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September 2020

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In Food & Drinks

Bad For You Foods In Disguise

3 Mins Read

The world of healthy eating is a tricky thing to navigate. You can have nothing but the best intentions, and still end up eating poorly, unknowingly. There are hidden junk foods everywhere that are disguised as ‘healthy’ or ‘natural’, thanks to sneaky marketing ploys. However, it’s time to expose these impostors once and for all, and, hopefully, provide easy and truly nutritious substitutes.

Sneaky Junk Food #1: Fruit Juice

The common way of thinking goes something like this: fruit is healthy. So, therefore, fruit juice must be good, too. But, unfortunately, people fail to realize that most fruit juices are jam packed with extra, and totally unnecessary, sugars. If you’re craving an apple, eat the whole fruit instead of a glass of apple juice. Or, if you’re craving a cold beverage, try unsweetened iced tea with a squeeze of lemon or a glass of sparkling water.

Sneaky Junk Food #2: Sports Drinks

Commercial sports drinks (think Gatorade, Powerade, etc.) are teeming with sugars, artificial colors and flavors, and a ton of mystery preservatives. If you feel as if you need some replenishment after a long and exhausting workout, try coconut water, instead. It contains hydrating electrolytes, as well as B vitamins and potassium.

Sneaky Junk Food #3: Energy Bars

With the amount of sugar that these bars pack into a neatly-wrapped package, you may as well be eating candy. Really, there is nothing healthy or ‘energizing’ about them. If you need a mid-afternoon pick-me-up, skip all of the fillers and snack on a handful of nuts and a fresh piece of fruit, instead.

Sneaky Junk Food #4: Diet Sodas

Nope, just because they’re free of calories, diet sodas are NOT a good choice. In fact, due to the large quantities of artificial sweeteners and chemicals, diet sodas are actually WORSE for you than regular sodas (which are still pretty bad). The artificial sweeteners are actually appetite stimulators, too, so diet soda can make you crave more sugary snacks than you would otherwise. Instead of cracking open a soda, opt for a cup of yummy rooibos tea or, *gasp*, a tall glass of cold water!

Sneaky Junk Food #5: Frozen Yogurt

Every strip mall these days would not be complete without the mandatory serve-yourself fro-yo joint. And, we happily fill our cups with the stuff because, hey!, it’s not ice cream, so it MUST be better for us! In fact, it’s so much better that we can load it with sugar-loaded toppings, too! WRONG. Frozen yogurt is not only packed with loads of sugar, but it’s also missing a lot of the healthy fats that ice cream has. The best choice, though? If you’re craving something a little bit sweet and creamy, opt for a cup of plain yogurt topped with some fresh berries and chopped nuts.

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In Health & Fitness

5 Tips To Eat Right To Maximize Your Workouts

3 Mins Read

Are you not seeing the fitness results you’d like to see? If you have a healthy workout regimen, but aren’t seeing any change in your fitness level, your eating habits may be to blame. It is easy to make nutrition mistakes that may be preventing you from being as in shape as you’d like to be. These common errors may be undermining your hard work:

1. Not Eating Enough Fat

You need to eat good fats at every meal, such as avocados, nuts, seeds, or coconut oil. Do not fear that fat is fattening. Getting enough fat is necessary for athletic nutrition and weight control. Fat increases satiety (so you feel fuller longer) by delaying how fast the stomach empties its contents as well as shutting off hunger hormones. Fat also helps boost antioxidant absorption (which may be related to leanness), and increases your metabolic rate to help burn more calories. Fat is a vital nutrient! It is part of the cell, so your body cannot fix a cell or construct any new ones without fat to do so. Cutting out too much fat leads to fatigue, chronic hunger, irritability, depression, weakened immune system, and increased risk of injury. Good fats will not undermine your goals.

2. Unnecessary Sports Drinks

Water will accomplish hydration in most environments. If you sweat excessively for more than ninety minutes, or exercise outdoors in hot and humid conditions, then you may need the electrolytes found in sports drinks. However, most of us are sweating in a climate-controlled gym. The carb levels in sports drinks are designed to boost energy when you cannot stop to eat, but if your muscles don’t actually need that fuel, one 20-ounce bottle serves up an extra 35 grams of sugar to your diet.

3. Not Refueling After Exercise

Working out is not a license to eat anything in sight, but the exercise does take a toll on your body. You have to find the balance between eating too much afterwards or not enough. You need to have the proper nutrients going back in to your body to repair the wear and tear on the muscles. It’s the recovery that will boost your metabolism, making you more toned and fit.

4. Only Eating Protein After a Workout

Protein is definitely an important recovery nutrient, but it’s not the only one. Veggies will replenish nutrients and antioxidants, a healthy fat will help muscles heal and will boost circulation. A little bit of a whole grain carbohydrate will resupply glycogen to the muscles. And of course, plenty of water to rehydrate.

5. Doubling Up On Fuel

Unless you are a professional athlete, you do not need to eat before and after your workout. Consuming a bar or smoothie before a workout, which is followed by another meal, means your body is getting far more food than it needs for recovery.

Always consult your primary care physician before starting a new diet or exercise program.

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In Addiction

Benefits Of Therapy For Alcohol Or Drug Addiction Recovery

2 Mins Read

The earth is a lovely place to live in but is filled with various elements that can be beneficial as well as harmful for human beings. Alcohol and various abusive substances and drugs are formulated using various elements and components. These items can be quite harmful to the human body and can sedate them to perform multiple activities unconsciously.

