Archive for June, 2010

Acai Splash by Garden Greens

Acai Splash Antioxidant Drink by Garden Greens provides you with 3,800 ORAC per each healthy serving. ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity and is a new standard of measurement jointly developed by the National Institutes on Aging and the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. In simple terms, ORAC measures how well a food or drink renders free radicals inactive. Since free radicals can damage healthy cells in the body, the higher the ORAC the better.

Acai Splash by Garden Greens contains nutrient rich berry extracts such as Lycium, Bilberry, Blueberry, and Elderberry. All these berries are combined with Grape Skin and Pomegranate extracts to give you 100 mg of anthocyanins per serving. Anthocyanins are antioxidants that may help keep free radicals in check. Also most importantly, the Acai Berry is deep violet in color and is naturally rich in polyphenols and anthocyanins, two of nature’s most potent antioxidants.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Acai Splash by Garden Greens can now be purchased here at www.i-Supplements.com for optimal health and happiness!

Creatine Powder

A: Creatine is certainly one of the hot supplements among fitness enthusiasts. A growing body of evidence exists to suggest that taking creatine supplements may improve a person’s ability to perform short-term, intense exercise. All skeletal muscle tissue contains creatine, and dietary creatine is found in meat and fish.

During exercise, a portion of the muscle’s creatine is depleted. Creatine phosphate plays an important role in resynthesizing ATP during short bursts of high-intensity exercise. Creatine supplements have been shown to increase the total creatine content (creatine and creatine phosphate) of muscle on an average of 20-30 percent. Sufficient evidence exists to state that, under certain conditions, creatine supplementation can enhance performance in activities that require short periods of high-intensity power and strength. If individuals can train at higher intensity levels, it follows that they may be able to add strength and power at accelerated rates over a period of time.

Jimmy the Guru

Check out www.i-Supplements.com for all of your supplement needs!

Elite Gourmet Protein

Elite Gourmet protein by Dymatize is a great combination of whey protein (Concentrate and Isolate) and a proprietary milk protein matrix containing both Micelular Caseines and Caseinates. So not only does it taste delicious but it is great for you as well!

Protein powders off a wide variety of benefits including:

- Helps you obtain your daily protein intake

- Great as a snack or light meal

- Increases muscle size

- Promotes strength

- Provides you with increased energy levels

- Repairs body cells & muscles

Protein is an extremely important nutrient that your body requires on a daily basis. It consist of both essential and non-essential amino acids. As many of you know amino acids are the building blocks of your body. Our bodies are able produce non-essential amino acids from the other amino acids found within your body. However, your body is unable to produce essential amino acids and that is where it’s important that you get an adequate amount of protein daily from food, protein powder, such as that found in Elite Gourmet protein or other protein sources.

Protein, along with fats are very essential to kids and adults, because they form the structure of your joints and skeletal system. There are other important benefits of protein, which includes production of enzymes, cell and hormone regulation, stronger immune system and it’s also what develops the structure of your muscles.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Check out Elite Gourmet Protein now, and get 10lbs worth for the same price as American 10lbs!

Maintain your health while traveling

We all know what comes with this hectic time of year…unbelievable amounts of traveling! Soon the airports will be a buzz and planes will be taking off and landing practically every second it seems like! If you are one of these many summertime travelers, then I’m sure sticking to your diet is your last priority! Well don’t let it be anymore, and don’t think that it will be hard to stick with it! With a little brainstorming and simple planning, it will be easily possible to keep up with your healthy habits! Here are some basic ways to ensure that you keep up with your healthy lifestyle!

1. Bring a water bottle, one you can refill. (Check out the Hydracoach!)
You can bring your water bottle with you to the airport empty, and fill it after you pass through the security checkpoint. (Make sure you refill often.) One thing that you for sure can do while traveling is guzzle the water down when you get bored or hungry! Ladies, make sure to get at least a gallon per day down, gentlemen aim for at least a gallon and a half. Keep up the water intake. This will help reduce water retention, curb hunger pains, and just plain keep those cells in your body happy!

Note: If traveling abroad, nix this idea and stick to the bottled water.

2. Book an aisle seat.
Having an aisle seat will allow you to easily get up and move around, stretch, and make many trips to the bathroom without feeling like you are bothering the person next to you. Lots of water equals lots of trips to the bathroom.

3. Bring healthy travel snacks.
Make a simple sandwich or a yummy wrap made with high fiber, whole grain bread/wrap, nitrate free lunchmeat, low-fat mayo, mustard, lettuce, and tomato. If a sandwich doesn’t sound good then try some fat-free no-sugar added yogurt with mixed berries. Or try bagging up some veggies like cucumbers, green and red peppers, carrots, or celery.

