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If you let off steam all day on the ski slopes, you obviously need enough energy. But which foods are the right ones, provide enough power, and do not cause cravings or concentration difficulties? You can find out what the right diet for skiers looks like here!

Nutrition for skiers

In the morning

The right nutrition for skiers in the morning includes an easily digestible, low-fat but still high-energy breakfast, as recommended by the German Ski Instructors Association (DSLV). This could be, for example, wholesome muesli with oatmeal and natural yogurt as well as fruit, nuts, or seeds.

Equally good are a hearty wholemeal bread and a milk drink. Due to the complex carbohydrates and the portion of protein, the blood sugar level rises only slowly and the body gets enough energy for a sporty winter day.

Noon

Greasy meals like chips or schnitzel at lunchtime can make you feel like you have a stone in your stomach after eating – not good conditions for a fun day of skiing in the mountains. Instead, when it comes to nutrition for skiers, care should be taken to ensure that something light and protein-rich is preferred during the lunch break.

For example, a salad with a turkey breast fillet, a hot soup, or even a snack is the better choice. These meals also provide the body with complex carbohydrates and protein, which keeps you full for a long time and is easy to digest. The so dreaded afternoon slump is therefore missing.

Snacks

Fruit, nuts, dried fruit, or muesli bars are particularly recommended as snacks for skiers. They quickly provide energy without putting unnecessary strain on the body – fruit also provides an extra portion of vitamins, and nuts provide minerals and high-quality protein.

Children

Of course, even the little ones can have fun on the ski slopes and race down the slopes. They too should pay attention to the right diet for skiers. Children generally have a higher need for fluids and a higher energy expenditure than adults.

Parents should therefore make sure that they take short drinking breaks from time to time and eat a snack when they are not hungry. Water and isotonic drinks are particularly suitable for young and old to compensate for the loss of minerals.

Fast food is frowned upon by health-conscious people – but you can treat yourself to it every now and then. But be careful: If you get the urge for a burger or a pizza, don’t eat it in front of small children, because even one-year-olds register good and bad eating habits! That’s the result of a new study. EAT SMARTER explains what’s behind it.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Child nutrition is an important issue, especially for first-time parents. What can the child eat and what is unhealthy for the little ones? What they often don’t think about is that what they eat also influences the child.

The parents shape their children. Even if the toddler happily munches his carrot mash, he can tell when dad is enjoying a greasy cheeseburger but grimaces at the vegetables. From an early age, we learn which foods we (should) like and which we don’t.

Regional and social factors play a major role here: Germans have different favorite foods than the French, and Hamburgers eat differently than Bavarians. How our parents raise us, our food experiences and genetics influence our eating habits. This is how personal taste develops, which of course is primarily shaped by family.

A study by Cornell University in Ithaca now shows that even small children from the age of one put out their feelers for it. “When babies see someone eating, they not only learn about the food, they also learn who is eating with whom,” explains one of the researchers.

For the study, 200 babies were shown different eating situations via video. In one video, people were apparently strangers to each other and spoke in different languages. In the other video, the actors looked familiar and spoke the same language.

Both groups clearly expressed their feelings towards the food: if they liked it, they looked enthusiastic, if they rejected it, they grimaced. The babies were particularly drawn to the video, in which people interacted intimately. It was striking that when the small children were clearly disgusted, they automatically expected that everyone would share the disgust.

The eye eats with you

Disgust at certain dishes is originally our body’s protective function: it warns of potential pathogens. Anthropologist and epidemiologist Valerie Curtis of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine believes that disgust evolved over time and is firmly embedded in our genes.

Disgust is expressed by people all over the world with the same facial expression: puckering up the upper lip, wrinkling the nose, sometimes even narrowing the eyes. Small children perceive these facial expressions and, according to the study, also categorize the food as repulsive.

So: Be careful when eating when small children are sitting at the table. Child nutrition is not only what the child gets to eat, but also what the parents eat in front of the child. Because even one-year-olds register disgust or satisfaction from the people around them – if you look peacefully at the burger and wrinkle your nose at the vegetables, you are laying a bad foundation in terms of upbringing.

