Learning a Healthy Lifestyle

“You are what you eat." We hear this over and over again, but it doesn’t really register with most of us because it is so cliché. If this old adage is true, you might be thinking to yourself, “Hmmmm… Well, if I am what I eat, then today I am a bowl of cereal, some Rice-A-Roni, some chicken, and a sugar-free ice-cream sandwich!” This all sounds very cute, until you take a closer look at the back of the cereal box, or the Rice-a-Roni box, or the ice-cream sandwich package.

While reading the labels, you might discover that you are actually made of a lot of things that you might not expect, or may not even be able to pronounce. Now you might be saying something like, “Today I am high-fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, monosodium glutamate and aspartame!” Not so cute-sounding anymore, is it.

Not only are the ingredients we find in many foods unappetizing and hard to pronounce, but some of these things are the leading causes of obesity and disease today. Food industry leaders are always trying to find ways to sell more products, and make it more cheaply in order to raise profits, as all large companies are. While these ingredients might have been deemed “safe” by the FDA, they are not necessarily the healthiest, nor are they necessarily harmless.

Thankfully, these companies are required to list all the ingredients on the labels. If you take the time to make yourself aware of what’s in your food, you might find out that you are made of things that are a little less scary-sounding, not to mention your pants might start to fit a little better.

image by Nick Holliday

If you are currently very overweight, chances are good you are frequently experiencing some kind of chronic disease. Allow me to use my personal history as an example.

As a kid I used to live an extremely unhealthy lifestyle, drinking several sodas every day and eating fast food whenever I had the chance. I was so unhealthy and overweight I couldn’t even run a mile without having to take a break several times. I always was that kid in class with the serious immunity problems, sneezing all the time and snorting, annoying just about everybody around me. To think of it, it was actually kind of sad.

Now it's true that a lot of this could be caused by the several allergies which I’ve been carrying with me since my birth, but I am sure there's more to it than just that. You'll soon read why.

image by Joe 13

Childhood obesity trends are horrifying. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have noted that in the 70’s childhood obesity rates were less than 6% while studies done today are showing a trend upwards of around 20%. In other words, in a single classroom, instead of there being just one child picked on for being overweight, we now have two or three kids. When considering the fact that childhood obesity leads to serious health consequences, one starts to wonder why it is steadily increasing and what is being done to slow it down.

While there are many factors affecting the obesity rates in the US, one huge area to be addressed are the school vending machines. In an educational and supposedly safe environment for children, it is difficult to understand why junk food or high calorie yet nutrient deficient foods are allowed into our schools. Some might argue freedom of choice, but for children who often cannot make the right choice; it is up to adults to do something about it.

In understanding the power of tea, we must first start with green tea.

Many historians believe that green tea was first cultivated in China and India before spreading to other Asian countries like Thailand and Japan.

Dried and cured leaves Camellia sinensis are used to make green tea beverages and although there are so many ways to include green tea in your diet, it is historically used by letting the unique healing properties seep out into the boiling water. These healing properties are widely known and some scientific studies are helping to get green tea to be used in medical treatments.

If you’ve ever requested a vegetarian meal on an airplane, then you know that the airline gives you an entirely different meal than everyone else--this is not necessary. While I’m eating bean paste and sprouts without a cookie, I’m salivating over the sandwich, grapes, and chips everyone else is eating. During my 15 years of vegetarianism, there is no question I get asked more frequently than, “What should I feed a vegetarian guest?” To answer the question, prepare whatever dish you normally would, with meat on the side.

Vegetarians are like everyone else, but we just don’t eat meat. I’ve been to many dinner parties where I was forced to choke down bland, poorly-cooked tofu while everyone else ate gourmet. Follow these simple guidelines to please any vegetarian guest. You’ll be surprised how easy it is.

Metroknow from AlmostFit made a blog post called Did Cereal Make Me Fat?. While reading this excellent article I immediately felt like saying something about the miracle food called oatmeal. Here's what I commented:

(...) For as far as my knowledge goes the ultimate breakfast cereal is … oatmeal. Really. It’s unbelievable stuff. Every day one bowl of oatmeal and you’re set for the day.
What I do is take one cup of oats and 2 cups of water and mix them in a pan. I cook it until it starts boiling a bit and then I quickly add some raisins while stirring a bit. Done! Of course there are many different ways to prepare oatmeal,... and some preparation methods take a bit more time. But if you want quality vs effort, this 2 minute preparation time is the way to go for a delicious bowl of healthy breakfast.

I started eating oatmeal about 2 years ago and still have them every morning. This grain is absolutely brilliant. Oatmeal has several health benefits. Most notable are it's positive effects on cholesterol, but it also helps fight cancer, diabetes and weight loss. Now here's the really cool part. When you read the oatmeal ingredients label, there's only one: Oatmeal! No added sugars, preservatives, coloratives and more-crap-atives. Just quality unprocessed and natural food --  which is the way I like it.

Even the Utah Beef Council admits, “Several epidemiological studies indicate that vegetarians have lower morbidity and mortality from chronic degenerative diseases.” Today, vegetarians only make up about two percent of the population, but everyday more and more people give up eating red meat or try their first bite of tofu. Aside from ethics, what are the main reasons people are turning away from meat? Health and the ecology.