By now, just about everyone knows that sugary soft drinks, desserts, and snack foods are making us fatter and that their sugar content is one of the main reasons why they’re so bad for us. But could sugar be even worse than that? Could it actually be toxic?

More and more researchers are starting to think so, and several have assembled some pretty compelling evidence to support their case.

Robert Lustig’s campaign against sugar

According to Gary Taubes’s widely read New York Times Magazine article published last spring, Robert Lustig, a childhood obesity expert at the University of California, San Francisco, has taken it upon himself to speak out against sugar – a substance he sees not just as a source of empty calories but as “a poison by itself.”

His argument is more or less this: Since the liver is forced to convert sugars into fat when they’re consumed in sufficient quantities, consumption of sugar is the leading culprit in the ongoing obesity epidemic. Obesity, of course, often leads to insulin resistance, which leads to type 2 diabetes and/or heart disease.

Sugar, argues Lustig, is the root cause of these maladies. Therefore, the stuff is nothing but poison, pure and simple – a substance that ought to be lumped in with alcohol and tobacco as something that leads to an early death.

And it’s not just high fructose corn syrup that’s to blame. Although the ill effects of that widely demonized food additive are now well known, Lustig claims that sucrose, the white, powdery sugar you spoon into your coffee, is just as nefarious.

But it gets worse.

If sugar leads to insulin resistance, which we’re pretty sure it does, and insulin resistance leads to obesity and diabetes, what does that mean as far as cancer is concerned? After all, it’s widely accepted by most researchers that one’s likelihood of developing cancer increases when he or she is obese and/or diabetic.

Could sugar, then, be a carcinogen? Could it actually cause cancer?

It sounds like a radical notion, and it’s not something experts are even close to agreeing upon. But Lewis Cantley, who directs the Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School, argues in Taubes’s article that if there’s anything causing insulin resistance – anything besides just being overweight, that is – then that “something” increases our risk of developing cancer.

So… no more desserts? Ever?

If taking the kids out for ice cream is just as bad for their health as letting them smoke a few cigarettes, we may have to seriously reconsider the foods we consume.

But remember that there’s still no consensus on the issue. Back when everyone thought direct consumption of fat led to their being overweight, we all bought fat-free processed foods and thought we were healthier. Since then, we’ve learned that fat isn’t the only culprit and that many fat-free foods are still bad for us in their own way.

If one thing is certain, it’s that we should definitely consume less sugar. Carcinogen or not, empty calories are just that – empty calories. Replacing them with wholesome, nutritious foods (a cliché by now, yes?) is still the way to go.

Adam Green is a freelance writer who avoids eating “sweet stuff” whenever he can. He contributed this article on behalf of Full Circle, an organic produce delivery service.

We are living in an ‘Instant World’. In our quest for instant gratification, we indulge in instant coffee and instant food. No time for a proper breakfast?Not to worry, you grab a burger to go from a fast food joint. Meetings and conferences eating away your lunch hour? Well, you skip lunch and have an early dinner. Late night party with a bunch of friends? You drink like a fish and keep the hunger pangs at bay while munching on chicken tikkas.

These are choices we make every single day, without a thought to what we are doing to our bodies. Today, eating healthy has become hard work. What should have been a way of life is almost like an alternative lifestyle.Come to think of it, eating healthy has actually never been easier. There is a lot of information floating around – from grandma’s tips to professional advice. Any food and drink item that you pick up is labeled with its energy constituents. Every other person is on some kind of a diet, either to lose weight or maintain an ideal body weight. So why is eating healthy such a difficult proposition?

What we are trying to do is make it easy for you to eat healthy. Read on and find out how you can enjoy the benefits of healthy eating.

1. A Week in Review

More often than not, we eat without actually realizing what we are consuming. So you had a chicken burger for lunch. What exactly did you get out of it? What percentage of it was fat or carbohydrate? Does the lettuce layer in the cheeseburger make it healthy? We don’t really worry about what we eat until we suffer the consequences.

As a first step to healthy eating, make a log of you everything that passes your gullet. Keep a written diary of what you eat, how much, and when. Also note what you were doing while you were eating. If you skipped dinner, put that down in the log. It’s important not to cheat on this log – it’s your eating habits that we are trying to rectify.

