I must ask you this question. Have you thought about what limitations your current state of health has placed on you? Does your current state of health allow you the luxury of a walk around the lake or park without thinking “are my knees going to hurt or I am not sure I can make it, I’ll be to tired.”  What about taking a 3, 4 or even 6 mile hike in the mountains? The real question is, when it comes down to living life the way you would like to, can you?  If you can’t are you willing to do something about it?

As I look back on my life 5 years ago it was very limited.  My joints ached and walking more than a few hundred feet without looking for a resting spot was impossible. I had to sit on the sidelines and watch my grandchildren play without me.  This was torture.  My wife loved to hike and camp, sadly she had to give it up because I couldn’t.  She didn’t want to go without me.  I love college football, however going to the games was pure misery. This is no longer the case. My body allows me the luxury to do almost anything I would like to do at my age of 54.  If you really want more from your body continue reading. If not,  hopefully you are in great health and do not need this information.

If you want your body to be a magnificent vessel allowing you to have an active and fun life, it’s never to late. Our bodies are amazingly and wondrously made. God provided our bodies with an innate drive for health. Regardless how badly we poison our bodies they continue to fight to live.  If we give our bodies some help they can recover and give us the freedom to really experience life physically the way we desire.

OK, so let’s get right to the point of this blog. How to go from a state of  poor health, illness or even disease to better health, very little illness or even reverse disease.  We are each metabolically and genetically unique. In addition, the exposure to external influences  such as stress, nutritional deficiencies, environmental toxins, injuries, smoking, alcohol and drug intake have a total combined effect that can limit each persons health potential.  For example, If someone suffered an injury in a car accident and had broken their ankle, their ability to do an extreme hike may be limited however they may be able to comfortably do a moderate hike.  Regardless of your current health condition it can always improve.

In addition to the rules below,  learn to live within your energy/calorie budget. If you do not eat enough calories your body will be lacking very important nutrients needed to produce energy and build and repair your body. If you eat too much you will gain weight and open the door for other weight related health issues.

16 Rules of Healthy Living

Following these tips will help in your achievement of optimal health and wellness

