2 . Sugar was my first choice when I was sad or happy, and the dependency and health consequences made it my abuser even as early as age five. For over twenty years after seven, every weight loss intervention failed me, leaving me feeling hopeless.

I was fourteen when I went to my first weight-loss camp. I knew that I would regain all the weight I’d lost when I went home. A little voice inside me whispered. “You should help people. You should make a program that really works.” That voice got louder with each failed diet. It sparked a need to help others who were struggling like me.

Eventually, I recognized that my issue was sugar. I broke up with sugar and dieting and found a way to heal my relationship with food. I finally created a program that would help people in the way that I had needed desperately all along.

That program took off. My clients discovered that their relationships with food could be loving and sustainable. As a result, I was often encouraged to take my message to a larger platform. But when l finally was committed to sharing my story with the world, I knew that I had to tell it all leaving no stone unturned.

My friend Rumi said, “The wound is the place where the light enters you.” Finally, I was ready to tell my story, shining a big and bright light on all the wounds. With anxiety screaming in my ear, I made progress and wrote Breaking Up with Sugar. Now, I receive daily e-mails from readers telling me that they finally feel heard and understood. They’re hopeful for the first time in their lives. To me, this is the truest meaning of life — to be truly healthy and loving. The greatest lesson I’ve learned on this journey is that. by embracing my truth, loving and sharing it, I am able to become the best version of myself — someone whom I love and cherish.

10 . Make me a chili pepper lover! People who often chow down on chili peppers may live for longer and have a significantly reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (心血管疾病) or cancer, research from Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute suggests.

Previous studies have found that capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their characteristic kick, can have anti-inflammatory (消炎的), antioxidant, anti-cancer and blood-glucose regulating effects when eaten. To further investigate the effects of consuming chili peppers, the researchers gathered together the health and dietary records of more than 570,000 patients in the US, Italy, China and Iran, published in four previous large-scale scientific studies.

They found that those who ate chili peppers regularly had a 26% reduction in cardiovascular disease (CVD) death, a 23% relative reduction in cancer death, and a 25% relative reduction in all-cause death, compared to those who rarely or never ate them.

“We were surprised to find that in these previously published studies, regular consumption of chili pepper was associated with an overall risk reduction of all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality. It highlights that dietary factors may play an important role in overall health,” said senior author Dr. Bo Xu, a cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute.

“The exact reasons and mechanisms that might explain our findings, though, are currently unknown,” he added. “Therefore, it is impossible to convincingly say that eating more chili pepper can prolong life and reduce deaths, especially from cardiovascular factors or cancer. More research, especially evidence from randomized controlled studies, is needed to confirm these new findings.”

Additionally, as the precise amount and type of chili pepper consumed varied across the four studies used in the research, it’s tricky to determine exactly how much and what type of chili peppers may provide the health benefits. However, the researchers are continuing to analyze the data in the hope of uncovering more concrete evidence.