When To Drink Detox Tea?

Teatox

“When to drink detox tea?” is a question commonly asked to our health experts. Some people are scared detox tea will cause them to have to go to the bathroom during work hours and negatively affect their daily routine. However, this is just not the case with most detox tea’s. Why is that? Well, many detox tea’s focus on clearing out your kidneys and increasing metabolism over time (not your colon…in that case, you would have to be more cautious). If you want to avoid a colon cleansing detox, don’t buy a tea with “senna leafs” in it! Indeed, some detox tea JUST uses “senna leaf’s” – which in our opinion is quite cheap and ill tasting. The only tea we know of that uses these leaves is Skinny Tea.

Detox tea is just a fancy word for helping cleanse your body, increase your metabolism and just assist the body’s natural forms of elimination  through the digestive tract, the kidneys, liver, lungs and blood. It is important to know that our bodies are fully equipped to handle cleansing and elimination of toxins daily, there are just a number of times when assistance is needed. If too many toxins are present, for example, our traditional system of cleansing can become overwhelmed. When this happens, to your body often experiences symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, indigestion, acne,  bloating, jaundice, decreased energy, sluggish digestion, immune deficiency, etc.

when to drink detox tea

Times of the Day to Drink Detox Tea?

The best time of the day to drink detox tea is first thing in the morning, after working out, and before dinner.

Why drink detox tea prior to bed?

Often detox tea’s are “herbal based”, meaning they don’t contain a lot/if any caffeine. Therefore, drinking detox tea at night will allow the herbs to take effect in your body while you sleep. Therefore when you awake, you can properly eliminate the waste through normal means of disposal.

Why not drink detox tea in the middle of the day?

Often detox tea’s are centered around helping your kidney and liver filter out a lot of the toxins in your body. The kidney also plays a role in If you drink the tea throughout the day you will spend more time going to the bathroom (maybe one more time than normal).

Detox Tea For Athletes

new label ultra slender tea

There are a few detox teas that can also be highly effective for athletes. Why are they good for athletes? Well, detox tea is loaded with the best herbs that can are high in key electrolytes such as magnesium, potassium, sodium and chloride…all the the stuff found in your common gatorade, but in much higher quantities. For example, Ultra Slender Tea contains coriander, turmeric, fennel seed, ginger and cardamom (in small quantities of course that have been proportioned accordingly to taste the best) which are high in potassium. Potassium regulates the heartbeat and muscles. To learn the exact amounts of potassium, magnesium and chloride in Ultra Slender Tea, the herbs responsible and a comparison to Gatorade, refer to THIS ARTICLE.

When should athletes drink detox tea?

Athletes should drink a detox tea (i.e. Ultra Slender Tea or Ultra Skinny tea) anytime after exercise. Ultra Slender Tea is high in all key electrolytes, including magnesium, which will prevent muscle cramping after a workout and regulate the levels of other minerals in your body such as calcium, potassium, zinc and copper. Increasing zinc absorption is imperative for optimizing athletic performance and strength development as it plays a primary role in anabolic hormone production. Indeed, research shows having ample zinc available in the body allows for a more robust release of the three most important anabolic hormones, testosterone, growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Without these, you’ll miss out on muscle and strength development from your hard work in the gym. Note, zinc also increases your immune system, improves cardiovascular health, detoxifies the brain of heavy metals, prevents Alzheimer’s disease and clears acne.

exercise results2

How long to drink detox tea?

Drinking detox tea over a period of one to two weeks allows for the toxins that are stored in fat cells and other cellular structures to be removed, in addition it allows for the body to adjust to the removal of substances that should not be present in the body in the first place. As the body eliminates debris from the lungs, liver, stomach, kidneys, and blood, there may be some side effects such as headache or fatigue. This is the body’s reaction to the removal of toxins, the stimulation of the cleansing process and the strengthening of the immune system. Symptoms should subside within a day or two. Once finished you should feel refreshed with a renewed energy and ability to function and concentrate. Your mood will be calm and more positive and digestion should return to normal.

To maintain your health you should consider doing a detox cleanse every 3-6 months, depending upon your exposure to toxins and if symptoms of liver stagnation or deficiency reoccur. Detox teas are readily available at natural grocery stores, and online (we recommend Ultra Slender Tea). They are inexpensive and you should never use an entire box in one sitting. Therefore it is easy to keep a detox tea on hand. Always read the directions before use because some detox teas are more potent than others and may require different steps.

