8 Foods you should never eat

 

What Toxic Chemicals Is Your Body Absorbing?

 

Five bad habits of stressed people

We all want to bring some calm into our lives. Addressing the stressors in our lives can be a real challenge and it can often be hard to see symptoms of stress in yourself, especially when you have lived with them for years.

 

If, like most people, you have a few problems or difficulties in your life, then it’s important to try and reduce the bad habits you may have developed to help you cope. This is because often, the coping mechanism is actually making the situation worse and is not doing anything to alleviate the cause of the stress at all.

 

Here are some bad habits that can be a result of constant stress. Which ones can you identify with?

 

1. Consuming too much caffeine

 

Most of us enjoy a daily caffeine intake, and while the occasional coffee isn’t likely to do great harm, it’s important to remember that caffeine is, in fact, a drug, and it’s possible to have a full-blown caffeine addiction. More likely and common, however, is caffeine dependence, where people use caffeine to jump-start their energy in the morning and use it throughout the day to stave off a ‘caffeine crash’. More often than not they then find their sleep disturbed by caffeine, causing them to wake up tired and therefore really need that caffeine jolt to get going again the next day. As the cycle continues, caffeine affects stress levels as well

 

What to do: Gradually cut down by replacing your tea, coffee or caffeine-laden soft drink with de-caffeinated drinks or good old water. In the mornings, try replacing your high-sugar energy drink with a soluble vitamin. Try and limit your intake to just a couple of caffeinated drinks a day and aim to only have them in the morning.

 

2. Smoking

 

For smokers, a cigarette can feel like a good stress reliever. In fact, during times of stress, a cigarette feels almost necessary, and quitting the habit can seem virtually impossible. We all know that cigarettes can be costly, both financially speaking and health-wise. Smoking creates far more stress than it alleviates, so kicking the habit is more than worth it.

 

What to do: Develop a quitting plan with the help of your pharmacist or doctor. Think about your approach first and decide on a day you’re going to stop. Think about why you’ve failed to quit in the past and come up with a list of reasons to quit that are important to you.

 

3. Excessive drinking

 

Many people find that a glass of wine can be a good way to unwind at the end of a stressful day, and most physicians and researchers agree, citing studies that show that red wine has benefits for heart health. However, drinking can be a slippery slope, as excessive drinking can cause problems in virtually every area of a person’s life, leading to more stress in the long run. If you are someone who has trouble limiting alcohol consumption to one or two drinks, and even if you can drink very moderately, but find that this is your only regular stress management practice, it would be worth identifying other ways to relieve your stress.

 

What to do: Limit your alcohol intake to just a couple of standard drinks per day. Try to have one or two alcohol-free days a week and never binge drink. If your partner or friends also drink excessively and you are part of their habit as well, then develop a plan to cut back together. Instead of following your usual routine, try and break it up a bit. Go for a walk or bike ride instead of the pub, or find other ways to alleviate that post-work stress.

 

4. Compulsive spending

 

People have many ways of relieving stress or of filling a void inside themselves. While buying yourself a gift once in a while can be a nice pick-me-up, compulsively buying things to relieve stress or to feel good about yourself is not a good way to keep your spirits up. Worse, spending money you don’t have on things you don’t need can cause more financial stress in the long run, and lead to feelings of shame not to mention a cluttered home. All of this will only add to the stress you were trying to alleviate.

 

What to do: If you’re in a financial hole, then seek some help or devise a plan to get yourself out of it. Pay your bills off (slowly if you have to). Give yourself a budget (including an allowance for treats) and stick to it. Don’t go to the shops or spend money on anything when you know you don’t have it to spend or have already spent your allowance. Make a list of inexpensive or free things to do and go and do them — visit a gallery, go for a walk, drop in on a friend. When you go out, leave your ATM and credit cards at home and take a very small amount of cash with you, or none at all.

 

5. Emotional eating

 

At some stage, most of us are happy to turn to our favourite tub of ice cream for comfort during rough times, but if eating the wrong thing becomes a main coping mechanism for stress, it can lead to compromised health, excessive weight, and additional stress stemming from these effects. A poor diet can also cause additional stress by leading to blood sugar imbalances that make stressful situations seem more overwhelming.

 

What to do: Allow yourself a few treats here and there but don’t buy things you know you’ll just eat in one sitting. If you like to snack when you’re edgy or nervous, then keep a stock of healthy, low fat snacks on hand at home and at work. Drink water to fill you up (you’ll feel less like eating) and try to distract yourself from excessive eating when you feel the urge! Go for a walk, clean your desk, mow the lawn or call a friend instead.

