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The Holiday sprint is here, which means balancing a really hectic schedule and festive activities with your health. Keeping your immunity game strong and energy levels up is what Blended is all about, so we thought it would be a good time to share some tips and a mini health-reset we do when our bodies start to feel drained. 

When you start to feel sluggish, bloated, brain fogged and generally run down, your body is telling you something. Gut health and nutrition play a huge role in all of the symptoms above (trust your gut!), which means even a quick heath-reset can go a long way in helping to reduce inflammation and bloating, increase energy and clear your mind. 

Here are 5 things we do (or don't do) when our bodies need a healing and recharge break.  Look ahead at your December calendar and mark the days that you can commit to following these simple diet and movement tips. 

1. Avoid refined sugar & syrups: we know sugar is a thing during the holidays, so it's good to avoid it entirely on days when you don't have festive activities planned. Naturally occurring sugars in whole foods like fruits and veggies are fine and come with lots of fibre and immunity-boosting nutrients, so load up.  

2. Go Cow Dairy-free: skip the yogurt, milk, cheeses all together (small amounts of sheep & goat cheeses are fine). Dairy often causes inflammation in the body, so skip on your 'health focused' days.

3. Go whole foods & plant-based (or mostly plant-based): we love all things plant-based eating, but know it's not for everyone.  During your reset days, avoid all non-organic animal protein and skip red meat. The focus: lots of fibre - veggies, fruits, grains (quinoa is a staple), sweet potatoes (and family), healthy fats, smaller amounts of proteins.  Avoid processed and fried foods.  If you'd like a foods list to follow, please email us here: Blended Clean Foods List

4. Get Fresh Air: exercise is often done with a mission to burn calories and exhaust the body.  During a health reset day, opt for outdoor activities that don't punish and require your body to do heavy repair work, and also help clear your mind and support mental focus. 

5. Be Beverage-Wise: one cup of coffee a day or pick tea as a better bet. No sugary drinks. Alcohol gets a break (go for zero units on your health reset days).  Check the sodium content on bottled bevs. Drink loads of water (+ lemon &/or cucumber) and herbal teas.

Pro tip: your Blended smoothie, soup or chia bowl is a great way to make sure you're getting a big dose of immunity-boosting, energizing nutrients every day. Check out some of our top blend picks for mental and physical energy support in our Energy Collection.

If you'd like further info or help deciding which blends are right for your taste buds and health goals, please email us.

Happy Blending!

Inflammation P2 + an Exciting New Product is Here!

Last week, in part one of our inflammation series, we did a deep dive into the important of topic of inflammation, specifically Chronic inflammation, and the serious negative long term impact it has on your body and mind. If you missed it, check it out here: Inflammation Part 1

Today, we're sharing tips on what you can do to reduce inflammation and keep your levels low.

A Quick Recap

Inflammation refers to your body's process of fighting against things that harm it, such as infections, injuries, and toxins, in an attempt to heal itself. When something damages your cells, your body releases chemicals that trigger a response from your immune system.

Chronic inflammation has a slow on-set and can last several months to years. Symptoms can include:

• Body pain, aches, swelling
• Chronic fatigue and insomnia
• Depression, anxiety and mood disorders
• Gastrointestinal complications like constipation, diarrhea, and acid reflux
• Weight gain or weight loss
• Frequent infections
• ​In addition to the symptoms listed above, it is involved in the disease process of many conditions including: Alzheimer's, asthma, cancers, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes.

Six Key Tips & the Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Eat Anti-Inflammatory Foods: ginger, turmeric, olive oil, green leafy vegetables, nuts, fatty fish, fruits, green tea, and berries.

Take Anti-Inflammatory Supplements: alpha-lipoic acid, curcumin (turmeric), fish oil, omega-3, resveratrol, spirulina, S-adenosylmethionine, zinc, frankincense, cat’s claw, ashwagandha.

Control your blood sugar: avoid simple carbohydrates like white flour, white rice, refined sugar, and corn syrup.

Minimize (or skip) alcohol: alcohol not only impairs gut and liver functions, but also has multi-organ interactions, leading to persistent systemic inflammation.

Get Physical: exercising (4-5 times a week) – combine cardio and strength training in your routine.

Stress Management: chronic stress is known to contribute to inflammation – try meditation, relaxation, yoga

One of the best ways to combat inflammation starts with the foods you eat. Read about the gut health-inflammation connection in part one of our series.

Foods that have shown to reduce inflammation:
Turmeric
Ginger
Pineapple
Spirulina
Ashwagandha
Olive oil
Berries
Almonds & Walnuts
Apple Cider Vinegar
Green Leafy Vegetables (spinach, kale)
Omega-Rich Fatty Fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines)


The foods you eat can cause inflammation in your body. Skip these foods/ingredients:
Refined Sugar
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Artificial Trans-Fats
Refined Carbohydrates (white breads, pasta, candy, cookies, some cereals etc)
Alcohol
Processed meat

Introducing the New Inflammation-Fighter Package

You told us that reducing inflammation is one of your biggest health priorities, so we put together a new combo that includes our top inflammation-fighting blends, a free nutrition guide, and a tea we love to include as a part of an anti-inflammatory-focused nutrition plan.

