California Calisthenics 2014
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The Best Way to Get a 6-Pack

8/7/2014

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Introduction
6 packs are awesome. For many, they are considered the hallmark of a great body (be it male or female). However, for generations, there has been an egregious misconception regarding the process in gaining six pack abs. 

Growing up, my parents and trainers all told me that if I wanted a six pack, I need to do sit ups. And so I did—every night I busted out 300 like I was some kind of shrimp in  water.

As I got older, workout magazines and articles told me that sit ups aren’t enough—If I really wanted washboard abs I needed to do plank holds, leg flutters, mason twists, and leg raises. And so for 4 years I did those at a gym almost every workout.

However, until recently, I never was able to get that perfectly chiseled midsection that would make heads turn at the beach. I mean, under the right lighting and circumstances, you could kinda see I had abs, but if the sky was overcast or the lighting was too bright, my stomach lines would be washed away into nothingness. 

This was weird because I knew I had a strong core. I could hold a 5 minute plank with good form, perform 20 toes to bar with perfect form, and bust out dragonflags for a full minute. Yet, I still wasn’t defined.

This infuriated me, as I wanted a stomach that was ripped under any condition. Too bright at the beach? Don’t matter, heads are still going to turn. Cloudy day? Sorry ‘bout it, I still look great. 
Enter Calisthenics
This last year, my midsection has evolved from “ok he is cut” to “damn he is ripped!”

How did I do it? The answer is a mixture of calisthenics and high intensity interval training (HIIT).

You can be a master of every type of ab exercise in the book—leg flutters, planks, mason twists, and still not have a six pack. Google image the guy that holds the world record for plank at something like 4 hours—he does not have a six pack! See, all these exercises do is strengthen you core, which is not synonymous with gaining an aesthetic six pack. Physiologically, strengthening you core involves building the muscles around your abdominals, obliques, and lower back. You can have the strongest core in the world, but if it is covered by a thick layer of fat, you will look like you have nothing.

The fat around your belly is preventing you from achieving god like abs.
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So the trick to washboard abs is cardio, right? Well not necessarily. You can do all the cardio you want and get down to a very low body fat—and still not have a good looking stomach. If you look at the majority of long distance runners, they either have a healthy layer fat as stored energy for those long runs, or are so skinny that you can see their abs, but in a not-so-healthy starving man kind of way. What we are looking for is increased size in the abdominals while having a low amount of belly fat around the midsection.

The absolute best way to do this via exercise is through High Intensity Interval Training. These scientific articles agree.

HIIT has been shown to burn almost twice as many calories as running and increase your metabolism two-fold. It addition to its fat-burning characteristics, if you use basic callisthenic movements when doing HIIT, you can strengthen muscle by breaking down muscle fibers in an extremely efficient way.
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You see, implementing HIIT is one of the only ways to simultaneously lose belly fat while gaining muscle. It is what stepped up my abdominal gains this year and you can use it too!

However, let it be known that maintaining a solid workout routine is only half of the picture in achieving a 6 pack. The other half is composed of eating healthy, nutrient rich foods and staying away from junk food. You can workout all day long-- if you eat high-fat, processed foods all day, you will find it hard to shed that belly fat that your body wants to hold on to. For more information on this, head on over to our nutrition section.

Once you establish a consistent nutrition plan, the easiest way I have found to work HIIT in my workouts is via a TABATA timer. Basically, it involves doing an exercise for 20 seconds while taking 10 seconds rest 8 times. 

In order to do it, simply download a TABATA timer on your smart phone, or visit this webpage for an easy to use one:  www.tabatatimer.com 
Here is a sample workout that you can do. Beware it is tougher than it looks!

