Why Eat What’s Down the Street: Part 1 A case for buying and eating local foods and how modern food production and transportation harms our health Food, glorious food. But, how glorious can food be if most of it travels distances up to 1,500 miles from the farm to your dinner table, losing nutrients and gaining pesticides and herbicides along … Read More
Eating Healthy: Did You Taste The Rainbow Today?
“Taste the rainbow,” is a well-known tagline made famous by the multicolored candy, Skittles. But there’s a price to pay to taste this artificial rainbow, and the many other artificial food-like substances dominating our western diet. According to an article by Everyday Health, Skittles is able to achieve its vibrant color palette thanks to the additive titanium dioxide, a damaging … Read More
Slow Down, Sugar: How to Reduce Your Daily Sugar Intake
“We now eat in two weeks the amount of sugar our ancestors of 200 years ago ate in a whole year,” -John Yudkin Despite all the information at our fingertips about its negative health effects, sugar remains one of the most widely consumed substances in the world, providing roughly 20 percent of our total intake of calories and nearly half … Read More
Secrets to Long-Lasting Habit Change
Humans by nature are often resistant to change. We are creatures of habit and comfort. We do not like to do things we know will make us uncomfortable, despite knowing and understanding the positive benefits that can come from these often temporary sacrifices. According to the CDC, a small percentage (only 6%) of Americans consistently engage in the top five … Read More
Back to Basics: Tips For Getting Your Health Back on Track
The growing prevalence of chronic disease in the U.S. is staggering. Chronic disease is becoming the new norm, with 51.8% of U.S. adults living with at least one chronic condition and 27.2% with multiple chronic conditions (3). Some experts suggest this rise in chronic disease is due to a mismatch between human biology’s innate interdependence with nature and the disconnect … Read More
Coping with Change: Supporting Employee Physical and Mental Wellbeing in Challenging Times
The human brain is hard-wired to be suspicious of change. This serves as a built-in defense mechanism that makes up part of our primitive survival instincts. Moreover, we face heightened levels of stress when experiencing change, regardless of whether we perceive it to be good or bad change. There is no denying that we’ve all faced a significant amount of … Read More
Self-Compassion: The Secret to Stress Reduction
Growing up, we learned our actions have consequences – “treat others the way you want to be treated.” While an important lesson, when did we learn how we should treat ourselves? Recent research shows that being kind to ourselves and addressing our mistakes with grace may be the key to stress reduction. What is Self-Compassion? Compassion is having a sense … Read More
Optimizing Your Sleep Environment – Black Out Challenge
Sleep is a complex process meant for restoration of the mind and body. It is our innate time for rest, integration and repair. When we have persistent disturbances to a natural sleep pattern, we see detrimental consequences in our health. It is for this reason that sleep and proper sleep hygiene should be an everyday priority. Insufficient or poor-quality sleep … Read More
The Healing Power of Nature – Get Outside Challenge
As we focus on lifestyle habits that promote health and wellness, research suggests that getting outdoors is an important part of reaching our goals. With the modern conveniences available today, it’s not uncommon for the average person to spend little time outdoors. So, what health benefits are we missing out on by not spending enough time in nature? Nature mixed … Read More
Can Hobbies Improve Our Mental Health?
There is no doubt that the pandemic has taken a toll on our mental health. In the last year, many individuals have understandably felt more anxious, lonely, and depressed than ever before. Organizations such as the CDC and the WHO have even issued guidance on how people can look after their mental health during this difficult time. While much of … Read More