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Tag: Alternative Medicine - Organic Lifestyle Magazine Tag: Alternative Medicine - Organic Lifestyle Magazine

Beat Seasonal Allergies Naturally

Seasonal allergies, often called hay fever, are symptoms that occur during specific times of the year.  Symptoms usually occurs at times when outdoor molds release their spores or when plants release tiny pollen particles into the air to fertilize other plants.  Allergies are an indication of a malcoordinated immune system.  Natural strategies cn be used to beat seasonal allergies once and for all.

In the mid-Atlantic states, tree pollination occurs between February and May, grass pollination occurs in May through June, and weeds pollinate from August through October.  Mold spores usually increase between mid-summer and fall.  Stronger symptoms during one of these periods helps to identify the particular allergy.

Malcoordinated Immunity

Allergies occur when the immune system is uncoordinated.  This can occur from some major bodily stressor that interferes with the natural maturity and function of the immune system.  Due to environmental challenges early in life, many individuals never develop a normal immune response and are prone to allergic reactions throughout their life.  Others encounter some sort of an immune insult during the course of their life that throws their immune system out of control

The most common immune insults include physical trauma that damages the upper cervical spine.  This form of trauma could include a slip or fall, a car accident, bad sleeping habits, or poor posture.  This leads to an upper cervical (neck) subluxation that puts pressure on the brain stem.  Upper cervical subluxations lead to badly coordinated immunity and allergic reactions in many individuals.

Family Strategies to Reduce Risk of Allergies

There are some great strategies a family could take to ensure that children will not develop allergies.  Before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and during lactation moms should optimize their vitamin D3 levels to 60-100 ng/ml.  They should also boost their microbial friends by eating raw fruits and vegetables and fermented foods and by taking probiotic supplements.  They should stabilize their omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acid ratios by eating grass-fed meats and wild-caught fish and purified fish oil supplements.  SAnd, of course, they should completely avoid processed foods and foods cooked with inferior vegetable oils.

The newborn baby should be exclusively breast fed for at least the first 6 months and ideally the first 12-18 months.  Mother’s milk provides valuable immunoglobins early in life that play an enormous role in supporting the infant’s immune system as it matures.  Mother’s milk is also a rich source of medium chain saturated fats such as lauric acid that help feed and strengthen immune cells.  Mother’s milk provides IgA and probiotics which inoculate the baby’s gut and give it a defense against dangerous intestinal microbes that can cause damage to the gut lining.

Vaccinated Children and Allergies

Vaccinated children are much more susceptible to allergies.  In fact, a 2010 study found that 40% of vaccinated children reported to have at least one allergy, whereas less than 10% of children who were not vaccinated reported an allergy.  The same study showed that almost 11% of vaccinated children have seasonal allergies whereas only 2.5% of non-vaccinated children have this condition.

Beating allergies includes an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle.  This is done by rebuilding the intestinal wall with probiotics and fermented foods.  De-inflaming the body also involves avoiding inflammatory foods and consuming whole foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids and anti-oxidants.  Finally, optimizing vitamin D levels and drinking ample amounts of purified water is very important.

Chiropractic Care for Optimal Immunity:

Chiropractic care to remove upper cervical subluxations and restore proper structural and neurological function to the spine and nervous system is especially critical.  This includes very specific adjustment applied to release pressure on the brain stem region and specific exercises to maintain this correction and improve postural abnormalities.

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The SuperFood Power of Goji Berries

Foods that have an incredible array of health benefits that go well beyond just their nutrient value are considered superfoods.  These foods are typically loaded with a combination of critical fatty acids, anti-oxidant phytonutrients, and essential amino acids. Goji berries contain an extraordinary amount of unique nutrients and anti-oxidants , which give them amazing power as a superfood in our diets.

Goji berries are classically grown from an evergreen shrub found in China, Mongolia, and in the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet.  Goji berries are also called wolfberries in many of these countries.  These berries are a member of the Solanaceae family of plants that is also called nightshade veggies.  The relatives include tomato, potato, peppers, eggplant, tomatillo, and tobacco.

Goji Berries are Loaded with Nutrition

Goji berries contain all 18 amino acids as well as mega doses of vitamin A (beta carotene), B1, B2, B6, and vitamin E.  Goji berries also contain more vitamin C by weight than any other food on Earth.  They also contain more iron than spinach as well as 21 other key trace minerals.  Goji’s are extremely rich in the unique phytonutrient anti-oxidants lutein and zeaxanthin ,which are some of the most important nutrients for healthy eyes and a healthy nervous system.

