Vitamin overdose

One of the biggest trends within health and fitness is supplements. There is supplements to make you perform better, to get bigger muscle growth and also vitamins in pills that will keep you healthy. But do we really need to spend millions of dollars every year on supplements?

Durng the last few years there are many studies that have confirmed that to high intake of supplements can lead to serious illness. For example; Too much of vitamin A can cuse nausea, loss of appetite, headache, peeling skin, hair loss, menstrual irregularity and enlarged liver to name a few.
Too much of vitamin D can cuase kidney stones and overcalcification of the bones.
Too much of Vitmain E can cause blotchy skin.

Another thing that is very popular is protein shakes, protein bars, protein shots etc that also very often contais alot of sugar.
A diet in which protein makes up more than 30% of your caloric intake causes a buildup of toxic. So-called ketogenic diets can thrust your kidneys into overdrive in order to flush these ketones from your body. As your kidneys rid your body of these toxic ketones, you can lose a significant amount of water, which puts you at risk of dehydration, particularly if you exercise heavily.
Losing alot of water you lose muscle mass and bone calcium. The dehydration also strains your kidneys and puts stress on your heart. So stick to about 15% of protein of your daily calorie intake. Just make sure you eat some kind of protein (meat, fish, poultry, beans, eggs etc.) with every meal.

I think this is a really interesting subject and I have been discussing it with a few doctors and food experts and we most often agree.
Think through what you are eating! Make sure you eat your greens, fruit and over all a healthy meal. We normaly get the vitamins and protein we need by eating healthy.
Listen to your body and if you don't feel good, go see your doctor.
I would recommend to take 1 (one) multivitamin pill a day. Thats all you need! :)

Go green!

Phone fun

Now, when you do all those things that you do everyday why not make it more fun and useful.
When you are one the phone, brushing your teeth or cleaning the dishes lift you leg up into a half tree pose.
This improves your balance and strengthens your inner core muscles.

Balance away!

Summer training

In LA it is steaming hot at the moment and I know that it can be hard to find energy and motivation to get into your training gear when it is this hot.
No excuses peeps, here are some tips of how to do it!

1. Drink water all day long

As we all sweat when we sleep (even more when it's hot) it's a good thing is to have a glass of water next to your bed, drink it if you wake up during the night and have a full glass of water when you wake up. The oxygen in the water will also help you to feel more awake in the morning. Continue to drink water during the day but make sure you don't drink too much as that can "wash" away importnat salts and vitamins in your body.




2. Workout early or late

Do your workout early in the morning or later at night as it's cooler. I recommend yoga priacticein the morning as the head is clear from thoughts about what has been happening during the day. Do your cardio workout at night as that makes you fall asleep easier.




3. Use the heat

The muscles get more flexible in warmer weather so use the heat for yoga training and functional training. Open your windows and turn of the AC! (If you sweat and slide on your mat get a "Yogitoes Skidless Mat", they are amazing!)
You will also, most likely, sweat more and this can increase the detoxifying effects of yoga.




4. Eat light and cold

When it's hot and heavy outside, eat the opposite.
Have a salad or a light cold soup (attaching a great garpacio recepie at the bottom).
We produce less heat and do not need as much energy from food when it's hot, keep light in your mind.




5. Block the sun

Use a sun block for out door workouts!




Quick and easy Gazpacho with garlic sauce



1 Yellow Onion
1 Cucumber
1 Can of crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon tabasco
2 dl plain yoghurt
1 piece of garlic

Cut cucumber and onion into small pieces and mix them with the tomatoes in a blender until smooth.
Mix with olive oil, salt and tabasco and stir.
Mix the yoghurt with the garlic.
Serve cold and put some of the garlic yoghurt in the soup. Serve as it is or with a piece of whole grain bread.
Yumm!

The fifth taste

For all Los Angels and everyone who is visiting LA (except vegans) need to check out my new favourite burger place, Umami Burger.

Umami is Japanese and is a fith way of how human tastes. We can taste sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.
Umami is making different tastes blend together better. It's sort of like how oil mixes different colours together.
Most of us can't put the finger on what umami tastes like exactly but it plays a major role in how food tastes.

At Umami Burger the chef has created a few different burgers and you can take off whatever you want to but he won't add anything to his creations as they are already "perfect". The sides of hand cut french fries and onion rings are good but are not the reason why you should go there.

An Umami Burger might not be the healthiest choice for dinner but it is a trip to paradise for your taste buds and is absolutely worth it. What would life be without love, music and good food (even if it contains more fat than cucumber).

Check out their website http://umamiburger.com or just go to 850 S La Brea Ave Los Angeles, CA. (La brea, just south of Wilshire)

Acai your body

For centuries, people in the amazon have eaten the Acai fruit for it's health promoting properties. Today, modern science had proved that Acai is one of the healthiest fruits ever found on earth.

In the beginning of the 90's scientists discovered something called antioxidants.
Antioxidants can be fond in fruits like strawberrys, blueberrys and raspberrys but the one fruit that has the highest levels of antioxidants is the Acai fruit.
We all have something called free radicals in our bodies. Free radicals are atoms that have atleast one unpaired electron.
When we have too many free radicals in our bodies it can accelerate aging and lead to certain ailments.
Smoking, alcohol, stress, lack of sleep and too much sunlight are contributers to free radicals.
By giving an electron to unstable free radicals Antioxidants will help prevent free radicals from potentially damaging healthy cells.

When picking the Acai fruit off the tree most of it's healthy content will disapear within 24hours.
A company called Mona Vie had found a way to keep all the juicy stuff intact by dry freezing the fruit within only 5 hours after it has left it's tree. After that they squeeze all the health out of the fruit to create an Acai blend of 19 different fruits.
This drink contains lotsof vitmains and contains more antioxidants than any other drink and tastes magnificent.

After drinking this for a few weeks now I have to say that I definatly feel more alert and I have much more evergy for my morning workouts (which is normally a pain for me :))!


Check out their website on www.mymonavie.com for more info and to buy.

Acai away!

Quote of the week

' In times of difficulty take refuge in compassion and truth. '

~ The Buddha

Pack it up

When it's time for "Johannes' killer" in my classes the usual reaction is: "Ohh noooo"
So now I'm going to share this beloved and famous sequence! :)

Start with finding a space at home or at the gym where you are free to take out your moves. A good thing is to sit on a mat or a pillow.
Find the "meaty" part between your sit bones and tail bone and try to sit on that part and balance.



Bring your lower legs up so they are parallel with the floor and make sure your lower back is flat.


Straighten your legs until your heels are an inch off the floor.


Lift your legs up into the Boat Position but try to not go further than you are able to hold your lower back flat.


Finally go back to the starting position and do it all over again.



Enjoy! :)