6 Ways to Max Your Metabolism

We all know the girl who gorges on junk food and doesn’t put on a pound. Some people are just fast burners. Metabolism (the rate you burn calories) depends on age, sex and even genes. But with exercise and clever food and drink tricks, it is possible to speed up your rate. It’s time to join the fast lane!

The Dos

Slash Your Fat Intake- Fatty foods slow down the fat burning part of our cells- cut back and you could burn 16% more calories for up to three hours after each meal. Try the veggie option to cut out animal fat. Chickpeas over chicken and beans over beef. Also fat-free dressings for salads and Dijon mustard instead of mayo.

Drink Smart- Your body needs to be hydrated to keep your metabolism burning. Try drinking ice-cold water, your body will warm it up and burn a calorie for each degree it heats it. Don’t feel to bad about that morning coffee. Since caffeine is a stimulant, it’s thought to increase metabolic rate by 5% for two hours after drinking!

Muscle Up- Resistance training hikes your metabolism rate by 15% because it increases muslce, which burns nine times more calories than fat. Interval training, (ex. three minutes of intense cycling followed by a minute on easy peddling) is a great metabolism booster too!

The Don’ts

Skip Sleep- Got work coming out of your ears? Shift your schedule so you go to bed at 10pm but get up earlier. This will help break the habit of eating metabolism slowing junk food while you work late. Beware of burning the midnight oil. Accourding to new research, just one night of skipped or disrupted sleep slows calorie burn by 5-20% the next day.

Crash Diet- Restrictive diets throw your body into starvation mode, making it hang onto every calorie. Your metabolic rate is highest in the morning, research shows that eating a healthy, good-sized breakfast will boost metabolism 10% for the rest of the day. You could try some scrambled eggs of toast or wholegrain cereal with yogurt and berries!

Ditch Carbs- Carbs produce the glucose your cells need to function properly, so instead of cutting them out, eat good carbs like wholegrain pasta, brown rice and wholegrain bread. Spicy food can also be good as it increases your heart rate, and is thought to boost metabolic rate by up to 50% for three hours afterward.

Whole Wheat Roasted Red Pepper + Fontina Pizza with Balsamic Glaze

Hi! I found dinner for you tonight!

Did you know it’s Nation Pizza Week? No? Well it is! I love all kinds of pizza, in elementary school we had this delicious breakfast pizza if you had to buy breakfast. It came with sausage on it and then you got chocolate milk, juice and a piece of toast legit dipped in butter. (hello one reason why I have to workout all the time now.)

Anyways, in honor of National Pizza week, I borrowed/stole a recipe from my favorite blog (I take her recipes all the time!) How Sweet It Is.

If you love balsamic vinegar like I do, then this pizza is for you!

Here also are some other great pizza recipes from a previous post!

Whole Wheat Roasted Red Pepper + Fontina Pizza with Balsamic Glaze

my mouth is watering looking at this

Ingredients

dough: (her go-to recipe)

• 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions for Dough

In the bowl of your electric mixer with an attached dough hook, combine warm water, yeast, honey and oil and mix with a spoon. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until foamy, then add in flour and salt. Mix on low speed until just combined, then turn to medium speed to knead the dough for 5-6 minutes. If it seems to sticky, add a bit more flour 1 tablespoon at a time.

Brush a separate bowl with olive oil, add dough, turning once, then set in a warm place to rise for 1 1/2-2 hours. Cover with a damp towel.

Ingredients

• 2 slices thick-cut bacon
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 roasted red peppers, cut into strips
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 6 ounces freshly grated fontina cheese
• 2 ounces freshly grated romano cheese + more for topping if desired
• 1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar

Directions for Pizza

Right before dough is almost finished rising, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crispy and fat is rendered. Remove with a slotted spoon, then add shallots and stir to coat. Cook for about 10 minutes over low heat, or until shallots begin to caramelize. Set aside. While shallots are cooking, make sure that red peppers are patted dry (if from a jar). If you’d like to make your own roasted red peppers, see here.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Once pizza dough is ready to go, roll/press into desired shape and brush the surface with olive oil and top with minced garlic. Sprinkle on 4 ounces of fontina cheese, then top with shallots, red peppers, and bacon. Sprinkle remaining fontina and romano evenly on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly.

While pizza is baking, heat vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Allow to come to a boil, then let simmer and cook for about 15-20 minutes until reduced to about 1/3-1/2 cup. Set aside to cool for at least 10 minutes to thicken. When pizza is finished baking, drizzle glaze on top and serve.

