This "Health" Business...

Many of us teenagers have noticed the drastic changes in our cafeterias and vending machines. Hi fat Doritos have miraculously turned into apple chips and trail mix, while Fresca and flavoured milk replaced pop, the preferred fizzy beverage of teenagers. Not only are these changes not very appealing to teens (more like a nightmare), they also cost quite a bit.

Health has earned a pretty bad name.

So, some schools intend to educate us on this matter. Thinking the common "drugs are bad" and "smoking will kill you" struck me as the first thing that was going to be said, but to my surprise, it was an eye-opening experience. After only a few days into this class, I strongly recommend health education for the future generation of this world...us, teenagers.

Check Out This Data:

• Did you know that a child born today will not outlive its parents? Not that they will die when their parents are still alive, but the age that their parents died at, the newborn will die before that age. As technology in medicine and food have extended the human life, it is shocking to hear that it is actually doing the opposite.
• Many health-related words are thrown around all the time: carbohydrates ("carbs"), aspartame, saturated/trans fats and such. Yet, does the average teenager know about their metabolism? Metabolism is the organic processes that are necessary for life. In simpler terms, it is the process in which your body processes food (taking all the nutrients with it). I learned in that your metabolism is like the fire that keeps your energy going in your body. In order to keep a fire going, you must periodically refuel it with wood. The same goes for our energy--we must eat regularly to fuel the fire, our energy. If you put in good fuel, moderately-sized logs, you'll get a good steady fire, much like if we put in good foods in our body (fruits, veggies, etc). If we put in bad things into a fire, like rotten mouldy wood, it won't burn as well and won't last as long. The same is applied when too much junk food/fast food is eaten--it does not help your body function that well, with unnecessary extra fats and sugars.
• There's no wonder why junk food and fast food are called exactly that--they fill your body up with junk, and they do it fast. Of course, we all know that the body is not given the right nutrients to function well, and we also know that eating too much can cause obesity! Once one hits obesity, it causes all sorts of health complications! Junk food contains unnecessary amounts of sugars and fats that your body does not need, and stores it as fat. This fat coats your veins and arteries, and can get especially deadly when it coats the inside of your arteries and around your heart. This causes numerous cardiovascular problems like heart attacks.
• You get what you pay for...and that includes food. You might feel good about that one dollar filling burger you just had, but really, what was in it? What were you benefiting from it? Not much, probably. What about making your own burgers/going to a nice food place where the hamburgers are handmade? This takes way more time, energy, and money, but in the end, it's worth it. Instead of unnecessary grease and sauces, the quality is far better.

Just a couple of facts/tips that are nice to follow:

Do:

• Get at least twenty minutes of exercise a day. This helps with stress and contributes to your overall health.

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  Try to snack on some of those lonely fruits and veggies in the fridge. Get an energy boost more than those chips will ever give you.

• Drink lots of water. Hydration, people! You know it--8 cups of water a day.

• Enjoy the good stuff - cake, chips, pop, cookies, etc. It's not like you have to totally exclude these things! All you have got to do is not to overdo it. If you hear that cookie calling your name, answer it. All you've got to do is have some self-control.

These are generally self-explanatory, but people do know

Do Not:

• Eat anything before bed. Your metabolism --your fire-- takes a break at that time, and stores all the food away as fat for tomorrow. Not a good thing to do.

• No one can simply get into shape by diet alone. Most of this is just water mass, which one can regain at any time. Resistance training along with cardio can help reduce fat content and build up muscle mass.

• Another lesson for staying healthy is not to base your weight loss/gain by the number on the scale. The scale can really be a downer, especially if you have been working out and exercising a lot. The thing is, muscle weighs more than fat! So, one can technically gain more weight, but look very different! This, my friends, is muscle mass

Remember:

Being healthy is not being super ripped or super skinny. Being healthy is making sure you're getting the right fuel (vitamins, carbohydrates proteins, and fats) your body needs, the right amount of this fuel, and most of all, being healthy is feeling good about yourself!

Most of this may be review for some of you, but some teenagers take a blind eye to the truth. This is why I'm glad that some schools have had a unit covering the details of the six letter word, health. Beyond high school there isn't a P.E. class to attend every day to keep healthy--that's why we should know about health, past all the "smoking can give you lung cancer." Health issues like obesity and their link with numerous health problems can really help us make better choices in what we choose to eat--and how much of it...not only as teenagers, but for the rest of our lives. In the end, it's a great effort that schools have given us healthier options that encourage healthy living, but they should also let us know about the dangers of being unhealthy.