Tag: smart nutrition

Deep Nourishment: How Nutrition Supports Everyday Energy

Published on by Nikken

Deep nourishment transforms the way your body generates and sustains fuel, moving far beyond the temporary jolts of caffeine or refined sugar. Real everyday energy is built at the cellular level by combining complex macronutrients with critical micronutrients. When you prioritize high-quality, whole foods, you create a steady metabolic burn that keeps you alert, physically capable, and focused from morning until night.1

Your body converts macronutrients into usable energy, but the type of fuel dictates how long that energy lasts. Macronutrients include complex carbohydrates, lean proteins and healthy fats, while micronutrients are composed of vitamins and minerals. A healthy combination of the two types of nutrients effectively supports everyday energy levels.

From a nutrition science perspective, food is the only form of energy animals and humans can use to maintain the body’s structural and biochemical integrity. Energy is associated with the feelings of well-being, stamina and vitality that result in the ability to undertake daily physical or intellectual activities and to maintain social relationships. Fatigue, on the other hand, is often described as a lack of energy or a feeling of low vitality.

Since your body operates on what you feed it, the obvious way to get the most energy is to make sure you’re eating the most nutritious food possible. Some ingredients and eating behaviors may contribute to fatigue. Here are a few tips for healthy eating behaviors and how to choose deeply nourishing foods that are nutrient-dense:

•          Hydration is essential. Although water doesn’t provide energy in the form of calories, it supports the body’s energy processes. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends a daily water allowance of 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) for men and 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) for women.2 Consider sipping water throughout the day and swapping sodas, juice, and other drinks for a glass of water.

•          Healthcare organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CD) and the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) recommend eating at least five servings, or 400 grams, of fruits and vegetables daily. 3 Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients that may help fight fatigue and support physical function, which in turn may help with everyday energy levels.

•          Incorporate caffeine into your diet only in moderation. In fact, some research suggests caffeine may provide a short-term energy boost while offering antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends keeping your caffeine intake below 400 mg daily, which is about the amount found in two 8-ounce cups of coffee.4 Some people may opt for non-caffeinated beverages exclusively if they are sensitive to caffeine.

•          Lean proteins form an important part of a balanced diet. Some research on specific health concerns also suggests that protein may reduce the risk of fatigue, as well as helping you to maintain or gain muscle mass while providing a feeling of fullness, which helps prevent overeating. Eating a protein-rich food with each meal may also help reduce blood sugar spikes and crashes. Recommended protein intakes vary depending on the health authority you ask and on personal factors such as age and underlying health. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030, generally recommends getting between 1.2 and 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight per day.5 Recommended lean animal proteins include fish, other seafood, yogurt, eggs, turkey or chicken. Plant-based proteins include beans, seitan, tofu and other soy products.

•          Choose complex carbohydrates such as oats, quinoa and yams, and lots of fruits and vegetables, instead of refined grains and foods with added sugar, which include white breads, pastas, cakes, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Complex carbs release glucose gradually into the bloodstream and are digested more slowly by the body, providing long-lasting energy and helping to prevent sharp spikes and sugar crashes.

•          Choose healthy fats, because they are good sources of slow-burning fuel. They digest slowly and can help stretch out the energy timeline of your entire meal. Healthy fats include avocados, nuts, seeds and extra virgin olive oil.

•          Try to avoid food and beverages with added sugars. These items may help provide energy temporarily, but higher levels of sugar intake have been linked to fatigue and poor sleep quality.6 Also try to avoid alcoholic beverages, as alcohol is also linked to fatigue.

•          Avoid highly processed foods that contain ingredients which may actually increase the likelihood of inflammation. Preservatives, chemicals, sodium, trans fat and added sugars are commonly found in ultra-processed foods that may be less supportive of overall well-being when ingested regularly. Avoid pre-pared foods, candy, boxed meals and pre-cooked meats and swap them for unprocessed whole foods.

Eat well by choosing wisely and embrace Smart Nutrition, an important aspect of empowered living!

1 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7019700/

2, 3, 4, 5, 6 https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/foods-that-beat-fatigue

Great Sleep Fuels a Fully Empowered Life

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One of the 10 actions for Empowered Living is recharging your energy. Achieving this requires connecting with nature, consciously breathing in fresh air and getting restful sleep. Humans spend about a third of our lives sleeping, because it is critical to healthy living and longevity.

