10 Reasons to Stop Eating Junk Food

We’ve all been told that junk food is bad for us, but because it tastes so darn good, most of us continue eating it;.After all, fruits and vegetables can’t beat the taste of fries, right?

Wrong!

Not only are fruits and vegetables among the most tastiest natural and healthiest foods on the planet, but junk food is also the lowest common denominator. It might tempt you with its "rock ’n’ roll swagger," but junk food offers absolutely no vital nutrients and zero health benefits.

Is it really worth risking your health and possibly enduring chronic disease as a result?

Here are 10 reasons why you should stop eating junk food:

Junk Food Is Linked To Diabetes

Diabetes is caused when the pancreas becomes so under siege that it can no longer produce adequate amounts of insulin. Insulin is the hormone that turns sugar into fuel, and as experts point out, junk food is loaded with unnatural sugars that can lead to type-2 diabetes that unfortunately can result in serious complications and premature death.

Junk Food Causes Digestive Issues

Virtually everyone on the planet will encounter digestive issues at some time or another. Among these issues are irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea, bloating and excess gas. However, some complain that they suffer from digestive issues all the time, and the reason for this could be that they eat too much junk.

Junk food is full of oil, sugar, trans fats and chemicals that wreak havoc on your stomach. In addition, once your stomach is irritated, your digestive system goes out of whack.

Junk Food Causes Brain Fog

Many people just assume that only our bellies, thighs, and double chins are affected by a poor diet. However, fats don’t just make their way to your bulging abdomen - they also attack your brain.

When bad fats - such as those found in junk food - reach your brain, they cause brain fog, which is that feeling you get when you can’t focus on anything.

Junk Food Causes Fatigue

Junk food contains very few nutrients, vitamins and protein, all of which are essential for an invigorated you who seizes the day. If you exist on junk food alone, you’re going to struggle to do anything at optimum power. You’ll largely feel lethargic and run down.

Junk Food Is Linked With Depression Among Teenagers

1 in 3 U.S. teens eat junk food each day, and on top of the hindrance to their physical health, it is also important to consider what effect junk is having on their mental well-being.

Research has shown that the more junk food we eat, the more we are prone to depression. This is especially the case for teenagers because they are more susceptible to hormonal changes, which can be massively influenced by their diet.

Junk Food Can Cause Elevated Blood Sugar Levels

Junk food is rich in sugar, which puts stress on the metabolism. Moreover, because it’s low in carbs and protein, your blood sugar levels are more at risk of plummeting when you stop eating. This can make you feel moody and make you want to eat even more junk food.

Junk Food Can Increase Your Risk Of Heart Disease

Heart disease is indeed really scary, but there are preventative measures we can take to ensure we don’t struggle with it later on in life. Avoiding junk food is one such method because such food is rich in bad fats that increase your bad cholesterol levels and in turn encourage plaque to form and heart disease to develop.

Junk Food Can Damage Your Liver

Once your liver becomes overloaded with all the junk you’re throwing at it, it will certainly let you know. You’ll feel lethargic, stressed, irritable, and you may develop headaches, skin conditions and a whole lot more.

Junk food has been linked to liver disease on more than one occasion, and it turns out that it can be just as bad for your most overworked organ as alcohol.

Junk Food Increases Your Risk Of Cancer

The main reason for the link between certain foods and cancer is a lack of fiber. Moreover, junk food is low in mostly everything that’s good for you - including fiber.

Junk Food Is Linked To Kidney Damage

Fries are soaked in finely processed salt. When combined with a fatty, greasy hamburger, you’re essentially double downing on kidney disease, which comes about when too much salt increases blood pressure on a consistent basis.

CRAP vs FOOD

So what should you be enjoying instead?

Eat less CRAP

• Carbonated beverages
• Refined sugars
• Artificial sweeteners and colors
• Processed foods

Eat more FOOD

• Fruits and vegetables
• Organic (whenever possible) lean proteins
• Omega-3 fatty acids
• Drink water

8 Quick Strategies to Optimize Your Sleep

I want you to get the best night’s sleep possible, and since at least fifty people have asked me, I decided to give you my best advice and put together these eight quick sleep strategies... 

1. SOAK IN SOME WARMTH 
Try taking a hot bath a couple of hours before bed.  The rapid cooling that happens when you leave the warmth of the water is like a memo to your body that it’s time for bed.  For a relaxing and detoxifying bath, fill the tub with hot water and add two cups Epsom salts, one cup baking soda, and 1/3 cup hydrogen peroxide.  Soak for twenty to thirty minutes.  You will sweat in the tub and lose toxins.  It is important to drink plenty of water while you soak.  Take a lukewarm to cool shower after getting out of the tub to rinse off the salts or you may itch. 

2. LOWER THE LIGHTS 
Melatonin is the chemical that is naturally released by your brain to help you sleep.  Encourage its release by dimming the lights as bedtime approaches. 

3. PREPARE FOR THE NEXT DAY 
Develop a nightly routine of laying out your clothes for the next day, pulling back the covers on your bed, and other simple tasks to signal your body that bedtime is near. 

4. WATCH YOUR CAFFEINE INTAKE 
To encourage better sleep, try setting the caffeinated beverages aside in the early afternoon. 

5. DITCH YOUR DEVICES 
Electronic screens may also be keeping your mind overstimulated and causing you to lose sleep.  Instead, try reading or listening to music to relax before bed.  I personally like to listen to podcasts. 