1. Push ups
2. Alternating Jump Lunges
3. Pull Ups
4. Jump Squats
5. Inverted Rows
6. Leg Lifts
7. Dips

I try to do this workout at least once every 2 weeks, and let me tell you I am always sore the next day. Grab a friend, hit the park and get at it! Doing this with a partner is extremely motivating and you can push each other not to slow down. It is easier to chisel away at those abs with two people!
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Muscle Growth & Protein

8/7/2014

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Muscle's Balancing Act
We all know that the only way to build muscle is to use the muscle. This can be done through exercise or some other form of vigorous activity. More specifically, when using the muscle under high intensity, you are breaking down muscle proteins that will later be built back up stronger. The balance of these two processes, protein breakdown and protein synthesis, is referred to as homeostasis.

Muscle homeostasis occurs without exercise all the time to maintain proper muscle utilization and health. Exercise, on the other hand, challenges this balance and, depending on what you do, can stimulate muscle hypertrophy or muscle breakdown.  

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Think of it like a Teeter Totter or SeeSaw as seen in the image above. When the two processes (protein synthesis and protein breakdown) are in balance, the muscle is replenished; but ultimately, stays the same. Although, imbalance can cause either muscle loss or muscle growth.
How Do We Build Muscle?
The biggest external factor manipulating the process of protein breakdown is exercise. If "Protein Breakdown" outweighs "Protein Synthesis" then you will lose some muscle. Although your body will synthesize protein for the next 24-48 hrs after exercise, "Protein Synthesis" will maintain or lose to its counterpart "Protein Breakdown" without any external factors to help out. Conversely, if "Protein Synthesis" outweighs "Protein Breakdown" then we will build muscle. 
So How Do We Do That?The secret external factor to help you build muscle is DIETARY PROTEIN. Digestion of foods high in protein throughout the 24-48 hr period after exercise is essential to outweighing the amount of breakdown and building muscle. More specifically, within 30 minutes of exercising is the most vital time to consume protein since your muscles are broken down and exhausted. The best way to consume protein is by eating meats, nuts, eggs, and dairy products. 
Alternatively, protein powders and supplements can also feed your muscle hunger. New studies have even shown that Chocolate Milk can be one of the best post workout drinks available. The carbohydrate and protein combination in chocolate milk is exactly what your broken down muscles need to initiate proper synthesis of new muscle.

The limiting factor to this SeeSaw diagram is that you MUST have muscle breakdown before having muscle growth. So now, in order to build muscle, the diagram has a progression that looks like this:
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In Summary
Exercise causes breakdown, which then initiates synthesis. But, the next step in the progression is dependent on the protein available. Therefore, we have to consume enough dietary protein to outweigh the amount of breakdown and cause muscle growth. So eat up and beef up! 
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Nutrition & Evolution: What to Eat

8/7/2014

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Introduction
If you've been following this blog, then you remember my last post about the struggles with our ancestral systems and the present-day diet. If you haven't read the previous post, and are interested in doing so, click this link to be directed accordingly (Nutrition & Evolution: The Big Picture).

In a nutshell, the image above summarizes the nutritional problem we face today. Survival requires using food as energy. But, contrary to the past, food is abundant. This means we can receive sufficient amounts of energy from immediate food sources and our developed ability to store energy is outdated. 

Today, there is very little use for storing energy as fat, but our bodies do it anyway! So, how do we fix it?

The Solution
The best, but most difficult solution to this dilemma is time. Time can and will supply evolution the means for eliminating this vestigial process. Some people are already experiencing this. It isn't a secret that some people are genetically incapable of storing fat and, unfortunately, others are. For those that are stuck in the later (most of the population), we need to find other means to stay healthy without preserving energy as fat for later
If we can't (necessarily) control the way our bodies function and metabolize food, then we need to focus on the part of the process that we can control, food. Take a good look again at the equation presented in the title image. What the image doesn't present is the important fact that the equation operates in succession. Meaning, digested food is first metabolized efficiently; and then, the excess is stored for later use! Therefore, by controlling what we eat, we can limit the amount of food going into fat and help speed up the disappearance of this evolutionary setback. This is the theory! So how do we turn this theory into practice?
In order to completely limit this outdated process we need to understand the factors of food that control what is being outpoured into our fat storage system:

