I recognize that many of my posts are filled with nutrition and related information but it is vital to be well informed in this area. Health and freedom from illness are never fully appreciated until we become sick.
The beauty of it all is, is that what is needed to achieve optimal health is not difficult to understand or do. It's the implementation, at least in the beginning, that is difficult.
If you want to have a long, healthy life:
Proper Food Choices: Generally speaking, you should be looking to focus your diet on whole, ideally organic, unprocessed foods. For the best nutrition and health benefits, you will want to eat a good amount of salads and raw fruits and vegetables.
Avoid sugar, and fructose in particular. All forms of sugar have toxic effects when consumed in excess, and drive multiple disease processes in your body, not the least of which is insulin resistance, a major cause of chronic disease and accelerated aging.
I believe the two primary keys for successful weight management are severely restricting carbohydrates (sugars, fructose, and grains) in your diet, and increasing healthy fat consumption. This will optimize insulin and leptin levels, which is key for maintaining a healthy weight and optimal health.
Regular exercise: Even if you're eating the healthiest diet in the world, you still need to exercise to reach the highest levels of health, and you need to be exercising effectively, which means including high-intensity activities into your rotation. High-intensity interval-type training boosts human growth hormone (HGH) production, which is essential for optimal health, strength and vigor. HGH also helps boost weight loss.
So along with core-strengthening exercises, strength training, and stretching, I highly recommend that twice a week you do peak fitness exercises, which raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold for 20 to 30 seconds, followed by a 90-second recovery period.
Stress Reduction: You cannot be optimally healthy if you avoid addressing the emotional component of your health and longevity, as your emotional state plays a role in nearly every physical disease -- from heart disease and depression, to arthritis and cancer.
Meditation, prayer, social support and exercise are all viable options that can help you maintain emotional and mental equilibrium.
Drink plenty of clean water. Get a water filter, it's as important an investment as food.
Maintain a healthy gut: About 80 percent of your immune system resides in your gut, and research is stacking up showing that probiotics—beneficial bacteria—affect your health in a myriad of ways; it can even influence your ability to lose weight. A healthy diet is the ideal way to maintain a healthy gut, and regularly consuming traditionally fermented foods is the easiest, most cost effective way to ensure optimal gut flora.
Optimize your vitamin D levels: Research has shown that increasing your vitamin D levels can reduce your risk of death from all causes. You can get vitamin D from the sun but you must be cautious and sensible in regards to exposure.
Avoid as many chemicals, toxins, and pollutants as possible: This includes tossing out your toxic household cleaners, soaps, personal hygiene products, air fresheners, bug sprays, lawn pesticides, and insecticides, just to name a few, and replacing them with non-toxic alternatives.
Get plenty of high-quality sleep: Regularly catching only a few hours of sleep can hinder metabolism and hormone production in a way that is similar to the effects of aging and the early stages of diabetes. Chronic sleep loss may speed the onset or increase the severity of age-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and memory loss.Too many people do not get enough sleep.
In closing--I know people who have a beautiful home, cars and clothes. They have no problem spending large sums of money on adult 'toys' yet are misers when it comes to buying quality food. What is wrong with that picture? It's a cliché but there is a lot of truth to the saying, 'we are what we eat'. Buying quality food is a better investment than buying a nice home or car because you are investing in your long-term health.
It's all about priorities and looking down the road.
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