In a world where there is an abundance of food choices we can only imagine the temptation that accompanies a variety of delicious cuisines. I for one love sweets and is tempted every to engage my taste buds with mouthwatering chocolate delights that seem to light up my day. Yes! Light up my day!
I am all smiles when I have my daily dose of chocolate and it appears I can handle just about anything that comes my way. Crazy right? Well, I discovered that we are capable of believing in some silly ideas about all sorts of little quirks and habits that we have formed over the years. We even have our very own personal data to back of what we believe it to be factual. The truth of the matter is our habits are just that habits.
Whether you are junk food junkie or sweet fanatic like I am, or perhaps have to have a couple glasses of wine or a couple of bottles of bear every day, there’s no harm in that right? It’s just the opposite; you are forgetting about the power of compounding effects over time. So, I set out to find out some basic facts of why I should stop eating so much chocolate or simply stop eating it all together. Let’s face it, if I don’t find out about everything I intake or ingest into my body. I am only kidding myself to think I can become healthier while slowly and methodically killing myself through choices I have made over time.
Let’s take my own habit Three cookies a day, let me digress a moment to inject this thought. We are creatures of habit, some of have more habits then others and we trade one habit for another. The key is to trade bad habits for good ones, so keep that in mind.
My three cookies a day cannot be that harmful I thought. But, it can depending on what could be happening with the physiology make up internally that I cannot see. Let me explain. Chocolate is high in calories and leads to weight gain. I go to subway every day to purchase those wonderful mouthwatering chocolate wonders which for on cooking has 220 calories. (3 cookies x 220 = 660 calories) Talk about shooting yourself in the foot this is ridiculous. That is why it’s taking me so long to lose the weight.
Chocolate is also high in sugar and too much sugar over time can lead to becoming a diabetic. Remember the compound effect is at work here. So, I know what you are saying, 3 cookies are not that bad, so let me break this insane idea down for your further.
3 cookies = 660 calories a day! 660 x 30 = 19,800 calories a month! 19,800 x 12 = 237,600 a year!
Insane right! Not Even! I been doing this for five years I have been working on my job so let’s do one more fact.
237,600 x 5 = 1,188,000 THAT’S INSANE!!!
Well I know what I have to do from this point on, do you?
What is it that you harmlessly consume? Have you seen some of the learn term effects of what alcohol does to the pancreas, liver, or kidneys? Not to mention the brain. The same with smoking. All I am saying is think about your bad habits and start replacing them with good ones.
Below is an excerpt from an article from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/alcohols-effects-body
Brain:
Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.
Heart:
Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart, causing problems including:
- Cardiomyopathy – Stretching and drooping of heart muscle
- Arrhythmias – Irregular heart beat
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
Research also shows that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may protect healthy adults from developing coronary heart disease.
Liver:
Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including:
- Steatosis, or fatty liver
- Alcoholic hepatitis
- Fibrosis
- Cirrhosis
Pancreas:
Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.
Cancer:
Drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk of developing certain cancers, including cancers of the:
- Mouth
- Esophagus
- Throat
- Liver
- Breast
