The Secret to Living Forever—Green Tea?

Certain foods and drinks have developed associated health stigmas throughout the years. Whether they are true or false, positive or negative, the only certain thing is that these stigmas exist. Have you ever been out with your friend who is on a “diet”, and they order a large salad with bacon bits, cheese, croutons, and about a half-gallon of ranch dressing? Most people think they are eating healthy when they order a salad, sometimes failing to realize the cheese, meat (such as fried chicken), and dressing in it can add up to over 1,000 calories. On the other hand, pizza is commonly vilified and associated with pigging out, or eating junk food, but in reality a fresh, homemade slice of pizza can contain a mere 150 calories, while satisfying your cravings! The point is that not all associations hold true—but what about the ones that do?

One of the most revered, and mysterious drinks, is green tea. Green tea has been said to make you healthy and strong, awake and alert, fight cancer, improve memory, vastly increase the duration of your life, and achieve world peace. Ok, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea. How much of what is said about this enigmatic plant is true? What could possibly be in a tea leaf to have such vital, healing effects on people? Believe it or not, the answer is actually simple; catechin polyphenols. Medical research has shown that these catechins are beneficial for the good health of not only humans but also plants. The most influential catechin polyphenol in the green tea leaf is epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG. This is a very powerful antioxidant, which not only is shown to inhibit the growth of cancer cells, but it actually kills the cells without causing any harm to the healthy tissue! These catechins are able to prevent the activity of free radicals, another contributor to cellular damage leading to cancer. Furthermore, EGCG has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol levels, thus decreasing one’s chance of strokes and heart attacks. These are just the scientifically proven health benefits. Many more rumors about this magical leaf have been circulating for thousands of years—and hey—how many of you would have believed that green tea can help fight cancer just a few years ago?

If you are like most people, and don’t believe everything you hear, don’t be so quick to dismiss some of the claims that green tea proponents are, and have been making for thousands of years! Perhaps green tea won’t make you live forever, and cannot bring you infinite wealth and wisdom, but if an apple a day keeps the doctor a way, just imagine what a cup of green tea a day could do! Green tea is one of the main ingredients in Phix Energy—so grab your Phix and a water bottle and get energized and healthy!

The Science Behind Losing Weight—Lose 1 LB in 1 week

To put it simply and state the obvious, to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you consume. Now, I know what you may be thinking—‘I eat 2,000 calories a day, there’s no way I can burn close to that much!’ However, this task isn’t nearly as daunting as you think. Believe it or not, you are CONSTANTLY burning calories, when you’re sitting still, sleeping, or even eating! Everyone burns a different amount of calories, depending on your gender, age, height, and weight, as well as your personal metabolism activity levels. To get a number for about how many calories you expend at REST, while not doing anything, you have to calculate your BMR—Basal Metabolic Rate. You can find your BMR simply in about 10 seconds by using this: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Now that you know how many calories you are burning by doing nothing, let’s get a feel for how many calories you expend on a typical day. Use the following scale to determine your needed caloric intake to maintain weight.

·         Sedentary (little to no exercise): BMR x 1.2

·         Lightly active (light exercise, 1-2 times per week): BMR x 1.3

·         Moderately active (moderate exercise, 3-5 times per week): BMR x 1.5

·         Very active (heavy exercise, 6-7 times per week): BM R x 1.7

Let’s say you are a 25 year old, 5’4” female who weighs 125 pounds. If you are lightly active (you run for 30 minutes, twice a week) you can calculate your needed caloric intake to maintain weight as follows:

BMR = 1382.05

1382.05 * 1.3 = 1796.665. This means that you could consume approximately 1800 calories per day and maintain your current weight (assuming you exercise twice a week, lightly). But what if you want to lose weight? Yes, you need to eat less, or workout more…but how much more?

One pound of body fat is approximately equal to 3,500 calories. To simplify this, if you expend 500 calories more than you consume every day, you will lose 1 LB in 1 week. (7 days * 500 calories = 3,500). Using the previous example, you would either need to consumer 1300 calories a day, burn 500 calories a day, or find a medium; such as consuming 1500 calories and burning 300 calories.

Cut out that Caramel Macchiato in the morning and that mid-day soda and there’s your 500 calories right there! It’s not as hard as it sounds—that morning muffin packs about 500 calories. Sub it for a 100 calorie protein shake with much more nutritious value and you’re almost there. Spend an extra 30 minutes in the gym; go the extra mile—literally! If you set your goals, and keep track of what you are putting into your body, and how many calories you are burning, losing weight can be THAT much easier. When you are able to track your progress, it makes the process so much easier. Who said your 2012 New Year Resolution wasn’t going to last?

Your Friends at Phix

Vitamin B12, Are You Getting Enough?

Are you feeling sluggish and having trouble focusing, especially at night? Are you experiencing low-efficient workouts which require you to rest for 10 minutes after every 5 minutes of exercise? Do you find it difficult to recall things that happened just a few minutes ago?  Do you find yourself in a bad mood, or stressed out over even minor issues? If any two of the above situations have been happening to you, it’s highly probable that your body is giving you  signs that you have a Vitamin B deficiency.

Vitamin B12, a water-soluble vitamin that is commonly found in foods such as fish, shellfish, meat, eggs, and dairy products, is an essential vitamin that protects our nervous system. Permanent deficiency in Vitamin B12 can result in blindness, deafness, dementia, fatigue, and tingling in the hands or feet. Often these symptoms develop gradually over several months to a year before being recognized. However, you don’t need to worry if you have been a typical meat eater for most of your life, your body should have stored enough B12 to prevent overt deficiency for a number of years.