Now, go make this before it snows!!

Love the Elliptical? 10 Mistakes You Might Be Making

Top 10 Mistakes You Make on the Elliptical Trainer

As the weather drops, more and more people head straight to one machine in their gym–the elliptical trainer. According to a 2008 report from the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, the number of users of elliptical trainers in health clubs grew sevenfold from 1997 to 2007.  And while you may be proud of yourself for making it to the gym and squeezing in some cardio, taking a lackadaisical approach to your elliptical workout and casually spinning your legs while reading a magazine or watching TV isn’t going to blast away those holiday cookies. Here, 10 mistakes you frequently make on the elliptical and how to fix them so you maximize calorie burn while adding fun to your ho-hum routine.

1. You’re too lazy to enter your information.

Most machines are calibrated for a 150-pound person—but personalizing your stats will help you get a more accurate calorie read. Aim to burn around 100 calories per 10 minutes.

2. Your resistance is zero.

You might feel like a million bucks spinning at a mile a minute, but without resistance, you’re not going to see results. Make sure that you’re using enough resistance to push and pull through the stride. Then, continue at a moderate pace until you feel like you’ve done all you can do. You shouldn’t feel like you have even 5 minutes left in you when you step off.

3. You’re a sloucher.

Standing up straight helps to lengthen your abs, giving you a chance to engage your core and even work your upper body muscles, hop on a machine with an upper body component so you can engage even more muscles–and blast more fat. Can’t find a machine that lets you pump your arms? Let go: Some research suggests that leaning on machine armrests during exercise reduces calorie burning.

4. Your machine sounds like it’s going to take off.

If you can hear the purr of the machine while you’re exercising, it means that you’re going too fast without enough resistance–which means you’re not getting the most calorie burn out of your time. Keeping a steady, moderate pace at a resistance that forces you to use your muscles will get, and keep, your heart rate up.

5. You don’t change directions.

Going backwards doesn’t just stop you from getting bored, it also changes which large muscle groups are working hardest, according to Europe. While moving forward fatigues your quads, backwards puts emphasis on your hamstrings and glutes. To max out the effect, sit back slightly, keeping your knees at a 90-degree angle as you stride.

6. You haven’t changed your workout in months.

Intervals are a great way to break up the monotony of the machine and boost your calorie burn. You can do this in one of two ways: Leave the resistance steady and change your pace (fast for 1 minute; moderate for 4) or maintain your speed and change your resistance (challenging resistance for 1 minute; moderate for 4).

7. You spin until you can’t feel your feet.

One of the most common elliptical mistakes is putting too much pressure on your toes, which can make your feet go numb and cut your workout short. Instead, sit back into your heels, which allows large muscle groups to work harder and gives you the stamina to go for longer.

8. You don’t work your upper half.

Incorporate the moving handles two days a week to put your upper body to work, and hang on to the stable handles on the others. When you’re working your arms and legs, try intervals–focus on your arms for 1 minute, then pump your legs for 4, and repeat through your workout.

9. You spin your way up a hill.

Some models have a ramp incline, similar to a treadmill. But, unlike a treadmill, a large incline won’t increase the difficulty–instead, it’s easier for your legs to push and pull through the stride.

10. You’re an elliptical junkie.

As tempting as it may be to shoot straight to the elliptical every time you enter the gym, you should never be using one machine exclusively. Supplement your routine with weight training and other cardio equipment, such as the rower. Making sure you incorporate variety keeps your body from getting used to a single movement and also continues to help you build muscle mass–which, in turn, will keep your metabolism boosted.

Via Prevention

The 27 Rules of Conquering the Gym

Via Wall Street Journal by Jason Gay

This is the time of year when even people who hate the gym think about going to the gym. Many of us are still digesting whole floors of gingerbread houses, and jeans that fit comfortably in October are now a denim humiliation.

Sweating is a good way to begin 2012. Exercise, like dark chocolate and office meetings that suddenly get canceled, is a proven pathway to nirvana. But if you’re going to join a gym—or returning to the gym after a long hibernation—consider the following:

1. A gym is not designed to make you feel instantly better about yourself. If a gym wanted to make you feel instantly better about yourself, it would be a bar.

2. Give yourself a goal. Maybe you want to lose 10 pounds. Maybe you want to quarterback the New York Jets into the playoffs. But be warned: Losing 10 pounds is hard.

