Leslie Glass's Blog, page 255

Defining Moderate Drinking

From Psychology Today:

For many Americans, summer is the most relaxing time of the year. Particularly when the weather is nice, millions of people around the country choose to spend the day or evening outside, enjoying the company of friends and family while lighting up the grill and having a few drinks. It has become an American tradition.

Casual drinking on occasion poses very few immediate threats, provided one is not pregnant, on certain medications that interact with alcohol, or planning to get behind the wheel or engage in any other kind of potentially reckless behavior while the acute effects of alcohol intoxication are felt.

Once the effects have worn off, there is little long-term damage that can come from the occasional glass of wine, beer, or spirit. If done frequently and in large amounts, however, alcohol can become a major health risk. Constant and heavy drinking is associated with a host of ailments, including liver disease, heart disease, diseases of the digestive tract, and cognitive decline. Furthermore, alcohol abuse and alcoholism can also wreak havoc on one’s familial, social, and work lives.

This should not be groundbreaking news to anyone. However, there is a vast middle ground between having one drink every now and then and alcoholism, and the truth about the potential risks to one’s health when it comes to moderate drinking are blurry. On the one hand, moderate drinking is not a universal concept. It changes from country to country. On the other, recent studies have contradicted the age-old wisdom about the benefits of what constitutes moderate drinking in the minds of the public. Even moderate drinking can impact one’s life expectancy and cognitive function, and the risk of stroke, heart failure, hypertensive disease, and fatal aortic aneurysm jumps significantly even for those whose drinking may seem to be less than problematic by some standards.

Consequently, the commonly held belief that moderate drinking may be better for one’s health than abstaining from alcohol entirely has become a difficult proposition to maintain universally. At best, moderate drinking may have certain health benefits, but these benefits may be outweighed by its risks.

What follows is not a condemnation of moderate alcohol use. While many of the facts conveyed in this post may sound as though they are meant to dissuade individuals from drinking, the goal is not to pass judgment on behavior or to make the argument in favor of abstinence. The intention of this post is to merely relay information on what the most recent studies say about moderate alcohol consumption and to provide a better definition of “moderate drinking.” Anyone who is legally allowed to drink can then do with this information what they will, though it is recommended that they do so in a responsible manner.

What Is a Standard Drink?

What defines a “standard drink” varies by country. In the United States, a standard alcoholic drink contains 14 grams of pure alcohol. In the United Kingdom, a standard alcoholic drink is significantly smaller—8 grams. In much of Europe, the standard is somewhere in the middle (typically 10 g or 12 g).article continues after advertisement

In the US, 14 grams of pure alcohol is equivalent to the following:

· 1.5 fluid ounces of spirits like vodka, rum, or whiskey (typically around 40% alcohol)

· 5 fl oz of wine (typically around 12% alcohol)

· 12 fl oz of beer (typically around 5% alcohol)

It should be noted that these are rough guidelines and that there can be significant variations between types of alcohol, particularly when it comes to beer. While most mass-produced beer is close to 5%

alcohol, craft beers can range from 3.5% to 18%. Luckily, most craft brewers now indicate the alcohol by volume (ABV) contained in their beer on either the can or the bottle to avoid confusion.

Variations in ABV may have a far larger impact than one assumes at first. For example, if two people each order a beer at a pub—one individual having an imperial pint of Irish stout, one individual having a pint of India pale ale—neither will have a standard drink. An imperial pint of the most famous Irish stout is 20 oz of 4.2% ABV beer, which means this one “drink” contains 19.591 g of pure alcohol. A pint of an IPA that is 6.0% ABV, meanwhile, contains 22.399 g of pure alcohol. By US standards, the one Irish stout is about 1.4 standard drinks, while the pint of IPA is closer to 1.6 standard drinks. To the two individuals enjoying their beers, however, they will probably think that they are only having one drink.

What is Moderate Drinking?

Like a “standard drink,” “moderate drinking” can have several definitions. In common parlance, a moderate drinker is someone who does not drink to the point of drunkenness unless on special occasions. It is a nebulous concept that people often use to distinguish between a heavy drinker—someone who may frequently drink to the point of drunkenness—and the occasional drinker or non-drinker. These are not scientific terms by any means; they are merely the phrases that have come to be adopted by individuals in their day-to-day use of language, and their definitions are highly subjective.

Conversely, there are official standards for “moderate drinking” that are based on analyses of safe or low-risk levels of alcohol consumption. Like “standard drink,” they vary from country to country. For example, in the UK, “moderate drinking” is defined as consuming 14 standard drinks per week or less. This is the equivalent of six pints of 4% beer or seven 5 oz glasses of 12% wine. In the US, the guidelines for moderate drinking as established by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture are an average of two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women or less. When one consumes more than this amount, it is referred to as “excessive drinking” by the guidelines, which note, “Excessive drinking increases the risk of many chronic diseases and violence and, over time, can impair short-term and long-term cognitive function.”