1) How much we eat (quantity)         &         2) What we eat (nutrient density)
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                       Quantity Guide
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How Much We Eat
One of the most true statements in the world is, "Too much of anything, is bad" by Mark Twain. Mr. Twain follows this statement with a comical line that I will leave for you to pursue if you are interested, but this statement fits completely into the scheme I am presenting. You see, even if you are eating the right things, too much of it can be excessive to metabolize, causing your body to store it as fat. Overeating is one of the most prominent elements of obesity, especially here in the U.S. The National Health Service recommends eating 2000-2500 calories a day just to maintain your weight. That many calories can easily be met in one meal. Here is an image from an earlier post I did about relative serving sizes and if you are unsure where you stand when it comes to quantity and nutrition, you should try a calorie counter to help put things into perspective.

What We Eat
Now lets talk about the food we need to eat. Here at CALIsthenics we define "good food" as food that is high in nutrition. But, this can be misconceived, because some foods are high in nutrition but also high in other "useless" substances. For example, potatoes have a lot of vitamins and nutrition in their skin, but the majority of the food is actually starchy chains of sugar. This means that our body will efficiently metabolize all of the materials that are of nutritious value, but the excess, unused materials in the potato will overflow into the second part of the equation to be stored as fat. For this reason we want to focus specifically on foods that are nutrient dense! 
The ANDI Score
The ANDI Score is a scoring system used to rank foods per calorie. These are the nutrient dense foods that we want to cater our diets to since they can provide the most "bang for our buck". If we are ingesting the right foods, then we can limit the amount of "excess" calories that will outflow into the second half of our equation, fat storage. 

In Conclusion
Eating right is as much about the amount you eat, as it is about what you eat. The important thing to realize is that, although we are predisposed to store fat, we can control it. When eating right, you'd be surprised how many little calories you need to sufficiently supply your body. Being healthy is about understanding these mechanisms and then practicing them. Attached are some links with a greater list of foods and their ANDI Score for your own interest:
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-http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php
-http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/healthy-eating/health-starts-here/resources-and-tools/top-ten-andi-scores

So make the change today! There is an alternative healthy food to every unhealthy food out their. Find a way to eat right and counter the outdated system of storing fat for good. As always, please feel free to leave any comments, questions, or concerns and I will do my best to address them. 
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Nutrition & Evolution: The Big Picture

8/7/2014

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Introduction
Our nutritional guidelines are based on the principles that our bodies have evolved from that of a hunter/gatherer. If we reflect on the lifestyle and environment of that time, we can then better understand the conflict between our body systems, which mimic our ancestral origins, and the present day nutrition. Think about it...Survival of the fittest is one the basic principle of human nature, whether you are in the past or the present. The difference is in what is required to survive.


The Past
In the past, shelter, protection, and strength (among others) were all important elements of staying alive; but, by far, the most valuable component of surviving was food. Sufficient amounts of it exemplified the fittest survivors. Food was scarce and our ancestors would spend their entire existences hunting for it or growing it. They didn't have the convenience of a grocery store within a few blocks of their house. There were far too many days that our ancestors went without eating food. Therefore, it became essential to our survival that we develop a new system to survive under these conditions. 
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So, after hundreds of thousands of years, our bodies evolved to account for the scarcity of food. First, our body systems adapted to optimize the efficiency of our metabolism. This way we could absorb the maximum amount of nutrition from the little food we received. Beyond that, we needed something to get us threw days of zero consumption. You can already probably guess where I am going with this. Next, evolution gave us the ability to store energy for later use as fat. Consequently, our body had a backup system to ensure survival on days without food. 
The Present
Today, survival is still dependent on food, but survival of the fittest is not. Food is now abundant. It is seen and accessible around every corner. Food's value in our nature to survive has been diminished. It no longer holds the value it had in the past. As a society, we have accepted this, but biologically our systems are still set in the conditions of our ancestors.