Goji berries are also rich in unique compounds known as Lycium barbarum polysaccharides.  These nutrients have been shown to enhance immunity and have a similar chemical structure to immune stimulating compounds within maitake mushrooms and Echinacea.   These polysaccharides provide immune cells with special sugars that enable them to communicate more effectively.

Key Polysaccarides Enhance Immunity

These polysaccharides are also one of the preferred fuel sources of good intestinal bacteria, bacteria which also helps to orchestrate a healthy immune response . By supporting the immune cells and probiotic cells with their preferred fuel, these polysaccharides present in goji berries modulate immunity and reduce inflammation.   Famous author and pharmacist Earl Mindell believes that these polysaccharides are master molecules because of their influence on many of the body’s biochemical defense systems.

These polysaccharides are very effective at enhancing detoxification within the body.  They aid in the removal of metabolic waste products such as lactic acid that accumulates in muscles during exertion.  They also support the liver and protect it from damage that may occur during intense periods of exercise.

In Asia, goji berries have been used as a cultural medicinal for inflammatory based disorders such as asthma, allergies, chronic pain, and cancer.  The polysaccharides also show promise in blunting auto-immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Crohn’s disease.

Goji Berries Stimulate HGH

Goji berries are also a rich source of sesquiterpenoids which help to stimulate human growth hormone secretion by the pituitary gland.  This is the only known food source that is known to stimulate HGH.  Additionally, goji berries contain L-arginine and L-glutamine along with potassium.  These nutrients further promote growth hormone production.

These key nutrients synergize to have a very powerful effect on the key endocrine glands such as the adrenals, thymus, thyroid, and pituitary.  Goji berries can be classified as an adaptogenic aid in that they enhance the body’s ability to successfully adapt to stress.  This unique array of supernutrients make goji berries one of the world’s premier foods for optimal performance and longevity.

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Fibromyalgia – Natural Remedies

Fibromyalgia is a chronic inflammatory condition consisting of muscular and joint pain and fatigue.  Three to five percent of the population suffers with this condition; more than eighty percent are women.  This is one of the fastest growing disabling conditions in the US. You can beat Fibromyalgia with natural lifestyle strategies.

Fibromyalgia is classically diagnosed with positive reaction to 11 of 18 specific tender point sites on the body.  Other classic findings include chronic fatigue, sleep challenges, normal blood tests, and a history of widespread pain, particularly in the neck and back. It is believed to be a chronic inflammatory condition of the muscle fascia.

Chronic inflammation is a sign of a mal-coordinated hyper responsive immune system.  In order to modulate and stabilize the immune response, it is critical to avoid inflammatory foods and food allergens, repair the gut, optimize vitamin D3 levels, and improve neurological connections.

Chronic Inflammation and Leaky Gut Syndrome

Most individuals with chronic inflammatory based pain have a leaky gut that allows large food particles to pass thru easily and end up in the bloodstream.  These undigested food particles are tagged as foreign invaders by the immune system.  The immune cells then create a massive inflammatory reaction to destroy the food particle.  This results in varying levels of insensitivity and allergenic reactions that damage many systems of the body.

The most common food allergens to avoid include all processed foods, artificial sweeteners/preservatives and foods containing gluten.   Soy, peanuts (and often other nuts), pasteurized dairy, eggs. and other heavy proteins are often not tolerated well.  The nightshade vegetables, eggplant, potatoes and tomatoes are often challenging as well.

Anti-Inflammatory Diet & Lifestyle

Anti-inflammatory foods help to modulate the immune system and reduce inflammatory activity in the body.  Great anti-inflammatory foods include coconut products, avocados, olive oil, berries and phytonutrient rich vegetables.  Healthy meat sources such as grass-fed beef, wild game, wild salmon, organic poultry, and organic eggs are great if the gut can tolerate them.

Fermented Foods are Key to Rebuild the Gut

It is advisable for anyone with chronic inflammation to include loads of organic vegetable juices, fermented foods, and functional beverages in their diet.   Homemade sauerkraut, kombucha, coconut water kefir, and kimchi are great.  Fermented dairy products from grass-fed cows and goats are highly advisable.  These include amasai, fermented whey drinks, and raw cheese.  Often a probiotic supplement with a bio-diverse range of cultures and over 50 billion colony forming units is advisable.

