Along with a healthy diet and lifestyle, targeted supplements are an excellent way to support immune function. Here are some top recommendations.

Vitamins

Vitamin A and its precursor, beta carotene, and vitamin D3 may be the most studied vitamins for immunity. These two vitamins support various immune cells, including lymphocytes, leukocytes, T-cells and B-cells. They also help regulate proteins produced by the immune system called cytokines, which help alert the body to an infection.

 Additionally, vitamin C improves natural killer cell function, and B complex supports the actions of white blood cells.

Minerals

It’s long been known that people with zinc deficiencies are more susceptible to infections. Zinc also supports many types of immune cells: T-cells, B-cells, macrophages, and more. Selenium is another important mineral for immune health.

Probiotics

Probiotic (aka friendly) bacteria act as a counterbalancing force against infections, and support numerous areas of health. These microbes promote healthy immune function in the digestive tract, in part by increasing immunoglobin-A, an important component of immunity. They also help reduce inflammation and improve digestive function. Since a large percentage of your immune system is located in your digestive tract, making sure you have healthy balance of beneficial bacterial is important.

Medicinal Mushrooms

A variety of mushrooms support immune health by helping to “train” the immune system to function optimally. I recommend a formula with the varieties coriolus, reishi, maitake, cordyceps, agaricus and umbellatus. Each mushroom has its own special benefits, so taking a combination gives you broad coverage.

Modified Citrus Pectin

Another ingredient that supports immunity is modified citrus pectin (MCP), derived from the pith of citrus peels. Preclinical and clinical research shows MCP supports immunity, cellular health, and the safe detoxification of heavy metals, including lead.

For thousands of years, Chinese medicine has relied on face reading as a diagnostic tool to determine a person’s overall health. The method isn’t just about noting that someone looks pale or flushed: Face readers look for clues that serve as early warning signs of underperforming organs to potentially nip health issues in the bud.

How Does Face Reading Work?

“Your face is a mirror for the rest of the body, and it acts like a blueprint,” explains Lillian Pearl Bridges, founder of the Lotus Institute and a leading authority on face reading. “Certain places on the face link back to specific organs and provide clues about how those organs are functioning.”

For example, sunken cheeks can be a sign that your lungs aren’t functioning properly. Yellow-tinted whites of the eyes means there’s a problem with the liver, such as jaundice. And fatty deposits on your eyelids signify free-floating cholesterol—a warning that your arteries may be getting blocked.

What to Look For in Face Reading

While it takes years to perfect the science of face reading, even a novice may start to notice things they hadn’t before—if they know where to look and what to look for.

Bridges learned the technique from her Chinese grandmother. “I spent every weekend by her side and she taught me how to read faces,” she says. Bridges has made a career of helping people stay healthy, mostly with recommendations around nutrition, hydration, and lifestyle.

“I have a lot of clients who go on raw-food diets and as a result may not have enough digestive enzymes to process so much raw food,” she says. “I can tell because the area right above their upper lip turns white if the stomach is too cold, which can affect digestion.” She recommends eating cooked food and lots of ginger to warm up the stomach.

Reading the Clues

Underperforming kidneys are also common and can be detected by dark under-eye circles (beyond the normal signs of sleep deprivation).

“This is usually a sign of dehydration,” Bridges explains. “But water alone is not enough.” She is a strong believer in hot soup. “It has minerals that help you hold the fluids, especially when it’s made with bones and root vegetables. The kidneys play a big role in longevity so you want to take good care of them and always stay hydrated.”

The tip of the nose is linked to the heart, and its color shows how well the blood is flowing. If it’s very pale it might indicate a heavy menstrual cycle, or if it’s bluish the blood may be too thick. In this case Bridges suggests eating mu’er (wood ear) mushrooms, a natural blood thinner, or giving blood.

“It helps the new blood come in thinner and doesn’t harm the recipients because the blood is diluted first.”

While face reading is based on centuries of careful observation, the findings can both act as a warning or indicate good health and even pregnancy. So next time you look in the mirror, pay close attention to what you see.

Sports nutrition can be confusing, even for seasoned athletes. There are many products on the market that promise big results... but do they deliver? 

Let’s take a look at the role of protein in sports performance, and how to make healthy choices when shopping for protein bars.

Athletes Need Protein

Common sense tells us that athletes of all types—runners, swimmers, weight lifters—need protein to stay in top shape. What might be less intuitive is the role that protein plays in performance. Protein is necessary for building muscle mass, but just eating lots of protein won’t give you well-defined abs. Muscle growth requires both diet and exercise.

