When faced with a challenge, whether good or bad, many people have a long list of excuses why they don’t fully dedicate themselves to overcoming it. While the need to make changes may seem unpleasant or overwhelming, the long term consequences of not doing so are often far worse. There are few things that this applies to more so than your health.

Regardless of your religious or spiritual beliefs, you only have one chance to make the best of the life you’re currently living. If you fail to address the many challenges that modern life poses to our health, you may find yourself physically or mentally incapable of living the type of life that you’d like to live. In short, you have the choice of dealing with discomfort now or increasing your chances of having to endure misery later.

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Hydrogenated oil is an ingredient in an overwhelming number of foods, and despite the fact that it’s a serious health risk, most people don’t know what it is or that it even exists.

David Burton, a cardiac nurse, was shocked when he learned that hydrogenated oil is trans fat and that it’s a major risk for heart disease. As a nurse who treats patients suffering from heart disease, he was disappointed and frustrated by the fact that his training didn’t provide him with this information and that his fellow nurses and doctors weren’t aware of it either. Most unsettling was the realization that he was feeding this dangerous ingredient to his two year old daughter. He responded by making an informative documentary about trans fat that everyone should see.

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Andre Agassi’s autobiography, appropriately and cleverly titled Open, is about much more than his historic tennis career. In fact, it’s more about his search for meaning than anything else. Whether you’re into tennis or not, there’s plenty of inspiration and deep insight to take from Andre’s story and apply to your own.

I was looking forward to reading Andre’s autobiography because he slowly won me over as a fan towards the end of his career, and of course, because I love tennis. I greatly respect how he reinvented both his attitude and career, but what I really wanted to learn more about was how he trained and developed his game. Although the book didn’t offer much in this regard, I was still glued to it because of Andre’s fascinating story and his inspiring perspective on life in general. As such, this isn’t only a great book for tennis fans, but also for athletes or anyone else looking to find more meaning in their lives.

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Almost everyone knows that doing more exercise and reducing calorie consumption will promote weight loss. But if weight loss is this simple, then why are so many people failing miserably despite their desperate efforts? While it may be a result of laziness for some, it’s more often a result of calorie restriction and exercise being used inappropriately.

Despite how many people make drastic but temporary changes to lose weight, long term success is highly dependent on making less drastic changes that are permanent. It’s common for people to be overzealous with calorie restriction or exercise, and although it may initially be effective, these practices are eventually likely to lead to fatigue, a raging appetite that can no longer be resisted, compromised health, and an eventual return to old habits. This is why so many people regain the weight they’ve worked so hard to lose and continue to repeat this cycle until they eventually give up and choose to accept being overweight.

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Although milk is one of the most common foods in the modern diet, pasteurization and modern dairy farming practices pose a number of concerns. In addition, many people are unable to properly digest dairy and it’s also one of the most common sources of food sensitivities which can cause a number of seemingly unrelated symptoms. As if this isn’t enough to worry about, there’s unfortunately another important and potentially harmful aspect of milk to consider.

Two varieties of proteins exist in milk. The most prominent is casein which represents 80% of the protein in milk, and the other, which is much more widely recognized, is whey. The digestion of a specific type of casein has been found to produce an opioid byproduct that can be very problematic for humans as well as animals. There’s strong evidence that links this casein and its opioid derivative with heart disease, mental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, type 1 diabetes, and a number of other autoimmune disorders. Fortunately, there are simple ways to avoid these risks.

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To celebrate my wife’s birthday, we decided to go on our first all inclusive resort vacation. We stayed at the El Dorado Royale in Riviera Maya, Mexico which is about a 20 minute drive from Cancun. As always, I returned home with some observations about healthy living.

The picture to the left is the view from the balcony of our room. The thin strip of blue above the palm trees is the Caribbean Sea. It may not be an ocean front view, but it was excellent nonetheless. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it including falling asleep each night to the sound of the waves crashing along the shore.

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Agave nectar has been marketed as a natural and healthy alternative to common table sugar and is becoming a popular ingredient in many so called health foods. Unfortunately, many of the marketing claims associated with agave nectar aren’t true, and it’s arguable that this trendy sweetener actually poses more of a health risk than the sugar that it’s used to replace.

Given the health concerns associated with sugar and its tendency to cause weight gain, many people are going out of their way to avoid it. Those who are conscientious about their health are less likely to use artificial sweeteners, and as a result, are more likely to be influenced by the misleading marketing that depicts agave nectar as a healthier and more natural alternative to table sugar. Although agave nectar is commonly found in health food stores and is an increasingly common ingredient in so called health foods, this is by no means an indication of its safety or nutritional quality.

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The 5 Hour Energy shots have been heavily marketed as an energy booster that’s healthier and more effective than the typical energy drink, but is this really the case?

Many energy boosting products are loaded with sugar and caffeine and may even contain artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives, and other potentially harmful ingredients. According to the marketing, 5 Hour Energy is supposed to be different. While it does contain seemingly healthy ingredients like vitamins and amino acids, it also contains a number of questionable ingredients as well. Furthermore, even if 5 Hour Energy contained only the most natural and healthful ingredients, it’s also important to consider the flawed mentality behind the most commonly perceived need for such a product.

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Despite the prominence of milk and other dairy products in the modern diet, many people are lactose intolerant and experience uncomfortable digestive symptoms from not digesting them properly. Fortunately, there are some simple measures that can make lactose intolerance much less of an issue.

Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose which is the form of sugar found in milk and the dairy products derived from it. As many as 75% of adults worldwide are believed to be lactose intolerant and symptoms can range from mild to severe and include flatulence, bloating, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. In addition, undigested lactose can allow undesirable species of bacteria and fungi to proliferate in the intestines and lead to an imbalance that can compromise digestive function and overall health.

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One of the primary reasons why 2009 was a great year for me is because of how much I’ve enjoyed writing and how much I’ve learned and benefited from sharing it with you all. Before we get too much further into 2010, I’d like to share with you the articles that were the most popular for all of 2009.

My primary intention for this site is to open peoples’ minds about how they can improve their lives through a combination of excellent nutrition, quality rest and relaxation, focused exercise, and a positive perspective. Although each of these topics are unique and my writing may seem to jump around between them, I firmly believe that they’re all important factors in living a happy and rewarding life. I’m happy to see that the 11 most popular articles of 2009 represent this range fairly well.

In descending order, here are the most popular NaturalBias articles of 2009.

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