015.

All threeapps are collaborations with third partiesworking in the health and well-being space, with ustwo bringing in psychological expertise for Moodnotes via LA-based mobile app firm Thriveport, and working withDanish mental wellness company PauseAble onPause and now also with Sway.

Sway isvery much a continuation of the thinking behind Pause, which ustwo said was aiming to draw on ancient Tai Chi and mindfulness practice. That appinvolved guiding users to touch the screen of their device and move anamorphous blob around slowly as a way to slow down, relax and achieve a moment or two of calm.

With Sway, the movement element expands beyond just an on-screen movementto encompass the whole body, with users guided by on-screen instructions,music and moving visuals to focus their attention and make slow and gentle movements these can be whole-body movements or just moving the hand thats holding the phone.

Sway starts with a couple of minutes of guided swaying and gradually increases the time of each daily session until the user is clocking 20 minutes of movement per day. A series of levels are also unlocked as you progress, encouraging a range of different movements aimed at relaxing the user.

As well as displayingtext instructions to get sessions started, the screen of the Sway app is given over tosoothing visuals consisting of a generative soundscape of undulating hills in pastel-toned gradient colors that morph and change form and color whileyou moveback and forth. Users are encouraged to don headphones and soak themselves in the tranquil accompanying music.

After a few moments, the app also moves on toinstructing the userto look away from the screen so arelaxationsession can continue with aphone tucked entirely out of sight, in a pocket say, with justmusic and physical movement left.

If this is all sounding a bit too hippie for your tastes, ustwo is claiming it can back up itstheory of interactive meditation being effective for relaxation purposes, and more accessible and more effective in noisy environments than audio-guided meditations based ona series of studies it commissioned.

The basic argument being you might be able to more easily fit one of its interactive meditation sessions into, for example, your daily commuteor your office environs, where it might be harder to concentrate on a more traditional audio-guided meditation given all the distracting activity going on around you.

The studies were carried outby Professor Xiangshi Ren at the Center for Human Engaged Computing at the Kochi University of Technology in Japan, and compared ustwos earlierPause app with theaudio-guided meditation app Headspace.

However they only involved a small number of participants, and were not placebo-controlled. To date weve only focused on validating its functional effects, and not yet done any placebo-controlled trials this is something well definitely explore, saysa spokesman.

They also werent studyingthe effectiveness of Sway specifically but testing itspredecessor Pause. Albeit, ustwo is arguing both apps are essentially utilizing the same physically interactive approach to encouraging mindfulness and relaxation.

And, well, at the end of the day if an app ends up making some peoplefeel calmer because they think its helping them feel calmer its arguably doing something positive (even if not necessarily for the reasons claimed).

As with ustwos other mobile health apps, Sway which launches tomorrow will be a paid download, this time priced at$2.99.

The earlierPause app ($1.99) has had around 400,000 downloads to date, whileMoodnotes ($3.99) has clockedaround40,000 downloads on iOS, with an Android version also due to launch within weeks.

Continue reading here:

Sway is another interactive relaxation app from ustwo | TechCrunch - TechCrunch

Youve probably noticed the word organic popping up in grocery store aisles and restaurant menus. You know that foods marked organic are supposed to be healthier and noticeably pricier, but you cant help wondering if an organic, non-GMO apple is really that much healthier than a regular apple. Theyre both fruit, right?

The difference is in how the two apples are grown. Organic produce is grown without pesticides, synthetic fertilizer, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation. Before labeling food organic, the USDA sends a government-approved certifier to inspect the farm where the food is grown to ensure the farmer is following all the necessary rules to meet the USDAs organic standards. Still wondering if the benefits outweigh the hefty price tag attached to all things organic? Read through the benefits of going organic in this healthy eating cheat sheet.

Conventional farmers apply anywhere from twoto 12 synthetic pesticides to their crops. An average serving of leafy greens, peppers, berries, tree fruits, and grapes can contain three to four pesticide residues, which have been linked to serious health problems including ADHD, autism, obesity, and cancer. On the other end of the spectrum, USDA organic products cannot be grown with pesticides, additives, fortifiers, and other synthetic substances.