Generally, Vitamin B12 can be found in all animal products, but there is also controversy over whether plant products can be a reliable source of B12 within the nutritionists’ community. The overwhelming mainstream consensus is that plant foods are not an abundant source of vitamin B12, and fortified foods or supplements are necessary for the optimal health of vegans, and even vegetarians in many cases. 

So, for vegans, how can you make sure that your body is getting enough Vitamin B12 and  truly nutritious and balanced meatless meal?

1. Eat fortified foods two or three times a day to get at least three micrograms (mcg or µg) of B12 a day or
2. Take one B12 supplement daily providing at least 10 micrograms or
3. Take a weekly B12 supplement providing at least 2000 micrograms. 

Most vegans consume enough B12 to avoid anemia and nervous system damage, but many do not get enough to minimize potential risk of heart disease or pregnancy complications. So, be alert when you plan out your new vegan diet. Just to let you know: Phix Energy drink is also an excellent source of Vitamin B12. Each Phix pack contains .0025 mg Vitamin B12. So when you pack up your healthy vegan lunch box, you should take Phix Energy into consideration as wellJ

In Good Health,

Your Friends at Phix 

Ready, set, Zumba!

         Sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day to do everything that you want to do. Often, we have to choose between doing something that we want to do, and something that we ought to do. Now that the New Year has officially commenced, many of us have made resolutions to go back to the gym, while a lot of us have promised that we will make more time for ourselves! Which one of those people are you?  If you had to choose between going out dancing with your friends, and working out, what would you do? Depending on what your goals are, both of these options could sound great to you. You could leave both scenarios either saying: 

     a)  I just got back from dancing with my friends! We alternated between salsa, hip-hop, merengue and even some belly dancing. It was so much fun!

     b)  I just got back from such an intense aerobic workout! I worked out my abs, core, complete lower body, and did a ton of cardio—what a great workout!

        But what if I told you that they are both responses to the same activity, and you could be saying both of those things? Do I have your attention now? Many people look at going to the gym, going for a run, or working out as a chore, or a dreaded activity. Sticking to a workout plan and getting the most out of your time exercising largely depends on your attitude. If you dread it, you may be looking for ways to justify not going to the gym, or you may do the bare minimum just to say that you exercised, and then leave. If you truly enjoyed your workout, why wouldn’t you do it as much as possible? You would.

          That is why Zumba is such a rising trend in the vast and expanding world of fitness. ‘Accidentally’ created by Alberto Perlman and Beto Perez, many refer to Zumba as a “fitness party” or a “dance party”. In fact, Zumba instructors are actually trained to not give too much verbal criticism as to not dampen the positive mood and the fun of the participants. Zumba is a great mix of fun, learning, and exercise—it appeals to so many different people. From those who just love dancing, to those who want to get better at dancing, to people who want to exercise, this combines all of those categories. Not to mention, you do not need a partner for Zumba, you can just show up alone and dance the night away judgment free! Perhaps this is why Perlman has said, "Zumba is liberating and magical.”

          Zumba’s choreography dance styles vary depending on the instructor, or class you are taking. The dancing styles include, but are not limited to, hip-hop, soca, merengue, belly dancing, mambo, salsa, samba, squats, lunges, and even martial arts! One of the coolest parts of Zumba is how much it has grown in the past 5 years or so—Zumba is now available for all ages and thrill seekers! One can take a Zumba class, a Zumba Gold class, classes designed either for active older adults, or for beginner exercisers, Aqua Zumba classes (in the water), Zumba Toning classes in which you use sticks to incorporate different parts of the body, as well as Zumbatomic for children between 4-12 years of age! All of that being said, it is not surprising that for the first time ever, Zumba has cracked the top-10 of the 2012 fitness trend projections list.

          Next time you are thinking about whether you feel like exercising, or doing something fun—do both! If you are feeling tired, instead of vegging on the couch, put on your gym pants and dancing shoes, grab your Phix Energy stix and shake a leg!

New Year Greeting and Resolution of Phix

                                 

Phix, your all-natural energy drink friend wants to take this opportunity to extend our New Year wishes to all our customers and make our continuous commitment in quality manufacturing and community involvement in 2012.

“2011 witnessed a productive year for Phix, and we know that we can’t achieve anything without the support of all our customers,” said Doug Brown, President of Phix. “At the moment while we are ringing in the New Year, the whole Phix team wants to express our most sincere gratitude and best New Year wishes for all the Phix fans.”

Last year, Phix grew fast and spread wide its name and good will across the globe. From sponsoring Badwater Ultra-Marathon Tournament to fuel the self-challenging athletes, teaming up with Grassroots Soccer to raise money for the kids in the AIDS-stricken areas in Africa, the charitable donation in Susan G Komen Foundation to fight against breast cancer, to the engagement in the Muddy Buddy Race for brand building etc., Phix was making every endeavor to develop and give back to the society.

“As a healthy energy drink manufacturer, we know safety and quality of our products should always be our priority,” said Doug, “So besides our community engagement, we also devoted in developing our products to satisfy our customers’ needs, and the upcoming sugar-free Berry Grape energy drink in 2012 is just one of our new progresses in response to our health-oriented customers’ requests.”

Phix is also in the process of holding a blogger contest early 2012 to show the gratefulness for the bloggers who brought the most traffic to the Phix website. Your Phix team is trying our best to give back to each support we were given and we think that appreciation and devotion are the rule-of-thumb which will guide Phix throughout the New Year and also further in the long run.

Again, Phix thanks our customers’ support and we wish each of you a happy and fruitful 2012.

Best Regards,

Phix Team