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Here’s Why Most Empaths Struggle with “Belonging”

August 15, 2022 by Kristen Butler

Do people often come running for you when they need someone to talk to? Perhaps they are attracted to the inner light of your empathetic spirit. It’s a gift that you may still be trying to understand. However, as much as others rely on you, perhaps you lack a sense of belonging. That’s a common trait of empaths.

Empaths Help Others But Often Feel a Lack of Belonging to This Universe

If you ever had the privilege of meeting Amelia, her unassuming presence wouldn’t overwhelm you. Although she doesn’t have movie star glamour, her girl-next-door beauty is attractive. She was raised in a loving family and worked through nursing school.

After chatting with her for a while, you’ll notice that she is different. She is a bit reserved, but she’s still an excellent conversationalist. Amelia is usually much more interested in hearing your story than sharing her own.

Don’t be surprised if you feel like you’ve known her forever. She puts folks at ease, and they often say that she gets them on a very personal level. Due to her empathetic nature, she has many friends in her inner circle.

Amelia’s rapport with her patients, families, and coworkers is remarkable. Without interruption, she listens intently as they explain their medical history and current situation. As an empathetic nurse, she connects with her patients holistically for a care plan.

She chose hospice nursing to enrich the lives of those with limited time. Her excellent medical knowledge and honest compassion are a blessing to terminal patients and their families. She’s held the hands of countless patients as they passed and is a source of strength for grieving loved ones.

While she has the gift of making others feel more comfortable, Amelia deals with a sense of not belonging. She spends so much time absorbing and interpreting other people’s emotions that she doesn’t have time for hers. Instead of enjoying a social life like most people her age, Amelia usually takes on extra work shifts.

Does the story of this compassionate nurse resonate with you? Why is it that highly sensitive people often feel alone in the world? They work well with other people’s feelings but aren’t always in tune with themselves.

Empaths and the Sense of Not Belonging

Perhaps you’ve struggled for years with your heightened sensitivity. Do you feel comfortable in your own skin, or are you a wandering old soul? Here are seven reasons that may make empaths question their sense of belonging.

1. You’re an Emotional Sponge But a Sense of True Belonging Eludes You

If you’re an empath, you recognize the overpowering rush of emotion when you enter a crowded room. You take in the room’s ambiance before you begin interacting with the other folks. You’re like a life-size sponge absorbing their deepest emotions.

This essential characteristic of an empath often leaves you with an impression of not belonging. The lines are blurred between your emotions and theirs, and you feel out of place. This is one of the many reasons that empathetic people like you are often introverts and prefer solitude.

2. You Become Frustrated and Overwhelmed Easily

Absorbing emotions and spiritual vibrations around you are enough to make you feel overwhelmed. Having difficulty sorting other people’s emotions from yours can easily frustrate and frazzle your nerves.

You may feel like you’re losing your identity or sense of belonging. While your powers of empathy can be a blessing, they can also become a burden. If you don’t have the right coping tools, such distress can threaten your entire well-being.

3. Empaths Have a Constant Urge to Help

According to an article published by Personality and Individual Differences, research demonstrates a link between empathy and helping others. In fact, people with high empathy levels are more likely to pursue careers in fields where they help others.

Whenever you see someone in trouble, are you compelled to reach out to them? You’re just as apt to help a stranger as you would a friend or family member. You’re often at your best when you’re lending someone a hand.

It only becomes a burden when people take your empathy for granted. Usually, you feel like a failure and lose your sense of belonging when you can’t save everyone.

4. You’re More Supportive than Others

Another situation that affects your sense of belonging is the rarity of true empaths in this country. An article published by Nature Neurosciences states that only approximately two percent of the population fit into this category. Many people are empathetic, but not all are empaths, which is confusing to understand.

Many people in your circle would probably agree that you’re one of the most supportive people they know. You’ll be the first person to call when they’re hurting because you offer words of encouragement. They can count on you to step in and help, whether it’s for a school bake sale or lending a hand with moving.

However, your love and support may not always be reciprocated. You’re often frustrated and resentful because others don’t always go the extra mile for you. You don’t have a sense of belonging because you may feel that these people don’t care enough.

This is often the case for empaths who are chronic people pleasers. The need for approval and acceptance are basic human needs. You may always say “yes” to everything because you’re afraid that the person will reject you if you refuse.

The more you try to please everyone, the more they’ll expect from you. Soon, you’re harboring bitterness, and your self-esteem falters. The best way to deal with this problem is to learn to say “no.”

5. You Can Usually Tell When Someone’s Lying, and It Adds to the Feeling of Solitude

Wouldn’t it be nice if a little buzzer would sound, and a light would flash when somebody lied? There would be no more scams and few broken relationships in the world. Unfortunately, that’s a fantasy, and people still rely on words, body language, and gut instinct to detect a forked tongue.

On the other hand, those with heightened sensitivity are more aware of subtle clues of dishonesty. When someone is lying, you might notice a little shift in their body language or a slight change of tone. You’re not always a 100 percent accurate living lie detector, but your sensitivity gives you an advantage.

Dishonest people may feel uncomfortable around you because they perceive your gift for seeing right through them. Their indifference may make you feel inferior, and you question your sense of belonging. The unfair feeling will begin to fade once you realize they are the one with the problem.

6. Your Other Senses Heighten, Leaving You in Another Sphere

Understandably, if your senses work together, one heightened sense will affect the others. Empathetic people not only have a stronger intuition, but they often have issues with their other senses. Everybody is different, and your case may be more severe than others. Many sensitive people experience sensitivity overload, explains an article published by UCLA-Berkeley. Specific lighting, sounds, smells, or tactile sensations may overwhelm you. The medical community previously labeled women with sensory overload as “hysterical” and mentally unstable.

Fortunately, these old and cruel assumptions have been exchanged for sound mental health science. Maybe your sensitivity overload has made you avoid certain situations, like being in a crowd. The good news is that your sensitivities can usually be successfully treated.

7. You Think You Would Feel More Belonging in Another Time and Place

As an empath, you’ve probably always known that you were different. You never felt quite comfortable in your own body as a child. You’ve always had an unexplainable sense of belonging to another time and place.

For example, you’ve always dreamed of visiting Italy, and you finally get your chance to explore this great nation. While touring a lovely countryside village, you might feel a sense of familiarity. You can find your way around the streets as if you were born and raised in the town.

If you have the chance to share stories with other empaths, you’ll find that you’ve got a lot in common. Empathy and intuition often work together, so most true empaths feel this isn’t the first spiritual journey they’ve experienced.

Think of the many times you’ve been overwhelmed by déjà vu when you meet a stranger or visit a place you’ve never been. Advocates of reincarnation cite this phenomenon as evidence of past lives. You have an innate knowledge of past people, places, things, and facts because they are part of your former incarnation.

Your feelings of déjà vu may involve all your senses as if you traveled back in time. Something or someone triggers a memory that comes alive at the moment. Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, your sense of belonging in another place and time can’t be denied.

Final Thoughts on Empaths and Sense of Belonging

If your heightened sensitivity has made you feel like a stranger, you needn’t stay that way. Things change when you offer yourself the same compassion and understanding you do to others. It’s a hearty welcome back to the body, mind, and soul you call home.

4 Tips for Regulating Emotions for Happier Relationships

August 14, 2022 by Lakeisha Ethans

Relationships are not just about how the other person treats you. They are about regulating your emotions and being rational and calm. Of course, you already know that, but it’s important to remember it from time to time. Sometimes, we get too caught up in how our partners treat us and ignore emotional intelligence. Given that we are humans, we are also likely to act impulsively and in ways that we’ll regret later. Not having our emotions in check can be detrimental to all relationships, especially romantic ones.

