4 Favorite Savory Recipes with Garden of Life Coconut Oil

When you think of coconut oil, if you’re anything like me, then lazy days on the beach as a teenager come to mind. Slathering yourself with SPF4 and rotating slowly might have hurt those shoulders afterwards, but the scent was heavenly! Little did I know it might have done more for my physique (in a healthier way!) if I'd used an edible form rather than a tanning formulation. Garden of Life Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is a versatile whole food supplement that can be used in a huge range of dishes -- today we look at four of our favorites 'a la carte' that can utilize it.

Mussels with Thai Red Curry

Nothing can put your imagination on a tropical Asian beach faster than the combination of seafood and coconut flavors. This recipe calls for both coconut milk and butter -- you'll use your Garden of Life Coconut Oil in place of the butter rather than the milk. As a bonus, this one is really fast -- it is designed as a first course, and you could throw it together while your guests or family are waiting at the table.

Cold Curried Carrot and Coconut Milk Soup

Sounds odd, tastes delicious is the general verdict on this recipe! You can sauté your scallions and onion as well as the gingerroot in the coconut oil, rather than in ordinary butter if you like. It helps create a more comprehensive flavor.

Seared Salmon and Thai Vegetables

You can use the coconut oil in cooking the rice in this recipe -- there are no heavy sauces to weigh you down, so the Garden of Life whole food supplement is as healthy as its context, in this recipe! There's a bit of prep to do and a few seasonings to buy, but it should become a weekend favorite.

Coconut and Red Lentil Soup

Dhal is a South Indian staple, and this version of the recipe uses coconut milk to create a filling meal with a silky texture. You can simply add a little Garden of Life coconut oil to the recipe, or use it to sauté the onions, garlic, ginger and spices to bring out their flavors.

You Put the Lime in the Coconut … 4 Yummy Ways to Use Your Coconut Oil Supplement!

And we guarantee that none of the ways to use your coconut oil whole food supplement contained in this article will make you call the doctor and wake him up, saying "Doctor! Ain't there nothing I can take … to relieve this bellyache?"

Garden of Life Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

This ultra-healthy dietary oil can be used in place of butter for cooking and spreading on your toast. It is more quickly converted to energy that standard milk-butter is, and enhances the thermogenic capacity of the body. It is free of trans-fats, helps maintain healthy levels of cholesterol and is both vegetarian and organic. We are looking at different ways you can incorporate it into your daily diet.

Frying

In terms of preserving antioxidants, frying is actually quite a healthy way to cook your food. Boiled vegetables and fruits have lost up to two-thirds of their antioxidant potential … and frying with Garden of Life Extra Virgin Coconut Oil makes it so much healthier!

On bread and toast

Garden of Life Extra Virgin Coconut Oil has the consistency of butter … so you don’t need to make every sandwich an adventure into Texas oil country to enjoy the benefits of coconut oil over butter throughout the day. It goes beautifully with exotic flavors in your sandwiches, and even along with peanut butter for your toast in the morning.

In baked products

With the same consistency and a similar fat content to butter (just a change in the way the body processes that fat), Garden of Life Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is a healthy substitute for butter in baking. You can use it to grease cake tins and muffin trays, rub it together with sugar and blend with egg for moist and delicious cakes, blend it with flour to create a beautiful breadcrumb texture for scones, and much more.

Sauces

All the best sauces are also the most buttery sauces! You normally have to go easy on the sauce if you are trying to improve your health - but if you make your own with Garden of Life Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, you get to indulge. From a creamy béchamel to delicious carbonara, coconut oil in place of butter creates a fascinating and addictive flavor.

Arrrgggh! Meditation and Herbal Supplements for Stress Relief

Stress is a common disorder nowadays. Our bodies are designed to experience stress as a survival mechanism - but when the stress continues well past the point where our evolutionary ancestors would have either escaped the saber-tooth tiger, or been eaten, our bodies don’t cope very well. Removing stressors is a big part of the equation -- but in the meantime, help your body get back to the state it was in before that fight with your boss, or the close call on the freeway, with one simple whole food supplement and one simple technique.