Many people have lost their acquaintances because of their behaviour under the influence of addictive substances, and still billions of people continuously use these substances because they have been addicted to them. Various people are working for the betterment of these people and help them to fight addiction. Different types of treatments and therapies are provided to these addicts to overcome their problem. Some of the benefits of using rehabilitation centers for the addiction are explained below:

Supervision:

All rehab centers use different experts and doctors that supervise the body and reduce the dependence of it on the substance. Immediately ceasing the use of the drug affects the body adversely and various toxins are released into the body that are required to be treated. Experts are quite experienced with these types of problems and know how to deal with them.

Communication:

Many people consume these drugs to reduce their anxiety and to be able to communicate freely without any hesitation. In rehabilitation centers, many people are working on this problem, and group therapy is organized to open them up to different people and work on their anxiety disorders.

Insight:

Human beings co-exist in this universe and require the help of different human beings regarding different problems. One cannot deal with all the issues himself. Therefore, it is beneficial to join a rehab center for the problem to have a broader look towards the problem and also introspect to reduce the emotional stress that induces the use of the substance.

Better Control:

It is not an easy task to overcome addiction as the body resist changes and urges becomes too strong to resist. Therefore, it would be easier for someone else to monitor all the activities and stop the person from becoming weak to resist.

These were certain benefits of joining a therapy for fighting against the evil of substance abuse as it is always better to have a companion to overcome a problem. Click on the link to learn more.

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In Dental & Oral Health

The Benefits Of Waterlase

3 Mins Read

If you’re looking around at your options with laser dentistry, chances are good that you’re eventually going to find out about Waterlase. It’s a technique that has been steadily growing in popularity.

Waterlase is a laser system that’s designed to be near painless. Very few patients report pain with this method of laser dentistry, which is why it’s so popular. Instead of hurting from the heat, vibration, and pressure associated with dental drills, you get to actually skip all of that completely and be able to just have a good time and not worry so much about everything else going on in the world. That’s something that’s definitely worth looking into.

Dentists like Waterlase because it means that they don’t have to use a lot of anesthesia. One of the things that can make dental work so expensive is the need to sedate you, because that’s more risk that the dentist is going to have to take on just to take care of your needs. So whenever you can get away with not worrying about it, you’re going to be better off. Removing the dental drill out of the equation is actually a good thing — especially if it means that you’ll get out of the dentists chair sooner.

How accurate and precise is the Waterlase system? Believe it or not, a dentist can use the Waterlase system to remove tooth enamel decay, bone, and even gum tissue very precisely, without touching the healthy structure underneath.

This leads to a lot less trauma over, especially when you compare it to traditional drills. The high speed nature of the traditional dental drills can actually crack your teeth — even if the dentist doesn’t alert you to this. This sets the tone for other problems going on in your mouth, which is not a good thing at all. You’re better off going with laser dentistry if you can absolutely help it.

Improved cavity preparations are possible with Waterlase. Better cavity fillings leads to higher patient confidence, which means that you’re going to want to come back to the dentist to fix other problems in your mouth. When your teeth aren’t right, your body isn’t right. But it can be embarrassing to go to the dentist constantly, so people skip over it. What if we could take the pain, fear, and stress out of the equation? That would mean a lot more than we realize.

It would mean that you would take care of your teeth better, which leads to a better smile. Your smile is actually one of the first things that people see about you, so why not make it good?

If your dentist offers laser dentistry of any kind, chances are good that it’s going to be the Waterlase system. Make sure that you actually ask them before you get too far in the process, though. That’s the real key to success. Enjoy!

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In Health & Fitness

3 Ways To Stay Fit This Winter Season

3 Mins Read

During the holiday season, it’s almost too easy to fall into the temptation of skipping the gym. Whether the fireplace is too warm, the weather outside is frightful, or hearty meals are calling your name, those New Year’s resolutions are starting to look like they’re going to have to happen as you reach for a cookie instead of your gym pass. But if you can’t work out as much as you’re used to, it’s still important to remember to get to the gym or squeeze in a workout whenever you can–even if it’s in the middle of all of your seasonal duties. Here are three ways to burn calories and stay fit throughout the holiday season.

Work out early in the morning. If the holidays have you running around in circles throughout the day, try making an early morning workout a priority. It might not be easy to turn yourself into an early-riser, but it’s a great way to start your day off on the right foot, with plenty of energy so that you can get all your errands done. Even if you only have 20 minutes to squeeze in a jog or some resistance training, you won’t regret making this the number one thing to do on your to-do list every morning.

Use the workout to catch up with friends. If you’re good at multitasking, you might like this one. Either way, using your workout to squeeze in some time with friends and loved ones might do the trick. Get a group of friends or a pal to go running or cycling with, or head to a group exercise class together. You could take a friend to spin class, then hit up a nearby restaurant for appetizers–healthy ones, of course. If you have a long list of errands, see if a friend wants to come along. Put on your tennis shoes and start walking! This way you can fulfill your to-do lists together while getting plenty of exercise by speed walking around a mall or nearby shopping center.

Do short, intense workouts. If you’re busy, it’s not always easy to find the time to do long workouts. This is a good time to do short, intense workouts that torch calories in a small amount of time. Try finding an effective, full-body workout that works for you, whether you come up with one yourself or find a workout on the market. Even 20 minutes can do the trick, and your to-do lists will thank you for saving the extra time. Even more importantly, though, your body will thank you for taking the time to exercise.

Always consult your chiropractor or primary care physician for all your health related advice.

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