Category: Health and Well-Being

When you think of weight and health management, you naturally think of eating low-fat and low-sugar foods, a minimum of five fruits or veggies a day, lean protein, healthy grains and physical activity. Making proactive changes will make it easier to manage your calorie intake. To achieve this, look to your environment for support.

Major environments include:

• Car
• Food shopping
• Holidays
• Home
• Social events and restaurants
• Travel and vacations
• Work

Manage your environments with these three steps:

1. Addition

• You can’t eat healthy if it’s not there. Add healthy food to each of your environments.
• If it’s not there, bring it. Fruits and veggies are fast food — the healthy kind. They can be bagged to create a grab-and-go snack. Plan to bring them while traveling or in your car.
• Bring produce when your workplace has a celebration. You may be the only one to do it, and your co-workers may enjoy it.
• Call ahead to a restaurant to ensure it has a menu that supports your mission. Many restaurants have online menus.
• During holidays, substitute ingredients with healthy versions, such as applesauce instead of oil in a cake. Prepare meals with less added fat and sugar.
• Create a grocery list before shopping and stick to it.
• Eat before going to any of your environments so you are not tempted to make unhealthy choices.

2. Subtraction

• Toss foods that won’t support weight control or health management. Go through your kitchen or wherever you store foods to clean house.
• If there are a few items you choose to keep, limit the quantity or store them out of sight.

3. Saying no

• You may have to bow out of some activities — and that’s OK. Consider suggesting healthier alternatives to social activities with family and friends, such as bowling or going for a walk instead of drinks or going out to dinner.
• Restaurant eating can be a weight-gain plan unless you choose wisely. If you do dine out, consider look for healthier restaurants and meals, such as a plain baked potato with salsa, steamed veggies without added fat and lean protein, such as grilled chicken or fish. Many of the healthier options can be found as side dishes on the menu.

Remember that it takes thought, effort and planning — but the payback is worth it. Don’t forget physical activity. You always can go for a walk when those around you are eating your trigger foods.

Source:  http://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org

Related:  Simple Ways to Stay Healthy As You Age – TUTORING YOU

Breast Cancer Awareness Month takes place every October, running from October 1 to October 31.  Basically, it focuses on early detection, education, screening, and support for people affected by breast cancer. It is a global campaign marked by events, fundraising, awareness activities, and health guidance across many countries.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) reminds us that awareness is important—but it’s our actions that save lives.

10 Practical Ways to Help Prevent Breast Cancer

1. Minimize fragrance or look for companies that fully disclose their ingredients. Fragrance (or parfum) ingredients are often secret and can cause breast cancer, birth defects, air and water pollution, asthma, allergies and more. The good news is this doesn’t mean you can’t wear or use your favorite scents. It does mean you need to look at ingredients though!

2. Eat organic fruits, veggies and locally sourced foods. It’s not only good for your heath, but it helps reduce emissions and waste. Buy local food to reduce the distance from farm to fork, frequent your local farmers’ market, or join a local food co-op. Buy organic food to keep your body and the environment free of toxic pesticides by supporting farmers and companies who use organic ingredients.

3. Clean your house with a wet towel. You’ll capture more grime in your house by dusting with a wet towel, and it won’t stir up dust.

4. Take off your shoes at the door. Thus, keep your home clean by avoiding toxic chemicals tracked in by your shoes.

5. Ditch plastic! Plastics can leach harmful chemicals like BPA and phthalates into your food and beverages – and in turn – into you. Instead, use glass, ceramic, cloth (like beeswax-infused organic cotton), and stainless-steel food storage containers and reusable BPA-free water bottles.

Related:  Hidden two-letter code reveals if your plastic containers are toxic – TUTORING YOU

6. Skip the print. Shopping receipts, gas pump receipts, and airline boarding passes are coated in BPA or BPA-like chemicals and touching them can result in toxic chemical exposure.

