Health Archives - Page 2 of 3 - WorkPlacePro Blog

Is Texting Bad for your Health?

Before you pick up your cell phone to send your next text, read this article. Texting may be harming your health in some surprising ways. We all know that texting while driving is not safe, and may cause unnecessary accidents as drivers are completely distracted by their phones, even those who say they can still react fast enough in an emergency. But there are other ways texting is negatively effecting your health, and some of them may surprise you. If you are curious, keep reading. There are things you can do to mitigate these problems.

Text Neck

Many people, when texting, bring their faces down toward the device in their hands. Leaning their heads forward, they round their shoulders. This is very poor posture and may result in text neck. If you have ever had a stiff, achy neck or upper back pain after an extended text conversation, then you know the condition. The human head weighs ten to twelve pounds. When you have good posture, your spine can carry that much weight. Leaning down to look at your phone puts sixty pounds of pressure on your spine and the base of your neck. This pressure can, if it goes on long enough, lead to pinched nerves in your spine. Pinched nerves cause numbness and tingling down your arms and in your hands. To avoid this problem, bring your phone to your eyes. Be aware of your posture and sit straight, with your shoulders back.

Cell Phone Slumber

Cell phones may be causing your sleep problems. Not only do they emit radiation which may cause insomnia in some people, but they also emit blue light. This color of light tells your brain it is time to wake up. If you text in the dark, use a blue light filter on your phone. This does not interfere with your ability to see the device but it does dim the light intensity. To avoid the sleeplessness, ban your phone from the bedroom. If you have no choice and need your phone beside your bed, cut out screen time an hour before sleeping. This will allow you to sleep much better overall.

Repetitive Strain Injuries

People who spend a lot of time texting each day and looking down at their phones are prone to sprains and strains of the joints in their upper body. These repetitive motion injuries are caused by texting excessively, sometimes for hours on end and by bad posture and can be quite painful. Try to limit the amount of time you text each day. If you have to make a lot of texts at a time, make sure to keep good posture. Look up often and take breaks to move around. Also, most phones tend to have dictation services which will allow you to dictate texts to your friends and family. That way, you can still keep in touch.

Texting can be very bad for your health in surprising ways. It can cause injuries, eye strain and car accidents. But with a little prudence these dangers can be avoided and you can still keep in touch with the people you care about.

How Much Sleep is Enough?

Do you have a friend who says they can function on four to six hours of sleep? If so, you might have wondered if this is true. Can people really get by on so little sleep? How much sleep do humans need to function optimally? The short answer is seven to nine hours a night. People who get less than seven hours of sleep a night for even one day report more mood problems and difficulty concentrating than those who get a solid seven to nine hours. However, the long answer is much more complex than that and varies depending on a number of factors including age, pregnancy, sleep deprivation and quality of sleep. Before you jump right into finding the number of hours of sleep you need, however, there are a few simple questions you need to ask yourself in order to make sure that you get the correct amount of sleep tailored to your needs.

Questions to ask Yourself

Before you set about finding the number of hours of sleep that you need in a night, start by asking yourself these questions. They will provide a baseline which will then give you somewhere to start from. How many hours does it take you in order to feel productive? Can you manage without caffeine on seven hours or does it take you nine before you feel truly awake? Do you have any health problems such as heart disease or being overweight? Do you have sleep difficulties such as insomnia? Do you depend on caffeine to get you through the day or are you frequently sleepy while driving? These five simple questions will help you form a rough idea of how much sleep you actually need.

Age

Once you have a baseline for how much sleep you actually need, then you can see where your age fits in. If you are a younger adult, ages 18-64, experts recommend that you get somewhere between 7-9 hours of sleep per night if you are healthy. However, if you are over sixty-four, the experts recommend 7-8 hours per night for healthy individuals.

Pregnancy

If you are a pregnant woman, you need more sleep. Your body is undergoing very important changes and your baby is growing. Neither of these things happen very well if your sleep is compromised. Be mindful when planning your time. It is very important to remember to get enough sleep to function efficiently and to be prepared that you will need more than usual.

Sleep Deprivation and Quality of Sleep

If you have been sleeping poorly or missing out on sleep for a long time, it is quite likely you are sleep deprived. Sleep deprived people and those whose sleep are frequently interrupted need more sleep than normal. They may sleep up to eleven hours as opposed to the seven to nine that most adults need to function. However, as these people start getting better sleep, their need will lessen till it is back within normal levels.