The tenth episode of the 6th season of “The Lion’s Den” is animalistic: three young female founders present their vegan dog food. Can you score with the lions with vegan dog food?

Vegan dog food? This works out!

The vegan diet is now a diet that more and more people live by. Tonight in the “Lion’s Den”, three young female founders want to prove that the renunciation of all animal products can also be applied to the diet of four-legged friends.

Tessa Zaune-Figlar (34), Valerie Hansen (28), and Lisa Walther (29) want to convince the lions with their vegan dog food “VEGDOG” and hope for 150,000 euros. In return, they offer ten percent of their company shares. Will this deal also taste good to the lions?

Healthy dog ​​thanks to vegan dog nutrition?

The inspiration for this unusual business idea was male Nelson: founder Tessa’s dog suffered for years from food intolerance, which manifested itself primarily in the form of gastrointestinal problems and itchy skin. Even after numerous hypoallergenic types of food had been tried without success, the dog owner Tessa, on the advice of a veterinarian, did not feed Nelson animal protein.

At first, the young founder herself was still skeptical: “In the beginning, I thought it was a joke. Feeding a dog vegan – how is that supposed to work? But the desperation was great and so I gave the whole thing a chance.” But the experiment was a success: the food was prepared according to special recipes, and after four weeks the dog was symptom-free and has been on a vegan diet for seven years now.

Vegan dog nutrition – a gap in the market?

However, since cooking for the dog turned out to be very time-consuming, the idea for “VEGDOG” was born. It is the first vegan and grain-free complete feed for dogs that were developed in a one-year development phase in cooperation with specialist veterinarians and specialist laboratories.

The different types of food provide the dog with all the essential nutrients and cover their needs. In addition, only regional, high-quality ingredients are used, which are processed gently and in compliance with the highest quality standards. “VEGDOG” is free from attractants, colorings, and preservatives and does not test on animals.

Weight training has many positive effects on the body. With the right diet, you can quickly see changes in your body and muscles. But you should note a few things.

Avoid the 8 biggest mistakes when weight training

#1 Training without a plan

Your training should be structured through. A training plan can help. Because strength training is only about fun, mainly about building muscle. A training plan will help you to train all muscle groups with different, varying exercises.

If you do the exercises from the stomach, they will always be the same ones that are easy for you. In order to achieve results, however, some effort and, above all, variety are required. You can have a training plan drawn up in your gym.

#2 No warm up

Do you shy away from warming up because it’s warm outside anyway or don’t have time? You should change that. With a warm-up, the body pumps more blood through the circulatory system and your muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints are prepared for the effort to come.

This also makes you less prone to injury and more enduring. So use a cardio machine of your choice for eight to ten minutes before every strength training session and cycle, step or run at a moderate pace.

#3 Quantity instead of quality

Only if you pay attention to the technique during training will you also use your target muscles and consequently grow faster. Even if you might be able to lift a few kilos less as a result.

Improper exercise also increases the risk of injury. So always pay attention and ask a trainer if you are unsure.

#4 Wrong training weight

Nobody needs show-offs in the gym. Therefore: only take as much weight as you can really handle and not as much as your neighbor can lift. Excessive training weight can lead to overload or even injuries. Your exercise execution suffers as well.

How do I know my training weight? Legs can move more weight than shoulders. The last reps of a set should be difficult for you. If you can’t do your exercise correctly, the weight is too heavy. If you can move the weight with ease, it’s too light.

#5 No rest between sets

Taking a break between each set is important, even if you feel pressed for time. Because during this break, your muscles fill up their energy stores. This allows you to last longer. But if the breaks are too long, your body cools down again.

#6 No increase in load

Your muscles build up with the training and get used to the strain. So that your progress does not stagnate, you should regularly look for new challenges and set new stimuli.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you need to increase the weights. You can also do more reps per set, switch to free exercises, or add additional exercises.

#7 No cool down

Cool down is the opposite of warm up. They show the body that the stress phase is over and that it can cool down. The heart and breathing rate can be easily regulated during a leisurely ride on the bicycle ergometer or when rolling out on the foam roller.