7. Choose personal care products free of added hormones. Hormones like estrogen or placental extract may be found in hair and skin products.  Chiefly, hair relaxers and anti-aging skin creams increase risk of breast cancer later in life. 

8. Also, check your beauty, dental, home, and menstrual care products for hormone-disrupting chemical ingredients, like parabens and phthalates. Over time, these can affect several hormone systems in your body. Checking ingredient labels helps you know what you’re putting on your body and breathing in your home so you can make safer choices.

9. Read ingredient labels! Check for substances with the strongest evidence linked to breast cancer.

10. It’s perfectly legal for companies to put cancer-causing chemicals in our products. Use your voice to make a change and support brands that use only natural, non-toxic ingredients.

And remember, don’t get overwhelmed! I looked around my house and realized I had to switch out almost everything. But you don’t have to do it all at once! Use your products, and when you run out, find something safer.

Source:  primallypure.com

Related:  6 Breast Cancer Symptoms That Have Nothing to Do With Feeling a Lump – TUTORING YOU

You’re not alone if you’ve questioned the role of fruit in a healthy diet.  Many feel that it may be best to limit—or worse, avoid—fruit intake altogether. But fruit can—and should—be part of a healthy diet since it offers anti-inflammatory benefits you really don’t want to miss out on.

Dietary protection

One method of protection against inflammation is a nutrient-dense diet. Basically, that includes an array of vegetables and fruits, nuts and seeds, legumes (beans and peas), whole grains, and up to two servings a week of fish. Certain fruits have been studied for their potential inflammatory-fighting benefits.

The top six anti-inflammatory fruits

1.  Cherries

Multiple studies suggests that tart cherries significantly lower inflammatory proteins. In fact, the Arthritis Foundation suggests eating cherries as a way to ease joint issues related to arthritis and gout.

Various compounds in cherries appear to reduce inflammation by stopping potential free radicals from damaging cells.  However, they may also help you get more restful sleep—a lifestyle factor that’s key in preventing and easing inflammation. Cherries appear to do this by increasing melatonin levels and stopping inflammatory cytokines that disrupt sleep.

2. Watermelon

A refreshing treat in hot summer months, watermelon is known for being sweet and juicy, but the melon’s nutritional perks are rarely mentioned. Watermelon is one of the few food sources of lycopene, a powerful compound that’s responsible for the melon’s pink-red hue and protects the body from free radicals damage.

A 2020 review in the journal Antioxidants suggests that lycopene may offer protection to help reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, skin and bone diseases, and liver, nerve and reproductive disorders. It may also help squelch inflammation.

3. Blueberries

A recognizable fruit probably making its way into your breakfast routine via oatmeal, yogurt, or muffins. However, its inflammatory-reducing function may decrease insulin resistance, a hallmark of developing type 2 diabetes. This could be attributed to blueberry’s “anthocyanin” content and its ability to alter certain hormones associated with the body’s use of glucose.

4.   Pineapple

Pineapples contain bromelain, a unique enzyme that has anti-inflammatory, anti-clotting and anti-cancer effects, according to a 2021 review in Foods. Bromelain shows the greatest potential in preventing cancer growth by suppressing inflammatory factors that promote cell mutation and metastasis. And therapeutic supplements of bromelain may even provide some pain relief for certain forms of arthritis.

5. Strawberries

Basically, strawberries are a juicy, wholesome, summertime fruit.  However. it’s a flavor that can make just about anything from desserts to beverages taste great. This fruit is exceptionally rich in a flavonoid called ellagic acid. Ellagic acid is anti-inflammatory and antibacterial and can also boost protection against cancer.

6. Avocado

It’s easy to forget that avocados are a fruit. Avocados offer some anti-inflammatory benefits that you can’t get from other fruit. The creamy fruit is full of monounsaturated fats, vitamin E, fiber and carotenoids which collectively work together to soothe inflammation in the body.