It is very important to get the necessary amount of sleep. If you do, your efficiency and health will increase, and that is something that everyone wants.

5 Ways to Up Your Daily Water Intake

Health professionals agree. Drinking sixty-four ounces of water per day is vital for your health. This amount of water keeps all of the body’s systems running efficiently. However, getting the necessary amount of water is not always easy, especially for people who do not like the taste. If you are one of those people, or just find getting the necessary amount of water difficult, this article is for you. Read on as we discuss five ways to get that all-important water into your body.

Start Slowly

When first starting to increase the amount of water you drink, people generally try to start drinking eight glasses a day right away. This is not the best approach. For better results, it is much wiser to start with just one glass more per day than what you drink already. When you feel that you sufficiently have the habit of drinking one glass more a day down, then you can add another. You will be drinking the optimum amount of water before you know it.

Buy a Filtration System

Tap water does not generally taste good, due to the content of chlorine and other chemicals used in its purification. Water filtration systems remove these chemicals from the water, making it much more palatable.

Water filtration systems are very easy to find and can be purchased at most supermarkets. These days, there are even filtration bottles that can be bought which will filter water one serving at a time.

Stock Your Refrigerator

Cold water is tastier than room temperature or even tap water. Get some empty juice bottles or sports bottles and fill these with ice. Pour some tap water on the ice. Place the bottles in your refrigerator. The ice will melt slowly, cooling the water over it to create a cold, refreshing treat. As a bonus, cold water cools your body, making it burn more calories to regulate its temperature.

Spice Up Your Water

Plain water can be boring but it does not have to be. Spice up that plain water by adding fruit to it. Lemon is a classic fruit to add to water, but it is not the only choice. Cucumbers and strawberries are also good choices. Pick a fruit you like and experiment until you find a combination that makes your taste buds happy while allowing your body to flourish. If fruit is not your thing, there are also varieties of no-calorie flavor packets that can be added to make water much tastier.

Eat Water-Enriched Foods

If drinking water still is not something you want to do, why not eat your water? Tomatoes and watermelon are both delicious and healthy. They are also over ninety per cent water. Getting water from these tasty sources can really cut down on the amount you have to drink.

Drinking enough water on a daily basis can be a real hassle but it does not have to be. If you take the tips prevented in this article, you may actually learn to like drinking water. Failing that, you can at least make it taste more palatable. Before long, you will be getting all the water you need and perhaps enjoying the taste as well.

Music As Therapy: The Healing Power Of Music

For ages, people have turned to music to get excited, calm down, share experiences, and more. Over time, scientific research has shown that this natural affinity for tunes is much more than a feeling—music can have powerful healing qualities.

Music therapy applies those scientific findings to enhance music’s power and help people heal to improve their physical, emotional, mental, social or even spiritual well-being.

Many different groups have been shown to benefit from music therapy, including:

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Music therapy has been shown to improve social behaviors, boost focus, reduce anxiety, and even enhance body awareness and coordination for people with ASD, as detailed in a study in Journal of Music Therapy.

Oncology patients
Music therapy can enhance the quality of life of oncology patients in many ways, including by reducing pain and anxiety, boosting mood, and improving heart rate and blood pressure. Cancer.org cites a review of studies reflecting these impacts, and music therapists are part of many cancer management teams.

Soldiers with PTSD
Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) gained an opportunity to better express and control their feelings and build a sense of connectedness through improvisation on hand drums, as cited in this Huffington Post article.

Special needs children
Most children engage with music quickly, so it can serve as a strong motivator to encourage kids with special needs to make requests, develop motor skills, and complete challenging activities. This post from Friendship Circle shares how.

Alzheimer’s patients
For dementia patients, an aptitude and appreciation for music is one of the abilities that stays with them the longest. Music can be used to improve patients’ mood, manage stress-induced agitation, encourage positive social engagement, and prompt cognitive functioning, according to Alzheimers.net.

Individuals with depression
For people suffering from depression, music can provide a catharsis and much-needed way to connect with others through joint improvisation. Creating music also enables people to positively experience their physical being. These are critical elements of depression recovery, as explained in this BJPsych article.