Moderate Drinking for Men and Women

Studies have shown that women often feel the acute effects of alcohol sooner than men, as women tend to weigh less than men, have less water in their bodies than men, and produce less alcohol dehydrogenases (a class of enzymes that allow us to metabolize alcohol) than men. Hormones may also impact the rate at which alcohol is metabolized. Due to these differences, what constitutes moderate drinking for a woman is often thought to be less than what constitutes moderate drinking for a man. These distinctions are codified in the US guidelines, the Canadian guidelines, and the Irish guidelines. As noted above, these distinctions are absent from the UK guidelines.

When one examines the long-term effects of alcohol consumption, it appears as though the UK guidelines may be more accurate. One of the most comprehensive studies on alcohol ever conducted was published in the Lancet last year. With a staggering 120 co-authors, the paper examined individual-participant data from almost 600,000 drinkers across 19 high-income countries who had no previous cardiovascular disease, and found, among other things, that there is not a significant difference between the amount that men and women can drink over the long-term without suffering from a decrease in life expectancy. The study’s authors wrote that, “For all-cause mortality, there was a positive and curvilinear association with alcohol consumption, with the lowest risk for those consuming below 100 g per week… Associations were similar for men and women…but weaker at older ages.”

“In comparison to those who reported drinking >0-≤100 g (mean usual 56 g) alcohol per week,” the authors of the study continued, “Those who reported drinking >100-≤200 g (mean usual 123 g) per week, >200-≤350 g (mean usual 208 g) per week or >350 g (mean usual 367 g) per week had shorter life expectancy at age 40 years of approximately 6 months, 1-2 years, or 4-5 years respectively.” They also found that, “Men who reported consuming above the UK upper limit of 112 g per week had a shorter life expectancy at age 40 years of 1.6 years…and men who reported drinking above the US upper limit of 196 g per week had a shorter life expectancy at age 40 years of 2.7 years…compared with men who reported drinking below these respective upper limits.”

In other words, the study’s findings indicate that moderate drinking for men and women should be no more than 100 g, approximately the same amount recommended for women by the US guidelines.article continues after advertisement

Additional Risks

The groundbreaking study did not only examine life expectancy. More narrowly, it found that those who drink more than 100 g per week increase their risk of stroke, coronary disease excluding myocardial infarction, heart failure, and fatal aortic aneurysm, even after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, and history of diabetes. Conversely, the researchers found that drinking more than 100 g per week correlated with more non-fatal myocardial infarctions than fatal, though they noted that this benefit does not outweigh the other risks associated with drinking more than 100 g per week.

The study did not have access to enough information to determine if alcohol was linked with additional adverse outcomes, including non-fatal liver disease, injuries, or psychiatric comorbidities, though another study did recently find a systematic bias in previous studies claiming that moderate drinking can protect cognitive function as the body ages. A paper published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience by Linda B. Hassing of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden claims that such studies were flawed because their control groups included numerous non-drinkers who had only become abstinent because of health issues—including alcohol abuse earlier in life.

Hassing also found other key disparities between the control and the drinker groups. The controls had, on average, a lower education level, a lower socioeconomic status, a higher body mass index, and higher rates of diabetes and hypertension. There were fewer smokers, however. Still, the main finding of the paper was that, when the abstainer bias was controlled, it was found that, “There was a negative and not a positive effect of light alcohol intake on cognitive performance.”

Hassing also called into question the current “safe limit” for men and women, as defined by the US guidelines. “Given the results from the present study, these guidelines may potentially be too high.”

Final Thoughts

As these studies have shown, even moderate drinking is associated with numerous risks that outweigh the benefits of drinking more than 100 g per week. However, this was not an indictment of alcohol or a plea for all people to abstain from drinking altogether. It was meant to clarify the numerous definitions of “moderate drinking” to allow individuals to improve their ability to make their own life decisions and to better understand the risks associated with alcohol consumption.

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To calculate the number of grams in a drink, the following equation was used: Volume x (alcohol by volume x volumetric mass density) = pure alcohol mass.

· For the stout: .591 l x (0.042 x 789.24 g/L) = 19.591 g.

· For the IPA: .473 l x (0.06 x 789.24 g/L) = 22.399 g.

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What Does A Healthy Relationship Look Like?

Do you know the difference between healthy relationships and unhealthy ones? Many people have not had enough exposure to what a healthy relationship looks like to know. What is different about a healthy relationship as opposed to an unhealthy one. Here are some answers.