At the base of all happy and healthy relationships lies communication and understanding. When people act impulsively, they don’t stop to think. They don’t try to have a conversation or listen to what the other has to say. A relationship in which this is how people act has no future. You’ll only end up hurting your partner if you don’t learn how to regulate your emotions. In the worst case, you’ll end up in a very toxic relationship that’s bad for both of you.

In the best case, you’ll break up before you can emotionally destroy each other. As you can probably tell, neither of these options seems too good. Ideally, you could work through your issues like adults and reach a solution that works for you. And you can only do that if you learn to manage your emotions.

How Does a Happy Relationship Look Like?

Before regulating your emotions, you need to understand a healthy relationship. This is so that you know what you are aiming towards. While regulating your emotions is essential, that will not solve every issue in your relationship. If your relationship is fundamentally toxic, no amount of emotional regulation will fix it.

In most cases, your issue won’t be having a toxic relationship. If that’s the case, your best solution will be to leave your partner and look for something better. If you are dealing with any form of abuse, contact someone who can help you get out of that situation. But if you’re struggling with a lack of communication, you would gain from learning to regulate your emotions.

You need to aim for a relationship in which conversations are always calm and rational. It’s not that you should avoid fights at all costs, as that’s impossible. But, when you inevitably fight, you must make sure you can talk things through. Make sure that your fights are about a particular issue, never about trying to tear the other down. Don’t throw dirt at each other, no matter how much you’d want to or how good you feel in the moment. More concisely, ensure you fight the problem instead of fighting each other.

Another important factor is making sure that you can enforce healthy boundaries. These boundaries protect your feelings, wants, and needs–and those of your partner. All healthy relationships start by having a conversation and talking through things that could potentially become issues. This ensures you never do something that triggers the other person without even knowing you’re triggering them. It also allows you to grow as an individual while caring for your partner and your relationship.

4 Tips for Regulating Emotions for Happier Relationships

So, how exactly do these factors relate to you regulating your emotions? Well, if you suppress your emotions or do whatever you like, you’ll never have such a relationship. To get the motivation to start regulating your emotions, you need to know what kind of relationship you are aiming for. You also need to know that if you are in a toxic relationship, you’ll never be able to regulate your emotions.

1. Improve Your Emotional Intelligence

Regulating your emotions means being able to improve your emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence (EQ) represents your ability to understand and manage emotions. Someone with a higher EQ is more in tune with their emotional side, which gives them some life benefits. They are the people who are more empathetic and communicate better.

It even helps you diffuse tense situations and sometimes avoid conflict altogether. Some people are born with a higher EQ. But the EQ level doesn’t stay consistent throughout your whole life. You can improve it if you make an effort to work on yourself. If you manage that, you can easily start regulating your emotions.

There are four pillars you need to work on if you want to improve EQ. The first is self-management, mostly about controlling impulsive feelings and learning to be adaptable. This is best done through stress management, as impulsiveness is often dictated by how much pressure you feel. The second pillar is self-awareness, which is understanding how your emotions affect your behavior. This is best developed through introspection.

The third pillar is social awareness, which is all about empathy. In this area, the best way to improve is by paying attention to other people and always asking them what they need. At first, you might not relate to how they feel, but after talking to them, you’ll start to empathize. Lastly, there’s relationship management, which is about how you develop and maintain connections. To improve this pillar, you must improve your communication skills.

2. Managing and Regulating Your Stress

Stress management is essential for regulating your emotions. The more stressed someone is, the more impulsive they’ll be. When people are under pressure, they are likely to snap at the people they love for no reason. And they tend to escalate any minor issue into full-blown fights.

To manage stress, your best bet is to eliminate the stress source or use stress-relieving techniques. If your job is too demanding, you can consider a demotion if that means working less. Or maybe the job is not the problem, but instead of taking care of a pet alone. In that case, you might need to use a pet sitter from time to time.

But if you can’t eliminate the stress from the source, you need to find ways to relieve it. One of the best things you can do is use breathing exercises. They are very effective and can be used anytime, in any setting. The easiest technique requires standing still, keeping your eyes closed, and breathing. Inhale slowly, taking four breaths in, and exhale slowly, with four breaths out.

Do this for a few minutes, and you’ll start feeling much calmer. When you are calm, you can be rational and regulate your emotions. So, breathing exercises are something you can do when fighting with a partner. If you are irrational, take a moment to breathe, and you’ll be able to get a hold of your emotions.

3. Meditate

Regulating your emotions is related to how well you know yourself. Knowing what makes you tick and how your emotions affect you can control yourself better. But it’s not that easy to understand all your emotions. Sometimes, you need to look inward and get to know yourself.

Meditation is the best way to reflect and understand who you are. It’s a technique that has been used for thousands of years and is still very popular. But don’t confuse meditation with breathing exercises because they are very different. Meditation aims to allow you to get in touch with everything that’s going on inside your body and brain.

To meditate, you must find a quiet environment and close your eyes. Allow yourself to feel everything going on with you and around you. When you meditate, the aim is to become one with your body and thoughts. You realize every signal that your body is sending you. If something hurts, you’ll feel it. You’ll be aware of it if you need something, like food or water.

But you’ll also have the opportunity to get in touch with all your thoughts. This is the moment in which you can understand what mindset you are in and how it affects your feelings. This way, you can understand where your emotions come from and how they manifest. Meditation makes you more mindful, thus regulating your emotions.

4. Accept Your Emotions and Communicate

Every healthy relationship is based on the ability of the partners to communicate and help each other navigate challenging times. And part of that is being able to communicate your feelings. Regulating your emotions will be much easier if you allow your partner to help you. They can’t manage your emotions if they don’t understand what’s happening with you. You’ll avoid most conflicts by telling them that you are struggling. Instead, the focus will be on helping you manage your emotions.

But that’s not possible unless you accept your emotions. Often, people deny that they feel a certain way, which means they can’t be helped. You need to reflect and understand how you feel to solve that issue. There’s no shame in being angry or sad. But it’s terrible if you act irrationally because of those feelings. Allow yourself to feel your emotions to the fullest extent. One trick you can use is writing your thoughts down. This way, you can keep track of everything. When you see those words written down, it’s easier to accept your thoughts and feelings.

Final Thoughts on Regulating Emotions for Happier Relationships

Being in control of your emotions is essential if you want to have a healthy relationship. But regulating your emotions is easier said than done. Still, you just need to learn a few tips to get closer to your goal. You need to make sure you learn about emotional intelligence so you can improve it. A higher EQ alone will take you closer to being calm and rational. But you also need to manage your stress to stop being impulsive.

You could try meditation to get more in tune with your feelings. Once you understand where they come from and how they manifest, you can easily change them. Slowly, you’ll be able to take all negative emotions, regulate them, and become calm and rational. Don’t be scared to communicate with your partner and ask them for help. Accept your feelings and let them know you need guidance to learn to manage them. This will help you have happier, healthier relationships.

3 Things That Explain the Chemistry of Love, According to Counselor

August 14, 2022 by Sarah Barkley

Everyone has experienced love in some form as it’s essential to life. Of course, love is an exciting experience that feels effortless initially. However, as time goes on, the feelings become more complex as the rush of hormones recedes.

Love involves chemical processes in your brain dealing and psychological interactions. Chemistry is what helps develop long-lasting relationships.

