Top 10 Sources of Calories in the U.S. Diet

After looking at this list it's no wonder we have an obesity problem in the United States. There are only two (maybe 3) things on this list that are potentially healthy. So 80% of our diets are coming from processed junk food. 

1. Grain-based desserts (cakes, cookies, donuts, pies, crisps, cobblers, and granola bars)
2. Yeast breads
3. Chicken and chicken-mixed dishes
4. Soda, energy drinks, and sports drinks
5. Pizza
6. Alcoholic beverages
7. Pasta and pasta dishes
8. Mexican mixed dishes
9. Beef and beef-mixed dishes
10.Dairy desserts

If you don't want to look like the rest of America, stop eating like the rest of America. Reduce processed carbs, increase protein and healthy fat.

Source: www.health.harvard.edu

No Sleep Leads to Negative Thoughts

This study showed that the later people go to bed and the shorter they sleep the more negative their thoughts. 

Which makes sense because if you don't sleep, you have higher levels of cortisol and feel more stressed out which leads to negative thoughts.

1. Go to bed by 10 PM
2. Sleep at least 7 hours per night
3. Take melatonin or Magnesium before bed if you have sleeping problems
4. Wear a sleep mask or use a sound machine

Source: sciencedaily.com

Saturated Fats Will Not Kill You

Saturated fat does not cause heart disease, inflammation does. 

Cultures have been eating high saturated fat foods forever with no complications. It wasn't until highly processed carbohydrates became more prevalent that heart disease skyrocketed.

Every class we teach focuses on tips to reduce inflammation naturally. The less inflamed you are the less your risk of every disease. 

Repeat after me:

Saturated fats won't kill me

Eggs won't kill me

Butter won't clog my arteries

Lard won't kill me

Red meat isn't an unhealthy food

Processed carbohydrates increase inflammation and cause heart disease

Obviously you want to find grass fed sources of these things to maximize their health benefits!

Source: bjsm.bmj.com

Cycling to Work Can Cut Cancer and Heart Disease

Time to get the bike out! It's easy on the joints and a great workout. Also, anyone who rides a bike is going to have stronger legs which is correlated with a reduced risk of falling. 

"During the course of the study, regular cycling cut the risk of death from any cause by 41%, the incidence of cancer by 45% and heart disease by 46%.

The cyclists clocked an average of 30 miles per week, but the further they cycled the greater the health boon.

Walking cut the odds of developing heart disease but the benefit was mostly for people walking more than six miles per week."


               Source: www.bbc.com

The Importance of Vitamin D-3

Everyone should have their Vitamin D levels checked regularly as it's one of the easiest, cheapest and most beneficial natural things you can do. 

If you have an auto-immune condition such as MS, fibromyalgia or RA you need to be especially proactive about your Vitamin D-3 status. Supplementing with high dose Vitamin D-3 has been shown over and over to be beneficial. This study had people taking 10,400 IU per day for 6 months and saw excellent results. 

"These results are exciting, as vitamin D has the potential to be an inexpensive, safe and convenient treatment for people with MS," says study author Peter Calabresi, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Multiple Sclerosis Center and professor neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Read how vitamin D can benefit people with MS at www.eurekalert.org!

Neonatal Gut Bacteria Might Promote Asthma

The worse the intestinal flora of babies the higher their chance of asthma later on. High carbohydrate foods (candy, breads, cereal, etc.) and antibiotics increase the amount of bad bacteria in the gut leading to these problems. 

"Abnormal gut microbiota communities present in some 1-month-old children promote inflammation that results in an almost threefold increased risk of developing allergies by age 2, according to a study published in Nature Medicine. More of these kids—who had lower levels of four commensal gut bacteria groups and 
higher relative levels of two types of fungi—developed signs of asthma by age 4."

Source: www.the-scientist.com

Antibiotics Are Not The Solution

There is a time and place for antibiotics but I see people taking them for every little sniffle and cough. Let the body heal naturally and your long term health is going to be substantially better. 

"Monash University study involving mice, published in the April issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, finds that childhood antibiotic use impedes the normal growth and development of gut bacteria. This, in turn, affects the function of the immune system ― around 70 percent of which is contained in the gut.

Previous studies have shown that the use of certain antibiotics can trigger autoimmunity, but now we have a better idea of how this happens."

Read the full article of antibiotic use at www.huffingtonpost.com.

Television is Affecting Your Health

A study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that for every hour an adult watched TV, their life expectancy was reduced by 22 minutes.

With the average American spending five hours a day watching TV, that means in over a period of a year of watching TV regularly, it decreases your life expectancy by nearly a month, 27.8 days.

A study by the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that reducing television viewing has an important role in preventing obesity and in lowering BMI in young children. The same 2008 study also showed that having a TV in a child’s bedroom increased viewing time by nearly nine hours a week.

While we all know the health risks that accompany smoking, research shows that
watching TV jeopardizes our health just as much as cigarettes.

What are you doing today instead of watching TV?

Reduced Risk of Disease from Consumption of Vitamin K

Researchers found an increased Vitamin K consumed resulted in a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer after following 7,216 people over the age of 55 for five years. 

Vitamin K is found in green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, kale, spinach, cabbage and brussel sprouts. 

Vitamin K is also required for proper absorption of calcium into your bones along with Vitamin D-3.