Refrigerate or Not - Part 5

21. Hot sauce: Make more room in your fridge, and store hot sauce in your pantry — even after it has been opened. All the preservatives and spices keep it safe for topping your eats.

22. Spices: Ground spices do not need to be refrigerated. Ever.

23. Coffee: Many think coffee deserves a special place in the fridge or freezer, but it actually is best at room temperature so its natural oils can really flavor your favorite cup of joe. Buy in small batches for really fragrant, and rich, morning coffee.

24. Soy sauce: Yes, there is more than enough natural preservatives (salt) in soy sauce for it to remain safe if stored at room temperature.

25. Some salad dressings: Just like other condiments, most salad dressing, especially ones that are vinegar- or oil-based, are just fine stored outside the fridge. Cream-, yogurt-, or mayo-based dressings should be stored in the fridge.

8 Ways to Wake up With More Energy - #8 (end)

Eat a High-Protein Breakfast

“Protein in the morning gets converted into dopamine, which energizes you,” said Dr. Winter. Yes to meat, poultry, seafood, beans, peas, eggs, processed soy products, nuts, and seeds. Go easy on carbs (breads and cereals) and processed foods with lots of added sugar that will make you feel logey.

8 Ways to Wake up With More Energy - #7

Exercise Every Morning

“The best time is right when you wake up. It gets your body used to revving up in the morning. If you can stay to a routine, it’s amazing what it will do to your energy and attitude,” says Dr. Winter. It doesn’t have to be rigorous. In fact, gentle yoga, qigong or tai chi routines have been shown to be very effective in getting the body and brain started for the day. (You can find videos to follow by searching on Youtube.) Twenty minutes is optimal, but an intense five can do the trick particularly in a bright, stimulating environment.

8 Ways to Wake up With More Energy - #6

Try Yoga Breathing

An Oxford University study found that pranayama or yoga breathing “had a markedly invigorating effect on perceptions of both mental and physical energy and increased high positive mood.” The most common form is called Three Part Breath or Dirgha Breath. You can do it lying in bed: Inhale deeply through your nose, filling up belly your belly first. Expand your belly like a balloon. Continue to inhale, expanding ribs like gills on a fish. When you are completely full, empty yourself slowly but completely, exhaling through your nose. Do six to 10 rounds.

8 Ways to Wake up With More Energy - #5

Seek Out Light

According to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, light is the main cue influencing circadian rhythms, turning on or turning off genes that control your internal clock. Roll up your shades as soon as you’re awake. If you can’t get natural light in your bedroom, consider a lightbox or alarm that slowly gets brighter, simulating dawn. If you don’t want to get that fancy, just flip on a regular light as soon as you get up.

8 Ways to Wake up With More Energy - #4

Drink Water When You First Get Up

You lose a lot of fluid when you sleep and breathe at night, and unfortunately, dehydration can make you feel sluggish and sleepy. Rehydrating can go a long way in making you feel more alert. You don’t have to chug, just quench your thirst.

8 Ways to Wake up with More Energy - #3

3. Don't Hit the Snooze Button

Set your alarm for when you must get up and stick to that. Hitting snooze over and over just leads to fragmented, fitful sleeping and you’ll wake up more tired. If you can’t trust yourself, move your alarm to a place you can’t reach it.

8 Ways to Wake up With More Energy - #2

2. Always Get Up at the Same Time—Even on Weekends

“Regardless of how well you slept or when you went to sleep, always get up at a set wake-up time,” recommends Dr.  Winter. Our circadian rhythm, the biological process that drives your sleep-wake cycle, needs consistency in order to work correctly. Not everyone needs eight hours—some need more, some can get by on less. If you stick to a set wake up time, your body will start telling you when to go to bed in order to achieve your optimal amount of rest. The overall routine will help you get the healthy sleep you need to replenish your energy stores, which means you won’t wake up as bedraggled.

8 Ways to Wake up With More Energy - #1

This fits me 100% so I thought I would share with those of you who are like me.  This is from GrandParents.com

Tired of Feeling Tired?

Brrrrrrriiiiiiiinnngggg! When the alarm goes off, do you:
A. Spring immediately out of bed, shouting, “It's going to be a great day!”
B. Moan, hit the snooze button and then pull the sheets over your head.

If your answer is A, then good for you. In the more likely event that your answer is B, don’t worry, help is on the way. Here are suggestions on how to quickly shake off the morning blahs and greet the day more refreshed.

1. Go to Sleep the Right Way

The best way to wake up refreshed is to get a good night’s sleep. This means:

No caffeine after lunch since caffeine can be a stimulant and keep you awake. And only one glass of wine at dinner. Too much wine can knock you out, then cause you to wake up during the night.

