6 Power Foods That Fight Inflammation

Laurence Grigorov is director at a leading residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company specialises in high-end luxury residential developments.

Laurence Grigorov enjoys exercise and visits the health club regularly to maintain both his physical and mental health. Laurence Grigorov also believes that diet is a key aspect to physical health.

Chris Tuttle is a professional bodybuilder, personal trainer, and Universal sponsored athlete who wrote an article on inflammation.

Inflammation is an immune response by the body to any damaged tissues. It is the start of the healing process, and without it the body would not be able to heal and recover. You may understand inflammation as the body’s response to cuts, bruises, fractures, muscle tears, infection, and other forms of trauma where you see swelling and feel pain, but there’s another kind of inflammation, one that’s harder to detect.

Systemic inflammation is inside the body, where there are fewer internal nerve endings, and you don’t feel it the same way. It often becomes chronic and can negatively affect many facets of your overall health. Symptoms of chronic inflammation vary, but some common symptoms include fatigue, joint pain, mouth sores, gas, bloating, chest pain, fever, and skin rashes.

Chronic inflammation can be caused by a variety of factors, but it is often lifestyle related. High stress levels, poor sleeping habits, and a diet high in refined sugars and processed foods are all very inflammatory. Continually consuming inflammatory foods can make eating almost uncomfortable. People may think they have food allergies or intolerances, but what is really happening is that the GI tract is inflamed from the repetitive exposure to problematic food.

What can you do to fight systemic inflammation? For starters, make sure your lifestyle includes getting adequate sleep, stress management, and a balanced diet designed to lower inflammation.

Following an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Basically, an anti-inflammatory diet must be made up predominantly of foods that are rich in antioxidants, lower in refined sugar, high in monounsaturated fats, and high in omega-3 fatty acids. Focus on eating lean meats, nuts, healthy fats, and a variety of fruits and vegetables

I believe that following a diet lower in carbs and higher in fats can also help fight inflammation. You may consider eliminating or limiting gluten, as well, if you have a known intolerance. My power food standouts include extra-virgin olive oil, turmeric, spinach, mushrooms, wild salmon, and berries—foods that are micronutrient dense and have a high content of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids. There are many other great anti-inflammatory foods—such as almonds, walnuts, citrus fruits, broccoli, dark chocolate, and cherries—so no one should be limited to only these six.

6 Power Foods

1. Berries contain anti-inflammatory compounds called anthocyanins and have a low glycemic index. They are also a good source of fiber and vitamin C.

2. Fatty fish are a great source of protein and are high in the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA. These long-chain fatty acids are broken down into protectins and resolvins that fight inflammation in the body. Fatty fish such as wild salmon, sardines, herring, anchovies, and mackerel are all great sources of omega-3s; however, you want to avoid king mackerel, which is very high in mercury.

3. Extra-virgin olive oil and olives are high in monounsaturated fat and contain oleocanthal, which is an antioxidant with a strong anti-inflammatory effect. Note that refined olive oils do not contain as many

anti-inflammatory benefits.

4. Turmeric is a spice commonly used in Indian dishes that contains curcumin, which has been shown in studies to be linked to reduced inflammation.

5. Mushrooms contain phenols and selenium, which have anti-inflammatory effects in the body. They are also high in B vitamins and copper. Note that we’re talking about edible, store-bought mushrooms. Do not eat mushrooms in the wild. The vast majority of wild mushrooms are poisonous.

6. Spinach is referred to as a superfood by many for its high micronutrient content. Spinach is high in folate, potassium, vitamins A and K, iron, and magnesium and is a good source of fiber.

A balanced diet rich in these foods will not stop inflammation altogether, but it can help the body fight inflammation and elicit an appropriate immune response. Lowering inflammation requires a multifaceted approach. Get plenty of sleep, learn to manage stress better, exercise, and improve your diet.

Words and image courtesy of www.bodybuilding.com

How Many Calories Do You Need to Gain Weight?

Laurence Grigorov is director of a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company specialises in modern, luxury apartments, cluster units and bespoke homes and has been developing luxury residential projects for nearly 15 years.

Laurence Grigorov enjoys training at the gym in his spare time. This allows him to both destress and maintain a healthy physical condition. Keeping track of cleric intake is important to maximise the benefits of weight training.

You may think of calorie counting as something people only do for weight loss, but it can be just as important for helping with weight gain, especially if you’re not seeing a lot of change in your physique. Sometimes you’re just not eating as much as you think you are.