Meet the Inflammation-Fighter Combo Package

This package includes 10 blends (7 smoothies + 3 soups) and a Turmeric Ginger support tea we love. We'll also send you a free 5-day nutrition plan* if you're needing to reduce your inflammation levels and reset gut health.

• The Remedy
• Greens Daily Dose
• The Greens D-tox
• The Lime Mojito
• The Nutty Athlete
• The Athlete
• Vita-C Immunity
• 2x Greens Immunity Soup
• The Pumpkin Patch Soup
• Tumeric Tonic Ginger Tea

Click here to receive our free 5-day Inflammation-Fighter Nutrition Guide

* The 5-Day Plan gives a recommended sequence for having two blends each day (from the blends in the Inflammation-Fighter package) along with recipes that support reducing inflammation and getting your gut health back on track.

Click Here to Shop the Inflammation-Fighter Combo Package

If you follow Blended, you know we're BIG into helping you stay healthy, supporting personal goals and getting you through health-hurdle times. This week, we're talking about something that everyone needs to know about: how Inflammation impacts your body AND mind. It's such an important conversation, we're breaking this into a 2-Part series.

In Part 1 of our Inflammation series, we're going to get into the what-why of inflammation, how it impacts your mind and body and tips on keeping it low.

In Part 2 we'll be getting further into the nutrition-factor and giving you a three-day inflammation nutrition plan for when your body needs more support.

Let's dive in.

The Inflammation What-Why

Inflammation refers to your body's process of fighting against things that harm it, such as infections, injuries, and toxins, in an attempt to heal itself. When something damages your cells, your body releases chemicals that trigger a response from your immune system. There are two types:

Acute: acute inflammation is noticeable within a few hours and is caused by injury or illness. It is short term and typically lasts a couple days.
Symptoms: pain, redness, loss of joint and/or muscle function, swelling, and heat (felt externally from the skin). 

Chronic: chronic inflammation has a slow on-set and can last several months to years. It can be brought on by untreated causes of acute inflammation, an autoimmune disorder, which involves your immune system mistakenly attacking healthy tissue, and long-term exposure to irritants, such as industrial chemicals or polluted air. Symptoms: 

• Body pain, arthralgia, myalgia
• Chronic fatigue and insomnia
• Depression, anxiety and mood disorders
• Gastrointestinal complications like constipation, diarrhea, and acid reflux
• Weight gain or weight loss
• Frequent infections

We're most interested in the Chronic type and the critical role nutrition plays in both prevention and treatment. 

Chronic Inflammation

Chronic inflammation has very negative physical and mental health consequences.  In addition to the symptoms listed above, it is involved in the disease process of many conditions including: Alzheimer's, asthma, cancers, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes. 

The Gut-inflammation Connection

The major source of inflammation is coming from your gut, which hosts the largest number of immune cells in the body. You also have a lot of bacteria in your gut, which helps regulate your immune cell response. When you aren't eating the right foods, including getting enough fibre, inflammation is the response. You need to feed your gut bacteria the right types of food (fibre specifically).

We love how Dr. Rhonda Patrick breaks this down the what-why of inflammation in the body, the key role your gut and nutrition play in regulating it, and easy tips for keeping your levels in check. Throw in your ear buds, take a walk & listen: Understanding Inflammation

Inflammation & Your Brain

Keeping your brain healthy is another key reason to ensure you don't end up in a state of Chronic Inflammation. Neuroinflammation is proving to play a powerful role in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia. Rates for these neurodegenerative illnesses are increasing steadily with the aging population, and it is thought that worsening symptoms can be blamed on the havoc inflammation wreaks on brain regions involved in thinking, memory, and movement, or, in the case of frontotemporal dementia, personality, behavior, and language. Read more on this here: Inflammation Harvard Eu

The good news is that what you eat can keep inflammation low, and bring it down if you're struggling with high levels now.

Getting Your Fibre

For a healthy gut, you need to load up on fibre every day (aim for at least 30 to 40 grams).  Get 10 to 14 grams of fibre in one single Blended For You smoothie, soup or bowl.  Email us for a list of blends with the highest fibre count. 

Inflammation-Fighting Foods

Turmeric
Ginger
Pineapple
Spirulina
Olive oil
Berries
Almonds & Walnuts
Apple Cider Vinegar
Green Leafy Vegetables (spinach, kale)
Omega-Rich Fatty Fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines)

Your daily Blended habit is one way you can keep your gut health in check & keep inflammation levels down. Email us anytime for a list of recommended blends that are right for your taste buds and health goals.

Stay tuned for Inflammation Part 2: we've got more tips and tools for sticking to an anti-inflammatory diet. We've also got an exciting new blend package launching. Can you guess what it's all about?

Happy Blending!