Make sure your room is cool. “The drop off in temperature is a natural cue for your body to fall asleep,” W. Christopher Winter, MD, Medical Director at the Martha Jefferson Sleep Center in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Don’t exercise near bedtime—it will just rouse your body.

Stay off the computer—and away from any lit screen—an hour before bed. The light makes your brain think it’s day time. (If you must, download F.lux at stereopsis.com/flux. It’s a free software program that makes the color of your computer’s display adapt to the light in the room.)

5 Ways Caffeine Can Make Your Life Better - part 5

I found this on Grandparent.com and thought we might all enjoy seeing why we SHOULD enjoy that must have morning drink - coffee.

Coffee is much more than a daily pick-me-up — the right amount can protect you from serious health problems. 

Reduces risk of kidney stones

The promise: Increase your caffeine intake and you’ll decrease your chances of getting painful kidney stones.

The proof: A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2014 revealed that people who drink caffeine-containing beverages have a lower risk of incident kidney stones. “Caffeine does make you pee more!” says Kirkpatrick. “It’s the build-up of [deposits] that are not being released that leads to stones. Having urine and waste move through the body decreases the potential for stones to form.”

5 Ways Caffeine Can Make Your Life Better - part 4

I found this on Grandparent.com and thought we might all enjoy seeing why we SHOULD enjoy that must have morning drink - coffee.

Coffee is much more than a daily pick-me-up — the right amount can protect you from serious health problems. 

Helps men with sexual problems

The promise: Decrease your risk of erectile dysfunction by drinking coffee daily.

The proof: A 2015 study of 3,724 men found that participants who drank 2 to 3 cups (170-375mg) per day had the lowest incidence of erectile dysfunction, a problem that affects 22% of men at age 40 and 49% by age 70, according to the Boston University School of Medicine, Sexual Medicine.

This effect is similar to why coffee reduces your risk of heart disease, says Kirkpatrick. “If you think about heart disease, it occurs because you have a blockage somewhere,” she says. “ED is like a heart attack in your penis—you’re not getting enough blood flow to be able to do what you need to do. A lot of studies show that coffee improves function of blood vessels.”

5 Ways Caffeine Can Make Your Life Better - part 3

I found this on Grandparent.com and thought we might all enjoy seeing why we SHOULD enjoy that must have morning drink - coffee.

Coffee is much more than a daily pick-me-up — the right amount can protect you from serious health problems. 

Lowers heart disease risk

The promise: Healthy men and women who drink 3 to 5 cups of coffee are less likely to develop heart attack-inducing clogged arteries over time.

The proof: In 2015, the journal Heart published an article that reported on the dietary habits and corresponding coronary artery calcium in 25,000 men and women (average age 41) who had no evidence of cardiovascular disease. Participants who self-reported drinking 3-5 cups of coffee a day had the lowest amount of calcium build-up in their hearts.

“A recent large, meta-analysis found that moderate coffee consumption (3 to 5 cups per day) was associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease and heavy coffee consumption was not associated with risk of heart disease,” says AHA spokesperson Rachel Johnson, PhD., M.P.H, R.D. In this case, caffeine may not be the only compound helping your heart stay healthy. “In addition to caffeine, coffee contains antioxidant phenols, which improve endothelial function and thus may prevent atherosclerosis.”

5 Ways Caffeine Can Make Your Life Better - Part 2

I found this on Grandparent.com and thought we might all enjoy seeing why we SHOULD enjoy that must have morning drink - coffee.

Coffee is much more than a daily pick-me-up — the right amount can protect you from serious health problems. 

Enhances your exercise

The promise: Work out harder and rev your metabolism for longer when you caffeinate pre-workout.

The proof: Good news for coffee lovers who want to get in shape. Studies show that caffeine not only helps you work out stronger and longer, but also boosts your metabolism by 15 percent for as long as three hours after you stop exercising.

“Caffeine is good for exercise because it increases energy and alertness,” says Kirkpatrick. Plus, if you tend to metabolize substances slowly, caffeine might help you work harder during exercise session, she adds. “The harder you workout, the more your metabolism is increased afterwards.”

To reap the exercise benefits, ingest 3-9 mg of caffeine per kilogram (kg) of body weight (which translates to 1-2 cups on the lower end and 5 to 6 cups on the higher end) one hour before working out, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.

5 Ways Caffeine Can Make Your Life Better - Part 1

I found this on Grandparent.com and thought we might all enjoy seeing why we SHOULD enjoy that must have morning drink - coffee.

Coffee is much more than a daily pick-me-up — the right amount can protect you from serious health problems.  

The verdict is in: If you take your coffee daily and often, and abstain from smoking, you’re likely to live longer than the average adult, says a study of 500,000 men and women that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2012. “Moderate coffee drinkers live longer than non coffee-drinkers,” says Kristin Kirkpatrick, M.S., R.D., Manager of Wellness Nutrition Services at Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. “In general studies of coffee, the benefits are clearly documented.”

