I can almost hear what you’re thinking when you read that headline:

“Ew!” – Right?

But just let that sink in for a second and you’ll quickly realize, mushrooms are a type of fungus, and you probably already eat them at least occasionally.

Well, you may want to eat a LOT more of them as a new study has revealed that mushrooms may be “magic” when it comes to women and weight loss.

Research from the Department of Nutrition Science at the University of Buffalo found that eating Portobello mushrooms in particular, may make it easier to lose weight and exercise longer by controlling blood sugar, especially for women.

If you’ve already heard that eating mushrooms is beneficial, that’s because previous studies have shown them to have beneficial effects on weight management, but this study was the first to examine how plant-based glucose can help stabilize blood sugar levels.

How does stabilizing blood sugar help you lose those stubborn pounds?

Your blood sugar level is the amount of glucose from what you eat that’s circulating around in the blood stream in order to provide energy to cells immediately, or to be stored for later use.

A well-balanced blood sugar level is essential for overall fitness and well-being, regulating hormones, triggering your body to burn stored fat, and raising your metabolism to help you lose weight.

The Buffalo researchers believe that the mushroom’s dense phytonutrient component combined with the powerful antioxidant known as ergothioneine, work together to result in rapid improvements in the body.

They help to nourish cells and to protect against tissue damage, which not only leads to greater stamina, but helps to level blood sugar – all in less than 30 minutes!

That’s certainly quite an amazing feat that can practically be considered “magic,” don’t you think?

Stabilizing blood glucose levels helps to support the essential hormone balance needed to get rid of that extra flab. Of course, I realize that understanding exactly how all of that works can be confusing.

I’ll explain:

Every cell in the body needs glucose (sugar) for fuel in order to thrive, but our typical modern diets are filled with unhealthy, processed sugar from sodas, junk foods, and many other sources that the body can’t utilize.

All of that unused sugar is transformed into fat which leads to fatty liver, diabetes, and obesity.

Mushrooms are considered to be a clean, plant-based food that helps to normalize blood sugar and decrease the risk of these serious health issues – all while helping you to look better on the outside too.

Now that doesn’t mean you can eat whatever you want as long as you eat mushrooms too!

There is no food that is powerful enough to combat an unhealthy diet, but eating more mushrooms can help to provide a better balance that’s crucial for leveling out blood sugar levels to help you achieve a healthy weight while also providing the energy you need for more endurance.

Mushrooms are also packed with fiber to help keep you fuller longer which can prevent unhealthy snacking, providing sort of a “double-whammy” effect.

The term “magic mushrooms” has just taken a whole new meaning, right?

The study used a Portabella mushroom powder, which can be purchased online on sites like Amazon.com, or in your local health food store. You can add use the powder to make a shake or add it to a smoothie.

Of course, you can also take the opportunity to get creative and just add more mushrooms to your meals – heap them onto a salad, add them to lettuce wraps, sauté them with onions and peppers for a tasty side dish, throw them into scrambled eggs… the options are practically endless!

Yours in health & happiness,

Danette

You’ve probably been told for years that weight loss all comes down to one simple equation: eat less, exercise more.

So you religiously follow that rule, enthusiastically diving into a plan that dramatically cuts calories while increasing your trips to the gym, your number of runs, or whatever type of exercise you take part in.

You might get some pretty good results – at first.

But then what happens?

After a while, the scale doesn’t budge.

You feel hungry all day, and you probably get irritable and grouchy too. You may not sleep well and you don’t have enough energy to get through the day, let alone work out again.

Does that sound familiar?

It’s a vicious cycle! You might get frustrated and give up all together, or you might try to cut your calories even further so that you can at least reap some reward for all of that suffering you’re doing, but those stubborn pounds STILL aren’t coming off.

Now you really want to pull your hair out.

The whole “eat less to weigh less” and even “fat is bad” thinking came into fashion with what seems to be a very logical, mathematical fact:

One gram of protein and one gram of carbs has 4 calories. One gram of fat has 9 calories, so eating a gram of fat yields 9 calories and 1 gram of any carbs or protein yields 4.

