Youth Insight

Do you find yourself blaming your genetic make-up for your energy level, weight and susceptibility to disease? Feeling you weren’t born with the same healthy complement of genes as many other people? This concept of predetermined health is not uncommon. And research has found that genes do play a significant role. But there are things we can do to optimize our health no matter what gene profile we were born with. Let’s review some age-old advice and recent findings.

Calories Count
The 1903 Fletcher diet (Chew each bite 32 times and spit out what’s left.), the 1930′s grapefruit diet (fat-preventing superfruit), today’s cabbage soup diet…people continue to experiment with and write about quick, sacrifice-free weight loss. Although these plans may have encouraging results during the first few months, they don’t seem to be sustainable.

» Read more: Optimizing Your Health: from Refresher Course to Recent Findings

Getting kicked out of school has a very serious effect on a young man’s self image, believes the staff at Mount Carmel Youth Ranch in Wyoming. It can lower self-esteem and nearly erase a positive self-image, as well as produce a variety of negative behaviors. For several decades, Mount Carmel Youth Ranch has worked with young men who have faced reprimands in school. Over the years, the professionals at Mount Carmel Youth Ranch have found that suspension or expulsion can affect a youth’s choices for the rest of his life.

» Read more: Advice from Mount Carmel Youth Ranch | When Your Child is Suspended or Expelled from School