Tag: 7 day vegan challenge

The 7 Day Vegan Challenge at Kelly Athletics is a vegan recipe plan! Get a plant-based grocery list, along with a whole foods plant based menu for two weeks. Get 1-on-1 support from a vegan Holistic Nutritionist to make going vegan that much easier!  Sign up today and get your vegan meal plan directly to your inbox!

Follow the 7 day vegan challenge to easily go vegan without the hassle of meal planning on your own. Included is a plant-based grocery list and vegan menu.

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Best Oil for Dry Skin

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If you have atopic dermatitis, dry skin, or skin trauma you may want to switch to this topical oil.

Many people rely on chemical-laden lotions and medicated ointments to treat their skin problems. While these strong chemicals can work at healing the skin quickly, it can strip your skin of its natural oils. Losing natural oils and peeling away the top layer of skin can expose you to more outside irritants. This can be problematic leading to chronic inflammation or higher risk of disease.  Surprisingly, coconut oil is not the best oil for our skin (but it does come close).

And the Winner is... Sesame Oil!

Here are the top 5 health benefits of using Sesame Oil on your skin:

Fights Germs

Sesame oil acts like an antimicrobial.

Lowers Disease Risk

Its lignans are high in antioxidants.

Heals Wounds

Those with trauma experience less pain.

Protects Against UV

Protect yourself from UV ray exposure.

Chemopreventive

Protects against skin cancer with sesamol.

It is not only delicious in salad and stir fry, but sesame is the best oil for skin! Using it can help protect you from airborne irritants, in addition to being a great moisturizer.  Essential oils and dry flowers can even be added to your carrier sesame oil. I personally love the smell and effects of calendula flowers and lavender essential oils because they both aid in healing dry, cracked skin. You can infuse the flowers into the oil then add drops of lavender.

Sesame oil contains linoleic acid which has antimicrobial properties to fight germs. Lignans are a key component of sesame oil, which houses antioxidants that absorb easily into the skin. Sesame oil beats out other plant oils because it’s shown to have wound healing, anti-aging, and chemo preventive properties as well. View the reference link to compare numerous plant oils, then you’ll see why sesame is the best oil for skin. Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5796020/

Sesame Carrier Oil

Start with the best topical carrier oil.

Calendula Flowers

Infuse flowers in the oil.

Lavender Essential Oil

Add this healing essential oil.

Hi, I’m Kelly Gibson. I am a Holistic Nutritionist with a focus in natural remedies for health issues, like skin rashes!  I specialize in plant-based nutrition for weight loss and wellness.  If you’re looking for a vegan nutritionist who can educate you on skin health or plant-based diets, request a consultation today!  I work with customers as an online nutritionist. I also travel local to Tempe Arizona, Chandler Arizona, Scottsdale Arizona, Phoenix Arizona, Ahwatukee Arizona, Gilbert Arizona and Mesa Arizona. As an in-home nutritionist and personal trainer, I bring the nutrition and wellness to YOU! Get started here.

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Lion’s Mane Benefits for Brain and Nerves

How to Support Your Brain and Nerves

Lion's mane is a medicinal mushroom with numerous health benefits. It has been shown to regenerate nerve cells, heal nerve damage, and improve cognition. One study showed that 3 grams of powder was separated into multiple capsules daily for a few months. The results show that it can offer brain benefits to ease dementia symptoms.

Mushroom Elixirs

A sweet coffee lion's mane elixir for energy and mental clarity.

Lion's Mane Capsules

Add a daily dose to your morning supplementation routine.

Protein Powder

Enjoy powdered mushroom in a creamy vanilla protein shake.

Dementia Destroys the Brain and Nerves

When I was 18, I lost someone special in my life to dementia.  My great grandmother, Elizabeth (she went by "Granny Lee"). She was a beautiful woman inside and out, and an incredible Italian cook! She loved having her grandchildren and great grand babies visit her. I was fairly young, but I can remember her first telltale signs of dementia. She became forgetful and agitated more frequently. She started to tell  confusing stories, but for a while she kept her enthusiasm and charisma. After a few years, her mental health declined, and she lost her sense of self. She even forgot who we were - her daughters included. Eventually, she lost muscular control and could no longer feed herself.

Learn about Lion's Mane Benefits

Had I only known about Lion's Mane benefits at the time, I would have pleaded for her to use it! It turns out, lion's mane boosts and maintains memory, neurotransmitters, brain function, and intelligence. It is a smart herb tonic. Using it can promote nerve growth and relieve nerve pain.  An amazing superfood like lion's mane can reduce the risk of diseases. It supports nerve and brain diseases like Alzheimer's, dementia, Multiple Sclerosis, and Fibromyalgia. The ingestion methods for this medicinal mushroom is to add it to food, tincture, or tea to experience lion's mane benefits.

Lion's mane can also be used for healing digestion and ulcers.  It can even improve debility and fatigue. You don't need to have something wrong with you to use lion's mane, though. Mushrooms are preventative, so you can reduce the risk of cognitive issues and support brain health with lion's mane. Promote longevity with this immune-boosting edible mushroom. This superfood mushroom even supports the heart, blood, and inflammatory response. Isn't it amazing that a single medicinal mushroom can be used for so many health benefits?