5 Hallmarks Of A Healthy Relationship

Can Speak Up For Yourself: You’re not afraid to voice your thoughts or let your partner know if something is bothering you
Partners Respect Each Other: Your wishes and feelings have value. You respect what the other person feels, but value your own feelings equally
There Is Compromise: You find a way to compromise in a safe and healthy way when dealing with issues on which you don’t agree
Each Person Is Supportive: You build each other up. Neither puts the other person down. You encourage each other to try new things when inspiration strikes
Respect The Other Person’s Privacy: You don’t feel the need with to know or to share everything, including your password or other private information

10 Freedoms Found In Healthy Relationships

Go out with your friends without your partner
Enjoy activities and hobbies alone
Not feel the need to share texts or emails
Feel heard and respected for who you are
Don’t feel the need to give in if there is a disagreement
Eat and prepare foods you like, even if your partner doesn’t want them
Call anyone, anytime
Drink or not drink
Not feel pressured to check in, but will do so as a courtesy
Set a boundary and know it will be honored

8 Signs of an Unhealthy Relationship

Your partner acts possessive and jealous
You feel as though you are walking on egg shells at times
Your partner breaks your things or threatens to
She or he threatens to harm him/herself because of you
Your partner has big mood swings, goes from raging to complimenting you
Your partner texts or calls you constantly and seems obsessed with you
He or she forces you to have sex, or go farther sexually than you want
You have to follow unspoken rules in order to keep the peace

If you are unsure whether your relationship is an unhealthy one take this quiz. Be sure to connect with your support system and understand that a person can only change if they want to. Take a minute to be sure your relationship is healthy and worth your time and effort.

Content sourced from Loveisrespect.org

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6 Ways To Overcome Sober Weight Gain

When I got sober the last thing I expected was gaining a load of weight and insatiable food cravings. If that was advertised as a side effect of sobriety, some of us may not sign up. But the reality is that sober weight gain and hunger for certain foods are very common in recovery. For some, these issues resolve themselves after a few months. For others, it reveals deeper issues—such as eating disorders. I’m here to tell you that these physical changes needn’t make you feel hopeless and depressed—there are some really easy ways to tackle these changes so that you feel empowered and gain more energy to sustain your recovery.

The Ugly Truth About Sober Weight Gain

When I first got sober, I couldn’t stop eating. Cake, pastries, bread, cheese, candy became my obsession. I’d sit in meetings obsessing about what I would eat when I get home. I binged like this for the first two years in recovery. I felt bloated—I was 150 pounds’ overweight—exhausted all the time, and chronically depressed. I kept trying to stop, only to find myself at the end of a packet of cookies within a few days. Much like substance use disorder, I couldn’t understand why I kept repeating this pattern of behavior: eating against my will. I felt utterly hopeless and I hated my body.

Dopamine’s The Real Villain Here

What I didn’t realize until a few years later, is that my brain was transferring my addiction from drugs and alcohol to food—because it produced exactly the same effect in my brain: the release of dopamine (one of the body’s feel good chemicals).

What’s more, the addictive brain is sophisticated enough to override rational thought in pursuit of dopamine. I realized that I needn’t feel so much shame because a lot of what was happening was beyond my control.

Understanding this information, helped me to retrain my brain, lose 60 pounds, and override that process in my brain. That’s right—the brain is plastic enough to change. How amazing is that?!

I Took These Steps To Combat My Sober Weight Gain
1. I Quit Buying Packaged Food

If it wasn’t a whole food—i.e. from the ground, or from a fish/animal—I didn’t eat it. By not eating processed foods, I gained some control of my eating habits because whole foods don’t overpower your rational brain—so I ate what I intended to. Also, they provided more sustained energy and I didn’t have terrible mood swings.

2. I Sought Natural Feel Good Chemicals—Endorphins—Through Regular Exercise

Even a ten minute walk helped. Before long, I was cycling everywhere and going to the gym regularly. I felt mentally and physically miles better; I slept better and my mood was more stable. Also, feeling energized led to better food choices.

3. I Connected With People In Recovery

I sought regular connection with other people in recovery at meetings, coffee with female friends, and events and workshops. Did you know that hugging releases oxytocin—which also makes us feel good, lowers our blood pressure, decreases stress, and makes us feel warm and fuzzy—kind of what we seek in cake and booze!

4. I Joined A Support Group

I had to treat my new addiction the same way I treated my first one. I joined a support group for women who struggle with food issues. I have one of my own now, which you can join here. Empathy and knowing you’re not alone is a really powerful way to overcome emotional eating and give you inspiration and motivation to stay healthy. It also provides support and compassion for when you are really hard on yourself.

5. I Began Meditating Every Day For Ten Minutes

This allowed me to check in with my body and see what I was hungry for. Sometimes is wasn’t actually food; I was either thirsty, or needed relaxation and time out because I felt stressed. I used Headspace for guided meditations, but there are many other apps available.

6. I Found Restorative Activities Like Yin, Kundalini Or Restorative Yoga

These provided a much-needed outlet for stress, relaxed my whole body, and promoted a feeling of calm and overall wellness.

The key with any change is to start small and build up changes slowly. Perhaps you could start with exercise and practice that for a couple of weeks before changing your diet. Slow and consistent changes build sustainable results and overall change. By focusing on you and what you really need, the sober weight gain will begin to melt away.

Want to find some professional help? Recovery Guidance lists support groups and specialist who can help overcome addictions and food disorders.

