Tag Archives: nutritious america

HealthBuzz August 3rd: Best Olympics Commercial, Fab 5 Diet Tips, and No-Cook Recipes

Before you go out and enjoy the first weekend of the month take a look at healthy news from DIR and our friends. Plus, cool off with some no-cook nutritious recipes this weekend, too!

Best Olympics Commercial: Nike’s Find Your Greatness Jogger

Out of all the commercials aired during the Olympics, Nike takes home the gold for the most motivating commercial. Unlike Nike’s traditional commercial athletes, they use a 12-year-old boy, Nathan from London, Ohio. Nathan sends a powerful message and Nike has outdone themselves.

Saturday Morning Drills: Legs of a Dancer

This week’s Saturday Morning Drill features our fitness expert and Booty Barre founder, Tracey Mallett. Tracey teaches us how to tone and shape our legs to get them looking like a dancer’s legs. Watch the video now and start toning your legs in a fun way!

3 Eating Tips from the Fab Five Gymnasts

The U.S. women’s gymnastics team, nicknamed the “Fab Five,” just won a gold medal earlier this week. Do you want to know how to eat like an Olympic gymnast? We share the “Fab Five” eating tips. (more…)

Posted on August 3, 2023 by Samantha

3 Eating Tips from the Fab Five Gymnasts

Karen Sherwood for Nutritious America

Every four years I am more inspired by the determination and power of the amazing athletes who compete in the Olympic Games. Gymnastics is one of the most-watched events in London this year as millions of people are glued to their televisions to witness the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, nicknamed “Fab Five,” and their quest for Olympic gold. Not since the Magnificent Seven in 1996 did a women’s gymnastics team win a gold medal and these five young ladies are ready to make it happen again! As teenagers, the pressure they are under is unimaginable, yet they hop onto their balance beams with poise and stamina.

Watching Gabby Douglas float gracefully across the mat, and Kyla Ross soar what looks to be eight-feet above the uneven bars, leaves a curious nutritionist wondering… what in the world are these teenagers eating that they look and move like superheros? More importantly, is it something sustainable and realistic? I began to investigate.

While their meal plans weren’t publicly listed (aside from Aly Raisman’s chocolate milk as a recovery drink), from what I discovered they have a great support system of coaches, trainers, and family members who do their best to look after them. Don’t underestimate these gals just because they’re young, they know how to create a safe and healthy relationship with food on their own. Fab Five member Aly Raisman takes her eating very seriously and knows that a nourished body means a better performance. A nice balance of healthy foods along with occasional “fun foods” always takes the gold. Too much restriction can be dangerous for young women since they are already susceptible to things like eating disorders brought on by media hype and the pressure of competition.  (more…)

Posted on July 31, 2023 by Nutritious_America

Beat Summer Bloat with 3 Green Foods

By Abra Pappa for Nutritious America

The lazy, hazy days of summer are here; long days at the beach, picnics in the park, outdoor BBQs, family, friends, and puffy bloated bellies. Yes. The most common thing I hear from clients in the hot humid weather is, “I feel bloated. Can you help my belly not stick out?”

Did you know that water accounts for 60% of a person’s weight? In the summer, or extreme heat conditions, our bodies adjust the amount of water we retain, i.e. we retain more water in the humidity. Ugh. Unfortunately, for many people this can mean bloated puffy stomachs, and even up to 4-5 pounds of extra bloating weight! Ah, the irony of it all, a puffy belly in the season that we most frequently show our belly.

If you are a summer belly bloat sufferer here are three fantastic foods to add to your diet to help combat that puff and help you feel trim and slim and bikini-strut worthy.

Celery – Rich in both potassium and sodium, celery contains the minerals most important for regulating fluid balance. This keeps us hydrated while it stimulates urine production, helping to rid the body of excess fluid. Chew on a few stalks of fresh celery at the first sign of intestinal madness. (more…)

Posted on July 24, 2023 by Nutritious_America

Beware Carrageenan, a Food Additive Common in Organic Products

By Abra Pappa for Nutritious America

If you are into reading labels then you have most likely seen an ingredient called carrageenan. It specifically appears on the label of many organic processed food products.

What is Carrageenan?

Carrageenan is a polysaccharide derived from red seaweed and it has molecular qualities similar to plastic. Seaweed sounds innocent enough; it’s natural right? Absolutely, as a matter of fact, many types of seaweed are commonly used as a medicinal food to support many conditions like thyroid disorder and even cancer. However, not all seaweed is created equal and the process in which carrageenan is extracted from the red seaweed has become the cornerstone of a debate about allowed ingredients in organic products. (more…)

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Nutritious_America

4 Simple Tips for Raising Healthy Kids

By Karen Sherwood

In a land of go-gurts, happy meals, lunchables, and clever junk food marketing geared toward kids, raising a healthy child is becoming increasingly difficult. We are never more than five feet away from a food message and 90% of those messages are not about health food. So what’s a parent to do? KISS (Keep it Super Simple) those problems away! Here are four super simple tips to keep your child healthy while maintaining your sanity.

1. Lead by example – How can we ever expect our children to grow up healthy if we are setting examples that are far from it? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity is the result of more than just genetics, but a culmination of behavioral and environmental factors. Like it or not, until their 18 years old (sometimes even longer), parents are responsible for setting a healthy environment for their children. Needless to say, it does a child no good when they’re receiving orders to eat more broccoli while their parent is lying on the couch with a bag of potato chips and a diet soda. (more…)

Posted on June 29, 2023 by Nutritious_America

“Vibrant Moms Healthy Kids” Offers Family-Focused Nutrition Training Online

“How do I get my kid to eat healthy food?”

