A low-sugar diet means reducing how much added and natural sugars you consume in a day. Less restrictive than a no-sugar diet, low-sugar diets encourage you to reduce your sugar intake and focus on healthier, balanced eating habits, such as switching out processed foods for more nutritious produce and whole grains.

Many health professionals recommend starting a low-sugar diet sooner rather than later to prevent harmful weight gain and other chronic conditions. Essentially, the goal of reducing the amount of sugar you eat is to maintain healthy glucose levels in the body.

Benefits of Eating a Low-Sugar Diet

There are many reasons to try a low-sugar diet, and the benefits greatly outweigh any challenges associated with making adjustments to your eating habits. Here are six reasons to try a low-sugar diet.

When you consider the cleanliness of your home, you may think of organization. While an unorganized junk drawer and a toy-covered floor can be unpleasant, they possess minimal adverse health effects. The real culprit of grime and contamination is disposable household items.

Many of us use various products daily without considering their hygiene or safety. There are four specific items to replace frequently in order to improve your well-being at home.

The Benefits of Replacing Items Regularly

You can ensure the protection of yourself and your family members by assessing the expiration dates of your household items. Prevent mold buildup by swapping out old items that come in contact with water.

Reducing your exposure to mold may decrease your risk of asthma attacks and other respiratory complications. Frequently replacing older items with new, clean ones can also reduce your risk of developing diseases. E. coli, listeria, and salmonella derive from unclean products, especially in the kitchen.

Over time, items accumulate bacteria, infecting nearly 48 million people annually. When you upgrade your household items often, you can protect the health and well-being of yourself and your family. There are four products you should replace frequently to maintain health and safety.

Have you ever been told you've woken up on the wrong side of the bed? Getting enough sleep is vital to a positive mood and having enough energy to attend to your daily tasks. But did you know that when you suffer from poor sleep, you can put yourself at risk for severe medical conditions like heart disease, stroke, obesity, and diabetes? Good sleep hygiene is crucial for a healthy and long life.

Adults should aim to rest at least seven to nine hours at night. To ensure quality sleep, limit all caffeine intake after 2 PM. Establish a bedtime routine and be consistent each night so your body can grow accustomed to it. Make sure your room is dark, cool, and comfortable so you can rest well. Limit the use of all electronic devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime, so it doesn't interfere with your natural rest patterns.

If you get good sleep each night, you’ll reduce your chances of developing serious illnesses. You’ll also boost your overall wellness. Here are a few health problems that good sleep helps prevent!

Have the winter blues got you down? Seasonal affective disorder affects about 1%-2% of the population, and milder forms may affect as much as 20%. This mental health condition occurs at the same time each year and can take a toll on every aspect of your life, from work to relationships to your sense of self-worth.

The good news is that, like other forms of depression, SAD is treatable — and there are plenty of steps you can take to help yourself feel better. Here are five simple ways to take care of your mental health so you can break through the gloom and actually enjoy the season.

Meditation offers an array of benefits for your body, mind and spirit. Enthusiasts claim the practice can do anything from easing chronic pain to helping you touch divinity.

However, you need an appropriate location to spread out your mat. Here are five steps to creating a peaceful place for meditation.

1. Find a Quiet Place

It isn’t always easy to carve out a space to hear yourself think. The problem compounds if you share an apartment with noisy roommates or have several littles making nonstop pitter-patter with their little feet. However, you can get creative even in a studio by insulating an area to find your zen.

Whether you’re a brand-new vegan on the hunt for some ideas or you’re a total veteran who wants to spice things up, there are so many great options for vegan breakfasts that you need to check out. From the on-the-go mornings when you hardly have the time to heat up some toast, to more involved recipes, vegan breakfast options can go any which way.

Whether you’re in the mood for something savory, something a little sweet, or something in between, you can find the perfect breakfast to start off your day.

Many families prepare a traditional Thanksgiving feast, but there’s much to be said for adding something new into the mix. If you want to change up your dinner table this holiday, why not make it a healthy addition or substitution?

The following five ideas can suit many different tastes, and each provides a unique nutritional profile. Try one or several of these alternative ideas this Thanksgiving!

More than 60% of Americans drink coffee every day, and if you’re one of them, you know exactly how you like yours. Maybe you enjoy adding flavored syrups and creamers. Perhaps you add a spoonful of sugar and a bit of half-and-half.

Regardless of how you take your coffee, you could probably stand to make it healthier. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to brew — or order — a more nutritious and nutritious cup of joe.

1. Drink It Black

Lattes, frappes and other fancy coffee drinks are choc-full of calories, not to mention absurd amounts of sugar and fat. If you’re used to ordering these kinds of beverages, the mere thought of drinking your coffee black might make you cringe. However, doing so is the easiest and most effective way to make your coffee habit healthier. Slowly wean yourself off the creamy, sugary drinks and, eventually, your taste buds might come to love dark roasts and bold espressos.

Stress is one of the leading causes of chronic illness globally. Researchers evaluate Blue Zones when looking for low-stress lifestyles. The regions hold the most centenarians because of a low risk of fatal conditions.

When comparing residents in Blue Zones to Americans, they found critical differences in their daily stressors and symptoms. Professionals examined five signs you need to reduce your stress, improving your health and well-being. Before reviewing the symptoms, we must assess what stress is and where it comes from.

It’s sweater weather! Get outside with a pumpkin spice latte and enjoy the crisp fall air. Whether you have little ones and are looking for family activities or you want creative ways to stay busy with the days getting shorter, here are nine healthy outdoor activities to enjoy this autumn.

