The Dangers of Soda, Fast Food & Junk Foods

The Dangers of Soda, Fast Foods & Junk Foods

Obesity can be preventable if better diet and lifestyle choices are made. For example, snacks like chips, cookies, donuts and candy should be avoided. According to healthaliciousness.com, many junk foods contain about 560 calories per serving. An 8-ounce bag of cheese puffs contains around 1,269 calories which is more than half of a person's daily recommended calorie intake.

Some restaurants known for having healthier options also have questionable unhealthy choices such as Subway. While on their website, they claim the 6-inch Meatball Marinara to be only 480 calories with 18.0 grams of fat, 7.0 grams of unsaturated fat and 920 milligrams of sodium, WebMD reports that the sandwich is actually 860 calories with 42 grams of fat, 18 grams of unsaturated fat and 2,480 milligrams of sodium. This sandwich has been declared as one of the unhealthiest sandwiches to eat.

Sodas should definitely be avoided. According to an article on CNN, sodas have been noted as being a huge contributor to obesity. The high fructose corn syrup found in sodas have also been linked to higher blood sugar and insulin which can increase the risks of strokes, diabetes, heart diseases and cancers.

According to nutritionvista.com, sodas can also cause teeth damage, particularly through the erosion of enamels due to acids from sodas. Diet sodas can even cause dizziness, cramps, migraines and memory loss. Sodas also cause premature aging, skin and bone issues, kidney problems, dehydration, problems with sleeping and indigestion.

According to an article from Fox News, drinking excessive amounts of soda also contributes to deaths when they reported a story about a 30-year old woman, Natasha Harris who died from cardiac arrest due to her unhealthy obsession with drinking at least 10 liters of Coca Cola daily. It also caused her teeth to decay and caused one of her eight children to be born without enamel on its teeth due to his or her mother's addiction. It was noted that drinking that much soda amounts to over two pounds of sugar and 970 milligrams of caffeine. According to CNN's article, The American Heart Association suggests drinking no more than three cans of soda a week although not drinking soda at all would be a much healthier decision regarding a person's diet.

Healthier Alternatives To Soda, Fast Food and Junk Food

Fruit smoothies, fruit juices and vegetable juices are a healthier alternative to sodas as many of them contain less sugar than sodas and also contain vitamins and nutrients needed for the body to replenish itself. When making juice selections, it is important to choose juices that are labeled as 100 percent juice. According to fruitjuicefacts.org, just one 4-ounce glass of 100 percent fruit juice is the equivalent to 1 serving of fruit. Studies have also suggested that the proper consummation of 100 percent juice is linked to an overall better eating pattern which can help prevent obesity.

Healthier food choices such as fruits and vegetables are lower in fat and provide many vitamins, minerals and nutrients that the body needs to sustain itself. According to drgily.com and livestrong.com, fruits and vegetables also have many health benefits including healing injuries, providing energy and fighting acne and other preventable diseases including heart diseases, cancers, diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes, osteoporosis, cataracts and obesity. 

Healthy Recipe Alternatives To Fast Food & Sodas

"To watch what you eat, cook it yourself."- Ching-He Huang

Poached eggs are very low in calories. According to livestrong.com, one large raw egg contains 75 calories. 60 of those calories are in the yolk and the other 15 are in the white part of the egg. If you poach a large raw egg, it will contain 80 calories. 

Other Ways To Prevent Obesity

Having a more active lifestyle contributes to preventing obesity. World Health Organization recommends 60 minutes of physical activity per day for children and 150 minutes of physical activity per week for adults to prevent obesity. According to Time, playing three or more sports lowers the rate of overweight teens by 27 percent and the risk of teen obesity by 39 percent. A researcher at Dartmouth University, Keith Drake has estimated a 26 percent decrease in obesity among teens if all high school students played at least two sports.

Hot In Cleveland Season 3 Review

Review: Hot in Cleveland Season 3

By Ashley Matthew

            Hot in Cleveland, a comedy series produced by TV Land has been making people laugh since its pilot episode on June 16, 2010. Now, currently on its fourth season, it continues to remain one of TV Land’s most popular sitcoms. The series recently released the DVD of the third season on November 27, 2012.

            Since the first two seasons, we have seen three women from California adapt to living in Cleveland, Ohio. These women, Joy Scroggs (Jane Leeves), a British beautician, Victoria Chase (Wendie Malick), a self-absorbed actress and news reporter and Melanie Moretti (Valerie Bertinelli), an author, have endured many trials since moving to Cleveland including multiple break-ups, dealing with Hollywood rivals and worrying about their friend and caretaker of their house, Elka Ostrovsky (Betty White) being in jail for possession of stolen goods.

