Are You Running On Empty?

Do you often skip breakfast?  If so, you’re making a grave mistake.

Your most important meal each day is breakfast.  This is because your blood sugar level needs to get a great start in the morning, a good breakfast will help you achieve this goal.

Do you want to perform at your highest level?  The answer is simple, eat a great breakfast.

The following video, courtesy of Rodale.com, offers some wonderful tips for starting your day.

The Bottom Line:  Don’t neglect to eat breakfast.  Your body deserves to get off to a good start every day.  You can’t drive your car without gas.  So, the fuel you need to begin your day is breakfast.  Don’t leave home without it!

It’s your life, live well.

Is Inflammation A Threat To Your Health? (Part 1)

Could failing to floss your teeth on a regular basis damage your overall health?  The surprising answer is YES!  By not flossing, bacteria accumulates leading to inflammation in your gums, and possibly something worse.

Inflammation is your body’s response to perceived threats like infection or injury.  The white blood cells form an army to defeat foreign substances such as bacteria, viruses, and infections.  While this is a good thing, continuous exposure to these threats can lead your body to a state of chronic inflammation, which in turn leads to a number of serious illnesses.

Medical experts have found chronic inflammation to be an underlying cause of diseases such as:

  • Parkinson’s disease;
  • Heart disease;
  • Arthritis; and
  • Cancer.

Dr. Michael Roizen, Chairman of the Wellness Institute of the Cleveland Clinic, gives his take on the causes of inflammation in the following video:

Health VideosDr. Roizen Explains Inflammation’s Causes and Natural Treatments

 

In the next post, you’ll find some natural ways to keep your body’s inflammation response in balance.  Your diet plays an extremely important role in controlling inflammation.  So, be ready to find out suggestions to help you tame this beast.  See ya next time!

It’s your life, live well.

How Can Glutathione Save Your Life?

If I told you that the best antioxidant is already inside your body, you’d probably call me crazy.  However, there a molecule produced in your body which is a part of every cell you have.  It’s name is Glutathione (gloota-thigh-own), and many experts consider it essential to preventing many chronic, degenerative diseases.

Your body naturally produces glutathione, but optimal levels are depleted by stress, inadequate diet, and environmental toxins.  Without this important guardian, your immune system begins to be overwhelmed from oxidative stress and free radicals.

According to Dr. Mark Hyman, author of Ultrametabolism and several other books, lower levels of glutathione means that your body is unable to recycle other antioxidants in sufficient amounts to ward off chronic illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease.  In short, you’re ability to remain healthy becomes compromised.

Dr Stephen Langer, explains how glutathione works in this short video, courtesy of ihealthtube.com:

Health VideosGlutathione Goes Beyond Other Antioxidants

It seems complicated, but just think of glutathione as attracting the bad stuff in your body, like toxins and free radicals, and recycling the good.  In this case the good stuff, consists of vitamin C, vitamin E and other antioxidants.

A good primer on Glutathione, written by Dr. Mark Hyman, can be found at this link to Huffingtonpost.com.  I suggest you read it today.

The Bottom Line:  I’m looking at additional research, to see how to properly add a glutathione supplement to my health regime.  After all, I only have this life, so I’ll take all the help I can find to stay healthy.  Glutathione is not a silver bullet, in and of itself.  However, combined with other good health practices, it appears to be another tool for my overall wellness.

Are you going to take a good look at glutathione?

It’s your life, live well.

10 Ways To Relieve Stress!

In the two prior posts, we looked at all the dangers of chronic stress and using kind words to diffuse the effects of stress.  What other tools can you try to reduce the stress in your life?

The Mayo Clinic has an entire section concerning stress management on their website.  These 10 ways to reduce stress are not the only methods available, but suggest a starting point for you.  You’ll need to “mix and match” the different suggestions, to find out what works for you when stress appears.

10 ways to relieve your stress are:

  1. Don’t be a push-over, assert yourself;
  2. Learn how to meditate;
  3. Listening or playing music;
  4. Do some physical activity;
  5. Socially connect with others;
  6. Laughter helps;
  7. Try yoga;
  8. Write in a journal;
  9. Improve the quality and quantity of your sleep; and
  10. Don’t be afraid to seek professional counseling.

You know what’s great about these methods?  Most of them will cost you nothing.  Yes, you’ll be able to keep your wallet in your pocket.  Your budget is no excuse for not trying these suggestions.

Here’s a link to more information on these tips and others, at the Mayoclinic.com site.  Check it out now.

The Bottom Line:  Since you’ll never be able to lead a “stress-free” life, it’s your responsibility to build your toolkit for dealing with stress.  Your overall health and sense of well-being depend on stress management.  Life is too precious to lose even one minute, to the havoc of stress.  If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do for the people you love.

How are you going to handle stress today?

It’s your life, live well.

Don’t Let Stress Damage Your Health!

I’ve heard many people tell me, “I’m stressed out”, over the 56 years of my life.  While in the past I would chuckle at such comments, I don’t find anything funny about stress now.  Frankly, stress is dangerous to your health.

Experts often refer to the “fight-or-flight” response of your brain, when it perceives stress in your life.  Your brain responds by sending signals for your body to release a torrent of hormones to fight the stress invaders.  This is meant to be only a temporary response.

However, in modern society, “stress triggers” are constantly bombarding you.  Thus, your body doesn’t get a chance to return to its normal relaxed state of being.  High levels of stress can cause serious health issues.

In the following video, Dr. Maggie Peterson discusses how stress affects your body.  You’ll be surprised at the number of ways stress affects your health.

Health VideosHow Stress Affects the Body

 

Enough about the dangers of stress.  How can you equip yourself to deal with stress-related problems?

In the next two posts, I’ll cover some practical tools you can use to manage your stress.  You can’t hide from stress, so you might as well learn how to tame it.  See you next time!

It’s your life, live well.

Video:  Courtesy of ihealthtube.com.