1. Rake the Leaves

Raking up leaves might sound like a chore, but it's also a fantastic workout. Effortlessly elevate your heart rate by raking quickly. You'll be feeling the burn in your obliques and forearms for days. Get your kiddos involved by having them help rake for a bit, and then reward them with jumping in piles.

Losing someone you love is never easy. Saying goodbye to a parent is like bidding farewell to a piece of your soul.

Everyone grieves differently, and there’s no timeline for when you should start feeling better. However, the world doesn’t grind to a halt to let you mourn as much as you wish it might. You need to nurture yourself during this time. Here are five healing tips to help you get through a parent’s death.

1. Give Yourself a Break

If at all possible, give yourself time to mourn before resuming your regular responsibilities. Doing so can prove challenging, depending on your circumstances.

If your employer won’t grant you time away, or you can’t afford to take it, clear your calendar of any responsibilities you can safely shed. Talk to any organizations that you volunteer with to explain your absence. If you were planning on something like going back to school, postpone it if possible.

Are you acquainted with your inner child? This psychological concept evolved to explain the complex way our minds and physiology remember the events of our youth. They can drive our attitudes and behaviors, even if we aren’t conscious of them.

However, it benefits your psyche to get in touch with this miniature you. Better yet, you should bring them out to play now and then. Here are seven reasons keeping your inner child alive is good for your mental health.

1. It Helps You Understand Your Present Relationships

Do you find yourself attracted to the same type of person over and over again? Worse, do you find yourself repeating old toxic patterns that you seem unable to break? Doing inner child work could help you understand and reverse the cycle.

Treating your body with kindness isn’t just about doing what feels good in the moment. In fact, truly caring for the needs of your body is often much more about thinking long-term. It’s no secret that even in the short term — but especially over time — eating junk food can take a serious toll on the body.

Too much sugar can make you feel sluggish, processed meats can increase your risk of cancer and salt can elevate your blood pressure. Alternatively, there are so many foods that you can use to fuel your body for healthy longevity and immunity. There are so many amazing, natural sources of nutrients that you can turn to — from the fresh and sweet to the savory. Here are a few of those foods that can truly have a profound impact on your life and your body.

Too often in the west, people look to their doctors to identify and fix what’s wrong with their bodies. However, another person can’t live inside your skin. As such, you can become the best physician of all by learning to listen to your physical cues.

Tragically, many people learn to disregard the physiological signs of trouble as they grow and mature. Regulating your emotions doesn’t mean ignoring your feelings and sensations. Here are six tips for getting in touch with your body and finding out what it needs right now.

1. Get Acquainted With Your Breath

You have one of the most powerful stress-busting tools in the world available anytime and anywhere. It doesn’t cost a dime to use. All you need to do is tune in to your breath.

Recovery from addiction is a long road, but so is the process that led many people down the past of substance abuse in the first place. Any noble endeavor deserves time and care, and reclaiming your life from the drugs and alcohol governing your behaviors is no easy feat.

Meditation is a powerful tool for addiction recovery. Much like a gentle and well-trained therapist, it puts you in touch with your inner workings and lets you examine the beliefs, behaviors and patterns that lead to substance use. Here’s an in-depth look at how the process works and how you can get started with your practice.

How Meditation Works Hand in Hand With Therapy

Meditation and therapy complement each other in myriad ways. One form of treatment, dialectical behavioral therapy, directly incorporates mindfulness techniques into the modality.

Many people are chomping at the bit for society to reopen. However, if you are among those with an autoimmune condition or another disorder and run a high risk of complications from infection, you might have valid fears.

The stress doesn’t benefit your overall health and may put you at risk of a painful flare. What can you do to tame your tension? Here’s how to fight COVID-19 anxiety with yoga as society reopens.

1. Tune Out Instead of Turning Into the News

Often, people exacerbate their anxiety by spending too much time on social media or watching the news. While you want to be informed, the chances are that you won’t miss any breaking developments if you silence your phone alerts and turn off CNN.

Yoga offers you the ideal alternative. You can find tons of free videos on YouTube, and you can watch and follow along on the big screen if you have a smart TV or a streaming device. Make a brief workout — you can find those as short as five minutes — an alternative way to unwind from your workday instead of flipping to the latest broadcast.

When you first fell in love with your partner, the future was bright. You dreamt of doing everything together and creating memories for decades. In the months or years since, life threw challenges at you that made you reassess your future.

If your relationship doesn’t seem to have a path forward or you don’t feel fulfilled, the next step will be difficult, but not impossible. Read about when to say enough is enough so you can face potential heartbreak and exchange it for more happiness.

1. Frustration Replaces Joy

Everything’s easier when relationships begin, so it’s normal for that bliss to fade when your new love becomes your new normal. Even when you’ve been with your partner for years, your relationship should still bring you joy. When things aren’t going right, frustration could become a daily occurence.

Frustration often comes from a communication breakdown. Think about how you connect with your partner and look for healthy communication characteristics, like curiosity about each other and strong teamwork skills. What you find could point out why you feel frustrated with your relationship and current place in life.

Techniques that can aid in addiction recovery.

Are you working toward overcoming an addiction? If so, congratulations on taking charge of your health and working toward improvement.

You probably know that you need every weapon in your arsenal to defeat the negative thoughts and beliefs that drive your negative behaviors. Have you tried yoga, meditation and mindfulness? All three techniques can aid in addiction recovery. Here’s how.

Use Guided Meditation to Combat "Stinking Thinking"

What makes you behave the way you do? What makes some people reach for the bottle at the first setback while others sail through life sober? While many factors play a role, in large part, your beliefs stem from self-defeating thought patterns — and guided meditation can help you defeat these and rewire your conditioned responses.