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🥶 HEALTH HACK

'Cold Exposure' (Or… The Timeless Habit Proven To Boost Energy Levels, Speed Up Recovery + Improve Skin Health!)

In another newsletter, we cover the amazing health benefits of 'heat exposure' (including hot showers & baths, sauna's, steam rooms, warm compress, massages & more.)...

This week, we're going to talk about the opposite in the form of 'cold exposure' — a category of habits including cold showers, ice baths, winter swimming & more!)

And yes, these are also incredibly good for your health, fitness & wellbeing too — there are profound health benefits on both extremes of the temperature spectrum! 😃 

To start, it's worth noting that — opposite to hot temperatures — what cold temperature essentially does is it activates your body’s sympathetic response... (a.k.a. your 'fight or flight response')

Your brain & body is flooded with chemicals like cortisol, adrenalin & norepinephrine (as well as dopamine)...

And while this may seem bad because we're taught to believe that all cortisol / stress is bad for us... it is not!

This is incredibly good for us when it’s done intentionally…

Now, what this rush of chemicals does is it constricts blood vessels in the skin to conserve heat & raises your heart rate, as well as increasing your respiration rate...

It causes a decrease in blood flow to the skin & slows down circulation, which can help reduce inflammation (the root cause of almost all lifestyle disease or health problems). 

Based on this entire process we just described, the tangible health benefits of cold exposure are as follows:

1. Improved immune system function & lower risk of disease

All this ^ (combined with the ramped-up production of white blood cells) strengthens your immune system & helps your body more easily fight off fighting off infection, illness (cold, flu, etc) as well as more severe lifestyle diseases or health problems in the future...

2. Reduced muscle soreness & physical pain

Cold exposure (cold shower, ice bath, etc) — after exercise in particular — has been found to reduce muscle soreness by helping reduce inflammation specifically in the muscles & joints…

(this is the key reason why this is so popular amongst athletes; nothing eases the muscles like cold exposure!)

3. Can help fat burning & weight loss

Cold temperatures can also cause the body to burn more calories as it works to keep itself warm, helping with weight loss!

4. Improved skin health

Cold exposure can also improve skin health also, by reducing inflammation & puffiness, shrinking enlarged pores, as well as through the improved circulation. 

Cold temperatures reduce redness, soothe irritation & help your skin look more youthful. 

5. Heightened alertness, focus & energy levels

The rapid release of certain neurochemicals & hormones like cortisol, adrenalin, norepinephrine (your brain’s version of adrenalin) as well as dopamine... they radically reduce fatigue, obliterate tiredness & radically increase your alertness & energy levels (for the day ahead, for example!) — making this a great way to start your day!

Beyond this, there are also a lot of additional mental & emotional health benefits too!

So, all in all… if you haven't hopped on the ‘cold exposure’ bangwagon yet (e.g. cold showers every morning, after workouts, or perhaps the daily/weekly/occasional ice bath & dips in low-temperature waters)... maybe it's time to consider it (no matter how scary it may initially seem!)

Give it a go & let us know what you think 😁 

🌿 HEALTHY RECIPE

Buckwheat Pancakes (Or... A Much Healthier Variation Of A Beloved Breakfast Food Without Compromise On Taste!)

Few people know this, but 'buckwheat' is not actually related to 'wheat' in any way... (more on this later.)

It's actually a seed from a plant closely related to one of the rare fruits we should be consuming more of; rhubarb.

Being low in sugar, gluten-free & alkaline, this awesome grain-like food can be used as an alternative to wheat, oats & other heavy carbohydrates which can lead to weight gain & poor digestion... (again, more on this later.)

Buckwheat meanwhile is packed full of nutrients, containing powerful antioxidants & all 8 essential amino acids!

It’s also an awesomely healthy source of protein & fibre which will help you lose weight if you do as mentioned & switch it for any bread, pasta & cereal you currently consume as part of your diet.

Regarding this 'buckwheat pancake' recipe... it's not only gluten-free & sugar-free, but it’s also vegan, meaning it’s dairy & egg-free too (as well as delicious!)

We also use only 4 ingredients, making these pancakes super clean & will most definitely help you achieve your health, & fitness goals.

• Serves: 2 people

• Time: 10 minutes

• Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

• 2 cups buckwheat flour

• 1 pinch sea salt

• 1 cup filtered water

• 1 tablespoon avocado or coconut oil

Toppings:

Whatever you feel like! Try to keep fruit & obviously refined sugar to a minimum. Suggested toppings that I enjoy are;

• Almond butter

• Small serving of blueberries or raspberries

• Maple syrup (optional)

Method:

1. Combine buckwheat flour, sea salt and filtered water in a mixing bowl

2. Whisk until smooth, adding more water if too thick or lumpy

3. Preheat frying pan on high heat

4. Add oil and coat the pan

5. Add pancake mixture, cooking one pancake at a time

6. Tilt pan to evenly spread the mixture, cooking for 3-4 minutes on first side

7. Then it’s time for the big flip!

8. Cook for 2-3 minutes on the second side

9. Keep pancakes warm in oven on the lowest heat while you cook the rest

10. Serve with your favourite healthy toppings!

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💭 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

We agree!

Why do what 'everybody else is doing' if the outcome most people are getting is not what 'you' (or what even they) truly want in life?!

It’s much better to do what works than what 'everybody else is doing’… do you agree? 😃 

🍴 FOOD HACK

5 More Amazing Wheat/Gluten Flour Alternatives… (For Improved Gut Health, Lower Risk Of Disease & Better Overall Health!)

Coming back to 'wheat' (specifically 'gluten')… not only is it bad for your gut health, but gut health is where all disease starts...

Turns out (as science now proves) Hippocrates was absolutely correct when he said all of those millennia ago...

So, with this in mind, other than making 'buckwheat pancakes' by following this week's delicious recipe above... what else should you do?

Should you just give up all wheat & gluten altogether?

Ideally, yes...

But, that's a big jump for a lot of people...

A much easier, more applicable first step is to simply replace the flours that you consume in the food products that you buy, or you use in your cooking (all cooking that is, not just making pancakes!)

Which brings me to this section...

We've done the hard work for you & found the best alternative flours that you can start consuming instead...

Here are 5 of the best & healthiest alternative flours to use (other than the already mentioned buckwheat flour):

1. Coconut flour - A perfect replacement to white flour!

2. Tapioca flour - great to use as a thickener in recipes (instead of often Genetically Modified corn flour which is terrible for your health!)

3. Chickpea flour - particular great for Indian recipes such as flatbread, naan, & poppadoms, or other Asian recipes.

4. Almond flour - Is an awesome healthy alternative for things like cookies and cakes ;)

5. Teff flour - One that I’ve used in some of our healthy recipes. A great all-purpose flour to have in the pantry as a go-to gluten-free alternative 😃 

There you have it... 5 more healthy flour alternatives you can use to limit your wheat & gluten consumption, improve your gut health, prevent disease & create the health & fitness you want!