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Non-Diet Keto: How to Get into Ketosis without Food

Non-Diet Keto: How to Get into Ketosis without Food

Did you know that the keto diet is an artificial way to get into ketosis? Ketosis is most naturally induced by fasting – not by eating! Fast, you say? Yes! Fasting is a non-diet state of restriction in which food is given up altogether for short periods of time, historically done for spiritual reasons or to cleanse the body of impurities. During fasting, people report burning fat much quicker than any diet on the planet. How?

Because without any food intake, the digestive system takes a break and our ketone levels rise, allowing the body to focus on fat burning. (Medical Disclaimer: I am not suggesting you change your diet or stop eating; I am simply sharing information based on scientific studies on fasting. Do not attempt fasting or the keto diet without talking to your physician first.)

fasting-no-food-ketosis-autophagy

Fasting = no food.

Fasted Ketosis: People have reported entering ketosis in as little as 16 hours on a dry fast (no food or water) and within 72 hours on a water fast (no food just water). While there are benefits of being in ketosis from fasting, carb restriction is not the same; digestion is still in full force when eating. Eating anything at all may slow down the process and therefore reduce the benefits. Also, ketones from low carb diets can increase blood acidity, leading to poor athletic performance, coordination, and concentration (Skolnik 16).

The animal-based foods included in a ketogenic diet contain massive amounts of cholesterol, saturated fat, omega 6 fatty acids, and in some cases too much protein, which is known to cause health problems long-term such as fatty liver disease and insulin resistance (2).

Fasting Benefits: Fasting is so powerful that it has been shown to slow the growth of cancer tumors and improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy leading to long-term survival (3). People also report healing their bodies from various ailments during fasts. Fasting is something people use for other health benefits like wound healing and emotional healing, but this natural therapy is done through a process called autophagy. In simple terms, autophagy is a mechanism at the cellular level in which cells “clean” themselves to detoxify and achieve homeostasis.

Autophagy seemingly protects healthy cells while causing death of unwanted cells (4). Since toxins tend to be released during autophagy, it is quite common for beginners to feel unwell during this stage of fasting. (It may help to take Epsom salt baths and drink lots of water if you experience toxic build-up). While fasting, you can experience autophagy within the first 24 hours without even being in ketosis.

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Fasting enhances the effects of chemotherapy and extends cancer survival rates.

Why it’s Better: It is uncertain whether a ketogenic diet can induce autophagy since the digestive system is still in action, but autophagy is the reason fasting can be good for you! You can experience the benefits of autophagy by practicing intermittent fasting without eliminating carbohydrates from your diet. Eating carbs between fasts will not take away the benefits of autophagy but eating unhealthy food can disrupt healing.

If you want to get into ketosis while intermittent fasting, you can stick to low-carb foods during your eating window or fast for longer time periods. As described in the previous article, vegan keto is the healthiest type of keto diet due to its higher nutrient density and reduced risk of illness.

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Water helps remove toxins from our bodies during a fasted state. It is very important to stay hydrated before, during, and after prolonged fasts.

Starvation

You might be wondering “Isn’t fasting the same thing as starving yourself?” Essentially, fasting is a form of starvation – but only temporarily as the body heals itself from ailments and utilizes fat for energy. Our bodies naturally go into ketosis, in order to have energy to find food when unable to eat. We naturally turn away food when we are sick because our bodies want to heal quicker. It seems like the keto diet is not a natural way of life, because you would be forcing yourself to avoid the very foods your body wants and needs – carbohydrates.

Ketosis

Ketosis should only take place for short periods of time WHEN you are sick or WHEN you have no access to food. Forcing your body into a prolonged state of ketosis (especially without ongoing autophagy) likely will have undesirable side effects. However, fasting on an intermittent schedule for health reasons is safer than carb avoidance through low carb dieting. Water fasting can be beneficial to our bodies if we want to experience ketogenic healing, allowing the water to flush out toxins (without putting new toxins in). Much of the weight loss experienced during ketosis can include water weight. This can be regained after a fast or when discontinuing a keto diet.

Discover if fasting is safe for you – on the next page:

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References:

  1. Heidi Skolnik and Andrea Chernus. “Nutrient Timing for Peak Performance.” Human Kinetics. Published 2010.
  2. Christophe Kosinski and Fracois R Jornayvaz. “Effects of Ketogenic Diets on Cardiovascular Risk Factors: Evidence from Animal and Human Studies.” MDPI Nutrients – Open Access Journal of Human Nutrition. Published May 19, 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5452247/ Accessed on August 2, 2018.
  3. Lee, L. Raffaghello, S. Brandhorst, F.M. Safdie, G.Bianchi, A. Martin-Montalvo, V. Pistoia, M. Wei, S.Hwang, A. Merlino, et al. “Fasting cycles retard growth of tumors and sensitize a range of cancer cell types to chemotherapy”. Sci. Transl. Med., 4 (2012), p. 124ra127. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22323820. Accessed August 1 2018.
  4. Maryam Mehrpour, Audrey Esclatine, Isabelle Beau, and Patrice Codogno.“Autophagy in health and disease. 1. Regulation and significance of autophagy: an overview.” American Journal of Physiology – Cell Physiology. Published April 1, 2010.