| 1) |
Stop smoking -
If we are a smoker or someone who receives significant
secondary smoke, stopping the inhalation of this
deadly concoction of carcinogens is the most
important single thing that we can do to increase
your well-being. Smoking damages the immune system
more than any other activity and is the chief
cause of cancer and heart disease. In the light
of current public awareness on the dangers of
smoking, smoking is nothing more than slow suicide. |
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| 2) |
Reduce stress -
When we are stressed, the body is awash with
adrenal hormones such as cortisol which have
a devastating effect on the immune system. For
this reason, it is important that we live lifestyles
that do not chronically trigger the fight and
flight response. This means that we have to take
responsibility for our emotional states and the
activities which affect them. Strategies might
include daily relaxation exercises, yoga, meditation,
country walks, time away form (or with!) the
children, marriage counseling and a change in
career. These are priorities and not luxuries. |
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| 3) |
Cut out diary products -
Milk and cheese are two of the most unhealthy
and unhelpful foods available and should be avoided.
Most people erroneously believe that dairy products
are a great source of calcium; although they
contain calcium, there is evidence that there
is actually a calcium net-loss in those who drink
milk or eat cheese because the calcium used up
in processing the proteins. Taking a calcium
supplement balanced with magnesium is much healthier,
as is limiting protein to slow or prevent calcium
being released from the bones to buffer the increased
acidity from our standard high protein diets.
Diary products also contain high amounts of growth
hormones which can accelaterate the proliferation
of cancer cells. (And if human babies cannot
be breatfed, then mothers might consider goats
milk as an alternative, which has a kinder nutritional
profile.) |
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| 4) |
Take food supplements -
Despite what "experts" tell you, a balanced
diet CANNOT give you all the nutrients you need
to maintain optimum health. This is a dangerous
fallacy and one that is dangerously repeated
ad nauseam by many doctors and old-school nutritionists.
The world we live in now is vastly different
from the one in which the human species evolved:
we face huge amounts of pollution which requires
more nutrients to neutralize, and our food is
mass produced which means that it is invariably
grown in depleted soils, picked unripe and/or
grown with pesticides/hormones. Coupled with
modern eating habits, and you have a deadly concoction
of a high-calorie low-nutrient diet and an unhealthy
toxic overload. This is why nutrients are vital
for optimum health. A good multivitamin and mineral
supplement is a good thing to take as is a good
antioxidant complex. However, unless it is for
short-term therapeutic use, avoid mega doses
of nutrients. It is far better to supplement
in small doses once the above lifestyle changes
are implemented. |
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| 5) |
Cut out sugar and reduce
carbohydrates - Sugar and other carbohydrates
make up a huge proportion of our modern diets.
The problem with this is that it means that
we tend to have chronically high levels of
insulin in our blood in order to cope with
this. This can lead to insulin-resistance and
a whole host of symptoms such as excess weight,
tiredness, mental fuzziness, diabetes, heart
disease, strokes and eye problems. In fact,
the latest research indicates that sugar is
worse for you than fat. It is important to
remember that some savoury carbohydrates such
as potatoes, white rice and bread can trigger
the same problematic response in the body.
We should focus on moderate amounts wholefood
carbohydrates that have a low glycaemic index
such as whole grains and vegetables. |
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| 6) |
Take flax seed oil or
an EFA supplement daily - Essential
fatty acids are very important to include in
the diet, and flax seed oil is a pleasant tasting
non-fish source. Take at least a tablespoon
a day with meals. This is one of the most essential
nutrients missing from the modern diet. It
is also the switch that turns off hunger and
so can help to reduce cravings and appetite.
Make sure you buy refrigerated oils contained
in opaque or dark glass bottles as these oils
degrade very quickly in light and air. Alternatively,
increase the amount of fresh fish in the diet. |
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| 7) |
Exercise regularly -
A sedentary life is extremely bad for your body,
leading to a whole list of problems which tend
to accumulate as we age. It is important that
we get to move all the fluids around inside of
us by simple stretching, weight resistance and
cardiovascular exercise. Exercise helps the body
to be a lot more efficient and is a great tonic
for depression and other low mental states. Remember
that exercise MUST include all three exercise
elements of cardiovascular work, muscle strengthening
(especially as a person gets older) and comprehensive
stretching (for example, simple yoga - very important
but often discarded). |
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| 8) |
Drink more water -
Water comprises 85% of our body's weight, a figure
that decreases as we get older. Try not to drink
too much tap water as this contains chlorides,
fluorides, and other pollutants. It is important
to either filter water or drink bottled water.
If you are going to drink bottled water, pick
one with a neutral or alkaline pH. Most nutritionists
would recommend drinking at least a couple of
litres of water a day… at least! If you
receive your fluids from tea and coffee, remember
that this doesn't count as they are diuretics — they
encourage your body to expel water. |
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| 9) |
Avoid processed fats -
Processed fats are very bad for the body… eating
them over a prolonged period of time greatly
increases the chance of heart disease and cancer.
Vegetable fats tend to be worse than animal fats
because more processing is usually involved in
their production. In fact, butter is a lot better
for you than margarine. The homogenisation of
fat, as in milk, can also increase the likelihood
of heart disease. The best fats are unprocessed
vegetable oils (such as olive and flax seed)
and raw butter. |
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| 10) |
Take enzyme supplements
with meals - If you are eating a large
meal, it is advised that you included an enzyme
supplement with the meal to aid the digestion
of the food. Our bodies of course can produce
all the enzymes needed, but the modern diet
is so heavy that the enzyme production can
be exhausted as we become older. This means
that the whole metabolic system works less
efficiently and we do not receive the nutrients
from our food that we need. |
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| 11) |
Eat a predominately alkaline
diet - Make sure that a large proportion
of your diet consists of green leafy vegetables
(spinach is fantastic) and fruit (provided
it is not too sweet). Seaweed is also very
alkalising as are green foods such as edible
algae. Avoid acid forming foods like meat,
hard cheeses, excess grains, sugar and alcohol.
The body does not work very efficiently when
the pH drops and many serious diseases actually
flourish in acid environments. Acid forming
foods also leach calcium from the bones leading
to brittle bones. |
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| 12) |
Buy Organic and GMO-free -
Although this is the last on the list it could
well turn out to be the most important. Organic
food is often seen as a luxury rather than a
necessity, but the truth is that nobody really
knows what the accumulative long-term effects
of pesticide residues and genetically modified
ingredients is on our health. The evidence just
isn't there. But what we do know is that the
body has this annoying habit of accumulating
poisons, and we know that many of these chemicals
are virulent carcinogens. So it is just a matter
of time before we realize just how damaging these
are on human health and the health of the planet. |
