Fitness & Wellness

Every part of your health that can be controlled with diet and exercise is important at The Worx in Alexandria, VA. In the past, we’ve focused on weight loss, feeling good, building strength and improving your overall health. It’s time to focus on the body’s largest organ, the skin, and how the food you eat can make a difference. Just like all fitness and dietary programs are different because each person is unique, there’s no one perfect diet for everyone. Instead, you have to find a diet for your skin type.

The first step is to identify the type of skin you have.

You may use lotions and other beauty products on the skin, but beautiful skin starts from within. In fact, all the magic creams may actually prevent you from identifying your skin type. Wash your face thoroughly and don’t use any products. Instead, wait an hour or two and examine your skin. If it feels tight and has some red, flaky patches, it’s probably dry. If there’s oil that is just in some areas, like around the nose, but dry other areas, it’s a combination. If you can put a tissue on your face any place and it shows signs of oil or shiny everywhere, it’s oily. The more visible the pores, the oilier the skin.

Dry skin needs more oil and maybe more hydration.

Are you drinking enough water? If not, you may be adding to the problem of flaky, dry skin. Besides including more water in your diet, increase juicy fruits, like oranges, grapes and watermelon. You need some healthy oil in your diet, too. Add some avocado or salmon for starters. Increase your food with vitamin A and vitamin C, which can add to skin’s dryness, like red bell pepper, broccoli and spinach. It’s not all about what you eat, but also about what you shouldn’t. Avoid alcohol and drinks with caffeine, both can be dehydrating.

If your skin is oily, don’t immediately eliminate oils.

It’s not always oil that makes your skin oily. In fact, healthy oil can actually help it with anti-inflammatory properties. Again, avocado, salmon and flaxseed are good choices. Avoid refined carbohydrates, especially those with added sugar. Keep fried foods to a minimum or ditch them altogether. Focus on eating whole grains, rather than refined carbs and reduce the amount of red meat in your diet.

For combination skin, taking the healthiest food from both the diet recommendations for oily skin and those for dry skin is beneficial. Processed carbohydrates cause inflammation and contribute to problems with combination skin.

If you have acne prone skin, you have oily skin with inflammation and bacteria. Vitamin C is important, so oranges are great. Zinc can also help prevent acne. Consider adding shellfish, chicken and pumpkin seeds to your diet.

While reducing the amount of sugar, unhealthy fat and dairy in a diet, or eliminating it entirely can help with acne prone skin, Greek yogurt may actually help the skin. Everyone is different, so experiment a bit.

If you want more vibrant skin, increase antioxidants, like lycopene in your diet. Lycopene is found in tomatoes. Eating food rich in collagen, such as bone broth, will slow the development of wrinkles.

Intermittent fasting—IF—is a way to modify the timing of when you eat. It has various pros and cons, like any type of diet or eating regimen. In order to find out if it works for you, you need learn what IF really is and what the negatives and positives are. IF can mean eating an extremely low calorie diet for some days and a regular diet others or eating between specific hours, such as fasting from 6 pm to 10 am and then eating during the eight hour non-fasting time. That sixteen hour break gives your digestion a rest, and normally limits the amount of food you eat.

What are IF benefits?

There have been animal studies since the 1940s using IF. In studies on rats at the University of Chicago, control rats were fed normally and the IF group was fed on alternate days. The rats fed on an IF schedule aged slower and had fewer health conditions. Some believed the pattern of eating more closely mirrored how animals ate in the wild that it benefited them. The rats also had improved blood sugar levels, better metabolism, less inflammation, weight loss, a reduced risk of cancer and improved brain function.

If you want to lose weight, IF may be a huge benefit that works.

We’re just beginning to study the effects of IF on humans, but the studies that are done show it’s beneficial for weight loss. One study found that when overweight individuals used a pattern of IF with no other restrictions, they ate 20% less food than the control group. They also lost 8% of their weight, while reducing insulin resistance and improving asthma.

IF does have some drawbacks.

People with diabetes that requires medication should never undertake IF unsupervised. Your health care provider can guide you on what you should do. If you take blood pressure medication, heart medication, are pregnant or breast-feeding, always consult your health care professional before undertaking intermittent fasting. Anyone with an eating disorder should not attempt it either.

