Heart Health Proteins, Weight Loss Drinks, and DNA Damage

4 Ways Your Meal Preps May Be Hurting Your Health

Health News Roundup

How We Studied DNA Damage in Cooked Food — and What It Might Mean for Our Health: When you eat plants or meat, you're also eating a tiny amount of that plant or animal's DNA.

How to eat avocados - Diet food of diabetics to perfect friend for weight loss: Avocados are a healthy-tasty food that deliver high satiety.

Nutrition Corner

8 Best Weight Loss Drinks You'll Actually Enjoy: The Nutrition Twins share eight of their top-recommended weight loss drinks to keep in your regular rotation.

5 Key Tips for Sustainable Weight Management You Need to Know, According to RDs: Restrictive diets or fad diets often result in people gaining the weight they've lost back.

Recipe for The Day

Turkey & Spinach Lasagna: This turkey and spinach lasagna is comfort food on a plate. The kind of meal that will bring the whole family together, even the family you don’t want to join.

Lifestyle & Fitness Focus

4 Ways Your Meal Preps May Be Hurting Your Health: Here's What To Know

  • Poor gut health: When you change up what you're eating with every meal, your gut gets all kinds of different bacteria -- and that's a good thing! Studies have shown that various bacteria can keep your gut healthy, especially if you're eating the right foods with the right combination of good bacteria.

  • Possible vitamin deficiencies: The US Food and Drug Administration has guidelines for what adults should get in terms of vitamins each day, whether it's through food or supplements. Most likely, you won't be getting the full recommended daily value of every single vitamin your body needs -- for heart health, bone health and more -- if you're eating the same meals day in and day out.

  • Missing out on key nutrients: Similarly to the way the same meals can deprive you of vitamins you need each day, they can also deprive you of other nutrients, like protein and fiber.

  • Losing opportunities to expand your palate: At the end of the day, meal-prepping the same meal for every day or every week may be easy, but it's boring. There are so many amazing foods to be had around you, and every day is a new opportunity to try something new.

4 proteins most beneficial for heart health

  • Dairy: Dairy products are a good source of protein and essential nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D. Some researchTrusted Source says that whole fat dairy may be more beneficial for cardiovascular health than low fat dairy.

  • Poultry: Skinless poultry, such as chicken and turkey, are lean meats that are high in protein. Evidence notes that 100 g of chicken can provide 31 g of protein; similarly, turkey contains 30.1 g of protein per 100 g.

  • Nuts and legumes: Nuts and legumes are plant-based sources of protein. Nuts such as almonds, walnuts, and peanuts contain healthy fats and minerals.

  • Fish: Fish is a good food source of protein for heart health. A 100-gram (g) portion of white fish, such as cod and haddock, contains around 19.1 g of protein.

5 Surprising Health Benefits of Watermelon

  • You Can Eat the Rinds and Seeds: The rind of a watermelon is packed with fiber and micronutrients like vitamin C and zinc. You can also pickle the rind or toss it into soups, stews, and stir-fries for added nutrition.

  • It’s Super Hydrating: Staying hydrated is important all year round, but especially during the summer months when it’s hot and you might be sweating more. While drinking water is an obvious choice to meet your daily fluid needs, it’s not the only hydrating option out there.

  • Yellow Is Extra Special: When you’re shopping for a watermelon at your local farmer’s market or grocery store, don’t feel like you have to stick to the classic red watermelon variety. Yellow-fleshed watermelon has an impressive amount of beta-carotene, which lowers the risk of eye diseases like macular degeneration. Yellow-fleshed watermelon is also a great source of vitamin C.

  • It Can Ease Muscle Soreness: Whether you are a gym rat or a weekend warrior, if you enjoy exercise, you have likely felt the burn of muscle soreness at some point. There’s some research that a specific amino acid called L-citrulline might help with muscle soreness post-workout. Watermelon—especially the rind—is an excellent source of L-citrulline.

  • It Supports Fertility: One of the most surprising potential areas of watermelon’s health benefits is fertility. A 2023 study found that eating watermelon was linked to certain reproductive health factors like better semen quality, improved erectile dysfunction, and may even have affected the secretion of some hormones among people with a penis.

4 Trapezius Exercises You Can Do without Any Weights

  • Pushup: Push-ups are intended to build both your pecks and your traps. Do the pushup version that you are comfortable with: a conventional pushup, a kneeling pushup on the floor, or a standing pushup against a wall.

  • Shoulder Shrugs: This weightless workout will help your traps to tighten and tone up. Additionally, it will also improve your posture and increase shoulder strength.

  • Arm Circles: The forearms, shoulders, and traps will all benefit from this fundamental arm circular exercise.

  • Shoulder Blades Squeeze: If you want to strengthen your traps, the shoulder blade squeeze is a simple approach to accomplish it.

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