A balanced diet is key when it comes to maintaining lean body mass. It’s best to get an adequate amount of carbohydrates and fats so that your body can use the protein you consume to build and maintain muscles. Otherwise, protein ends up being used for energy production.

Athletes need more protein than less-active people, but their intake should increase moderately. Sedentary adults need about 0.8 – 1.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight; adults who exercise regularly need 1.1 – 1.5 grams per kilogram of weight; high-intensity athletes need 1.2 – 1.7 grams per kilogram of weight.

Spread Out Your Protein Intake

It’s best to meet your protein goals throughout the day, rather than all in one meal. Front-loading protein at breakfast helps to stave off cravings and keep weight in check. Experts recommend aiming for 15 to 25 grams of protein at each meal and in the hour or so after working out (known as the recovery phase). 

When considering how protein bars might fit into your sports nutrition plan, consider the whole picture. A nutrient-dense diet rich in fruit, vegetables, healthy fats, lean protein, and whole grains is the best foundation for peak performance. 

Your body needs carbohydrates and a low to moderate amount of fat and protein before working out to give you energy. You could eat a meal several hours before a workout or eat a snack an hour or so beforehand. You will also want to eat a snack or meal containing protein and carbs after a workout to replace glycogen expended during exercise. Protein has a bigger role to play during recovery, as it provides amino acids that help repair and rebuild muscles.    

Tips for Selecting Quality Protein Bars

It can be hard to know which protein bars to select. Here are some tips:

• Look for bars made with whole ingredients like fruit and nuts.
• Be mindful of calories, especially if you’re watching your weight. Aim for fewer than 250 calories per bar.
• Protein bars should have protein! Look for bars with at least 5 grams. Aim higher if you’re using them to replace a meal.
• Watch out for sneaky added sugars (anything ending in –“ose”), even if they’re natural (agave, honey, raw sugar). Look for a bar that gets less than 35 percent of its calories from sugar. You can calculate the percentage by multiplying the grams of sugar by 4 and then dividing that number by the total calories. 
• Be wary of sugar alcohols, which are sometimes used to sweeten and mask undesirable flavors without increasing carbs. Some people find that sugar alcohols cause gastrointestinal discomfort including bloating and gas.
• Fiber is important for managing weight. It also helps the energy in the bar last longer because it slows digestion. Bars with 3 to 5 grams of fiber are the way to go.
• Choose a bar with less than 5 grams of fat, if possible.

The term flexitarian has been around for years. It combines the two words flexible and vegetarian to mean a flexible vegetarian-based diet in which a person reduces their consumption of animal protein most of the time but still eats meat and/or seafood occasionally.

What is a Flexitarian Diet?

While the flexitarian diet acknowledges animal protein as an important source of nutrients, it also recognizes the ethical issues associated with meat consumption—including animal and planetary welfare. The diet also considers the risk factors tied to the long-term consumption of large amounts of red meat and processed meat products, including certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, and Type 2 diabetes.

The flexitarian eating plan offers adherents myriad health benefits. By incorporating more plants and less meat into the diet, those who follow the plan may experience greater health and longevity, weight loss, improved heart health, and lower risks for diabetes and cancer.

The Benefits of Eating a Flexitarian Diet

Research shows that vegetarians weigh less, have lower body mass indexes (BMI), and eat fewer calories than those who eat meat. When someone follows a flexitarian diet, the same benefits are garnered. A six-year study of 38,000 adults found that flexitarians tend to weigh less than full-fledged carnivores.

Because plant-based foods like fruits and vegetables are lower in calories, a flexitarian diet can help trim caloric intake. Eating more plant-based foods can also help lower saturated fat and cholesterol intake as well.

The Flexitarian Diet & Weight Loss

A Korean study found that postmenopausal women following a semi-vegetarian diet (a term used interchangeably with the flexitarian diet in scientific literature) for more than 20 years had much lower BMI, body fat percentages, and body weights when compared to non-vegetarians. In another study, a semi-vegetarian diet was found to significantly lower insulin levels and glucose in postmenopausal women who followed the diet for more than 20 years.

Although most current flexitarians are women, the benefits of the diet aren’t just for females. A study of over 73,000 Seventh-Day Adventists found that vegetarian diets (including semi-vegetarian) were linked with lower all-cause mortality. The results appeared to be even more evident in the male subjects.