Meditation

There are a hundred different ways to meditate. One method that is recommended for the reduction of stress is the mindful meditation method, where you focus solely on the present moment, and let thoughts of the past and the future go altogether. Here is a guide:

• Find a quiet place where you can sit comfortably. The floor is good, but a chair is fine if you have knee or back problems.
• Tell yourself that you will be meditating for a certain amount of time. Start with five minutes, work your way up to ten, fifteen, twenty and thirty minutes. Let your brain know that it does not need to worry about things or sort them out in this time. There will be plenty of time for that afterwards -- you will simply be focusing on the task at hand.
• Set a timer so that you aren't disturbing your meditation by constantly worrying about the clock. Your mobile phone most likely has a convenient timer.
• Close your eyes and pay attention to your breathing. Notice how it feels to breathe in, and then to breathe out. See how there is a pause in between each breath. You might like to use a breathing pattern -- there are several recommended ones, like breathing in for a count of 3, holding for 3, breathing out for 3, holding for 3.
• If your mind wanders, don’t beat yourself up. Just bring your attention back to your breathing. It doesn’t matter how many times you have to do this -- all you have is time. As the minutes go by it will get easier.

Whole Food Supplements for Stress

Stress sets off complex chains of reactions in your body and disturbs metabolic processes. Times of stress are more critical than all others for getting the nutrients you need, and often the residual bodily stress of the disturbance means that it takes longer to recover from a stressful event because 'you still don’t quite feel right'. We recommend New Chapter Rhodiolaforce 300 -- it uses rose root to help with adaptive stress management. The herbal supplement also helps with cognitive performance, cardiovascular function and immune boosting.

Don’t just sit there and take stress -- there are simple and easy ways to get rid of it!

Top 4 Lifestyle Changes for Healthy Bones

It's often said that you don’t know what you've got until it's gone … and this is true of our bones more than most things in life! While even young people can be coerced into paying attention to their brain and heart health, bone health is something that people don’t think about until they've done a lifetime of ignoring the very thing that gets you up in the morning! Fortunately lifestyle changes that are healthful for your bones are good all round -- let's look at the top 4 changes you can make for good bone health and the most popular brands of whole food supplements for your skeleton.

1. Have cereal instead of toast for breakfast

This simple change helps ensure that you get at least one serving of calcium in a day -0- most women in America get less than 500 mg a day, when 1,000 mg a day is required for optimal bone health. The protein and fat in milk also helps you feel fuller for longer than the empty calories that are in most commercial breads, anyway.

2. Walk wherever you can

Get into the habit of going for a daily walk, and do a little jogging within that space as well. The weight bearing exercise stresses your skeleton, and induces it to form new bone to heal tiny, microscopic fractures and stresses. The same theory works for muscle development -- stress and tiny tears induce your body to create newer, bigger muscles. If you find that getting the energy to go walking is a problem, there are plenty of organic whole food supplements that are designed to help boost energy and vitality.

3. Stop smoking and drinking

A classic example of a lifestyle choice that is toxic not only to your bones, but your entire body. Smokers generally need more than one reason to quit -- I understand, I smoked for many years and still count giving up cigarettes as one of the hardest things I ever did. You negate the effects of your whole food supplements and also your dietary calcium to a large degree when you drink and smoke. If you do both, you lose about 8% bone mass over a year.

4. Make whole food supplements a part of your daily life

It is so easy to let the days slip by, and one week realize that you haven’t had a balanced diet, all day, for over a month. Organic whole food supplements are the most healthful way to take your vitamins and minerals, apart from getting them from fresh food. Calcium is a mineral that exists in delicate balance in your body -- it needs other minerals present for absorption, but not in too high concentrations. Whole food supplements give you the delicate balance, ready-made. Bone Strength Take Care is a great example.

