9 Health Benefits of Sleep

There are things we do everyday without giving them much thought. These "health benefits" posts are to enable us realize that somethings shouldn't be taken for granted, they may help you in more ways that one. Take sleeping for example; did you know that you are supposed to sleep for a certain amount of hours a day? And that too little or too much sleep is not good for the systematic functioning of our bodies. 4-9 hours of sleep per day is the adequate requirement for an adult, the average being about 6-7 hours. Too little sleep (less than 4 hours) is associated with atrophy of the brain but on the contrary, too much doesn't make it swell. Let's take a look at the benefits of sleep.

• Improves our mood: I don't have to explain how but to say that we already know how crappy we feel when we go for long hours without sleep and it's not just about the eye bags. It helps with depression and anxiety too.
• Boosts memory: it helps in learning and creativity. After adequate sleep, that brain is well rested and can function better. Your ability to pay attention is sharper
• Reduces stress: Have you ever had a very stressful day and you are going home with a headache? Well, it has happened to me countless times. All I do is eat and go straight to bed. I always wake up feeling refreshed and without the headache.
• Increases life span by reducing stress and boosting the cardiovascular activity. Now even though the heart never stops working until death, it too requires its rest time. Remember the heart rate is never constant, it goes up and down according to what activity we are involved in. So, when we sleep, it is a good time for the heart to rest and recover.
• Weight maintenance through good metabolism. Also going to bed early means no late night temptations to eat junk, and therefore, no additional unwanted calories.
• Prevents Accidents: it is not only people who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs that get into such problems. Those who are sleep-deprived can also get into all sorts of accidents from minor accidents at work to more severe car accidents.
• Boosts immunity: It does this by reducing stress, stress has been associated with low immunity. It has  also been shown that those who don't sleep well are more susceptible to flu and cold.
• Better skin through the secretion of growth hormone. It also makes you look good. 
• Improves your sex life: guys when you want to get down and your lady is complaining of being tired, please allow her a few hours of sleep. She'll wake up refreshed and ready (as long as she's not thinking of more housework to be done). So learn to help your partner with the home chores. Same goes for you to o ladies.

I hope you've got some much needed information here, so the next time you are thinking of beating that deadline or writing that exam, remember to take some time out to sleep. Go ahead and have your beauty sleep.

***About the term "power sleep" that's sleeping for about 30 minutes or an hour before going back to work. If it works for you, well... okay but it's not the best option.

Cheers......

Health Benefits of Exercise

This is something a lot of people hate to do but absolutely need and that's including me. Half the time all I  want to do is eat and then sleep. The other half, I want to spend reading, blogging or watching television. Unfortunately, life doesn't come that easy. You want something, you have to work hard to get it. Exercise is not all bad even though it may be considered stressful depending on the type of exercise and the individual carrying out the exercise. There are different types of exercise options open to many, to suit your body and needs as an individually. There are also different stages, if you are just a beginner. 

Something good about exercising is that it has some pretty awesome health benefits. Let's check them out:

• Helps you to lose weight 

• It boosts your mood

• It protects the cardiovascular system 

• It reduces stress

• It increases mental alertness and memory: Exercise has been shown to help in the formation of new brain cells.

• It prolongs life

• It protects our body tissues: It protects our bones, and muscles by making them stronger and preventing easy wear and tear. This helps to prevent unnecessary falls and fractures.

• It reduces pain: Exercise produces endorphins which help to reduce pain. This may be helpful to patients constantly on pain medications.

• It helps addicts with overcoming their addiction easily: this is because, when you have your mind and body focused on something tasking, you may just forget another. The brain also releases dopamine in response to exercise, sex, alcohol, e.t.c. Exercising helps to override the cravings of an addiction too.

• It increases your energy: 

• It improves our sex life: How can it not? you are relaxed, you have lots of energy to spare, and you feel absolutely great and sexy with yourself. Encourage your partner to exercise too so you can both have a blast!

• It helps you sleep better: why not? when you are relaxed and happy with who you are?

Have fun exercising..... And you don't have to do it alone. Get a partner or group for motivation.

Cheers

Coconut Chocolate Pancakes

I love pancakes so much and I'm constantly trying out new ways to make pancakes that tastes as great on a ketogenic diet as they do or a regular diet. Today, I came up with this delicious recipe and i loved it, I hope you do too.

Ingredients:
1 cup of coconut flour
1/4 cup of flaxseed meal (optional)
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tbsps coconut oil or butter
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 erythritol sweetener or stevia or a mixture of both
6 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
spices (1/8 tsp of cinnamon &/or nutmeg - optional)

Procedure:
Mix all dry ingredients (flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, spices & flaxseed meal) together until well combined
Break in the eggs, add coconut oil or butter, vanilla extract and coconut milk until the mixture has no lumps
Add 1 tbsp of oil to a saucepan over medium heat and allow to heat up.
Add a 1/4 of a cup or a large scoop spoon
Allow to cook until the top begins to bubble, then flip over and cook the other side.

