Nutrition Corner

How Much Vitamin C Is in an Orange? These healthy foods have more vitamin C than an orange.

12 benefits of eating raw or green papaya: Raw papaya is a powerful food that has the power to change your life.

Recipe for The Day

Roasted Fish and Broccolini With Tamarind and Black Pepper Recipe: A single skillet is all you need for this delicious, convenient and comforting weeknight meal. With its caramel-like tang and pleasant pucker, tamarind enlivens the marinade for fish fillets in this simple baked fish recipe. Rich with coconut milk and infused with garlic, ginger and freshly ground black pepper, the quick marinade glazes the fish and bathes the vegetables.

Lifestyle & Fitness Focus

A Stanford-Trained MD Shares Her Top 3 Metabolism-Boosting Tips

• Prioritize breakfast: You may have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. According to Means, there's research to back up that claim. A study from Nature, one of the premier medical journals, showed that it's actually the extent of the glucose crash that determines how hungry we're going to be later in the day and how much we're going to crave carbohydrates.

• Walk after meals: According to Means, post-meal exercise is the best "golden ticket" to lowering blood sugar that we have. Take a three-, five-, 10-, or 15-minute walk, do some air squats, or have a dance party after a meal. Every time you take a step, you're contracting billions of myocytes (muscle cells). What that's going to do is physically push the glucose channels to the cell membrane, to help take that glucose out of the blood stream and put it through the mitochondria for energy. Again, research backs up the claim: One study found that acute, casual exercise, not before but after eating (like, say, a post-dinner stroll), can help steady the blood sugar response.

• Don't ignore your stress levels: Make no mistake: The stress-metabolism connection is well documented. Raised cortisol levels spike cause a surge release of insulin, which is why you may crave more sugars, carbs, and sweets3 when feeling stressed. Chronic stress even has the ability to damage your mitochondria, and as Means notes, "bad energy" is the root of all disease, including metabolic dysfunction.

5 Fiber Rules to Follow for a Revved up Metabolism

• Don't skip breakfast: Not only does eating breakfast jumpstart your metabolism for the day, but it's the perfect opportunity to meet up to half your daily fiber needs before noon. For a brekky that keeps you fueled until lunchtime, she suggests pairing protein with fiber. This can look like a high-fiber cereal with unsweetened almond milk, overnight oats with fiber-rich figs, or Greek yogurt topped off with all your favorite berries.

• Become even more obsessed with chia seeds: In case you didn't know, a tablespoon of chia seeds contains a whopping 6g of fiber, with the added benefit of protein and skin-enhancing omega 3s. And luckily, it's super easy to reap the benefits of these mighty seeds in pretty much everything. Bake them into your banana bread, sprinkle them atop unicorn smoothie bowls, or add them to some decadent bonbons.

• Eat the skin on fruits and veggies: Your meal-prep game is about to get a lot easier. You can skip the peeling portion of the cooking process and go straight for the chopping. The skin of fruits and vegetables is often where a good portion of the nutrients live, as well as the fiber. Just make sure to give your cukes, potatoes, and pears a nice long scrub before chowing down.

• Put your spiralizer to good use: Okay, so maybe your spiralizer has been sitting in the back of your junk drawer for the past couple of months. (No judgement here.) This might make it spark a little more joy in your life: You can easily freeze zucchini, carrot, and parsnip noodles (AKA: zoodles, coodles, and poodles) for fiber-packed weeknight pasta replacements. These vegetables provide a low-calorie base to be paired with protein, more vegetables, and sauce. So long, spaghetti coma.

• Learn to read nutrition labels: Next time you're perusing the aisles at your local Whole Foods, take a minute to compare the fiber content in different pasta sauces, protein bars, and cereals. Why? The best way to make sure you’re getting fiber into your diet is to look at labels when choosing snacks and products and aim for those that are higher in fiber.

How Owning a Pet Can Reduce Stress

• Improve Mood: For those who love animals, it’s virtually impossible to stay in a bad mood when a pair of loving puppy eyes meets yours, or when a super-soft cat rubs up against your hand. In addition to the social support, stress relief, and general health benefits pets can bring, research supports the mood-enhancing benefits of pets.

• Reduce Blood Pressure: Yes, it’s true. While ACE inhibiting drugs can generally reduce blood pressure, they aren’t as effective in controlling spikes in blood pressure due to stress and tension. Research has concluded since the mid-1980's that there are positive physiological effects, especially lowered blood pressure, to petting dogs and social interaction with companion animals. Touch, the actual act of petting the dog, appeared to be the major component of the so-called pet effect.

• Encourage Exercise: Whether we walk our dogs because they need it, or are more likely to enjoy a walk when we have companionship, dog owners do spend more time walking than non-pet owners, at least if we live in an urban setting. Most people with dogs will likely tell you that they enjoy their walks more because of the companionship of their pets, and perhaps even the feeling of being part of a community of other pet lovers.

• Provide Social Support: When we’re out walking, having a dog with us can make us more approachable and give people a reason to stop and talk, thereby increasing the number of people we meet, giving us an opportunity to increase our network of friends and acquaintances, which also has great stress management benefits.

The Top Three Exercises To Reduce Upper Arm Fat, According to a Personal Trainer

• Push-Ups: Push-ups are "your best friend" when it comes to toning the upper arms. This move primarily works the triceps, the large muscles at the back of your upper arm, along with your chest and shoulder muscles.

• Overhead Extensions: This classic tricep exercise doesn't get the limelight it deserves. The move involves holding a dumbbell over your head with both arms and lowering it behind your head before extending your arms to lift the dumbbell back to its initial position. This isolates your triceps, making them work harder. Remember, the triceps are the largest muscle in your upper arm, so giving them some extra attention can significantly contribute to a toned arm appearance.

• Bicep Curls: While the biceps may not be as large as the triceps, they still play a role in the shape of your upper arms. Strengthening them contributes to a balanced, leaner look. All you need to do bicep curls is a pair of dumbbells. Even some soup cans will suffice if you're a beginner. The move entails bending your arm up and down while holding a dumbbell and keeping the elbow stable.

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