#8 No recovery period

More is not necessarily more! Give your body a break between workouts to recover. If you train too often, there is not only a higher risk of injury, you also train less effectively and persistently, which in the long run leads to stagnation of your muscle growth.

The opinion that spinach should not be reheated persists. However, one cannot say so in general terms.

That’s why reheating spinach is potentially dangerous

One of the main reasons reheating spinach is discouraged is because of the nitrate ingredient.
In itself, nitrate is harmless to humans. However, babies cannot tolerate the ingredient and can develop blue fever if they eat spinach. It becomes problematic if the spinach is left at room temperature for a long time. Then the nitrate can be converted into nitrite.
In connection with proteins, so-called nitrosamines, which are considered carcinogenic, can be formed. Because of this fact, you should definitely refrain from reheating unchilled spinach.

You can still reheat your spinach this way

However, if you keep the spinach in the fridge, you can safely reheat it the next day.
If you have leftover spinach, cover it with cling film and put it in the fridge as soon as possible. Then you can warm it up the next day without hesitation.
However, you should not keep the spinach for longer than a day, even under these conditions.
You should also reheat it at most once, not more often.

For many, it is simply part of the start of the day: orange juice. However, new evidence shows he is not as healthy as many believe.

The nutritional values ​​in a 230ml glass of orange juice:

Calories: 110
Protein: 2 grams
Carbohydrates: 26 grams
Sugar: 22 grams
Vitamin C: 120 percent of the recommended daily amount
Vitamin B1: 15 percent of the recommended daily amount
Potassium: 13 percent of the recommended daily amount
Folates: 10 percent of the recommended daily amount
It’s actually pretty good, isn’t it? The only recognizable weak point: the sugar content. At 22 grams per glass, orange juice is comparable to a glass of cola, which contains roughly the same amount of sugar. That’s the equivalent of almost nine sugar cubes. Apart from that, however, orange juice is rich in vitamins and should actually be good for our body.

Scott Kahan, however, sees things differently. The scientist is certain that the consumption of orange juice is associated with obesity and organ damage. And not just because of the sugar. Orange juice has been squeezed from several oranges. Consuming the juice cannot be compared to consuming a natural orange. When you eat an orange, you not only take in the same vitamins with significantly fewer calories, but also valuable dietary fiber, which slows down digestion and creates a feeling of satiety. This does not happen with orange juice. You don’t feel full even though you’ve consumed more calories.

Fruit juices have a lot of calories, but they don’t fill you up

According to Kahan, the added sugar is just the tip of the iceberg. The high sugar content can be a problem for diabetics in particular. But they are not the only ones at risk: the large amount of sugar can also be harmful for non-diabetics.

Nevertheless, orange juice also has advantages when consumed correctly: The juice is a direct supplier of carotenoids, falvonoids and vitamin C. Carotenoids support the immune system and, as antioxidants, fight harmful substances in the body. Falvonoid is an anti-inflammatory and inflammation can always be a trigger for serious diseases. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for the body. It improves and supports the immune system and also acts as an antioxidant.

“If you really like orange juice, it can be worth including in moderate amounts in a balanced diet,” says Scott Kahan. However, all the good stuff in the juice can also be obtained by consuming a whole orange – and with far fewer calories.

Are you currently constantly tired and slack? Alkaline nutrition could be a key to more energy.

Acid-base balance imbalanced: That’s why you’re often tired in autumn

Fatigue in autumn is due to a lack of light in the dark season. Because less light changes the hormone balance: the body releases more melatonin – the so-called sleep hormone – and less serotonin. This in turn is also known as the happiness hormone.

However, the autumn blues are part of the natural course of the year, as Prof. Dr. Katja Mierke, psychologist at the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Idstein, Hesse, explains: “We are no longer used to living according to the seasons. It is not without reason that other creatures hibernate and withdraw into their caves,” says Mierke. Autumn and winter also serve to slow down.

These times of pause are important for the psyche, she adds, and it is not for nothing that November is a month of mourning in many cultures. “By saying goodbye to the past, you make room for the new.”

