Striving4Zen

About To Go Brands

To Go Brands is committed to creating high quality, all-natural, great tasting, and easy to use products for those of us striving to remain healthy in today’s fast-paced society. “Healthy To Go”® line of naturally antioxidant rich drink mixes is a convenient, nutritional solution for all to easily enjoy when we can’t eat all of the fruits and vegetables that we all know we should daily!

All of the Healthy To Go^® line contains 100% natural, antioxidant rich drink mixes, made with organic ingredients, in convenient stick packs, designed to pour directly into a water bottle. Operating under the philosophy, healthy nutrition supports a healthy body, the Healthy To Go^® product line includes: Go Greens Super Fruits and Veggies™, Acai Natural Energy Boost™, Green Tea Energy Fusion™, and the newest release, Berrie Crush.

Labels: beverages, cool new product, healthy living, Healthy To Go, To Go Brands

STRAIN	TARGETS	HOW IT WORKS	PRODUCT PICK	HOW MUCH?
Acidophilus CL 1285	Overall digestion	Balances gut flora	Bio K+CL 1285 Original Fermented Milk	Contains 100 billion CFUs* per 3.5-oz. bottle. Drink 1/4-1 bottle/day.
L. acidophilus DDS-1	Stomach cramps and gas triggered by lactose intolerance	Produces enzyme lactase and hydrogen peroxide	Natren Mega Vegi-Dophilus	Contains 2 billion CFUs per teaspoon. Start with 1/8 tsp/day and increase to 1 tsp/day.
L. rhamnosus GG	Immune system	Balances gut flora; inhibits growth of harmful bacteria	Culturelle	Contains 10 billion CFUs per capsule. Take one daily.
L. rhamnosus GR-1 and L. fermentum RC-14	Vaginal yeast infections	Inhibits bacteria growth and yeast	Jarrow Fem-Dophilus	Contains 5 billion CFUs per capsule. Take one daily; increase to 2/day as needed.
L. plantarum 299v	Pain and constipation associated with IBS	Balances gut flora	Good Belly Multi-Probiotic Fruit Drink	Contains 20 billion CFUs per 2.7-oz. container. Drink one daily.
Saccharomyces boulardii	Antibiotic-provoked diarrhea	Balances gut flora	Florastor	Contains 5 billion CFUs per capsule. Take 6/day.
*Colony forming units Source

Labels: bacteria, digestion, healthy living, Holistic Health, Probiotics

Exercise at a glance

In a nutshell, exercise can:

• reduce your chances of getting heart disease. For those who already have heart disease, exercise reduces the chances of dying from it.
• lower your risk of developing hypertension and diabetes.
• reduce your risk for colon cancer and some other forms of cancer.
• improve your mood and mental functioning.
• keep your bones strong and joints healthy.
• help you maintain a healthy weight.
• help you maintain your independence well into your later years.

Labels: exercise, Health, healthy living, staying healthy

So what are the different kinds of teas? Well, there are four basic types: black, green, oolong and white. However there are a few others as well.

• Black Tea - The tea leaves are allowed to fully oxidize, so the leaves of the tea are darker than others. It has been the most popular type of tea in western countries due to the fact that it has a longer storage life and was more suitable for transport in the early days of tea trade. Often referred to as "red tea" in many parts of Asia.
• Green Tea - The leaves of green tea are un-oxidized or minimally oxidized by steam or dry cooking in hot pans. The steaming process allows the leaves to retain their green color. Due to the shorter shelf-life, green teas should be consumed as soon after production as possible.
• Oolong Tea - The oxidation process is stopped somewhere between green and black tea, usually within 2-3 days. It generally has more flavor than green tea, but brews lighter than black.
• White Tea - Made from the buds and young leaves of the tea plant. In order to stop the oxidation process, the leaves are fried or steamed immediately after picking. It is very delicate in taste and has a unique sweetness. In general, the price of white tea is usually more than the others.
• Post-fermented Tea - These leaves undergo a second oxidation and are meant to be aged. It's also produced from the mature, larger leaves of older tea trees. It can take several years to age. Pu-erh is the most common type of post-fermented tea.
• Yellow Tea - A special tea processed similarly to green tea, however the drying phase is much slower.
• Herbal Tea - Made by infusing or boiling leaves, seeds, flowers, stems, roots, and bark of various plants. It is not a "true tea" since the leaves do not all come from the tea tree.

