In Search of Health

Bernard Jensen, a world renouned nutritionist once stated: "Health is not everything, but without it, everything is nothing." Those who have suffered the efects of illness know how much easier it is to enjoy and live life to its fullest when the body is well.

Living a healthy lifestyle is not easy, and it can be very challenging at first. But as you commit to a healthy lifestyle, you will find that it gets easier every day. After about 3-4 weeks, things will no longer tempt you as they did before. You will discover that the effort you took pays you back in generous amounts. Literally (fewer doctor visits), physically, and mentally. Leading a healthy lifestyle gives you more energy to enjoy life, and give back to others.

Before I go into all the do's and dont's of a healthy lifestyle, I would like to define health. Health means a lot of different things to different people. To some it is merely the absence of disease. But it is really so much more than that. Health involves physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness. When all these are present, a person will feel joy, happiness, and have a positive attitude towards life. When health is present, one has the energy and desire to serve and love others. A truly healthy person is free from physical pain, depression, indigestion, and so on. This may seem impossible to attain, but many have done it before, and many will still. You can too. Now, let's go over some of the basic principals of health...

What to eat:

Bernard Jensen says to eat your food as whole, pure, natural, and fresh as possible. This rules out anything artificial (colorings, preservatives etc.), refined (pasta, white rice & bread etc.), foods polluted with pesticides/growth hormones, antibiotics (milk, meat, chicken), or genetically altered foods. Make a habit of reading labels of the food you buy.

It is best if at least 70% of your food is raw. Raw foods contain valuable enzymes which help with digestion, and the breaking down of nutrients. From thirty to eighty-five percent of the nutrition in foods is destroyed in cooking. According to Edward Howell, M.D. - "Enzymes are the catalyst for the hundreds of thousands of chemical reactions that occur throughout the body; they are essential for the digestion and absoption of foods as well as for the production of cellular energy. Enzymes are essential for most of the building and rebuilding that goes on constantly in our bodies. Among the many thousands of species of creatures living on this earth, only humans and some of their domesticated animals try to live without enzymes. And only these transgressors of nature’s law are penalized with defective health." Most vegetables are alkaline. Most proteins and starches are acidic. The body needs about 80% of its food alkaline to neutralize the acid wastes produced by the body.

Some say to eat proteins and starches at different meals because the digestive juices required to digest the two counteract each other. In doing this, the nutrients are assimilated more readily. However, there is some controversy on this especially for people with diabetes.

Drink at least 10 glasses of filtered water every day.

Eat 5 or 6 smaller meals throughout the day to keep your blood sugar and metabolism up. Fast occasionally to cleanse your body. Eat a variety of different foods. Try new foods, and rotate your diet. All foods (natural foods) have unique qualities which benefit the body in different ways. Don't get into a rut, or it will lead to nutrient deficiencies.

Fresh fruit and vegetable juices are good because they contain large amounts of nutrients and enzymes. I usually drink a couple of glasses a day.

You may want to alter your diet gradually if you are used to the SAD (Standard American Diet). This gives your body time to adjust, and helps you form a habit of healthy living.

If you are suffering from disease, there are programs specifically designed for curing anything from gallstones to cancer. They work, but require more knowledge and different alternative therapies in addition to diet depending on how serious it is.

Supplementing:

I would recommend supplementing with vitamins, minerals, and/or other nutrients if you have had poor eating habits for a period of time. Whole food based supplements (like Bio-Life Naturals multi-vitamin and New Chapter's products) are the best absorbed, and have less toxicity.

Avoiding Indoor and Outdoor Pollutants:

These pollutants range from smog to smoke to cleaners. Try to avoid chemicals because they cause an overload on your immune system. Remember, your body has to spend energy on getting rid of these, and that means less energy for cell renewal, daily activities and so forth.

Exercise:

Exercise is as important for health as eating a well balanced, healthy diet. Exercise boosts immunity, seratonin levels (the "happy hormone"), improves circulation, muscle tone, and cardiac function. It is also a way of removing toxins from the body. When we exercise, we breathe deeper and in doing so, we release toxic byproducts through the lungs. Perspiration is also a means of eliminating metabolic waste material from the body, and muscular activity is the only way to remove waste material through the lymphatic vessels. Exercise for 20-45 minutes 6 days a week; alternating intense aerobic exercise (biking, running, etc. for 20 minutes) and strength training (45 min).

Spirituality:

Take some time each day to read scriptures and pray. Prayer is known to heal and uplift. Most people have something they believe in whether it be some great force in the universe or nature. Nourish your soul daily.

Emotional:

Keep your thoughts positive. It is known that negative emotions cause stress on the body, especially the liver. Stress also causes an acidic condition in the body which requires precious minerals to neutralize.

Forgive people who have offended you. It takes much more energy to hold a grudge than it takes to forgive. The mind and the body are interconnected in more ways than we know.

Everything that is really worthwhile requires effort, and like anything we put effort into, the reward is so much greater than the sacrifice.

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