You’re Making Your Smoothie All Wrong

Viva Las Vagus

Your vagus nerve – a bundle of fibers inside your brain stem – is responsible for affecting your heartbeat and immune system, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Researchers are now finding that it could help with things like depression, inflammation, and conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and even Parkinson’s. Doctors use machines to stimulate it, but you could get mild soothing effects by lightly stimulating it with things like meditation and cold plunges.

Sorry, What?

This is what people who have lost touch with reality think wellness is: $150,000 red light therapy beds and $70,000 hyperbaric chambers. Maybe they should just go get a massage, buy a starter $100 cold plunge tub – and give the rest of that money to a non profit that’s saving the world.

For Your Next Smoothie

The CDC has just issued their annual list of superfoods, a list of powerhouse fruits and veggies that are linked to a reduced risk of chronic disease. This year’s list includes watercress, Chinese Cabbage, chard, beet greens (the actual leaves!), and spinach.

You could be shortchanging your opportunity to get a dose of vitamins with the fruits and veggies you pick for your smoothies. A new study from UC Davis is showing that the mix of ingredients you throw in your smoothie really makes a difference. Avoid banana overload, and instead pair flavanol-rich goodies like berries with things like oranges, pineapples, mangos or yogurt.

Here are 6 superfoods straight from our Latin American ancestors.

Stop Wasting Your Herb Money

Did you know there are some tried and true methods for properly storing your hierbas/herbs so that they don’t go bad? All you need are paper towels and ziplock bags. If you want to get advanced, use these resealable herb and flower keeper bags, or this herb pod that uses water to keep them fresh. You can also turn them into herb butter and freeze them into cubes to keep them for a while.

Señora Sales

Here’s what has caught our eye so far this week:

These “hot señora walk” Under Armour shorts

These Crocs that are somehow perfect for gardening in this heat

This stroller-meets-wagon that’s great for multiple kids, and all terrain (think beach, city, park AND camping).

We’re kind of tired of the big Stanley cups rolling all over the interior of our cars. This super minimalist 40oz water tumbler will help you keep track of your water intake each day. You’ll want to refill 3 times during days with heat waves.

Summer’s not over yet – it’s trying really hard to stick around. You’ll still need a gorgeous sun hat to carry you over into your fall garden.

*Please note, some of these will be affiliate links where we may get a small percentage of sales. This helps us keep this side project alive.