Garnish any way you like and eat with eggs or keto-compliant syrup.

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Cheers....

Beef and Mixed Veggies Cucumber Boats

I planned to have my delicious chicken and broccoli cucumber boats for dinner, unfortunately, I had no chicken, mayonnaise, cheese and my broccoli in the fridge got bad. However, been a lady of ingenuity, I had to come up with something for dinner. I had beef, veggies and of course cucumbers. I decided to make beef and mixed veggies cucumber boats instead. After having this version of cucumber boats, I'm seriously thinking of ditching the broccoli version. Since I had no mayonnaise, I made a hummus-like mixture to go with it. Also, I didn't bake this version as I usually do, since hubby doesn't like hot cucumbers. This version of cucumber boats will definitely blow your mind. Here is the recipe;

Ingredients:

1 cucumber

1 serving of cooked beef

1 carrot

2 small fresh red tomatoes

2 fresh red peppers

1/4 of a medium green bell peppers

1/4 of a medium-sized onions

1/4 cup of cabbage

Salt, thyme, garlic and ginger to taste

2 tbsps of olive oil

Ingredients for the hummus mixture:

1 egg plant

1 egg

1 tbsp of coconut oil

1/8 tsp of cinnamon spice

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

A bit of water

Preparation:

Make the hummus mixture:

• Microwave the eggplant for 10 - 15 minutes.
• Peel of the skin and remove the seeds, and put the flesh in a blender or food processor.
• Add egg, coconut oil, cinnamon, vanilla extract and a little water.
• Pulse until smooth.

Start the mixed vegetable sauce:

• Chop up all the ingredients to tiny pieces - beef, cabbage, tomatoes, fresh peppers, carrot, onions and green bell peppers.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil and allow to heat for a 30-60 seconds
• Add onions, garlic and ginger and stir until onions becomes translucent and the aroma of the garlic comes up.
• Add fresh peppers and meat and saute until meat is a little brown.
• Add fresh tomatoes and cover for about 3 minutes until the juice comes out and begins to dry up.
• Add the cabbage, salt and thyme and stir for 1-2 minutes.
• Add hummus mixture and stir until it mixes well and dries up a bit.
• Add the green peppers and turn off heat.

Scoop out the middle of the cucumber (save it for egg wrap, I always do).

Scoop in the mixed veggies and beef mixture and serve.

Afang (Nigerian Vegetable Soup)

For some reason, I assumed that every Nigerian should know how to make the basic soups, and so I usually don't write recipes of soups. I'm so sorry for this assumption. This slip up was brought to my attention by a subscriber on my bbm channel - the ketogenic klinic. There are so many ways to make vegetable soups in Nigeria, so use only two types of leaves, while others use three; some add thickener, while others don't. The type of protein (fish and meat) you add is dependent on your budget. I prefer the one with three vegetables and no thickener. This is called "afang soup". Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:
Meat (either goat meat, organ meat, cowleg, beef, snail e.t.c.) - I used a mixture of goat meat and organ meat for this soup.
Dried Fish
2 cooking spoons of red palm oil
Waterleaves - chopped
Pumpkin (Ugwu) leaves - chopped
Ukazi Leaves
Ground fresh peppers to taste
Ground crayfish - 2 tbsps
Meat stock
Chopped Onions
Periwinkle or Kpomo (chopped into tiny bits)
Salt to taste


Preparation:
In a cooking pot over medium heat, add palm oil and allow to heat up for 30-60 seconds
Add chopped onions and peppers and stir until onions are translucent, add salt and stir.
Add the  dried fish, stir until soft. Alternatively, you can parboil the fish before adding to the palm oil.
Remove the fish to prevent it from scattering with the constant stirring required in the making of this soup.
Add chopped waterleaves and stir until it produces its own fluid.
Add the ukazi leaves (sliced), sometimes, I pound the leaves before adding them - that's when I'm not in a hurry.
Stir until soft
Add a small amount of meat stock, just so the vegetables don't get burnt and stir.
Add the meat of your choice, stir.
Add periwinkle or tiny-chopped kpomo and stir.
Add the ugwu leaves in batches and stir. Turn off heat and cover the pot for a few minutes to help the ugwu leaves soften with the steam.

Enjoy with keto cabbage swallow or any other swallow if you aren't on a lowcarb diet.

Note** stir the ugwu leaves over heat with perish them and make them turn very dark and mushy.