Non-denatured whey protein from grass-fed cows is also very good for rebuilding the gut.  Whey is loaded with L-glutamine and enhances cellular glutathione stores which are both needed to repair the intestinal wall and de-inflame the body.  Powerful herbs such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, onion, rosemary, thyme, cinnamon, and oregano should be used as much as possible to improve immune coordination.

Healthy Vitamin D3 Levels and Specific Chiropractic Care

Healthy vitamin D3 levels are especially important for aiding the body’s ability to recognize foreign and self-proteins.  This improved immune recognition reduces inflammation and auto-immune reactions.  Vitamin D also helps drive immune cells to destroy pathogenic microbes and prevent and destroy infection.  Chronic infection results in hyper-inflammatory levels in the body.  Vitamin D3 (25-OH) levels should be between 70-100ng/ml for optimal immune function.

People with fibromyalgia, chronic pain, and  fatigue are highly likely to have neurological dysfunction in their upper neck.  Subluxation, or neurological interference, at the bottom of the skull, C1 and C2 alter endorphin release into the body.  This leads to increased states of pain, fatigue, anxiety, and accelerated stress as well as mal-coordinated immunity.  Well trained chiropractors can analyze these regions of the spine and give specific corrective adjustments to restore balance and optimal neurological expression in these regions.

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Beat Eczema Naturally

Eczema is known as a chronic dermatological condition that is characterized by skin rashes, dryness, crusting, and flaking skin.  Research indicates that eczema is caused by chronic inflammation that affects the skin cells and causes scarring.  Natural lifestyle strategies allow the body to “de-inflame” and beat eczema.

Chronic inflammatory disorders such as eczema are characterized by a hyper responsive immune system.  The signs of eczema should warn the individual that inflammatory destruction is taking place within the body as well and must be addressed to prevent further sickness and disease.  Overcoming this abnormal immune control begins by rebuilding the intestinal wall, avoiding inflammatory triggers, increasing anti-inflammatory compounds, and optimizing vitamin D3 levels.

Immune Dysfunction and Eczema

Individuals with eczema have an overpopulation of pathogenic organisms in the gut that are damaging the intestinal wall and allowing food particles to pass into the bloodstream.  These undigested food particles are tagged as foreign invaders by the immune system.  When the immune system encounters these food particles in the bloodstream, it unleashes a massive inflammatory assault that causes a systemic allergenic response.

The most common food allergens include gluten, corn, soy products, artificial flavors, preservatives, starches, peanuts, eggs, and pasteurized dairy. Any processed or genetically modified food product would be considered highly allergenic.

Rebuild the Gut

Rebuilding the gut is absolutely essential to fully ward off eczema and chronic inflammatory disease the natural way.  High quality fermented foods are powerful weapons to use to reinstate a natural order within the gut.  These foods include sauerkraut, kimchi, fermented veggies, fermented fruit, apple cider vinegar, kombucha and coconut kefir.  Fermented, raw dairy from 100% grass-fed animals is especially useful in the form of amasai, kefir, whey, and cheese.

All of these fermented foods provide high powered enzymes, probiotics, and key amino acids that help to destroy the pathogenic microorganisms and repair the lining of the gut to prevent food particles from jumping across.  Intermediate fasting is especially beneficial during the healing phases and beyond.  Fasting from solid foods for periods of 16-18 hours each day can help the body store enzymes and repair the gut faster.

Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition Plan

The daily diet should focus on anti-inflammatory superfoods to help modulate the immune system so it will not over-inflame when stimulated.  This means restricting all man-made foods, sugars, and food allergens.  Loading up on anti-oxidant rich vegetables and using healthy fat sources such as avocados, extra virgin olive oil, 100% grass-fed red meat and raw dairy, wild-caught salmon, and organic eggs are fantastic foods to calm the immune system.

Other great foods for “de-inflaming” the body include coconut products, berries, and non-denatured grass-fed cows and goats.  This form of protein enhances cellular glutathione stores which protect the DNA within the cell and play an important role in coordinating immunity.  Superfood herbs like turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, oregano, rosemary, thyme, ginger, basil, and boswellia should be used as much as possible.  A combination of coconut oil and essential oil of peppermint is also very helpful as an ointment to put onto skin rashes and eczema.