The post 6 Ways To Overcome Sober Weight Gain appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Non Meat Burger Is It Good For You

The nutritionists weigh in. From Huff Post There’s no arguing that plant-based meat alternative companies are in high demand right now. Beyond Meat went public on May 1, and Impossible Foods, known for its burger that bleeds, is reportedly valued at $2 billion. The companies’ burgers are sold at several fast-food and restaurant chains, including Burger King, White Castle, Red Robin, Carl’s Jr. and TGI Friday’s. In June, Impossible even reported a burger shortage following increased sales and restaurant partnerships.

Sure, plant-based meat alternatives are better for the planet than meat, but a viral blog post called “Beyond Meat Is Beyond Unhealthy” got the internet wondering: Are they really that much healthier for our bodies?

We asked nutritionists to weigh in on how they measure up to traditional beef burgers and other popular veggie burgers.

The Impossible Burger’s plant-based protein features a shade of pink you’d find in a medium-rare beef burger.



The high protein comes from processed sources.

Rachel Fine, a registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of To the Pointe Nutrition in New York City, said the Beyond and Impossible’s lists of ingredients paint a more telling picture of their healthfulness than the nutrition labels do. Beyond Burgershave 18 ingredients, and Impossible Burgers have 21.

Engineered to be meat-like, both contain similar protein counts to ground beef. But Fine said quality over quantity is what matters, and the high protein in Beyond and Impossible burgers comes from processed plant-based ingredients rather than whole foods, which are a more healthful option.

Beyond Burger Plant-Based Patties have 20 grams of protein andImpossible burgers 19 grams per 113 gram serving. Ground beef with 20% fat, often recommended for burgers, has 17.1 grams of protein per 100 grams, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Beyond lists pea protein isolate as its second ingredient; the first is water. Fine said this isn’t necessarily problematic — it’s just not a whole food, and protein supplements, like pea protein isolate, are unhealthful when over-consumed.

“One thing I always tell clients is when you’re looking at plant-based foods, look for ingredients high on the list that are whole foods,” Fine said. “The problem with a lot of additives is that we just don’t know the long-term effects of them, whereas a beef burger could just be one ingredient: beef.”

Soy and potato proteins are the main protein source for Impossible Burgers. Robin Foroutan, a registered dietitian nutritionist in New York City who specializes in integrative medicine and is a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, said this could be a problem for people with soy allergies.

“I don’t see anything in either of the ingredient lists or the nutritional panels that would raise a red flag,” Foroutan said, referring to both Beyond and Impossible products.

“It’s important to keep in mind that things like processed soy and other kinds of processed foods should be eaten in moderation,” she said. “So, it wouldn’t be something that I’d advise people to eat regularly, but certainly for people who are trying to cut down on red meat and that are vegetarian or vegans.”

Two of the top-selling traditional veggie burger products, Kellogg-owned Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie Burgers and Kraft Heinz’s Boca Veggie Burgers, also contain soy. Morningstar Farms has 11 grams of protein per 67 gram burger, and a 71 gram Boca burger has 13 grams of protein.

Another popular veggie burger, Gardenburger, also owned by Kellogg, contains cooked brown rice, mushrooms and rolled oats as its first three ingredients. Fine said these whole foods offer good sources of fiber. Gardenburger has 5 grams of protein per 71 gram burger. (Unlike Beyond and Impossible, these veggie burgers are not vegan.)

More protein isn’t necessarily better, especially when it’s from processed sources, Fine and Foroutan say. The Dietary Reference Intake recommends 0.36 gram of protein per pound of body weight for adults each day.

“Your burger doesn’t really have to have 20 grams of protein,” Fine said. “If it has 10 grams, that’s a great source of protein. I’d rather the protein come from eggs or legumes, not isolates.”

The amount of saturated fat is comparable to beef.

Coconut oil is another main ingredient in both Beyond and Impossible products. Michele Sidorenkov, a Phoenix-based registered dietitian nutritionist and trained chef, said coconut oil is high in saturated fat but is commonly thought of as a healthful fat.

“While there might be some public support for coconut oil’s health benefits, the overall body of research and research-based recommendations say to limit coconut oil, and coconut oil fats are not as healthy as other plant-based, unsaturated oils, like olive oil or canola,” Sidorenkov said.

Reach Out Recovery.

Balancing Blood Sugar With High Energy Foods

High energy foods help balance blood sugar and stop the rollercoaster of highs and lows. All day snacking sends our bodies on that wild ride. Blood sugar dips and swings demand sugary foods every 2-3 hours. The first step to balancing blood sugar is to up our water intake. The next step is adding high energy foods.

As we nourish our bodies with foods that are high energy, we will crowd out foods that provide low energy. Our focus, therefore, is on what we are adding to our diets, and not what we are restricting from our diets. There will be no ‘do not eat’ list of foods that must be remembered, instead we will tune into our bodies and consider how energetic we feel.

Timing your intake of protein

Protein is one of the three major macronutrients required by the body. Proteins are broken down into amino acids. These amino acids repair and maintain the body. When the amount of protein consumed is greater than the demand by the body for necessary repair, it is used for energy.

That’s right! Excess protein is converted to energy. So if too much protein is consumed in addition to carbohydrates, which are another type of macronutrient, the protein will be converted to fats. Then it’s stored on the body as fat.

