(NaturalNews)

During the festive season, the last thing on most people's minds is healthy choices. After all, when you have chocolate, alcohol, stuffing, and Jello salad sitting in front of you, it often takes a serious act of discipline to choose vegetables, water, and green salad.

However, once the season is over and the mind gravitates towards New Year's resolutions, consider upgrading these 4 habits to live a healthier and happier 2015.

Dairy consumption

In the past few decades we have been led to believe that dairy is a wholesome and pure source of nutrition that is rich in calcium and other life promoting nutrients. However, anyone who has been paying attention surely knows that this dairy fairytale is not true.

Dairy has become very contaminated due to the treatment given of the animals that produce it. Quarantined in stalls and continuously milked, these cows are injected with antibiotics and hormones to keep them "well" and to produce more milk. Then their enzyme rich milk is pasteurized in order to remove any harmful bacteria that may be present, but in this process the enzymes and other delicate nutrients are destroyed. In the end, you are left with a dead, tainted milk product that arguably causes more health concerns than it fixes.

Even when organic and raw, dairy products can cause excess mucus production and are a big problem for those suffering from any digestive issues. In 2015, make your own coconut, hemp, or sprouted almond milk/ Choose cheese alternatives like daiya cheese, and use more coconut oil than butter (and when you do use butter, make it organic and grass fed).

Coffee habit

Coffee is a staple in 80% of people's lives, to the tune of 2-3 cups a day on average. This black elixir has received plenty of positive press lately, and although there are some health benefits, they pale in comparison to the drawbacks. When comparing beneficial antioxidants to artificially stimulating caffeine that wreaks havoc on your intestinal system, your hormones, and your liver, it becomes a no contest that the coffee habit needs to be toned down or kicked to the curb altogether.

There are plenty of other hot beverages that could fill its place, including teas, coffee alternatives such as Dandy Blend, and hot cocoa. After a few days of "coffee detox", you will find living coffee free isn't as tough as you imagined it to be, and your digestive system and hormones will begin to thank you.

Sugar addiction

By now, you know that the forms of sugar that are added to nearly every food on the planet are highly addictive and feed all kinds of health issues, including diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. Most of these ailments stem from an improperly balanced digestive system, with an overgrowth of Candida often at the root. With sugar being a major food source to keep this harmful condition in place, everything becomes worse when consuming sugar, even in moderate quantities.

To transition off sugar, consider using a reputable brand of stevia (which can also be heavily processed) that not only helps sweeten foods and beverages, but also carries a non-existent glycemic load. This ensures a Candida infection is not fed and other diseases that are exacerbated by sugar are not inflamed as well.

Gluten consumption

Another poster child of pain, gluten sensitivities have become widely diagnosed and has resulted in changes in packaging that has gluten free smeared all over it. Indeed, gluten has become a serious issue for the human digestive system, and food producers have acknowledged it and created all kinds of gluten free food products.

If you are not on the gluten free diet, you should be strongly consider eliminating it, even if you don't have a diagnosed sensitivity. Due to highly hybridized wheat and weak digestive systems, humans are not capable of effectively digesting modern wheat products, and this can cause significant health problems.

In the New Year, consider gluten free grains, or other complex carbohydrates that contain no gluten, such as rice or quinoa. If you do choose wheat or can't give up your bread, make your own using ancient grains like Einkorn or Red Fife and choose a sourdough culture to make it, which will considerably lower the gluten content and make it much easier to digest.

These are only a small smattering of habits we could upgrade for more desirable results in our health. To learn more about upgrading your habits, check out Upgrade Your Food Choices and 10 Important Upgrades For Healing the Body.

Sources:

http://www.healingthebody.ca

http://www.healingthebody.ca

http://www.healingthebody.ca

About the author:
Derek Henry took a deadly health challenge that conventional medicine couldn't solve and self-directed a one-in-a-million health journey that found him happier and healthier than he had been in his entire life. As a result of this rewarding journey, he now spends his time writing, coaching, and educating thousands of people each month who want to enjoy similar results under their own direction.

Find out how you can reverse disease and thrive with a holistic approach.