2. Plan the Objectives

Why do you want to eat healthy? Do you want to shed those extra kilos? Or are you looking for an increase in stamina? Is you blood pressure bothering you?You have to make the decision -what will your objectives be? This will help you judge if the changes you made in your eating habits served any purpose or not.

3. Planning for Dietary Needs

It’s not always advisable to follow your friend’s diet chart blindly. You have to make allowances for your own dietary requirements and make adjustments accordingly. If you have high blood pressure, it makes sense to reduce the consumption of sodium in your diet. This may mean elimination of canned foods and cooking low salt food. Similarly, for diabetes, you may have to cut down your sugar intake. If you are overweight, you will need to decrease your calorie intake or increase the amount of physical exercise.

Meet with a nutritionist to discuss your specific health issues. It is dangerous to embark on a healthy eating spree with half baked ideas.

4. ABC’s of Healthy Eating

We understand that sometimes it can feel like you are being bombarded with more information than you can process with clarity. If you don’t know where to begin, follow these basic guidelines to help you understand how you can eat healthy.

1. Eat a variety of foods.
2. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and grains.
3. Reduce the intake of sugar and salts.
4. Eat foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
5. Switch to 1% skim milk rather than full cream milk.
6. Choose to bake, broil, steam, grill and poach, instead of deep frying.
7. Use canola oil or olive oil for stir frying.

Now that we have got you started, you won’t find it difficult to wade through the morasses of information to pick up other healthy eating habits.

5. Variety is the Spice of Life

There is no single food which can provide you will all the nutrients required for your body to stay healthy and function properly. Ideally, you should choose a variety of foods from the five different food groups.

Eating healthy is all about striking the right balance. You should choose a variety of foods from each of the main food groups in the right proportion. It’s not imperative that you maintain this balance at each and every meal. But at least once in a day, you should strive to achieve it. Remember, many food items can belong to a variety of food groups. A pizza for example, has a bread base, a vegetable, meat and cheese topping.

6. A King’s Breakfast and a Pauper’s Dinner

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It helps you kick start your day with zest and energy. It not only lulls you out of physical inertia, it also makes you alert mentally.

Eating a healthy breakfast is also known to reduce the number of calories you consume later in the day. Researchers have found that the calories consumed in the earlier part of the day are more filling than the same amount of calories consumed in the later half.

An ideal breakfast should contain some amount of carbohydrates for quick energy and also some proteins to help you last until lunch. Poached eggs, low fat yogurt, oatmeal, bagel and low fat cheese, all make good breakfast options. The latest health trend is to completely skip the traditional concept of breakfast, lunch and dinner, and have six smaller meals instead. Eat in smaller plates and exercise portion control.

7. Bad Eating Habits- A Complete No-No

Skipping meals or starving yourself is not the way to go. The first step that your body takes in response to a skipped meal is storage of fats. You not only end up eating more for your next meal, your body thinks that it’s important to store the calories because it’s not certain when you will take the next meal.So skipping a meal will only be counterproductive.

Also, when you are eating, concentrate on eating. Multitasking may be important in the corporate world, but when you try to do something else, like read your email or watch TV while you eat, you end up eating more than you otherwise would.

Try and lessen the amount of fast food you eat. When you are bored, you may pick up a bag of potato chips or sip on a fizzy drink. But it makes much more sense to munch on fruits or vegetables, like a stick of celery or a carrot.

8. Read those Labels

One of the benefits of living in today’s world is that all packages, canned and prepared foods have labels on them which list out their ingredients and their nutritional values. The nutrition labels indicate the serving size and also the percent of daily values of saturated fat, carbohydrate, fiber, protein and sodium in each serving. These values are based on a 2000-calorie scale.

When you have this facility at your disposal, why not make the most of it? Look for hidden fats and sugars, high amounts of sugar and sodium. Don’t pick up items which have hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils in them.

9. Junk the Junk Food

If there is no junk food in the house, then you won’t eat it. Follow this maxim religiously. Don’t linger in the fast food isle and pick up popcorn, frozen dinners, wafers, chips and colas. Keep a steady supply of fresh fruit and vegetables in the house for those times when the urge to snack kicks in. Plan ahead so that you never run out of healthy snacks.

