The Bread to Eat When Cutting Carbs

Are you trying to limit your carbohydrates, but have a love for bread? The Doctors have a helpful food tip that can help you curb your carbs while still enjoying wonderful bread.
If you are going to have bread, ER physician expert Dr. Travis Stork suggests you opt for whole wheat sourdough, which contains wild yeast and the probiotic Lactobacillus, both of which make the bread easier to digest. This type of bread is made from whole grains, which helps to maintain the food's nutrient profile and fiber.



The Doctors also note this bread is often more nutritious than other types of bread. Of course, this type of bread still contains carbs, but if you're going to eat bread, it could be a healthier option.
Another comfort food that is packed with carbs is pasta, but we have a creative food swap (that uses Enoki mushrooms) that can drastically cut the carbs in your next Italian meal.

Unhealthy Habits That Are Worse for You Than You Thought: It's not too late to reverse your worst habits (stopping smoking, drinking, over-eating, and more) and immediately start living a happier, healthier life.

Snacking when you're not hungry
Losing touch with your body's natural hunger and satisfaction signals can lead to chronic overeating and unhealthy extra pounds—which increases your risk for diabetes, heart disease, and other serious conditions. And if it's junk foods you snack on, you're also flooding your body with unhealthy ingredients. By paying attention to your hunger signals and switching to healthy snacks, you can boost nutrition, control cravings, and avoid energy slumps. Your weight will fall to a healthier level, and you'll replace unhealthy trans and saturated fat, sugar, refined carbohydrates, and extra sodium with more nutritious fare.
How to fix it: Eat because you're hungry—not because you're stressed, bored, angry, or sad. And finish eating when you feel just a little bit full, not stuffed. Avoid keeping unhealthy food in your home, or at least make sure you have more healthy foods, like fresh fruits, veggies, nuts. Think low-fat versus fatty treats; whole-grain versus unhealthy carbs. And when you eat those healthy snacks, eat them as if they were a meal: on a plate, accompanied by a glass of water, with you sitting down at the table.

Spending too much time on the couch watching TV

The more TV you watch, the less physical activity you're getting, increasing your odds of being overweight and developing type 2 diabetes. If television is replacing time you'd otherwise be spending engaged in a favorite hobby, visiting with friends, or exercising your mind, you may also be speeding up memory loss. By committing to a healthy TV/activity balance, you can burn more calories, become more fit, and reduce your odds for related health problems quickly. You'll have a fitter body and more time for sleep, plus more energy, a better mood, sharper mind, and more social connections.
How to fix it: Try to keep your TV time to a minimum of two hours a day, and make sure you're getting at least 30 minutes of exercise. Get the best of both worlds by doing some light workouts, like walking in place or doing sit-ups, while you're watching. Even doing some household chores, like vacuuming or doing laundry, during the commercials can add up to 20 minutes' worth of calorie-burning time. Avoid snacking in front of the TV, which makes it far too easy to eat hundreds of calories' worth of chips and barely realize it. These are some more reasons why binge-watching TV is unhealthy for you.

Overspending your way into debt

Money worries can have serious health consequences. In a Rutgers University telephone survey, responders said financial stress contributed to high blood pressure, depression, insomnia, headaches, digestion troubles, aches and pains, ulcers, excessive eating and drinking, and gaining or losing weight. Regaining a hold on your finances takes time, can be hard on your ego and your lifestyle, and requires you to be constantly vigilant, plus it's all too easy to revert back to your old habits. But for those who succeed, and many do, the results are nothing short of amazing. You'll feel more in control of your life with less stress and fewer worries.
How to fix it: There are many things you can do to gain control over your finances. Educate yourself on the basic rules and methods of personal finance—including credit cards, mortgages, budgeting, and investing. Create and keep a budget, keeping track of how much money is coming in every month and how much you're spending on essentials. Pay at least the minimum each month on your bills, to stay ahead of your expenses and prioritize paying more to the credit card with the highest interest rate. Automatic bill pay can ensure you're never hit with late fees. A to be sure some of your paycheck gets automatically transferred to your savings account, set up recurrent monthly transfers via your employer's payroll department or your own online banking. For more money-saving tips, these habits of people who are great at saving money are a great way to get started.

Eating too much fast food

A steady diet of double cheeseburgers and fries washed down with an oversize soda or milkshake can lead to a growing waistline and the health problems, like heart disease and diabetes, that come with it. Trans fat, often found in fast food, raises triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, which increases inflammation and contributes to the buildup of fatty plaque in artery walls. The health benefits of making the switch to healthy food will be almost immediate and will have substantial lasting benefits.
How to fix it: Making a permanent lifestyle change won't be easy at first. Fast food is super-convenient, inexpensive, and, thanks to all that fat, salt, and sugar, undeniably tasty. Start by cutting back a little each week and by buying less each time you go. For instance, replace the soda with a water or the fries with a salad. Avoid popping into a fast-food joint out of habit or on a whim, especially when you really aren't hungry or when it isn't mealtime. Cook more at home. Preparing your own healthy meals will save you money. If inconvenience is a factor, don't overlook healthier prepared meals from your local grocery store or sandwich shop. Check out the best healthy-eating tips that nutritionists use.

