Right now, your gut is swimming with bacteria — good and bad. Maintaining a good balance between the two is key to helping you stay healthy. One of the ways to support that is to give your gut flora supportive food, not detrimental. Sugar and artificial sweeteners can affect your gut health in some not-so-friendly ways. You probably have heard about the artificial sweeteners aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose — three of the biggest offenders — but can also add sugar to that list. (more…)
If you've been diagnosed with high triglycerides, you're not alone. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21.5 percent of all adults have above-normal triglyceride levels, also called hypertriglyceridemia or dyslipidemia.[1] High levels of triglycerides may not come with specific symptoms, but they may coincide with both high total blood cholesterol and low HDL ("good") cholesterol levels. Having too many triglycerides in the blood can raise your risk of heart disease and insulin resistance,[2] especially if you also have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.[3] (more…)
While some people jokingly refer to themselves as sugar addicts, the truth is no laughing matter. Refined sugar causes real, clinically verifiable addictive patterns in your brain and ruinous effects on your body. The average American consumes between 22 and 30 teaspoons of added sugar every day.[1] That’s sugar that you could easily cut from your diet entirely by making intelligent dietary decisions — or you could if sugar didn’t have you hooked. A sugar detox is a way to break the hold sugar has over you. (more…)
Energy drinks are popular among gamers, students, athletes, professionals, and anyone who has to drive overnight from Milwaukee to St. Louis. They’re big business, too. Americans spent $12.5 billion on energy drinks in 2012. Market experts predict that number to climb to $21.5 billion in 2017.[1] It’s clear that these drinks are only growing in popularity. With so many people guzzling them down every day, can energy drinks really be that bad? The short answer is yes. (more…)
Many people don’t realize just how important gut bacteria is for their health. Your gut is home to over one trillion bacteria, and in order to keep things running smoothly, those bacteria need to stay healthy. But, there are many, many things out there that can upset gut balance. (more…)
