Matcha Green Tea

In my last quarter of school I definitely became a coffee junkie. When life gets busy and you barely have time to sleep...coffee is handy. I know a lot of people are DIE HARD coffee fanatics which I completely understand but coffee in large amounts on a daily basis is actually not good for your body - sorry to say! It's pretty much toxic to our healthy, self-healing, self-sustaining systems. Now don't get me wrong - a small cup of coffee is a great energy booster and is loaded with antioxidants that your body need to fight off free radicals, but in the majority of cases people are drinking too much coffee, too often, and not even good quality coffee.
Here is an article about choosing better quality coffee and how to prepare it to get the best of your buck :) - Healthy Cup of Coffee

When I WAS a coffee drinker I liked
to support TOMS coffee

Feel like your coffee consumption has gotten out of control? Are you showing signs of 'coffee addiction' (just like any other drug or another toxic, addictive substance in our world - sugar)?

Try taking a break and weeing yourself off of coffee. Introduce tea into your life - maybe start with a caffeinated tea and then work your way down to green tea and herbal tea. Again - the occasional cup of a good quality coffee isn't a no-no, but drinking coffee just to drink it - or consuming it for daily stimulation can get obsessive and become toxic to that well-oiled machine of yours.

I myself have never really had a problem cutting coffee out - I've gone through phases of drinking it daily to not drinking it at all for weeks to months. I think I've kicked it for good because I found out from my naturopath that my body is really acidic - and coffee is an acidic substance - so I really don't benefit in any way from drinking it.

I suggest to you to make your way towards herbal teas and green tea.
I love to have a morning or afternoon cup of organic green tea.
Here is a great article about the benefits of green tea: Green Tea
I'll list a few of the mentioned advantages posted in the article:

1. Improves brain function
2. Contains less caffeine than coffee
3. Increases fat burning and improves physical performance
4. Loaded with Antioxidants - decreases your risk for developing cancer!
.... you can find out more by looking at the article that I provided :)

What I ACTUALLY want to introduce you to is a little something called Matcha Green Tea
When enjoying the typical cup of green tea that you get at a cafe or make on your own, you are essentially only drinking the water that is steeped from the green tea leaves. Matcha Green Tea is different because it is actually a powdered and pressed form of the green tea leaves! By consuming green tea in this form you are getting 10 times the amount of antioxidants in one cup of matcha than you would in a cup of steeped green tea leaves! This is so crucial to our daily detoxing - as everyone is and should be aware, we live in a very toxic world and it's important to practice daily detoxifying techniques.

My favorite - apples & raw almond
butter with some matcha!

Another benefit of matcha is that it gives you a natural energy boost but it actually keeps you feeling calm and clear minded at the same time. Unlike when we drink coffee...our minds run a million miles a minute and we become almost TOO amped up.
The production of serotonin and dopamine in our bodies are also increased which aids in memory and concentration. All helpful things especially for students or those with strenuous jobs!
You can read more about Matcha online but something I want to stress about this delicious hot drink is that it is great for your overall health and especially your immune system. It's so important for us to give our bodies the right environment to heal and function at its most optimum level. Of course the #1 thing that everyone should do is have their spine checked for subluxation - because no matter how many good foods, supplements, and drinks we put in our body, if our nervous system isn't working properly, our immune systems will not be able to protect us, and we will not be able to express health to our fullest abilities. The body will be in a weakened state which leads us to sickness and dis-ease.

You can find green matcha (make sure to look at the ingredients - there should only be one ingredient! And the best source is from Japan!) in your local health foods store or order it online. It works best to have a bamboo whisk to prepare it but I survived a few weeks with only using a fork :). The bamboo whisks can be found at tea shops or I got mine on Amazon.

Hope you've enjoyed this bit of information :)
Cheers!

Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic in 2015!

I am beyond excited to have the opportunity to travel to the Dominican Republic this coming January 2015 to serve and provide chiropractic care to those in need! I will be home in Wisconsin after my final exams in the 3rd week of December until January 4th and then I will travel back to Georgia to fly out of the Atlanta airport with some close girlfriends of mine. We will be meeting with maybe around 20-30 other chiropractic students (many from my school and Maximized Living Club!) and chiropractors in the Dominican on the 7th of January. I will be serving, providing care, and working alongside DC's (doctors of chiropractic) until the 11th of January...and then I have to return back to school on Monday the 12th :(.
This opportunity not only benefits those of the Dominican Republic, but it will also aid in my own personal growth and development as a student doctor. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to my fundraiser! I appreciate all the help as it can be difficult to partake in every opportunity and travel experience when my funds are limited.

The organization that I will be traveling with is called Chiro Mission - Click here to learn more.

My fundraiser can be found here @ GoFundMe!

Meditation & Being Mindful

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/03/14-benefits-of-mindfulness-how-it-works-infographic/