Don't Make These Weight Mistakes

Weight loss is both simple and complicated, all at the same time. Eating right is difficult in our modern society -- getting enough exercise is also, when many of us work 9-10 hours a day and commute for a further 2 … and then have to clean your house and play with your kids somewhere in there! It is achievable for everybody though -- morbid obesity is not a part of human evolution. There were no overweight cavemen! Today we are looking at some more of the top reasons that people find it easy to put weight on and hard to take it off. We'll also check out some of the organic whole food supplements that can help on your journey to your perfect weight.

1. Not drinking enough water

Water not only fills space in your belly that you might otherwise be tempted to fill with food, it also allows your metabolism to function normally -- dehydration slows down the rate at which you burn energy. Taking organic whole food supplements that assist with your weight loss, along with a big cool glass of water, is a double weight loss hit.

2. Ignoring a food group

Whether you choose to ignore carbs, dairy, or protein in your quest for the perfect weight, you are almost invariably doing your body a disservice. Even fats should not be ignored on a diet -- avocado and olive oil are great for general health and having the mental focus and energy to exercise. Dairy has calcium, which is essential for fat metabolism specifically.

3. Drive-through fast food

It's so, so easy to just pick up dinner by waiting in a short line, not even getting out of your car and them just dumping it on the table at home. There aren’t even any dishes to do. But the temptation of milkshakes, ice-creams and upsizing is huge when getting drive through -- even if you order the salad. Put convenience into your diet with organic whole food supplements rather than empty calories.

4. Weighing yourself daily

Focus on feeling good, having energy, enjoying your increased brain power from a good diet and exercise … but don't focus on the numbers on the scale. They don’t provide an accurate picture of overall health.

5. Get exercise

The key to motivating yourself to exercise is finding something you WANT to do! Swimming offers precious quiet time … Ping Pong or Frisbee are awesome fun, and team sports boost your sociability as well as your health.

6. Set a realistic goal

If you either fail to set a goal, or set an unrealistic one, you don’t get the benefit of motivation that achieving something you set out to do provides. Set a goal like "Having noticeably firmer thighs and belly," "Being able to run to the bus stop without breaking a sweat," or even "Improving my hockey game to the level of our team's better players."

Avoiding the Freshman 15 with Whole Food Supplements

The freshman 15, those notorious 15 pounds that many men and women stack on soon after starting college, come right at a time when you need to be your mental and physical best. The phenomenon may be widespread, but it by no means HAS to happen. Today we are looking at ways of avoiding packing on the extra pounds when you go to college with sensible whole food supplements, meal timing and discipline tips. No acai berry involved!

Why does the Freshman 15 occur?

Teens and young adults often pack on the pounds when going to college because it is the first time they have been in total control of their own diet. They choose their own portion sizes for meals, have a constant supply of snacks and no parents telling you to leave some for everybody else! These environmental and choice factors are the main reasons behind it -- not complicated age-related metabolism issues.

Dining hall tips

The salad bar is not always the healthiest line to be in if you want to control your weight! Fresh vegetables often have much fewer calories per serving -- as long as you don’t add butter. Wholegrain pasta will be much more filling, also. Don’t load up more than a quarter to a third of your plate with protein (usually meat).

I ain't gonna chew carrot sticks while everyone else is having midnight pizza!

And I don’t blame you for that! If you keep a food diary, you can keep track of how often that's happening, though, and try to fill up on healthy things beforehand so the temptation to pig out is lowered. Or you can grab a salad from the pizza place instead, and just have one slice.

But college is all about drinking!

Yep, and that's also why college is also all about putting on weight! Alcoholic drinks are often quite high in calories -- and not just the exotic ones like cocktails. Beer is a big contributor to weight gain -- they don't call it a "beer belly" because it's just a cute alliteration.

Whole food supplements

Without vitamins and minerals, you'll have neither the energy to exercise, or the brain power to concentrate on classes. The urge to binge eat and binge drink usually passes -- you can help yourself get through it unscathed with whole food supplements. Where single supplements can be ineffective or dangerous, whole food supplements are the next best thing to eating veggies!