When you know about the chemistry of love, what it is, and what it means, you can use it to your advantage. You can also delve into what triggers the feelings and what occurs in your mind and body.

Love triggers the release of neuropeptides and neurotransmitters. Your chemistry means more than you realize regarding your romantic life. Understanding the chemistry of love is beneficial to determining the course of your relationship.

What is the Chemistry of Love?

Dr. Helen Fisher is a researcher on the chemistry of love, and she breaks it down into three categories. These categories help explain the chemistry in a way that makes sense. Each of the stages of love involves different hormones.

1 – Lust

Lust is the first stage, and it involves sexual gratification. It begins because of our natural need to mate and reproduce. This stage consists of the brain’s hypothalamus and stimulates testosterone and estrogen.

Testosterone and estrogen are sex hormones that come from the testes and ovaries. Many people associate testosterone with being “male” and estrogen with “female.” However, both are present in men and women.

Lust is integral to forming a relationship, and the signs include:

focusing on their looks and body
being interested in a sexual relationship but not a conversation
no desire to discuss feelings
not wanting to spend quality time

2 – Attraction and Passion

Attraction is the next thing that can explain the chemistry of love, and it’s the second stage. Lust can develop into attraction and passion, making you want to take the next step in your relationship. Attraction and desire can occur alone, or they can develop over time.

This step occurs when the brain pathways that control rewards get triggered. It happens early in a relationship, making the first part exhilarating and potentially all-consuming.

Your hypothalamus produces dopamine when you do things that feel good. Cuddling with your partner, being intimate, or holding hands can trigger the production. You’ll also experience increased norepinephrine, making you giddy and energetic. It activates your reward system and makes you feel good.

Norepinephrine also reduces serotonin. It can cause decreased appetite and insomnia because it keeps you alert and triggers your fight or flight response. During this stage, you may idealize your partner and think irrationally.

The hormones involved in attraction also contribute to other feelings, including:

intrusive thoughts
emotional dependency
increased energy
reduced anxiety
increased trust in your romantic partner
fewer negative responses
Increased excitement

3 – Commitment and Attachment

After the initial attraction in your relationship comes commitment and attachment. This stage is essential to long-term relationships and comes with its own set of chemicals. You’ll experience increased levels of oxytocin and vasopressin.

Your hypothalamus releases large amounts of oxytocin when you attach to others. It’s common during sex, breastfeeding, and childbirth because those are precursors to deep bonding. You’ll develop passion toward your partner when this occurs in your relationship.

Oxytocin plays an important role here. It promotes bonding and helps build the trust you need for a long-term relationship. Oxytocin also enables you to feel safe and secure in the relationship. While lust and attraction might fade sometimes, the attachment persists.

The Chemicals Involved in Love

When you fall for a new partner, it’s an exciting time. It comes with excitement, sleepless nights, wanting to see your person all the time, and a racing heart. In the past, you might not have realized that it was all about the chemistry of love. When you can understand the chemicals involved, it helps you understand the intense emotions that come along.

Many hormones were mentioned before, but it can help to have a rundown of what they do. Learning the three things that explain chemistry makes a difference, but understanding the various chemicals is essential, too.

Norepinephrine

Norepinephrine is responsible for a racing heart, flushed cheeks, and sweaty palms. This hormone triggers adrenaline and causes a loss of appetite. It can also start the following:

euphoria
bliss
increased energy
intense focus

Dopamine

Dopamine is the happiness hormone because your brain releases it when you feel good. You might experience increased dopamine when you eat, exercise, or do an activity you enjoy. It can affect your emotional responses and ability to express pleasure, but it boosts your feelings of enjoyment.

Phenylethylamine

When you feel butterflies in your stomach, you can thank the hormone phenylethylamine. When you experience attraction, your brain will release more of them.

It also makes you feel euphoric and energized, contributing to the giddy feelings that trigger butterflies. When you have higher levels of Phenylethylamine, you’ll also produce more dopamine and endorphins.

Oxytocin

Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in empathy, trust, sex, and relationship building. Your body will produce more of this hormone during cuddling or an orgasm.

One study shows how oxytocin can help treat depression, anxiety, and intestinal problems. Another study indicates oxytocin produced during childbirth and lactation can make a new mother less anxious and promotes a loving bond. Oxytocin promotes a deep, trusting bond in a romantic relationship.

Vasopressin

After the lust and attraction start to wean, you’ll experience feelings of falling out of love. This feeling occurs because of the hormone vasopressin. It makes you want to bond with and nurture your partner and interacts positively with testosterone.

When the Chemistry of Love Becomes Too Much of a Good Thing

The chemistry of love is beautiful, and it’s an exciting experience you’ll never forget. However, too much can cause some issues in your life.

Hormones that make you feel good are released, although they can cause some issues. They can make you experience jealousy, erratic behavior, and irrationality. The overabundance of hormones and fluctuations can be overwhelming, causing downsides to the chemistry.

Too Much Dopamine Can Cause Love Addiction

Dopamine is responsible for your brain’s reward pathway, which sounds beneficial. However, it controls the good and bad and is associated with addictive behavior. It triggers the same areas of your brain as those with a substance abuse disorder experience.

Too much dopamine can cause obsessive behavior and emotional dependency. An overload of dopamine causes a temporary high, much like an addiction. You can become dependent on another person, and that’s not a good position to be in.

Too Much Oxytocin May Cause Negative Attachments

Like dopamine, too much oxytocin can cause some problems. When you produce an overabundance of oxytocin, it makes you feel good. However, when you receive a temporary high from these instances, it can become an issue.

Party drugs MDMA and GHB also produce oxytocin, relating to a substance abuse disorder. The overly optimistic feelings can cause you to dissociate from your surroundings and act recklessly. You might do things you wouldn’t normally do, leading to troubling situations.

In extreme cases, the oxytocin will cause you to become overly attached to your partner. While it’s nice to remember why you love someone, you must know that time apart is okay, too. This hormone can make you feel like you can’t spend time away from your partner. It leads to isolation and neglecting your passions and other relationships.

When you become overly attached, it can cause you to do things you wouldn’t usually do. It shuts off the part of your brain that regulates critical thinking, self-awareness, and rational behavior. The hormones can make you do things you’ll regret.

What to Do When the Love Chemistry Becomes Too Much

Sometimes you can’t help it, and the feelings spiral out of control. If you start prioritizing a new partner over other people and aspects of your life, you might want to reel it in. In this situation, the best thing you can do is focus on living your life separately from your partner.

You can still spend time with your partner and focus on other aspects of your life. Spend time with friends and family, and take time to yourself. When you prioritize the other essential areas of your life, you’ll resist or ease the negative aspects of the chemistry of love.

Final Thoughts on Things That Explain the Chemistry of Love, According to Counselors

Falling in love is a rewarding, exciting experience. It isn’t a matter of chance, as many chemicals play a role in the experience. These three stages can help explain the chemistry, allowing you to understand yourself.

While chemistry plays a role, love is different for everyone. Your journey will be much different from those around you, and that’s okay. The hormones play a role, but trusting your gut will get you where you want to be.

These things and the chemistry involved lead to love being a complex combination. However, other people believe it is a matter of fate. Either way, it’s an extraordinary experience, and you should embrace the experience.

25 Foods That Can Interfere With Losing Weight

August 14, 2022 by Chris Butler

Like most people, you think losing weight is easy if you eat things like smoothies, fruit, low carbohydrate, and fat-free items. However, manufacturing companies have found that marketing to the dieting group is easy when you use the right words. These “healthy foods” could be why you’re not losing weight.