1. Remove all unnatural sources of sugar from your life.  (Table sugar, brown sugar, HFCS, corn syrup, confectioners’ sugar, syrup, etc…) Sugar acts as a poison that causes inflammation to our arteries and veins leading to heart disease, atherosclerosis and of course diabetes. Added sugars upset our normal hormonal balance and lower our immune system. Sugars in natural live foods does not have this effect.  Look for products made with stevia or xylitol. You can also use these as sweeteners at home.
2. Make changes slowly to your lifestyle. You are more likely to be successful at making the positive changes stick by make change slowly.
3. Remove or limit all refined and processed foods from your life.  (most boxed or canned flour based products)  Breads, pastas and cereals should be organic whole grain selections. Refined flours (those that say enriched, bleached, flour, wheat flour, bromate, multigrain and unbleached are refined) have the same effect on the body that added sugars do because they are simple carbohydrates and are absorbed into the body as blood sugar very quickly leading to the same disease potential and weight gain. These types of grains can get you into a vicious cycle of wanting to eat more and more of them.  It becomes a carbohydrate addiction that can be hard to break!  Learn the foods with the lowest blood sugar impact at this site. It will teach you everything you need to know about the blood sugar impact of particular foods.
4. Replace frying with sauteing, baking, grilling or broiling.  Use  olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil or coconut oil.
5. Replace flour based foods with “Whole Grain” choices.  (first ingredient in the list should say whole grain)
6. Eat foods as close to nature in their raw state as possible (fresh or frozen).  If you must eat canned vegetables please rinse well.  Strive for 70% raw foods and 30% cooked.
7. Eat a diet rich in variety. Include as many colors of vegetables (70% of your diet should be vegetables and fruits) fruits and grains, nuts and seeds every day. Limit nuts and seeds to 1 to 2 oz. per day due to calories.  The daily consumption of nuts drastically reduces the risk of heart disease.  Add ground flax-seed to your diet, 2 tbsp. daily to make sure you get plenty of Omega 3 fatty acids. These are essential for heart health, pain reduction, hormone regulation and nerve health.
8. Limit saturated fats and totally eliminate trans fats from your diet. Include polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats which are very healthy for you in moderation.  Olive oil is a monounsaturated oil and most nuts contain a good source of monounsaturated oils. The Omega 3 Polyunsaturated oils come from walnuts, flax-seed and cold water fish such as salmon, sardines, trout, halibut and cod.  While sardines and salmon are the best animal sources of Omega 3 fatty acids, ground flax-seed is the best sources of vegetative Omega 3 Fatty Acids and in my opinion the best source for it daily.  Flax seed also provides lignans which may help prevent certain types of cancers.  Omega 6 Polyunsaturated fatty acids are very prevalent in our vegetables and are seldom deficient in our diet. You need extra Omega 3 to balance the ration to a 2 to 1 Omega 6 to Omega 3. Your SATURATED FAT intake should not exceed 10% of your calories. Example a 2,000 calorie intake should have no more than 200 calories from saturated fat. At 9 calories per gram of fat that would mean you should limit your intake of saturated fat to less than 22 grams per day.  3.5 ounces of cheddar cheese has 21 grams of saturated fat, 3.5 ounces of cream cheese has 28  grams.
9. Eliminate or reduce the intake of animal proteins. According to the China Study (the longest running nutritional health study every conducted) the intake of animal protein that exceeds more than 10% of our daily protein intake leads to the potential activation of cancer causing genes.  Interestingly the consumption of plant proteins had no negative effect on genetic expression. Study after study showed that by increasing the intake of casein (milk protein) in the diet to more than 10% of the protein daily intake over longer periods of time the casein activated cancerous genes allowing them the potential to express as disease. When the casein was reduced to less than 10% of dietary intake the cancer promoting gene was turned off and would not express itself. Personally I do not recommend animal proteins. If meat must be consumed then cold water fish such as salmon, halibut, cod, steelhead trout and sardines are the preferred choice.  However understand that you raise your risk of higher mercury levels along with other excito-toxins in older and larger fish such as swordfish, shark and tuna.
10. Eliminate dairy products (cheese, milk and creams) from your daily diet. Replace with Almond milk or Rice milk. The casein protein in dairy milk is very hard to digest and stays active in the body causing the body’s PH to become to acidic. This causes the body to leach calcium from bones and teeth to lower the PH to a health promoting level. The leaching of the calcium from bone is a leading cause of osteoporosis. I do not consume dairy products and do not recommend them. There are healthy dairy alternatives to choose from.
11. Get plenty of water every day, 80 ounces over 24 hours. Hydration is very important to health and aids in the removal of toxins and from the body. Water is required in every metabolic activity. If you are ill, exercise intensely or sweat profusely you will need more water.  A good rule of thumb is 1/2 ounce of water per pound of body weight.
12. Supplement your diet with a good whole food supplement that addresses the seven key areas of nutrition required for vibrant health. (ask for our suggestions)
13. Move more every day. Exercise is very important in delivering the nutrients we consume to every cell  in our body and primes the lymph system pumping toxins out of our bodies. In addition exercise increases our metabolic rate helping to burn more calories (weight-loss) and will increase our bodies’ efficiency in using utilizing oxygen, increasing our overall fitness level.  To lose weight and build health we need to have a minimum of 60 minutes of moderate exercise 5 days per week.
14. Get a minimum of 20 minutes of fresh air and sunshine daily.
15. If you smoke, quit.
16. Avoid or cut caffeinated and alcoholic beverages from your diet. If you must drink limit them to no more than one alcoholic beverage per day for females and 2 for males.  Other than red wine there is not enough nutritional value in alcoholic beverages to include them in your diet. They actually rob your body of nutrients.  I do not recommend alcoholic beverages.

Healthy Wishes,

Wally Bishop C.N.C.

Nutritionist

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