Horrifying Facts About Americans!

• Two out three are overweight
• One of three has either diabetes or pre-diabetes
• Cancer is now the number one cause of death

And here’s the reason why…

• 90% of the money Americans spend on food is for processed foods
• The number one source of calories in America is the sugar in sodas
• In a typical year the average Americans consumes:
o Over 56 gallons of soda a year
o 150 hamburgers
o 200 orders of fries

We must change our very approach to food and life.  Life Style change in fact is the only way to really optimize your health. Selecting the right foods to nourish your brain and body, while avoiding the toxic poisons that are loaded into commercially processed foods are necessary, critical steps towards feeling better today while promoting Healthy Aging for tomorrow.

Adding exercise (Aerobic and Resistance training) at least 3 days a week and preferably, daily, is an additional critical step. Lastly, smile more and stress out less.  Stress causes our bodies to go into a classic "fight or flight" response.  The "fight or flight" response is an evolutionary mechanism originally designed to help our ancestors run away from large predators.   Now, without any saber-tooth tigers to run away from, we end up stewing in our own stress hormones (adrenalin, cortisol and others).  Stress hormones cause our blood vessels to constrict resulting in increased blood pressure and they cause our muscles to contract leading to painful spasms.  Increased cortisol also causes insulin resistance over time which can lead to Adult Onset Diabetes.  Stress has a negative effect on the Hippocampus of your brain, an area crucial for memory. In addition these stress hormones cause you to feel stressed out which typically has a negative impact on our relationships and leads to further unhappiness. 

Robert Elliot created a great saying that I keep at the bottom corner of my computer monitor:

    Rule #1: Don’t sweat the small stuff.
    Rule #2: It’s all small stuff.

In the end, the reasons for the fights in our lives usually turn out to be less important than they seemed at the time.  Keep these rules in mind, smile and laugh more.  Love more and yell less.  It’s great for you and those you care about.

In Health,
Neil Levin DC