Heart disease is a condition thought to be caused by chronic inflammation, but eating avocado might help reduce the inflammation—and risk of heart disease. For example, in a 2022 study in the Journal of the American Heart Association, participants reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 16% to 22%.

Related:  What Is the Worst Habit for Inflammation? – TUTORING YOU

This daily morning habit can set your day on the right track and may even help lower your cancer risk.

These 5 unhealthy morning habits can lead to a hasty visit to a cardiologist.

Why Doctors Love a Morning Walk

It Boosts Physical Activity

Exercise is one of the best habits for health, longevity and lowering your cancer risk. A 30-minute brisk walk or run outside on a regular basis improves weight and blood sugar control, sleep quality, memory, mood and blood pressure, says Lary Robinson, M.D.

Tingting Tan, M.D., Ph.D., adds, “Regular physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of several cancers, including breast, colon and endometrial cancers.” Exercise can help keep cancer at bay by regulating hormones, lowering inflammation and keeping your weight in a healthy range.

Even better, you don’t have to run a marathon to gain these benefits. “A 2025 National Cancer Institute study found that greater daily physical activity, including light-intensity activity, was associated with a lower risk of cancer,” says Tan. “Higher daily step counts were also associated with lower risk.”

That means walking boasts big benefits, and going early in the morning could be even more beneficial, according to recent research. One study found that exercising early in the morning was linked to a 26% reduction in cancer odds compared to working out midday.

Walking Aids Weight Management

Excess body weight is a risk factor for 12 different cancers, including breast, colon, kidney, liver and pancreatic cancer.

“Regular physical activity, such as a brisk morning walk, helps with weight management,” says Proverbs-Singh. Too much fat tissue can lead to inflammation, insulin resistance and hormone dysregulation, disruptions that may promote abnormal cell and tumor growth.

A morning workout could also help burn visceral fat, which is the dangerous belly fat that wraps around internal organs and is linked to an increased risk of cancer, as well as other chronic diseases.

It Supports Circadian Rhythm

The circadian rhythm is the body’s internal clock that runs on a 24-hour cycle. It responds to external cues, such as sunlight, that tell the body when it’s time to go to sleep and wake up. It’s also responsible for hormone secretion, metabolism and cell repair.

It’s Simple & Sustainable

The final reason doctors recommend walking is because it’s simple and sustainable for most people. The habits you can stick to over time yield the biggest benefits. “You do not have to run several miles or spend an hour at the gym to benefit from being active,” says Tan. “Walking is accessible for many people, and starting the day with movement can make it easier to build activity into your daily routine.”

Not a morning person or new to exercise? Start small with a 10- to 15-minute walk. If that’s all you have time for, it’s better than nothing. However, if you can work your way up to 30 minutes, more benefits abound.

To make it a habit you look forward to and can stay consistent with, go on a walk with a friend or listen to your favorite music or podcast. Can’t get outside? Consider buying a walking pad or joining a gym. And if you can’t make morning exercise work for your schedule, then do it whenever you can. Exercise at any time is beneficial for health.

Let’s Tackle the unhealthy habits because doctors target these five:

In the first few hours after waking up, your body initiates a daily activation cycle. Cortisol levels rise, blood pressure climbs, and heart rate variability drops as your system shifts from rest to active mode.

What you consume and how you manage stress during this vulnerable window dictate how hard your cardiovascular system has to work for the rest of the day.

After spending more than two decades treating heart attacks, board-certified cardiologist Sanjay Bhojraj established rules for his own mornings.

Here is what he avoids.

1. Sugar with caffeine

Many popular coffee shop orders are practically desserts in disguise. A large, flavored latte can pack up to 50 grams of sugar into your system before you even sit down for a proper meal.

This causes a rapid spike in blood glucose, forcing your body to release insulin. Over time, that cycle contributes heavily to metabolic stress. Beyond the long-term damage, you also face a steep energy crash that leaves you hungry again shortly after finishing the cup.

Stick to plain coffee or add a modest splash of milk to avoid shocking your system.

