During the festive season, the last thing on most people’s minds is healthy choices. After all, when you have chocolate, alcohol, stuffing, and Jello salad sitting in front of you, it often takes a serious act of discipline to choose vegetables, water, and green salad.
However, once the season is over and the mind gravitates towards New Year’s resolutions, consider upgrading these 4 habits to live a healthier and happier 2015.
Dairy consumption
In the past few decades we have been led to believe that dairy is a wholesome and pure source of nutrition that is rich in calcium and other life promoting nutrients. However, anyone who has been paying attention surely knows that this dairy fairytale is not true.
Dairy has become very contaminated due to the treatment given of the animals that produce it. Quarantined in stalls and continuously milked, these cows are injected with antibiotics and hormones to keep them “well” and to produce more milk. Then their enzyme rich milk is pasteurized in order to remove any harmful bacteria that may be present, but in this process the enzymes and other delicate nutrients are destroyed. In the end, you are left with a dead, tainted milk product that arguably causes more health concerns than it fixes.
Even when organic and raw, dairy products can cause excess mucus production and are a big problem for those suffering from any digestive issues. In 2015, make your own coconut, hemp, or sprouted almond milk/ Choose cheese alternatives like daiya cheese, and use more coconut oil than butter (and when you do use butter, make it organic and grass fed).
Coffee habit
Coffee is a staple in 80% of people’s lives, to the tune of 2-3 cups a day on average. This black elixir has received plenty of positive press lately, and although there are some health benefits, they pale in comparison to the drawbacks. When comparing beneficial antioxidants to artificially stimulating caffeine that wreaks havoc on your intestinal system, your hormones, and your liver, it becomes a no contest that the coffee habit needs to be toned down or kicked to the curb altogether.
There are plenty of other hot beverages that could fill its place, including teas, coffee alternatives such as Dandy Blend, and hot cocoa. After a few days of “coffee detox”, you will find living coffee free isn’t as tough as you imagined it to be, and your digestive system and hormones will begin to thank you.
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