In the third season, the hilarity continues as Elka is seen reuniting with her husband who she thought was deceased. Later on in the season, the girls crash a funeral to find Melanie’s favorite dress, Victoria designs shoes that are impossible to walk in and the story behind how Victoria, Joy and Melanie met is finally revealed. The ladies also try to become members of an exclusive country club and Victoria tries to win a prestigious news award. Towards the end of the season, Victoria tries to revive her old soap opera, Edge of Tomorrow. Victoria also bids on an abandoned storage unit where she discovers an unsent letter from U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

With each season, there is also an episode where the ladies celebrate their birthdays with blind dates. These dates always end up going horribly wrong when the girls are paired with very unusual dates. In this season, Elka is shown going on a date with Santa Clause while Victoria dates a man with a tail. Meanwhile, Joy dates a former priest and Melanie dates a man who sounds like Mickey Mouse.

Many guest stars also appear on the show including Susan Lucci who asks Victoria for guidance after her soap opera, All My Children is canceled. Jennifer Love Hewitt reprises her role as Victoria’s daughter, Emmy and Joe Jonas reprises his role as Melanie’s son, Will when they reveal to the ladies that they are engaged. Other guest stars include Kristin Chenoweth, Regis Philbin, Joan Rivers and more.

In the season finale, the girls develop tension as they get into a fight and consider moving out of the home they live in together. The argument is resolved but the drama doesn’t end as the episode ends with a cliffhanger when the ladies receive an unexpected surprise that makes you want to tune in to the new season just to see what happens next.

Emily Owens M.D. Review

Review: Emily Owens MD

By: Ashley Matthew

                Emily Owens MD, a medical drama that premiered in late Fall of 2012, tells the story of a socially awkward intern at Denver Memorial Hospital named Emily Owens (Mamie Gummer). Shortly after arriving, Emily soon comes to realize her med-school crush, Will Collins (Justin Hartley) and high school rival, Cassandra Koppelson (Aja Naomi King) are also interns at the hospital, leading Emily to feel extra pressure. Luckily, she befriends two other doctors at the hospital, Micah Barnes (Michael Rady) and Tyra Dupre (Kelly McCreary) who help Emily through her problems including struggling with her feelings towards Will, dealing with her arch-rival Cassandra and competing for the opportunity to be a research assistant for world-renowned surgeon, Gina Bandari (Necar Zedagan).

A positive factor of this series is the realistic environment they put into it. While the doctors must help others with their personal struggles, the medical team has struggles of their own. From Dr. Bandari’s marriage issues to Micah dealing with his mother’s cancer, this show is certainly not lacking any drama.

Another realistic trait about this show is that unlike other medical shows, they actually show what the surgeries are like that the doctors perform. This makes the series not only more realistic but educational as viewers see what doctors must endure when they perform surgeries on patients.

In this series, Emily grows as both a doctor and a person. As the series progresses, the shy, geeky girl begins to transform into a confident, young woman through actions such as finding the courage to tell Will her true feelings for him and  struggling to move on after he rejects her for another woman.  

Emily’s confidence begins to build as she connects with her patients through their many personal issues including broken relationships and unachieved goals. Towards the end of the series, Emily learns to become more comfortable with dating as she tries out blind dating to help her get over Will. This successful use of character development helps to make Emily relatable to many who watch the show.

Another character that will evolve is Cassandra. At first, she seems like the popular, confident girl that Emily remembers from high school that will stop at nothing to get forward in her career and personal life even if it means stealing what should rightfully be Emily’s time in the spotlight. However, Cassandra has her own insecurities not only in her relationships but also with her chosen profession as a doctor. Through seeing Cassandra’s flaws, it becomes evidently clear that she is not as perfect as she makes herself out to be. 

As for the romance factor of this show, Will and Emily have little moments throughout the series that make his girlfriend jealous, particularly when Will becomes concerned about Emily potentially dating another man. Meanwhile, Micah vies for Emily’s affections. Micah and Emily appear to have a closer bond than Emily and Will due to both their growing friendship and Emily trying to avoid Will after he rejects her. 

By the end of the series, Emily finally prevails as she finds success in romance and her career. But is this truly the end? Although the show was cancelled by the CW network after only 13 episodes, fans are still trying to support the show through petitions on change.org, ipetitions.com and resuscitateemilyowens.com in the hopes of bringing the show back on air with new episodes. Until then, all 13 episodes can also be purchased on itunes.com and amazon.com as instant videos.