3. Develop a gym routine. Try to go at least three times a week. Do a mix of strength training and cardiovascular conditioning. After the third week, stop carrying around that satchel of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.

4. No one in the history of gyms has ever lost a pound while reading “The New Yorker” and slowly pedaling a recumbent bicycle. No one.

5. Bring your iPod. Don’t borrow the disgusting gym headphones, or use the sad plastic radio attachment on the treadmill, which always sounds like it’s playing Kenny Loggins from a sewer.

6. Don’t fall for gimmicks. The only tried-and-true method to lose 10 pounds in 48 hours is food poisoning.

7. Yes, every gym has an overenthusiastic spinning instructor who hasn’t bought a record since “Walking on Sunshine.”

8. There’s also the Strange Guy Who is Always at the Gym. Just when you think he isn’t here today…there he is, lurking by the barbells.

9. ”Great job!” is trainer-speak for “It’s not polite for me to laugh at you.”

10. Beware a hip gym with a Wilco step class.

11. Gyms have two types of members: Members who wipe down the machines after using them, and the worst people in the universe.

12. Nope, that’s not a “recovery energy bar with antioxidant dark chocolate.” That’s a chocolate bar.

13. Avoid Unsolicited Advice Guy, who, for the small fee of boring you to death, will explain the proper method for any exercise in 45 minutes or longer.

14. You can take 10 Minute Abs, 20 Minute Abs, and 30 Minute Abs. There is also Stop Eating Pizza and Eating Sheet Cake Abs—but that’s super tough!

15. If you’re motivated to buy an expensive home exercise machine, consider a “wooden coat rack.” It costs $40, uses no electricity and does the exact same thing.

16. There’s the yoga instructor everyone loves, and the yoga instructor everyone hates. Memorize who they are.

17. If you see an indoor rock climbing wall, you’re either in a really cool gym or a romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson.

18. Be cautious about any class with the words “sunrise,” “hell,” or “Moby.”

19. If a gym class is going to be effective, it’s hard. If you’re relaxed and enjoying yourself, you’re at brunch.

20. If you need to bring your children, just let them loose in the silent meditation class. Nobody minds, and kids love candles.

21. Don’t buy $150 sneakers, $100 yoga pants, and $4 water. Muscle shirts are for people with muscles, and rhythm guitarists.

22. Fancy gyms can be seductive, but once you get past the modern couches and fresh flowers and the water with lemon slices, you’re basically paying for a boutique hotel with B.O.

23. Everyone sees you secretly racing the old people in the pool.

24. If you’re at the point where you’ve bought biking shoes for the spinning class, you may as well go ahead and buy an actual bike. It’s way more fun and it doesn’t make you listen to C+C Music Factory.

25. Fact: Thinking about going to the gym burns between 0 and 0 calories.

26. A successful gym membership is like a marriage: If it’s good, you show up committed and ready for hard work. If it’s not good, you show up in sweatpants and watch a lot of bad TV.

27. There is no secret. Exercise and lay off the fries. The end.

Portobello Burgers with Gouda and Roasted Garlic

Hi.

Happy 2012!! Anyone else think that 2011 went super fast?

This year one of my resolutions is to eat more fruits and veggies. So far it’s been going well! I’m kinda having a love affair with fruit. Bananas, oranges, clemintines, apples, pineapple and grapes, completely head over heels for. But I’m lacking in the vegetable department. That’s where this portobello burger comes in!

Oh hello there you beautiful thing.

Now usually I am not a fan of mushrooms or making a mushroom burger, when I think of burgers it’s usually beef covered in cheddar, bbq sauce, bacon and those yummy onion strings. Mmmmm. But I don’t exactly think that those type of burgers (mostly because of the delicious topings) are that healthy for you.

Then I went out for New Year’s Eve. I went to Elements in downtown Pittsburgh and had a filet with this cheese stuffed portobello on top.

Best.Dinner.Ever.

I seriously cannot stop thinking about it! So to try and recreate at least a part of that dinner, since I cannot cook a steak to save my life, I went in search of something with mushrooms! I found this Portobello Burger with Gouda and Roasted Garlic on How Sweet It Is website (legit obsessed with this site) and decided to share it with all of you!

Porobello Burger with Gouda and Roasted Garlic

Ingredients

• 4 English muffins (light multigrain)
• 4 portobello mushroom caps
• 2 heads of garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 thick slices of gouda cheese
• 1 small red onion
• 1 medium tomato, sliced
• 1 avocado, sliced
• butter lettuce for garnish
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

for mushroom marinade:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons cooking sherry
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Directions

Two hours before serving, combine the marinade ingredients in a shallow dish and add mushrooms. I let them lay on their top side in the marinade, and spoon some marinade into the bottom-up side to let it soak. Marinate for two hours.

