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Category: Blog

Hormonal Haven!

We all know about testosterone and estrogen, and how important these hormones are in everyone’s bodies.

But there are actually tones of hormones present in your body all the time that can affect your mood, your digestion, and even your appearance. It’s important to know what hormones do and where to find them, in order to reach a balanced state.

But first, what are hormones and what’s their purpose?

Hormones are chemical messengers for the body. They send messages to the many systems of the body in order to spring them into action and keep your body in smooth working order.

Here is a list of some of the hormones that have the biggest effect on your health and what they do:

  1. Estrogen- helps to regulate female reproductive cycles for females, helps with muscle recovery and brain health.
  2. Testosterone- helps to increase brain-power, muscle mass and strength.
  3. Insulin-plays a huge role in metabolism, and glucose absorption.
  4. Cortisol- is the hormone your body releases when you’re under stress.
  5. Growth hormone- helps to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat.

Maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine is the best way to balance the hormone levels listed above.

How to naturally increase hormone levels when needed:   

If you’re lacking one hormone or another due to age or just life changes in general, don’t worry!

You can help your body naturally produce more of most hormones you’re lacking by simply adjusting your diet.

To naturally increase your body’s estrogen levels studies have shown that you would need to consume more plant-based foods. Such as seeds, fruits, vegetables, soy products and legumes.

To increase testosterone levels you want to focus on eating food high in fat, zinc and magnesium. Some examples of those foods are oils, avocados, nuts, shellfish, dark green leafy vegetables, low fat yogurt and bananas.

Insulin is a very important hormone to keep regulated because it helps to keep blood sugar levels in balance. If your lacking insulin you can eat a diet full of plant based foods and use olive oil as a main source of fat, while also consuming fish, poultry, and dairy in moderation.

Cortisol levels are greatly affected by your diet, and therefore so if your body’s response to stress!

To increase cortisol levels studies say to eat foods high in sugar and refined starches. To lower those levels you can do the opposite and focus on eating eggs, meats, poultry, fish and vegetables.

Finally if you’re looking to naturally increase your Growth Hormone (HGH) levels you can do so by eating a diet consisting of raspberries, raw fish, pineapple, coconut oil, soy beans, steak, and even yogurt.

When they say diet is everything, they mean it!

Even if you don’t have a weight loss goal, your diet needs to be looked at as one of the most important aspects in both achieving and maintaining a healthy mind, body and soul!

Paige Peterson

Valiantly Vegan!

There has been a recent trend here in the U.S and worldwide, where more and more people are exploring a herbivorous way of life, better known as Veganism.

For anyone hearing the words Veganism or Vegan for the first time, lets start with the definitions. So essentially a Vegan is a person who does not eat or use any animal products. A true Vegan avoids eating any animal products such as meat, dairy, honey etc., as well as not using products that contain any animal by products.This would mean avoiding certain toothpastes, shampoos, conditioners, candles etc.

If you are interested in becoming a Vegan, there are extensive lists online you can find that will tell you what foods and products to avoid, because there are more than you would think.

Now most people make the switch to Veganism for a few reasons. The first being they don’t want to harm animals and add to the demand of animal products in our society, which leads to more and more animals dying everyday. The other is because some people have a hard time digesting animals products, and find that after the switch their body functions better. Lastly, a number of people make this large change in the hopes that they will lose weight and be healthier over all. Whatever your reasoning, becoming a Vegan is a rather large lifestyle change.

The Down Side:

If you don’t do your research beforehand you may be in trouble when starting your Vegan lifestyle. You have to consider all the nutrients you get from animal products in your diet and you must figure out how to replace them with herbivorous options, or your body will suffer.

For example some vitamins and minerals found in animal products that are important to your body’s everyday health are: Vitamin B-12, omega 3 fatty acids, iron, and zinc.

But don’t fret; if becoming a Vegan is important to you there are many Vegan supplement options out there! These supplements will be your daily vitamins and they will help to replace what your’re not getting in your vegan diet, making your diet complete without any animal products.

Vegan Supplements:

Starting your search for supplements, my best advice is to read the labels and make sure there are no animal by products. Even if the supplement itself does not have any; you must also consider any fillers or even the casing of capsules and be sure they are also Vegan.

Keep an eye out for cruelty free products as well, which means that neither the product nor its ingredients were tested on animals.

 

KBA Supplements:

KBA offers many supplement options that are ALL Vegan!

All of our supplements are offered in powdered form. This gives you the freedom to use them in whatever way works for you. You can put the powder in smoothies, you can make salad dressings or you can just mix them with water and start your day off right!

And if powdered supplements aren’t for you we also offer vegan capsules and tea!

We even have targeted supplements for whatever your goals are!

Energy can be used as your morning, afternoon or even evening pick me up as well as an all natural pre workout!

Radiance is for those of us who want to add more luster to our hair, skin and nails!