 

 

 

 

Being stressed isn’t great and feeling like your security blanket has been taken away during times of stress can be even worse. Try and concentrate on reducing your dependence on one habit at a time. Most important of all, ask yourself: what’s making me depend on these habits and what can I do about these issues? With stress, like most things, treating the root of the problem is always the best approach.

You are what you eat

Symptoms of Anemia

A World Without Coffee

• by Beth Buczynski
• November 26, 2012
• 5:00 am

Americans love coffee. Over half of us drink it daily, with at least another 25 percent drinking it occasionally. Our love for coffee is the stuff of internet memes and expensive habits. Many of us can’t imagine starting the day without a hot fragrant cup of joe. Deny us our cuppa, and all manner of irritable personalities emerge.

We’ll go to all sorts of ridiculous lengths for our coffee, which is why a new study by Kew Gardens is particularly troubling: climate change could cause the world-famous Arabica coffee bean to be extinct by 2080.

According to the Guardian, “Arabica is one of only two species of bean used to make coffee and is by far the most popular, accounting for 70 per cent of the global market including almost all fresh coffee sold in high street chains and supermarkets in the US and most of Europe.”

The study, which was published in the Public Library of Science ONE journal, used multiple computer modeling simulations to predict what might happen to coffee crops in various climate change scenarios. They found that at the very least 65 percent of locations where arabica is currently grown will become unsuitable by 2080,while the most extreme model predicted almost 100 percent extinction. “In some areas, such as the Boma Plateau in South Sudan, the demise could come as early as 2020, based on the low flowering rate and poor health of current crops,” points out the Guardian.
Think about that for a second: A world without coffee.

Say goodbye to your precious grande skinny hazelnut lattes and bottomless house blends. Coffee would most likely become so expensive it would become like a second currency, traded on black markets by red eyed caffeine-junkies in wrinkled business suits!

All joking aside, this is just one of many consequences unchecked climate change will have on society. Even if the computer models are wrong, and coffee doesn’t disappear completely, the yield size and taste will never be the same again. Perhaps if people don’t find sea level rise, extreme heat and violent storms compelling enough, the thought of never again tasting a perfect espresso will motivate them into taking action.

Related Reading:
6 Reasons Coffee Isn’t So Bad For You After All
Climate Change Might Put The World’s Coffee Supply At Risk
Top 5 Reasons To Drink A Cup Of Tea




Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/a-world-without-coffee.html#ixzz2DbkL9duJ

7 of the Most Unhealthy, Cancer-Causing Foods

Let’s face it: it’s challenging to eat all-healthy foods all the time. Sometimes we just want an easy pre-processed meal for a late dinner, while other times we choose to indulge in a junky treat as a comfort food. But do you know the difference between foods with a little extra fat or sugar, and foods that contain dangerous carcinogens which could do long-term damage to your health? You might be surprised!
There are seven extra-unhealthy, carcinogen-laden foods in particular that you should be sure to avoid. Read on to find out what they are and what ill effects they can have—for your health’s sake!
(List and information via Renegade Health.)

1. Processed Meat: Meats preserved by smoking, curing, or salting, or that contain chemical preservatives, are linked to an increased risk of colon cancer. Most are manufactured with a carcinogenic ingredient known as sodium nitrite, used to turn packaged meats a bright red color so they look fresh. A 2005 study from the University of Hawaii found that processed meats increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by 67 percent. Hot dogs, in particular, are made up of meat scraps, including organs, nerve tissue, bone pieces, and other unsavory animal parts. Animals that donate them are likely to have been fed grains laced with hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and fecal matter. After a detailed review of more than 7,000 clinical studies covering links between diet and cancer, the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) declared that consumers should stop buying and eating all processed meat products for the rest of their lives. These include bacon, sausage, hot dogs, sandwich meat, packaged ham, pepperoni, salami, and virtually all red meat used in frozen and prepared meals.


2. Soda: It’s loaded with calories, sugar, and artificial ingredients, and has no nutritional benefit. One can of soda contains the equivalent of ten packets of sugar. According to studies, most popular diet and sugared sodas are nearly as corrosive to dental enamel as battery acid, leading to an increase in tooth sensitivity and cavities despite good dental hygiene. A study from the University of Minnesota found that people who drank as little as two soft drinks a week faced almost double the risk of pancreatic cancer. Dark-colored sodas contain a chemical known as 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), a byproduct of chemical processing used to create the artificial dye that gives these sodas their color. Studies have linked 4-MI to cancer. Pepsi and Coca-Cola recently announced they would modify the coloring to avoid a cancer-warning label newly required by California law. A UCLA study also directly linked soda with obesity.