Against tiredness in autumn: light, company and Christmas spices

Although Prof. Mierke recommends accepting and enjoying the autumn phase if possible, the psychologist knows: “If you don’t want to fall too deep into the November slump, you should exercise as much as possible outside and soak up the light.” Light therapy lamps also help.

The cold also plays a decisive role, Mierke knows: “Current socio-psychological studies show that people feel lonelier when they are physically exposed to cold. That’s why it’s particularly good for us now if we move closer together. There are occasions for this in the run-up to Christmas plenty.”

According to the expert, you can also do something good for your psyche through food: the essential substances contained in cloves and cinnamon, for example, have been proven to have an antidepressant effect. “Apparently we instinctively know what’s good for us in the dark season and have created appropriate culinary traditions with Christmas baking,” says the expert.

Tired in autumn: get lively with an alkaline diet

A good way to stay fit through food intake in autumn is the so-called “alkaline diet”. This is not a diet in the strict sense. You simply fall back on foods that balance the acid-base balance and prevent hyperacidity. Because when the body is acidic, you feel limp and exhausted. The diet should include many alkaline foods such as fruit and vegetables. Potato dishes are also suitable for alkaline nutrition. We recommend a salad, refined with carrots, parsley and walnuts. Apples and pears are suitable as snacks for deacidification. You don’t have to do without meat and fish. However, you should largely avoid salt and use herbs and spices instead.

The most important alkaline foods include:
ripe fruit
vegetables
Raisins, dried figs
vegetable oils
almonds and chestnuts
Sprouts and sprouts (e.g. mung bean, millet, linseed, lentil sprouts)
herbal teas
Green tea

Conclusion: three-step plan against autumn fatigue

Basic nutrition
Dietary supplement for the right acid-base balance
Sufficient exercise in the fresh air
The alkaline diet is part of a three-step plan that is easy to implement and helps against autumn tiredness, as Erfstadt pharmacist Dr. Jutta Doebel in an interview with the pharmaceutical company Protina explains: “Basically, it is important that you eat enough alkaline-forming foods. This means that you should eat significantly more alkaline-forming than acid-forming foods – in a ratio of 80:20.” So if 80 percent of the meal consists of vegetables, fruit, salads and herbs, you’re on the right track, explains Doebel. As a second step, the pharmacist recommends dietary supplements: “We are exhausted, we are tired, we are imbalanced. And that in turn means that we are no longer as resilient and can concentrate even less. And especially now, when the dark season is coming , it may also be that our immune system becomes more susceptible to infections.” According to Doebel, it is very important that we support our immune cells, and we can do that best with the help of food supplements that have a beneficial effect on our acid-base balance. It is best to discuss which dietary supplements are most suitable for you with a doctor, as every body works differently and needs different nutrients more or less.

The third stage, according to Doebel, is to activate the metabolism. “The best and easiest way to do this is to get enough exercise. It doesn’t have to be a lot. Two or three short gymnastics sessions or nice walks in the fresh air are enough.”

Eating healthy: Ayurveda is only good for long-term health, but supports people holistically and provides more life energy. With these simple tips, Ayurveda can be easily integrated into your everyday life.

Ayurvedic Diet: What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is an Indian healing art and means “the knowledge of life”. The focus here is on human health – and not on the disease. Ayurveda starts where you can do something for yourself. It’s about your individual constitution and how you can find your physical and mental balance again, for example through nutrition, a certain way of life, but also through your mental attitude to life.

Ayurveda speaks of three different doshas (constitutions): Vata, Pitta and Kapha. The doshas are responsible for the different predispositions or characteristics of a person and they control the physical and mental functions. Each person has different constitutions, which in turn results in an individual, unique combination.

The more balanced you are in your physical and mental constitution, the more life energy you can release. The doshas can also be found in the seasonal cycle. The cold and dryness of winter (Vata). The heat of fire in summer (Pitta). And the dampness and coolness of spring and early summer (kapha). With certain foods, you can not only balance your individual constitution, but also adapt your diet to the seasons in order to gain as much life energy as possible and strengthen your immune system.