Here’s what happens with good quality sleep:

• The heart and blood vessels heal and repair themselves.

• Grhelin (hunger hormone) and leptin (satiety hormone) are balanced. Inadequate sleep makes ghrelin levels go up, so you feel hungrier than when you have restful sleep.

• Healthy insulin levels are supported. Insulin controls blood sugar levels, which increase when you are sleep-deficient.

• Deep sleep triggers the release of the growth hormone that helps children and teenagers develop healthy muscle mass, repair cells and tissues.

• Deep sleep supports healthy development during puberty and promotes fertility.

• Restful sleep supports the body’s immune system. Sleep deficiency can affect the body’s natural defense system against germs and illness, making it difficult to combat infections.

• Major threats to longevity are decreased. These risks include heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and stroke.

• Good sleep supports the brain to improve learning and memory. Problem-solving, decision-making and creativity are enhanced.

Sleep deficiency can result in feelings of stress and depression; and can cause mood swings, lack of motivation and not getting along in social situations. It can also cause lack of focus, problems in learning new things, slow reactions and poor decision-making, which in turn result in making more mistakes. It’s a vicious cycle of frustration and fatigue, lack of confidence and inertia. In other words, when was the last time you felt joy when you were sleep-deprived?

Smart nutrition, clean air and water are basic necessities, but when you think about humans spending a third of our lives sleeping (or at least trying to sleep), the importance of good sleep is obvious. If you can’t sit still, watch TV, read or be a passenger in a vehicle for an hour without falling asleep, you probably need more restful sleep. It’s not about quantity as much as it is about quality.

Create your sleep sanctuary and commit to good habits that support deep sleep, so you can feel good every day and experience empowered living! With great sleep, you can choose joy!

Source: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation/health-effects

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation/health-effects

Creating Mindful Eating Habits

Published on by Nikken

Today’s fast-paced society offers an abundance of food choices. In addition to the food that is grown—vegetables, fruits, grains—seafood from the oceans, farmed livestock and poultry—there is a huge variety of processed food as well as ready-to-eat snacks full of added salt, fat and sugar. Distractions have also shifted our attention away from the actual act of eating and instead toward televisions, computers, and smartphones.1

Mindful eating is a form of meditation. How do you meditate while eating? By slowing down and paying attention to the food you eat and doing so with appreciation and intention. In this way, every meal becomes a practice in awareness of what you’re eating, why you’re eating and how eating it makes you feel—which supports your ability to differentiate between physical and emotional hunger. In other words, mindful eating habits help you eat when you are actually hungry, not when you are bored or want something to do.

Mindful eating isn’t about dieting or restrictions. It’s about being fully conscious of choosing what you’re eating and appreciating it. If you are scrolling on the phone or watching TV, you are not savoring and honoring the food. Honor may seem a lofty term when applied to eating, but mindful eating includes being aware of where your food came from and honoring the long journey it took to get on your plate. By honoring the food, you are practicing gratitude, an emotion that promotes joy and sharing.

How can you practice and develop mindful eating habits? Here are a few tips:2

•          Ponder: Before you eat, ask yourself, “Am I really hungry?” Sometimes we think we want to eat something, not because we’re hungry, but simply to enjoy the pleasure that the food brings. Ask yourself if you need nourishment in the form of food or something else?

•          Appraise: Look at the food that is in front of you. How does it smell? Do you really want it? Is it more or less than what you need? Be aware of how the food affects your body and how you feel.

•          Slow: Slow down. Pause between bites. Do not get distracted. Really chew your food and taste it. Slowing down can help your brain catch up with your stomach.

•          Savor: Really enjoy your food. How does the texture feel in your mouth? Can you discern the different flavors? Savor and appreciate the taste of each bite. Engaging as many senses as you can by noticing colors, smells, sounds, textures, and flavors.

•          Stop: Stop when you’re full. Cleaning your plate isn’t necessary, even if that’s what you were taught by your parents. By noticing when you’re full and stopping may help you avoid unnecessary calories and indigestion. This is known as paying attention to your hunger cues.