4. Use the in-room coffee pot to make your own oatmeal.
Turn on the burner and add oats and water to the pot first thing when you wake up. By the time you are finished getting ready, your oats will be done.

Note: Make sure to wash the pot thoroughly first before use. Who knows when the last time was that sucker was washed!

5. Check out a local market.
They typically have a fantastic salad bar, great for lunch, or even to pick up a few things and keep them in your in-room fridge if you can. Most hotels will empty your mini-bar fridge or will provide a second fridge upon request. No fridge? Pack your own soft cooler and fill with ice from the ice machine and then add in your goodies!

6. Get in an early morning workout.
Plan for it. Set the alarm. Go to bed an hour earlier. Even if you can’t go to sleep earlier, get up and get that workout in. You will feel much better in the long run if you do. It will help you burn those extra calories all throughout the day.

7. Make an effort to be active.
In addition to the workout, keep your activity up all day long. If you are eating more, move more throughout the day.

8. Choose one splurge meal per day.
If you are going to overindulge for dinner, make sure that breakfast and lunch are filled with lower calorie foods. Focus on lean protein, and high fiber carbohydrates like fruits, veggies, and whole grains. Although we all have learned that 5-6 small meals spaced evenly throughout the day is best, in this type of situation, it is better to plan for a larger meal rather than eating your normal meals around it.

9. Don’t skip breakfast.
Start your day off right. Even if you know you will be having a big meal later in the day, it is important to get something nutritious into your stomach after a wonderful full nights rest.

10. Low calorie foods are your friend.
In general, remember to fill up on a broth based soup or salad rather than bread and/or eating way too much of your main course.

11. Avoid fried foods.
Yea…need we explain? Stick to baked, broiled, roasted, and grilled foods instead.

12. Plan your meal destinations ahead of time.
Make sure to take a look at the menu in advance (if you’re able to), so that you can ensure you have healthy options. Believe me, it really sucks when you end up at a restaurant, open the menu, and realize that 1- there is nothing healthy about this place, and 2- nothing about this menu is worth splurging on.

13. Try the one bite method.
Sometimes all it takes is one bite.

14. If you are going to splurge on alcohol or dessert, make it one or the other, not both.
Both are typically pretty high in empty calories (i.e. sugar) so choose whichever one sounds better and skip the other, saving it for another night.

15. Above all else, moderation is the key.
It is important to enjoy life, and not feel deprived. Just don’t overdo it. Listen to your body. Make sacrifices where you can so that you can enjoy when the opportunity arises.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Browse our immense line up of supplements at www.i-Supplements.com today!

Cartoon Characters Make Food More Appealing To Kids, Really?

Cartoons, a favorite Saturday morning staple, do more than just entertain your child. They provide recognizable characters that children can identify with, idolize, and want to emulate. Those same characters can also influence what your child eats, both good and bad.

Cartoon characters are already used liberally in the packaging of foodstuffs, particularly cereal, cookies, and snacks, many of which have little nutritional value. Could these same well-loved characters sell healthy food and snacks as well?

A small study conducted with preschoolers investigated the use of cartoon characters on packaging and the perception that foods tasted better with those images attached. Children tasted 3 pairs of identical foods (graham crackers, gummy fruit snacks, and carrots) presented in packages either with or without a popular cartoon character (Dora, Shrek, or Scooby-Doo). They tasted both food items in each pair and indicated whether the two foods tasted the same or one tasted better. Children then selected which of the food items they would prefer to eat for a snack.

The participants were asked to taste a sample of both unmarked and character-labeled packages. The results showed that the presence of a cartoon character on a package influenced the children’s perception of taste and their preference in snacks to a certain degree.

In the case of the graham crackers, 37.5 percent were not fooled and said both packages tasted the same, however 55 percent thought that the cartoon branded crackers were better. The gummy bear test yielded almost identical results. The carrots were a bit different, with 50 percent liking the carrots featuring a character, 25 percent liking the unbranded carrots, and 25 percent unable to tell the difference.

This study is empirical and undeniable evidence that marketing using licensed characters has an influence on children’s taste and snack preference and the characters could be restricted for junk food and utilized in selling health snacks. But the fact that the influence on taste perception was weakest for carrots may mean the second approach may not be an effective strategy.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

SizeOn

Creatine Monohydrate Supplements hit mainstream bodybuilding in 1994 when EAS introduced their breakthrough product Phoshagen. At that time Phospagen was the best creatine product hands down, because at that time it was the only one! Phosphagen was just a plain old creatine monohydrate powder supplement.