Deriving nutrients from your food is important, but some studies show that the nutrient value is less in conventional products when compared to its organic counterparts. In tests, organic fruits win at blind taste tests and tend to be smaller, brighter in color, and denser. Organic products test higher in antioxidant levels, including vitamin C, magnesium, phosphorous, and iron. The difference is in the soil. Organic products are grown in soil that is managed and nourished using sustainable standards.

While many countries have banned the practice, the United States still genetically engineer food and allow genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, in the growing of food. These products are artificially manipulated to create genetically modified products that are unnatural. Buying organic is the only way to ensure you avoid GMOs, which show up in crops like corn, alfalfa, soy, zucchini, squash, and more.

Organic agriculture considers the long-term impact of growing food on the environment and the ecosystem. Organic farms work to produce food while establishing a plan to keep the soil nutrient-rich and fertile for future years. Unlike conventional farms whose use of synthetic fertilizer and pesticides pollute the groundwater, organic farms use organic fertilizers like compost and animal manure to reduce the risk of groundwater pollution.

Support families in your community by purchasing organic, locally grown products. As giant agricultural businesses continue to dominate food production, small family farms have trouble competing with big business prices. When you buy organic, you support farmers who are being stewards of the environment and nutrition. Take it to the next step by buying from the farmers directly at your local farmers market.

Originally posted here:

5 Reasons Why You Should Eat Organic Foods - The Cheat Sheet - The Cheat Sheet

The middle way is an approach to life- whether monastic or as a householder- tethered to suchness. Suchness means, in practice, that only harm actually matters. In the middle way, for those who pledge to be guided by its spirit of harmlessness, the first challenge is to know the self well enough to stop the harm in which that self is complicit. Each day brings its own set of conditions favourable to the emergence of avarice, ill intent and misinformed behaviours.

The Sanskrit word for suchness istathta.It translates, as my root teacher used to say, ...things as it is. It is a term intended to indicate a state of awareness that is bereft of ideologies. To be tethered to suchness is to be tethered to the present and the imminence of all being. How can such an ideal become the basis for our practice? Our practice in real life is to apply the principle of kindness is more important than rightness. Obviously, in the beginning, anyone who wants to figure this shift out is liable to make a fool of themselves from time to time. Although we often recognize its truth right away, our binary habits easily steer us wrong. Even so, shift happens.

The harm in which we are complicit comes from a comparative mindset in which there is no interface between essential choices. In other words being judgmental, opinionated and certain about many things. Often we justify these harmful attitudes as being 'right', either through inherent superiority or in compliance with divine will. Another way to say this is to mentally set up things we like against things we do not like. This is the disease of the mind, this reflex of adversarial comparison, and if we can weaken this habit of mind we can engage in the harm reduction goal of middle way practice.

Meditation is the venue that brings all these conceptions into alignment. What this means is to cultivate an openness so thoroughgoing that it harbours no preconceptions at all. In the meditator's awareness there is only suchness; things (plural) as it is (singular). Perception moves; sometimes many sometimes one; movement completely consistent with the breathing in and breathing out that is the mark of stillness. In stillness we experience the interface between breathing in and breathing out, reallythe only thing going on at that point. We note that at the basis there is no conflict or harmful wish between breathing in and breathing out, the ideal karmic conditions; we do this in meditation.

Wayne Codlingis a former Zen monastic and a lineage holder in the Soto Zen tradition. He teaches Zen style meditation in various venues around Victoria. Waynes talks and some writings can be found on his blog http://sotozenvictoria.wordpress.com

You can find more articles from our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking, HERE

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Why We Need Meditation - Times Colonist (blog)

It seems that when you ask anyone how they're doingwhether it's friends, family, colleagues, or strangers on the streetthe answer is always "stressed." What is causing all that stress? Turns out that most of the strain is coming from our jobs. The World Health Organization even estimates that stress costs American businesses up to $300 billion a year in job turnover costs, health care expenditures, and absenteeism.