How Do High Energy Foods Help Balance Blood Sugar
Balancing blood sugar is eating the right amount of protein

In order to stabilize the coaster, we must consume protein in just the right amount so that any excess is converted to energy and not fat. What is the right amount of protein to eat?  Unfortunately, this question isn’t easy to answer. The right amount of protein for one person isn’t the right amount for the next. Instead, we can identify the best protein source and the timing of that source in the best lab in the world — the body. Here’s how to figure out how much you need:

Journal your eating to gauge your energy throughout the day

Start experimenting! Keep a journal and chart what you’re eating and when you are eating it. For best results, try proteins from both animal and plant sources. Animal sources of protein include:

Fish
Poultry
Meat

Plant sources include:

Nuts
Nut butters
Beans
Lentils
Chia seeds

Day One – Add a plant source at breakfast and check in with your energy level after a couple of hours – is your energy up or do you feel sluggish?

Day Two – Try an animal source the next day for breakfast. Check in after two hours – energy up or down?

Day Three – Have no protein for breakfast and check in on your energy in the same way. Follow the same guidelines for your other meals.

How Mindful Shopping Works To Balance Blood Sugar

Protein for vegetarians

If you follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, experiment with the types of foods you are choosing and the amount of protein in the serving. Perhaps you require more protein at breakfast to keep your blood sugar in check, while someone else requires less, or requires it from a specific source.

The idea here is to check in with your body, be curious and just notice what attributes to the rises and falls of your energy. In this way, the drastic highs and lows of the blood sugar roller coaster will start to stabilize and for longer periods of time.

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Balancing Blood Sugar With Mindful Shopping

Mindful shopping can make a difference in balancing your blood sugar rollercoaster. Let’s consider what you are eating from another perspective, and make a change by mindful shopping. Choose groceries with purpose.

What is mindless shopping?

Mindless grocery shopping… ever done it? You know, when you habitually grab this and that and plunk it into the cart without much of a thought? Perhaps you glance at the nutritional information, but only to count the calories and make a split second decision as to whether or not the food is “good” or “bad” for you.

This is typical of mindlessness. It happens when you operate out of routine because the mind is off and running in fifty different directions. There isn’t any real presence in the moment.

Make a change. Breathe. Slow down. Shop with purpose. Here’s how.

1. Go mindful shopping this week

Set aside 60 minutes to shop at your favorite store. Time yourself on your phone or in some way to make you accountable. Make an agreement with yourself that whatever goes in your cart is composed of ingredients that are natural.

2. Count chemicals not calories!

The idea is to crowd out foods with a high chemical content in favor of foods that are nutritious and promote high energy. Look at the nutritional information in another way. Focus on the ingredients.

The more nutritious foods have a shorter ingredient list and more energy for you. Likewise, the closer the food is to the farmer, the more energy you will derive from it.

Chemicals are meant to elongate shelf life, not your life!

Food as nature intended

In nature, there is a pyramid of energy associated with food.  Food chains begin with green plants at the pyramid’s base as they have the highest energy available.

Consumers feeding directly on plants are herbivores (from the Latin “herb” meaning “plant” and “vore” meaning “to eat”) and are found at the next level up. Organisms who feed on herbivores are carnivores (“carn” meaning “flesh”), and are arranged as first-, second- or third-order based on whether they eat another carnivore or an herbivore. Omnivores (“omni” meaning “all”) round out the group; feasting on carnivores, herbivores and plants.

The best food for energy

Organisms in nature choose foods that have the highest level of energy available to them. For this reason, a lion doesn’t hunt a mouse! The lion is innately aware that the amount of energy expended to get the mouse will be in excess of the energy the mouse will actually provide. Lions hunt big game.

3. Hunt for real food

We would do well to follow the lead of the lion when planning our meals. Choosing foods that are high energy as opposed to the synthetic foods that spike blood sugar, and counting the chemicals in our choices instead of the calories.

4. Start in the “No Label” section

Ever notice how there aren’t any labels in the produce aisle? The ingredients in a banana are … well… banana. That’s about as uncomplicated as it gets.

Your mindful shopping starts here. Fill up your cart from this section. Stuck for ideas? Start with what you know, like a basic salad. Then:

Create a new recipe around a fruit or vegetable this week.
Add berries and grapes to salad greens.
Cut up an orange and add the sections along with raspberries.
Pears and blueberries are well mated on a bed of arugula; apples, avocado and cheddar on butter lettuce.
Nuts and seeds like almonds, walnuts, chia, flax and sunflower add crunch and the added benefit of Omega-3 and protein.
Tame the bite of a radish with the sweetness of snow peas and pineapple.

5. Then look for other “No Ingredients Listed” foods

Bump up nutrition with:

Chicken
Fish
Shrimp
Tuna
Other protein sources like beef or pork

Slow down and be mindful of the array of goodies that are available to you. Be curious and notice what foods you are choosing to fuel your body. Your body will thank you.