One hour before serving, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Slice off the top of the heads of garlic and drizzle a bit of olive oil (1/2 tablespoon) on top. Wrap in foil and roast for 45 minutes. Let cool completely. Heat the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes, then turn off heat and set aside to thicken.

Slice red onion into rings and add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil into a large skillet on medium heat. Add onions and let soften and caramelize for 10-12 minutes. Set aside once finished, leaving the skillet on. Add the marinated mushrooms to the skillet top side up. Cook for 5 minutes, then flip and cook for 4 more. Turn back over, add a slice of gouda on top, and turn off heat.

Toast the English muffins. Using your fingers, squeeze roasted garlic out of the head into a bowl. Mash with a spoon. Spread on both sides of each English muffin.

Top English muffin with a portobello cap, onion rings, tomato, avocado, and butter lettuce.  A light sprinkle of salt and pepper on the tomato and avocado for flavor. Finish with a drizzle of syrupy balsamic and serve.

Anyone elses mouth watering?

p.s. it’s healthy!

The Healthy Minute: January 2012

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The Healthy Minute: January 2012

5 Healthy Ways to Detox After the Holidays

There’s only one more week until the New Year and after this past weekend of gorging on yummy calorie laden treats you may be feeling slightly sluggish and tired. I know I am! Well here are a few ways to help fix that and get your New Year off on the right foot!

1. Break the sugar and salt habit. If you feel especially bloated, cutting out the extra sugar, refined carbs and salt you’ve been having at holiday gatherings is the first step to getting back to your usual self. Do this for at least three days to get back on track and give your system time to reset.

2. Load up on veggies. Detoxing is all about getting the bad out and the good back in. So after the holidays challenge yourself to eat seven to 12 servings of fruits and veggies a day — and make clean food the bulk of your diet. Get a variety of produce to ensure that you’re getting all those vitamins and minerals you probably skimped on over holiday break.

3. Start off easy at the gym. You’re probably gung-ho about working out right now and think a killer workout is what it will take to get you back on track, but ease back into the gym. It’s better to do a little bit every day then go to the gym, push it too hard, and then be so sore that you can’t move for days!

4. Make water your new BFF. Hydration is the name of the game when it comes to post-holiday detoxing. Guzzle that water throughout the day, trying to get at least 64 ounces. Water helps flush out toxins and helps your body eliminate waste! (A good rule of thumb is to divide your total body weight in half, and drink that many ounces. i.e. A 150-pound person should drink 75 ounces of water.)

5. Ignore the scale for a few days. Because of all the extra holiday goodies, which included added sugar, salt and fat, you’re probably a few pounds heavier than normal. Instead of stepping on the scale and feeling down about the number, just forgo the scale. Follow these tips and weigh yourself in a week. You’ll probably be back to your normal size!

Extreme detoxes aren’t necessary to get back on track after the holidays, nor are they any kind of healthy for your body. It’s also not healthy to beat yourself up over what you ate and those workouts you may have missed. Today is a new day and it’s soon going to be a new year — so appreciate the holidays for what they are and get back on the healthy track!

10 Tips to Staying Lean Over Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, you can almost smell all the food and baked goods already. With stuffing, pumpkin pie, turkey, cranberry sauce and so much more, how can anyone say no to all that good eating? If you worry about your waistline you will think twice and want to pay attention to this article.

The number one thing people say is simply “everything in moderation.” With that being said, that doesn’t mean on a given day you can simply open your mouth and fill it with whatever you want until your gut is ready to explode. The tips and advice below will help you “cheat” a little but also help you maintain your physique.

1. Never Go To A Gathering On An Empty Stomach

When you are hungry you will pretty much eat anything that is in front of you. It’s similar to the concept of not grocery shopping while you are hungry. When you go to a gathering on an empty stomach, you tend to pick at more food and over indulge in all the platters laid out on the table in front of you. Before you leave, eat something that contains protein and/or fiber. This will stunt your appetite and have you feeling full for longer than if you ate something with carbohydratesbefore going.

2. Drink Plenty Of Water

Water is definitely your friend at all times, not just during the holidays. If you feel hungry while at a gathering and there are no healthy choices, you can obtain the “full” feeling by simply drinking water. Besides curbing your appetite, it will also keep you hydrated.

