Blog Posts
We can’t start one thing until we stop another
When we feel the need to start making improvements to the way we eat, we need to seriously start looking at what we’ve been eating that has prompted our need to make changes. This means stopping a particular food or food groups that may be causing health issues or just an overall feeling of unwell.
So, if you’re looking to cut down on sugar for example because you don’t like the way it’s been making you feel, or you’re worried about a less than optimal cholesterol number, then giving up the occasional Snickers bar but continuing to eat ice cream for desert isn’t going to do very much to change anything. Sugar is sugar. And less sugar is still sugar.
Some individuals whose blood work numbers indicate a need for dietary changes would rather opt for a drug to continue their dietary lifestyle and that is a personal choice.
Let’s go back to our sugar example.
In a 2022 article published in Medical News Today, a 2016 medical review explains the connection between too much sugar consumption (fructose and added) and raised low-density lipoprotein or “bad” LDL cholesterol. Too much sugar, in any form over time, raises LDL “bad” cholesterol which in turn, lowers the “good” cholesterol. This exchange, increases plaque build-up and your risk for heart attack and stroke, not to mention diabetes (Rees, M, (2022).
Once the increased numbers begin showing up on a blood panel, most doctors will decide to start you on a cholesterol lowering statin drug to help bring the LDL number down and increase the HDL. And that sets off a whole new set of health issues.
Or you could simply look at what you’ve been eating that is causing the rise in LDL and replace it with a food that is less problematic and inflammatory. Cutting down on foods that are causing problems, but continuing to eat less of them, is not the same thing as replacing a potentially harmful food with a food that is not harmful. You’ll never bail out the boat if you don’t fix the hole.
Is change easy? Not for everyone. But it’s not impossible either.
Reference
Rees, M., Meacham, PhD, RD, PMP, MBA, CSCS., (July, 2022), What to know about sugar and cholesterol, Medical News Today. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/sugar-and-cholesterol
Resources
Health Central https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/high-cholesterol/cholesterol-and-sugar
Centra State Healthcare System https://www.centrastate.com/blog/sugar-can-wreak-havoc-on-your-cholesterol-levels/
Harvard Health Publishing https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/sugary-drinks-may-raise-levels-of-unhealthy-blood-fats
Nutrisense https://www.nutrisense.io/blog/does-sugar-raise-cholesterol
Dr. Robert Lustig: How Sugar & Processed Foods Impact Your Health
Understanding Fatigue
The body is all chemistry, with chemical reactions happening all the time; it is the science behind the process of living. Our experiences with fatigue have a lot to do with our ability to function. They can be the cause of not enough quality, recuperative sleep. Too much or too little exercise. Or the result of a chronic bad diet which is responsible for chronic diseases that can contribute to chronic fatigue. What and when we eat has a lot to do with how we feel and our level of energy.
Our inability to stop repetitive thought or turn off the “hamster wheel”, can cause major problems for our capacity to relax and unwind. We can never fully relax if we are constantly playing the same argument or disagreement over and over in our heads like a radio we cannot shut off. Our brain no longer has the capability to concentrate properly.
Photo by Marco Bianchetti on Unsplash
In order to function at optimum health, the body needs the right amount of exercise, the right amount of nutrients and the right amount of restorative, recuperative sleep. And for those with insomnia or medical conditions requiring medications that may keep us awake, tend to live in a constant state of exhaustion. “Despite its high prevalence and the burden it poses on the person, fatigue remains an often neglected symptom” (Azzolino, D., et. al., (2020). To this point, it is important to realize and understand that with all that is happening in our lives, every moment of every day, we need to be mindful of what we are doing to our bodies at any given time that may be contributing to our feelings of fatigue. Smoking for instance, depletes oxygen levels in the blood (MiYang, J., (2014). Alcohol acts as a sedative which will make us tired. Foods high in added sugar will give us energy. But if eaten at the wrong time of day will prevent us from sleeping. Or until we ‘crash’ and then the need to sleep will happen when we don’t have the opportunity, which is never a great feeling. Mental disorders like depression can also cause a constant state of fatigue (ADAA, (2023).
What we do to our bodies, affects how we feel physically, emotionally and mentally. That is why we need to pay attention to what our body is telling us. And being mindful of what we are doing to ourselves, has the potential to define our emotional state, levels of energy and our feelings of fatigue.
Reference
ADAA, (2023), What is Depression? Anxiety & Depression Association of America. Retrieved from https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/depression?gclid=CjwKCAjwpJWoBhA8EiwAHZFzfm3oB0SQFCFbWGcKi0JMo03uDwbpicXQR4G5hxO-LxbsKU5aGNnvTxoCdawQAvD_BwE
Azzolino D, Arosio B, Marzetti E, Calvani R, Cesari M. Nutritional Status as a Mediator of Fatigue and Its Underlying Mechanisms in Older People. Nutrients. 2020 Feb 10;12(2):444. doi: 10.3390/nu12020444. PMID: 32050677; PMCID: PMC7071235. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32050677/
MiYang, J., HyeonCheol, J., Lee, K., & Yim, J. (2014). The acute effect of smoking a single cigarette on vascular status, SpO2, and stress level. Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research, 20, 601–607. https://doi.org/10.12659/MSM.890367. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3999162/
Resources
Medical News Today
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/foods-that-beat-fatigue