We've morphed into a culture that expects a frenetic pace, demands that we don't stop until our energy is depleted, and asks that we limit self-care to the bare minimum. But finally, employees are resisting this speed, and employers have realized that slow and steadynot crazy and all over the placewins the race. The idea of "mindfulness" has made its way into the mainstream with apps like Calm and best-selling programs from Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey. It's become clear that the workforce needs to decompress, calm their thoughts, and take the adult version of nap time during their workday to succeed without imploding first. The solution? Meditation rooms in the office. These were once a "new age" perk pretty much only available in the start-up cultures of places like Silicon Valley. But more and more companies are now recognizing that the ability to sit still and meditate during the workday is good for employees.

A study conducted at the University of Washington found that those who had meditation training in the workplace were able to stay on task longer and were less distracted. Meditation also improved memory and alleviated stress.

Major companies are trying to capitalize on these benefits, incorporating meditation into their culture on a daily basis. Etsy's headquarters include a "breathing room" where digital devices are not allowed. The only furniture is a stack of mats. Google goes a step further by offering their staff mindfulness courses, including one called "Search Inside Yourself." At General Mills, there's a dedicated meditation room in every building of their vast campuses, and they offer all staff members weekly meditation sessions and yoga classes. They also teach "Mindful Leadership" to settle the mind and create a calmer, more productive workforce. And Zappo's, in addition to encouraging their team to meditate throughout the day, offers their employees EnergyPod chairs, massage chairs, regular wellness fairs, and on-site health screenings.

"Everyone gets stressed, so it's important to have ways to manage it in order to stay productive," explains Nico Pronk, Ph.D., F.A.C.S.M., F.A.W.H.P., president of HealthPartners Institute and chief science officer for HealthPartners. "Precision, accuracy, speed, and quality of work all suffer when people are stressed."

You guessed it: This benefits companies just as much as it benefits employees. "More productive employees create a more pleasant company culture and an increased bottom line," explains Steve Orma, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist and specialist in insomnia and anxiety. "This kind of culture attracts the most talented applicants, because they want to work in that kind of environment," he says. "Just look at all the perks companies like Google offer their employees and how that attracts the smartest people in the world."

If your company doesn't offer a quiet room (yet), then make it a priority to take 10 to 20 minutes every day to quiet your mind. Add it to your calendar. Go outside and sit on a bench to close your eyes, clear your head, and take deep breaths. Put on headphones and listen to a meditation on an app such as Calm or Headspaceyou can do it at your desk.

Continued here:

Why More Companies Are Incorporating Meditation Into the Workplace - Shape Magazine

I used to hate meditating. I hated the whole concept of just sitting in one place, not really moving, not really thinking about anything going on in my life.

However, time and time again, I have been put into situations where I am forced to try it out, and Im told, you were probably doing it wrong last time this time will be better!

Lies.

Every time, I tried my best to be loose, calm and relaxed, and every time I failed miserably to gain anything out of it besides frustration with myself for not being able to clear my mind.

I told myself I hated meditation because of how restrictive it was the fact that you arent really supposed to be thinking about your plans for the next couple of hours or what homework assignment is due soon stressed me out.

Every time I was put into a situation to try meditating, I resisted it because I thought it was causing me more stress.

Then, about a week ago, I heard something in my social psychology class that made me realize another reason I could be failing at meditation a reason that wasnt my fault.

We were talking about group influence and how the mere presence of others causes us to become aroused. As humans, we have varying levels of evaluation apprehension, meaning we naturally feel at least a little uneasy in the presence of others because we are concerned we are being evaluated by them.

This is when I realized that every single time that Ive been encouraged to try meditation, it has been in a group setting.

There was always at least one other person present every single time Ive tried to meditate.

Then I thought, what if I tried meditating alone? But then I realized I needed someone to guide me through the meditation (I wasnt just going to sit in silence with my eyes closed sitting crisscross applesauce) and gave up on the idea.

That is, until a Facebook advertisement popped up on my feed only hours later, advertising this app called Headspace a meditation app.

So I started using the app, and the 10-minute a day meditation sessions have actually been helping me de-stress to some extent.