Don’t fall prey to these marketing gimmicks, especially when your health is at stake. It’s essential to fill up on green veggies, fiber, and fruits, which will not only increase your metabolism but help your body burn fat. Maybe you’re not losing weight because you’ve been dieting all wrong.

25 Foods to Avoid for Weight Loss

Not all calories are created equal. It would help if you learned what’s best to eat for your weight loss journey. There’s nothing you can’t occasionally have in moderation (think carbohydrate foods), but it’s best not to make it a habit. Here are 25 foods that can inhibit you from losing weight.

1. Sugar-Free Anything

By now, you should know that anything labeled sugar-free doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy. Sure, they remove the sugar, but they mainly substitute it and add more fat to give it flavor. Sugar-free doesn’t mean calorie-free or healthy, and many people fall into this trap.

If you’re doing the keto diet, sugar-free might seem like a good fit, but even sugar alcohols can throw your body out of ketosis, as they’re not all the same.

2. Energy Bars Can Slow Down When You Are Losing Weight

The market is overloaded with energy bars. They promise to give you strength and increase your energy by fueling your body with protein. You must turn the bar over and see what’s in there.

It often has more calories and fat than a candy bar, so it’s not doing you much good. These bars are overpriced and touted as the weight loss aid you must have, but this is all smoke and mirrors. Finally, the carbohydrates they claim would give you energy often come in sugar.

3. Chips and Other Snacks

Processed snack foods are full of sugar, fat, and calories. If you have the munchies, reaching for carrots and hummus or apples and peanut butter would be better. These empty calories don’t nourish the body but fill your gut and load it down with stuff you don’t need.

4. Eating the Wrong Kind of Salads Can Hinder Losing Weight

You may be shocked to find this one here, but some salads are worse for you than a double cheeseburger with all the works. You must monitor what you put in the salad, as the more toppings you pour on top, the unhealthier it becomes. Stick with vegetable toppings and less dressing, and you’ll be fine.

5. Pizza

There are not many people who don’t like pizza. You can get these Italian pies in so many varieties now, but most won’t help you lose weight.

Pizza is another food that can be done right if you try. Opt for a thin crust, less cheese, and more veggies. These deep dish, double cheese, loaded with meat pies, will clog an artery if you overindulge.

6. Smoothies

One would think fruit, ice, and some protein powder with almond milk would be good for you. However, you’ve got to watch the calories. Sure, you can make healthy smoothies, but when you start throwing a bunch of ingredients in them, they lose their nutritional status.

7. Losing Weight Slows Down When Eating High-Sugar Cereal

Please don’t fall for the marketing gimmick that states it’s made with whole grain. Very few cereals on the market win the title of healthy. Most contain sugar, artificial colors, and preservatives to entice children.

8. Granola

Granola can be a bit of a hit or miss. Some of them are low in sugar and high in healthy fats, but others are laden with things that will do nothing more than pack on the pounds.

9. Packaged Low Carbohydrate Desserts

These low-carb options seem like a dieter’s dream, but don’t be fooled by the labels. Look at the calories and fat in these items, as it will usually shock you. You would be better off having the real thing in moderation rather than these expensive, unhealthy selections.

10. Losing Weight Can Slow Down if You Eat Some Sushi

Sushi seems healthy since it’s fish, which is full of protein. Consequently, be careful of the dishes that say ‘spicy’ or ‘crunchy.’ They need to add sugar or agave to get the crunch in there. While it’s an excellent protein-based meal, you must be wary of those mayo-based sauces.

11. Potatoes

Potatoes are a vegetable, but they’re not one of the better ones for you. Whether you like them boiled, baked, fried, or mashed, the carbohydrates turn to sugar once in your bloodstream. Try a sweet potato instead.

12. White Rice

Rice is a typical side dish that goes with just about anything. However, it’s a refined grain lacking fiber and critical nutrients your body needs to thrive. Just one-fourth a cup is almost 150 calories, and is it any wonder they use this to help people gain weight in third-world countries?

13. Red Meats

The problem with red meat is that it’s full of saturated fat, which will pack on the pounds. It can also raise your “bad” cholesterol levels, which isn’t good if you’re losing weight and trying to get healthy.

14. Milk Chocolate

Milk chocolate tastes so good because it contains pure sugar. Why not try dark chocolate instead? According to The Cleveland Clinic, it’s lower in sugar, full of beneficial antioxidants called flavonoids, and is anywhere from 50-90 percent pure cocoa. It’s a better option for losing weight.

15. Wraps

It would seem that a wrap would be a healthy alternative as you’re ditching the bread. However, you need to read the labels, as most wraps have just as much if not more calories and fat than bread. Additionally, it matters what you put inside the wrap that counts.

16. Pasta (too many carbohydrates for losing weight)

Pasta is high in carbs, calories, and starches. It turns to pure sugar inside your body, so you should avoid it. Try veggie pasta instead.

17. Microwave Popcorn

Popcorn can be a healthy snack if it’s air-popped and doesn’t have a bunch of additives. Sadly, microwave popcorn is typically loaded with tons of butter, inhibiting losing weight. You can find a healthier version but read the label.

18. Dried Fruit

Did you know that when you dry fruit, it enhances the sugar content? You’re better off eating a piece of fresh fruit. If you like dried in your trail mix, limit your portions.

19. Yogurt

Some excellent yogurts are on the market, but most are full of sugar, carbs, and fat. Try plain Greek-style yogurt and add things like cinnamon to enhance the flavor.

20. Fast Food

Fast food is often an easy fix when you’re exhausted at mealtime. However, the problem is that these foods are not made with your health in mind. They contain fat, salt, and empty carbohydrates. Thankfully, there are a few healthy options to consider, but you must choose sparingly.

21. Coconut Oil

While coconut oil isn’t a food, it’s certainly used in plenty of them. It’s hyped way too much as a healthy alternative, but the calorie content is the same as vegetable or canola oil. One tablespoon is around 120 calories, so using it sparingly is advisable.

22. Processed Meats

In theory, lunch meat, hot dogs, and other processed meats would be good for you. Most are low in calories and fat, but it’s the other ingredients you must watch.

According to The Harvard School of Public Health, the things they use to preserve these meats are not only unhealthy, but they’re dangerous to your heart. Nitrates are the biggest concern, so don’t be fooled by that low-calorie per slice offerings.

23. Acai Bowls

These bowls seem to be the latest rage in the health trend industry. Sadly, one bowl can be around 800 calories, which is nearly what you should eat in a day.

24. Sweets or Desserts

Your sweet tooth can get you in trouble. An occasional treat isn’t hurt anyone, but if you’ve got to have something sweet every day, it’s probably interfering with losing weight.

25. Dressing

Salad dressing is allowed on the Keto diet but frowned upon in others. Be careful of the fat-free ones as they often have higher sugar contents. The dressing should be used sparingly and not poured all over the top. Try dipping your fork in the sauce before you take a bite of salad as an option to consume less.

Final Thoughts on Fat, Carbohydrate Dense, Salty Foods to Avoid for Losing Weight

Losing weight is a long and arduous process. You didn’t pack on those pounds overnight, nor will they fall off quickly. The most important thing you can do is read the labels and not fall for the marketing gimmicks. Eat healthy carbohydrates that deliver nutrients, and avoid sugar and salty foods–you will get there. Losing weight won’t be as complicated when you learn what you can and can’t eat.

