Nutrition Corner

27 Easy Cold Dinner Ideas For Hot Summer Days: We rounded up the best summertime cold dinners for hotter-than-hot days.

Peach-and-Bacon Pizza Makes the Perfect Summer Dinner: This unexpected pairing, inspired by a local pizzeria, combines farm-fresh peaches with savory bacon.

Recipe for The Day

This Baked Feta Pasta Has Taken Over TikTok — But Is It Actually Good?: If you're remotely active on TikTok these days, there is a 100 percent chance you've seen at least 20 versions of baked feta pasta in the past week. It's hard to tell why certain foods seem to blow up out of nowhere on the video-based social media platform, which has seen a boom of new users since last March. At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, everyone was making making whipped coffee to cure their quarantine boredom. More recently, videos of people folding tortillas to recreate this wrap hack have been unavoidable.

Lifestyle & Fitness Focus

4 Reasons Why Tomatoes Should Be Your Summer Staple

• Loaded With Antioxidants: Tomatoes are a source of lycopene, which is responsible for their red colour. Lycopene has powerful antioxidant properties, which include protecting cells from free radical damage and reducing the risks of chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes. Other antioxidants found in tomatoes are vitamin C, which protects the skin; beta-carotene, which maintains healthy vision; and naringenin, which has anti-inflammatory properties.

• Enhances Immunity: Vitamin C and A in tomatoes are known for aiding immunity and enhancing the body's ability to fight disease. In a research paper published in the Biology Journal in 2022, tomatoes were proven to benefit immunity through their rich content of lycopene, β-carotene, and vitamin C. These compounds enhance lymphocyte proliferation and natural killer cell activity, strengthening the body's defence against infections. Additionally, tomatoes also hold potential as an edible vaccine, which you can eat to prevent diseases.

• Improves Heart Health: Lycopene in tomatoes is linked to treating heart disease and improving overall heart health. In a review published by the Biology journal in 2022, it was reported that a high intake of lycopene, along with high levels of antioxidants in the blood, can reduce the risk of heart disease by 14%. The review also verified that tomatoes can effectively reduce the bad cholesterol or LDL cholesterol in the blood and increase HDL or good cholesterol.

• Protects Skin From Sun Damage: Vitamin C, Beta-carotene and lycopene in tomatoes are linked to protecting the skin from damaging effects caused by the sun's UV rays. Lycopene, found abundantly in tomatoes, acts as a powerful antioxidant that shields the skin from UV damage caused by the sun. Research suggests that consuming tomato paste rich in lycopene can increase skin protection by 30%. While it doesn't replace sunscreen, including tomatoes in your diet can provide an extra layer of defence against sun damage, helping you maintain healthier and younger-looking skin.

Can Cats in the Office Help Lower Employee Stress Levels?

• Productivity: Pets in the office can make work more enjoyable and improve professional satisfaction. This ultimately reduces absenteeism, improving productivity and work output. Employees who are happier with their position at work will put in greater effort and be less likely to quit.

• Stress Relief: Perhaps the most alluring reason to bring your kitty to work with you is that they can help relieve stress. A study from 2020 found that companion animals act as social buffers for psychological distress and loneliness. In addition, pets can mitigate stress responses and increase resilience, which can come in handy in the workplace. Even doing something as simple as petting a cat or dog can relieve stress.

Follow These Tips to Lower Your Risk of Heart Disease

• Take a daily walk: Decades of research support cardiovascular exercise as a first defense against heart disease. Walking is an easy, simple way to get cardio exercise in, and you can do it pretty much anywhere outdoors or indoors with a treadmill. Studies show that walking can prevent heart disease risk despite being a less intense modality than other forms of cardio exercise, such as hiking, jogging or cycling.

• Strength train a few times each week: Most research on heart health and exercise has focused on aerobic exercise like walking. An emerging body of research points to resistance training as another way to reduce your risk of heart disease. In fact, a 2018 study found that lifting weights for less than one hour a week could reduce your risk for a heart attack or stroke by up to 70% -- independent of aerobic exercise, making these results even more significant.

• Eat heart-healthy foods: Many delicious foods have a direct link to improved heart health. In general, a diet rich in whole grains, fruit, vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats from nuts, seeds, fish and oils promotes heart health. If you don't have access to fresh produce, frozen and canned fruits and veggies work just as well (just be mindful of salt intake when eating canned foods).

• Limit foods linked to heart disease: On the flip side, several foods have direct links to heart disease. To reduce your risk of heart disease, limit high-fat and high-sugar foods such as potato chips and store-bought desserts. Highly processed foods, including most fast food, processed meats (think hot dogs and cured meats) and boxed snacks like Twinkies and crackers, also contain ingredients harmful to your heart. Specifically, look out for trans fats (hydrogenated oils) and high-fructose corn syrup, two common key ingredients that aren't great for your heart.

I’m A Peloton Instructor and These are My Favorite Inner Thigh Exercises

• Squats: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees just slightly bent. Engage your core and slowly lower down, as if you were to sit in an invisible chair. Make sure your knees are staying in line and not collapsing in. Hold for 3 to 5 seconds and slowly and return to starting position.

• Grande Pliés: Stand with your feet turned outward, heels touching. Holding on to a barre, chair, or wall, keep your back straight and bend your knees, making sure to track them over your toes. Lift your heels as you continue bending, until the thighs are horizontal to the ground. Make sure your hips are stacked on top of your thighs. Pushing your heels back into the floor, slowly rise and straighten legs, returning to your start position.

• Lunges: Start by standing with your right foot staggered in front of your left, right knee bent and left leg long. Engage your core and keep your spine long as you bend your left knee to a 90-degree angle, with the left heel elevated off the ground. Push through your right foot to return to your starting position with the left leg extended. After your set reps or time, make sure to switch sides so that the left leg is staggered in front of the right.

• Deadlifts: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and place heavy dumbbells (think 15 lbs. to 30 lbs.) horizontally between your feet. Keeping your back flat and spine long, bend at the knees into a squat. Pick up the dumbbells with straight arms as you straighten your legs, coming out of your squat. Your dumbbells should stop at your shins. Slowly lower dumbbells back down as you squat again and repeat.

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