• Recent studies showed an improvement in brain functioning and cardiovascular health. Japanese studies on humans confirmed the findings of early animal studies, metabolism increased and aging slowed.
• While studies had no guidelines for what the people ate, if you chose IF for your health or weight loss, you should. Whether you’re eating in an eight-hour window or fasting every other day, the food you need should be healthy.
• Newer studies show that simply fasting for as little as 16 hours can make changes at a cellular level. It starts the process of cell repair, sends out hormones to burn fat and increases HGH—human growth hormone.
• Intermittent fasting studies showed the group that fasted reduced their waist circumference measurement by as high as 7%—-they lost belly fat—and had less muscle loss than the group on a calorie restricted diet.

For more information, contact us today at Team Worx Fitness

If you’re working out at The Worx in Alexandria, VA, hoping to improve your health, remember, what you eat also plays a role in your resistance to disease. There are foods for a healthy immune system that also act as building blocks for cells and maintain hormones and other functions throughout the body. The right food in your diet won’t guarantee you won’t get sick, but it will help reduce the potential of it happening. Some foods help fight off colds, others beat bacterial infections and some can help prevent cancer.

Eat foods high in vitamin C.

Vitamin C has long been known to be beneficial for fighting colds. Most people realize citrus fruits, like grapefruit, oranges and lemons are high in vitamin C, but they may not realize sweet red peppers, cantaloupe and broccoli. Consider adding mini sweet peppers and broccoli to your veggie tray to boost your immune system.

Don’t forget the zinc and vitamin D.

Zinc and vitamin D became very popular supplements during Covid-19. Everyone was taking them to boost their immune system. You can get zinc by eating crab, lobster, red meat, pork, oysters, dairy, nuts, beans and whole grains. Vitamin D is a little harder to get from food, but easy to get by safe sunning and sunning a little each day without sun block. Salmon, herring and sardines contain it, so do fortified products. Studies showed that 80% of covid patients were vitamin D deficient.

Herbs and spices can add nutrients to boost your immune system without adding calories.

A bit of garlic in your food or a dash of sage or oregano may improve your health. All three are known antibacterial herbs. Others that are also immune boosters include ginger, peppermint rosemary and thyme. Not only does garlic help boost your immune system, it helps lower blood pressure. Rosemary helps fight infections with its anti-fungal and antibacterial properties. Add more spices to every dish and you could be improving your health at the same time.

• Get your greens for a healthy boost. Green leafy veggies like kale and spinach have many different nutrients that boost the immune system. Both are high in antioxidants, which includes vitamin C, beta carotene and flavonoids.
• Berries are delicious, plus they boost your immune system. Elderberries, one of the less known berries, have antibacterial, antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties. Researchers note they actually help fight off the flu.
• Get healthy fat, fiber and vitamin E when you grab a handful of nuts, such as walnuts or almonds. Fiber has a beneficial effect on your immune system, since it feeds beneficial bacteria.
• Foods that are fermented are considered probiotics, because they contain beneficial bacteria. Foods that contain soluble fiber are prebiotics, because it feeds the body’s microbes. Beneficial bacteria boosts your immune system, so consume probiotic foods, then follow up with foods that have soluble fiber.

For more information, contact us today at Team Worx Fitness

If you come to The Worx in Alexandria, VA, you find a friendly environment where people put their all into their exercise routine and achieving their goals. However, losing weight and getting healthy requires more than just exercise. It involves healthy eating, too. It can mean cutting down on carbs, cutting out sugar and for some, eating a vegan diet. Are there health benefits for this type of diet? The answer is yes, if you do it properly.

Weight loss is one of the benefits of a vegan diet.

It only makes sense that if you cut out sugary foods and opt for a plant based diet, you’ll probably lose weight. That’s because most vegetables are lower in calories, particularly low glycemic index ones. Studies indicate that a vegan diet can increase weight loss. One study that lasted 18 weeks showed that the vegan diet produced a ten pound higher weight loss than the control diet. Even an eat-until-you’re-full diet that was vegan outperformed a restrictive low calorie diet. It worked for all those that ate vegan, even for people that didn’t strictly stick to protocol, but cheated a bit in what they ate.

Vegan diets provide high amounts of nutrients.