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Balancing Blood Sugar With Water

Balancing blood sugar with water is the first step to having more energy, better focus, and weight loss. We can start changing the rollercoaster of blood sugar highs and lows by upping our water intake.

Here’s how the blood sugar rollercoaster works. Often, we break the fast of slumber with sugary goodies. This surges energy into our body. Then around mid-morning, we feel the crash of low energy. Into the break room we go, looking for something to boost our energy. The snack works until just about lunchtime. The collective grumblings from our bellies create a loud uprising. Across the office, the text messages begin in earnest, “Lunch?”

Blood sugar high leads to low over and over

We’re satiated afterwards, driving the roller coaster back up until mid-afternoon. The blood sugar roller coaster takes another free fall, and we scurry off to the vending machine. Up and down the rails the roller coaster travels, carrying our energy along for the ride.

The energy highs and lows drive us to snack. Before we realize it, we’re eating between meals, before meals and after meals. Then it becomes a habit. This ritualized feeding has created lifestyle diseases like obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis and heart disease. These are called lifestyle diseases. They are born of industrialization, and they can be prevented by habit changes in the areas of diet and lifestyle. The needle mover in the American diet, therefore, is balancing blood sugar.

Balancing blood sugar with water

Blood sugar is the fuel that drives the roller coaster and the diet. Balancing blood sugar becomes the respite from the highs and lows encountered in a typical day.

The first step to balance blood sugar is to increase your daily intake of water. Water is one of the main nutrients in the body, and it’s most commonly underestimated when considering a diet.

Water fights inflammation; it regulates metabolism and provides extra energy. Unfortunately, the typical American is dehydrated daily. Many drink far less than the average minimum requirement of 64 ounces. Checking for adequate water intake does not require a fancy test or a jab with a needle. Simple observation of the abundance of urine and a pale yellow color is validation of being fully hydrated.

Make water tasty

Many people complain water “Doesn’t taste like anything.” This is a simple fix. Adding pure essential oils like lime, lemon or sweet orange add taste without adding sugar, caffeine or excess electrolytes to the diet. Natural spring water, purified water and tap water carried in a refillable bottle make access to water uncomplicated, albeit its consumption is not inevitable.

Make the water change subtle

When adding water to the diet, it must be done incrementally, adding approximately 4 – 8 ounces until the 64 ounces or .67% of the body weight is achieved. Keep in mind that as with any habit change, it will require time for the body to adapt. When adding water to the diet, you will be in the bathroom more often than you’re used to until the body adjusts to the increase.

High Energy Foods Are the Next Step To balancing Blood Sugar
Make the water change a habit

Also, remember that knowledge does not equal behavioral change! Just because you know what you’re supposed to be doing, doesn’t mean you’ll make a change.  We spend our lives in the realm of knowledge.  We must move from knowing to doing. We have to re-wire our brains so that our go-to responses are those which support healthy lifestyles.

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Balancing Blood Sugar With Fat

Balancing blood sugar with fat helps us stop eating constantly which makes our blood sugar a roller coaster of highs and lows. Here’s how it works.

First we add more water to our diet. Then we add high quality proteins because protein keeps us full. And now…Fat. Thought you shouldn’t have it? Think again.

Balancing blood sugar with fat

Fats (or lipids) are used for energy in the body as a slow burn. Unlike the quick burst of energy from a carbohydrate, fats provide a long term source of energy. Fats are additionally beneficial as they:

Absorb fat soluble vitamins
Aid in the maintenance of a steady metabolism
Nourish the skin, hair, and nails

Fats, like proteins, are macronutrients; they need to be broken down to be effective. Fatty acids and glycerol are the components of fats.  Their structural arrangement determines whether they are deemed “healthy” or “unhealthy” due, in part, to their level of saturation. Trans fats, saturated fats, unsaturated fats, and essential fatty acids (Omega-3) are the different types of fats, and some are healthier than others.

Balancing Blood Sugar Starts With Water
Stay Away From Trans Fats

Trans fats are chemically altered fats. Since they are man-made, the body has a difficult time processing them. These fats raise LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels, accelerating heart disease and aging. They increase food’s shelf life and give flavor to processed foods, commercially prepared baked goods and margarines. They should be eliminated from a healthy diet.

Minimize saturated fats

Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and, with one notable exception, their consumption should be minimized. The exception is coconut oil as it contains beneficial medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). Coconut oil can:

Promote heart health
Stimulate metabolism
Keep the skin youthful looking

Add healthy unsaturated fats

Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature, like canola and olive oil. These are fats that can be added to the diet as a healthier alternative to the synthetic trans fats and the saturated fats like butter.

What are essential fatty acids

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are “essential” because the body cannot make them. Ergo, they must be obtained through the diet. They are the most healthy for us to consume, but also the least common in a typical American diet.

Notably, they are anti-inflammatory, and keep the blood sugar level consistent. This promotes:

Memory
Energy
Mood
Decreased stress

EFAs are divided into the Omega-3 and Omega-6. The standard American diet overloads the 6s and skimps on the 3s. Omega-3s are found in:

Oily fish
Fish oil supplements
Walnuts
Flax seed

In some individual diets the ratio is skewed 20:1 in favor of Omega-6, which limits the anti-inflammatory punch of the Omega-3.

