Note from the Author: Before I even begin addressing this interesting piece of news, I would like to add a disclaimer. I greatly respect that there are a variety of opinions and beliefs in this world, and I am sure that our reader base is about as diverse as diverse can get. I mean, everyone cares about health insurance right? I also respect that not everyone is going to agree with my opinion. I realize that the sensitive and largely disputed topic of same-sex marriage usually involves disturbing some sort of beehive. If you choose not to agree with what is to follow, then I encourage you to post your thoughts in the comments section.

Even if you aren’t a resident of the Golden State, you probably heard all of the controversy and buzz around California’s Prop 8 back in November of 2008. The proposition passed by voters denies the rights of same-sex couples to legally get married. For those of us who believe that marriage should be a right for all people, regardless of their sexual preference, this proposition’s passage was incredibly disappointing. Interestingly enough, however, a federal appeals court in California seems like it is trying to redeem the state’s liberal reputation.

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Birth control is something that all women who are sexually active and aren’t ready for children need to be thinking about. It doesn’t matter if you are already a mom of three and don’t want any more little ones running around, or if you are a young woman getting serious with your first serious boyfriend: learning about birth control options is incredibly important. All effect a woman’s body and work differently than one another, and knowing what you are putting into your body is crucial as any other information you can educate yourself with. If you are unsure about what type of birth control you want to be on and want to know the ins and outs of all your choices, please read on and educate yourself. I am no doctor, and every assertion made here should be thoroughly discussed with your doctor before starting a birth control regimen, but I at least aim to give you a starting off point to help you in making a decision.

The Pill

How exactly does the pill work? Birth control pills work mostly by preventing ovulation (the release of an egg by the ovaries). Most pills are made of two hormones called estrogen and progestin. Estrogen is a female hormone produced by the ovaries and progestin is a synthetic progesterone used as a contraceptive. For the pill to work, you have to take it every day, preferably as close to the same time every day as possible. As with any medication you take, there are risks of side effects. These could include: nausea, headaches, acne, increased blood pressure, breast tenderness, bloating, weight gain and depression. These side effects will definitely not occur in every woman, and nowadays there are varying types of birth control pills and different hormone levels, so talk to your doctor about which one might work best for you. If you are a smoker and want to take the pill, quitting is highly advised, as smoking can interfere with the pill’s effectiveness.

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These days you can’t open a newspaper, pick up a magazine or turn on the TV without being inundated with messages about being healthy. It is great that these messages are coming through the main stream media, because America is bigger and unhealthier than ever before. The good old USofA tops the charts in obesity statistics. According to the Food Standards Agency, between the years 1999-2000 34% of America’s females and 27.7% of men could have been considered obese. The next country on the list, Argentina, wasn’t too far behind, but it still doesn’t change the fact that we here in the US are letting fast food options and lazy schedules outweigh the need for making healthier choices around our eating habits. Making little changes in your diet and eating choices can really make a strong impact on your health, weight and general well-bring. If they seem all too daunting to do at once, just make a small change per week and see how your body feels. You may be pleasantly surprised at the ease of making the little things into big impacts. Read on and be healthy.

Have a Healthy Kitchen

It should come as no surprise that creating healthier eating habits begins right at home in your very own kitchen. One good place to start is a good old fashioned purge. No, not the kind that can lead to an eating disorder, but rather a purge of food in your kitchen. After coming home following an exhausting work day, it is so tempting and easy to reach for fast, yet less healthy food choices. If you make the effort to not keep any tempting food in your kitchen, you are less likely to eat it. Simple? Yes. On the same tack, take time when you have time, maybe on a Saturday or Sunday, to cook for yourself meals to last through the week. That way even if you are dragging your tired self home at 9 pm, you will already have your meal choices made for you.

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So many people (it isn’t just women) will go to any lengths to be thin. People want a quick fix, something easy, and something that will not require hours of exercise or changing one’s diet. What many don’t realize is that it is never that easy. One pill will not magically help you drop weight and keep it off. You may see quick weight loss results with a diet pill, but you will be severely jeopardizing your health. Is the risk worth it? Read on for details about this frightening trend in weight loss supplements.

The Truth Behind the Flashy Ads

If you pick up a bottle of a diet pill like Xenadrine, you could be wowed by all of their claims. Clinical studies? Safe? Improving metabolism? Customer testimonials? When things like this jump at you from off of the shelf, it is easy to be fooled. But like with any advertising claim, don’t be taken in by what you see on the surface. Steve Bechler, Major League baseball pitcher, took Xenadrine before a game, after he realized that he needed to drop some weight to have a healthy start to the season. One heart attack later and he passed away. As shocking as it is, this healthy 23 year old man didn’t know the dangers of diet supplements and paid the highest price. Look again at any packaging and marketing for a diet pill. They may magically claim to seed up metabolism and help the pounds melt away, but what significant research backs up these claims? Is there a reputable organization, like the Food and Drug Administration, asserting that the claims are true?