If you want to learn more about detox tea and how to utilize tea for weight loss, we highly recommend this ebook! It’s really affordable and can be downloaded right onto your ipad (using the kindle app of course) or kindle.

What Is the Best Natural Alternative Sports Drink To Gatorade?

Muscle Building Drinks That Work

Gatorade seems to be the drink of choice for athletes to replenish electrolytes. However, when you consider all the sugar and dye in the product, many often wonder if it is more harmful than “good for you”? This article will explore the benefits of electrolyte boosting sports drinks and offer light as to natural amazing alternatives like Ultra Slender Tea.

no more energy drinks

 

Ingredients in Gatorade

The main reason consumers buy Gatorade is because of the electrolyte boost it provides to athletes. However, the term “electrolytes” can be quite vague and many people don’t really understand what specific electrolytes are being depleted in their body during exercise. The main electrolytes in Gatorade are sodium, potassium and chloride. These are the key minerals that are lost through sweat when the body exercises. So as a general rule of thumb; when the body is losing lots of water (i.e. during exercise), it only makes sense to replace these electrolytes.

What most people don’t realize is that when you put all the marketing hype aside, there are some great alternatives which provide just as much nutrients and electrolytes, if not MORE! For example, a 20-ounce bottle of Gatorade has 75mg of potassium, versus a small Clementine which has 131mg. Or you could eat a simple banana, which has ~422mg of potassium and 8% of the daily requirement of magnesium. There’s even a gram or two of protein in a banana, and added vitamins in Clementine’s such as calcium, vitamin C and folate.

Muscle Building Drinks That Work

So what are some great alternative sports drinks to Gatorade? The main product which we highly recommend is “Ultra Slender Tea”. Don’t let the name throw you off- it’s a great product to compliment a workout. It contains key ingredients that will replenish your electrolytes …even more so than Gatorade!

For example, Ultra Slender Tea contains the highest quality organic herbs that are rich in the key minerals (1) magnesium (2) sodium and (3) potassium. Below is a chart to help you compare Gatorade to Ultra Slender Tea, and just basically show you how mineral and nutrient rich tea can be. Who would have thought? So much goodness could be in “TEA” …and it just so happens to be great tasting and contain a LOT LESS SUGAR! -woo!

UST versus gatorade4

Sports drinks also contain carbohydrates (i.e. from the sweetener) which are supposed to provide energy to help delay fatigue. The Gatorade Co. says lab tests have shown that 6% carbohydrate (14 grams of carbohydrate per 8 ounces of water) is the optimal percentage of carbohydrates for speeding fluid and energy back into the body. However, most of the carbohydrates come from sugar!

With so much sugar in a sports drink (up to 34g in the average bottle), the sugar tends to flow into the blood stream to quickly! This will often result in a sugar-crash and more fat storage afterwards.  What do we mean by an increase of fat storage? Well, the rush of glucose/sugar in the body from a sports drink will raise your insulin levels so high that this elevated insulin will trigger you body to store fat and hold onto existing fat stores (for a good resource on this process, check

out Mark Hyman’s book “The Blood Sugar Solution”). When the sugars hit the liver, they can be deposited there. So even if a person is not “fat” on the outside, there is unnecessary fat storage happening on the inside, which , along with confused insulin responses, predisposes you to all kinds of diseases.

Better to go with a more natural alternative that can provide, less sugar, more soluble-fiber and more minerals/electrolytes (i.e. Ultra Slender Tea).  Why soluble fiber you may ask? Well, soluble fiber will prevent the rush of glucose in the body and excel fat storage in the liver.

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Bad Ingredients In Gatorade

The most harmful ingredient that has raised a lot of controversy is “brominated vegetable oil”. Brominated Vegetable oil is added to Gatorade to keep the drink from getting cloudy and the artificial flavor suspended in the drink. This controversial substance is linked to serious health consequences like skin rashes, severe acne and thyroid disease and is banned in Europe and Japan! (Update: Gatorade recently decided to phase out this ingredient due to a recent successful petition, but Powerade still contains it).

SOFT DRINK SHOCKER

Caramel Coloring Dangers

Ever wonder how your “Coke or Pepsi” soda got it’s dark brown/black color? It actually comes from an ingredient often listed as “caramel coloring” …which isn’t so good for your health!