Diet and Travel: How to Explore without Losing Your Health

We all know the importance of getting your travel vaccinations before leaving for another country. We know how critical it is that you buy bottled water, and never have unprotected sex while you’re abroad -- or even travelling within your own continent. But the other aspects of health slowly slide down the gurgler while we are on holidays! Today we are looking at some easy ways to maintain your health regime while you are travelling, no matter how long or short your trip might be. We'll explore everything from juices to whole food supplements.

Make your own fresh snacks

Where it is possible, make your own fresh snacks up and portion them out into Tupperware containers or ziplock bags. Put a few sticks of celery, carrot and cheese in a bag and dip into a container of peanut butter. Create your own nut and dried fruit mix,or use a commercial trail mix. Snacks like potato chips and chocolate bars are even easier to overeat when you are travelling.

Fast food tips

Think small with your main meal portions -- we know upsizing sounds like good value for your wallet, but it isn’t a good investment in your future health. Stick as close to nature as you can get with your side dishes -- corn, mashed potatoes and peas are all preferable to coleslaw … even if it is technically a salad. Don’t dress your salads, use salsa rather than sour cream and cheese for baked potatoes or tortillas, and look for a sandwich shop where possible.

Juices

If you've never been introduced to the joys of vegetable juice, travelling is an excellent time to start! Most people find a combination of fruit and vegetable juice is the easiest for them to drink -- some vegetable-only juices taste like cold soup. You can usually get these in individual packs as well -- no need to worry about refrigerating a bottle. As good as whole food supplements for getting your daily dose of vitamins and minerals.

Always pre-portion

We did touch on this earlier -- but the portioning stage of your preparations is critical. If you eat straight from a bag or box, you open the floodgates for mindless eating. There have been innumerable studies showing that people tend to eat more when there is more food before them … but that when they eat less, they don’t feel less full.

Whole food supplements

These are one of the easiest ways to ensure you’re getting all the nutrients that you would from healthy home-cooked meals, but without the kitchen bench, the hours of prep time and the slow-cooker! Whole food supplements exist in a 'complex' of nutrients that all support each other much better than single supplements can do, and are great for travellers.

5 Practical Tips for Boosting Your Immune System

Our immune system is just as critical to normal bodily function as the respiratory, circulatory or nervous system. And if you’re the sort of person that tends to catch everything that's going round, from measles to the common cold, you know how important it is also! Today we're looking at the five kindest things you can possibly do for your immune system, from herbal supplements to sleep.

Immune Booster 1: Diet

This is critical to preventing and treating so many different conditions. Yet people continue to eat processed foods, ignore the fruit and veges, and load up on the saturated fats. It is in part due to our modern lifestyle -- fruit and veggies can take significantly longer to prepare than ripping the wrapper off a muesli bar … so the choice is obvious. But if you don't want to catch a cold by looking at someone sneezing across the street, you need to make that time! Your diet can be helped by whole food supplements, but they certainly don’t make up for a processed-food diet.

Immune Booster 2: Sleep

Studies are starting to show us just how vital sleep is to normal bodily function. It is during this time that immune cells like killer T cells, helper T cells and B cells are being regenerated, and also that they are fighting any latent infections. Have eight hours now to save yourself eight days off work later!

Immune Booster 3: Water

Chronic dehydration is common in the Western World -- in places where the most abundant sources of clean fresh water are found. Chronic dehydration stresses many bodily systems, including the immune system. Drink water, not coffee or cola.

Immune Booster 4: Herbal Supplements

In some people's bodies, energy and nutrient resources are prioritized differently -- in some cases they are prioritized away from the immune system. Herbal supplements containing extracts like elderberry and seaweed are particularly good for stimulating immune function. Take them as a preventive rather than curative -- every day during flu season is advisable.

Immune Booster 5: Quit the sugar

Sugar can become addictive just as quickly as any other prescription or non-prescription drug can. Your body builds a tolerance, and then needs more and more. It's a vicious cycle that results in damage to the pancreas, liver and brain -- the entire body is affected. Make your own cakes, biscuits and sweets with healthier sugars such as stevia or agave, keep them in the freezer and avoid temptation.