The formula for gaining weight is really pretty simple: The amount of calories you take in has to be larger than the amount of calories you burn. To get a feeling for how many calories you’ll need to put on weight, start by using a calculator to determine your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).

When you use the calculator, it will ask you to choose an activity level that best represents your lifestyle. Be honest! If you say you’re very active and you’re not, it’s not going to help you gain quality muscular weight.

Once you get your TDEE number, add at least 500 calories to it. Continue eating at least 500 over your TDEE for a couple weeks to see what happens. If you don’t notice any change in your weight, increase it to 750 or even 1000 calories above your TDEE.

For those who are new to counting calories, registered dietitian Doug Kalman, Ph.D., explains how to do it in Bodybuilding.com’s Foundations of Fitness Nutrition course.

“Create a food diary. Record both what you eat, and how much. Then, take that information, and plug it into any of the many free nutrition database websites, and get your baseline calorie and macronutrient breakdown. With a cheap food scale, this is actually a lot easier than it was just a few years ago.”

If you start gaining weight too quickly—like more than 2 pounds a week for several weeks straight—drop it back down to 200-300 extra per day. With the right calorie intake and the right workout, you can expect an increase of 0.5-1.5 pounds in body weight each week. If you’re nowhere near that range, adjust your calorie intake.

Words and image courtesy of http://www.bodybuilding.com

Barcelona Complete Antoine Griezmann Transfer

As director of a leading real estate development company based in Johannesburg, Laurence Grigorov is involved in all aspects of the development process.

In order to relax and unwind, Laurence Grigorov enjoys watching football and is a keen supporter of FC Barcelona in Spain. The recent acquisition of Antoine Greizmann has impressed Laurence Grigorov.

FC Barcelona have confirmed the signing of Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann. Club officials paid his €120m release clause at La Liga headquarters in Madrid and the defending La Liga champions have since released an official statement confirming the deal.

“FC Barcelona have activated the clause in Antoine Griezmann’s contract with Atletico Madrid.

“The clause is at a cost of €120m.”

The statement also confirmed that the French international would sign a five year deal at the Camp Nou, until 2024, with a release clause of €800m with the Catalan club.

Griezmann was linked with a move to Ernesto Valverde’s side at the nd of the 2017-18 season, however he opted to reject a move away from Atletico Madrid, and chose to pen a new five year deal at the Wanda Metropolitano.

However he announced at the end of this season that he wanted to leave the club and join FC Barcelona, but the deal was delayed over controversy surrounding a pre-agreement between Griezmann and his new club.

Atletico Madrid have since confirmed they will be asking La Liga to investigate claims that he had already agreed to move to the Camp Nou in March 2019, when his release clause was €200m, not the €120m FC Barcelona have paid after it reduced in July.

Words courtesy of www.football-espana.net

DROO and NAME Create London Apartment Block

As director at a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa, Laurence Grigorov has a keen interest in local and international architectural and development news and information.

Residential development projects based in important international centres like London in England, allow Laurence Grigorov to follow trends that can provide positive influence in forthcoming developments his company will release.

Curved bow windows animate the facades of VI Castle Lane, a housing block in London designed by architecture studios DROO and NAME.

The steel-framed masonry block is a high-end residential development in Westminster containing 28 apartments and three townhouses. Located in the Birdcage Walk Conservation Area, DROO and NAME designed the block to be sensitive to the context while maximising the amount of light and space for each new home.

“VI Castle Lane revisits a recurring element of English architecture through a novel reinterpretation of the bow window,” said the studios. “It respects but at the same time challenges the historical setting.”

To create a housing block that was interesting, but still respected its heritage setting, the architects designed an otherwise conventional pale brick facade that peels away to create curved window areas.

Each bow window creates a small extension to the apartment’s living rooms, which sit at the edge of the plan around a circulation core in the centre of the block. These projecting windows also negotiate the block’s adjacent building scales, with London townhouses to the west and a Victorian mansion block to the east.

“The dichotomy of scales between the taller apartment blocks and townhouses is resolved through the sculpted volume of convex and concave bends of curved glass,” added the studios. The brick cladding that covers the rest of the structure has been slightly changed for the lower townhouse block, so the two elements can appear unified but still distinct. In both the apartment and townhouse blocks, the uppermost floor has been set back to create an external terrace space.

Many architects have looked to reinvent traditional housing typologies to meet modern housing needs.

Words and image courtesy of www.dezeen.com