Source

Labels: beverages, green tea, healthy living, herbal teas, Oolong Tea, Pu-erh tea, types of tea

As the name implies, dry brushing is brushing with a dry brush. Commonly used for exfoliation, these brushes help remove flakes but actually help with several different things at the same time. Unclogging skin doesn't just eliminate dead cells but also encourages the body’s discharge of metabolic wastes and other things excreted through perspiration.

Using the brush before you get in the shower stimulates circulation and de-gunks your pores. It detoxifies your skin with a gentle internal massage while helping tighten the skin and reduce the appearance of cellulite. It also helps mobilize fat and improve muscle tone by stimulating those nerve endings that causes the individual muscle fibers to activate and move.

Pick up a brush with soft bristles — preferably made from natural materials, as most synthetic bristles are too sharp. Make a circular motion with the brush, applying light pressure in areas where the skin is thin and harder pressure on places like the soles of the feet. Work over your entire body. Now, I'm not saying this brush is an excuse to stop eating healthily and eliminating that gym regimen but, if you're like me, you want to get all the help you can get to keep your skin and body in tip-top shape!

Thanks Bella!!

Labels: detox, detoxify, dry brush, healthy living, living holistically, massage, skin care

Artichoke leaf	Stimulates production of bile, the liver's main carrier to expel toxins; helps strengthen liver cell membranes so they can resist toxin absorption.
Dandelion root	Increases bile flow from the liver.
Green tea	Protects the liver from toxin damage, especially that of alcohol; may also help prevent liver tumors.
Milk- thistle seed	Strengthens liver cell membranes; stimulates bile production; promotes glutathione production.
Turmeric root	Anti-inflammatory herb that elevates detox enzymes in the liver.

Labels: dandelion root, detox, detoxify, green tea, healthy living, milk thistle, supplements, turmeric

OfficeMax Inc. founder Michael Feuer is back with another big idea, and this one has nothing to do with office supplies.
He is anxious to launch Max-Wellness, his newest retail venture. He and his business partner, Jared Florian, plan to create a chain of healthy living stores to capitalize on the fact that Americans are living longer, staying more active, taking better care of themselves -- and, yes, getting older.

Called Max-Wellness LLC, the stores will carry a range of products to salve, bandage or treat what ails you, from vitamins and supplements to walkers and exercise balls. In-store pharmacies will be run by a third party.

Feuer said his stores will offer more selection, better customer service and one-stop shopping convenience in a dignified and private setting.

Creating something targeted to baby boomers made sense to Feuer because boomers are redefining what it means to grow old.

"Sixty is the new 40, 50 is the new 30, and 30 is the new 20," Feuer said. "People do not want to live the same lives their parents lived."

Florian pictures Max-Wellness as "superstores for health and wellness products, without being the size of a superstore."

Full article

Labels: baby boomers, healthy living, innovative, Max-Wellness, new store

Researchers have recently found that the higher a person's body mass index, the more likely she is to develop breast cancer. Obese women are also more likely to live shorter lives and suffer a recurrence of their cancer, and may also get a more deadly form of breast cancer (inflammatory breast cancer).

On the flip side, a separate study has found that vigorous exercise (running, fast jogging, aerobics, bicycling on hills, etc.) can reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 30% in normal-weight women.

So the moral of the story is to exercise and try and keep your body weight down as much as possible. The ways in which exercise helps your health far exceeds the annoyance of putting on your gym shoes and pounding through an hour at the gym. It's important that we keep reminding ourselves of this from time to time.

Thanks FitSugar!

Labels: breast cancer, exercise, healthy living, Obesity, prevention

We all know sitting at a desk all day doesn't burn up the calories. There are simple ways to exercise at work, like disappearing into a restroom stall to do some squats, but what about getting some cardio? To work out while on the job, you might have contemplated a treadmill desk, but the size of both the price tag and the desk itself prevents you from asking your boss to spring for one.

Here's another, much cheaper option — an under your desk, wheel-less, mini exercise bike. You can stow this model, made by by Stamina ($49), under your desk and pedal with your feet without your co-workers knowing. Or you can place it on top of your desk to conspicuously work your upper body. You can adjust the tension to make it easier or more difficult, and it also comes with an electronic monitor to time your workouts. There are even protectors on the legs to prevent it from slipping on the floor. What a great way to burn some calories while working or watching TV.

