Today we do an update with PETA and talk about their #endspeciesismcampaign. Then we talk with Darshan Goswami about defying aging with yoga, and Stephanie Toups talks about the dirty dozen guide to food additives.

Dirty Dozen Guide to Food Additives

Over 10,000 additives are allowed in our food today. Knowing what is in the food you are eating can be difficult with the mass amount of processed foods and the ingredient list that you cannot even begin to understand. It's as if we need to take a class just on understanding nutrition labels. Stephanie Toups joins us today to talk about the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen Guide to Food Additives. This list shows the top additives that are a risk for concern and what foods they are in so you can do your best to avoid them.Here’s EWG’s Dirty Dozen list:

1. Nitrites and nitrates

2. Potassium bromate

3. Propyl paraben

4. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)

5. Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)

6. Propyl gallate

7. Theobromine

8. Secret flavor ingredients

9. Artificial colors

10. Diacetyl

11. Phosphate-based food additives

12. Aluminum-based additives

In short, highly processed foods are the main reason we have all of these additives in our foods. The health concerns associated with them can range from endocrine disruptors to cancer. As a result, we have to make our health and the generations that come after us, our top priority.Stephanie Toups is a consumer advocate professional particularly focused on safety in food and personal care products.

PETA Update & #EndEpeciesismCampaign

Today we get an update from PETA with their senior campaign coordinator, Melanie Johnson. She tells us about their new campaign to "End Speciesism." Below is a video of Kat Graham joining with PETA to expose and #endspeciesism.

• “Speciesism” is the human-held belief that all other animal species are inferior. This supremacist line of “reasoning” is used to defend treating other living, feeling beings as property, objects, or even ingredients. It’s a bias rooted in denying others their own agency, interests, and self-worth, often for personal gain.

[embed]https://youtu.be/4rk7DfXmLK8[/embed]If you click this link, you can sign the pledge against speciesism and overall animal cruelty.

Defying Aging with Yoga

Darshan Goswami is a spiritual yoga and meditation teacher. He joins us today to talk about an article her wrote about how to defy aging with yoga. You may think of yoga as a way of exercise, but the benefits go so much deeper than just your physical being. Yoga is mind, body, and soul when done correctly and with good intent. Darshan gives us these 5 principals of yoga:

1. Relaxation: Rest your entire body and release tension in the muscle (yoga exercise and relaxation can restore body's normal energy flow and calm the mind).

2. Exercise: Performed regularly, the yoga postures (known as asanas) help to stretch and tone all the body muscles and strengthen bones, improve circulation, and help to relieve depression by increasing endorphins in the body.

3. Breath Control (known as pranayama): Proper breathing technique increases the capacity of the lungs enabling you to breathe more. It can help to strengthen the internal organs, improve mental clarity and control, and deepen your ability to relax.

4. Well-balanced Diet: A well-balanced diet will boost the immune system, ensure better health, and calm the mind. Thus your body will become more resistant to illness and disease and you feel good.

5. Meditation and Power of Positive Thinking: Yoga promotes positive thinking. It can train your mind to control and lead to self-realization.

You can read Darshan's full article here.