Top Ten Effective Steps For Staying Healthy

From my perspective as a Lifestyle and Functional Medicine Health Coach, I believe these essential aspects of wellness, when inculcated proactively, will create Health sustainably for everyone. 

Usually, we are so focused on conventional western medicine that we overlook the primary day-to-day Lifestyle behavior that creates and maintains wellness. You may have expensive drugs and treatments, which may be great for triage. But, they will not provide lasting relief if you are not getting regular nights of restful deep sleep or addressing the upstream cause of your psychological or physiological stress. Nor are costly botanical supplements going to assist if you are on risky addictive substances, eating junk food, eating at inappropriate times, stressed 24/7, and using carcinogenic skincare products full of toxins and harmful preservatives. 

Our present medical system focuses so much on disease care; it’s time you understand that you must now redirect your focus towards creating Health proactively and sustainably. When your body’s systems function optimally, illnesses will be kept at bay automatically.

Below is a fact-filled list of top principles that will keep you naturally in a state of homeostasis, i.e., Healthy. 

1. Eat real whole natural foods. All GMOs and synthetic stuff made in labs like food colors and flavors are not recognized by the body as food. When you purchase your processed foods, read your ingredients label; if you can’t read those chemical words, nor will your immune system identify them as food. It will respond to them as a pathogen, and your body will be in a constant state of inflammation. A significant portion of your diet should be raw in the form of smoothies and salads. Eat lots of fresh and organic vegetables, fruits, low glycemic grains, legumes, and healthy fats from nuts, seeds, avocadoes, olives, etc. Eat what your grandparents would have eaten. Eat in a relaxed manner enabling digestion and absorption to take place effectively.
2. Our body responds to grain flours in the same fashion as sugars. Now we have a real epidemic of insulin resistance and its progression states of Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes. Reduce all foods which give an insulin spike, like refined flours, sweeteners, and sugary foods. Such foods should be 10% of your meal portion if necessary.
3. Avoid cheap, highly refined vegetable oils. Their fundamental properties have changed drastically; your body will not recognize them as food. Consume pressed, preferably cold-pressed vegetable oils. Coconut and ghee are preferred for high-temperature cooking. Cheap refined oils negatively affect the membranes of your cells.
4. Drink sufficient plain filtered drinking water regularly. Are you sure your tap water is free of toxins and hazardous chemicals? Don’t forget your skin is also a giant mouth; it can absorb those toxins from your shower water too!
5. Switch your skincare products to natural or organic ones. Remember, your skin is like a big mouth and absorbs what you slather on it. If you hesitate to eat your skincare products, you should not put them on your skin. Avoid fluoride. Don’t use fluoride-containing toothpaste or seek fluoride treatments at the dentist. It does kill bacteria in the mouth and increase calcium uptake in teeth, but likely at very high costs, affecting thyroid function and leaving you sluggish and overweight. The pineal gland may become calcified, resulting in insomnia.
6. Quality sleep is an important one. You must follow your circadian clock, also known as the sleep-wake cycle, which coincides with daytime and nighttime. Going against our internal clock, which is regulated by the hypothalamus in the brain, we disrupt our body’s entire biochemical functioning. Going to bed at around nine and awakening early morning around five is a healthy habit. Practicing sleep hygiene will help you have a night of restorative sleep.
7. Do regular physical activities in nature, whether walking, jogging, yoga, weights, or whatever resonates with you. Your muscles, lymphatic system, joints, the cardiovascular system, and your body’s entire mechanism are benefited. 
8. Get out in nature for fresh air daily; every cell of your body needs oxygen to produce ATP, i.e., the energy currency of the cells. Practice deep breathing and activate your parasympathetic nervous system mode that promotes digestion, relaxation, immune boost, and healing. 
9. Regular bowel movements. Make sure you are never constipated, as it severely compromises your innate immunity, predominantly housed in your gut. And did you know your happy hormone, serotonin, is primarily synthesized in the gut? Drink detox juices and eat greens, especially cruciferous vegetables, to support your liver to detox at a cellular level to remove the toxins we are bombarded with in our modern lifestyle.

And the most crucial aspect is the perspective of life! If it is negative, the glands in your brain will release neuropeptides and hormones 24/7, dampening your digestion and immunity drastically even if you follow the steps mentioned above. Hence please read on;

1. Fun and Play; You will not be awarded any trophy when you are on your death bed for having the most lengthy and complicated To-Do-Lists! Or having worked the maximum number of hours in your life. Where has the socializing fun time with family and friends gone? The recent relaxation and rejuvenation trends with our social gadgets and aimless TV viewing are a deception that has distanced us from the warmth and love of humans. We cannot spread pure love and compassion, the incredible healing emotions. This aloof lifestyle has deprived our bodies of beneficial happy hormones, which indirectly uplift our immunity. Play, laugh, become young again, or perhaps you will be left with regrets and missed opportunities. Appreciate life. 
2. Stop living with guilt and a life of oppression: Be and live who you are and honor yourself. Accept this truth. Honor, what makes you happy. Choose activities based on what is fun and fulfilling and resonate with your inner self. Never live your life based on words such as “should, must, and have-to.” Be light and relaxed in your behavior, arrange a time for spiritual and meditation practices that empowers and allows you to let go of the negative expectations from society or family, but reconnect to your true inner callings enabling you to live life to its fullest. You are a divine, perfect child of God. Stop being your self-critic and your own most significant source of stress. Never live a life of stress with conflicting beliefs. Get rid of any past or recent trauma that may be annoying you. Always remember, “Stress Kills.” 
3. Live a life of meaning and purpose. Have a passion and clear vision and be inspired by it. Chronic brooding or self-analysis often leads to headaches, boredom, or depression. Find a cause or a contribution that highlights your unique talents and skills. Give regularly of yourself in service that makes you feel gratified, useful and instills a sense of higher achievement. See the goodness in yourself and around you. Gratitude Journaling is excellent. Just spend 5-10 minutes every morning and night writing down 2-3 very specific (not general) things you are grateful for at that moment. This behavior has an authentic, biochemical healing power. The mind-body connection has been researched well and proven to be extremely powerful in healing. People living with passion and aim have longer telomeres than the rest. A telomere is a repeating DNA sequence at the end of the body’s chromosomes. Scientists can use the telomere length to determine a cell’s age, and how many more replications it has left. Shorter telomeres are associated with quicker aging and diseases. 

Imbibe the above habits into your life gradually as much as you can manage; you will begin to see the positive health changes yourself. They are in your control now; you have the power to implement them. Let your personal experience be your motivator!

This statement has not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.