15 Quotes to Appreciate Your Forever Best Friend

August 14, 2022 by Sarah Barkley

Friendship brings joy, laughter, comfort, and much more to our lives. A best friend is someone who challenges you to become a better version of yourself and loves you unconditionally. When you want to appreciate them, quotes are one of the best ways to do it.

Friendship is a blessing that evolves, grows, and deepens. Some friends become close enough to be family, and you should cherish these relationships. They’ll want to see you do well, and they’ll be comforting and supportive through everything.

Using quotes to celebrate can remind you how much your forever best friend means to you. Send the quotes to your friend, use them in a card, or create a gift with a quote to show how much you appreciate them. These heartwarming messages are perfect for any friendship, helping you put words to your feelings.

Your best friend is there through the ups and downs and loves you through everything. Even when you’re apart, you feel their friendship within you. These people impact your life in ways you can’t imagine, and these quotes will help you describe the appreciation.

Fifteen Quotes to Appreciate Your Best Friend

You can’t replace a best friend, so take the time to appreciate them and their presence in your life. They help you become a better version of yourself and love you every step of the way. These quotes can help you put it into perspective with the perfect words.

1 – “A good friend is a connection to life — a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world.” – Lois Wyse

A forever best friend knows all about you. They understand your past, where you want to go in the future, and help keep you sane. With a good friend, you’ll always feel connected to life because your person is there.

2 – “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” – Albert Schweitzer

We all have hard times and go through periods where we forget who we are and what we stand for. A friend can help you find that inner fire again.
They help you find the meaning of life and remind you of who you are. Show appreciation for those who rekindle your inner fire and allow you to find happiness again.

3 – “There are three things that grow more precious with age; old wood to burn, old books to read, and old friends to enjoy.” – Henry Ford

Old friends are incredibly meaningful. The longer your relationship continues, the more significant it becomes. Your oldest friends should hold a special place in your heart because they are one of the most enjoyable parts of life.

4 – “That’s when I realized what a true friend was. Someone who would always love you – the imperfect you, the confused you, the wrong you – because that is what people are supposed to do.” – R. J. L.

When you realize you have a friend who loves you no matter what, you know you’ve found your person. They’ll love your imperfections and moments of confusion and even love you when you do something wrong.

Even if they speak up about your behavior, they still care. Best friends only speak up because they want you to become a better version of yourself.

5 – “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” – Walter Winchell

It seems like most of your friends disappear if things go wrong in your life. However, a best friend will be there no matter what you’re going through. They don’t leave because they want to be there to support you and help in any way they can.

Even if they can’t help, they’ll be there to listen, keep you company, or do anything else you need. Cherish these friends because you know they can be forever best friends.

6 – “Friendship isn’t about who you’ve known the longest. It’s about who walked into your life, said, “I’m here for you”, and proved it.” – Unknown

Your forever best friend doesn’t have to be someone you’ve known for many years. Some of the best people you ever meet are ones you haven’t known for a long time. As long as they show up for you and prove they care, they’re someone you can keep around forever.

7 – “Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you; spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” – Amy Poehler

Your friends should challenge and inspire you, helping you become a better version of yourself. They want to see you do well, and they will help you along the way. If you find these people, make sure you appreciate them and tell them that you recognize their positivity in your life.

8 – “A friend is one who overlooks your broken fence and admires the flowers in your garden.” – Unknown

No one’s life is perfect, and your best friend doesn’t expect yours to be. Other people might point out the flaws in your life, but a best friend points out the beauty. In their eyes, your goodness prevails anything else. If the flaws bother you, they’ll be more than willing to help you fix them. Otherwise, they see no reason to even think about it.

9 – “In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” – Khalil Gibran

Friendship brings more joy than most other situations in life. It brings laughter and feelings of refreshment when you need them the most.

10 – “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” – Oprah Winfrey

As Oprah explains, everyone wants to be there for the good times. You’ll be surrounded by people when you’re doing well and feeling happy. However, many people disappear from your life when things aren’t going well. You’ll know who your forever best friend is by seeing who sticks around during the hard times in your life.

11 – “Every friendship goes through ups and downs. Dysfunctional patterns set in; external situations cause internal friction; you grow apart and then bounce back together.” – Mariella Frostrup

If your relationship wavers, it’s okay and doesn’t mean it’s doomed to end. All relationships go through hard times, and you might not see each other for a while. However, once you reconnect, it bounces back like nothing ever happened. If you have someone like this in your life, they’re a friend destined to last forever.

12 – “Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.” – Richard Bach

The people who get you will understand you quickly. They won’t be a good friend if someone can’t appreciate who you are when they meet you. How long you know someone doesn’t matter because a real friend knows who you are.

13 – “The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing… not healing, not curing… that is a friend who cares.” – Henri Nouwen

Kind words or gestures can’t cure your pain. Some people stick around long enough to see that they can’t do anything and leave. A best friend realizes they can’t do anything and stay, want to be there to support you, and let you know you’re not alone. If someone wants to be there even when they can’t do anything, they’re a forever best friend.

14 – “Don’t make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up.” – Thomas J. Watson

While you shouldn’t feel like you can’t be yourself around your friends, you still want to be careful. Find friends who encourage you to become a better version of yourself. They won’t want you to become complacent with your life, so they’ll push you to improve. If you’re lucky enough to have someone like this, don’t forget to show appreciation.

15 – “And what is a friend? More than a father, more than a brother: a traveling companion, with him, you can conquer the impossible, even if you must lose it later. Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.” – Elie Wiesel

Blood relatives are important, but friendship can be even more than that. Some friends are your chosen family and the ones you look forward to spending all your time with.
Falling in love is unique, too, but it can become more intense and unpredictable. As Wiesel explains, your friends leave a lasting mark on your life and involve nothing more than sharing.

Final Thoughts on Quotes to Appreciate Your Friendship

Your friends love you unconditionally, so take the time to appreciate them. These quotes can help you remember how much your friends mean to you. Don’t forget to share the quotes with your best friend to let them know how you feel.
Embrace the special people in your life who bring joy to each day. Don’t miss a second to show appreciation. These words of wisdom can help you find a way to describe how important your friend is to your life.

9 Lifestyle Changes for a Healthy Liver

August 13, 2022 by Chris Butler

Your liver is one of the known organs in your body. “Known” because your body is so complicated that researchers still find new systems which help your body function. This football-sized organ works hard to keep you healthy. But if you’re not careful, some lifestyle choices can harm your liver. You may not even know your liver isn’t working properly. That’s because liver disease has few symptoms. Don’t worry. You can have a healthy liver with a few simple lifestyle changes.

We reveal nine lifestyle changes and the best habits for optimal health.

Liver facts you may not know

Your liver weighs approximately three pounds. It lives near the upper right section of your abdomen, just below your diaphragm. As the largest organ in your body, it has over 500 jobs. Liver disorders include the following:

Liver disease
Hepatitis
Liver cancer
Cirrhosis

Liver disease comes from lifestyle choices, genetics, infections, or autoimmune diseases.

What does your liver do?

Your liver is busy keeping you healthy. Some of its jobs include:

Makes albumin: Albumin is a blood protein that carries drugs, fatty acids, and hormones throughout your body. Your liver also makes blood clotting substances when an injury causes bleeding.
Produces bile: Bile is a chemical that helps your liver turn fat into energy. Without bile, your body couldn’t digest foods.
Removes waste: When you absorb an unhealthy, toxic substance, your liver helps remove it from your body.
Bilirubin remover: Your liver works to remove bilirubin from bile. Too much bilirubin causes jaundice and yellowing of your skin.
Maintain glucose levels: Your liver maintains the proper glucose level in your body. It moves glucose to your blood or removes glucose if there’s too much in your blood.
Controls immune system responses: If viruses, bacteria, or other harmful organisms attack your body, specific cells in your liver can destroy them.