One surefire step towards unhealthy eating is going grocery shopping when you are hungry. When you are hungry, everything looks appetizing, nothing more so than those calorie laden, fried stuff. If you shop when you are hungry, you are liable to pick up chocolate bars and snacks, none of which will help you eat healthy. So fill up that tummy before you head out to replenish the stock.

10. Don’t Go Overboard

And finally, too much of a good thing is not really good in the long run. You may decide to embark on a healthy eating fad by consuming only vegetables and fruits and non fat food. You may completely give up those chocolate pastries, the fizzy drinks and the one peg of whisky which was your night time ritual.

But beware! This extreme diet may not last long and when it goes for a toss; your body will feel the repercussions. You may end up gorging on deep fried foods and everything else that is not healthy. So moderation is the key. Accept those eating habits which you are comfortable with. Remember one piece of chocolate once in while will probably not cause you any harm.

Delicious food is one of life’s greatest pleasures and all kinds of foods can be part of a healthful diet. So, give in to your cravings sometimes. Indulge in your favorite sinful foods once in a while. No food is bad for you; it’s your total diet that matters.

About Author:

My name is jackie anderson and i run a website on converse shoes : http://www.theconverseshoes.info

Wrinkle Reduction

When Ponce De Leon set out to find the fountain of youth over 500 years ago, he probably never could have imagined that one day youth would be captured. Not by a stream of liquid of course, but by a beam of light. Today, lasers, broad band light sources and radio frequency technologies are all used for turning back the clock with wrinkle reduction or tissue tightening treatments.

Wrinkles happen as people age because of the natural break down of collagen and elastin in the skin. But that process can be expedited and exacerbated by choices made early on in life. People who smoke, and fail to use sunscreen will show the signs of aging sooner and more severely than others; and may find themselves longing for a second chance to make different choices.

The wrinkle reduction procedure can provide an opportunity for younger looking skin. Laser light is used to re-stimulate collagen growth, and wrinkles are filled in by the new collagen giving skin a smoother tighter appearance. The results are visibly noticeable relatively soon after a treatment, but unfortunately this fountain of youth does not spring eternal. Results of skin tightening treatments begin to fade after about 3 months or so meaning that repeat treatments will be required. The good news is that the procedure is painless; the bad news is it’s not cheap. While laser treatments can help reverse the appearance of aging, there is nothing more effective for anti-aging than taking proactive measures throughout life.

Tattoo Removal

For many people tattoos represent self expression, and art. For others, tattoos signify impulse and, years later, remorse. A 2004 study by The American Academy of Dermatology indicates that about 17% of respondents with tattoos have at least considered having them removed. Tattoos have long been regarded as a heavy commitment due to their permanent nature, but now there are ways of undoing that engagement.

There are any number of reasons someone might one day find themselves ready to undo a tattoo. Times change, bodies change, lifestyles, jobs and people change and often those evolutions bring with them a wish for a do-over.

Fortunately for those with post tattoo regret, through tattoo removal processes, that wish can come true. Thanks to modern technology it has become possible to divorce a tattoo. However, like divorce, some methods such as, Dermabrasion, are painful and can leave scars. That’s what makes laser tattoo removal so appealing. Through the use of laser wave-lengths, the tattoo is broken up into tiny fragments that are small enough to be absorbed by the body. Surprisingly, darker pigments, which absorb more light, are actually the easiest to remove.

Thanks to the constant development and improvement of laser procedures, many people with tattoo regret are getting a second chance at a clean slate. Even though lasers mean that, when it comes to tattoos, nothing is forever, the treatments can be costly. So, in the end, it’s still wise to only get a tattoo if you’re sure you want to spend a lifetime with it.

Eye Surgery

The sense of sight is something most of us take for granted, even when our vision is imperfect. But, thorough the use of lasers, many people are getting a chance to have the sight they were denied by nature. Sure, glasses and contacts have been offering clearer vision for hundreds of years, but only with the advent of LASIK technology can 20/20 vision be achieved with the naked eye.

The best candidates for laser eye surgery, are those who suffer from near or far sightedness or astigmatism. Those particular conditions have to do with how the light rays from an image focus on the retina, when the image falls in front or behind the retina that is near and far sightedness respectively. The condition of astigmatism is slightly different in that blurriness occurs as a result of a mal-formed cornea. In any condition, lasers are used to re-shape the cornea to improve vision. With this technology, people are getting a second chance to live a life of near perfect vision. In some cases this surgery can represent a revived dream. Laser surgery can offer a second chance to someone who was previously disqualified from an occupation requiring perfect vision. Fighter pilots and FBI Agents are among many professionals whose job description requires perfect vision. While these are rare positions, they are also highly coveted by those brave individuals that aspire to them.

