Aspartame is considered the most dangerous food additive on the market today. The chemical kills neurons in the brain, poisons the body and is linked to many health side effects.
Sugar is best kept to a minimum in your diet in order to decrease your risk for diabetes, heart disease, and to help you lose weight or prevent weight gain. There are a slew of alternative sweeteners out there, but they're not all created equal. All artificial sweeteners — including aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium and saccharin — should be avoided due to evidence linking these sweeteners to a possible increased risk of cancer.
When looking for natural sweeteners, there are a few important things to consider. It’s wise to use sweeteners that are naturally derived, minimally processed, not contaminated, and contain some nutrients and antioxidants. Here are five good options for natural sweeteners:
1) Molasses:
Molasses is what’s left over during the process of refining of sugar cane into white sugar. Molasses is perhaps the most nutrient rich of all sweeteners, providing a significant amount of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and vitamin B6.
2) Dates
Dates naturally taste very sweet and thus are a great way to sweeten desserts. Dates contain vitamin B6, vitamin A, potassium and calcium. Use dates in puddings, bars and date balls with nuts and coconut.
3) Honey
Honey has antibacterial properties and is a source of antioxidants derived from the pollen collected by bees. Darker honeys have higher antioxidant value. It’s best to use raw or unprocessed honey for higher nutrient and antioxidant content. Use honey instead of refined sugar in tea, yogurt or dessert recipes.
4) Maple syrup
Not to be confused with the “pancake syrup” that graces many breakfast tables and is made from high fructose corn syrup and caramel coloring, real maple syrup is made by boiling the sap of maple trees into a concentrated and sweet syrup. People mostly associate maple syrup with pancakes and waffles, but maple syrup is a delicious sweetener for use in homemade ice cream, to sweeten some plain yogurt or in other lightly sweetened desserts instead of refined sugar.
Maple syrup contains small amounts of calcium and zinc and a significant amount of riboflavin. Riboflavin is essential for helping you derive energy from the food you eat, and also has antioxidant functions.
5) Stevia
Stevia is a calorie-free sweetener that's about 100 times sweeter than sugar and is naturally derived, coming from a South American shrub. Stevia is the only safe calorie-free sweetener currently available, given the health risks associated with artificial sweeteners. Stevia can be used in a variety of desserts, as well as tea and coffee.
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30 Minutes to a Healthier Heart
Since a young age, we learn that exercise is good for our heart. But, we often neglect to admit lack of exercise is bad for our heart. Then sometimes we find difficulty going from knowing to doing.
This could lie in the myth that you have to exercise lots to reap the benefits. Conversely, it doesn’t take a whole lot of exercising to starting seeing improvements in your heart health. Several studies have shown that even light to moderate activity reduces your risk of heart disease. One study of 44,000 men suggested that walking for 30 minutes per day enjoyed a 20 percent decrease in risk of developing heart disease.
If 30 minutes a day (on average 12 miles per week) can benefit you this much, then it’s a safe bet that the more you exercise the better your heart health. If you have a hard time getting motivated, you can use this study as a starting point. Thirty minutes a day is all it takes to improve your health.
ACE Fitness offers a program called A Walk A Day that teaches you how to schedule daily walking into your routine. Try it out for a few weeks and see how you feel. Then progress from there. You don’t have storm out of the starting gates. Just get moving everyday and notice how much better you feel.
Daily exercise not only reduces your risk of heart disease, but also improves your less cholesterol by raising your HDL (the good stuff), and lowering your triglycerides. In addition, when improving your muscle efficiency, exercise can help prevent or delay the development of adult onset diabetes.
It’s never too late to start exercises. You never have too little time or energy to go for a stroll in the evening or before work. Your heart will thank you for it.
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