Welcome to My World – Coffee – Make it Healthy! Best Walking Shoes
Hello World! Hope all is well in your world today. Just returned from my morning walk. I saw some people I haven’t seen for a while. It was a good walk. Please check out my link to New Balance as they have a sale now. I won’t wear any other shoes for walking. I’ve worn New Balance for years! I buy these shoes like some women buy heels… If you’re comfortable when you walk or run, you’ll go further & do it longer. I’ve walked all of my adult life. I don’t like running but I love to walk! Now it’s time to write, & then explore & learn something new about my blog. Need to know why when I open my blog from “view blog” it shows me my new blog post, but then it scrolls down to next post & sometimes the one after – appearing as it it’s all one post? There must be a way to show one at a time, with links within each post to the next or previous one. Something to work on today. Also need to work on traffic to my blog. So very much to learn … Today it appears to be showing only this post with a link at the bottom to the next, but I didn’t do anything to make this happen. Oh, the joys of the “tech challenged” (ME)! Today I came across some interesting info that I want to share. It is about my favorite morning beverage – Coffee! Can’t start my day without it! I love the smell of fresh brewed coffee in the morning. Makes me feel good… So maybe along with the physical health benefits, it also helps my sense of well being each morning…
Ways to Make Your Coffee Healthier
As we move into 2017 thinking about new healthy habits we want to adopt, why not start with a habit most of us already have — our morning coffee. Coffee sometimes gets a bad rap, but there’s nothing wrong with including coffee as part of your morning routine.
Plenty of articles have been published about the health benefits of coffee, which are typically attributed to the antioxidants in the beans. But there are also numerous ingredients that can be added to the beverage, as well as different ways of preparing a cup of joe, that can boost the nutritional value of your coffee.
*Let’s look at some of the ways to make your next cup of coffee more nutritious.
1. Use paper filters Along with the antioxidants & caffeine present in coffee, there are also harmful substances called diterpenes, which consist of cafestol & kahweol. High amounts of diterpenes can trigger a rise in your total & low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. To avoid this situation, use paper filters (which capture these compounds) when brewing coffee.
2. Add cocoa: A teaspoon or two of organic unsweetened cocoa stirred into coffee not only helps satisfy a chocolate craving, it also enhances the antioxidant value of the brew. Among the health benefits attributed to cocoa are a reduced risk of heart disease, better control of diabetes, & a good source of magnesium
Coffee & Cinnamon – YUM!
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3. Choose cinnamon: This tasty herb can help lower cholesterol, triglycerides, & blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. A UK systemic review & meta-analysis of 6 clinical trials, for example, reported that cinnamon helped with glycemic control. So consider adding a dash or two of cinnamon to coffee for a delightful taste & nutritional boost.
4. Select natural sweetness: White table sugar, brown sugar & artificial sweeteners should never make contact with coffee! For those who must have sweetened coffee, the natural sweeteners stevia (an herb) & xylitol, a sugar alcohol that is found in minute levels in fruits & vegetables & therefore considered to be natural. However, neither of these natural sweeteners add any nutritional value to coffee. Using them, however, doesn’t make a cup of joe less nutritious.
5. Cut the creamer: Using coffee creamer adds unhealthy, non-nutritional ingredients to the beverage, so eliminating the creamer can actually improve that next cup. So-called coffee or nondairy creamers typically contain sugar, corn syrup, artificial flavors & colors, sodium, vegetable oils, & sodium aluminosilicate (which is flammable). Are these the ingredients we want in our body?
6. Go organic: Coffee beans are among the most heavily sprayed crops in the world. Approximately 250 pounds of pesticides per acre are applied to these plants. To avoid exposure to chemical residues, choose organically grown coffee.
8. Add MCT oil: Medium-chain triglycerides are a healthy form of saturated fatty acid with many health benefits, ranging from improvement in heart health to cognitive function & better weight management. The best source of MCT oil is coconut oil, although there are small amounts in butter & cheese made from grass-fed cows, palm oil, & whole milk. Adding a dash of coconut oil to coffee could provide a brain & heart boost!
Enjoy your next cup of coffee & make it a healthy one!