This week Wini demonstrates a yoga sequence designed to help regenerate core strength. To watch Wini click here. This sequence includes:
- Transverse plank
- Three legged plank
- Alternate arm and leg
What are your questions for Wini about core strength?
Start Fresh: Restoring Core Strength
Start Fresh: Creamy Artichoke and Watercress Soup
Superstar detoxifiers Artichoke, Watercress and lemon juice are combined to make this a savory and slimming soup. Serve this with some Wild Alaskan Salmon the night before an event to banish fluid retention and get glowing skin.
Ingredients
- Two 14-ounce cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup rice
- One 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, to taste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 4 cups packed (2 bunches or bags) B&W watercress (a few sprigs reserved for garnish, the remainder cut into 2-inch pieces)
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Preparation
- Combine the broth and rice in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the rice is very tender, about 15 minutes.
- Place the artichoke hearts, eggs, and lemon juice in a blender and puree. With the machine running, ladle about half of the rice mixture through the opening in the cover, and puree until smooth. (Use caution when pureeing hot liquids.) Return the pureed mixture to the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until an instant-read thermometer registers 160F, reducing the heat as necessary to prevent the soup from boiling.
- Stir in the dill, watercress and pepper. Garnish with the reserved sprigs of watercress.
For more Start Fresh recipes, please click here.
Start Fresh: The Slimming Green
Watercress, a crucial anti aging health staple, is now starting to be recognized for its many beauty benefits. This hardy perennial contains a storehouse of nutrients and has been used as a health tonic since ancient times to cleanse the blood and liver of toxins and promote an overall feeling of good health. Rich in iron, calcium, potassium and Vitamin C, watercress has been used medicinally in a variety of ways from enhancing stamina, to ridding the body of excess fluids.
- Watercress is a cruciferous vegetable. Population studies associate an increased intake of these types of vegetables with reduced risk of cancers, including breast and prostate
- 80 grams of watercress, one cereal bowl full, provides one of the “at least 5 a day” portions of fruit and vegetables
- Watercress is high in folic acid which makes the herb especially beneficial for pregnant women. It was a staple recommendation for pregnant women in the early 1900’s.
Watercress also boasts a host of beauty-enhancing benefits. According to the famed 17th century English herbalist, Nicholas Culpepper, recommended this bitter herb to “free the face” from blotches, spots and blemishes. When consuming watercress regularly, people will find truly radiant and clear skin. In fact:
- Watercress is useful in treating skin eruptions like eczema, rashes and skin infections
- As a low-calorie vegetable, watercress may plan an important role in weight management. 85% of watercress calories are in the form of protein
- Watercress is an effective diuretic to banish bloat
Check back tomorrow for a wintry soup recipe found in the 28 Day Diet that incorporates watercress and another powerful detoxifying vegetable.
Which health or beauty benefits of watercress interest you most?
Start Fresh: The Beauty Benefits of Omega 3′s
We all know that Omega 3′s are cardio protective—but they also do much more to preserve the look of youth.
Dangerous anabolic steroids are used by professional athletes to enhance their performance, high school boys in order to “bulk up” and improve their athletic abilities, and young girls and women in their quest to be thin and to achieve the “sculpted” look. But what steroid users don’t know is that omega-3 essential fatty acids can deliver the effects they want—without dangerous side effects.
Anti-aging benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids include:
- significantly improve athletic performance
- make muscle cells stronger and more efficient
- build muscle
- burn body fat
- block the gene that codes for fat storage
What are the principal sources of Omega 3′s in your diet? Do you take an Omega 3 supplement?
Start Fresh: Unlocking the Hips
As we age, we tend to lose mobility in our body. One of the healthiest ways to restore mobility is through practicing yoga. Today, Dr. Perricone’s fitness advisor, Wini Linguvic demonstrates a variation of half moon pose, ardha chandrasana, to help unlock the hips and restore mobility to the body.
Click here to watch Wini demonstrate half moon pose.
As Wini says, “The practice of moving in half moon pose requires strength, balance, mobility and coordination. Practice moving into the pose, it is in the practice of skillful movement that we can increase mobility, strength, balance and coordination.”
What questions about restoring strength and mobility do you have for Wini?