Getting sunburned a few times every summer

If you love sunbathing or make an effort to maintain a golden-bronze tan, you've unwittingly contributed to the aging of your skin. Sunbathing destroys the elastic fibers that keep skin looking firm and smooth, leading to earlier wrinkles, blotches, freckles, and discolorations. More important, sunburns contribute significantly to cancers of the skin. If you've included trips to the tanning salon, that's even worse. Despite what ads suggest, using tanning beds doesn't build up a 'safe' base tan. It actually raises your risk for skin cancer and wrinkles.
How to fix it: First of all, always wear a high-SPF sunscreen if you're going to be in the sun. Sticking to the shade and wearing a hat, sunglasses, long sleeves, and pants during peak sunburn hours can also help keep your skin safe. Schedule an annual 'mole check' by a dermatologist; the doctor will inspect your skin for any unusual changes. And keep your eyes on your skin yourself. Anything new that doesn't look right to you should be checked by a doctor. Finally, if you can't live without the bronzed look, you can get it without the cancer risk by using a self-tanner.

Behavior that leaves you angry, worried, or stressed all the time

An unhappy lifestyle releases a cascade of stress hormones that increase your blood pressure and blood sugar, lower immunity, slow digestion, and make you feel depressed and downright mean. Nature intended stress to be a short-lived fight-or-flight response to a threat, but modern life with chronic stressors can have far-reaching impact on your health, such as cravings for high-fat, sugary foods that increase your risk of being overweight. Both the ingredients in the bad food and the added weight increase your risk for heart disease and diabetes.
How to fix it: A regained sense of joy and control is worth its weight in gold, and the physical health benefits will be substantial as well. Next time you feel a stressful situation emerging, work hard at managing it and keeping your cool. Among the most proven stress-relief methods are yoga, meditation, and deep breathing. Make the most of your down time, to enjoy a relaxing hobby and fully immersing yourself in it. Don't be afraid to embrace your sense of fun, optimism, and silliness every now and then. And finally, just as being less stressed can make you healthier, living a healthier lifestyle can decrease your stress level and help you better manage stressful situations better. Check out these 37 tips for managing stress for more ideas.

Eating breakfast (or any meal) when you're not hungry

The 'rule' that you should never skip breakfast is just not true; it's based on misinterpreted research and biased studies, says the New York Times. Almost all studies about breakfast show an association, they say, not causation. And many studies, based on self-reporting, fall prey to inherent bias and misuse of causal language.
How to fix it: Eat when you're hungry; fast when you're not. Intermittent fasting—voluntary abstinence from food and drink for a stretch of time each day—has received a lot of attention lately. Research suggests that going without food for a certain length of time keeps blood sugar even, which boosts metabolism and can help the overweight shed pounds. Benefits include better glucose control and regulation of circadian rhythms (better sleep); all of these can help prevent diabetes.

Drinking too much alcohol

If you drink to much on a regular basis, alcohol can be a poison. Women who regularly consume two or more drinks a day and men who regularly down three or more daily are at higher risk for liver damage, various cancers including those of the liver and mouth, high blood pressure, and depression. Women, more sensitive than men to alcohol, can also develop heart disease, brittle bones, and even memory loss. Soon after you cut back or quit, your digestion will improve and you'll sleep more soundly. Your blood sugar will be lower and steadier, your blood pressure may fall toward a healthier range, and even your brain will bounce back. You'll have a healthier liver and cardiovascular system.
How to fix it: You don't have to quit cold turkey; stick to healthy limits. That's two or less drinks per day for men, one for women. You're also more likely to sip your drink slowly if you reserve alcohol for meals. Drink for flavor, not to get drunk. And if you can't stop, acknowledge the addiction. Talk with your doctor and contact a support group like AA. Check with your doctor if you should be screened more often for bone density, cancers, and liver damage. These 17 tips to help you cut back on drinking will help you make a great start.

Smoking cigarettes

As far as health goes, no habit is as harmful as smoking. It directly causes 30 percent of heart disease deaths, 30 percent of cancer deaths, and a massive 80 to 90 percent of all lung cancers, not to mention increasing your risk for mouth, throat, and bladder cancer. This bad habit also astronomically raises your odds for heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure, on top of possibly triggering or aggravating breathing problems like bronchitis and asthma attacks. After you quit, the health benefits are almost immediate. Within a month, your lungs will work better and you should be coughing less, feel more energetic, and have less shortness of breath. Your sense of taste and smell, as well as your endurance, will also improve.
How to fix it: Treat it like an addiction, not a habit. Before you stop, prepare for the tough road ahead. Plan to quit during a calm period—not over the holidays or when you're under a lot of stress. Prepare a strategy, a support team, and a Plan B if your first methods fail. Ask your doctor about a stop-smoking drug like Buprion and varenicline, or a nicotine patch or gum. Seek support, whether that's from your friends and family or resources like counselors, hotlines, and support groups. And, finally, remember that a lapse isn't a failure. Use slip-ups to discover your personal obstacle to quitting and create a plan for dealing with those the next time. Check out these 23 ways to stop smoking if you need more help.