3. Don’t Deprive, But Don’t Indulge

Like I said earlier, everything in moderation. If you want a piece of pumpkin pie or a scoop of stuffing with your turkey, by all means eat it. The trick is to only take a small portion of it just to curb your craving for the food. Eating things that aren’t necessarily on your list of “good healthy choices” won’t hurt you if you don’t make it a habit of continually eating that particular food. So with that being said, you can have your cake (or pie in this case) and eat it too-but don’t over do it.

4. Chew And Enjoy Your Food

When sitting down for a meal, make sure you chew and enjoy what you are eating. If you rush through it not only do you miss out on the flavors, but it will take your body longer to digest the food you ate if it is not broken down properly. Enjoying your food should be a satisfying experience and you miss out on it if you inhale your food quickly. Doing so will also lead to another point I will bring up in the next section – not allowing your brain to tell you that you are full.

5. Socialize Prior To Heading For Seconds

After eating what you had on your plate, socialize with the people at the gathering. What this does is allows time for your brain to tell your body that you are truly full. I’m sure many of you have experienced a time or two when you ate your first helping, went up for a second, ate that and afterward you literally felt like you were going to either bust at the seams or vomit. Buying time for your brain and stomach to get on the same page is crucial to preventing overeating.

6. Exercise

The best way to not pack on some extra pounds during the holiday is to not only make sure you continually work out, but to work out the day of the gathering. You will burn off many of the calories you will be eating so in the end you don’t wind up with a caloric surplus at the end of the day which could result in fat storage in the body. Maybe run or walk a Turkey Trot 5k in the morning!

7. Snack On Healthy Choices

Many gatherings will find some healthy choices to snack on before and after the main meal is on the table. Raw vegetables are something found at many gatherings which is passed by many being that there are “junk” snacks available which will fix their sweet tooth or craving. But that doesn’t have to be you. Have your fill of raw vegetables which are low in calories and healthy for you rather than a plate full of the junk you don’t need. Otherwise you will be regretting it later that night when you realize all the stuff you shouldn’t have ate.

8. Skip The Alcohol Or Limit Intake

Let’s face it, there are those that drink and those that don’t. If you don’t, you can skip right over this and go right onto the next section. If you like to drink, you have a few options. If you are at a gathering where you have pretty much an endless supply of alcohol you can either limit your intake to a few spread out over the gathering or simply skip it all together. Alcohol is full of empty calories, calories that you don’t need if you are planning on eating some food at the gathering that you normally wouldn’t ingest if you weren’t there.

9. Don’t Cave Into Peer Pressure

You will always have people at gatherings that want to brag about how good something is regardless if it will give you a heart attack from its nutritional content. Don’t give into the peer pressure and try everything that people say is amazing. If you do, you will find yourself indulging in everything that is there and piling up the calories before you even realize what you have done. If you want to splurge on a couple things, that’s fine. However, you need to pick and choose your battles.

10. Protein Is Your Friend

Protein is truly your friend at gatherings. Not only will it help build and maintain lean muscle mass, but it will also help you feel full. When the big turkey is placed on the table your eyes should light up and your mouth start to water. Get a nice size serving of turkey and add little sides as you see fit, but make sure the bulk of your calories during the meal are coming from that delicious protein source. Gobble gobble!

So there you have 10 tips to help you stay leaner during the Thanksgiving holiday season. How will you do?

French Onion Soup

When I was younger my family and I would go to the same restaurant all the time and they had the best french onion soup ever! I went there a few weeks ago and had it again, they changed the recipe a bit but still it was soo good! I was even one of those kids who hated onions or anything that didnt resemble a chicken finger and fries (whose really kidding I still eat like a 5 year old) but this soup was so good that I couldn’t help but love it!

So I found a recipe for french onion soup on the How Sweet Eats website (I always steal her recipes and I promise I asked her!) Since it’s cold and windy out today  figured that making soup that you can have for dinner would be perfect!

[adapted from Tyler Florence]

makes a giant pot, about 8-10 servings

• 4 medium sweet onions, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 8 ounces of beer
• 64 ounces of low-sodium beef stock
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• french bread
• gruyere cheese, sliced

Directions

Set your crock pot on high, then add onions, garlic, brown sugar, butter, salt and balsamic and mix until combined. Cover and let cook for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are a bit caramely and brown on the edges. Add in flour, then stir thoroughly and let sit for 5 minutes. Add in beer, beef stock, thyme, and pepper, then turn heat down to low, cover and cook for 6-8 hours.