In most cases, the quality of our eyes is determined when we are young and often by genetics. But thanks to laser technology we can have a chance at seeing the world the way we have always dreamed, clear, beautiful and without corrective lenses.

These treatments and procedures are among many technological advancements allowing people a chance for a new beginning. Whether or not we choose to take advantage of these opportunities, we can find solace in the knowledge that they exist. As a society we may still struggle with the more spiritual elements of rebirth, but as a civilization we have fostered opportunities to free ourselves of our burdens, natural or self-imposed, and start over.

This guest post is written by Janet Peterson, a writer for “New Look” a Houston laser tattoo removal business. Janet has extensive experience writing about tattoos and tattoo culture.

Your body works hard every day to maintain a normal temperature. Excessive heat forces your body to work harder than normal to maintain an ideal temperature, which often is the root cause of heat-related illness. Essentially the heat forces your body to work beyond its limits. Excessive heat can also lead to poorer air quality, making it tougher for your body to get oxygen.

Some of the more common heat-related illnesses include basic sunburn and heat exhaustion. Sunburn is caused by prolonged and unprotected exposure to the sun. Heat exhaustion meanwhile manifests itself through muscle pain and weakness, often as a result of overexertion in hot temperatures. Both have fairly simple treatments, usually revolving around cooling down the body or affected area. But in both cases, prolonged exposure to the sun can potentially lead to much more dangerous conditions.

Heat stroke is a life threatening condition in which the body’s temperature control system shuts down completely. Heat stroke can lead to brain damage and eventually organ shutdown. It is imperative to cool down a heat stroke victim immediately and seek professional help right away. Heat stroke is typically more common with senior citizens during the summer.

There are many different ways to combat the heat during hot summer months, many of which simple enough that anyone can do them. Here are some of the easiest ways to stay safe in the heat:

Prepare your home. Getting your home prepared for the heat is one of the most important steps in staying safe during the summer. First and foremost, make sure your home is equipped with a cooling device. Whether you have central air conditioning, an electric fan or a small portable air conditioner you take with you from room to room, make sure the unit works properly before it gets too hot. You might also want to cover windows that receive prolonged exposure to the sun.

Eat right. Just as your body has to work to maintain an even temperature, it also has to work to break food down into energy. Large meals take longer to break down. Eating smaller and lighter meals can help relieve your body of this additional work by being much easier to metabolize. Not to mention it’s also healthier for you. You also may want to limit your alcohol intake, as it too requires more work from your body. Be sure to drink plenty of water as well.

Dress for the weather. Loose fitting clothing is another key for staying comfortable and cool throughout the summer months. This is especially important if you regularly exercise outdoors. Lighter clothing provides the body more ventilation, allowing it to cool off easier, whereas tighter, heavier clothes have the opposite effect.

Protect yourself from the sun. Prolonged exposure to the sun is the root cause of a variety of heat-related illnesses. Always use sunscreen when you know you’ll be outside for a prolonged period of time. Wear a hat to lessen sun exposure to your face and neck – two spots extremely vulnerable to contact with the sun.

Limit strenuous activity and exercise. Your body works hard enough during the hot days that adding strenuous exercise or labor can be detrimental. Try working out earlier or later in the day. Planning around the hottest time of the day can help to limit exposure to the heat and can be much easier on your body. Take frequent breaks when possible if you have to work outdoors.

Learn some basic first aid. Each of the different illnesses and conditions that affect people during the summer has its own recommended treatment. Learn some of the basics to treating these different conditions to ensure your safety as well as others’. Being prepared to care for someone suffering from heat exhaustion or even heat stroke can make a big difference – and may even save their life.

Check on your friends and family. The heat can be especially difficult on young children and the elderly, so make sure to check regularly on your family, friends and neighbors during hot spells. Often heat-related issues arise before you have a chance to ask for help.

About: Mike Tennant is a freelance writer and columnist focusing on health and lifestyle topics. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Mike currently works with Air Conditioner Home as a content developer to help consumers make the right decision when looking for the best portable air conditioner.