- Come join our amazing steps challenge this month! Everyone is welcome and it's a great way to find out what other Newtopians are doing to stay active. For the second mini challenge we are going to focus on beating our own personal best kilometers.It’s one thing to be in competition with the people around you but another to be in competition with yourself. This next week and a half is... read more
- Each month we host a “steps challenge” aimed at helping those of you who are using the NewtopiaPED to stay active!This month we have decided to spice up the community challenge and focus on going the distance! This challenge will require everyone to work as a team and keep each other motivated in order to reach the team’s ultimate goal, while still maintaining that competitive edge to try... read more
- I would like to congratulate 6 amazing women Tina, Tede, Kari, Marianne, Valerie and Gloria, all fellow Newtopians who took it upon themselves to challenge each other in a friendly but fierce steps competition. Using their Newtopiapeds they embarked on a 30 day challenge to see who could get the most steps. Each day they would accumulate steps on their own using their... read more
- Many of us need a boost whether it is increasing our energy levels throughout the day, increasing our metabolism or even just help with decreasing our weight circumference or controlling our appetite, to help keep us on plan.For this reason our Naturopath Jean-Jacques Dugoua has created a helpful natural health product specifically targeted towards increasing or boosting your metabolism. The body... read more
- The system has taught me portion control and that fitness are the key to my future good health. Also I discovered that 1800 calories can be a lot of food. With my DNA results I discovered that being active will always keep me slimmer. My coach has helped my progress by challenging me and guiding me to making better food choices. Thank You to my Newtopia Coach for all your help, and I look... read more
- Natasha Vani our Exercise physiologist came up with a great way to promote a healthy posture, reduce tension headaches and improve back health, while in the workplace!Routine: Take a 5 minute break once every hour and complete the following warm up and stretching exercises. (once every hour is ideal however even a few times a day is better than none at all).Review the office... read more
- One of the biggest issues most of us face on our way to healthy living and weight loss is lack of MOTIVATION! For most people the same cycle repeats itself whether you are just starting your journey or whether you are trying to maintain your healthy habits. Most of us are motivated in the beginning and then somewhere along the line we need a boost. While doing a little bit of research... read more
- Mary Bamford the Director of Nutrition here at Newtopia feels that it is really important that we all understand what the glycemic index is and how it can help you to lose weight. First things first, the glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how much a carbohydrate-containing food is likely to raise a person’s blood sugar.For example, carbohydrate foods (fruits, dairy, whole grains,... read more
- Try these 6 abdominal exercises to help give your core an amazing workout. Just like any other strength exercise you need to make sure that you do not work the same muscle groups 2 days in a row. Try doing these exercises 2-3 days during the week to give your body time to recover!Standing Twists with a medicine ball: Stand with your feet spread shoulder width apart.Hold a medicine ball in your... read more
- In order to help improve and control over eating we all must take a step back and slow down the eating process. This will help to improve the mind-body connection when eating say's our Director of phychology Karyn Hood.Her rationale for this is because when you eat quickly you can end up feeling dissatisfied and you can very easily finish your entire meal before your body recognizes you are full... read more
Eating healthy with Newtopia has never been easier! Explore our delicious recipes, weekly tips and easy ways to stay on plan everyday.
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Posted March 27 2012
Selecting and purchasing healthy foods is a major component of eating well. Once you have the food at home, here are some tips on storage, preparation and eating that are important to maintain food wholesomeness and nutrition.
Keep vegetables and fruits in their skins
The health benefits from phytonutrients, fiber, vitamins, and minerals found in fruit and vegetable skins are worth biting into. Keeping—and eating—the peel on fruits and vegetables does more than add colour, flavor and texture to dishes. It also makes nutritional sense.
Apple peels, for example, contain 65% of the fruit’s fiber and 100% of its quercetin content. In the case of potatoes and sweet potatoes, the peel contains significant amounts of fiber, potassium, and quercetin. Pear skins offer half of the fruit’s fiber content, along with pectin and vitamin C. Eggplant skin, is a good source of potassium, fiber, magnesium and deep purple anthocyanins.
Eating the skins applies to other plant foods also. Consider how you eat your nuts and seeds. The edible skin (not the shell) on nuts and seeds such as almonds, brazil nuts, hazelnuts and peanuts also provide nutrients. It is best to buy nuts raw and unsalted. For a roasted flavour, toast them yourself in your oven or on your stovetop with some savoury spices like chili powder or curry.
Rinse vegetables and fruits thoroughly under running water
Proper rinsing removes many bacteria and pesticides. Most commercially farmed crops contain synthetic pesticides. Organic produce contains no synthetic pesticides. Regardless, all produce needs to be rinsed and rubbed thoroughly using running water.
The Environmental Working Group Analysis found that consumers could cut their pesticide exposure by 90% by avoiding the 12 most contaminated non-organic crops and choosing more of the 12 least contaminated crops.
The “dirty dozen” with the highest levels of pesticidesare tender included apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, raspberries, spinach and strawberries.
The twelve crops in their analysis with the lowest pesticide residueincluded asparagus, avocado, banana, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, kiwi, mangoes, onion, papaya, pineapples and peas.
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