Fiber is one of the reasons this diet can benefit you. Fiber helps feed beneficial bacteria, slows sugar absorption and helps you go. Plant-based diets contain more fiber, but also contain more nutrients than other types of diets. It contains nuts, seeds, legumes, vegetables, whole grain and fruit. The nuts, legumes and seeds are a source of protein that contain other nutrients you don’t find in meat. Vegan diets are high in antioxidants, magnesium, folate, potassium and vitamins A, E and C.

If you have insulin resistance, kidney functioning problems or type 2 diabetes, a vegan diet can help.

You can improve insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar levels when you consume a vegan diet. That improved insulin sensitivity helps lower blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes. A vegan diet has been shown superior to the American Diabetes Association—ADA diet, the National Cholesterol Education Program—NCEP diet and the American Heart Association—AHA diet for blood sugar control. In fact, one study showed diabetics using the vegan diet could lower their medication levels more than those on an ADA diet.

• Not only is a vegan diet good for diabetics, it’s heart healthy, too. The fiber helps lower cholesterol levels and the nutrients in the diet help lower blood pressure. Both affect heart health.
• You’ll get phytonutrients in a vegan diet that provide benefits beyond the traditional vitamins and minerals Many can help lower the risk of cancer, benefit eye health, reduce inflammation and are anti-oxidants that protect cells.
• Planning is important when you opt for a vegan diet. It’s harder to get adequate B12, zinc, iodine and calcium on a strict vegan diet. Don’t choose fast food vegan options, but go for whole foods.
• Besides being heart healthy and good for diabetes, many studies show a plant based diet of raw foods provided prebiotic and probiotic foods that helped relieve the pain, swelling and stiffness of rheumatoid arthritis.

For more information, contact us today at Team Worx Fitness

If you’re trying to find a great source of protein that has many other nutrients, but doesn’t cost a fortune, you might turn to eggs. Some people worry about eating too many eggs, because they’ve gotten a lot of bad publicity due to their high cholesterol levels. That comes from the fact the yolk is high in cholesterol, which led many people to stick with just eating egg whites. That’s a misconception. When you eat foods with cholesterol, your body doesn’t have to produce as much, so you can safely eat more. Eating a few eggs every day isn’t the problem and won’t cause cholesterol levels to rise.

Your liver regulates the amount of cholesterol your body makes.

There are mixed reviews when it comes to the role that cholesterol plays with heart disease. Your body needs cholesterol and it’s an essential element for all cell membranes. Without cholesterol, it can’t make estrogen, cortisol or testosterone. If it’s not in your diet, your liver produces it. When you eat foods containing cholesterol, your liver produces less. Cutting it out of your diet simply means your liver will make more. If you have high blood cholesterol levels, however, it could cause a modest increase, so follow your doctor’s advice.

Do you need to limit your consumption?

The only thing that’s consistent in science is that it’s constantly changing as we learn more. At one time, people were told to limit their consumption of the yolk of an egg. That’s because it contains approximately 62% of the recommended daily amount of cholesterol. While most recommendations suggest limiting the intake of egg yolks to two to six a week, there’s little scientific backing for that recommendation.

Studies show that while eating eggs may increase cholesterol, it’s the good cholesterol.

One study compared two groups. One ate between one and three whole eggs every day and the other ate egg substitutes or something else. While overall cholesterol levels raised, it was because the HDL or good cholesterol went up, while the LDL or bad cholesterol remained unchanged. Eggs also improved blood levels of lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidant carotenoids. The omega-3 in eggs helped lower triglyceride levels, too. Triglycerides may increase heart disease.

• You’ll get the protein you need and at a discount when you include eggs in your diet. They’re far healthier for you than a pancake or waffle that’s doused with syrup.
• Observational studies showed that people who ate eggs were no more likely to have a heart attack than those who didn’t. However, in some studies, it showed that eating eggs actually reduced the risk of stroke.
• If you have type 2 diabetes, there is some research that shows you might increase your risk of heart disease if you eat too many eggs, which is why you always should listen to the recommendations of your health care professional.
• It’s more important to give up unhealthy high sugar food in your diet and highly processed food than giving up eggs, especially for diabetics. One study showed that when diabetics ate a low-carb diet, eggs actually reduced the risk of heart disease.

For more information, contact us today at Team Worx