Thanks Fitsugar!

Labels: exercise, great idea, healthy living, innovative, Stamina

Both green and black teas contain a concentrated dose of catechins, substances that help blood vessels relax and protect your heart.

In a study of more than 40,500 Japanese men and women, those who drank 5 or more cups of green tea every day had the lowest risk of dying from heart disease and stroke. Other studies involving black tea showed similar results.

You really need only 1 or 2 cups of tea daily to start doing your heart some good—just make sure it’s a fresh brew. Ready-to-drink teas (the kind you find in the supermarket beverage section) don’t offer the same health benefits.

"Once water is added to tea leaves, their catechins degrade within a few days," says Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, a professor of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University. Also, some studies show that adding milk may eliminate tea’s protective effects on the cardiovascular system, so stick to just lemon or honey.

Source

Labels: beverages, catechins, green tea, healthy living, hot tea, tea

Tangerine Wellness is the leading corporate weight management program that helps companies lower healthcare costs by rewarding employees that achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

According to the Department of Health & Human Services, the majority of Americans are overweight or obese, and obesity is America's #1 health problem.

Obese individuals have 30 to 50% more chronic medical problems than those who smoke or drink heavily. They have increased risks for type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer, gallbladder disease, and other ailments. The effects of obesity are similar to 20 years of aging!

Tangerine has successfully completed dozens of implementations in over 25 states for manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, education, and government organizations. Tangerine has consistently produced over 2% of weight loss per program period with 60 to 80% employee participation. Additionally, Tangerine has generated significant body mass index (BMI) classification improvement, which translates into direct healthcare savings. Clients have seen as much as a 10% reduction in healthcare costs and a 5x return on investment annually.

Tangerine

Labels: health care, health trend, healthy living, innovative, Obesity, progressive companies, Tangerine, Tangerine Wellness

The U.S. war on cancer has been fought for almost four decades now, since it was officially launched in 1971. It may be time to admit that the effort has often targeted the wrong enemies and used the wrong weapons.

Throughout the industrial world, the war on cancer remains focused on commercially fueled efforts to develop drugs and technologies that can find and treat the disease. But this struggle essentially ignores most of the things known to cause cancer, such as tobacco, radiation, benzene, asbestos, solvents, and some drugs and hormones. Many modern cancer-causing agents, such as gasoline exhaust, pesticides and other air pollutants, are simply deemed the inevitable price of progress.

Most cancer is not born, but made. Both public health and social justice demand a greater focus on the causes of cancer, rather than treatment. But the FDA and EPA often lack the authority and resources to monitor and control tobacco smoke, asbestos, and the cancer-causing agents in food, water and everyday products. Under antiquated laws, chemical and radiation hazards are examined one at a time, if at all. Of the nearly 80,000 chemicals regularly bought and sold today, fewer than 10% have been tested for their capacity to cause cancer or do other damage.

No matter how much efforts to treat cancer may advance, the best way to reduce cancer's toll is to keep people from getting it in the first place -- something that is being largely ignored by the modern cancer-fighting enterprise.

Source

Labels: cancer, eating healthy, healthy living, toxic, toxins

Taking the stairs instead of the lift at work could save your life, claim Swiss researchers.

Banning the use of lifts and escalators led to better fitness, less body fat, trimmer waistlines and a drop in blood pressure, a study of 69 people found.

This translates to a 15% cut in the risk of dying prematurely from any cause, calculate the University of Geneva team.

The results were revealed at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.

Before the study, the 69 participants had what the researchers described as a sedentary lifestyle, meaning they did less than two hours of exercise or sport each week and climbed fewer than 10 flights of stairs each day.

Over the 12 weeks of the study, the volunteers, who were hospital employees at the university, were asked to use the stairs exclusively at work instead of taking the lift.

On average, the number of flights of stairs - classed as climbing up or down one story - rose from five per day to 23.

After the three months of the trial, tests showed they had better lung capacity, blood pressure and cholesterol measurements.

Their weight, body fat and waist measurements also dropped, and their capacity for doing aerobic exercise improved.

Taken together, this equates to a 15% reduction in the chances of dying young, say the investigators.

"Carrying out regular physical activity can halve the risk of dying from coronary heart disease."

Source

Labels: exercise, getting fit, healthy living, stairs, study

People who want to live a long and healthy life might want to take up running.