Desire and Pine Pollen are for those seeking some added stamina and energy to turn up the heat in the bedroom!

KBAs supplements can help to provide your body with a good amount of the vitamins and nutrients a vegan diet may be missing and are also free of animal by products, so you can stay fully committed to your new Vegan lifestyle!

Balance is Key!

I think its safe to say that most people, no matter their age, are searching for balance. Whether that means balancing work and time with the family, or finding balance between eating healthy and self-indulgence. Reaching an equilibrium between the many elements of our lives would probably make us all happy.

And most of us also want to accomplish the same balance for our bodies as well. For me personally, when my body is in smooth working order, I find balancing the rest of my life much easier!

Antioxidants and Adaptogens:

There are a couple natural substances that can help your body reach a homeostatic state, and they are adaptogens and antioxidants.

Now, we have all heard people say that antioxidants are good for you, but why?

Well, antioxidants are substances found in plant foods such as fruits and vegetables, nuts, and also in some meats. When consumed, they basically help to reduce oxidation in the body that can ultimately damage cells.

Adaptogens, something you may have never hear of, are compounds that can also be found in plant foods that have the ability to adjust to what your body needs. They help to manipulate your immune system in response to its currents stressors.

Both antioxidant and adaptogens work to protect and balance your body’s many interdependent elements and should be a priority in your daily life.

Antioxidants: Benefits and where to find them.

            Eating foods with high volumes of antioxidants have shown to have many health benefits. Some of those benefits are: slower signs of aging, glowing skin, detoxification support and many others.

And also they are easier to find than you might think!

Most berries have high levels of antioxidants, for example, goji berries, blue berries, cranberries and black berries. But they can also be found in artichokes, kidney beans, cilantro and even dark chocolate.

Yes you heard me right, dark chocolate!

There are some other herbs to keep in mind that also contain antioxidants. That list consists of: clove, cinnamon, oregano, turmeric, cocoa, cumin, parsley, basil, thyme and ginger.

Adaptogens: Benefits and where to find them.

Adaptogens are unique because they are known to support your adrenal system, which helps the body to find balance between energy and relaxation.

The most important balance if you ask me!

They are also known to reduce fatigue, support immunity, improve hormone balance, decrease inflammation and help to manage blood sugar levels.

 Some food sources and herbs that contain adaptogens are: Turmeric, maca, mushrooms, holy basil, nettle, wild blueberries and raspberry leaf.

So keep these foods and herbs in mind the next time you cook to easily add some additional health benefits to your meal!

Supplement Options:

Both antioxidants and adaptogens are already in your body and hard at work, but in order to reap more of the benefits listed above its important to add more into your diet when you see fit.

If you’re concerned about not getting enough of both, you can use supplements to make up for what you don’t get in your diet. There are many all natural options, one popular option is Pine Pollen.犀利士
 This herbal supplement contains both antioxidants and adaptogenic properties, and is easy to add into your daily routine, making it a good all encompassing option for many!

By Paige Peterson

Shield Your Strands!

From the very beginning our hair is put through a lot. If you’re lucky enough to be born with some already, don’t get too excited, sooner or later it’s going to fall out and start over at least once, if not more. Making all of your baby pictures a little painful to look at.

Then, as you age, you have the battle of keeping it out of your way and out of trouble, until your parents decide you would look cute with a bowl cut, which FYI no body does!

At some point the locks on your head will become your responsibility and it will be up to you to determine how it looks and how it lasts. If you’re like myself once your allowed to change and dye it, you do A LOT! And then once you reach an age where you’re done changing, perhaps you’ve finally decided to stop fighting your genetics, now your fighting for its health, and that’s a full time job!

Damaged goods:

            You would think once you’re done bleaching and dying your hair it would go back to its calm and natural state, wrong! It takes years to grow out the dead, fried and of course split ended hair.

Even after all the excessive damage is in the past, you still have daily styling, and brushing that keeps your hair from reaching its peak condition. Every time you use a hot tool, brush while wet, or even stay in the sun too long, your hair’s health suffers.

Now you have to figure out how to improve the health of the hair you already have and how to improve your scalp’s health so that the newly grown hair has a fighting chance.

Hair Vitamins and Remedies:

       Once you’re on your healthy hair journey there are many options for vitamins, supplements and masks that you can get at any grocery or drug store, but as usual an all-natural option is best for long-term use.

Biotin is a popular option used to help improve your hair’s health. But Biotin can cause acne, and if your like myself and have acne prone skin, your swapping one problem for another.

I’ve also tried countless masks that usually smell terrible and consist of raw eggs, honey, etc. and end up all over you, your clothes and your bed.

Needles to say I gave up on the food masks and acne causing biotin and searched for other alternatives, because I don’t know about you, but I want both healthy hair and skin.