What Is Caramel Color?

Caramel coloring is the result is a burnt sugar and is the world’s most widely consumed (by weight) food coloring ingredient. It is not found only in colas, but also in sauces, gravies and baked goods.

caramel-splash

Caramel Color Ingredients

The main concern scientists and consumers face today, is associated with the ingredients found within caramel color that form as a bi-product during processing. Recently (January 2014), The Food and Drug Administration (USA’s Health Regulatory body) started reviewing the literature and on Caramel Coloring in response to a study by Consumer Reports that showed varying levels of 4-methylimidazole – an impurity formed in some caramel coloring at low levels during the manufacturing process – in 12 brands of soda from five manufacturers.

coca cola

Image Source: http://gizmodo.com

What is 4- MEI?

Though studies have to been conclusive about whether 4-methylimidazole is a carcinogen, California includes it on the state list of carcinogens and a state law mandates a cancer warning label on products that have a certain level of the substance. In reaction to that law, Coke, Pepsi and other soft drink makers have directed their caramel-colour suppliers to reduce the levels of 4-methylimidazole. Note however that It is not found in all caramel coloring’s.

Caramel Color Dangers

Why is this bad? It comes down to quantity consumed. Canadians consumed 3.5 billion liters of soft drinks in 2009, about 105 litres per person. What’s worse, is the Centre for Science in the Public Interest estimated that the caramel color in coke “Coke and Pepsi products” tested is causing about 15000 cancers in the U.S. population a year.

coca cola cancer

The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed the chemical as being a possible cancer causing agent, while the State of California – under California’s Proposition 65 law – has placed a limit on the amount of caramel color that can be added to foods and beverages (29 mg), before a health-warning label must be applied to the manufacturer’s packaging. Unfortunately, it’s hard to keep tabs on the exact quantities these companies are putting in soft drinks, and studies are finding levels higher than 29 mg in one too many products.

So how can you avoid these harsh ingredients? It’s best to just limit the amount of soda you are consuming, or try to seek alternative options. Try looking on the label and avoiding the soda which has “caramel coloring” listed as an ingredient.

Matcha Benefits

Matcha is a high-end type of “green tea” that has the most incredible health benefits. If you’re not drinking matcha green tea yet, you’re behind the times! You must try this metabolism-enhancing, stress-reducing, immune-boosting, cholesterol-lowering, teenage-mutant-ninja cancer fighter!

Matcha Taste

Matcha tastes different to different people. However, many matcha enthusiasts would generally agree on the characteristics: 1. Alluring 2. Bitter 3. Misunderstood 3. Addicting 5. Complex.

If you don’t like your tea bitter and are a little afraid to purchase real matcha right away {despite the amazing benefits}, why not purchased a flavored version of the tea, such as the one by “Stash” below:

Matcha Benefits

What makes matcha more healthy that other types of green tea is the fact that you are actually drinking the “ground up tea leaves” themselves – instead of just the antioxidants etc. from the steeped tea.

How healthy may you ask? Lets just say Matcha green tea possesses an antioxidant levels 6.2 times that of goji berries, 7 times that of dark chocolate, 17 times that of wild blueberries and 60.5 times that of spinach!

To sum up all of the incredible benefits of “macha” green tea, refer to our lovely infographic below:

matcha

 

Source: teapig.com

Matcha Recipes

Matcha can be quite intimidating when you first look at it and many people find themselves unsure of how to drink it. It can be a tad bitter, so it’s best to mix it with other ingredients. Here are a few Matcha Recipes:

matcha recipe

Shocking Chemicals In Hair Straightening and Protecting Products

Hair Straightening Products

We live in a time where you can do almost anything you want to your hair and it will look “somewhat natural”. Thirty years ago, if you wanted to straighten your hair, and it was super curly, most hair dressers would give you your money back {according to my mother who has exceptionally curly hair}. I have even heard that women used an actual iron! – yep, the iron!

The most popular tool used today in households, is the good old ceramic hair straightener. The technology on these suckers has become quite advanced; some even have silver nanoparticles in them to increase the heat distribution and effectiveness of the product at lower temperatures (i.e. you wont burn your hair).

hair straighten1

Heat Protection Spray Review

The main problem is in the “heat protecting spray!” Yes, it does miracles for your hair and helps it to also look “red-carpet shinny”, but have you ever considered why?

