One Big Health Nut

Have you ever wondered how smoking affects the longevity of your life span?  Even if you claim not to care, you must have wondered at least once.  After all, you are only human.  And cigarettes are toxic, made from chemicals and poisons harmful and deadly to the human body.  Smokers that have been considering quitting may find the answer to be motivating.  And smokers that claim to never want to quit may reconsider after learning how smoking affects the life span.   

The effect of smoking will vary from person to person.  There are other factors that will affect your body.   The statistics do not take into consideration the quality of life you will enjoy.  However, based on an average statistic calculation you can determine by how many years smoking will reduce your life. 

·        A person that has smoked one pack of cigarettes a day for ten years will subtract 1yr and 192 years from his/her life. 

·        A person that smoked a pack and a half of cigarettes a day for ten years will subtract  2yrs and 106 days from his/her life. 

·        A person that smoked one pack a day for 15 years will subtract 1yr and 360 days from his/her life. 

·        A person that smoked one pack a day for 18yrs will subtract 2yrs and 274 days from his/her life. 

·        A person smoking one pack a day for 20 yrs will subtract 3yrs and 19days from his/her life. 

1.     Avoid meat borne illnesses: i.e. mad cow disease, parasites, bacterial infections, etc.. 

2.     Avoid cross contamination between foods from meat bacteria  

3.     Cutting out meat reduces your fat consumption and keeps you at a healthy (slim) weight. 

4.     Save the life of many animals: animals killed for food are often slaughtered in cruel, painful, and inhumane ways. 

5.     No more mystery meat (or wondering which part of the animal it came from)! 

6.     Vegetarians have a 20% lower blood cholesterol levels than meat eaters reducing risks of heart attack and cancer considerably. 

7.     Significantly reducing the amount of chemicals you consume: animal farmers feed their livestock hormones, tranquilizers to calm them, and antibiotics to prevent infections. 

8.     Help the environment: Meat producers are credited as the largest fresh water polluters and contribute to world hunger by using massive amounts of vegetables and grains to feed their animals.  They are also the reason half the rain forests in the world are eliminated-to make grazing room for their herds. 

9.     Vegetables are nutrient dense foods.  Meats do not provide nearly as many nutrients as vegetables.  The nutrients meats do provide can be found in other vegetarian friendly foods. 

10.                        Vegetarian diets are healthier and more diverse, providing the body with a variety of nutrient dense foods.  Vegetarian diets are healthier and safer for diabetics, lower the risk of cancer due to the concentrated cancer fighting nutrients present in vegetables, lower the risk and incidence of obesity, and reduce the incidence of certain degenerative diseases.

It is disgusting but true.  Tests performed in several states across the country have found that the ice served in drinks to patrons had higher levels of bacteria than the toilet water found in the bathrooms.  Once again, improper handling is alleged to be the reason.   

The bacteria tests were performed at many popular restaurants.  Fast food restaurants including Taco Bell and McDonalds tested positive.  Even some steak houses and other popular hotspots were found to have high levels of certain bacteria.  So the next time you decide to risk your heart health at a drive through, you may want to preserve the rest of your body and ask for no ice in your drink!

Do you avoid eating your favorite sandwich for fear of added carbs?  Did you make the switch to wraps only to discover the substitution did not reduce your calorie or carb intake?  You do not have to swear off sandwiches to lose weight.  A new emerging trend in sandwiches eliminates the bread completely.   

No matter what you decide to put inside your sandwich, you can use lettuce as the outside (the bread).  Romaine, bib, or butter lettuces are great options to select for your new sandwich.  Use a whole lettuce leaf.  Place your sandwich makings on top of the leaf.  You can even add any of the condiments you normally enjoy using.  Then fold the lettuce in half or roll it up and eat.   

Lettuce as a replacement for bread has many healthy advantages.  You are adding many nutrients to your daily intake, as lettuce is full of vitamins.  You substantially reduce the number of calories you are consuming during the meal.  And you eliminate the dreaded sugar spike caused by processed and high GLI carbs. 

Remember when your mother used to tell you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Did you think this was just another method mothers employed to make you do what she asked?  Now that you are older, like 53% of adults, you probably skip breakfast most days.  There just never seems to be enough time.  Besides there are more important things that have to be taken care of first, right?  Wrong! 

Researchers have proven what mothers apparently already knew.  Breakfast is essential to a healthy life and a healthy body.  Individuals that eat breakfast regularly are one third less likely to be obese and half as likely to suffer blood-sugar related issues.  By eating breakfast, you reduce your chances of developing type-2 diabetes and heart disease.  How does eating breakfast prevent obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions? 

Eating a healthy breakfast rich in whole grains helps regulate your appetite and blood sugar for the entire day.  Breakfast stabilizes your blood sugar early in the day, preventing blood sugar spikes.  When your blood sugar drops rapidly after the spike, your body feels a false sense of hunger and craves immediate satisfaction.  You respond by grabbing the closest food, which is usually a vending machine treat.  The vending machine treat creates another blood sugar spike, which begins the cycle all over again. 

The evidence supports the breakfast claim.  Eat a quick bowl of cereal in the morning.  If you don’t have time for a hot breakfast, grab a cereal bar.  Try to choose cereals and cereal bars that are made from whole grains.  Don’t skip breakfast to try to lose weight.  Skipping breakfast will prove to be counterproductive and will cause you to cheat on your diet all day long.