For pain management
Music provides sensory stimulation that causes patients with chronic pain to relax, reduces stress, boosts their mood, and reduces the patient’s perceived pain level. As explained by Everyday Health, patient learns to relax automatically while listening to music with practice.

Combining the Art and Science of Music

These are only some of the ways music therapy is improving lives. When the art and science behind music combine, they create a powerful therapy technique that can stimulate and heal us, both body and soul. With thousands of certified musical therapists in America today, many different kinds of patients experience the healing powers of music each year.

Ways to Relax

Let’s face it, life is busy. Sometimes it catches up with us, leaving us feeling stressed and overwhelmed. When this happens, you need a way to fight back.

Fortunately, even just a few minutes can be enough to help you recharge. Here are 26 ways to relax.

Breathe
Take 5 deep breathes, give it your full attention, notice the pause but in and out.
Write
Journaling about your feelings can help relieve them.
Be grateful
Write a list of what you’re grateful for—nothing is too small.
Make a plan
Knowing what you need to do today (and what you don’t) can help relieve the stress.
Play
Adults can sometimes forget how to play, but anything that is purposeless and pleasurable and help us unwind.

Use visualization
Whether you’re really standing at the ocean or just imagining it, your brain responds the same way.

Talk to someone
One of your best tools for coping with stress are social connections.
Go green
Immersing yourself in nature can help you unwind. Go for a walk along the river or find a good bench under a tree.
Sleep on it
It may feel counterintuitive, but take 20 minutes and catch some zzz’s. It can refresh your mind, while the brief time frame keeps you from getting groggy.
Change the tunes
Listening to upbeat or calming music can quickly shirt your mood.
Meditate
Even a few minutes can ease anxiety, especially when practiced daily.
Be present
Stop your thoughts and take a minute to be present in your body to be aware of it.
Warm up
Place a warm compress over your neck and shoulders for 10 minutes, lean back, and close your eyes to relax those tense muscles in your face, neck, and back.
Laugh out loud
Reduce your levels of stress hormone cortisol and increase feel-good endorphins with a good laugh.
Stare at the ceiling
Tilting your head up lowers blood pressure and slows your breath. Count down slowly from 60 while doing this to help still your mind.
Set your worries aside
Write down all of the things that are causing you stress, then put them aside to deal with tomorrow.
Sip green tea
Green tea has L-Theanine in it, which helps relieve anger.
Go dark
With some dark chocolate. A single square (1.4 oz) can regulate your cortisol levels.
Chew gum
The repetitive and thoughtless nature of chewing gum can reduce anxiety within just a few minutes.
Count down
This simple action demands enough attention to stifle the sources of your stress.
DIY a hand massage
Hands carry a lot of tension, so stop wringing your hands and massage them instead.
Grab a golf ball
But forget the irons. Instead, roll it against the bottom of your feet to release tension.
Squeeze it out
On a stress ball. They didn’t become a common desk tchotchke by accident.
Get some sun
Take a quick walk outside and soak up some rays to lift your spirits.
Practice yoga
The smooth deliberate motion of yoga is great for calming and re-centering.

Cuddle with a pet
A good snuggle with a furry friend is a proven way to de-stress.

Is Facebook Good For Your Health?

Is Facebook good for your health? It’s a big question, and as social media continues to become more and more prevalent, an important one.

According to a 2013 study by Facebook and IDC, smartphone users check Facebook as much as 14 times a day. Any time an action becomes habitual and compulsive like this, it starts to take on traits of addiction, affecting our daily lives.

So how is all this posting and profiling affecting us?

A lot of research has been dedicated to exploring this question—and the results are conflicting. Depending on the study or article you pick up you could find two disparate answers to this question: yes and no.

Hazards of posting

A number of studies have shown that the amount of time we invest in Facebook and other social media can take a toll on our psyches and detract from our overall happiness.

A study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics used the term “Facebook depression” to refer to a condition found to occur in tweens and teens who spent too much time online. The condition was correlated with increased substance abuse, unsafe sexual practices, and aggressive or self-destructive behaviors in the study subjects.

However, correlation is not causation, so Facebook’s role in triggering the condition has yet to be proven. Furthermore, the article cited a second study that indicated youths with quality friendships weren’t subject to “Facebook depression,” indicating that the quality of a teen’s social connections are a significant factor.

