Yuk! Healthy not so tasty?

It doesn’t always have to taste good to be good. And it doesn’t. Food marketed as “healthier” doesn’t always taste good, I mean when put next to a cheeseburger ya its gonna taste like dog food. Supplements, for example a very close friend of mine takes oils every morning to improve brain functioning – they’ve got to be the most disgusting things ever but their “good for ya”. 

Most people don’t see how bad things can be – fast food, fruit juice (filled to the brim with high fructose corn syrup), candy bars, and more – it taste good so how can it be bad. I have heard from time to time the age old “everything is good in moderation” – but most aren’t moderate and time and time again the easier fix is the worst. 

In the book “Eat this, not that” you can find many of your favorite meals or cravings “heathier” alternative – usually half the sugar or have the caleries. Its simple to make the easier choice, but its smarter to make the better choice. Take care of your bodies as always.  

True Beauty: in the mirror or in the heart?

Recently I caught an episode of True Beauty on ABC. True Beauty is a reality type show where they have “collected” in a way 12 beautiful contestants and pits all 12 against one another in competition to win a place in PEOPLE magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People issue. The contestants are made up of body builders, models, the occasional stripper, and male chip-n-dale. What really roped me in though is the catch, and yes with reality TV there is always a catch. What the contestants don’t know is that the judges have secret cameras and spy’s and their not being judged solely on their “outer” beauty, meaning their looks, the judges are also looking at their “inner” beauty. I love the line host Vanessa Minnillo uses at the end of every episode as she sends the loser home, “True beauty comes from within.” This show is rather played and according to many just not good. Washington Post says ABC’s scraping the bottom of the reality-television bucket Monday night when it aired "True Beauty." To some extent the only thing this show does do is provide a good message, and it succeeds if only in that mission. Beauty is inside as well as outside, so take care of your body.

Is Dieting Ever Healthy?

In today’s pop culture day and age it is impossible to be seen as “healthy”. Healthy is not a word used to describe a young woman’s appearance. Words like “sexy”, “sophisticated”, “beautiful”, “skinny”, “fat”, and of course the oh so popular “unattractive”, but not once would you comment on a woman’s healthiness as a criteria for her attractiveness. A group of young boys wouldn’t be ogling a woman’s “healthy body” they’d be off giggling about her “sexy but-tay”.

Even the magazines put this stereotyped woman on their cover. She’s skinny, and sexy, and without a care of what she eats. She doesn’t work out, she doesn’t drive the carpool or pack the lunches in the morning. She is the ideal, living her life without a care while the rest of us stress our lives out trying to achieve “her”.

So in this chase for the essence of sexiness, most women in one point of their lives or another will do the drastic DIET. Whether it’s to loose weight, built muscle (come on ladies you love those abs), one thing I don’t hear often enough is that you’re dieting for “health reasons”.

But that’s the question, can dieting ever be healthy?

In a recent article I read “Healthy Eating: Tips for a Healthy Diet”, the author says this “Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible”.

Now isn’t that what you want in life, to feel great, have more energy and be healthy. Why yes I say it is.

Now in another fascinating article, this one from WebMD, experts around the country chimed in with their best diet tips, here are a few:

• ·      Best Diet Tip No. 1: Drink plenty of water or other calorie-free beverages
  
• ·      Best Diet Tip No. 2: Think about what you can add to your diet, not what you should take away.
  
• ·      Best Diet Tip No. 9: Spice it up.
  
• ·      Best Diet Tip No. 14: Use non-food alternatives to cope with stress.
  

What I love is tip #2. Dieting isn’t always about taking out your favorite foods, no more pizza – no more ice cream. Sometimes it can be about adding more fruits and veggies and just less sweets.

There are many many types of diets. For instance there is the gluten-free diet, one that I am personally familiar with (my mom has a gluten intolerance). Basically avoiding grains, like wheat, rye or barley. These grains contain the protein “gluten”. And to people with gluten intolerance “gluten” is like a poison. It causes numerous intestinal problems and the antibodies are unable to defend against the protein.

In most cases this diet is strictly for health purposes, a person with gluten intolerance is made sick by gluten therefore they remove it from their diet, and poof all better. But as I was made aware of in a recent U.S. News article, gluten-free diets are become a fad diet more so than they are being used to treat a health issue.

So can dieting ever be healthy? Yes I believe it can. I believe research into healthy diets is necessary, don’t just stop eating (that cant be healthy but I know a numerous amount of girls will do anything to loose weight), and be aware of your own body. When it comes down to it, what you do affects you – you cant do a diet just because the magazines say it’s the best way to drop 15 pounds if that diet is unhealthy for your body, and know every body is different. Listen to your body and I believe everything will be fine.

For more info on healthy eating, I recommend reading, “Eat right for your type” by Dr. Peter D’Adamo. It gives insight into the different “healthy” diets for each person’s individual blood types.

And as a side note if you do diet make sure you are getting your right needs fulfilled. Cutting carbs and proteins is very unhealthy. Everyone should be taking supplements to gain the nutrients missing but especially with diets. Don’t just assume you do not need these nutrients. 

Stress. Its a Killer!

Okay so I recently scanned an article “7 Leading Causes of Stress” and do you have any idea what #1 is? No. Well good because I am going to tell you. And not only that I am going to give you some mega good tips to natural cures for stress.

Double bonus!

So #1 cause: Finances.

Oh great I thought when I read that. First off who isn’t stressed everyday of their lives and now with the condition of our economy, no question stress is on everyone’s list.

2..3… & 4 are work, family, and personal concerns. Personal concerns? Hmmm could that not be just about anything? Ya it is just about anything that doesn’t fall under 1,2, or 3.

Lets recap shall we… Everything causes stress therefore everyone is stressed. Good now lets talk about what we can do to fix it. 

The most common cures for stress:

• ·      Start with a healthy diet. Eat breakfast, eat veggies, and cut out the fatties [you know the candy bars and the extra scoop of ice cream].
  
• ·      Exercise. Pulling from my Legally Blonde database “Exercise releases endorphins and endorphins make you happy and well happy people..” you know the rest. Exercise can just make ya feel good.
  
• ·      There's always the alternative remedies, a good massage or a nice chiropractic crack releaves built up tension and a lot of the time stress. [but this is usually a short lived rememdy, fyi]
  

My advice, turn to the herbal supplements. Now right off the back I love homeopathics and believe in them 110 % of the time, so you are going to hear this answer from me more often than not. There are tons of stress herbs out there. For instance, lavender is a natural flower essence. It can be found in many forms; oil, crème, bath salts, just about any form and it can be used to calm.

For a pilule form, try Nelsons tension & stress clickpak. It is perfect for people on the go and no water is necessary to take (as with most homeopathics). Symptoms are most often relieved immediately. 

Homeopathics are non-habit forming, 100% natural, and therefore have no side-effects or conflicts with anything else you may be taking. There is little to no chance of “over-dose” with homeopathics as its almost necessary to take more.

These rememdies and more can be found at any healthfood store, vitamin shop, local drugstore – just ask the phamisist where the homeopathics are.

As we’ve realized stress is everywhere and caused by everything so why not be prepared. And heck save some money – a homeopathic is gonna cost ya loads less than a doctor visit and a prescription. There just cured some stress right there. 

Drum Roll Please.

Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. To my blog o'Health. 

In here I will be talking all health all of the time. Good health, bad health, ugly health, and everything else health. We'll talk alternative health most often than not but lets not limit ourselves. We'll be discussing healthcare, and healthy cures. I'm sure we'll blog all day about cancer and chiropractors. But lets not give it all away today. 

Stay tuned to Healthwise.