The 80/20 Rule is pretty simple:
Eat healthy foods 80% of the week, and eat unhealthy foods for the last 20%. Most people in the United States do the opposite. 20% unhealthy and 80% healthy. This is why obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancers have increased.
A healthy diet should contain the following:
- Sufficient amounts of proteins (meat, fish, and eggs)
- Carbohydrates (bread, starch, pasta, rice)
- Fruits and Vegetables (these contain great vitamins and produce fiber
- Fats (olive oil, nuts, seeds)
Drinking a lot of water is key too! It keeps you full and our body consists mostly of water so if we lose water we need to add it back into our system. There are plenty of diets out there that are good for you. If you like fast food, there is the “dash diet”. There are also plenty of guides for diabetes, high blood pressure and Gastrointestinal issues.
Good luck and happy eating!
Agave syrup is a man-made sweetener which has been through a complicated chemical refining process of enzymatic digestion that converts the starch and fiber into the unbound, man-made chemical fructose. While high fructose agave syrup won’t spike your blood glucose levels as High Fructose Corn Syrup is reported to do, the fructose in it may cause mineral depletion, liver inflammation, hardening of the arteries, insulin resistance leading to diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and obesity.
Sleep Deprivation adversely affects cognitive performance (reduces problem solving and decision making skills as well as short-term memory, impairs judgment, reduces logical reasoning and critical thinking, reduces visual attention and processing)
- Adversely affects mood and emotional well being, including increasing feelings of stress, sadness, frustration, anxiety, and rage
- Impairs immune function
- Influences the production and release of important hormones:
- Increased levels of cortisol which contributes to high blood pressure, a weaker immune system, increase appetite and abdominal weight gain)
- Negatively influence the production and release of leptin and ghrelin, hormones that affect appetite regulation
- Reduces the effectiveness of insulin, increasing blood sugar levels and increases the risk of diabetes
- Can inhibit the nocturnal production and release of growth hormones in men, which may contribute to loss of muscles and reduced metabolic rate
- There’s a relationship between sleep deprivation and risk of high blood pressure, stroke and the metabolic syndrome
- Sleep deprivation is also a risk factor for weight gain because it makes it more difficult to exercise and eat well