Another study by Israeli researchers found that the more time adolescent girls spent on online, the more likely they were to develop an eating disorder.

Other studies focused on adults have come to similar conclusions.

For example, Facebook has been found to factor into the divorce rate, and posts are even used by lawyers as evidence during divorce proceedings.

Studies have found that Facebook can trigger marital dissatisfaction in multiple ways, from reigniting relationships from long in the past, to serving as a forum to air dirty laundry. The strain these behaviors place on a relationship can lead to divorce.

Spouses who check in on their partner’s page may invite jealousy if they see something they don’t like, and that can lead to conflict. In “Facebook and your Marriage,” it’s recommend spouses discuss what’s fair game for posting and what’s not.

But Facebook’s impact on our quality of life stretched beyond the status of our marriages. It can also influence our overall life satisfaction.

A study from University of Michigan and Leuven University checked in with people five times a day asking about their mood and social interactions, both online and off. The results aren’t good for social media—the more times a person had checked Facebook since their last questionnaire, the worse their mood was on the next one.

Perhaps that’s because, as a joint survey from Germany’s Humboldt-Universität and TU Darmstadt showed, the most common feeling associated with Facebook browsing is envy.

As we browse more and more of what look like perfect lives flow through our feeds, it can cause us to develop a skewed perspective of our own lives. This leads to anxiety, discontent, and in some cases depression or eating disorders.

In short, Facebook can exacerbate our insecurities, push them further, and isolate us in our time of need.

But there’s a silver lining

Despite these negative findings, it may not be time to swear off social media quite yet. The detrimental effects of Facebook are real, but they’re not necessarily the full story.

A study from Cornell University showed that when a person updates their Facebook profile, they get a boost of self-esteem associated with being proactive about the image they project to the world.

Contrary to findings that social media isolates individuals with depression, another study from Michigan State University indicated that people with low self-esteem and happiness levels felt more connected to friends and their community when they logged onto Facebook more frequently. Another study from Lancaster University showed that high use of Facebook helps cement friendships among 21- to 29-year-olds.

Another study by Pew Research Center showed that people who use Facebook frequently score higher on test measuring companionship and emotional support.

So what’s the real answer?

Which studies are giving us the real story? It may simply come down to how we choose to use Facebook, rather than inherent qualities of the network itself.

The Humboldt-Universität and TU Darmstadt study showed that how a person engages on Facebook may be at least as important as how frequently they use it. In the study, those who used Facebook primarily to browse were more likely to experience negative effects than those who used it to communicate.

To protect your well-being while using Facebook and other social media, try to use it mindfully by managing your emotions and actions when you log in. focus on connecting with friends and loved ones, and avoid behaviors that lead to negative emotions like stalking old flames, comparing your life to the appearance of others’, and inundating yourself with media images flaunting impossible beauty standards.

In short, remember why you log in to Facebook in the first place. Pay attention to how it makes you feel, and don’t be afraid to take a break or change how you use it.

The Health Benefits of Fasting

People have fasted for thousands of years, and for thousands of years, people have held testament to this practice’s health benefits. And it turns out, they were on to something—the latest scientific research shows that the health benefits are real and manifold.

Fasting is the practice of not consuming food for extended periods. There are several different diets that incorporate fasting. The type of fast that is right for you depends on what fits your lifestyle best.

Regardless of the type of fasting you choose, studies have found a number of benefits to fasting, including:

Fat burn—When the body runs out of food to digest, it turns to glucose for energy. When it runs out of glucose, it starts burning fat. This leads to weight loss.

Metabolic boost—When the body has no food in it for a prolonged period, this causes the metabolic to fire up. This can also contribute to weight loss. One study showed fasting led to a 3-8 percent decrease in weight over a period of 3 to 24 weeks.

Preserve muscle—Because fasting causes growth hormone levels to increase in the blood, weight loss through fasting has been proven to preserve muscle better than diets that involve a prolonged reduction in calorie consumptiion.

Immune system—One study showed that longer periods of fasting (2-4 days) can clear out old immune cells and regenerate new ones, which strengthens the immune system. This immunity boost has been shown to help cancer patients reduce side effects during chemotherapy, when they fasted for three days prior to treatment.

Longer life—Two studies have even found evidence of improved longevity in fasting subjects at the molecular and genetic level—signs that fasting and modify your body’s gene expressions and help you life longer.

