The Good
What is good for us is what we all wish was bad. It’s the thing that keeps us at the dinner table as kids a lot longer than we wish to stay there, our green buddies– vegetables! I know this info may be hard for you to choke down (I promise to limit the puns from here on out :P) but vegetables do in fact help multiple areas of our lives. Eating vegetables helps to strengthen your gastrointestinal tract (something we may not be thinking about at our young age, but a healthy pooper is a happy pooper down the road!). Some vegetables (such as dark green leafy vegetables, cauliflower and broccoli) help to get ride of carcinogenic (cancer-causing) substances! One important note though, vegetables will yield you the greatest amount of nutrients if:
- You eat them raw (meaning not cooked or steamed)
- They are not frozen in bags (though they are convenient, in my opinion they aren’t tasty and you’re not even getting the health benefits from them)
- You leave the skins on! Most of the nutrients are found on the outside layer, so don’t peel your carrots, cucumbers and whatnot!
The Bad
You know those things you like to use daily like shampoos, lotions, makeup, hair products and toothpaste? Unfortunately all of these substances can be potentially cancer-causing. You may call me out and say that is illegal, but in reality, health companies do not have to report all dangerous chemicals in their products due to loopholes in federal law. Don’t worry, I’m not going to be that guy that tells you you’re going to die if you keep using your conditioner, but there are easy things you can do to make sure you are being healthy with these substances. A good rule of thumb to follow is that the less ingredients involved in a product, the safer it is. More ingredients means more chance that there will be toxic chemicals that are in fact bad for you! Check to make sure the word “parabens” is NOT one of the ingredients in any of your chemicals and toiletries. It is a big hormone disruptor that can cause growth problems and issues with your immune system.
The Ugly
Fat, fat and more fat! Make sure you are trying to decrease your fat intake, mainly trans fats as they are the most potently dangerous from of fat! Hand sanitizers are also to be given a second thought before use as they actually contain antibacterials that cause more harm than good.
So with this info in mind, try to implement some safe eating and living strategies over the summer! This will be my last post for this blog for awhile, so stay healthy and stay happy everyone!