3. Regular Potato Chips: They’re full of artery-clogging trans fats, high glycemic carbohydrates, sodium, artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives. High temperatures used to cook them typically cause the formation of carcinogenic substances like acrylamide, which is also found in cigarettes. Clark University professor Dale Hattis is quoted as saying, “I estimate that acrylamide causes several thousand cancers per year in Americans.” Even those with reduced trans fat may contain acrylamide.

4. Microwave Popcorn: Chemicals in the lining of the bag, including perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA) are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to researchers at UCLA. In testing, the chemicals caused liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancers. Microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize, and migrate into your popcorn. Many manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015. Until then, it’s best to pop kernels the old fashioned way.

5. Farmed Salmon: According to David Carpenter, M.D., director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany, farmed salmon is not only lower in vitamin D than wild-caught, but higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, flame retardants, and pesticides including DDT. “You can only safely eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer,” Carpenter stated. These fish are also typically treated with high levels of antibiotics.

6. Conventional Apples (and Other “Dirty” Fruits): According to a survey by the Environmental Working Group, apples are the most pesticide-contaminated produce on average, with pesticides showing up on 98 percent of the more than 700 samples tested. Other highly contaminated produce included grapes, strawberries, cilantro, potatoes, and oranges, all of which had more than 90 percent of samples testing positive for pesticide residue. In addition to being toxic to humans, pesticides may increase the risk of some cancers, with some studies indicating that maternal exposure may increase the risk of lowered child I.Q. and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Choose organic for these items.

7. Canned Tomatoes: The lining of most canned foods contains bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical that acts as an estrogen and disrupts hormonal activity in the body. Studies show that BPA may be linked to heart disease, intestinal damage, and infertility and other reproductive issues. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is widespread exposure to BPA in the United States. Though all canned foods are of concern, tomatoes are particularly dangerous because their high acidity causes BPA to leach into them. University of Missouri endocrinologist Frederick vom Saal, Ph.D., notes that you can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a high enough level to impact people, particularly children.


Do you have other foods you avoid at all costs?

Top 10 Foods and Drinks for Cancer Prevention

Cancer is such a staggering epidemic–the sheer number of people affected by the disease is as heartbreaking as it is mystifying. As we are slowly learning more about the causes, we are beginning to learn more about preventive measures.

In terms of the relationship between diet and cancer, this leads us to lists of what not to eat (french fries, sigh), as well as the other side of the coin: What we should eat (artichokes and red wine, yay!).

In the book Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic (New Society Publishers, 2007) the authors Liz Armstrong, Guy Dauncey and Anne Wordsworth consider the importance of eating specific foods and drinks for cancer protection. Here’s what they suggest:

1. Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy and kale. These score high for containing many anti-cancer substances, such as isothiocyanates.

2. Globe artichoke for very high levels of salvestrols.

3. Dark greens, such as spinach and romaine lettuce, for their fiber, folate and a wide range of cancer-fighting carotenoids. Other dark colored veggies, too, such as beets and red cabbage.

4. Grapes and red wine, especially for the resveratrol.

5. Legumes: beans, peas and lentils, for the saponins, protease inhibitors and more.

6. Berries, particularly blueberries, for the ellagic acid and anthocyanosides

7. Flaxseed, especially if you grind it yourself and consume when fresh, for the essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid, lignans and other “good fats.”

8. Garlic, onions, scallions, leeks and chives, for many anti-cancer substances including allicin.

9. Green tea, for its anti-cancer catechins, a potent antioxidant.

10. Tomatoes, for the famous flavenoid lycopene.

Top 10 Foods That Increase Cancer Risk

Nearly 1.5 million new cases of cancer were expected to be diagnosed last year–while 559,650 people were expected to die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. That’s more than 1,500 people a day–such a startling statistic. In the book Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic (New Society Publishers, 2007) the authors write that the Number 4 solution is to “Eat a Healthy Diet.” Listed within are the 10 Foods and Drinks to Limit or Eliminate:

1. All charred food, which create heterocyclic aromatic amines, known carcinogens. Even dark toast is suspect.

2. Well-done red meat. Medium or rare is better, little or no red meat is best.

3. Sugar, both white and brown–which is simply white sugar with molasses added. (See Care2′s Directory of Natural Sweeteners for great, healthy alternatives.)

