Want To Breathe More?

Did you know that it is only as babies that we, as humans, breathe deeply and correctly? As we age, we tend to breathe more shallow. One of the best ways to send more oxygen to our bloodstream, and breathe deeply all day, is to exercise.

When we challenge our heart to regular exercise, there will come an increase in oxygen, thereby improving the circulation of blood in our bodies. We will find that we feel better all day and can breathe deeper. Our inhale and exhale abilities will deepen in length, and we will also find that singing from the diaphragm is more possible.

Only thirty minutes a day most days of the week? That's correct. It can be walking, biking, aerobics, swimming, anything that elevates the heart continuously. While many find it hard to get started, once beginning the exercise, one may discover it is so much fun they wonder why they make it out to be so awful! So stop reading this--and go exercise your heart! Maybe you'll find yourself breathing deeper because of it!

Eat Right, Eat More

Okay, so it's been a funny notion to me, yet it really is true: when you eat the right foods, you can eat more often! Every person ought to learn moderation in whatever foods are eaten, however, you won't find many people who have gained weight or had health issues from eating too many apples or nuts! (Yes, I said nuts!)

The real issue at hand is that when choosing to keep your body active on a regular basis, you will literally feel your metabolism utilizing the nutrients from the foods that you eat! So if you put 'premium fuel' or healthy foods into your body, then you will function better, and you may find your appetite for good foods increase. If you have just eaten lunch, and want an apple only an hour later, then go for it! Eat a handful or two or three of nuts if you want! Eat right, and you can eat more!

How To Read Food Labels

It is probably no surprise to you that many ingredients in the packaged foods you buy are unhealthy. This is why learning how to read food labels can be vital to the nutrition of you and your family.
Many health problems are now coming to light and are directly linked to these 'unknown' or 'secret' ingredients in many packaged foods. Read ahead and learn what foods to avoid if any of these ingredients are contained in the food item:

1. Fully or Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Soybean, rapeseed, cottonseed, etc.)- this is a preservative to ensure longer shelf-life, which it does, but the bad outweighs the good by causing fat build-up in the arteries and heart chambers. This build-up can increase a person's risk for heart disease and obesity.
2. Sugar, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup Solids, Corn Starch, Modified Corn Starch- these are all basically different forms of sugar which the body does not need! Besides its' addictive qualities, it can also increase a person's risk for diabetes, which nearly guarantees the likelihood of this disease for a person when coupled with family or relatives who have diabetes.
3. Colorings and/or numbers- we don't know what these are or what harm they can do to our body, so why risk?
4. Enriched- this is a clever way of saying, hey, we added lots of nutrients to replace all the natural ones we took out to make it taste better, so it's still good for you! The truth is it is not! We would be wise to keep our rice, bread, and all other grains kept brown as that is their natural color. White rice, bread, and other similar products are depleted of their fiber, causing us to feel hungry sooner.
5. Monosodium Glutamate (aka: MSG) or 'Flavorings'- This ingredient is the sodium salt of the amino acid glutamic acid, and found mainly in soups, gravies, and crackers. A more ideal and truthful term for this ingredient would be poison! FDA results show an "unknown percentage of the population may react to MSG and develop MSG symptom complex, a condition characterized by one or more of the following symptoms:

burning sensation in the back of the neck, forearms and chest
numbness in the back of the neck, radiating to the arms and back
tingling, warmth and weakness in the face, temples, upper back, neck and arms
facial pressure or tightness
chest pain
headache
nausea
rapid heartbeat
bronchospasm (difficulty breathing) in MSG-intolerant people with asthma
drowsiness
weakness."

Nobody can eat everything they should all the time. Afterall, we are only human. But in striving to eliminate these ingredients from our diets, we can not only feel better, but also be confident that we are doing the best we can to avoid later health problems.

We Create Our Cravings

Did you know that the foods you crave are often indicative of the foods you choose to consume? Just think about it. If you eat cheesy chips and a tall glass of milk every day before dinner, you will find yourself craving this unhealthy snack at possibly the same time every day!

So what is the healthy alternative? Are we subject to eat only the foods that we crave? Of course not! Put it to the test. If you eat a banana every morning, you will find that your body will begin to crave a banana every day. Besides the benefits of potassium and added color to your diet, you will be happy to discover that you are really in more control of what you crave than you may think.