Optimize Vitamin D3 Levels

Vitamin D3 is especially important for anyone with eczema or other chronic inflammatory conditions.  UV light therapy has been shown to be very helpful for individuals with eczema as well as sun-bathing for short periods of time.  Both of these techniques help to raise circulating vitamin D3 levels.

Optimal Vitamin D3 should be between 70-100 ng/ml, which is significantly higher than the medically acceptable level of 32 ng/ml.  Spend 20-30 minutes in the sun each day or supplement with 10,000 IU of a high quality emulsified vitamin D3 for a period of time to reach the desired level.

Editor’s Note

Skin issues are so often caused by Candida. And Candida is killed faster with Thorne SF722 than anything I know. Check out Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections. 

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The Amazing Health Benefits of Holy Basil

Holy Basil or Tulsi is one of the most powerful herbs alive.  The name “Tulsi” means “The Incomparable One” because of its unique health benefits.  The herb was a staple of Hindu mythology and considered sacred by the Indian royalty.  Modern science has shown that this distinctive herb is incredibly good for balancing the mind, body, and spirit.

Holy basil, a variety of Ocimum basilicum (basil), is a small shrub with scented leaves that is a part of the mint or Labiatae family.  It grows wildly throughout south Asia where the natives in these areas have been using it for centuries.  It is known to help the bodily systems adapt, balance, and increase resilience.

The Adaptogenic SuperStar!

Holy basil is known in natural medicine as an adaptogenic herb in that it helps the body better adapt to stress.  Adaptogenic herbs don’t affect an individual’s mood, but they help the body function at its optimal level during times of stress.  They do this by modulating the production of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

Chronic, low-grade stress is a modern day epidemic that creates sluggish metabolism, chronic inflammation, and abnormal immunity.  High cortisol creates digestive problems and leaky gut syndrome, increased appetite, weight gain, thyroid disorders, and accelerated brain degeneration.  This is commonly found in the brains of those with anxiety disorders, depression, and other physchological disorders.  Many auto-immune conditions also link to chronically elevated stress hormone production as a catalyst for abnormal immune response.

Stabilize Cortisol Levels

One of the key components that adaptogenic herbs offer is their ability to lower and stabilize cortisol levels.  High cortisol drains the precursers to major hormones such as testosterone, progesterone and estrogen.  With less than adequate raw materials, the body becomes sex hormone deficient.  This process rapidly accelerates the aging process and makes an individual’s life miserable.

Healthy individuals have stable cortisol levels that naturally spike in the morning and then level off and stay consistently low during the day before tapering at night.  This allows us to wake up with energy in the morning and maintain that energy until nightfall when we should naturally be gearing down and getting ready for sleep.  Stable cortisol levels result in improved mental clarity and memory.  The individual feels as though they are less agitated and anxious and therefore able to perform better and have higher quality of life.

Holy Basil Contains Powerful Anti-Oxidants

Holy Basil is rich in aromatic essential oils that have powerful effects on the body.  These phytonutrient rich oils include ursolic acid, rosmarinic acid, caryophyllene, and eugenol, among others.  These oils have a great smell that naturally boosts mood and spirit.  Eugenol has been shown in studies to combat stress and enhance mental clarity.

Holy Basil acts to modulate stress levels and blood sugar levels by stabilizing cortisol and insulin.   A study out of the Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry indicated that holy basil may reverse some of the damaging effects of diabetes like neuropathy and retinopathy.

Holy Basil contains vitamin C, vitamin A, and essential oils, which are all anti-oxidants that scavenge free radicals in the body, improving cellular integrity, blood flow, and genetic expression.   It is particularly good for cardiovascular health and brain function, as it helps protect against heart disease and brain degeneration.

Holy Basil Helps the Immune Coordination

Holy basil helps to strengthen the body’s immune system, helping it to fight off opportunistic parasites such as Candida, viruses, and MRSA staph infections.   As an adaptogen, it is able to modulate the immune system by turning it up higher when it is necessary to fight a toxic invader.  It also has the ability to quiet down the immune system to reduce unnecessary inflammation.

