Nutrition Corner

8 Foods That Will Give Your Brain a Serotonin Boost Right Now: The foods we eat can go a long way in boosting our moods.

Can Supplements Really Boost Brain Health? These include omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12 and other B vitamins, choline, vitamin E, and other micronutrients.

Recipe for The Day

Blueberry Beet Smoothie Bowl: This vegan smoothie bowl combines antioxidant-rich blueberries and mineral-dense beets with decadent, chocolaty goodness.

Lifestyle & Fitness Focus

4 health benefits of beet juice you might not know about

• May improve stamina: A 2017 study found long-term consumption of beet juice may help increase performance, cardiorespiratory performance and increase the time it takes to reach exhaustion. While the study was proved powerful, the authors noted that beet juice combined with caffeine can reduce the benefits.

• Help prevent anemia: Anemia results from a lack of red blood cells — dysfunctional red blood cells — in the body. It can cause dizziness, skin pallor, shortness of breath, fast heartbeat, and many other issues. According to the American Society of Hematology, more than 3 million Americans are anemic. Beet juice is rich in iron, which is an essential component of red blood cells.

• Supports cognitive health: Beet juice “increases blood flow to the brain in older people, which may be able to serve as a natural way to stave off Alzheimer’s and fight the progression of dementia and other cognitive conditions,” according to the website Dr. Axe.

• Great source of minerals: Beet juice is a great source of potassium — a mineral and electrolyte that helps nerves and muscles function — iron and many other minerals, including magnesium, manganese, sodium, zinc, copper and selenium.

How to Be More Productive: 3 Tips to Get on Track

• Ditch the Perfectionism: Personally, this has been my biggest obstacle in teaching myself how to be more productive. If there’s anything I’ve learned as a recovering perfectionist (who relapses every now and then), it’s that perfectionism is the enemy of innovation, creativity, and productivity. When our expectations of ourselves don’t align with reality, nothing matches up. It keeps us in a pattern of hesitation—we worry that what we’re doing isn’t good enough, and we second-guess ourselves before even trying.

• Release Your Fear of Failure: It’s time to acknowledge and accept that our fear of failure is keeping us stuck. Closely related to perfectionism, when we operate from a space of never allowing ourselves to fail, we build and perpetuate an inner dialogue of anxiety. What if doesn’t work out? Are any of my efforts going to be worth it in the end? Countless questions swirl in our minds, making it more difficult to act and therefore, be productive.

• Do the Hardest Thing First: Of those three tasks you identified as being the most important, prioritize the most challenging, perhaps cumbersome task first. As humans, we love (and live for!) immediate gratification. Because of that, we often opt for the path of least resistance. And because we all love the hit of dopamine that comes with crossing something off our to-do list, it would make sense that we prefer to do the easiest asks first.

4 Chamomile Tea Benefits for Your Body and Mind

• Chamomile tea promotes better sleep with the antioxidant apigenin: Indeed, chamomile tea is an excellent after-dinner, pre-bedtime drink. In addition to its aromatic, earthy-floral flavor and lack of caffeine, it has longstanding medicinal uses and is known for its relaxing effects.

• Chamomile tea has powerful anti-inflammatory properties: Chamomile is a great anti-inflammatory drink, thanks to its lengthy list of chemical compounds and antioxidants, mentioned above. Reduced inflammation in the body means a lower risk of gastrointestinal pain, arthritis, autoimmune disorders, depression, and several other chronic health issues.

• Chamomile tea contains heart-healthy flavonoids: Certain antioxidants in chamomile tea, like flavonoids, help support heart health by lowering the risk of heart disease. Over the years, flavonoids have been studied to measure their effectiveness in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, including triglycerides and "bad" LDL cholesterol.

• Chamomile promotes relaxation and relieves stress and anxiety: Thanks to its calming properties and ability to combat insomnia, chamomile tea can be a highly effective stress- and anxiety-reducer. As many are well aware, sleeplessness and stress go hand in hand. You can use chamomile tea (and its soothing scent) as a natural sedative in a relaxing bath or massage, too—it may help ease soreness.

4 Most Effective Exercises For the Lower Back

• Deadlift (and the Variations): The deadlift is a well-known exercise performed in almost every gym or Crossfit Box, and one of the reasons for its fame is the enormous number of muscle groups it puts to work during a single movement. For this reason it is also one of the most effective exercises to the lower back.

• Glute Bridge: If you’re interested in strengthening your lower back, this exercise is one of the most effective exercises to the lower back, and including this movement in your routine is one of the best things you can do.

• Superman: The superman is a body weight exercise, one fo the most effective exercises to the lower back. It looks very easy but I assure you that after a couple of sets you will end up exhausted.

• Bench Back Extensions: Back extensions, are also a very good choice if you are looking for an effective exercises to the lower back.

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