Today though, creatine monohydrate supplements may come in many different forms such as:

- Creatine powder

- With carbs

- Sugar enhanced

- Liquid Creatine

- Micronized Creatine

- In protein

- Phosphocreatine

- Monohydrate

- Creatine Ethyl Ester

Creatine works by increasing ATP in your muscles. Consider ATP as gasoline for your muscles and think of creatine as an high octane gasoline that will make your muscles run longer. Creatine Monohydrate Supplements are great for athletes who are looking to increase their endurance. Did you know that the first real use of creatine monohydrate supplements for a beneficial athletic effect was in the 1992 Olympics? Sprinters used creatine powder to elevate their ATP levels in their muscles to prevent lactic acid and hydrogen ions build up. The use of creatine helped sprinters prevent this and keep a higher intensity rate for longer periods of time.

A Creatine Monohydrate Supplements is always a safe bet if you are looking to increase your strength and stay natural in the gym. Creatine is a great way to enhance your workout without breaking your bank account!

The Team at i-Supplements.com

If you are looking to use creatine for strength then consider products like Cell-Tech, Size-On, Cell-Mass, MMUSA Creatine Serum, No-Xplode or one of www.i-Supplements other cheap creatine supplements.

Rice - The Healthy Basics

Did you know that worldwide there are more than 40,000 different varieties of rice? Rice comes in a rainbow of colors and flavors and almost every culture on Earth has incorporated rice into their diet. For more than half of the world’s population rice is a staple and 20% of the total food energy intake in the world comes from rice. In Asia alone, more than 2 billion people get up to 70 percent of their daily dietary energy from rice and its by-products.

Rice hit American shores in the late seventeenth century and was an East Coast crop until the mid-1800s. There is currently about 3 million acres of rice cultivated in the U.S. by about 9,000 farms located primarily in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Florida, and Texas. While this is only 1% of the world’s total production, the total annual sales hit $1.2 billion in the year 2000.

One cup of cooked medium-grain white rice has 169 calories, 3.5 grams protein, 1.7 grams fiber, while the same amount of cooked medium-grain brown rice has 218 calories. 4.5 grams protein, and 3.5 grams fiber. But the brown rice contains much higher quantities of thiamin, niacin, B6, magnesium, phosphorus and manganese. Healthier for you, brown rice does take more than twice as long to cook. (HINT: The easiest way to cook rice is to buy a rice cooker/steamer. You measure the water and rice, set it and forget it. White rice cooks in about 20-30 minutes, depending on amount, while brown rice takes about an hour and a half. But you can make a double batch and reheat in steamer or microwave when needed.)

A recent study conducted over 22 years with 197,000 participants found that those who ate more refined white rice had a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, while those eating more brown rice had a lower risk of the disease. Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital assessed three different studies and found across the board that having more white rice in the diet was associated with an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes.

In addition to white and brown rice, there are a number of other rice alternatives that are healthy for you. Break out of your rut and try something new.

Typical US Rice Varieties:

- Long grain white rice has a long, slender kernel, and when cooked the grains are separate, light and fluffy.

- Medium grain white rice has a shorter, wider kernel and is more moist and tender, clinging together more than its long counterpart.

- Short grain white rice has a short, plump, almost round kernel which becomes soft and clingy when cooked.

- Brown rice has only the hull removed. (Further milled, it becomes white rice.) slightly chewy texture with a nut-like flavor. Rich in minerals and vitamins.

- Aromatic red rice has a deep, honey-red bran and is minimally processed to retain the bran layers. This makes it slightly chewy and nutty in flavor.

- Basmati rice is an aromatic long grain rice with a flavor similar to that of popcorn or roasted nuts. Cooked grains swell lengthwise and separate and fluffy.

- Black japonica is also an aromatic rice but with a dark black bran. Also minimally processed, it is slightly chewy and sweet.

- Jasmine rice is another aromatic, with long grains that cook soft and moist, but cling together. Like Basmati, the taste is similar to popcorn or roasted nuts.

- Arborio rice is characterized by a white dot at the center of each medium-sized grain. This is the typical rice for risotto because of its ability to slow cook, absorb various flavors, and become creamy and slightly chewy.

- Wild rice is not really rice at all, but a grass seed. Taking longer to cook and with a distinct flavor, it is a bit more costly but is richer in protein and other nutrients.

Get to cooking!

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Check out www.i-Supplements.com for all of your supplement needs!