Other vitamins that support hair health are Vitamins A and C. Vitamin A is needed by all cells for growth, including hair growth, and also helps to moisturize the scalp. This vitamin can be found in plant and animal products such as pine needles, carrots, dairy etc., which can also provide protein needed for strong healthy hair.

Vitamin C is needed in order to aid your body in iron absorption that is necessary for hair growth. Vitamin C also boosts collagen production, which is an important building block of your hair’s structure.

Both vitamins also work great in helping to prevent hair loss and dandruff!

Radiance:

       KBA offers an all-natural supplement, for not only healthy hair, but also healthy skin and nails. Radiance is a powerful fusion of wild harvested and organic herbs with bio boosting minerals and homeostasis promoting plants. Formulated to strengthen the structural building blocks for beautiful and healthy hair, skin and nails.

Radiance contains super foods like Goji Berry, Pine Needle, Pineapple and Orange. With high levels of Vitamins A & C, other viable nutrients and antioxidants, KBA’s Radiance supplement supports collagen synthesis giving luster to your locks while also preventing hair loss and dandruff.

And it can be easily added into your routine, just add it to any beverage daily to get all the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants your hair, skin and nails crave!

Try Radiance, an All-Natural hair, skin and nails supplement today!

Paige Peterson

Amino Me Crazy!

If you ask the everyday person what amino acids are, including myself prior to researching them, you’ll probably get an answer like “What are those?” “They’re healthy for you right?” or “Acid what?”.

But believe it or not a large portion of your muscles, other tissues and cells are made up of amino acids and they carry out many important bodily functions.

Protein is where the amino acids are hidden and once eaten your body breaks that protein down into the amino acids and puts them to work. And if you are eating healthy and you want those nutrients in your body to go to the right places and do their job, amino acids are what you need.

Amino Acid Benefits

Right off the bat there are a few health benefits that would convince anyone to make getting your daily needed amount of amino acids a priority. A quick list of those are:

  1. Muscle making
  2. Mood lifting,
  3. Stress busting,
  4. Immune system strengthening
  5. Healthy flexible blood vessels.

Let’s also make it easy to learn about some of the healthy and helpful amino acids and their benefits to your body:

  1. Histidine- upper respiratory health, anti-inflammatory, joint pain & stiffness.
  2. Isoleucine- promote muscle recovery and energy in muscle tissue.
  3. Leucine- energy production, muscle recovery, also may increase muscle strength and longevity .
  4. Lysin- clears acne, increases collagen production, combats wrinkles and hair loss, improves bone health.
  5. Methionine- wound healing, helps with detox, gut health,and immune system health.
  6. Phenylalanine- balances neural and cognitive function, mood regulation, joint discomfort and evens skin tone
  7. Threonine- immune system support, bone and muscle support, cognitive function.
  8. Tryptophan- helps with sleep, may reduce depression and anxiety, and can reduce appetite.
  9. Valine- repairs tissues, regulates blood sugar, provides energy, and assists with cognitive function.

Where to find them

Now with all of that info swimming around in your head, your next question might be: How do I get these in my body so I can reap the benefits? As mentioned earlier, your best bet for finding foods full of amino acids is to look for protein sources. For example: pork, beef, turkey, chicken, eggs, and also dairy products such as milk, yogurt and cheese.

With that being said I want to caution you. Initially looking at that list of amino acid sources, you think “Easy I’ll just eat a lot of those foods right?” But it’s not as easy as it sounds, because as much as you need amino acids you need tons of other nutrients as well, and just eating protein wont supply you with all of them.

I was in a nutrition class in college and my professor gave us a project that forced us to try and make a diet (using food only) that would supply us with all the necessary vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

From that project I found that there is indeed a diet that you can adopt to make sure you get your daily allowance of most nutrients, but I also know that I am not perfect and my diet varies everyday! But still I don’t want to miss out on the nutrients that I know my body needs.

Luckily there is another way and its using supplements!

And supplements are just that, they are there to supplement what you don’t get from your diet so that your body doesn’t ultimately suffer.

I’m not saying you can eat all junk food and take your vitamins and be set, because that is not true either!

However, supplements can be a useful tool to keep your body in smooth and working order if your diet, like mine, is not perfect.

Amino Acid Supplements

You could very easily go to your favorite Internet search engine and find tons of supplement options.

I do want to caution you however, from buying the first one you see!

It’s important to get high quality supplements. You don’t want to get a vitamin or powder that is bogged down by sugars and fillers. You still want a clean source of nutrients similar to the food you are trying to replace.

KBA’s Pine Pollen Powder is an all-natural and great source for all the amino acids listed above and therefore provides the benefits associated with them. And it’s easy to take and add into your daily routine, just add it to your morning smoothie or another favorite beverage and you’re set!

If you want to learn more specifics about KBA’s Pine Pollen benefits, visit the Shop All section of our website and learn more!

Paige Peterson