The strength and coordination of the immune system plays a very important role in preventing and destroying cancer cell growth.  A 2007 study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food described holy basil’s ability to combat the development of cancer. The herb significantly reduced the formation of cancerous micronuclei, while increasing antioxidant levels and healthy enzyme activity.

Breakthrough Technology for Herbal Botanicals

My favorite way to consume Holy Basil is in its fermented form, from Beyond Organic Terrain liquid herbals.  These unique products unlock the full nutritional potential of the Holy Basil by putting it through an intense 3-month fermentation process. The Sacred Herbs Terrain combines the extraordinary adptogenic benefits of fermented holy basil with the incredible anti-inflammatory and cancer killing properties of turmeric.

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Healing Barriers – Top 5

Bring up the subject of being able to heal yourself and you often will get looked at like you are either clinically insane or have just been dropped off by Alf. People are not yet ready to believe that the body is indeed capable of healing itself, which shows a complete lack of gratitude for the infinite intelligence it contains and the daily actions it completes for us. You know, the heart beating, lungs breathing, organs functioning, muscles twitching, neurotransmitters firing…all those things we don’t need to know how to do because our body takes care of it. So how can the body complete all these tasks, but not be able to heal itself? The answer lies between your ears, and it’s time for some rewiring. To be clear, I’m referring to your beliefs. The things that guide your actions, bring about your reality, and are backed up by your opinions. Sometimes we need to question our beliefs, in order to grow and expand. This is an opportunity to do just that.

#1 – Belief You Are Healthy (when you are not)

As long are you have the belief that you are already healthy, you will NEVER be able to heal.

Since definitions will vary, for the sake of this article, let’s assume that healthy is a body free of any disease or discord. Disease includes chronic lack of energy, sleep, aches, pains, headaches, digestion issues, skin issues, libido problems, and nagging coughs, colds, flu’s, sore throats, and general stomach upset. Unfortunately, this eliminates 97% of the population.

Even if you have managed to stop the disease process, and have eliminated toxins from your diet and are eating clean and healthy food, you still have to uproot the deep seated challenges that are holding you back from true health. Otherwise, your body is still circulating contaminants often rooted in your digestive system through blood circulation that ends up infecting your organs, muscles, tissues, and bones on a daily basis.

In other words, you may have cleaned up your engine and are using premium fuel, but as long as really old, dirty oil keeps circulating through it, your vehicles performance will always be compromised.

I have seen many people claim that they are healthy, but their actions, body signals, and general appearance often say the opposite. This is not to say that these people are not doing a great job of currently feeding their system and that they are very passionate about their health (which I applaud), But if we do truly want to be healthy we need to look in the mirror and be straight with ourselves (and not stress out about it) and evaluate our true level of health.

Once we have done this, and we realize that we are indeed not as healthy as we would like, then the door opens and allows the right information to flow in as the body anxiously awaits for you to feed it the potent nutrition and right mindset to uproot your deeply seated challenges.

Until that moment, you will put a block on any healing process.

#2 – Belief in the Conventional Medical System

Another major stumbling block to healing is the belief that the answers lie within the conventional wisdom of doctors, scientists, and pharmaceutical companies.

The painful truth, which is self evident by the state of people’s health, is that they have done a poor job of increasing people’s vitality and removing the root cause of any disease process already present in the body. What they have done a good job of is diagnosing, labelling, enslaving, and managing people’s symptoms which creates lifelong customers, but unhappy ones at best.

Only in a system where you feel you have no other choice would people keep coming back to it. This is the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

The stark reality of our current system is that it is a sickcare system, not a healthcare system. It does not promote healing…it promotes hiding, managing, and applying bloody bandages on a day-to-day basis to the sores that do not get better.

The conventional medical system is good at critical care and life threatening situations. It’s terrible at promoting quality of life and a healthy lifestyle.

So if you still believe in the conventional medical system in that it can create a reasonable quality of life and have largely shunned all other possibilities, you have created a permanent barrier to healing.

#3 – Belief in the Industrialized Food System

Swine FarmOur food system is not what it was 50 years ago, and if you believe you can heal yourself through it, you are in for a rude awakening.

The current mode of production and distribution has helped eliminate a large amount of nutrients in our food, and to add insult to injury, has laced them with toxic chemicals to leave them a fraction of the nutrient value that they would be coming from your own garden, or someone else’s who has made it a priority to produce clean food in gently tilled, nutrient rich soils.

