toxic habits Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Slash Your Risk of NAFLD by Breaking THIS Harmful Habit

The AHA! Team — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 05:08:37 +0000

Patrick Tims via NaturalHealth365 – It’s estimated that one in four adults suffers from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition where excess fat accumulates in the liver without alcohol being a factor. While alcohol is a well-known culprit of liver disease, a recent study published in the Annals of Hepatology highlights another surprising contributor: soft drinks. The research reveals a strong link between increased soft drink consumption and a higher risk of developing NAFLD, raising concerns about the impact of sugary beverages on liver health. The alarming link between soda consumption and liver disease: What the latest study reveals If you’re someone who can’t resist soda, you’re not alone – soft drinks, sugary sports beverages, and other sugar-filled bottled drinks are highly addictive. However, the latest study published in the Annals of Hepatology raises serious concerns: drinking more soft drinks is linked to a significantly higher risk of developing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The data also highlights that men are more likely to develop liver disease from increased soda consumption than women. The initial data collection occurred between 2004 and 2006, and only participants aged 20 or older were included. A follow-up analysis conducted from 2010 to 2012 added 186 new individuals, with 1,627 participants remaining in the study. Diet sodas or those with zero calories were excluded from the analysis. 28% of men consumed between one and three and a half servings of soft drinks per week. 47.4% of men consumed more than three and a half servings per week. 31.1% of women consumed between one and three and a half servings of soft drinks per week. 26.5% of women consumed more than three and a half servings per week. The median weekly soft drink intake for participants was 3.1 servings. Why NAFLD risk varies between men and women: A key insight from the study The study reveals a significant increase in the risk of NAFLD with higher soft drink consumption, showing a 39% higher likelihood of developing NAFLD when soft drink intake rises from less than one serving per week to more than three and a half servings per week. One of the most striking findings is that men have a higher risk of NAFLD as their soft drink consumption increases compared to women. While both sexes see a rise in risk with greater soft drink intake, the increase is more pronounced in men. This suggests that metabolic differences between men and women may play a key role in how the body responds to soft drink consumption, contributing to the observed variances in NAFLD risk. Simple and natural strategies to kick your soda habit Kicking your soda habit might sound tough, but it’s more doable than you think! Instead of going cold turkey, try weaning yourself off the sugary drinks gradually. A gentle transition can make the process feel less overwhelming. Start by swapping out your soda for sparkling water. The fizz can help satisfy that craving for something bubbly, and you can add a splash of lemon, lime, or cucumber to give it a refreshing twist. If you’re missing the sweetness, flavored waters with natural extracts like mint or berry are a great option, too. Try kombucha if you’re looking for something with a little more punch. This tangy, fermented tea is naturally fizzy and can help curb those cravings while also boosting your gut. Another tasty option is prebiotic sodas – these offer the fizz and a bit of sweetness without the sugar overload. For a more festive alternative, sparkling non-alcoholic champagne or grape juice can be a fun treat that feels like a special occasion, minus the sugar high. And if you’re craving something warm, herbal teas can be a comforting choice. You can naturally sweeten them with some honey or stevia if needed. By gradually replacing soda with these simple, flavorful alternatives, you’ll take steps toward a healthier lifestyle without feeling like you’re missing out! Sources for this article include: Sciencedirect.com NIH.gov News-medical.net To read the original article click here.

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How to Find Yourself Again After Trauma

The AHA! Team — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 08:24:02 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – In this podcast (episode #471) and blog, I talk to holistic psychologist and best-selling author Nicole LePera about finding your authentic self after trauma, identifying and unlearning harmful habits, and so much more! In her first book, How to Do the Work, Dr. Nicole offered readers a revolutionary, holistic framework for self-healing. Now, in How to Meet Your Self, she shares an interactive workbook designed to help every reader uncover their Authentic Self. By objectively and compassionately observing the physical, mental, and emotional patterns that fill our days and create our current selves, we can more clearly see what we do not wish to carry into the future. Why is this important? As Nicole points out, we all fall into conditioned habits and patterns—products of our past—that lead to cycles of pain, “stuckness,” and self-destruction. But we also have the innate ability to awaken to and change the behaviors and habits that no longer serve us, allowing us to step into the highest versions of ourselves, which is why Nicole wrote How to Meet Your Self: to help the reader radically transform their inner and outer world. We all struggle and we all have unique healing journeys. This is a universal aspect of the human experience. No matter who we are or where we come from, we cannot escape the fact that our past experiences color our present realities. For many of us, these patterns go unnoticed; we live our lives unaware of how these habits shape our thinking and actions. How to Meet Your Self, Nicole helps us become more aware and conscious of how the past is affecting our present and gives us practical tips and tools to change and heal the mind, brain and body. Awareness is the first step. When we see these aspects of our lives as habits and not intrinsic parts of ourselves, we can work on changing these patterns in our lives and reconnecting with our authentic self—that deep inner knowing of ourselves. We can’t heal what we are not aware of. But this change doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and effort to do the work. As mentioned above, awareness is just the first step, which then allows us to start our healing journey and discover our true, authentic selves. This change is often hard and difficult, and other things will come to the surface, which is why it takes consistent daily effort to shift our thinking and habits, especially if we have been living a certain way for decades. Learning habits and patterns often begins in childhood. Indeed, childhood is a very vulnerable period in our lives; we are growing, developing and learning how to see ourselves and the world around us. Unfortunately, the adults in the room are often dealing with their own trauma and issues, which can affect how they relate to us as children. This, in turn, can affect how we function as adults through the habits and patterns we learn—soon, a negative, generational cycle can be set up. Thankfully, it is never too late to heal. The brain is neuroplastic, which means that it can change. This is why it is so important that we learn how to connect with and trust ourselves—to reach that authentic self. We need to put on our own oxygen mask first by working through our past and what we need to heal before it starts impacting our wellbeing and our relationships. We need to learn how to embrace, process and reconceptualize what we go through, not push it down, or we may start to resent putting other people’s needs before our own. We need to learn how to process our experiences and feelings, not feel ashamed that we have emotions like frustration, anger and so on. When we do this, we are better able to connect with ourselves and the people in our lives on a deeper level, instead of using boundaries to put up walls around ourselves and keep people out. It is not selfish to work on ourselves and take the time to heal and connect with our authentic self. Rather, doing so promotes interdependence: the ability to truly thrive and connect with others in meaningful ways. This kind of autonomy is not the freedom to do whatever we want without consequences; it is the recognition that we are part of a larger whole, and that we as individuals do not have to do it all by ourselves. Our relationship with ourselves is the foundation of any relationship we will have. For more on finding your authentic self, listen to my podcast with Nicole (episode #471) and check out her amazing work. Podcast Highlights 1:54 Nicole’s amazing work 4:19 Social media & therapy 6:28 Nicole’s new book How to Meet Your Self 8:00 How the past affects our present 10:14 Why it takes time to change past patterns & habits 14:00 The power of the conscious mind 19:33 Getting out of “auto-pilot mode” 26:10 Learning habits starts in childhood 35:17 Healing religious trauma 36:28 How healing ourselves helps us connect with others 41:50 Why we need to allow ourselves to acknowledge our emotions 45:00 What our need for boundaries tells us about ourselves 50:00 Autonomy versus selfishness This podcast and blog are for educational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. We always encourage each person to make the decision that seems best for their situation with the guidance of a medical professional. To read the original article click here.