2. Sweet pastries

Grabbing a quick bite on your way out the door often means defaulting to convenience foods. Croissants, muffins, and danishes offer little more than refined carbohydrates mixed with saturated fat. They lack the essential fiber and protein necessary to slow down digestion and stabilize your blood sugar.

Eating these on an empty stomach guarantees volatility in your glucose levels. Your heart does not need to handle extreme metabolic swings first thing in the morning.

3. Processed breakfast meats

Bacon, sausage, and ham are staples of the traditional morning menu, but they present significant cardiovascular risks when consumed regularly.

These processed meats are loaded with sodium and saturated fat. Many also contain preservatives like nitrates, which researchers consistently link to poor heart health outcomes over time. Enjoying a piece of bacon on a special occasion is perfectly fine. The danger arises when processed meats become a daily habit.

Swap them out for leaner proteins to keep your blood pressure and arteries in check.

4. Energy drinks

This category represents a non-negotiable hazard for your cardiovascular system. Energy drinks combine excessive amounts of sugar with high doses of caffeine and other potent stimulants.

These ingredients place an immense, immediate strain on your heart. They force your heart rate and blood pressure upward rapidly. In some individuals, this intense stimulation can trigger arrhythmias — an especially dangerous outcome when the body is naturally trying to ramp up its functions after sleep.

Avoid them entirely, especially before you have eaten.

5. Nothing at all (except caffeine and stress)

Skipping breakfast is not inherently dangerous if you practice intentional fasting, stay properly hydrated, and ease into your day with minimal stress. The reality is that most people who skip breakfast are running entirely on adrenaline.

Pounding black coffee on an empty stomach while frantically checking emails and taking medications without food overstimulates the nervous system. By mid-morning, your blood sugar swings wildly. As you age, your body loses its ability to quickly recover from these intense physiological demands.

Structuring a heart-healthy morning

Consistency beats perfection when it comes to long-term health habits. You want to prioritize hydration, fiber, and protein while intentionally keeping your nervous system calm. Start your day with a large glass of water before you touch the coffee pot. Making sure caffeine is not the first signal your body receives helps prevent an immediate stress response.

Breakfast does not need to be complicated. Eggs with a side of fruit, cottage cheese mixed with walnuts and berries, or oatmeal topped with chia seeds all provide the nutrients needed to keep blood sugar stable. Even if you have to split your breakfast in half while preparing for the day, prioritizing quality fuel makes a massive difference.

If you walk, take five minutes after to breathe slowly.  If you haven’t walked, step outside for some natural sunlight, or stretch. A chaotic morning actively alters your physiology, increasing the burden on your heart. Giving your body a few quiet moments to transition into the day is one of the smartest cardiovascular investments you can make.

Other Healthy Habits

Reducing cancer risk is about the choices you make consistently over time.  In addition to moving your body every day, these are the habits doctors recommend focusing on to prevent cancer and improve overall health.

Sources:  EatingWell; moneytalksnews.com

Photo credit:   Getty Images. EatingWell Design.

Related reading:  9 Lifestyle Habits of People Who Live Past 100 – TUTORING YOU

GLP-1 agonists are medications that help lower blood sugar levels and promote weight loss. There are many different types. And they’re just one part of your treatment plan if you have Type 2 diabetes or obesity.

GLP-1 agonists are most often injectable medications, meaning you inject a liquid medication with a needle and syringe. You give the shots in the fatty tissue just under your skin (subcutaneous injection). Areas of your body you can give the injections include your belly, outer thighs, upper buttocks and the backs of your arms.

New Meds

These medications are relatively new. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first GLP-1 agonist (exenatide) in 2005. Researchers are still learning about their other potential uses and benefits.

GLP-1 agonists alone can’t treat Type 2 diabetes or obesity. Both conditions require other treatment strategies, like lifestyle and dietary changes.

How do GLP-1 agonists work?