Before serving, cut french bread or baguette into slices. Fill soup bowls to the top, then cover with slice of bread and a slice of cheese. Set under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and golden brown. Be careful when serving as bowls will be hot!

Note: Used a very low-sodium beef stock, so depending on the stock you use, add additional salt for flavor if desired.

Doesn’t that look so freaking good? This will be the perfect soup to make tonight! So go buy some onions!!

Dirty Pop, Baby You Can’t Stop!

Pop, soda, soda pop, carbinated beverage, it doesn’t matter you call it, either way it’s not good for you! In the U.S we consume over 50 billion liters of pop a year!

FUN FACTS ABOUT POP:

• Pepsi has created over 50 varieties of its cola, including a Christmas, summer and samba version.
• Coke is the 2nd most recognized word in the world after ‘Ok’
• The proposed ‘Penny-an-Ounce Soft Drink Tax’ would produce $15 Billion a year!
• 21% of the average sugar consumed in an American’s diet comes from pop.
• Drinking 2 soft drinks per week increases the risk of pancreatic cancer by 87%
• Drinking 1 soft drink a day increases the risk of metabolic syndrome by 44% and increases a childs chance of obesity by 60%
• Drinking 2 soft drinks per day increases the risk of gout by 85%

What’s in pop that makes it so bad for you? Let’s take a look!

THAT SWEET STUFF

The U.S. Department of Agriculture advises a 2,000 calorie-a-day limit as part of a healthy lifestyle, and no more than 10 to 12 teaspoons of sugar. However, between 1994 and 1996 Americans were averaging about 20.5 teaspoons a day, or 68.5 pounds of sugar a year. Over the past 16 years, the amount of sugar in American diets has increased by 28 percent, with about a third of it coming from soft drinks. A single 12-ounce can of soda has around 13 teaspoons of sugar, usually in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.

PHOSPHORUS ACID

Phosphorus is useful to the body as long as it maintains a one to one ratio with calcium. When an imbalance occurs because of high phosphorus intake, phosphorus begins to corrode stomach lining, eats away at the liver, upsets the natural pH balance of the kidneys and causes acidity in the body which leads to numerous health conditions and diseases.

Pop is particularly high in phosphorus and is largely responsible for high phosphorus levels in Americans. When levels are high, calcium is not absorbed effectively and is leached out of the bones leading to bone loss, osteoporosis, rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. The calcium loss is responsible for inhibiting the growth of healthy bones and the increased incidence of broken bones in children. Studies have shown that the highly acidic phosphoric mix of pop will dissolve bone in a short period of time.

SODIUM BENZOATE

This is used in may brands of soda pop as a preservative. Although it is not considered to be harmful it causes hyperactivity in children. The main concern with sodium benzoate is when it combines with citric or ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to form benzene. Benzene is a known carcinogen which increases the risk of leukemia and other cancers. The reaction to form benzene is increased in the presence of heat or light.

So these ingredients really are not helping you at all. But here’s what happens to your body soon after drinking a can or bottle of pop!

First 10 minutes: About 10 teaspoons of sugar quickly enters your system. You won’t notice this, however, because companies add phosphoric acid that hides the flavor so you can actually stand it.

15-20 minutes later: Your blood sugar spikes rapidly and you know how all of this insulin floating around your body. You have no choice of to store most of it as body fat.

40 minutes later: Your body has now absorbed all of your caffeine. Your blood pressure is rising and your liver has no choice but to drop more sugar into your bloodstream. Your brain is blocked by the caffeine so you don’t get drowsy.

45 minutes later: Your body will increase its dopamine production to stimulate the pleasure center in your brain. This is the same way that heroin works.

Over 1 hour later: The phosphoric acid from the soda connects with the calcium, magnesium and zinc in your intestine, which will boost your metabolism. The high dosages of sugar and sweeteners will cause you to excrete calcium.

Over 1 hour later: The diuretic aspects of soda have finally begun. The calcium, magnesium and zinc that we mentioned before that WAS going to be used to improve your health in addition to the electrolytes and water in your body will now be forced out of your body during your next bathroom break.

Over 1 hour later: You’ll start to feel a hunger crash and may get tired or sluggish. You also are now dehydrated and void of various precious nutrients that could of made you feel better.

Here’s a little infographic (I love these!) on pop and its affects on your body!

Image via: Term Life Insurance

Can anyone name which song the title of this post is from?! Think 2000s.