What is Sugar Alcohol?

A little polyl goes a long way. Wait...what?

If you’ve recently put yourself on a low carb diet, or alternatively, you are just trying to cut sugar out of your diet entirely to promote better health and possibly lose some weight, one thing that you may have come across in some of the foods you’re eating are sugar alcohols.

But what exactly is sugar alcohol?  And, is it something you should be eating?

While you know very well what "regular" (ethyl) alcohol is,

What Prescription Drugs are Stealing From Your Body

Drugs deplete naturally occurring nutrients

You can’t turn on the T.V. without seeing commercials for some prescription medication and its long list of side-effects that are going to kill you.  Like reality T.V., we continue to watch it so they keep filming more of these (ludicrous) shows.  I think it’s the same with prescription medications, we’re told what the medicine can do, then we visit the doctor and demand that medication.  But watch and wait…here come the side-effects.  I don’t know about your doctor but my doctor would never simply prescribe something just because I said I wanted it.  Either we don’t have doctors that care about our health or, we have more influence on them than we thought.  The point is, if our demands were not met, the drug companies wouldn’t be making the commercials-so it must be working for them.

On the flip side, we are all familiar with the list of disclaimers from all the side effects.  Late night talk show hosts have no shortage of material thanks to “…may cause loss of hearing, anal leakage, or death.” Nice-and that’s just the condensed version. I’ve heard

The First Twenty Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer– by Gretchen Reynolds

The First Twenty Minutes is a reference to the minimum length of time from which benefits can be derived from a given bout of exercise. If the exercise is of a high enough intensity, that’s all you may need to derive maximal physical benefits for general health and well-being.  This is excellent news as the vast majority of people who don’t regularly exercise abstain from physical activity because they claim that they “just don’t have time.” But trust me, those people will move on to some other excuse for not exercising believe me, they will.  Because if you don’t have the time to change clothes, drive to the gym, navigate a parking space, warm-up, train, cool down, make your way back home, shower, and then eat- to-win, a 20 minute in-home workout should seem like a cake walk by comparison. But that’s another issue…

Gretchen Reynolds is the author of The First Twenty Minutes and in this book she does examine how we can exercise better, train smarter, and live longer.  There are some fascinating

Snack Attack

An apple a day?

Let me just start by saying:  I don’t believe in snacking.  Snacking allows for a consistent release of insulin at regular intervals in response to each meal; regardless of the meal size.  Insulin must then modulate the blood sugar response with each of those meals. Insulin is a fat storing hormone and whatever calories from a meal are not utilized right away, will be stored as fat.
  
While some people can experience a drop in blood sugar that can drive them to crave carbohydrates/sugar if they go too long without eating, I believe that if your meals are properly balanced, you can eat every 4 to 6 hours without feeling “starved.”  Eating every 4 to 6 hours prevents repeated insulin responses which can lead to

What's Your Story?

Stories convey magic and inspiration

Storytelling is as old as humankind.  Human beings have been telling stories, well, since there were human beings.  Stories inspire others, instruct, and pass along traditions, values, and ideas that are important to a society.  

Storytelling has become a hot topic as of late-especially with marketers.  It seems like everyone is talking about telling “their story” in an effort to help sell this product or that service. I’m fine with that because the stories are usually legitimate and if that happens to sell a product, so be it.

On a smaller scale, families have their own mythology. Dads tell tales of