If you’re going to fast for the health benefits, it’s important to be aware of the risks, too. UK’s National Health Service has listed several, including dehydration, increased stress, disrupted sleep, headaches, and even heartburn. Some experts also correlate fasting to an increased risk for eating disorders. For these reasons, start fasting slowly and always listen to your body if you are struggling while fasting.

The Health Benefits of Water

We all know water is important to stay hydrated, but do you know all the ways that water is helping you stay at the top of your game?

With zero calories and a long list of benefits, there are few things that are healthier or more essential for our bodies than water. Check out these lesser-known benefits to keeping your water bottle topped off.

Reduce Your Calorie Count
Some confuse thirst for hunger, so staying well hydrated can keep you from reaching for a snack. Substituting water for higher calorie drinks like juice or soda in your everyday diet can add up to a lot, too.

Energize Your Muscles
When muscle cells get low on water, they don’t balance their hydration or electrolyte levels, so it causes you to feel fatigued. To get your muscles primed, start hydrating about two hours before exercising with about 17 ounces of water, and sip early and often throughout your workout.

Keep Your Skin Clear
Water helps to keep your skin moisturized, which can reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fights breakouts.

Flush Toxins
Your kidneys have the job of keeping the body cleansed of toxins. Keeping a good flow of water running through your body helps your kidneys process better. As a nice bonus, this reduces your risk of kidney stones.

Keep Yourself Regular
Water also keeps things moving through your gastrointestinal tract, which helps you stay comfortable and avoid, well, backups.

Reduce Pain
A well-hydrated body can better deal with aching joints, body cramps, and a whole slew of different bodily challenges, which means you’ll feel less pain overall when you drink more water.

Fight Infection
People who are better hydrated tend to get sick less often, because water helps your immune system stay at its best and more efficiently fight germs.

Clear Your Thoughts
Drinking water helps you focus and think better. One study even found a correlation between college students who brought water with them to class and those who got better grades.

The human body is about 60 percent water. So when we don’t have enough, we’re simply not at our best, and that shows itself in a myriad of ways. Fortunately, it’s easy to increase your water intake. Try trading a less healthy drink like beer or soda for a healthier option you like, or substitute a snack with water-dense fruits and veggies.

Whatever you choose, make a swap you can enjoy. You’re more likely to sustain the habit long-term, so don’t punish yourself by drinking tap water if you hate it.

Bread, Rice, Pasta: Why Brown is Better

Many people love pasta and rice. However, most of us prefer the white versions of these foods over the brown because they look much tastier. However, where nutrition is concerned, brown bread, rice and pasta are much better for you. If you want to include more brown bread, rice and pasta in your diet, or if you are just curious about the nutritional benefits, then read on. Also, bear in mind that white rice and pasta, before they were processed looked just like their brown counterparts.

Processing Out the Nutrients

When brown rice and the wheat that later will be processed into white flour for pasta and bread are processed, the grains are damaged. Their hulls and outer shells are stripped away. With the stripping away of their outer coatings, the nutrients in those coatings are lost. This may not seem like a big deal, but it really is. Along with the nutrients from the coatings, the grains lose the protection their coatings provided. This means that the bleaching that makes wheat and rice white will leech more nutrients out of the grains than the loss of the coatings did. By the time brown rice and wheat have been processed fully, much of their nutrient value and flavor are gone. Some manufacturers go through the trouble of adding vitamins back in, but these products are not as good as eating whole-grain foods in the first place.

Losing the Fiber

One of the nutrients commonly lost due to processing is fiber. Fiber is a very important nutrient, one that all of us need. Fiber helps keep the digestive tract clear. It is very difficult for the body to digest, so when it travels through our bowels, it gathers up other waste products along the way, carrying them out of the body. It also tends to regulate the function of the digestive tract. Brown rice, as well as unprocessed wheat, still contain all the fiber present in the raw grains and are an excellent way to get your daily allowance.

Lower the Risk of Chronic Diseases

Whole grain foods, like brown rice, pasta and bread can lower the risk of chronic conditions such as diabetes when eaten as part of a healthy diet. The benefits of whole grain consumption are not only for diabetics. Eating whole grain cuts your risk of strokes thirty to thirty-six per cent. It can also cut the risk of heart disease, the number one killer in the United States by twenty to twenty-five per cent. That is an amazing drop in numbers for one simple dietary choice.