Ayurveda: The study of the human constitution – the three doshas of Ayurvedic nutrition

Typical characteristics of Vata (space and air):
Lots of thinking
High creativity
mental flexibility
absent-mindedness
Delicate body
Thin hair and skin
Typical characteristics of Pitta (fire):
High assertiveness and implementation skills
Lots of power and energy
Red hair
freckles
Loud voice
Small eyes, piercing stare
intelligence
Typical characteristics of Kapha (water and earth):
indolence, heaviness
down-to-earth
Quiet
serenity
Fat hair
Big eyes
Loud clear voice

Ayurvedic nutrition in everyday life – these foods strengthen and protect you every day

Healthy eating doesn’t just taste good: With a balanced and wholesome diet, with the right amount and combination of foods, you can make a huge difference in terms of health. The Ayurvedic diet is vegetarian with lots of vegetables and rice and cannot do without spices. Everything is possible, nothing is neccesary! Depending on your taste, tolerance, season and region, you can of course live out your preferences. Regular consumption of the following foods promotes your health and prevents diseases:
honey
almonds
Cashews
sesame
raisins
dates
figs
pomegranate
Grapes
mango
Ginger
cardamom
garlic (cooked)
turmeric
Cinammon
Each food has a specific effect on your body, as well as on the doshas. For example, if you have excess Vata, you can include dates or raisins in your diet to increase your Kapha percentage again. The above foods boost your immune system and are also healthy sugar alternatives.

Classic Ayurveda recommendations to stay healthy and fit

In Ayurveda, health does not only refer to purely physical health, but also includes mind and soul. According to Ayurveda, health is essentially based on nutrition. “Those who eat right don’t need medication,” is the core idea. If you don’t eat properly, medication won’t help. So when you start to nourish your body well, it affects your mental health as well. On the other hand, numerous studies have shown that mental health (a positive attitude towards yourself) also has a beneficial effect on physical health.

You can start with these tips for eating habits:
Eat the right amount: cupping your hands into a cup is roughly the size of your stomach.
Eating regularly and avoiding snacks: A meal takes three to five hours to digest.
Take your time and rest while eating: You absorb the energy you have while eating through your food. So stress is not exactly conducive.
Eat as fresh, high-quality food as possible: the more processed food is, the fewer nutrients it contains and the less healthy it is.
Balanced taste: Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and tart should be covered throughout the day to reduce cravings.
Correct food combination: Avoid carbohydrates in combination with dairy products.

A balanced diet is not only important with increasing age. You can find out here which vitamins the body urgently needs from the age of 50 and when food supplements can make sense.

This is how your body changes as you age

Some of the changes in your body as you age are quite obvious on the outside. Gray hair, less elastic skin, a tummy or a slightly less dynamic gait. Other changes are more internal. Muscle and bone mass decrease, tendons are no longer as supple. You may also notice that over time you can no longer see and hear as well and that it is increasingly difficult to remember things. All of these are perfectly normal symptoms of aging.

Of course, that doesn’t sound particularly nice. But even if your physical performance decreases with age, this does not automatically mean that it also reduces your quality of life. Especially since your biological age does not necessarily have to match your actual age. There are a number of things you can do to stay fit as you get older.

50 plus: Your body needs that now

According to the medical journal, every fourth person in old age is undersupplied with vitamin B12. This vitamin is particularly important for cell division, blood formation and nerve formation. Age-related changes in the gastrointestinal tract can make it difficult or even impossible to absorb this vitamin from food. Vitamin B12 is found in animal products such as meat, fish, seafood, eggs and dairy products. Even if this vitamin can be stored in the body, the body is dependent on a regular supply through food.

Basically, B vitamins support your carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism as well as the metabolism of the brain, muscles and nerves. They are also important for blood formation, your immune system and the fight against inflammation in the body. Therefore, a deficiency has several negative effects on your body and your well-being. Vitamin D is also one of the essential vitamins whose production in the body decreases with age. It is mainly formed under the influence of light. However, because mobility decreases with age and outdoor activities take place less frequently, undersupply can occur. Vitamin D intake in conjunction with calcium is recommended to prevent osteoporosis. Vitamin A is also known as the “eye vitamin” and is important for vision. Yellow and orange fruits and vegetables (e.g. broccoli) are good sources here.