What Does Mindful Shopping Have To Do with Balancing Blood Sugar
Watch out for no or low fat foods

When diets are labeled “No fat”, “Fat free” and “Low fat”, the mindset is to remove fat, as though its mere presence in the diet created havoc.  Fat is not the enemy! It is an essential macronutrient, and its removal from the diet is what is detrimental.

When one nutrient is removed from a balanced diet, another takes its place. In the case of removing fats, the alternative is often sugar. Therefore, a seemingly healthy version of a “No fat”, “Fat free” or “Low fat” diet becomes a “High sugar” diet and back on the roller coaster you go.

The post Balancing Blood Sugar With Fat appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

‘With Me Nearly Always’: Readers On Emotional Support Animals

From The New York Times:

How pets have changed the lives of people living with anxiety, pain or grief.

Barbara Steinberg says she would not be alive today without her parrot, Harry. Ms. Steinberg, who has bipolar disorder, wrote to tell us how much she depends on her feathered friend of over 29 years for laughs, companionship, and general well-being.

More people claim that their pets — whether dogs, ducks, peacocks, pigs or alligators — are emotional support animals who help them deal with anxiety and depression and must stay with them in places where they would ordinarily be barred: on airplanes, in retail stores and restaurants, at hotels and in no-pets apartments. But landlords and airlines say the system is rife with fraud, and pet owners are facing pushback.

We asked readers about their views on the issue and their challenges with emotional support animals. Some readers said the use of support animals had gone too far, while many others told us how their animals have changed their lives.

Here’s a selection of reader photos and responses, which have been lightly edited for clarity.

Emotional Support (but Not on a Plane)

I have bipolar disorder and would be dead without Harry. We are mates. However, I would never take him on a plane, to a restaurant, or other public place with confined spaces.

Barbara with her parrot, Harry.CreditBarbara Steinberg

I have someone who needs me as much as I need him, someone to care for, someone to talk to, someone to make me laugh and requited love over 29 years.

—  Barbara Steinberg,  Reno,  Nev.

They See the Dog, Not the Need

Norton is approximately 5 years old now. He is a rescue dog, driven to New York from Kentucky. Norton has been in my life for four years now, and he isn’t fakery, by any means!

We were removed from a shop. It wasn’t pretty. My disability is invisible, and Norton doesn’t seem to be more than the cutest creature on the planet!

He is with me nearly always, although I have given up my braverysomewhat. It isn’t worth the fight. When I didn’t have balance enough to walk, Norton held me up with his harness and leash. He rolls over on his back when I’m crying from pain, allowing me to feel his warm belly. He makes me laugh. Norton dances on his hind legs when he meets strangers.

— BethAnn Shoenfeld,  Saugerties, N.Y.

A Respite From Grief

I “named” Mara as my therapy horse when I bought her five years ago. I was starting over and trying to heal from trauma, anxiety and grief.

My emotional well-being was shattered. I left my career of 30 years and was off the grid for more than four years after my son Benjamin’s death. I needed her silent companionship.

Caring for her, going out alone on trail rides with her, bonding with such a powerful animal have moved me forward.

Helen Stassen,  Prescott, Wis.

A Complete 180




 


Nik and his dog, SofieCreditBrad Coy







 
 
 

My left eye twitched all day, every day [from anxiety] for 3 years prior to getting my dog, Sofie. Since then, I have seen my health turn a complete 180. I sleep better; I’m focused on living instead of surviving day to day.

My life has been reorganized as a result of caring for my dog. I wax rhapsodically about my health benefits.

Nik Dev,  San Francisco

She Grew With Me

I have been diagnosed with severe anxiety by my psychiatrist. I have a difficult time with day-to-day functions, resulting in failing grades and social relationships. My therapist recommended I pursue an emotional support animal, and I have since adopted a rescue cat, Callie.

I got her in September 2018 at 2 ½ months old. Since she grew with me, she grew to know my emotional needs, and does an incredible job calming me down when I’m overwhelmed by an anxiety attack. Callie is the only reason I’m able to live alone, get up and be productive. Yes, I am also on anxiety medications, and no, those are not an adequate replacement for the love and care my emotional support animal gives me.

Whitney Call,  St. Louis

 

The post ‘With Me Nearly Always’: Readers On Emotional Support Animals appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

How to Avoid Social Media Blues

By SARAH EZRIN Yacht parties and bikini bodies got you down? Here’s how to get out of the funk.

I photoshopped a picture of myself once. Okay, maybe more than once.

I’m not talking about adding filters or erasing stains from my shirt. I’m talking vacuuming away parts of my stomach, arms, and even a little thigh. When I gave my husband a virtual tummy tuck, he finally forced me to check myself.

“You can’t talk about self-love and authenticity and then use photoshop!” He was horrified. And then I was, too.

