Clarity Wellness

  5 "healthy" foods I don't eat anymore I have been interested in nutrition for as long as I can remember, and the more I learn the more my diet evolves.  Here are five things I used to eat that I've realized were really not as healthy as I thought. 1 .   Dried fruit .  Sure, dried fruit has fiber and a few vitamins, but it's also a highly concentrated source of sugar that will spike your glucose and insulin levels quite quickly.  And yes, that goes for dates too.  Eat your fruit whole, and preferably with some fat or protein to blunt the glucose spike. 2 .   Fruit smoothies or juices .  If I make a smoothie these days, it includes a lot of protein, some fiber and fat, along with a small amount of fruit--usually in the form of berries.  Most juices have as much, if not more, sugar as a soft drink, with no fiber to slow down the sugar rush. 3 .   Whole grain bread or pasta .  I know t...

If you ask most people why they want to try a low-carb diet, they will probably tell you they want to lose weight.  Great.  Most of us want to.  But what is your true why behind losing weight? Why number one:  I want to fit into my jeans.  Is this because you want to save money and be able to fit into all the clothes in your closet so you don't have to go out and buy new ones?  Or does the thought of trying on jeans in a fitting room fill you with dread?  Are you tired of looking at your closet and realizing that half the clothes in there don't fit you anymore? But why? Is it merely financial, or is it because you feel frumpy and unattractive? Are you afraid your husband doesn't see you as beautiful anymore?  Are you holding back from intimacy because of the extra weight? But why?  Go deeper... Are you afraid that your health is deteriorating because you're carrying extra weight?  You can't do the physical things you once did?  You ...

Here in Arizona, allergy season is in full swing.  Trees are blooming, grass is growing, yellow dust is flying everywhere, and noses are itching!  I've dealt with allergies all my life.  I had the cute little crease in my nose when I was younger, I had sinus polyps removed at 18, and I spent years of my life in doctors' offices waiting to make sure I didn't react to allergy shots.  I've had allergy testing done several times, but I've never had better results and better data than when I took matters into my own hands and figured out where the problems were coming from.  Years of allergy shots didn't change a thing, but years of self-testing have made a huge difference. The first thing any allergist will tell you is get rid of the offenders.  I know that I'm allergic to most types of pollen, so I avoid those as much as I can.  If I need to do yardwork I wear a mask, and try to do the best I can to keep my house clean. I avoid synthetic fragrances, and m...

In an effort to keep the Christmas spirit alive and well this year, I baked all the usual cookies and treats:  buckeyes, fudge, caramels, snowball cookies, chocolate crinkles, ginger snaps... Everyone has a different favorite, of course, so I had to make them all, despite making proclamations that we would not go overboard this year and I was going to narrow down the list of things we would make.  I could try and make gluten-free, sugar-free versions, but what would be the point, really?  My kids wouldn't eat them, I would be stuck looking at them and feeling guilty that I wasted the time and money on them, and would feel obligated to eat them all myself.  Usually we make cookies and keep them in the freezer, doling them out little by little as we make our rounds of holiday parties.  This year, however, there are no parties to go to, and home baked treats are not as well-received as in years past. So...guess who's eating the cookies this year?  Yep, I fell ...

I have tried every type of diet out there--from vegan to carnivore, low-fat, high-fat, paleo, keto, etc., and here's what I've discovered:  every body is different, our bodies are different at different times in our lives, and if you just cut out the processed crap you are doing your body a world of good right there. Here's what works best for me, as a 50 year-old, pre-menopausal woman: 1.  No sugars :  200 years ago the average person ate two pounds of sugar a year. Today the average is about three pounds per week!  Sugar consumption is linked to diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, and many other health conditions.  The biggest thing I noticed when I cut back on sugar was that I was able to get off the blood sugar roller coaster and stabilize my mood, energy levels, and tummy troubles.  I didn't feel hungry all the time, I didn't feel comatose every afternoon around 1:00, and my brain just seemed to function better.  These days when I indul...