Vitamin C fights the harmful free radicals in the body and helps protect the immune system. Although citrus fruits such as oranges or lemons are always named as the main suppliers, there are some vegetables that outperform them in terms of vitamin C. They also come predominantly from local cultivation, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts and kale. In addition to vitamins, minerals such as magnesium, sodium, zinc and trace elements of iron, iodine and zinc are indispensable. For example, iron supports the oxygen transport in your body and takes over functions in the formation of hormones and important messenger substances. Iodine is an essential component of the thyroid hormones and promotes cell division and tissue growth. Zinc supports the healing of wounds and is also important for strengthening your immune system.

diet, water, exercise and sleep

With a balanced diet with mostly fresh ingredients, you can provide your body with all the important vitamins and nutrients. If you still drink 2-3 liters of water every day and treat yourself to some exercise every day, then you have already done a lot for your well-being. As a rule, it is therefore not necessary to help with food supplements. You should also give your body enough sleep, which it needs to regenerate.

Dietary supplements can help both people over the age of 50 and people with certain diseases, such as chronic inflammatory bowel disease, to meet the increased need while eating a less balanced diet. However, dietary supplements should not be taken carelessly, as undesirable side effects such as kidney damage can occur. Water-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C or B, are generally safer in the event of an overdose because they are easily excreted through the kidneys or urine. Nevertheless, too high a dose of vitamin B, for example, can lead to gastrointestinal disorders and dizzy spells. Fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D or E, on the other hand, accumulate in the body. If you take too much into the body via appropriate preparations, nausea, headaches or drowsiness and dizziness can be the result.

So before you want to consume vitamin preparations or dietary supplements, you should first discuss this with your family doctor. A blood count reveals very quickly whether there is a deficiency and if so, what it is. You should also keep in mind that many foods, such as fruit juices, breakfast cereals or certain yoghurts, are already fortified with vitamins.

Not all foods can also be optimally combined with each other: While some food combinations have a healthy effect on our body, others should be avoided.

Combinations you should avoid

The first combination to avoid is white bread with jam. What is a popular breakfast for many should be avoided in the future: the bread contains many simple carbohydrates. If you eat this in combination with jam, your blood sugar level will rise briefly and then quickly drop again. The result is a feeling of ravenous hunger due to a lack of satiety and lack of strength. Alternatives for breakfast are needed: for example, choose wholemeal bread with a spread, a healthy porridge or yoghurt with fresh fruit.

If you eat a dish with lentils, you should avoid drinking red wine with it. The reason for this is that the tannins contained in red wine inhibit iron absorption. However, iron is important for our body; plant-based iron is very important, especially if you are vegan or vegetarian. If, for example, you choose lemon juice or another drink containing vitamin C instead of red wine, iron absorption can even be promoted.

The combination of salad and a fat-free dressing should also be avoided. The reason: Fat-free dressing prevents the body from absorbing the vitamins ideally. There is an inhibited absorption of vitamins, since many plant foods such as carrots need the fat in order to be able to be absorbed by the body. So a better idea is to add a few drops of an oil to the salad, for example.

Other food combinations to avoid

Another very popular combination is black tea with milk. Black tea is best known for containing anti-inflammatory antioxidants. However, if you add milk to the tea, the antioxidants are bound by the milk proteins and cannot be absorbed by the body. The calcium contained in the milk can also only be poorly absorbed by the body due to the caffeine in the tea. If you want to avoid this effect, you could, for example, add some lemon juice to the tea for better absorption of the antioxidants.

With a view to health, burgers and beer should ideally not be combined. Because even if the taste is perhaps very convincing, this can lead to small fat deposits over a long period of time. The reason for this: The body first starts to break down the alcohol and only then with the fat reduction. If you want to avoid the risk of unnecessary fat deposits on your hips, you should rather reach for a glass of water with the burger.

Another combination to avoid is alcohol with caffeine. Even if the caffeine often seems to be good after a night of heavy drinking, it ensures that the effects of the alcohol cannot be properly perceived. If you’re at a party, it’s better to have tea or water the day after.