The Big Problem
Here in lies the problem. Storing energy as fat has no purpose in today's food enriched world. It is a lingering process of our past that now serves harmful implications in today's society. Unfortunately, evolution hasn't had sufficient time to correct this, so we are forced to embrace this damaging process and fight it ourselves. How? Well, since we cannot change our predisposed system to store energy, we must target the materials that initiate its functioning, the food we eat. We need to be aware of the food we are putting into our body and its ramifications.
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Look out for my next blog post on how to limit this ancestral process. I'll go into detail about the right food to eating and how much of it you should be eating. And, as always, feel free to post any questions on this topic that you would like me to address. 
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Calisthenics Misconception #1: Not Enough Resistance

7/25/2013

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Introduction
One of the biggest misconceptions with calisthenics is that it doesn't provide enough resistance for ample muscle breakdown; and therefore, muscle gain. Intuitively, this makes sense since the only form of resistance is your body weight and, for the most part, your body weight doesn't change. The BIG misconception with this theory is:

 THE AMOUNT OF RESISTANCE DOESN'T DICTATE THE AMOUNT OF MUSCLE GROWTH

To truly understand this misconception I must first explain a little about the different types of muscle fibers and the motor units that stimulate them.
Muscle Fiber & Muscle Contraction Overview
As depicted by the different colors in the picture to the right, there are

 3 types of muscle fibers:

1: Slow twitch: small; produce low amounts of force but don't fatigue over time

2: Fast twitch: big; produce high amounts of force but fatigue quickly


3: Intermediate twitch: medium: can be trained to contain beneficial properties of slow and fast twitch fibers. (These fibers are very unique and can be further discussed in another blog post)
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Furthermore, these fibers are recruited to contract based on The Size Principle, which states that small fibers are recruited first and bigger fibers in succession based on the amount of force required. Check out the graph to left for a visual orientation of this theory. 


Now that you have a basic understanding of this concept we can continue to discuss the BIG misconception of calisthenics.

The Weight Lifting Argument

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Knowing The Size Principle, weight lifters conclude that if they lift the heaviest weights, then they will cover the full spectrum of muscle fibers from slow to fast. It turns out that this statement is true. But because of this belief and your body weight being the highest amount of resistance one can obtain in a calisthenics workout, weight lifters have come to think that calisthenics can only take them so far in their training. The problem is that the rapidly drastic climb of excitation from slow to fast fibers makes you really susceptible to injury. Where weight lifters fault is that, again, force isn't the limiting factor of fiber recruitment, so there are safer ways to workout the entire spectrum of fibers in the muscle.
The Answer: Maximal Effort
Regardless of whether your doing calisthenics, weight lifting, yoga, or any other type of exercise, if you want to get the most out of it you have to complete it with maximum effort. Dr. Ralph N. Carpinelli confirms this statement through his writing in the Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness, volume 6, number 2, 2008. He shows that the factor controlling muscle fiber recruitment is effort, which starts in the brain. By pushing your body to its limits, you are requiring more and more motor fibers to be recruited till they are all exhausted. Carpinelli shows that doing 20 reps of an exercise or 8 reps with higher weight have no significant difference in strength or physical outcome. So why risk injury. 
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The moral of this blog isn't that weight lifting is wrong, or even that calisthenics is right.The moral is that regardless of what type of exercise you are doing, effort dictates all, so push yourself beyond what you think you are capable, always tell yourself you can do one more, and never stop growing.

*For a short and easy summary of Carpinelli's writing check out this link: http://www.cbass.com/Carpinelli.htm 
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Carbohydrates Unveiled

7/13/2013

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All the contradicting information surfacing about carbohydrates has created a mass confusion. It is true that carbs are calorie heavy foods that if abused can lead to obesity and other health problems, but by no means are carbs "the enemy".