How do you know if you have a healthy liver?

Getting a blood test is the best way to know if your liver is healthy. This test measures your liver function. There are at-home liver function tests you can order online or ask your naturopath to do a test.

What are the warning signs of liver disease?

Liver disease typically has no symptoms, but warning signs show you have liver problems. These include the following:

Itchy skin
Swollen abdomen
Nausea
Jaundice-yellowing of your skin or in the whites of your eyes
Swelling of your legs or ankles
Dark urine
Pale stools
Fatigue
Loss of appetite
Bruising easily
Vomiting

Nine Lifestyle changes for a healthy liver

Before your liver gets damaged, here are nine lifestyle changes you can make to improve the health of your liver.

1 – Avoid dirty needles

Taking drugs damages your liver. This lifestyle has many dangerous side effects beyond liver damage. Drug addiction leads to many poor choices, and using dirty needles puts you in danger of liver disease. Get a test immediately if you or someone else has penetrated your skin with a dirty needle or sharp utensil. It’s rare, but there are even situations where hospitals have accidentally used dirty needles. Of course, this warning includes tattoos and body piercings where needles are used. Don’t share personal hygiene things like razors or nail clippers. You’re the best advocate for your health. If you’re concerned, take action and go to an emergency room. Your life could depend upon it.

2 – Practice safe sex for a healthy liver

Unprotected sex with many partners increases the risk of hepatitis B and C. Both cause liver damage. Left untreated, they can cause death due to liver disease.

3 – Wash your hands

It’s a simple, hygienic practice. Wash your hands with warm water and soap after you change a diaper, use the bathroom, or prepare food. Washing your hands prevents the spread of Hepatitis. This type of hepatitis is a dangerous liver disease that spreads from person to person. Anybody can get it, especially if you don’t wash your hands before you prepare or eat food or drinks. It spreads through close contact with someone who has Hepatitis A.

4 – Stay at a healthy weight for a healthy liver

According to studies, approximately 30% to 45% of Americans carry excess fat in their liver. A fatty liver can lead to liver disease. Weight loss reduces liver fat and helps you fight liver disease. Recommended lifestyle changes include weight loss if you’re overweight, exercise, and eating a healthy diet to decrease fat. Even a small amount of weight loss makes a big difference in preventing liver damage.

5 – Eat a balanced diet for a healthy liver

Eating high calorie, saturated fats, and refined carbs lead to unhealthy habits that can lead to liver disease. Your healthy diet should include

Fiber
Fresh, whole fruits
Whole vegetables
Brown grains like whole wheat flour and brown rice
Good fats like olive oil, seeds, and nuts
Drink lots of water

6 – Follow directions on all medication

You may have realized that taking too much medication or wrong can damage your liver. Mixing alcohol and medicines can also harm your liver. Other potentially dangerous “medical” items you take that can damage your liver include the following:

Herbal medicines or supplements
Herbal teas, if mixed with over-the-counter or prescription drugs such as heart medication
Non-FDA-approved supplements from other countries. You don’t know what is in these supplements.
Over-the-counter medications: Acetaminophen or ibuprofen, if taken in excess, will damage your liver

7 – Avoid toxins

You come in contact with certain toxins daily that can damage your liver. Things like cleaning products, aerosol products, chemicals, additives, and insecticides will damage your liver. If your job requires you to use any of these, wear a mask on the job. At home, choose natural ingredients when cleaning your home. Avoid using aerosol sprays. But if, for instance, you want to paint with spray paint, choose a well-ventilated area such as a garage with an open door or even outside. Be sure to wear a mask while you’re spray painting.

8 – Limit how much alcohol you drink

Alcohol is number one on the list of things that can damage your liver. Use alcohol responsibly. Adults who are at a legal drinking age should drink in moderation. This means no more than two alcoholic drinks daily for men and one alcoholic drink for women. A heavy drinker is considered a man who drinks at least four drinks a day or 14 alcoholic drinks in a week. Or a woman who drinks three alcoholic drinks per day or seven weekly. One alcohol rehab clinic explains how long-term advises that long-term abuse of alcohol can even lead to liver scarring.

By making simple lifestyle changes, such as limiting your alcohol intake, you can reduce the damage to your liver and prevent more damage from occurring.

9 – For a healthy liver, stay physically active

A healthy liver contains a small amount of fat. Fatty liver disease is when too much fat is built up in your liver. A fatty liver is one with 5% to 10% of your liver’s weight in fat. Lifestyle changes like staying physically fit can help you maintain your weight and reduce the fat in your body. Exercise also detoxes your liver and helps reduce fat build-up. Try to engage in some blood-pumping exercise at least 150 minutes per week. It can be anything that you enjoy but gets your heart rate up.

Dancing
Running
Bike riding
Swimming
Hiking
Skating
Surfing

Final thoughts on the importance of a healthy liver

It’s easy to live as if your body will always be healthy. It’s sobering to realize that simple everyday lifestyle choices could cause a lifetime of heartache if you end up with the disease. Overindulging in food, alcohol, or recreational drugs can cause liver disease. It’s important to understand these ten lifestyle changes to include in your life for a healthy liver. Breaking your bad habits and starting new healthy habits toward a robust and healthy liver is possible. You are the only one who can make healthy choices for your life.

Editorial Note 8/24/2023: Added link to authority source.

16 Quotes When You Need to Be More Self-Accepting

August 13, 2022 by Sarah Barkley

Being self-accepting means that you embrace who you are without condition. You love the good things about yourself as well as the bad. It’s a valuable quality because self-love can improve your overall well-being.

When you need inspiration, these quotes about being more self-accepting can help you. They cover topics from self-love to self-growth and everything in between. It’ll encourage you to focus on self-compassion, allowing you to treat yourself respectfully.

Being self-accepting requires embracing who you are and loving your imperfections. A lack of self-acceptance stems from low self-esteem, but you can overcome it and learn to love yourself.

These quotes will help you see through your shortcomings and accept yourself fully. Acknowledging the good things about yourself is easy, but you must embrace everything. Once you learn to love your weaknesses, failures, and flaws, you can move forward and grow.

Sixteen Quotes When You Need to Be More Self-Accepting

These words of wisdom come from people who have worked toward being more self-accepting. They know the struggle but also know you can overcome a lack of self-love. Use these wise words as inspiration to embrace who you are right now.

1 – “To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” – Thich Nhat Hanh.

All you need to be beautiful is self-love. As long as you like who you are, it doesn’t matter what others think about you.

2 – “Whatever you are doing, love yourself for doing it. Whatever you are feeling, love yourself for feeling it.” – Thaddeus Golas

Love everything about yourself, including what you’re doing and how you feel. Embrace each moment and feeling, and don’t ever feel bad about it.

3 – “Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” – Lao Tzu

When you accept yourself, you won’t have to convince others to like you. You won’t care about the approval of others because self-acceptance is all that matters. Worry about yourself, and the rest falls into place.

4 – “Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” – Louise Hay

This wise quote about being self-accepting is brilliant. You don’t get anywhere by criticizing yourself. It hasn’t worked for you in the past, and it won’t start to work in the future.

Shift your mindset and stop criticizing yourself. Embrace who you are and focus on self-love. You won’t know the good it can bring until you try.

