DID YOU KNOW WE ALL HAVE SIX PACKS?

You may or may not know this, but, we all have the six pack muscle, and by all, I mean man or woman, fat or thin, athletic or not, ALL. This muscle is called the Rectus Abdominis meaning “straight belly”. The reason why many people do not see their six pack muscle is because of the accumulated fat in the tummy region. If your goal therefore is to make your six pack muscle more visible, you should aim at shedding your tummy fat and strengthening the muscles. Exercise does not create six packs, God did, exercise only helps to enhance them.

The Rectus Abdominus is one of the three abdominal muscles and it is important for proper posture. The other two are the transverse abdominis and the obliques muscles. We engage the rectus abdominis when flexing the spinal column. It is also active during side bending motions, compressing the abdomen (e.g. sit-ups) and helps stabilize the trunk during extreme movements. Yoga, Pilates and Ballet are three activities that would require you to have a strong rectus abdominis.

In general having strong abdominal muscles helps stabilize your torso, which reduces aches and pains in your lower back. Benefits of strong abdominal muscles also include: better breathing, improved posture, resulting in less back pains, helps a person avoid injury when performing tasks that put stress on the back and torso, and helping the body to heal faster after an injury or surgery to the spine.

The abdominal muscles can be strengthened through exercise. It is important to exercise the abdominal muscles regularly in order to maintain the strength needed for the abdominal muscles to effectively lower stress to the spine during movement.

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NUTRITIONAL/HEALTH BENEFITS OF PLANTAINS

P lantains are widely eaten in West Africa. Plantains are similar to bananas but larger in size. While bananas are termed fruits, plantains are vegetables. Bananas are mostly eating raw, while plantains are usually cooked before consumption. Plantains can be eaten unripe, ripen or over-ripe. When unripe, plantains are usually green in colour, when ripen, they turn yellow. In Nigeria, for example, unripe plantains are usually used to cook plantain porridge, ripe plantains are mostly fried and used as a supplement to main dishes like rice and beans. Over-ripe plantains are used to make snacks like plantain fritters.

NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS OF ZOBO/SORREL DRINK

z obo/sorrel was a must have during family gatherings. As children, we loved drinking it, not only because of how nice it tasted, but also because it coloured our lips and tongues red. Zobo (Nigerian) or Sorrel (Jamaican) is a red coloured drink made from a flower called Hibiscus sabdariffa. The sorrel plant contains a wide range of vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, calcium, niacin, riboflavin and a group of compounds called flavonoids. Flavanoids not only gives the sorrel plant its deep red colour, but, are also rich in antioxidants which rids the body of toxins. The sorrel plant also contains nutraceleuticals, which are said to be helpful to the health. Nutraceleuticals can help prevent and treat several diseases including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF LIME AND HONEY

L ime and Honey are two must haves in my house. I use honey as a substitute for white sugar. I remember a friend of mine visited me once and she wanted to drink garri (drinking garri is local to Nigerians, i.e. eating dried cassava with cold water as opposed to hot water), she was astonished when I told her to use honey to sweeten her garri. I'm not a tea person, but my parents are, and a cup of tea for them is not complete without limes.

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