A study published yesterday shows middle-aged members of a runner's club were half as likely to die over a 20-year period as people who did not run. Running reduced the risk not only of heart disease, but of cancer and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, researchers at Stanford University found.

"At 19 years, 15% of runners had died, compared with 34% of controls [non-runners]," Dr. Eliza Chakravarty and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Any type of vigorous exercise will likely do the trick, said Stanford's Dr. James Fries, who worked on the study.

The team surveyed 284 members of a nationwide running club and 156 similar, healthy people as controls. They all had similar social and economic backgrounds, and all were 50 or older.

Starting in 1984, each volunteer filled out an annual survey on exercise frequency, weight and disability for eight activities.

Most of the volunteers did some exercise, but runners exercised as much as 200 minutes a week, compared to 20 minutes for the non-runners.

At the beginning, the runners were leaner and less likely to smoke compared with the controls. And they exercised more over the whole study period in general.

SOURCE

Labels: exercise, healthy living, runner's high, running, study

Bike and Roll is America 's leading bicycle rental & tours company, serving thousands of satisfied customers each year.

The success of Bike and Roll is based on a simple philosophy: We want our customers to have fun! This is achieved by offering only safe, top-of-the-line rental equipment; meticulously planned and organized rides and tours; and, by always providing outstanding customer service.

Biking keeps us young in spirit! And there is no better way to get around, see new things, and stay healthy and active.

You’ll love NYC by bike! Experience car-free, fun, easy riding along the scenic Hudson River Park Greenway. Circle Manhattan on the Greenway Path and see the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, South St. Seaport, Central Park, Times Square, and more! The best way to see the Big Apple!

Labels: bicycle, bicycling, Bike and Roll, cool spot, exercise, healthy living, innovative, NYC, service

There's a little fury in all of us. In fact, Ayurveda has a name for that fiery energy inside your belly -- pitta. And during the summertime, your pitta needs to be checked and balanced. So we spoke with Manjula Paul, an Ayurvedic consultant at Ishta Yoga, to find out more about how to stay as cool as a cucumber:

Skip the ice cubes. Shockingly cold drinks deplete the spleen (that easily forgotten organ with the big job of breaking down fat). Drink water that's room temperature or, better yet, guzzle coconut water -- it's naturally cooling and packed with minerals and electrolytes.

Pick the right produce. Choose sweet (tangerines, cantaloupe, pears), bitter (dark leafy greens) or astringent (cranberries, celery) foods. They all balance pitta energy.

Quench your face's thirst. A few cucumber slices on the eyes or a splash of rosewater is all it takes.

Go with your gut feeling. Yoga poses, including the cobra, boat and fish all focus on your abdomen (for a complete list go here). And when your abdomen's happy, so is your pitta.

Source

Labels: ayurveda, healthy living, living holistically, staying cool

Exercise can cause structural changes in the heart -- and the changes can vary depending on the type of exercise.

Researchers found that endurance athletes showed an increase in the size of both their left and right ventricles after 90 days of team training. However, athletes who only did strength training had excessive growth in their left ventricles, but no change at all in their right ventricle size.

In addition, the ability of the left ventricle to fully relax between beats (diastolic function) was enhanced in the endurance athletes, but it worsened in the strength trainers.

It is possible that this could point the way towards tailored recommendations for rehabilitation and recreational exercise for people with heart problems.

Source

Labels: exercise, healthy living, heart healthy

In just one decade, from 1997 to 2006, sales of organic food have grown by nearly 80 percent to $17.7 billion.

The boost has been driven by an ever-growing chunk of the population that considers organic food healthier, safer and better for the environment.

"People placing a premium on maintaining a nutritious lifestyle seems to be the main reason why we have not seen a decrease," said BJ's Wholesale Club spokeswoman Stephanie LaCroix.

"In the long term, I'm saving money because I'll stay healthy," said shopper Kate Stone. "That would be one of the last things I'd cut back on."

Source

Labels: healthy diet, healthy living, organic, supermarket, Whole Foods

This article in Newsweek explains how exercise can help your brain!

Exercise does more than build muscles and help prevent heart disease. New science shows that it also boosts brainpower—and may offer hope in the battle against Alzheimer's.

Labels: brain, exercise, healthy living

Labels: healthy living, hygiene, overall health, teeth