To understand how GLP-1 agonists work, it helps to understand how the naturally occurring GLP-1 hormone works.

GLP-1 is a hormone that your small intestine makes. It has several roles, including:

• Triggering insulin release from your pancreas: Insulin is an essential hormone that allows your body to use the food you eat for energy. It lowers the amount of glucose (sugar) in your blood. If you don’t have enough insulin, your blood sugar increases, leading to diabetes.
• Blocking glucagon secretion: Glucagon is a hormone your body uses to raise your blood sugar levels when necessary. So, GLP-1 prevents more glucose from going into your bloodstream.
• Slowing stomach emptying: Slower digestion means that your body releases less glucose (sugar) from the food you eat into your bloodstream.
• Increasing how full you feel after eating (satiety): GLP-1 affects areas of your brain that processes hunger and satiety.

The Agonist

GLP-1 agonist medications work by mimicking this hormone. In medication terms, an agonist is a manufactured substance that attaches to a cell receptor and causes the same action as the naturally occurring substance. In other words, GLP-1 medications bind to GLP receptors to trigger the effects (or roles) of the GLP-1 hormone. The higher the dose of the GLP-1 agonist, the more extreme the effects.

If you have Type 2 diabetes, the medications help manage your blood sugar by triggering your pancreas to release more insulin. The slowed digestion also helps decrease blood sugar spikes.

The satiety effect of GLP1-agonists reduces your food intake, appetite and hunger. These combined effects often result in weight loss.

When would I need to take a GLP-1 agonist?

Healthcare providers prescribe GLP-1 agonists for two conditions: Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

GLP-1 agonists for Type 2 diabetes

The FDA approves the use of GLP-1 agonists to help manage Type 2 diabetes (T2D). This is because GlP-1 agonists help lower blood sugar levels.

There are several other types of diabetes medications, like oral (taken by mouth) medications. One type of oral medication, metformin, is the go-to medication for treating T2D. But your healthcare provider may recommend a GLP-1 agonist if:

• Metformin isn’t helping manage T2D.
• It’s unsafe for you to take metformin (you have a contraindication).
• You have an A1C that’s higher than your target.
• You haven’t reached your target A1C within three months of treatment and you have additional conditions, like atherosclerosis, heart failure or chronic kidney disease.

Additional therapies

It’s important to remember that the most effective management of T2D involves several therapies, like:

• Lifestyle and diet modifications.
• Exercise.
• Medications.

Together, you and your healthcare provider will determine a treatment plan that works best for you. Providers often prescribe GLP-1 agonists with other medications to achieve the best blood glucose management.

Can I take a GLP-1 agonist if I have Type 1 diabetes?

Researchers are currently studying the safety and effectiveness of GLP-1 agonists for people with Type 1 diabetes (T1D). So far, some studies show that these medications can help lower A1C and help with weight loss in people with T1D.

The FDA hasn’t approved GLP-1 agonists for the treatment of T1D. But some healthcare providers prescribe it off-label. Talk to your provider to see if this is an option for you.

GLP-1 agonists for obesity

The FDA currently approves the use of semaglutide and high-dose liraglutide to help treat obesity. This is because these GLP-1 agonists have weight loss effects. Obesity is a chronic condition in which you have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.

Healthcare providers may also prescribe semaglutide or high-dose liraglutide for people who have overweight along with other health conditions if losing weight can help manage the coexisting conditions. Overweight is when you have a BMI of 25 to 29.9.

Obesity is a complex condition. Effective management often requires several therapies, like:

• Dietary changes.
• Exercise.
• Medications.
• Behavior modification programs.
• Bariatric (weight loss) surgery.

If you have obesity or overweight, talk to your healthcare provider to see if a GLP-1 agonist is right for you.

Source:  my.clevelandclinic.org©

Photo Credit: imyskin/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Struggling with weight control?   This series is for you:

Part 1: 30 Tiny Diet Changes That Can Help You Lose Weight – TUTORING YOU