So the next natural step is to avoid fat, and to say, well, “let’s just eat 500 or even 1,000 calories less a day!”

This very popular myth often leads to virtually starving yourself.

You’ve probably heard all those stories about gorgeous supermodels that eat almost nothing but celery all day – somehow they manage to look perfect, so we think that by doing the same we’ll achieve similar results.

While decreasing calorie intake is a good way to lose weight, if you eat too few calories it can actually hurt your weight loss efforts and cause those nasty side effects you’ve probably experienced like fatigue, diarrhea, dizziness, difficulty concentrating and other mental or physical problems.

Not only that, but it lowers your metabolism which is the main reason you’re probably not losing weight.

One of the most important things I want you to remember is that when your body doesn’t get enough calories, your resting metabolic rate significantly slows, which means you burn calories a lot slower than you did BEFORE dieting.

Your body is a lot smarter than you might realize – it senses a reduction in the fuel it needs for proper functioning, and while it might work fine for a short period, eventually it sounds the alarm that energy must be conserved in order to survive.

If you continue to force yourself to live on a very low calorie diet, you’ll start to lose muscle mass because the body begins using muscle for fuel and holds onto fat.

The less muscle you have, the fewer calories you’ll burn.

Your leptin levels also decrease which causes the brain to get a signal that the body doesn’t have enough fuel to function properly, further slowing metabolism.

So what DOES work?

There really isn’t one perfect number for every person when it comes to the amount of calories you should eat each day as there are so many different variables.

As a general rule, women should not consume fewer than 1200 calories, and men shouldn’t dip below 1500.

But what you eat is almost as important as the number of calories you take in.

Limit or eliminate processed junk foods and focus on eating healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, fish or lean meats.

Don’t be afraid of foods that contain healthy fats like coconut oil as they can help you stay fuller longer, raise the metabolism and even increase fat burning!

Now, doesn’t it make a lot more sense that there is really NO need to make yourself miserable in order to achieve the body you want?!

If you’re ready to STOP the confusion on what, when and how much to eat to burn off stubborn belly fat, click the link below:

=> 137 fat-burning recipes and meal plans

Yours in health & happiness,

Danette

P.S. Please feel free to share this important information with your friends and loved ones.

If you don’t drink tea on a regular basis and are trying to lose weight, it’s one beverage you really should consider stocking up on – and for many reasons.

For those that still drink soda (including diet soda) it’s a great replacement to help you kick that bad habit that’s not doing your waistline, or your health, any favors.

Even if you don’t drink soda, sipping tea is a good way to curb the urge to snack when you aren’t really hungry. Many of us tend to feed boredom with unhealthy foods which can quickly derail weight loss plans.

Herbal teas don’t contain any caffeine or calories, but they do provide the flavor we often crave.

Numerous studies have revealed that drinking tea can actually play a powerful role in supporting our weight loss efforts. Certain teas can even help speed up the digestion process, reduce bad cholesterol levels and even assist in shrinking fat cells!

You’ve probably at least heard about the benefits of green tea, but if you haven’t picked up this great habit, there is no time like the present. Of course this doesn’t mean sweetened green tea soft drinks – we’re talking pure green tea without any additives.

Research published in the Journal of Nutrition found that those who drank green tea and participated in three hours of moderate physical activity every week experienced a significant reduction of body fat in the abdominal area as compared to exercise alone. This means that if you drink green tea on a regular basis, it can enhance the fat burning benefits of your workouts!

It’s really an excellent fat fighter as its active ingredient, EGCG, increases the rate at which fat is burned in the body, particularly belly fat.

Green tea also helps to improve endurance so that you can work out longer and harder, increasing calorie burn and pounds that are lost, provided you drink it most days of the week.

It can even keep your energy levels stable by balancing blood sugar, as EGCG has been found to improve insulin use in the body to prevent those blood sugar spikes and crashes that can cause fatigue, irritability and cravings for unhealthy foods.

