Health And More With These 4 Flavonol Benefits

The flavonols are a group of health boosting phytonutrients that can be found in fruits, vegetables and tea. They have been linked with cancer prevention, reduced inflammation and more. In this article I will be taking a detailed look at these plant based nutrients and outlining 4 key flavonol benefits.
1) BOOSTING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH:
Mental health is often neglected when it comes to health and fitness. People often focus on how healthy eating will affect the way they look but they never consider the effect that certain foods can have on their mental health. Eating the flavonols can give your brain a serious boost by preventing depression and possibly treating mental disorders.
2) PREVENTING CANCER:
Cancer is a seriously unpleasant disease which causes your cells to grow in a rapid, uncontrollable way. Ultimately, this leads to the formation of a tumour which may become cancerous. If the tumour does become cancerous it damages the surrounding cells and moves to other areas of the body. The good news is that 1 of the brilliant flavonol benefits is cancer prevention. Research has revealed that these health boosting nutrients all have cancer fighting properties and can protect you from this nasty disease.
3) REDUCING INFLAMMATION:
Inflammation is a controlled process where your body responds to infection, injury, irritation or stress. It causes the affected areas to become hot, painful, red and swollen as your body fixes the problem. Whilst it is unpleasant, in most cases inflammation is a good sign as it shows your body has responded and is dealing with any potential damage. However, sometimes an external factor causes unnecessary inflammation which is dangerous and can also damage your body's cells. Fortunately, the flavonols can help you avoid this by acting as anti-inflammatories (substances that reduce unnecessary inflammation in the body).
4) STRENGTHENING YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM:
The immune system is 1 of the most important protective structures in your body. It keeps you safe from diseases, foreign bodies and infections. Another of the amazing flavonol benefits is that they can strengthen this impressive system and improve your ability to fight disease and infection which can help you stay healthy and disease free all year round.
SUMMARY:
The flavonols are a brilliant example of the power of plant based foods. Not only are fruits, nuts and vegetables rich in essential vitamins and minerals but they are also a brilliant source of non-essential, health boosting nutrients such as flavonols. Apples, almonds, berries, peppers, spinach and tea are all excellent sources of these plant based foods. So have a look at the list and make sure you consume at least some of these foods on a regular basis.

Weight Loss and Fitness

I'm under the impression that the health and fitness world wants to keep the information that I'm about to tell you as a guarded secret. Why? So we don't lose our jobs! If everyone one knows what's new and hot in the industry, who needs to fitness professional, right?

Well, I'm willing to take the chance and actually give you the information--burst the bubble and tell you what the buzz is in our little world--so you can get a quick start in 2007 on your fitness and health goals and get yourself in the shape you've always dreamed of.

There's always new and incredible products on the market and believe me some of these things are absolutely awesome! But others, as I'm sure you know are complete duds... how many of you still have the Thigh Master?

Which diet should you try? Which supplements should you buy? Where is everyone exercising this year?

This year it looks like some of the old standbys, I mean thousand year old standbys, are in, while some of the fads of 2006 are fading fast--soon to be outdated and replaced with what REALLY works!

So without further ado, here's a list of what's in for 2006 and what is old new from 2005.

Atkins is OUT

Sorry, no more pepperoni and sausage pizzas sans crust. The Atkins company went under last year after operating briefly without it's fearless leader, Dr. Robert Atkins, who died of complications from a fall on the ice in 2004... which certainly is something I've always found fishy... considering the heart risks that come with his diet. Could something like an MI cause a sudden collapse on a slippery sidewalk? Hmmm.

The Atkins Diet helped people lose record weight, but also caused greasy skin, raised cholesterol and increased the chance of the yo-yo diet by promoting a way of eating that at best could be called "grossly unnatural".

Raw Foods IN!

Carol Alt is our new leader. The raw food revolution has taken its hold due to her persistent work and promotion. More people are recognizing the benefits of raw foods and how they can increase your health.

Diets full of raw foods--30-40% is OK, 50-60% is excellent--will help lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, regulate blood sugar levels, help you lose weight and get you healthy in no time.

What's so special about uncooked foods? Much of the cooked and packaged foods we eat are completely depleted of nutrients because of the way they are prepared. Raw foods not only keep the nutrients intact--just as nature wanted--they also carry live enzymes that your body needs for great health and fitness.

Get out and buy a book or two on how to cook (sorry... "prepare"!) raw foods, incorporate them into your diet once a day and you'll see the difference immediately!

Bench Press OUT

Sorry, Muscleheads, the bench press is old news. Keep piling on the weight and watch your shoulders and rotator cuff disintegrate. Other exercises that are definitely out for the recreational lifter are: Leg Curls (Quad and Hamstring), Dead Lift and Military Press.