4. Heavily salted, smoked and pickled foods, which lead to higher rates of stomach cancer

5. Sodas/soft drinks, which pose health risks, both for what they contain–sugar and various additives–and for what they replace in the diet–beverages and foods that provide vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

6. French fries, chips and snack foods that contain trans fats.

7. Food and drink additives such as aspartame.

8. Excess alcohol.

9. Baked goods, for the acrylamide.

10. Farmed fish, which contains higher levels of toxins such as PCBs.


Now that you know what not to eat, see the Top 10 Foods and Drinks for Cancer Prevention

Why you need to avoid processed meats

Processed meats such as ham, polony, viennas and salami are all preserved with nitrates or nitrites – suspected human carcinogens. Many also contain several other suspect chemicals…..
Processed meats such as ham, polony, viennas and salami are all preserved with nitrates or nitrites – suspected human carcinogens. Many of them also contain several other chemicals, such as artificial colorants and flavourants, including carrageenan (E407) and MSG (E621).

Sodium nitrate (E250) and sodium nitrite (E251)

Sodium nitrate (E250) and sodium nitrite (E251) are salt-like chemicals. Although their role as a preservative is important, these additives are widely considered to be toxic and carcinogenic in humans.
Nitrates and nitrites react with substances in meats called nitrosamines, which have been proved to cause cancer in a large range of animals. Studies show, however, that these chemicals are carcinogenic in humans also.
In his book Unreasonable Risk, Professor Samuel Epstein, Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition in the US, writes as follows:

Vienna sausages:

“Children eating up to about 12 each month are at an approximately four-fold increased risk of brain cancer and a seven-fold increased risk of leukaemia. This is due to the formation of a nitrosamine carcinogen, by the interaction of nitrate and natural amines in meat.”
and
•    “It is UNBELIEVABLE that the powerful multibillion dollar global mainstream industries continue to inflict such risks on unsuspecting consumers, especially as safe alternative products are available.
•    It is equally UNBELIEVABLE that regulatory agencies worldwide still deny citizens their inalienable right-to-know of information on avoidable cancer risks from common consumer products.
•    It is even more UNBELIEVABLE that the "charitable" American Cancer Society and federal National Cancer Institute and "cancer establishments" worldwide remain recklessly silent and fail to advise consumers, Congresses and Parliaments, of the scientific evidence for these avoidable cancer risks.”

Eliminate processed meats from your diet

It’s quite simple to eliminate processed meats from your diet. Cook up a large chicken, leg of lamb or roast beef, and keep it in your fridge for snacks and children’s lunch-boxes. Alternatively, try different fillings for sandwiches such as cheese, egg, hummus and lettuce, etc.
Even freezing some home-cooked meats is far better than tanking yourself and your children up with carcinogenic chemical food-additives.
These simple changes will help protect your family by eliminating these nasty unsafe food additives from your daily diet.
Source:
Eady, Julie. 2007. Additive Alert: Your guide to safer shopping. Additive Alert Pty Ltd, Mullaloo WA 6037. ISBN 0-9775176-1-6.
http://www.preventcancer.com/press/books/neways.htm

Vienna sausage pic: © MarcoBagnoli Elflaco - Fotolia.com

Cancer and Armpits

Cancer and Armpits


Why breast cancer is usually found near the armpit?

Some time ago, I attended a Breast Cancer Awareness seminar and I asked why the most common area for Breast Cancer was near the armpit.
My question could not be answered at that time.
This e-mail was just sent to me, and I find it interesting that my question has been answered. I challenge you all to rethink your every day use of a product that could ultimately lead to a terminal illness.  As of today, I will change my use.
I showed it to another friend going through chemotherapy & she said s learned this fact in a support group recently.
The leading cause of breast cancer is the use of anti-perspirant.
*What???*
*Yes,* *ANTI-PERSPIRANT*.
Most of the products out there are an anti-perspirant /deodorant combination, so go home and check Deodorant is fine, anti-perspirant is not!
Here's why: - The human body has a few areas that it uses to purge toxins; behind the knees, behind the ears, groin area, and armpits. The toxins are purged in the form of perspiration.
Anti-perspirant, as the name clearly indicates, prevents you from perspiring, thereby inhibiting the body from purging toxins from below the armpits.

These toxins do not just magically disappear. Instead, the body deposits them in the lymph nodes below the arms since it cannot sweat them out.
Nearly all breast cancer tumors occur in the upper outside quadrant of the breast area. This is precisely where the lymph nodes are located.
 Additionally, men are less likely (but not completely exempt) to develop breast cancer prompted by  anti- perspirant usage because most of the anti-perspirant product is caught in their hair and is not directly applied
To the skin.
Women who apply anti-perspirant right after shaving
Increase the risk further because shaving causes almost imperceptible nicks in the skin which give the chemicals entrance into the body from the armpit area.

PLEASE pass this along to anyone you care about.
Breast cancer is becoming frighteningly common.
This awareness may save lives.