Eating carbohydrates is all about eating the right types of carbs. Unfortunately, most of the carbohydrate foods surrounding us are the ones we need to be avoiding. These are called simple carbohydrates. We need to be eating the second classification of carbohydrates. complex. So lets dig in! Let's learn the good, bad, and everything else about these two important classifications. 
Simple Carbohydrates
Also known as refined sugars or empty carbs, these types of carbs get these names because of their immediate digestion into the blood stream as sugar. Simple carbs contain little fiber, vitamins, and nutrients. They are primarily a source of calories with little nutritional benefit. In addition, the rapid breakdown of these carbs into sugar in the bloodstream can lead to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. We highly recommend you limit the consumption of these carbohydrates. the problem is they are everywhere. Candy, fast food, white bread & rice, pastas, and foods with refined white flour surround us. Like the "forbidden fruit" these foods taste delicious and tempt us everywhere, but their consumption is ultimately harmful to our bodies.
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Complex Carbohydrates
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Also known as starches, these carbs get their name from their long strands of sugar linked together. Unlike simple carbohydrates, these long strands take a long time to breakdown, only dispersing little amounts of sugar into the bloodstream at a time. They are also nutritionally rich with vitamins, nutrients, and fiber, all of which add to the digestion process. Because of this elaborate digestion, you will become full quicker and stay full for a longer amount of time. Complex carbohydrates come from the earth, most commonly found in fruits and vegetables. These types of carbs are also found in legumes and whole-grain breads and cereals. Eating good carbs can make you eat less calories while still fulfilling your nutritious thresholds. So eat the right types of carbs and experience the benefits of a healthy diet.
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Why Eat Breakfast

6/21/2013

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Your Body's Response to Sleep
How many of you wake up in the morning looking like the toddler to the right? Although it is very comical, this little guy's appearance is a good reflection of what is going on in your body when you wake up. Regardless of all the benefits you receive from a good night of sleep, in the end it is still 7-9 hours of no food. Hunger then leads to a slew of hormonal responses that cause irritability, fatigue, and many other unattractive qualities. But, for the relevance of this post, lets focus on energy consumption and storage. 
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You see, our bodies have gotten so advanced to where they now anticipate situations, like starvation. After a full night of fasting, our bodies go into a starvation mode in preparation for more hours without food. The biggest effect is with Insulin, the hormone responsible for pulling sugar out of the blood to be consumed as energy in the cells. When in starvation mode, your insulin receptors are numbed so that the liver can store sugar as fat for later energy use.
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How Breakfast Solves This Response
Although the obvious solution seems to somehow prevent this starvation mode, it isn't that easy. First, the benefits of sleep are far more superior and shouldn't be interrupted to feed your body (A topic for another post). Second, sleep and no food throughout the night has become a biological part of human development. The solution is to wake up and "break the fast", breakfast! 
Studies have shown that insulin resistance while fasting is time dependent. The longer you fast, the more resistant your insulin receptors become, causing more fat storage and less sugar consumption. 
It turns out that eating a breakfast around 6-9am is the ideal amount of fasting before insulin resistance is overly compromised. When you skip breakfast and don't eat anything till lunch, the resulting amount of fat storage can be dramatic. And continued insulin resistance can lead to Type II Diabetes in the future.


So eat some breakfast, even if it is just a little bit. The consumption will jumpstart proper metabolism and end the dramatic response of starvation in the body. Skipping breakfast amplifies the negative responses to fasting, leaves you feeling tired and fatigued, and predisposes you to future health problems like Type II Diabetes. "Break the Fast" and stay healthy.
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Spinach & Exercise

6/11/2013

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The Power of Spinach
I'm sure you already knew that spinach was good for you. It follows the rule we have been told time after time as kids, " The greener the food, the better it is for you." This statement couldn't be more true for this leafy green. Spinach is packed full of tons of vitamins and nutrients. In addition, it also contains dietary fiber and protein. What more could you ask for? Well, it turns out that new studies in sweden are revealing that spinach also can provide huge gains in exercise performance.
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Old Fallacies Become New Truths
It turns out that Popeye was right! Remember this tv show from the 1960's. Popeye would guzzle down a can of spinach right before he engaged in a tussle. The spinach, when consumed, would make Popeye's muscles grow and increase his energy, ultimately resulting in Popeye's victory. According to this new study in Sweden, this fictional show wasn't far off from spinach's effect on the body. This study showed that the abundance of nitrates in spinach works on the mitochondria to make them work more efficiently. What does that mean? It means during exercise your muscles are producing the same workloads while consuming less oxygen. The result is you can lift more, run longer, and push yourself to higher limits.
So How Do I Eat It?
The most common way of eating spinach is in a salad, but there are many other options for making this leaf a part of your diet. When cooked, spinach shrivels up and since it has little flavor, it can go unnoticed in almost any meal. Put it in your scrambled eggs or your veggie stir fry. Try to eat a little bit of spinach 3 times a week to help you climb the ladder of health.
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Control Your Diet