If you have a sweet tooth, Bilberry tea is another good one to try as it can also help by stabilizing blood sugar levels and reducing cravings, particularly for sweets.

Oolong tea has been found to reduce bad cholesterol and even aid in fat burning, while hibiscus tea contains flavonoids and minerals that are known to help reduce the absorption of fats.

If aren’t getting enough sleep, you’ll probably have difficult losing weight and you might even see the scale go in the opposite direction. That’s because a lack of sleep causes your levels of the hormone leptin go down, and ghrelin levels to rise, stimulating your appetite the next day so that you end up eating more than you normally would.

Drinking red bush tea may be able to help you solve this problem as it’s known as an effective insomnia remedy. It contains no caffeine, but it does have a high mineral content including magnesium, calcium, manganese, zinc and iron, and can encourage calm and relaxation in addition to reducing sleep disturbances.

If you’d like to give yourself an extra edge for losing or maintaining weight, don’t forget to stock up on tea the next time you go to the grocery store!

Much love,

Danette May

P.S. Please share this important information with your friends and loved ones, and leave your comments below.

With such a long list of things to do every day, from going to work and taking care of the house to getting the kids off to school and a seemingly endless number of other tasks, it’s no surprise that so many of us are lacking when it comes to energy and endurance.

If you’re trying to lose weight and get fit, this can really throw a wrench into your plans when it comes to working out, especially when all you really want to do is crawl back into bed or crash out on the couch!

If you’re already eating a healthy diet and drinking plenty of water – like you know you should – one thing you might try adding to help boost energy and endurance is beets or beet juice.

Here's How Powerful This Superfood Really Is

Recent research has found that this red root vegetable may even be more effective at increasing energy levels than caffeine – and without the crash!

One study found that athletes who drank 16 ounces of organic beet juice were able to cycle for up to 16 percent longer compared to those who drank a placebo. The researchers noted that such a significant effect isn’t achievable by any other known means, including training.

Another study out of Saint Louis University found that participants who ate approximately one cup of baked beets an hour before racing in a 5K were able to shave a minute off of their time. They also reported feeling less tired.

Beets are rich in natural nitrates which the body converts to nitric oxide, aiding blood flow and the delivery of oxygen to the muscles. This results in the ability to work harder with less effort.

Scientists have found that taking artificial nitrates don’t have the same effect – in fact, they weren’t found to enhance performance at all. They believe it may be because beets also contain antioxidants and vitamins that work together with the natural nitrates.

In yet another study, British scientists found that volunteers who drank about 18 ounces of beet juice a day for six days were able to sprint 15 percent longer before becoming exhausted and their blood pressure dropped five points.

Swimmers were even found to be able to hold their breath 11 percent longer after drinking the beet juice.

Those are some pretty remarkable results, don’t you think?

Even if you aren’t an athlete, drinking beet juice before a workout may help you to exercise longer and harder so that you can achieve your weight and fitness goals that much quicker.

Best Way to Consume Beets

If you want to test this theory out to see if it will increase your energy and endurance or bolster your performance, consider investing in a juicer and grab some fresh organic beets – they’re in season all year long.

Bottled beet juice is another option, just be sure that it’s 100 percent organic beet juice with no unwanted ingredients like added sugar. It can be sipped straight or blended into a smoothie.

Roasting beets is yet another good way to try them, especially if you’ve never eaten beets before as it can help to bring out their natural sweetness. Just trim off the leafy beet tops, wash the roots and toss them in a bowl with a little organic olive oil. Place them onto a baking sheet in an oven that’s preheated to 400 and roast for 30 minutes, or until tender. Once they’ve cooled, the skins can be slipped off with your fingers. Just slice and serve!

Keep in mind that the dark carotenes of beet juice may give your urine or bowel movements a ruby red color just like the veggie itself, but this effect is harmless.

Yours in health & happiness,

Danette May

P.S. Please leave your comments below and feel fee to share this important information with your friends and loved ones.