By changing the way you think about food, you may be able to replace negative feelings associated with eating with awareness, improved self-control, and positive emotions.3 Mindful eating is part of smart nutrition—a key component of empowered living.

1 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mindful-eating-guide

2, 3 https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/mental-health-and-wellbeing/mindful-eating-savor-the-flavor

Do You Practice Empowered Living?

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At Nikken, our mission is to empower individuals with the means to create a naturally healthy life while reaching financial stability. We believe the key to physical, mental and financial well-being is “empowered living.”

Empowered living entails making good choices and decisions and then taking action. Doing so consistently and mindfully leads to personal growth and prosperity. The next step is to contribute positively to local communities, then to society at large. Empowered living is a pathway for individuals to connect not only to their immediate environments but also to the world.

Achieve a balanced lifestyle that is full of vitality with empowered living. Put in the simplest terms, our ongoing goal is to feel good every day. We believe feeling good every day is attainable with these five key principles:

•          Enhance your mindset.

•          Boost your vitality.

•          Strengthen your relationships.

•          Make a contribution and serve others.

•          Diversify your sources of income.

These principles are akin to living with purpose. In Japanese, “ikigai” actually means living with purpose. To know our purpose in order to be of value to families and communities, we must know what fulfills us and gives us joy, and then to pursue it.

Here are 10 behaviors to put into motion for ikigai or empowered living:

1.         Awaken your consciousness. Increase your level of awareness to improve your lifestyle. Be open to learning new things.

2.         Connect with your purpose: Understand and pursue the meaning and value you bring to your life.

3.         Choose joy: Choose to be happy and savor each moment. Be grateful.

4.         Move your body: Incorporate activities that motivate you to move naturally, every day. Stay active in one way or another. Get in shape and stay in shape.

5.         Recharge your batteries: Increase energy levels by ensuring restful sleep, connecting with nature and breathing consciously. When you increase your vital energy, you naturally decrease stress.

6.         Practice smart hydration: Consume pure, high-quality water.

7.         Practice smart nutrition: Eat natural, organic and nutritious foods. Don’t eat too much, leave a little room for optimal digestion!

8          Nurture your relationships: Foster love, shared goals, mutual support and connection. Surround yourself with friends and positive thinkers.

9.         Transform your environment: Connect with communities, understand their needs and offer help.

10.       Diversify your finances: Explore various income sources and manage your finances wisely.

Empowered living means consciously living your best life, one day at a time, resulting in not just a long life, but a well-lived life of purpose and meaning.

What is Empowered Living?

Published on by Nikken

At Nikken, we strive to be catalysts for positive change. We want to inspire individuals to transform their lives and create a ripple effect throughout society. We foster a global wellness community that empowers people to make a difference, where everyone has a purpose to positively impact the lives of others.

Empowered living involves actively taking charge of your choices, decisions and actions. Positive choices lead to positive outcomes, and in turn, to personal growth, prosperity and a sense of balance, vitality and connection to the world.

The 5 Pillars of Wellness are pathways to empowered living:

•The Mind cultivates a fulfilling purpose and pursues continuous growth to find peace through life’s challenges.

•The Body embraces natural movement and nourishes your body with wholesome foods and adequate hydration.

•The Family nurtures loving connections and shares the joy of empowered living with loved ones.

• Society fosters a supportive and inclusive community, where individuals feel a deep sense of belonging and a shared sense of purpose and identity.

• Finances flourish from purposeful action. It’s not just about having a purpose but requires actively working for it and managing resources wisely.

Empowered living is not about being perfect or seeking perfection. It is about finding ways to feel and be well every day. It is about maintaining a state of well-being where there are consistently positive emotions, the ability to function both physically and mentally at optimal or near-optimal levels, and a sense of balance within oneself and with the environment. When we experience empowered living, we feel energized, focused and capable of achieving our goals.

Nature provides us with the sources for empowered living — clean air and water, soil to grow food, earth to ground us, conditions for restful sleep. Nikken technologies are inspired by nature: negative ions, ceramic reflective fibers, minerals from the earth, natural water filtration systems, sustainable marine plant life, magnetics, and more, are combined to produce Kenzen® nutrition, PiMag® water, Kenko Balance, Sleep & Support and True Elements® skin care. Nature serves as the source of smart nutrition, smart hydration, restful sleep, vital energy, fresh air and nourished skin.