Each of these exercises are too often abused and cause a large number of gym injuries every year.

If you do them, be sure you have a trained fitness professional help you with your form... but even then be wary, they were most likely trained in the old school.

Body Weight Exercises IN!

Could you believe that exercises over 5000 years old could be making a comeback?!?!

There's a reason they are still around... they work!!!

Exercises like the Upward Dog/Downward Dog, Hindu Squat, and the Sun Salute are coming back big time because exercise professionals have seen their benefits over and over and over again.

These exercises don't isolate, they give you a full body workout stimulating all your muscle groups, your GI system, your nervous system and your heart. Talk about efficiency!

Hydrogenated Oils OUT!

No more Trans-Fats! We won't take it anymore!

For those of you who don't know, trans-fats or hydrogenated oils are what the big food companies have been putting in your snack foods since the 1960's to extend the shelf life of their products.

These are modified oils that can take a serious toll on the body--scaring arteries and causing heart disease.

You body reads these fats just like it would other fats and distributes them accordingly... problem is, the trans-fats don't do the same functions that the regular fats do... in fact they do NOTHING except hang around and clog your arteries.

Next time you pick up any packaged food, look at the ingredients. If you see hydrogenated oils (or partially) put it down and try a new product without them! Beware, this might be a trying task. Many of the foods we eat have been loaded with this stuff for years.

But if you stick it to the trans-fats, your body will thank you!

Cod Liver Oil... IN!

You heard me right. Cod Liver Oil is IN!

Your grandmother might be proud to hear it... but many people think gross, gross and more gross!

But what's great is that you can get the oil in pill form for those of you how don't like the thought of swigging a tablespoon of this miracle oil every morning.

Why is it good for you?

Vitamin E and Omega 3 Oils are essential for your circulation and lower your risk of cardiovascular disease! Good fats work wonders for your heart.

Zumba Workout And Fitness And Its Origins

Zumba has been the word on many of people's lips as of late, be it on the news, on the internet or in the passing conversation heard at work whilst enjoying your coffee. You might be forgiven for believing that Zumba it is just another obscure fringe form of dance or some fad out of Hollywood, but think again Zumba is a tangible and highly accessible new form of dance based workout. It is a workout and fitness achieving tool for achieving better health and what is more is highly enjoyable and allows you to meet new people through dance and that is always a good thing in my book. Zumba unlike many other forms of dance is free from the convention of having to partner up with someone and hence no need to feel the embarrassment and shyness some people experience when first taking up ballroom or Latin dance forms; moreover this means you don't need to do Zumba with a partner or have to worry about finding someone to dance with and we all know asking someone to dance takes some bravery when not accustomed to doing it.

So to surmise Zumba is a brilliant workout, it improves fitness and general health and is a great way to get off the sofa and out of the house and to enjoy and achieve the fitness and health you have always wanted.

Where did Zumba originate from? Zumba is attributed to being contrived by Alberto "Beto" Perez a native of Cali Columbia, Alberto was during the mid-1990's a fitness and aerobics instructor and taught the traditional moves associated with his craft and had done this for a while. But as with some things they just seem to happen out of nothing; a happy accident if you will. Alberto one day left his usual aerobics music at home and instead had to improvise the music for his class. What Alberto did was use mix tapes of the music he that he grew up with such as Salsa and Merengue, and as if by magic Alberto had come up with a new way to dance to music and one that allowed the music to truly inspire how you moved. Thus Zumba as a dance inspired workout and fitness regime was born and a new way to achieve health and fitness and have fun whilst doing it had arrived.

In 1999 Alberto bought Zumba to America and was approached by businessmen Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion, they together decided upon the brand name Zumba Fitness and trademarked the name Zumba. In the following years Zumba's potential as a workout and fitness program really came into its own. DVD's were launched and with the Zumba Fitness Party brand really becoming widely known saw the first academy set up to train new instructors to teach this new dance inspired fitness phenomena. In 2008 the widely successful Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD was realised featuring Alberto Perez himself along with new Zumba Fitness stars Tanya Beardsley and Gina Grant. More recently for all the video game enthusiasts (myself included) a Zumba Fitness game was launched on all the major game consoles, the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