Low-carb Pumpkin Muffins

So, I bought a huge pumpkin since its cheaper to buy in the market than in the supermarket, and I've been trying out all sorts of pumpkin recipes. From pumpkin bread to pumpkin pancakes and from pumpkin muffins to pumpkin pudding. My report card.... the bread was a huge flop didn't look like bread or even cake. The first pumpkin muffin I made was too sugary forme when I followed a recipe online to the letter. This gave me an idea of how careful to be when adding sugar or its substitute to a pumpkin meal. The pumpkin pudding?.... No comment. Still changing the recipe until I get the one fit for my palate. The pumpkin pancakes however were glorious!!!! Yes! got it right, couldn't afford not to, not with all my experiences gathered from previous pumpkin flops. 

After my initial failure with the pumpkin muffins, i decided to try it my way and what a blast I had. I had to consciously make myself stop eating lest I finish the whole batch. Here is the recipe for my delicious pumpkin muffin.

Ingredients

1 cup of pumpkin puree 

2 tbsp of butter (melted)

4 eggs
1 cup shredded cheese (I used a combo of mozzarella and cheddar)
1/2 cup ground meat (beef, pork or chicken)
1/4 cup (or 2 tbsp) almond flour
1/8 cup (or 1 tbsp) coconut flour
1 tsp erythritol
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
pinch of dried red pepper or chili (optional)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350degrees
In a mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree, eggs butter, vanilla extract until well mixed.
Add almond flour, coconut flour,erythritol, salt and pepper.
Mix well then add ground meat.
Mix all ingredients very well until it has a smooth texture.
Arrange silicon muffins cups on a baking tray or using your regular muffin tray with non-stick spray, scoop in mixture to fill 3/4 of the cup.
Top with cheese (mozzarella first then cheddar on top).
Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese begins to turn brown
Bring out of oven and allow to cool.
Serve with green tea or your favorite drink.


This recipe makes 10 muffins.

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Cheers.....

Lowcarb Strawberry Pie

For a while now, I've been craving pastries (never mind me, I have a very sweet tooth), Nothing much could be done about it since I was still expecting my baking products. However, they've now arrived and since then, I've spent almost every waking moment in the kitchen, trying out new recipes and experimenting with others. I can tell you that I am seriously having a blast!!! Today, I had a slice a lowcarb strawberry pie and it was delicious. I had to improvise and change up some of the ingredients from the original recipe found on most sites. This recipe takes time, so it's best to make the pie crust on the previous night. 

How to Make the pie crust
Ingredients:
21/2 cups of almond flour (you can mix it to be 11/2 cups of almond flour and 1 cup of coconut flour) i mixed mine.
1 tbsp of psyllium husk powder
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of stevia (optional)
1 cup of cold butter
4-6 tsps of very cold water
1 egg (for glazing)

Preparation:

In a food processor, combine 1 cup of almond flour, 1/2 cup of coconut flour, psyllium husk powder, salt and stevia until well mixed.

Add cold butter, cut into small cubes to the flour in the processor, pulse until they begin to form a dough.
Add remaining 1/2 cup of almond flour and 1/2 cup of coconut flour, process again until the mixture becomes crumbly (the dough breaks up to tiny bits).
Transfer mixture to mixing bowl, add 4 tsps of ice or very cold water, press mixture together until it forms a dough. If it is still falling apart, add 1-2 tsps of ice water and press until it's a well formed dough
Divide in two equal parts, press to form a flatter, round dough like a discus shape. Wrap in a plastic or ziploc bag and store in the fridge for about an hour.
After an hour, bring out of the fridge and allow it thaw for 5 minutes.
Starting heating up the oven to 350 degrees.
Roll out dough into a flat circular shape, fold in half and transfer to a pie pan. Now this part is a little tricky, because almond flour is unlike the regular wheat flour, it may begin to fall apart, don't give up, just transfer all the pieces into the pan and knead/press against the pan until it covers the pan to the edges.
Fold in any excess flour at the edge of the pan and crimp the edges.
Place pan in the freezer for five minutes.
Bring out of freezer, use a fork to create holes at the bottom to prevent the dough from rising. Also line dough with aluminium foil and add some grains of rice or beans to weigh it down.
Bake for 5 - 10 mins until it becomes a golden brown.
Remove from oven, remove aluminium foil with the grains, Glaze dough with egg and bake for 2 -3 minutes.
Bring out of oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes and refrigerate till morning.


How to make the filling
Ingredients:
2 cups of Strawberries - chopped
2 -3 tsps of stevia powder
1tbsp of lemon juice (got mine from freshly squeezed lemons)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tbsp of almond flour (optional)

Preparation:
Chop strawberries to desired size, add stevia and flour and place over medium heat.
When it begins to release its juice, add lemon juice and vanilla extract
Cook until it is bubbly, turn off heat.
Transfer the pie and serve with whipped cream

N.B*** Bring pie crust out of the fridge before you start the process of making the filling. If you like it hot, you can microwave for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.

Don't forget to holla back when you try this out.