5 – “Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me.” – Audre Lorde

No one can use it against you when you accept everything about yourself. Someone can mention it and try to hurt you, but it won’t work. When you love yourself, no one can use your flaws or mistakes to make you feel bad about yourself.

6 – “In order to love who you are, you cannot hate the experiences that shaped you.” – Andrea Dykstra

You might not love your past, but it’s part of who you are today. Rather than think back on your experiences with disdain, learn to appreciate them. Self-acceptance comes more manageable when you can embrace everything that shaped you.

7 – “I was once afraid of people saying, ‘Who does she think she is?’ Now I have the courage to stand and say, ‘This is who I am.’” – Oprah Winfrey

Never be afraid to be true to yourself. Speak up when you want to, and don’t diminish who you are for anyone.

As Winfrey explains, she used to be afraid, but now she is self-accepting. You can do the same, making the most of your unique qualities.

8 – “I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” – Brené Brown

Not everyone dares to love themselves, but you do. Show how brave you are by learning to appreciate yourself and doing what’s best for you. Your story is just as important as your present, so own it all and keep moving forward.

9 – “I think once I kind of got to a place of self-acceptance, looking past all the insecurities that I have, I’ve really grown so much as a person.” – Shannon Purser

When you can accept yourself as you are, you’ll grow into a better version of yourself. Accept your insecurities and appreciate that you’re not like everyone else.

It’ll help you align your life and find happiness and fulfillment. Self-acceptance is the only way to live a meaningful life and chase your dreams.

10 – “What self-acceptance does is open up more possibilities of succeeding because you aren’t fighting yourself along the way.” – Shannon Ables

If you don’t accept yourself, you’ll feel a constant battle. You’ll never feel good enough, and your mind will be full of negative self-talk.

Rather than letting this happen, love yourself as you are right now. If you cannot be self-accepting, you won’t continually fight to move forward and find happiness.

11 – “Trying to please everyone, in every way, is a race you’ll never win. You can spend all day measuring what people like and don’t like, but don’t let it change who you are. You are unique for a reason. Every single person is not going to vibe with everything, and that’s ok.” – Kristen Butler

You’ll never be able to please everyone, but you can make yourself happy. Stop paying attention to what others like and stay true to yourself.

Not everyone will like everything about you, but you’ll feel good if you love yourself. Accept yourself despite what others think because, as Butler explains, you can’t make everyone happy. Focus on self-love, and everything will work out in the end.

12 – “Accepting yourself is about respecting yourself. It’s about honoring yourself right now, here today, in this moment. Not just who you could become somewhere down the line.” – Kris Carr

If you don’t respect yourself, you can’t accept who you are. Focus on self-respect and treating yourself as you would treat a friend or loved one. Acceptance will quickly follow if you treat yourself well and respect who you are.

13 – “When you stop living your life based on what others think of you real life begins. At that moment, you will finally see the door of self acceptance opened.” – Shannon L. Alder

Living your life based on what others want won’t make you happy. You’ll never feel fulfilled if you continue to live that way. Let go of what other people think and only worry about what you think. When you stop living for others, you will be more self-accepting.

14 – “To be nobody but yourself in a world that’s doing its best to make you somebody else is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting.” – E. E. Cummings

Society convinces many people that they must be like those around them. It seems like everyone fights to be better at the same things rather than focusing on their individuality. If you can push past that societal pressure, you’ll release so much stress and tension from your life. Accepting yourself allows you to set yourself apart from the crowd, and it’s well worth it.

15 – “Instead of trying to mend me, I decided to enjoy me. Instead of trying to solve me, I decided to discover me. It was one of the best decisions of my life.” – S.C. Laurie

You can spend your life trying to change your flaws and imperfections. However, it won’t make you feel any better. Stop trying to fix yourself and focus on loving who you are. You are perfect as you are right now, and when you accept it, you’ll become the best version of yourself. Make sure you embrace who you are rather than fighting against what’s best for your life.

16 – “Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.” – Veronica A. Shoffstall

If you wait for someone else to make your life enjoyable, you’ll continue waiting forever. Instead, accept that this is your life and improve it. Do the things that make your soul happy and increase your self-love–and you’ll be glad you started.

Final Thoughts on Quotes When You Need to Increase Your Self-Love

Being more self-accepting is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Accepting yourself allows you to move forward to reach your goals. It also encourages happiness and life fulfillment.

Use these quotes to help you become more self-accepting. They can serve as a reminder during hard times and give you a boost of confidence the rest of the time. Choose a few favorite quotes to keep in a place you’ll see every day.

Survey Shows 81% of US Military Wants Vegan Meals

August 13, 2022 by Kristen Lawrence

An animal rights group Mercy for Animals poll found that 81% of US military members want vegan meals. Currently, vegan meals and MREs aren’t an option for service members. They can only choose from meals with animal protein or vegetarian dishes.

The organization polled 226 soldiers in all positions of the US military about their dietary preferences. Mercy for Animals utilized the survey platform Qualtrics to perform the poll. They found the respondents with Cint, a digital insights company.

Their survey revealed that most people identified as omnivores – about 58%. However, more than 23% of respondents wanted to cut down on animal products. 5.3% identified as flexitarians, 7.3% as vegetarians, and vegans made up only 3.5%. Only 1.8% of people said they followed a pescatarian diet.

Poll Finds 81% of US Military Wants Vegan Meals

Despite most of the respondents eating animal products, an astonishing 81% of military members want vegan meals. 69% said the military should provide plant-based MREs as well. Surprisingly, over 50% of people polled said they would choose vegan MREs over animal-based ones if they could.

Many service members had environmental concerns about food options as well. No matter what diet they followed, 70% of respondents would choose sustainable meals if the military made them available. 81% said they also wanted more climate-friendly MREs, the same percentage as those wanting vegan meals.

Mercy for Animals also asked participants if they believed vegan meals had more health and environmental benefits than animal-based meals. Over half (52%) said they strongly agreed or agreed that vegan meals lead to improved health. 51% of respondents also believed that plant-based foods enhanced their energy levels more than omnivorous options.

63% also believed that plant-based foods had less environmental impact than animal products. In addition, the poll found that 69% of service members noticed more of their friends trying plant-based products than in the past.

What the Experts Say About the Trend Towards a Vegetarian Lifestyle

“Our research suggests service members are aware of the nutritional and environmental impact of their food choices,” said Dr. Courtney L. Dillard, MFA’s social change researcher and the study’s lead researcher.

“As the US military continues to seek ways to best support the overall health and diverse needs of its loyal service members, we’re calling on lawmakers to require all military branches to provide plant-based MRE options.”

While service members rely on MREs in the field, only about 17% are vegetarian. Currently, the military doesn’t offer any vegan MREs.

Mercy for Animals encourages the public to contact state government officials about offering vegan meals for military members. The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) can address this and support the creation of plant-based MREs. If you’d like to show your support, you can do so here.

The popularity of Vegan Meals Keeps Growing in the Military.

Even though the US military doesn’t offer vegan meals in MREs, vegan entrees have gained popularity. In fact, a US army dining facility in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, began serving troops vegan options with every meal. After a soldier requested, the Guns and Rockets Dining Facility expanded its menu to include plant-based meals.

Currently, it’s the only dining facility in the army that provides vegan meals and side dishes to service members.

“We began testing items in February 2018 and were fully operational with labeling and an option at every meal by July 2018,” Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jeremy Patterson told the military outlet Stars and Stripes. “Now, we sell out of the plant-based entrée at every meal.”