6/7/2013

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Introduction
Just the other day I was talking to a friend about my healthy lifestyle and they asked me, "Do you really watch what you eat?" Me, being the awkward fitness professional that I am, replied by saying, "No, I don't watch what I eat. I control what I eat!" Yes, it sounds really cheesy and the two statements do sound very similar, but their subtle differences can have a huge effect on your new healthy lifestyle.
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"Watch what you eat"
What is the first thing you think of when you hear that someone watches what they eat? I immediately imagine a person opening up their full fridge, cupboard, or pantry and only being able to eat about 10% of what is in it. This is typical for the average person going on a diet. They still have the remainders of what they used to eat, and are forced to rummage through it each time they make a healthy meal. The problem with this is you are constantly tempted by the sugary, unhealthy foods that your body craves. It is for these reasons that diets are often broken and don't end up lasting.


Semantically, watching what you eat implies an endpoint. "Watching" is an action that can only be done for so long. There is no implied intention of continuing this action. Sadly, this is what usually happens with dieters who "watch what they eat". They will eat healthy and lose weight for the time being, but return to their former size once they break their diet.
"Control what you eat"
On the other hand, what is the first thing you think of when you hear that someone controls what they eat? Yes, you could think their crazy. All fitness people are, but control means that you are in command of the food around you and the food isn't in command of you. Controlling what you eat means you purchase foods that you will eat and nothing more. This way the tempting foods aren't even available to tempt you. It is about making a lifestyle change and sticking with it.
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The Power of Chia Seeds

5/23/2013

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History
This is a super seed that comes from the dessert plant Salvia Hispanica. It grows abundantly in souther Mexico and was originally a key element in the Aztec and Mayan nutrition. Since those times, chia seeds have mostly been forgotten. But, recently they have found there way back into our culture. Chia Seeds first gained recognition for its rapid development of plant-like hair in the novelty gardening toy called "The Chia Pet". Although entertaining and amusing, the chia seeds' recent resurgence has higher potential in benefiting daily life.
Benefits of Chia Seeds
1 tablespoon of chia seeds has the raw nutritional value of an entire meal. It contains:
-The same amount of Omega-3 Fatty Acids as a 9 oz piece of salmon
-The same amount of Antioxidants as 15 grams of blueberries
-The same amount of Dietary Fiber as 2 cups of rasberries
-The same amount of Protein as 44 grams of kidney beans
-The same amount of Calcium as 3 oz of whole milk
-The same amount of Magnesium as 73 grams of spinach
-The same amount of Iron as 103 grams of spinach
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Omega-3 Fatty Acids
The most valuable part of chia seeds is its Omega-3 contents. Omega-3's are an essential fatty acid, meaning the body can't produce it and the only way to obtain it is through our diet. The problem is that Omega-3's are very sparse in our normal diets. Most people fill this void through eating fish and some nut oils. Now you can eat chia seeds! 

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential to brain functioning and can help prevent heart disease, arthritis, and, even cancer. Stay tune for more on this 
topic in a later blog post! 
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How to Eat Them
Now that you know how great chia seeds are, here is how you can incorporate them into your diet. Chia seeds are most commonly spread over oatmeals, cereals, yogurts, shakes, or salads, but their small size and faint taste allows you to through them into almost anything without noticing a difference. Chia seeds also have a gel form after sitting in fluids for about 5 minutes. This is part of the reason why they digest so slow and leave you feeling full for a long time. It is also the reason why they go undetected in yogurt, oatmeal, and some shakes. So mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds into your daily life and feel the benefits. 
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