This year and every year, practice empowered living and experience hope, happiness, joy and prosperity!

Smart Nutrition the Kenzen® Way

Published on by Nikken

September at Nikken is about smart nutrition: eating healthy food, choosing nutrient-dense ingredients in cooking, committing to whole foods rather than processed ones and avoiding refined pre-packaged items that contain added sugar and salt. With our hectic multi-generational family lifestyles, dietary or nutritional supplementation can make a big difference.

Here’s a summary of what Kenzen® Nutrition is designed to do:

•          Kenzen® Calcium Complex and Kenzen BDZ® work synergistically to support bone health.* Added minerals in the Calcium Complex enhance absorption, while BDZ acts as the perfect complement with patented vitamin K and its unique marine plant complex to support bone structure and strength.*

•          Kenzen® Joint is formulated with high potency cetyl myristoleate, combined with gluosamine, methylsulfonylmethane and boswelia plant compounds—to support joint movement and connective tissue repair.* A topical version is CM Complex Cream that contains the same naturally lubricating properties.

•          Pink Collagen Complex stands out with its naturally pink color and exceptional formulation. Blood peach, rose apple and beet root combine their rosy tint with antioxidant powers and pleasant flavor, so there’s no fishy taste to the powerful type 1 collagen derived from marine peptides.

•          Kenzen® Omega Green + DHA contains heart-healthy omegas 3, 6, and 9 in one formula! The vegan formula is plant-sourced from cranberry seed oil, flax seed oil and red algae. Supporting digestive, hormonal and nerve health, it also benefits eyes and the brain.* It’s a formula chockful of omega fatty acids that even vegans can enjoy!

•          Kenzen Bergisterol® aims to support cardiovascular health and immune response.* Made with an exclusive strain of the bergamot fruit, it is rich in polyphenols and bioflavonoids.

•          Kenzen Super Ciaga® powder is a delicious way to support heart health, cellular functions and the immune system for overall well-being and natural energy levels.* It’s formulated with highly concentrated superfruits, such as maqui berry, elderberry, blackberry, raspberry and blueberry.

•          Kenzen® Immunity was providing immune support long before mushrooms became a trending topic.* Made with 14 different mushrooms, it is a standout in the market where supplements only contain single species or just a few.

•          Kenzen® Digestion 4-20 contains 20 different enzymes within the 4 categories of macronutrients: fats, proteins, carbs and fiber. This formula helps the digestive process by optimizing absorption of nutrients, allowing the body to convert fuel into energy.*

•          Kenzen® Cleanse & Detox supports the liver, which provides more than 500 functions!* This formula helps rid the body of toxins and other wastes, utilizing natural ingredients, such as organic chicory root, milk thistle and turmeric.

•          Kenzen Lactoferrin® 2.0 supports gut health while binding and transporting iron, so the body can absorb it.* The formula has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties for overall health*.

•          Kenzen Jade Greenzymes® and Jade Greenzymes® Citrus are known as “nature’s perfect food.” That’s because organic barley grass has the full balance of enzymes needed to support healthy bones and tissue, skin elasticity and help maintain natural pH levels.*

•          Kenzen® Clarity supports cognitive function* with a fermented blend of ingredients. The formula is based on the gut-brain connection—fermentation helps absorption and digestibility of nutrients such as organic ashwagandha and organic bacopa leaf, supporting better memory, focus and concentration.*

•          Kenzen® Mega Daily 4 (in two formulas, one specifically for women and one for men) is a formulation of organic vegetables that provide the known types of water-soluble and fat-soluble antioxidants plus nutrients that support celluar function.*It offers gender-specific support for whole body renewal.*

•          Coming in October, new Kenzen Vital Balance® Meal Replacement Mix contains 30% of the recommended daily allowance for protein in vegan form. MCTs support the brain while vitamins and minerals come from natural sources, making them more bioavailable. Prebiotics and probiotics promote effective digestion and absorption.*

Try smart nutrition the Kenzen® way for overall health and well-being—easy, effective and extraordinary.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.