“We didn’t change the menu. We just substitute the meat within the dish. Instead of chicken enchiladas on Taco Tuesday, we use black beans, and instead of beef stir fry, we use tofu. We are not reinventing the wheel with recipes. We are just taking the recipe and substituting some ingredients.”

Patterson said he hopes other army dining facilities will catch onto the trend and offer vegan meals.

Thankfully, it seems that his wish came true. The United States Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown recently began serving elaborate vegan meals in its main dining hall. The students at the training school enjoyed having plant-based options, as 10% identified as vegan in 2020.

Meatless Meals Aren’t Just For Vegans.

They got to choose between creative vegan meals like lemon-turmeric pasta with sundried tomatoes and pistachios, creamy carrot ginger soup, and jackfruit bulgogi bowls.

The meal program became so popular that even non-vegan students chose plant-based options. The training center won an award from PETA, honoring its progress in offering vegan meals.

In 2021, the South Korean defense ministry also confirmed offering vegetarian and vegan meals. While they wanted to accommodate Muslim military enlistees, anyone could ask for meatless meals when they signed up.

In the US, the military keeps a reserve of prepackaged vegan meals, but they’re not for soldiers. A Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) spokesperson revealed that the meals instead get distributed as humanitarian aid to civilians. While they technically aren’t labeled vegan, they contain only minimal animal products such as milk or cheese.

Since vegan foods have a longer shelf life and cost less than animal products, they’re a better choice for humanitarian aid. Also, vegan meals can more easily be made halal.

Plant-based foods have started to catch on worldwide, in both the military and civilian world.

Final Thoughts on Survey Showing Most Military Members Want Vegan Meals

A recent Mercy for Animals survey, which included 226 US service members, found that 81% want vegan meals. Currently, only 17% of meals offer vegetarian options, while none cater to vegans. However, this may change with the passing of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. MFA hopes to bring more awareness that more service members want plant-based options.

In other countries like South Korea, the plant-based diet has also grown in popularity. The military recently began offering vegetarian and vegan options to cater to Muslim enlistees. Several military dining halls in the US have also started serving troops plant-based meals. As veganism grows, we will likely see more schools and other institutions providing vegan options.

Study Confirms That Diet and Exercise Are Key to a Longer Life

August 13, 2022 by Kristen Lawrence

If you want a longer life, follow a healthy diet and exercise regimen. A new study confirms that these two lifestyle factors matter the most in preserving health. On the other hand, vitamins and supplements may have a neutral or even negative impact on well-being.

Many rely on multivitamins and various supplements for nutrients they may not get in their diets. In fact, U.S. adults spent around $50 billion on vitamins and supplements in 2021. Some of these supplements may have benefits, but scientists say they’re not necessary for health.

The researchers added that for non-pregnant, healthy Americans, vitamins have no nutritional or health value. Some people take them to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease or cancer. However, no clinical trials have proven a link between vitamins and lower disease risk.

“Patients ask all the time, ‘What supplements should I be taking?’ They’re wasting money and focus thinking there has to be a magic set of pills that will keep them healthy when we should all be following the evidence-based practices of eating healthy and exercising,” said Dr. Jeffrey Linder, chief of general internal medicine in the department of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Linder and colleagues from Northwestern Medicine published their research in JAMA Network on June 21. The report suggests new recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). This independent panel of experts makes scientifically-backed recommendations about clinical preventive measures.

Recently, the USPSTF performed a meta-analysis of 84 studies on the effectiveness of vitamins. Based on this review, they revised guidelines about taking multivitamins, paired supplements or single supplements. They found “insufficient evidence” to support that supplements led to a longer life and reduced disease risk in healthy adults.

Diet and Exercise Play Largest Role in Longevity

Linder added that the task force isn’t condemning vitamins but rather questioning their efficacy. If they led to a longer life, we would have evidence supporting this by now. On the other hand, research shows that specific vitamins can have a detrimental impact on health.

In fact, the task force found that taking beta-carotene supplements can increase the risk of lung cancer. Also, they advised against taking vitamin E supplements, determining that they have no impact on lowering cardiovascular disease or cancer risk. They also do not affect reducing mortality.

“The harm is that talking with patients about supplements during the very limited time we get to see them, we’re missing out on counseling about how to really reduce cardiovascular risks, like through exercise or smoking cessation,” Linder said.

Still, vitamins and supplements remain popular in the US, with over half Americans consuming them. Linder and his colleagues believe supplements will only increase in the future.

They say that people who buy vitamins believe they’re investing in their health and ensuring a longer life. Some don’t have the time or income to prepare fresh foods, so they turn to vitamins to supplement their diet.

This seems like a logical approach since fruits and vegetables lead to reduced disease risk in general. And, if you can receive the same benefits in pill form, why invest time and energy in maintaining a balanced diet?

Some People Can Still Benefit From Vitamins

However, the researchers explain that vitamins alone can’t offer the same benefits as whole fruits and vegetables. Fresh foods combine vitamins, fiber, phytochemicals, and micronutrients that interact to provide health benefits. Taking vitamins alone may not have the same effect as eating whole foods that naturally contain life-sustaining compounds.

However, the researchers added that people who have vitamin deficiencies can still benefit from taking supplements. For instance, older adults who take calcium and vitamin D could prevent bone fractures or osteoporosis. This could help ensure a longer life for the elderly.

In addition, pregnant women or women trying to get pregnant should still take a multivitamin.

“Pregnant individuals should keep in mind that these guidelines don’t apply to them,” said Cameron, a Northwestern Medicine physician. “Certain vitamins, such as folic acid, are essential for pregnant women to support healthy fetal development. The most common way to meet these needs is to take a prenatal vitamin. More data is needed to understand how specific vitamin supplementation may modify risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and cardiovascular complications during pregnancy.”

But, Longer Life is Mostly Dependent on Lifestyle Factors

Another study from Northwestern discovered that many women in the US have suboptimal heart health before pregnancy. Therefore, Cameron added that doctors should work with patients to enhance cardiovascular health as part of their prenatal care. Vitamin supplementation can help ensure a healthy pregnancy, but other factors such as diet and exercise, are equally important.

Despite the abundant knowledge about health in the modern era, many people suffer from chronic diseases. Dr. Jenny Jia, a co-author of the editorial, said it’s unsurprising that most of the disease burden falls on low-income families.

Due to costs and safety concerns, they have an exceptionally hard time maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine. The US food industry manufactures many cheap, hyper-palatable foods, making healthy foods inaccessible to many. However, by prioritizing nutritious foods, industries could ensure a longer life for millions.

“To adopt a healthy diet and exercise more, that’s easier said than done, especially among lower-income Americans,” said Jia, an instructor of general internal medicine at Feinberg and a Northwestern Medicine physician. “Healthy food is expensive, and people don’t always have the means to find environments to exercise — maybe it’s unsafe outdoors or they can’t afford a facility. So, what can we do to try to make it easier and help support healthier decisions?”

Final Thoughts on Study Proving Diet and Exercise Lead to Longer Life

Jia also studies the prevention of chronic diseases through lifestyle changes in underprivileged communities. Throughout the past few years, she’s worked with food pantries and banks that provide free groceries for needy families. She tries to help clients choose healthier options at food banks while also educating the public about donating more nutritious foods. Hopefully, these measures will lead to a longer life and improved health for many.

In conclusion, there are no shortcuts to maintaining health and ensuring a longer life. The research by Northwestern Medicine scientists proves what we knew all along: diet and exercise are essential for wellbeing.

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