healthy lifestyle

10 Ingredients Vegans Should Avoid

If you’re following a strictly plant-based diet, you’re probably aware of how difficult it can be to decipher whether or not a packaged food is vegan. Many people assume that products that don’t contain meat, butter, cheese, or eggs are surely vegan; however, unfortunately, it is much more complicated than that.

Why Making Music Is Good For You

When we think about music composition, we’re often thinking about the finished product – the final song – rather than the process itself.  But composing music is a powerful tool of humanity that can improve one’s own life as well as the lives of others.  There are numerous health benefits to composing music.

Let’s take a closer look at one musician’s process, and then reflect on the health benefits that emerge from it.

Snoozing Your Way to Wellness

Life is but a dream, right?

Sleep is a naturally occurring state, where the body and the mind periodically enter a state of regulated restoration for another invigorating day. Sleep is in fact a very active process, regulated by different hormones, and a time when self-healing is in full effect.  To get the full benefits of sleep’s restorative and holistic healing power, you must observe a recurring quality sleep daily.

Superfood 101: Walnuts!

The walnut tree is found from the Balkans to China. It is a slow-growing tree, and its fruit has been eaten by Europeans for more than 8,000 years. The ancient Greeks began cultivating the trees and the practice spread throughout Europe. The walnut tree came to North America with the English settlers in the early 19th century –  and thus the walnut got its name the English walnut. Today the largest groves of walnut trees are found in Kyrgyzstan at high elevations.

3 Detoxing Waters to Hit the Reset Button

When I stopped drinking coffee, I found myself missing a hot beverage in the morning. Craving the robust flavor, I would try drinking only a few sips, having not had any coffee in a week. This was a bad idea. The uneasy, edgy feeling would hit me harder than having 3 cups in a day when I was an avid coffee drinker. Soon, I realized coffee and I no longer agreed.

Superfood 101: Maqui Berry!

Deep in the heart of Southern Chile in South America lives a group of indigenous people called the Mapuche. According to legend, the Mapuche warriors were able to resist the Spanish by consuming a fermented beverage that gave them strength and stamina. That fermented beverage came from the maqui berry.

3 Reasons To Eat Cranberries

Cranberries are more than just the lumpy, coagulated red side dish on your Thanksgiving dinner table, and certainly more than the name of a 90s rock band. These acidic red berries do more for your health, and perhaps more for your taste buds, than you think. Read on to find out why it’s worth it to take a second look at cranberries.

Superfood 101: Beets!

Love them or hate them, beets are an incredibly healthy root. Starchy, sweet, and bursting with nature's nutrients, beetroots are an ancient food with many purposes. Belonging to the same family as chard and spinach, they contain as many phytonutrients as well as the addition of long sought after plant pigments. If you find yourself beet curious, read on to satisfy your fascination.

Superfood 101: Blackstrap Molasses!

The production of molasses was developed in India in approximately 500 B.C.E.  Arab invaders brought the product to Spain, and a century later it came to the West Indies with Christopher Columbus. The British began cultivating sugar cane in Barbados in 1646, and by the end of the century molasses was a commodity. It is not clear when blackstrap molasses was first used for human consumption.

10 Ways Belly Dancing Can Boost Your Health

Some of the common conceptions of belly dancers are of temptation, seduction, and entertainment. Little do people know that the art of belly dance contains much more history and meaning than what the typical media often portrays. Believe it or not, along with having cultural richness, belly dance can be very healthy and beneficial for both men and women of all ages. As someone who practices this art, I want to share with you 10 beautiful health benefits of belly dancing.