Part of coffee's health-sustaining power is derived from its caffeine content. Long life isn't the only proven benefit of this natural, get-up-and-go energy source—read on for six other ways caffeine improves your health 

Protects you from Parkinson’s Disease

The promise: Drinking two or three cups of caffeinated coffee per day may protect you from Parkinson’s Disease, an incurable, debilitating disorder that attacks your nervous system and is marked by tremors, stiffness, and difficulty of movement.

The proof: Higher coffee and caffeine intake is associated with “significantly lower incidence” of Parkinson’s Disease, says a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2000, which followed 8,000 men aged 45-68 over a 30-year period. Participants who drank at least 28 ounces or more of coffee per day were less likely to get Parkinson’s than people who drank less.

“When you take out the other additives [in coffee], it still works—it’s really the caffeine that’s helpful,” says Miran Salgado, M.D., Chairman of the Department of Neurosciences at New York Methodist Hospital and Medical Director for the American Parkinson Disease Association Information and Referral Center at New York Methodist Hospital. Caffeine crosses the blood-brain barrier and speeds up brain activity, which can protect brain health, slow the progression of Parkinson’s, and as some studies have shown, help improve compromised motor skills and involuntary movements brought on by Parkinson’s. So should you start drinking coffee if you don’t already? “I would do it,” says Dr. Salgado. “Do whatever can protect you. If coffee is one of them, you might as well drink a few cups a day. It’s probably a good idea.”

I Didn't Know That - Coffee

How it affects you:  This energy hero can quickly become your GI tract’s worst enemy.  In fact, according to the American Chemical Society, nearly 40 million people in the United States refrain from drinking coffee – or as much coffee as they would like – due to stomach irritation.

Coffee doesn’t just wake up our mind, it also stimulates acid production in the stomach, which can cause inflammation and result in heartburn and GERD.  What’s more, caffeine acts like a diuretic, which can cause dehydration and, ultimately, constipation.

If you’re like me, I don’t want to give up my morning coffee, so what can we do?  This is what I found – limit caffeinated coffee to one cup.  If that isn’t possible, limit to one caffeinated cup every two hours to allow your body time to process the caffeine.  It’s important not to drink coffee on an empty stomach, which can increase indigestion.  It’s recommended that we add something that’s easily digestible, like a banana or bran cereal at breakfast, to reduce the symptoms. 

This answers why my stomach has a bit of irritation in the mornings but can I manage make myself actually eat something before or at least with my morning coffee?  Not sure but I’ll try.

Peet's Coffee

Foodbuzz's Tastemakers recently sent me two bags of Peet's Coffee to try.  I love my coffee so I couldn't wait to give both a try. 

I first tried Cafe Solano which is a medium roast.  The beans are a blend of vibrant and aromatic beans from Africa, the Americas and the Indo Pacific.  When they say this coffee is Lively and Aromatic - they weren't kidding.  This coffee was very pleasing. 

The second coffee was Cafe Domingo which is also a medium roast.  This coffee come from three Latin American beans giving it a smooth taste with a hint of toffee sweetness and a clean crisp finish.  They described this one perfectly!  I love my flavored coffees but sometimes the flavor is simply too strong.  To correct this I mix my flavored coffee 1/4 to 3/4 with regular.  This gives me just a touch of flavor.  With the Cafe Domingo, the hint of toffee is so light and delicate that there is no need to dilute. This is a great morning as well as evening coffee. 

And my travel cup comes in just in time for the crisp mornings we've been having here in NC.

New Oatmeal Flavors

I love flavored coffee but don't like to make it in my regular coffee pot.  It seemed to carry some of it's flavor over into my next pot of regular coffee.  I don't use the flavored creamers because I don't drink my coffee with sugar and they all seem to be sweetened with either sugar or a substitute.  So, for Christmas I became the proud owner of a Krueg single cup coffee maker.  Now I treat myself to a couple cups of flavored coffee every day. 

I also love oatmeal and eat it daily but don't have time to cook my favorite the "Old Fashion" kind so I depend on the instant that can be made in the microwave.  As with my coffee, I love the flavored oatmeal but they too have a good bit of sugar or sugar substitute. 

Today I made a wonderful discovery!  I had about 1/2 cup of my cup of Caramel flavored coffee left and was getting ready to make my cup of oatmeal when it hit me.  Why not flavor my oatmeal with flavored coffee.  I was Thinking With My Taste Buds.  I used flavored coffee instead of water and it is DELICIOUS!  Oatmeal comes in flavors like banana bread, spice and apple cinnamon.  I've just added flavors to my oatmeal such as Hazelnut, Caramel and Egg Nog.  Any flavor you like in your coffee will be good in your oatmeal.