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How to Unwire Addiction & Toxic Habits from Our Brains, Why Focusing on “Willpower” is Ineffective and Counterproductive

AHA Publisher — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 07:00:17 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – The human brain is designed to be habitual—this has helped us survive over the centuries. But what happens when we build toxic habits that hold us back? How do we overcome negative thinking patterns that keep us stuck? In this podcast (episode #206) and blog, I speak with social psychologist, bestselling author and podcast host Dr. Amy Johnson about how we can find true and lasting freedom from unwanted habits, how to not be afraid of change, how to build new habits based on insight, not willpower, and how to help someone change without becoming an enabler. As Amy notes in her book, The Little Book of Big Change: The No-Willpower Approach to Breaking Any Habit, a thought is essentially our ability to have an experience. This experience can be either good or bad; what is important it how we react to the experience and take it in. If you are dealing with a recurring issue or addiction and nothing has helped you so far, it is not because you are broken or there is something wrong with you. The solutions you tried could not fix you because you don’t need fixing in the way you think you do. Your brain is like a machine; it is demanding that you do something or act in a certain way because it has been conditioned by your behavior (which often happens unintentionally). It is not something that needs to be fixed; it needs to be shifted and changed by your insight and understanding. You control the process—it does not control you. You are not bound by your past. You are free to be who you want to be; you don’t have to walk around in fear and shame. Indeed, overcoming a bad habit or addiction is not about making something go away or stop. It is about learning how to be free of the urges to act or think in a certain a way, separating yourself from them and observing these desires as an experience, not a necessity. This deep insight will increase your self-compassion, helping you recover, readjust and overcome what you are facing. We need to see our urges as moving, changing experiences that we don’t have to act on or believe. If a thought or desire comes back, this doesn’t mean we are still sick or we have failed; it is just a passing memory. We don’t need to fear it, because we understand that it is a fleeting experience, not an illness or disease. Essentially, where we direct our energy, the brain follows. This becomes a bad thing when we take an experience and make it a part of our own narrative, rather than letting it move through us without latching onto it. The more energy we give this habit, the more room we give it in our mind and life. Overcoming bad habits and addictions means shifting your mental energy away from the thoughts behind these habits—they are slowly dying, even though they may still affect your behavior in some way. The key point is that the habit or addiction no longer owns you. Breaking a bad habit is not about elimination, it is about shifting your energy away from the habit. Where your mind goes, your brain and body follows! When it comes to breaking a bad habit, if you just focus on your willpower, you keep giving the bad habit mental energy by thinking about it constantly, and it stays alive. So, what’s the solution? When you are dealing with a toxic thought or habit, it is tough to do much in the moment, because this is often when we are at our weakest—it almost feels like we have been hijacked by our thinking. It is far more important to focus on the bigger picture and the insights you will gain before and after, which help you move forward. In the moment, the best thing you can do is let go and let the feelings move through you so you can “reset” instead of pushing away or numbing your feelings. When you are calmer, you can start accessing the wisdom of your experiences. If someone you love is battling with an addiction or toxic habit, help them explore this. Be with them as they try to discover who they are and how their experience works. Be present and help them see that they are not broken or ill. Help them gain insight into what their experiences are telling them. Have those deep, hard conversations—this will allow them to tap into their natural wisdom. Don’t see the person as broken or ill; don’t just assume that they are doing this to upset you or make your life difficult. See the truth behind their behavior and know that they are doing what they do to cope; they are in pain and are afraid of facing their experience. This article has been modified. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Leaf click here.

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