Vazopren

I don’t often like to admit that I sometimes need a little added help when it comes to…you know. But over the past several years I’ve noticed a steady decline in my sex drive and stamina. Not anymore! I have tried a few other male enhancement pills and nothing has seemed to work remotely as well as Vazopren. It doesn’t take that long to being to feel it working, and boy when it hits you, it HITS you! When it says in the description that it will give you a new found level of sexual stamina and endurance it isn’t lying! I feel like I’m 21 again and I love every minute of it, and my wife has no complaints either. Our sex life has been revamped with the help of Vazopren and it gets better and better every day. Mike – Delaware

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Find Vazopren and other male enhancement products at www.i-Supplements.com now!

The Controversy Over Salt

Table salt, kosher salt, sea salt, sel de gris, fine grained, course ground, rock salt, herbed salt, garlic salt—the varieties are endless. Someone could open a salt store as big as a Starbucks and be able to fill all the shelves. We love salt and while it is essential to our bodies, overdosing on this popular flavor enhancer can be detrimental to our health, and there’s the rub.

While you can find a salt shaker on every home and restaurant table, in almost every packaged product at the supermarket, and in 90 percent of recipes (desserts included), Americans tend to overconsume on the small white granules. Salt helps to maintain the water content in blood, balances blood’s acids and bases, and is essential for the movement of electrical charges in the nerves that move our muscles. But too much of a good thing can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. In addition, a diet high in salt content is often associated with weight gain.

The National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association recommends a diet containing no more than 2.4 grams (approximately 1 teaspoon) of sodium per day. On the average, American men consume 10.4 grams of salt, while American women average a salt intake of 7.3 grams daily. These numbers continue to rise, with 75 to 80 percent of all salt consumed coming from processed food.

The First Lady has spoken out about the need to limit salt in her campaign against obesity, and some manufacturers have gotten on the bandwagon, announcing cuts in sodium levels in their processed foods. Kraft pledged a 10 percent reduction, which translates into the elimination of over 10 million pounds of salt in over 1,000 processed food items. Additionally, a panel from the Institute of Medicine recommended that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regulate the amount of sodium used in processed food, citing decades of recommendations that have not been heeded by the public. Given the amount of processed food purchased in this country, the belief is that the best way to reduce salt consumption is by regulating the companies preparing the food.

Now the salt industry is pushing back. Cargill, one of the nation’s largest producers of salt, has hired food luminary Alton Brown to stump for sodium. The most recent ad, called Salt 101, has Brown trying to convince us that we need to have “plenty of salt in your kitchen at all times.” And while we do “need” it, we need it in lesser amounts than we are currently consuming and the food industry is loathe to lower or eliminate salt in its products, because of the flavor-enhancing capabilities.

The answer could just be in cooking your own fresh food rather than relying on packaged ingredients. Doing so would eliminate the overuse of sodium, and overall would be healthier for you.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Browse our easy to use online catalog today at www.i-Supplements.com.

Lawmakers Working to Improve School Food Offerings

School lunches are notoriously bad. Mystery meat, fake cheese, and a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables are only part of the problem; with high-calorie sodas and vending machine options increasing the calorie intake of our children, the whole system is feeding our children in a way that is nutritionally inferior. While many children balk at brown-bagging it or—heaven forbid—carrying a lunchbox, it is the only way to ensure that they eat healthy, balanced food. But the tide may be changing.

With the White House advocating with the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, First Lady Michele Obama taking the message to the streets and to food manufacturers, and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution gaining ground, the focus on school lunches has probably never seen so much press. Combined with the alarming rate of obesity amongst our youth, and it was bound to happen that someone in Congress would lead a charge to shake things up in school cafeteria’s around the country.

A long time coming, Senator Blanche Lincoln, who chairs the Agriculture Committee, has put forth a ten-year, $4.5 billion increase in funding for school lunch and nutrition programs. While this stops short of President Obama’s $1 million/year request, and that of food advocates such as Alice Waters and Ann Cooper, it will provide much-needed upgrading of food standards in our schools.

This proposal is a monumental step forward as we work to end childhood hunger and address the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States. The bill will not only feed more children who cannot afford a mid-day meal but make it easier to attain eligibility for free meals. In addition, it will include provisions for allowing the Agriculture Department to set nutrition standards for all food sold at schools, and could ban high-sugar sodas and junk food from vending machines.

Currently, the school lunch program serves over 32 million children, with over 60 percent being free or reduced in cost. In many poor urban areas and low-income rural communities, the lunch program is a significant portion of a student’s daily calories and nutrition.

The Team i-Supplements.com

Here is to keeping our kids healthy and happy! Check us out at www.i-Supplements.com today.