There are often at least 30 chemicals in each spray bottle!! Some of which are known to be carcinogenic! {I was shocked to learn this in the scientific literature}. The main chemical of concern however is formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives (FRPs)

What Is Formaldehyde?

Formaldehyde releasing preservatives are commonly used in place of formaldehyde, and release small amounts of formaldehyde over time.[i] The purpose of these chemicals is to prevent bacteria from growing in water-based products.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON THE LABEL:

Main “formaldehyde-releasing preservatives” in products today:

  • Quaternium-15 (**the most sensitizing of these FRPs)

  • Dimethyl (DMDM) hydantoin
  • imidazolidinyl urea
  • Diazolidinyl urea
  • Sodium hydroxymethylglycinate
  • 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1
  • 3-diol (bronopol)

Formaldehyde Dangers To Health

Formaldehyde is considered a known human carcinogen by many expert and government bodies, including the United States National Toxicology Program[iii] and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.[iv] A shocking 2009 review of the literature on occupational exposures and formaldehyde shows a link between formaldehyde and leukemia.[v] Formaldehyde in cosmetic is also widely udnerstood to cause allergic skin reactions and rashes in some people.[vi],[vii]

Since low levels of formaldehyde can cause health concerns – at levels as low as 250 parts per million[viii], and even lower levels in sensitized individuals[ix] – the slow release of small amounts of formaldehyde are cause for concern.

When formaldehyde is present in a product, people can be exposed by either inhaling it or absorbing it through the skin. Inhalation usually occurs from the off-gas of the product.  Animals studies indicate that formaldehyde can be absorbed through the skin when formaldehyde-containing personal care products, including formaldehyde-releasing preservatives are applied.[x]

Other Personal Care Products That Contain Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde-Releasing Preservatives?

Besides, hair straightening spray, these chemicals can be found in shampoos and liquid baby soaps.  Nail polish, nail glue and eyelash glue also contain them.

REFERENCES


[i] Moennich JN, Hanna DM, Jacob SE (2009). Formaldehyde-releasing preservative in baby and cosmetic products. Journal of the Dermatology Nurses’ Association 1:211-214.

[ii] Jacob SE, Breithaupt A (2009). Environmental Exposures – A pediatric perspective on allergic contact dermatitis. Skin & Aging. July 2009: 28-36.

[iii] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program. ”Formaldehyde (Gas) CAS No. 50-00-0: Reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.” Eleventh Report on Carcinogens. December 2002. Available at: http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/eleventh/profiles/s089form.pdf. Accessed October 16, 2009.

[iv] International Agency for Research on Cancer. “IARC classifies formaldehyde as carcinogenic to humans.” Press release. June 15, 2004. www.iarc.fr/en/Media-Centre/IARC-Press-Releases/Archives-2006-2004/2004/IARC-classifies-formaldehyde-as-carcinogenic-to-humans. Accessed January 9, 2009.

[v] Zhang et al 2009. Meta-analysis of formaldehyde and hematologic cancers in humans. Mutation Research 681: 150-168.

[vi] Flyvholm MA, Menné T. Allergic contact dermatitis from formaldehyde. A case study focusing on sources of formaldehyde exposure. Contact Dermatitis. 1992 Jul;27(1):27-36.

[vii]  Boyvat A, Akyol A, Gürgey E. Contact sensitivity to preservatives in Turkey. Contact Dermatitis. 2005;52(6):333-337.

[viii] Flyvholm MA, Hall BM, Agner T, Tiedemann E, Greenhill P, Vanderveken W, Freeberg FE, Menné T. Threshold for occluded formaldehyde patch test in formaldehyde-sensitive patients. Relationship to repeated open application test with a product containing formaldehyde releaser. Contact Dermatitis. 1997;36(1):26-33.

[ix] Jordan WP Jr., Sherman WT, King SE. Threshold responses in formaldehyde-sensitive subjects. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1979;1(1):44- 8. Also confirmed by personal communication between Dr. Sharon Jacob and Stacy Malkan, February 26, 2009.

[x] Bartnik FG, Gloxhuber C, Zimmermann V. Percutaneous absorption of formaldehyde in rats. Toxicol Lett. 1985;25(2):167-72.