This is the number one question Abra Pappa has received over the last ten years as a Certified Health Coach and a Holistic Nutritionist. She’s decided to take a brand new approach to answer that question and is introducing a program called Vibrant Moms Healthy Kids.

Vibrant Moms Healthy Kids is a four week online course for parents hosted by Nutritious America. The course focuses on nutrition, holistic wellness therapies, and small steps to make big differences in the health of mothers and their families. Pappa and alternative medicine expert Autumn Bear will be conducting the online course, which begins enrollment Monday, June 25. (more…)

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Lacy

12 Songs for the Best Yoga Music Playlist

By Karen Sherwood for NutritiousAmerica.com

“Yoga is like music. The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.” ~ BKS Iyengar

What would the world be like without music? It’s true the perfect instrument and lyric can accomplish a number of things. It can serve as a reflection, a memory, or it can simply keep you in the present moment where the mind quiets and we learn to let go. Yoga follows a similar school of thought, though traditional yoga studios usually keep their classes silent so students can learn to meditate and focus on their breath. This certainly makes sense, yet using music can often be a more effective way of getting a person to achieve serenity. When I practice yoga at home, or share my practice with students, I always use music to enhance the experience. Here is my ultimate yoga playlist that takes me through a perfect hour of practice.

View The Best Yoga Playlist Slideshow

Cheers to you and your yoga practice. Perhaps music can be your vehicle to get to that place of non-judgement, tranquility, and never-ending presence.

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Nutritious_America

Cook Yourself Healthy with 4 Nutritious Spices

By Abra Pappa for NutritiousAmerica.com

Don’t ignore the nutrient powerhouses hidden away in your spice cabinet. Spices contain phenols which stimulate your immune system to protect against disease and are rich in anti-oxidants to protect your body from free radical damage. Spices can elevate a simple dinner into a nutrient dense, delicious masterpiece.

Here are my four favorite spices and their amazing health and healing properties. Plus, how to use them in your kitchen.

Smoked Paprika – This has been my “spice crush” for quite some time. A little dash turns a simple vegetable dish into something richer, heartier, and so delicious. Paprika, because of its high vitamin C content, helps your body absorb iron rich foods and fight infection. Try smoked paprika in these yummy recipes:

Smokey Joe’s

Smokey Tomato and Greens Soup

Smokey Salmon Kebabs (more…)

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Nutritious_America

Is Moderation in Diet a Myth?

By Abra Pappa for NutritiousAmerica.com

The end goal, for me, with all of my clients is to reach a point where living is flexible, fun and free of denial and discipline. To discover an eating dogma that is ideal for the individual. An eating plan that supports every cell in the body and contributes to a feeling of abundance and vibrance. Which, for me, should also include eating a burger or a slice of pizza from time to time. Question is, is it really possible to moderate these indulgent meals? Or is indulgence a slippery slope?

There are as many dietary theories as there are people in the world. If you don’t subscribe wholly and completely to one specific (and seemingly strict) dogma (i.e. vegan, raw, paleo) yet you live a supportive healthy life filled with glorious whole foods, would you say you practice moderation?

Are there actually people that successfully practice moderation? Or is it truly necessary to adhere to a strict eating plan in order to transform your life with food and reach your health goals?

Here are my top 3 tips to make moderation possible and bust the myth that it is not! (more…)

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Nutritious_America

Central Park’s Edible Urban Garden is Ripe for the Picking

By Abra Pappa for Nutritious America

Living in an urban environment one can frequently go for long periods of time without getting intimate with nature. Maybe even a lifetime. It is rare to see urbanites digging in the ground or planting a garden. And when envisioning a Mecca of wild edible plants, most likely a concrete jungle does not come to mind.

Think again.

As it turns out, Manhattan’s Central Park is home to more than 100 species of wild edible plants. Edible and free!

It takes an expert in what is called foraging, searching for food sources, to point out which species are edible and which are not. I met a foraging expert this Earth Day, his name is Wildman Steve Brill. He has been offering foraging tours of Central Park for nearly 30 years.

I joined Wildman for one of his four hour Central Park tours where around 30 participants plucked plants right from the ground and popped them in their mouths, and sampled flower buds off of a low hanging branch to savor their flavor profile. Spring is the season of greens, and small budding flowers. In four hours we all consumed plenty of wild greens and small budding flowers. (more…)

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Nutritious_America

3 Crap Excuses For Not Getting Healthy Destroyed!

By Abra Pappa for NutritiousAmerica.com

On one’s journey to wellness there is knowing what to do and then there is actually doing it. Between the knowing and the doing is a great divide that is filled up with a variety of elements that prevent the “doing.” Mostly, it is filled with excuses.

I have heard them all, but through the years there are a few that religiously resurface over and over and over again.

#1 I don’t have time

Yes, I know we are all extraordinarily busy. Life is moving at a rapid pace these days and it oftentimes seems nearly impossible to have a minute to breathe, never mind a minute to steam some kale. Seriously, a MINUTE to steam some kale. Listen, we all have issues with time management, but that’s all it is, management. Give yourself the greatest gift ever, drop all that you are doing and invest just 10 minutes in a healthy activity. Drink a glass of water, plan a weekly menu, stand up and do some squats. When faced with a time challenge it is within you to manage it. Healthy does not mean slaving away in the kitchen for hours each day. Fit does not mean spending an hour in the gym every day. Begin with a 10 minute commitment each day and fill it with 10 minutes of nourishment. Gradually you will see that healthy activities actually grant you more time. It’s magical. As you feel better you have more focus and energy to do better. (more…)

Posted on April 19, 2024 by Nutritious_America