Take a supplement like Ephedra. It can be found everywhere, from weight loss aids to energy boosters. Metabolife, one of the best selling over-the-counter weight loss aids in the country, contains Ephedra. The supplement contains both Ephedra AND caffeine, which the manufacturers have claimed for years have no side effects when combined. Mind you, this is the company trying to market their product to millions of weight-conscious Americans, so you would think they would want to have their facts as straight as possible. However, when staring in the face of criminal charges and a federal investigation, the president of Metabolife, David Brown finally coped to the fact that “between 1997 and September 2001 his company received roughly 13,000 reports of ‘certain health-related issues‘ linked to the supplement, among them heart attacks, strokes, seizures and death. A subsequent analysis added high blood pressure, palpitations, psychosis and other serious problems.” The FDA even estimates that Ephrdra accounts for 64% of all related side effects from herbal supplements, and that for every one of these recorded incidents, 100 go unreported.

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I am a huge health advocate, and I’m also a strong believer in the old saying “Knowledge is power.” I wanted to start this Healthy Living series in this blog to arm readers with as much knowledge as possible, so that you all are able to make educated choices around your health and well being. That way, even if you’re making poor choices (I’m looking at you, smokers), you know all of the full ramifications around those choices. To kick things off, I wanted to wax poetic about one of my favorite subjects: food. More specifically, where the food we Americans eat comes from. I’m hoping that bringing this subject to light will make you think more thoughtfully about the food you’re putting into your body and how you might make better dietary choices.

Happy Cows Come From…

As a vegan, I realize I have a biased perspective on the meat industry here, but really, if you do enough reading and research, the numbers don’t lie. When I ask my meat-eating friends and family how they can still eat meat knowing how animals are raised, treated, slaughtered and so on, they often reply “I just try not to think about it.” I can only shrug, because living in denial is a hard thing to shake people out of. But when you’re biting into a hamburger, do you know where that meat has come from? Meat like beef and poultry are raised in huge feedlots around the country. You can’t take a drive down I-5 in California without seeing cattle literally stacked on top of one another. When you’re biting into a juicy steak, are you confident in the USDA’s inspection of the meat processing plants? Read a book like “Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the US Meat Industry” and you may never look at beef the same way again. Things like cattle not being stunned properly and skinned alive to rotted meat simply being cut away from carcasses and sent on through inspection with flying colors. Graphic and disturbing? Yes. But necessary to know if you’re really interested in knowing about what you’re eating.

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Insurance carriers are always having to shell out the money-that’s just a part of what they do. When people need to draw on their insurance plans to cover things that happen, insurance companies open their pockets to make it happen. 2008 broke into the top numbers in terms of expenses for insurance companies. Hitting the #3 slot happened due to multiple catastrophes around the world in this past year, causing millions to turn to their insurance companies in the wake of a disaster.

Cyclones, Earthquakes and Hurricanes: Oh, My!

If you watch the news, you know that this hasn’t been an easy year for people around the world. There was the devastating earthquake in China, and the horrendous cyclone in Myanmar, and the list goes on. In fact, if you look up “2008 natural disasters” and visit a few different web pages, you might be surprised at how many events human beings endured around the world this past year. Flooding, tropical storms, landslides, typhoons and in so many different countries. All of these events contributed to making 2008 the 3rd most expensive year for insurers. When people lose everything, it’s insurance companies who take the hit.

Catastrophes and Insurance by the Numbers

Although there were less loss-producing events around the world this past year (dropping 210 from 2007), insured losses in 2008 were 50% higher than the previous year, coming in at $45 billion, as overall losses stood at $200 billion, when they had only been $85 billion in 2007. This past year, over 220,000 people were killed as the result of a natural disaster.

In looking at these horrible events individually, it was the United States who got hit the hardest in terms of losses. Hurricane Ike blasted through the nation like the nasty storm that it was, leaving insurers to clean up the mess to the tune of $15 billion. Following a close second was the terrible Hurricane Gustav, who caused overall losses of $10 billion and and insured loss of $5 billion.

Can This Insurance Trend Be Reversed?

This is a hard question to ponder, because when you’re dealing with things like natural disaster, the solution is quite complex. Such increases in the number of natural disasters and occurrences is caused by changes in our climate like global warming, rising sea levels and higher temperatures everywhere. This may not be able to be reversed, but we can certainly do things to slow it down or even stop it completely. This would require radical changes around the world, and we’re obviously looking at greater issues here than just insurance costs. Human life and quality of it is much more valuable, and we don’t want to lose either.

In the meantime, look over all of your insurance needs. Having health insurance is the first place to start. If you are looking for more information about how to protect your family, take a look online to help some answers to any questions you might have. If you are renting a home, get renters insurance for all your property within. If you own your home, home insurance is a wonderful investment for your future. Life insurance and everything in between may seem like a waste of money as you sign those checks each month, but in the event of an emergency, you will be so happy you spent your money wisely.

photo credit: eschipul