I whole-heartedly believe we’re each put on this earth in our own unique bodies to express our true Selves. And through platforms such as teaching yoga, writing, and using social media, part of my job is to help people realize this. I teach the self-acceptance and body positivity—but I wasn’t always practicing it.

What the bleep was I doing erasing a few pounds with the swipe of my finger?

For the honest answer, we must take a little trip back in time.

I have been dieting since I was 9 years old. Even now, while I may no longer count calories or weigh my broccoli, I still watch every morsel I put in my mouth. I was a child of the early nineties—the era of the supermodel. Pictures of Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford lined the walls of my room. My mum modeled, too (along with her many other careers), and I coveted her air-brushed headshots, just as I did every single page of Vogue.

I wish I looked like that.

Wow, she’s so beautiful.

Why am I so ugly?

These were the lyrics that played on repeat in my head. Not exactly the anthems we want for our children.

The pressure of perfection is a force so strong it can flatten us, if we let it. Literally. It will drain out our color, wash away our texture, and suck us down to some sort of washed-out, skeletal, carbon copy of a Barbie doll.

Under every photoshopped picture is a human being. A real person, who’s every pore, every wrinkle, every scar, every pound, tells a unique story.

Unfortunately, these are the stories the media does not want us to hear. If we did, we might never buy another beauty product again. Instead, corporate interest spins a golden yarn of the unattainable: the “perfect” woman, the “perfect” man. And the messaging is so loud and pervasive that we absorb it without even trying. Like a top 20 hit you’ve somehow memorized without ever intentionally listening to the song.

One day, you find yourself looking at a picture you just took, and instead of seeing the glory in your unique story, you see all your perceived flaws. So, you download an app on your phone that allows you to become a sliver of that “perfect” ideal with the click of your thumb. And like magic, all of the insecurities, the negativity, erase from the screen. That was easy!

But to truly love ourselves in a world that tells us we are not enough is not easy. It takes great courage. It is a rebellious act. It means ignoring the toxic messages and beauty ideals and accept ourselves as we are in this moment. It means looking yourself in the eye in the mirror saying—and really believing—“You are beautiful.” Not because we are thin or tan or have poreless skin. You are beautiful because there is no one in the entire universe that is like you! And nor will there ever be again.

So, the next time you take a picture that you are going to share to the world, I dare you to not add a filter. I dare you to not adjust or alter the image in any way. To share your story in all of its glorious detail. You do not have to be afraid, for I will stand with you. Or hands held, our faces clear, and our soul’s bright.

Here are some tools to help you avoid the perfection trap:
1. When you take a picture, look at the whole picture.

How often do we take a picture and immediately zoom in to inspect ourselves? Think about group pictures: What is the first thing people do when they look at one? They focus on themselves and their flaws. But it is our imperfections that make us beautifully who we are. I’m a sucker for a big nose and a crooked smile. As Leonard Cohen says in his song “Anthem,” There is a crack in everything/ That’s how the light gets in. When you take a photo, try to see the entire image—the complete scene. Remember where you were, who you were with, and how you felt. Pictures should capture memories not project fantasies.

2. Delete image-editing apps from of your phone. Remove the temptation!

When I am not being mindful, my desire for perfection can border on obsession. Couple that with social media addiction and it’s a recipe for disaster. At one point, I had 10 different apps on my phone for altering images. 10 different apps! In the same way it is helpful to not have alcohol in the house when you are on a cleanse, removing the apps relieves the temptation. Instead, fill your phone with apps that help you grow creatively. Try learning a new language, playing brain games, and listening to interesting podcasts. Take more pictures of your dog.

3. Unfollow people who trigger you.

I stopped buying fashion magazines a long time ago because of how bad they made me feel. Even though I knew the images were altered, I could not help comparing myself to supermodels’ stick figures. Nowadays, these types of images pervade social media, and because they appear in someone’s personal feed rather than a magazine, we think they’re real. It’s much harder to deciphering what is fake. If you find yourself constantly feeling bad from looking at someone’s posts, it might be time to stop following them. Instead, find people to follow who leave you feeling empowered and inspired.

4. Get off social media and into the real world.

One of my favorite things about teaching yoga is looking around the room and seeing all of the different body types. If we all looked or practiced the same, life would be so boring! When I look up from my phone and back out into the world, I find myself in awe of how beautiful everything is, from an 85-year-old walking with their 10-year-old grandchild, to a couple smooching on a park bench. Look around to see just how varied and unique and interesting we all are. Life is beautiful!

5. The next time you take a picture, look for one thing you love.

As mentioned above, we have a tendency to home in on what we think are flaws. We zoom in, looking for something wrong. The next time you take a picture, instead of looking for what to fix, look for what you love. If you cannot find anything at first, look at the bigger picture. What did you love about that outfit? That location? Who you were with? Start to train your brain to see the beauty. This can (and should) start in the mirror. One of my favorite self-love practices is to say one thing I love about myself every day. It doesn’t have to be physical, either! The more we learn to love ourselves, the more love we have to give others.

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