Whole grains such as brown rice and the wheat used to make the darker breads like whole wheat lose most of their nutrients when processed, leaving them mainly starch with no fiber, and even though some bread manufacturers put back some of the lost nutrients, it is still not enough. Therefore, eating whole grain foods is an important health decision. Processed grains also have a lack of fiber, which our bodies use to balance the digestive tract. Whole grains have a number of amazing chronic disease-reducing benefits. That is why looks are not everything and brown really is better than white when it comes to your health.

The Benefits of Paleo

As far as diets go, paleo is both very new and very old. At first, this may seem like a contradiction, but people have been eating in this fashion for millions of years, ever since the first hunter-gatherer tribes appeared on Earth. However, it was only just recently that we became aware of the health benefits of this historical way of eating. Whether you are planning on embracing the paleo lifestyle or just curious about the health benefits of this type of diet, then this article is for you. Here we will outline the health benefits of paleo so that you can decide whether it is for you. Paleo, for this article’s purposes, is the act of eating as our hunter-gatherer ancestors did. This means that you are allowed to eat foods which could be gathered from the ground or pulled from trees as are free-range, grass-fed animals. Gluten is prohibited, as are all processed foods as much as possible. This more natural way of eating of course promotes a number of health benefits.

Real Food Vs. Processed Food

Processed foods contain a lot of additives, preservatives, colorings, sodium and hidden sugar. These chemicals are not good for our bodies, causing everything from allergic reactions to sluggishness to high blood pressure. If you eat a paleo diet, which contains only whole, organically produced foods and some natural but packaged sauces and ingredients, you eliminate a large number of toxins from your body as well as the salt which raises your blood pressure and the hidden sugar that can increase your risk of diabetes and becoming overweight. Eliminating additives, preservatives and other unnecessary chemicals from your food also helps you feel much better, both mentally and physically, helping your body work at peak performance.

Get Your Nutrients

Along with the benefit of removing preservatives, the paleo diet also removes nutrient-void carbs. People eating in this manner tend to replace the filler carbs with fruits, vegetables and healthy fats. In fact, a person eating a paleo diet can get all the required nutrients for a day from plant-based foods, meat and fish. They eliminate grains and legumes, which also leads to increased gut health. Increased gut health, in turn means that their bodies digest food much more efficiently.

Weight Loss

Paleo diets promote a long-lasting weight loss and muscle growth when paired with a healthy lifestyle. Better stress management techniques as well as an improvement in sleep and a good balance of Omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids help to burn off stored fat. Also, eating a paleo diet will increase your energy, which will allow you to exercise longer without tiring.

Lose the Bloat

Many people eating a Western-style diet find themselves experiencing chronic bloat and gas which can be very uncomfortable. Eating a paleo diet reduces these symptoms, as paleo diets contain a lot of fiber. Fiber allows waste products in the body to be broken up more effectively and carried away, thereby eliminating constipation which can lead to much worse issues such as compaction. Those on paleo diets also drink an adequate amount of water and decrease their sodium intake. This both flushes out the waste and prevents water retention, which can lead to bloat.

Avoid Blood Sugar Crashes

If you have ever been in an important meeting at work and have suddenly found your mood plummeting as you got hungrier, then you have experienced a blood sugar crash. Eating a paleo diet can be very helpful in preventing these crashes and the accompanying spikes that occur when we eat because they are very rich in protein, fats, and slow-digesting carbs. Meals with a lot of protein and fat are very energy-dense and satisfying. This means you feel full sooner than if you were eating something like a bag of chips that was unbalanced. Carbs all raise your blood sugar a bit, but slow-digesting carbs do not raise it nearly as much. Nor do they let it drop as quickly. Slow-digesting carbs take a long time to be metabolized. This means that you will become hungry more slowly and without the irritabality and mood swings you might normally experience.

There are many benefits to a paleo diet. These are only a few. Paleo diets are rich in healthy fats, proteins, fruits, vegetables and slow-digesting carbs. This makes them the exact balance of the foods your body needs and people have been eating this way for millennia and still do in other parts of the world. These people are living happy, healthy lives, free from most of the health problems that face the Western world. Would it not be nice to live a life in which you had less of a risk of most of those problems? If you agree, then paleo just might be the right lifestyle choice for you.