You Don't Need to Feel Good to Feel Good

You have probably heard the old saying, "It takes money to make money."
It is absolutely true that if you already have some money, you can use it to make more.
However, what do the experts say if you don't have any money to make money with?
They tell you to do something to get the money you need. They recommend taking an extra job, asking for a raise, getting training in a better paying field, changing jobs, and other possible steps. Financial advisor Dave Ramsey, and others, also recommend getting "more money" by decreasing expenditures.
In other words, they tell those who are interested in learning how to have more money to make changes in the way they do things. They tell them to make substantive changes in many different areas of their lives to achieve their financial goals and dreams.
Many who follow this sort of advice get out from under the crushing burden of debt, find new pleasures and joys in life, and some even achieve the status of "millionaire" after years of being deeply in debt.
However, it takes effort, commitment, and often sacrifice for them to reach these new levels of wealth and prosperity. It requires them to make a decision to change from the paradoxically "comfortably uncomfortable" lifestyle that they assumed was "how things are" to a new, uncomfortable (usually temporary) lifestyle which they soon learned was a better, more enjoyable one than what they had previously known.
The same is true for such areas as health and fitness, which are, to my way of thinking, more important kinds of wealth than mere money.
Another old saying you may have heard of is, "If you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting."
As with money, when it comes to things like exercise, an important part of being healthy and fit and feeling good, people feel trapped. They feel they need more energy to exercise, but it's exercise which will give them the energy they need.
Often, people get a burst of "energy" from some motivational kick in the pants. Maybe they have a class reunion or wedding coming up and want to lose weight or look younger. Maybe the event was last week and they were devastated by how they felt, and felt they looked!
However, motivational events such as these seldom result in the permanent lifestyle changes necessary to create a new, improved model of the person who has lived life a certain way for years. It may be enough to get them to knock off a few pounds, but, eventually, life returns to the comfortable patterns which have long produced uncomfortable results.
In changing one's financial health, it is necessary to make uncomfortable choices and find ways to somehow reach beyond current capabilities in order to arrive at new levels of financial fitness. The same is true of personal health and fitness. You MUST reach beyond what you are currently doing, and believe you are ONLY capable of doing, and move physical activity to a new level.
That's the bad news!
The good news is that, no matter how far down the exercise and fitness ladder you find yourself, it is entirely possible to create a personal exercise program which begins to move you along the pathway to levels of health and fitness which you presently can only dream about.
Many people feel they have to "exercise" at the recommended levels outlined in books, and on videos and TV fitness shows, to actually get the health benefits of exercise. As a result, they feel completely overwhelmed. If they do try to work out at those levels, they either fail immediately, or they heartily regret their efforts over the following days. They begin to fear their exercise program and decide, consciously or not, that they would "feel better" feeling the way they did before they began to exercise.
The truth is that your exercise program should always be just above your current capabilities...unless you are in training for the Olympics or for some fitness competition of some kind. In that case, you may have to adopt the "no pain no gain" philosophy and just tough it out. Also, when you have reached certain levels of fitness, you can and should challenge yourself to reach new goals at faster speeds.
This is how you will continue to lose weight, get fit, and become more physically capable of participating in, and enjoying, life. However, if you are a normal person, presently overweight and out of shape, you need to stay within, or near, some sort of "comfort zone" while gradually increasing the demands and expectations you present to your body...and your mind.
In my 40+ years of studying exercise, health, and fitness, again and again I have encountered the stories of people who started lifelong exercise and fitness programs by walking out to the mailbox, by walking in place during TV commercials, or by doing a few simple exercises to firm or tone a specific body part. Over time, these people gradually challenged themselves to greater levels until they eventually became full-fledged exercisers, running marathons or participating in fitness competitions.
Heck, I know of two women in particular who became championship level bodybuilders, posing in bikinis, and lookin' good, in their 70's and 80's. One started in her 50's with exercises to firm up the backs of her arms and was so impressed with the results that she gradually progressed to the entire body. The other, when in her 70's, had a problem with a big bag of cat litter and took the steps which eventually resulted in her winning numerous bodybuilding and fitness awards, traveling worldwide spreading the word about health and fitness for seniors, and appearing on many TV shows.
You don't need to become a professional bodybuilder, however. You don't need a ton of energy at your disposal, either. You only need to do a little more each day than you are doing now, and, as that becomes easier for you, do a little more. Make this a regular part of your life, and, in a shorter period than you can presently imagine, you will be healthier and more physically fit than you can presently believe.

Donovan Baldwin is a 65-year-old amateur bodybuilder, freelance writer, certified optician, and Internet marketer currently living in the Dallas - Fort Worth, Texas area. A University Of West Florida alumnus (1973) with a BA in accounting, he has been a member of Mensa and has been a Program Accountant for the Florida State Department of Education, a Business Manager for a community mental health center, and a multi-county Fiscal Consultant for an educational field office. He has also been a trainer for a major international corporation, and has managed various small businesses, including his own. After retiring from the U. S. Army in 1995, with 21 years of service, he became interested in Internet marketing and developed various online businesses.