Tag: Health and Wellness

Just when you thought…Pt 2

 

This looks good enough to serve at home.  j/k.   BEWARE:

7 scary things that can happen to your body if you eat too much processed food

Ok, let’s read the bad news.

Eating processed foods containing high-fructose corn syrup, nitrates, artificial sweeteners, MSG, food coloring, and other ingredients can take a toll on your health.  These ingredients are hiding in many of your favorite foods including breakfast cereals, takeout meals, soda, and deli meats.  Eating too much processed food is linked to obesity, digestive issues, and sleep disturbances.

Like most things in life, eating processed foods in limited amounts is OK, especially if the food has been minimally processed. It’s when you find yourself eating too many foods filled with sugar, salt, and questionable ingredients that things can take a turn for the worse. That’s why INSIDER asked the experts to give their input on the scary things that can happen to your body if you eat too much processed, junk food.

Digestive issues can be a result of excess junk foods

It’s no secret that what goes in must come out. And when the foods you’re putting in your body are processed, there’s a good chance you’ll experience some digestive issues. Dr. Farshad Fani Marvasti, MPH, director of public health, prevention & health promotion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, told INSIDER that any processed foods – which according to the USDA comprise over 60% of the standard American diet – can cause digestive problems.

These foods have various chemicals and additives in them that are very difficult for our bodies to digest and process,” he explained. Plus, the additives are toxic to our microbiome (the good bacteria in our bodies). Marvasti said a good way to know the difference between a real food or processed food is to see the list of ingredients.

“If you don’t recognize the ingredients, it’s unlikely to be a ‘real’ food and you may have digestion issues and other related health issues,” he added.

Eating too much sugar and simple carbohydrates can cause fatigue and brain fog. The energy crash and resulting brain fog that happen from too much processed food is something most of us are all too familiar with.

Low blood sugar can happen when you eat a lot of simple carbohydrates

When you eat a lot of simple carbohydrates, your blood sugar initially increases.

You might experience less discipline when it comes to eating

“Processed foods are hyper pleasurable,” meaning every time we eat, we get a positive reward response. “This helps motivate us to eat in order to survive.”

Insulin resistance is a possibility if you eat too much sugar

Registered dietitian Linzi Cruz, LDN, CLT, told INSIDER that when we consume processed foods with high fructose corn syrup, we force the liver to output more sugar, raising blood glucose levels and contributing to increased insulin production to counteract this cascade of events. Over time, Cruz said too much correctional insulin around the cells could cause them to become insulin resistant, leading to pre-diabetes and obesity.

Processed foods can lead to an increase in anxiety and other mood disorders

When anxiety strikes, it’s not uncommon to reach for sugar-packed snacks and other processed foods. Unfortunately, the more you eat, the worse your anxiety gets. Which makes you wonder if an increase in processed foods can trigger anxiety and other mood disorders.

Eating too many processed foods can affect your sleeping patterns

A good way to throw your circadian rhythm off balance is by eating processed foods before bed. “An imbalance of too many processed carbs and too little proteins and healthy fats can send your adrenaline into a frenzy,” explained Cruz. Eating sweets at night can cause a surge of adrenaline, which Cruz said prevents the natural pattern of serotonin and often impacts sleeping patterns.

 

Was that seven?  I lost track.  Still haven’t had my coffee.  Anyway, just remember, everything in moderation.  Really!

Source:  businessinsider.com©

Mental Health Monday

There are friends of mine who also struggle with mental health. These are the friends I feel like I can be vulnerable and honest with regarding different topics related to my mental wellness, whether it be seeking out therapy, the days where I struggle with my mental health, past triggers, or something else.

The best thing about these friendships is that these people can relate to what I am saying. Like all other friends, they empathize with me and my issues. However, these friends can also understand what I’m talking about on a deeper level because they have been there themselves.

There’s a mutual understanding of our tribulations, which makes our friendship stronger and more meaningful.

By Matthew Morgan for liberomagazine.com/mentalhealth/close-friendships-and-mental-health/

157 Motivational Inspirational Quotes 59 #bestwisdomquotes

#bestwisdomquotes

6 tricks that might keep you from getting a hangover

Should someone be “over-served” tonight, these helpful tricks could save a morning-after nightmare.