The 3 Day Facelift
I recommend the Three-Day Nutritional Face-lift™ as the perfect way to allow you to see a drop in weight and visible results in your skin right away. The Three-Day Nutritional Face-lift aids in the elimination of puffiness, increases contours, firms jaw line, etc. Such dramatic results can be seen in part due to the effects of the DMAE, astaxanthin and the essential fatty acids in the salmon which increase radiance, glow and firmness to the skin.
To further enhance the benefits of the diet, apply topical formulations rich in DMAE, the anti-inflammatory substance that fights against loss of skin elasticity and works to firming, toning and tightening skin’s appearance.
The promise of a visible difference in your looks in just three days may seem too good to be true. But if you eat the wrinkle-free way for even a short period of time, you will experience dramatic changes, not only in how you look, but how you feel.
Be sure to tune into the HLN show to watch Dr. Perricone discuss the 3 Day Facelift and products formulated with DMAE.
- Friday, January 20 – 8am ET on HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade and at 12 pm ET on the HLN News Show
- Saturday, January 21 – 11 am ET on the HLN News Show
- Sunday, January 22 – 11 am ET HLN News Show
Start Fresh: Health Benefits of RS
The health benefits of resistant starches (RS) can be surprising. Did you know that like Omega-3s, RS possesses the unique ability to increase thermogenisis (the burning of body fat)? In fact, one study found that those eating a meal containing a small amount of RS showed a 20% increase in thermogenisis that lasted for 24 hours
When you consume a small amount of RS, not only will your body’s rate of thermogenesis be temporarily increased, but you’ll also be better able to control spikes in blood sugar. A handful of beans or chickpeas can actually help to prevent higher-glycemic foods in the meal from causing inflammatory spikes in your blood sugar and insulin levels.
How is this possible? Beans contain phytonutrients called ‘amylase inhibitors’, which block the action of the enzyme (amylase) needed to digest starches. This effect should help prevent digestion of some of the starch in beans themselves, as well as the starch in other foods eaten with beans.
For healthy anti inflammatory recipes, please visit our Recipe page.
Start Fresh Tip: The Secret Starch that Burns Fat
Beans are more than just a protein rich staple of the anti inflammatory kitchen. I highly recommend adding beans to your diet- especially if you are interested in losing weight, as they are an excellent source of resistant starch (RS).
Resistant starch (RS) comes from fiber-like carbohydrates, which are the unsung heroes of weight control. RS actually increases the rate at which the body burns (oxidizes) body fat. RS do not cause unhealthy spikes in blood sugar levels and even prevent other, higher glycemic foods in a meal from doing so.
Resistant starch is so called because it resists digestion and absorption as it passes through the small intestine—where most dietary starch gets digested. It then passes into the large intestine where it behaves much like insoluble fiber, promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria and the production of disease-preventive fatty acids.
Check in tomorrow for more information on resistant starch and the associated health benefits.
How do you incorporate beans into your diet?
Start Fresh: Shopping for Dairy
Dairy has gotten a bad rap. Not only is dairy an excellent source of calcium, vitamin D and protein, it lends complexity and savory notes to countless dishes in the anti-inflammatory kitchen and is an important part of the Start Fresh 28 Day Diet.
As a general rule, choose organic, low-fat dairy products, unless you are buying dairy products from grass-fed animals. The fat profile of dairy products from grass-fed animals is healthier and contains more Omega 3’s than its grain-fed counter parts.
Recommended Dairy Products:
- Milk
- Butter (to be used in moderation)
- Buttermilk
- Cheese (especially recommended are: Cottage & Farmer’s Cheese, Ricotta, Parmigiano Reggiano; sheep and goat’s milk cheeses such as Feta, Pecorino Romano)
- Kefir
- Yogurt
- Eggs (look for organic, from free-range chickens)
How do you include Dairy into your diet?
Start Fresh: Fitness Fridays with Wini
Passionate about the transformative benefits of yoga, Wini Linguvic, has been changing bodies for over 25 years. You may know her as the author of the yoga chapter in Forever Young, she’s also the best-selling author of Bodychange and Lean Long & Strong. Wini has been changing bodies for over 26 years and is excited to help answer your questions and keep you motivated during Start Fresh Fitness Fridays. Her approach to pushing past one’s prior limitations is well balanced with her serious focus to the science of changing bodies.
What are your questions for Wini?
Forever Young