6. COVER YOUR TOOTSIES 
Believe it or not, keeping your feet warm has been linked to improved circulation and better sleep.  Slip on a pair of socks before climbing under the covers to get these benefits. 

7. RESIST THE SNACKING URGE 
Eating right before turning in can cause your digestive track to kick into overdrive.  Try and avoid snacking at least two hours before bedtime.  If you must have a snack, have a one two ounce high-protein snack such as a hard-boiled egg, some cheese, an ounce of meat or fish, or a handful of nuts.

8.  TRY USING A HERBAL SUPPLEMENT MIX 
If you experience poor sleep quality, try using an herbal mix designed for sleep support.  Look for herbal formulas that contain ingredients such as theanine, Jamaican Dogwood, wild lettuce, valerian, passionflower, and hops. Contact me for a specific product recommendation.  If you have trouble falling asleep, use a product called Sleep Tonight! 

Follow these eight quick and easy sleep strategies, and you’ll be rewarded with serene nights and more productive days! 

John is a Health Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences Educator, Master Educator, Certified Holistic Life Coach, and Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Wellness Coach.  He neither rejects conventional methods nor accepts alternative therapies uncritically. Instead, he has been taught that good solutions are based on good science; they are inquiry-driven. He is open to new modalities. Effective solutions that are natural, less invasive, and more cost-effective should be used whenever possible. Alongside the concepts creating a balanced and appropriate plan of action for optimizing peoples' health, he believes the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are paramount.
For more information please visit his website at www.OHealthO.com.

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Listening to Your Body

I was trying to have this post ready last week but Canva was refusing to download the pictures, skewing my posting schedule.  Then came Friday's massive outage.  So frustrated by it all I gave up on completing this post last week.  Technology...can't live with it, can't live without it.

For many of us, better health does not come naturally. It is something we all must work on in order to lead healthy lives and have overall excellent health. This means listening to your body and understanding what it's telling you about what's going on inside the body. Here are four ways you can listen to your body so you can have a life that is sustained by good health.

You can listen to your body every time you put on your clothes or when stepping on the scale.  Do your clothes fit right?  Are they becoming too loose on you or are they fitting snugly?  Is the scale tipping one way or another in the wrong direction?  If you find that you are losing too much weight or packing on the pounds, it may be that you are being affected by stress and are not eating in ways that promote good health. Good health comes from eating a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats. This is in lieu of eating processed foods such as cookies, cakes, processed meals, and candies—all of which have excess calories and preservatives that are generally unhealthy for you. 

Eating too little can affect your health as well. (I tell Benny this all the time since the only meal he really eats is the dinner I prepare.) When you eat less than the amount of food you are supposed to eat, you can suffer from lack of proper nutrients. Lacking in proper nutrients, your body does not function properly and you can cause yourself to be sick from lack of the nutrients to support immune health.

Your digestive system is not only the way you get proper nutrients but also it is a main way your body uses to protect itself from pathogens. The digestive system is one big part of the immune system so you need to treat it with the care it deserves. This means paying attention to episodes of diarrhea that can strip the colon of protective bacteria, constipation, and indigestion from being under excess stress or eating the wrong foods. 

#HealthyTipsByaccuflora Day 1: What is a #probiotic and why should you take them? Merriam Webster defines a probiotic as a microorganism that when consumed maintains or restores beneficial bacteria to the digestive system. Rich meals & #fastfood can leave us feeling sluggish, bloated, and irregular. #Dairy products may be difficult to digest. #Stress & #aging may affect our digestive system. #healthyliving #digestivehealth #probiotics #guthealth #LAWRTW #longandwindingroad #longandwindingroadtowellness #BrandNewMe

A photo posted by Cassandra Schmigotzki (@longandwindingroadtowellness) on Oct 23, 2016 at 1:33pm PDT

You can care for your digestive system by eating healthy foods and by taking probiotics, which can 

replenish the gut with good bacteria. Probiotics can be taken in by eating plain yogurt with live cultures or by eating fermented foods such as sauerkraut and kefir. 

If you can’t get it in the foods you eat, you can purchase many probiotic supplements at the drug store or online. Some of the best probiotics are those that come in spore form. The spores can survive the acidic environment of your stomach and then release the live bacteria in the intestines, where they take root and drive out the bad bacteria and fungi.

This means following your blood pressure and pulse very carefully. If you are inactive or have a family history of high blood pressure, you may be suffering from high blood pressure and not know it. This means you have to check your blood pressure every time you run across a blood pressure machine at the drug store or grocery store. When you see the doctor, your blood pressure will be taken as well. If it is consistently elevated, you may need to be on an anti-hypertensive medication or modify your diet and exercise program so you can avoid some of the many complications of high blood pressure.

You should check your pulse as well on a periodic basis. A high pulse can mean that you are too inactive or are under a great deal of stress. Exercise can cause your heart to function better and will slow your pulse to normal levels. 

Feel tired, but keep pushing yourself past your limits? Are you fighting fatigue on a regular basis, instead of taking the time to rest and rejuvenate? Fatigue and low energy are both your body talking to you and letting you know that you need to rest and relax, if you don’t listed you will crash and burn.

Are you ignoring anxiety, instead of looking to erase its sources and lower stress levels? Stress kills, and you are the only one that can take care to reduce its load on your body, mind, and spirit. Great ways to fight stress and its impact are Tai Chi, meditation, yoga and taking vacations on a regular basis.

Where do you need to listen to your body more?