Obviously, the best way to avoid a hangover is to just not drink alcohol. And this year, with cases of COVID-19 spiking across the country, we should all be avoiding small and large gatherings with people outside our households. But if you are staying safe and drinking responsibly at home, what’s the best way to avoid transforming your toilet seat into a pillow after a night of drunken debauchery? Well, we can’t say for sure, but these “remedies” have some small amount of scientific evidence behind them. Satisfaction is not guaranteed. But hey, it’s worth a try, right?

Eat asparagus

A 2009 study in the Journal of Food Science suggests that the amino acids and minerals in asparagus may protect your liver cells. The experiment was done in a petri dish on cells that were presumably not actually drunk, but feel free to perform your own in vivo experiment. At the very least, eating asparagus before a night out should increase your dietary fiber and vitamin A and C levels. Of course, it’ll also make your pee smell weird, which might not make you feel any perkier the next morning.

Pick your poisons wisely

Darker liquors cause worse hangovers, according to a study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. That’s because bourbon and other dark liquors contain fermentation byproducts called congeners. Methanol, for example, is a congener that breaks apart to formaldehyde and formic acid—toxins that can worsen your hangover. Yuck.

Get plenty of vitamins

Vitamin B helps your liver break down alcohol, and it may also help heal nerve damage. Taking a B-100 supplement before and after the party may help you feel better the next morning. Meat, eggs, fish, and fruit are also high in vitamin B. You’re better off seeking out such aids in the form of whole, healthy foods—popping a handful of supplements with your morning aspirin won’t do much good.

Drink… Sprite?

Scientists think that when you digest alcohol, your body transforms the ethanol into acetaldehyde—a vile compound that causes your splitting headache the next morning—and then the acetaldehyde gets turned into benign acetate. Lab tests in China indicated that Sprite boosts the activity of an enzyme that breaks down acetaldehyde, which may translate into a less miserable morning-after. As far as we know, though, they haven’t tested this hypothesis in a living, drinking animal.

Fortify with oxygen

Drinking booze that contains more dissolved oxygen may help you sober up faster, because oxygen helps your liver break down alcohol. Oxygen might also help to degrade the horrible toxins that cause hangovers. Some Korean alcohols are marketed as having a higher oxygen content, and oxygen can be added to drinks the same way carbonated beverages are made.

Stay hydrated, silly

This one’s a no-brainer. Drinking alcohol makes you pee more, and you need to replenish those fluids. You may also lose electrolytes, so sipping sports drinks between slugs of booze may help more than water alone.

popsci.com

This Woman Makes 80 (Yes, 80!) Look Like 50 By Doing 3 Things Every Day

 

At some point in life, many of us swap our bikini for a one-piece and a cover up.

Not Filomena Warihay. She’s given birth to four children and turns 80 this October. And when she lounges by the pool or hits the beach, she proudly wears a bikini-and, it must be noted, she looks fabulous.

“I wake up every morning with a drive and a sense of purpose,” Warihay says. “I’ve been blessed with energy and talent and desire to help others be all they can be, and I’m truly grateful.”

In the new book Secrets of the World’s Healthiest People, Warihay says there are three key secrets that have kept her in such great shape.

1) Follow a 70-20-10 diet

That’s 70 percent of calories from fruits, veggies and grains, 20 percent from lean proteins such as chicken and fish, and 10 percent from fat. “It’s a lot of chopping and food prep, which is a challenge, but it’s worth it,” Warihay says.

2) Go running

Warihay didn’t start running until age 40. “My middle daughter got an athletic scholarship, and when she received her training schedule before her freshman year, she saw it included running three miles, three days a week. She said, ‘Mom, will you run with me?’ How could I say ‘no?!’”

Eventually, Warihay was in such good shape, she decided to try a 5K. “Well, didn’t I win the gold in my age group? That was it-I was hooked,” she says.

Warihay won the gold every year from age 40 to 75.

When it comes to motivation to exercise, it helps to have a goal. Goal-setting helps boost performance in all types of exercisers, from recreational gym-goers to elite athletes.

3) Give thanks

Each day, Warihay writes something she’s grateful for and drops the note into her gratitude jar. “The mind-body connection is so clear,” she says. And, yes, it can also help you to stay fit and trim-to the point you can proudly wear a bikini at age 79. When we’re thankful, we tend to be more positive and happier with ourselves, which makes us more likely to lose weight if we need to and control our weight if we’re already at a healthy number.

Alisa Bowman, Elizabeth Shimer Bowers for Prevention©