New Year, New You
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New Year, New You *
January 2025
1/27/2025
Elevate your wellness with healthier habits
The average adult makes more than 5,000 choices a day (Harvard Business Review, 2023). Our choices often include choosing to brush our teeth, what to eat and drink, how long to wait at a traffic signal, and more. The decisions we make today can impact our lives tomorrow. For example, choosing to brush your teeth twice a day can help prevent cavities. However, a person who brushes their teeth every day and smokes or vapes has a higher risk of tooth loss, gum disease, and depression (American Heart Association, 2020). Choosing healthier habits can improve mental and physical wellness.
Using cigarettes, marijuana, and alcohol may be common and accepted in certain settings such as a party. Choosing to drink water as opposed to beer could be a more challenging decision while at a party. While looking around the party, you may see others drinking and decide to choose beer since that’s the most common beverage you see. Did you know that drinking alcohol is the leading preventable cause of cancer and studies show that there is no safe amount of alcohol? (The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory, 2025).
Sometimes, we forget how harmful these substances can be to the body especially, if many people around you use them. Even though our perception can be influenced by our mood and setting, the health risks of substance use remain negative. Our habits often limit our decision-making processes by relying on familiarity that “normally” happens. Grabbing a soda every time you feel thirsty could result in cavities, weight gain, and Type 2 diabetes but, choosing water every time you feel thirsty could increase hydration and boost digestion (CDC, 2024).
Making the best choices for yourself is not easy. Considering the potential long-term consequences of our actions can help us weigh the pros and cons of our decisions. Whether we realize it or not, our choices have the power to help or hurt us. Take some time to think about how you would like your life to be and consider if your habits support your interfere with your life goals.
Sources
American Heart Association (2020, August 26). Need Another Reason Not To Vape? Your Oral Health Is At Risk. Heart.org. Retrieved January 27, 2025, from https://www.heart.org/en/news/2020/08/26/need-another-reason-not-to-vape-your-oral-health-is-at-risk
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022, April 11). Get the Facts: Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Consumption. Cdc.gov. Retrieved January 27, 2025, from https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/data-statistics/sugar-sweetened-beverages-intake.html
Harvard Business Review (2023, December 5). A Simple Way to Make Better Decisions. Hbr.org. Retrieved January 27, 2025, from https://hbr.org/2023/12/a-simple-way-to-make-better-decisions
Reimagining South LA Liquor Stores
Reimagining South LA Liquor Stores
In LA County, there are more liquor stores than markets. These liquor stores sell alcohol that exposes people in our community to liquor in our area more than in any other part of LA County. Not only that, but it harms our community by destroying families, causing a higher rate of crime, a higher rate of obesity, and a higher rate of poverty. That has to start changing. A solution is transforming old liquor stores into small healthy markets that benefit the community's wellness. An example is Hank’s, Mini Market.
Hank's mini-mart used to be a liquor store that sold the usual items found in most liquor stores; chips, soda, candy, etc. But now, it has transformed into a healthy mini-mart that sells fresh fruits and vegetables. Although it sells some of the same items, it has become a place where people in the community can shop for healthy food options. With our efforts, let's try to change these outdated liquor stores into healthy mini-markets that will help our community prosper and stay healthy!
References:
https://mailchimp.com/courier/article/new-grassroots-kelli-jackson/
https://la.curbed.com/2019/10/8/20897705/toms-liquor-stores-south-la
http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/epi/docs/aod%20final%20revised%20web%20ed.pdf