The calm it brings me lasts for a few hours, but then I start getting back into my routine of overthinking everything and getting myself stressed out again, whether I consciously realize it or not.

I was on the phone with my brother the other night, telling him about how stressed Ive been lately. He believes that I am overextending myself, and so he challenged me to cut something out of my life in the next couple of weeks.

However, the thing is, theres nothing that Im spending time doing that I could ever cut out.

Everything Im doing Im doing with a purpose and a passion cutting any of it out of my life will surely make me feel less fulfilled, and so it wouldnt be worth it.

Then I got to thinking: what if my stress isnt coming from the number of activities Im doing, but just how Im going about my daily life? What if, instead of cutting things out of my life, I need to be adding in more stress-relieving activities, like meditating?

But meditating alone clearly isnt enough.

I was almost as busy as I am now when I was in high school, and I was stressed, but not to the point where it was affecting me as much as it is now. What was I doing differently?

-I read more paper books

-My time between classes was spent socializing, not staring at my phone screen

-I had study halls

- I took art classes

Ive always been good at adding new things to my plate and finding room in my schedule for new clubs, new classes and new friends.

I believe if I actively try to mix some of my old activities into my life, such as reading before bed instead of scrolling through Facebook, my stress levels will decrease.

According to a Telegraph article, a research study was conducted at Mindlab International at University of Sussex to see what activities generally believed to relieve stress actually worked.

The study, found that, out of reading, listening to music, drinking a cup of tea, taking a walk, or playing video games, reading relieves the most stress.

David Lewis, who conducted the test, said in the Telegraph article losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation.

So, I could think about meditation and reading as more time-consuming activities to add to my schedule, eat up my time and stress me out.

But, I could also see them as necessary breaks that allow me to take a step back from my hectic everyday life.

Read the rest here:

How I went from medihater to meditator - The Daily Collegian Online

Can meditation be beneficial to you? Art of Connection host Baya Voce says that most people know that mediation could help them, even if they don't practice it.

"I've dabbled in meditation, but never got all that into it until my fiance ended our engagement and my life as I knew it seemed to shatter in front of my face into what felt like a zillion pieces and lil ole Type A, semi-control freak, thought I had it all figured out, me.. all of the sudden had nothing figured out," she explained.

Baya said that through this experience she has turned to meditation, and doing so has been a game changer. She wants to share her new knowledge with viewers, soon April 1st she is starting a free 30 day meditation challenge for anyone who wants to join.

"I'll make sure you have all of the resources you need so it doesn't matter whether you're a beginner or a pro. You'll be introduced to an incredible community who also wants to better their lives, and you and I will get to talk once a week because I'll be hosting calls where I'll be teaching lessons, taking questions and we'll be swapping stories and miracles," Bayasaid.

Head to bayavoce.com to sign up.

If you found this episode helpful, please pass it on and make sure to head to bayavoce.com to sign up for the email list where you'll get The Art of Connection episodes in your inbox every week to support you in living the most fulfilled life you could possibly imagine.

Also visit http://www.Good4Utah.com/connection for a new weekly episode every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

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How this free 30 day day meditation challenge can help you - Good4Utah

The common people heard Him gladly, Mark 12:37.

It the context of this verse, Jesus was teaching in the temple. The scribes and the Pharisees were present, and they were questioning the deity of Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees had an outward appearance of being religious, but inwardly they were very proud and thought themselves to be better than others.

Common people are down-to-earth people who know that there is no difference between them and other people. Common people may be rich, poor or in between with regard to wealth.

To be common is to identify yourself with everyone else and to know that you are no better than any other person.

The common people heard Him gladly because they knew that they had sinned against God and that putting on religion was not the answer to their sin problem. They knew that they needed the Savior; for Jesus had said, I am not come to call the righteous (Jesus was speaking to the self-righteous Pharisees) but sinners to repentance, Matthew 9:13.

Common people, whether rich, poor or in between, know that they need to repent of their sins and accept God salvation.

You fill find Him in John 3:16.

Originally posted here:

GUEST MEDITATION - Common people - The Daily Progress