Perhaps you need a refresher on how our food is produced, why it is harming you, and can rarely if ever heal you. This article is a great start.

The industrialized food system will provide some sustenance and nutrients for your body, but it can’t reverse any damage incurred over your lifetime. To do that, you require potent nutrition and supplementation so the body is given the power to heal itself.

As long as you believe that the current food system is good enough to help you become truly healthy, you will always have a barrier to healing.

#4 – Disbelief Your Body Can Be Healed

I understand, everyone’s situation is different. You have tried everything and nothing works. You’ve lost hope or have completely blocked the idea that your body is capable of becoming healthy again. Don’t continue tell your mind or body that. That is counterproductive.

Realizing that all situations are more acute than others, I can boldly say that healing is always possible. Now, this doesn’t mean it won’t be extremely difficult for some of you, and it doesn’t mean that the answers and protocols are easy to find, but I can say that whatever the body creates, it can eliminate.

I empathize with those who have found themselves in precarious situations. It’s not enjoyable, nor is it easy. I know this from personal experience…having gone through debilitating pain, doctors visits, and prescriptions that solved nothing.

However, the one thing they couldn’t take away from me was my faith. I believed that the answers were somewhere and that I just needed to keep moving forward until my persistence paid off and I found them. Fortunately, I did find these answers and put them in place over a period of 8 years, until I managed to give my body what it needed to completely heal itself (and the reason why I can now help others do it in a mere fraction of the time).

So if you don’t believe you can be healed, you are sure to not find the answers to true healing.

#5 – Disbelief You Can Find Someone Who Can Help Your Body Heal

If you do overcome the disbelief that your body can heal itself, then you need to overcome what is often the biggest trap of all, the belief you cannot find someone who can help your body heal.

Now, no one should describe themselves as a healer. The only thing that can take credit for healing is the body. It in the only thing that has the infinite intelligence required to govern effective healing, and actually put the processes into action that will ultimately lead to real healing.

A healer should be thought of more as a broker or facilitator. They recommend or provide the tools, the advice, and in some cases broker the kind of energy required for the body to overcome its disease through direct contact. Regardless of the method, they understand how to ‘translate’ the body’s signals and provide the things it requires to take care of itself.

However, if you are inherently skeptical about finding this type of person, one will never come into your midst, as you have created a monumental barrier to your own healing.

Your Beliefs Are Most important

Sure, there are plenty of other barriers to healing, like improper food and supplementation choices, doing things at the wrong time and in the wrong order, and ingesting toxic ingredients. However, the most debilitating barrier is a closed mind, because it leads to nothing but closed doors. This will never lead to an opportunity to heal the body.

Don’t make the mistaken assumption your body is not intelligent enough to heal itself. It could be the most costly mistake you ever make.




How To Be Healthy

A Complete, Step-By-Step Guide to Restoring Your Health and/or Staying Healthy

It’s simple. But in today’s world, it certainly isn’t easy. The hardest part about being healthy is learning how simple it can be. Simplifying one’s life can be very complicated.

Start Listening

Listen to your body. When you eat crap food there is an itch in your throat. That’s infection feeding off of the sugars and the damaged cells caused by one soda or one cookie. Headaches, skin itching, brain fogginess, fatigue, and aches and pains can usually be traced back to something you ate. If you are not yet in tune with your body, pay attention.

Don’t take painkillers. They make it too easy to continue the poor behavior. Healthy people, the truly healthy ones, deal with a headache naturally. They ask themselves what they did to get this headache so they don’t get it again, and they use natural means to remedy the pain. They don’t cover it up, causing other problems in the long run.

Accept the Fact That Your Health Is Up to You

Learn the absolute truth that your health is your responsibility and totally in your hands. A doctor cannot make you healthy. Neither can this article. Your health is totally and completely dependent upon your actions. There are very few people reading this article who don’t have the choice to be healthy. Most people think that their sickness is out of their control–a hand dealt by fate, bad genes, etc. This is so rarely true. Every single ailment has a natural cure. An absolute cure. And none of them work well without a very healthy diet as the foundation of one’s lifestyle.

And the truth is that a healthy diet cures most problems by itself. But there are those who are so sick, so toxic, that they need targeted nutrition.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Forget the magic pill. Almost everyone who comes to me asking what they can do to be well is looking for a shortcut. They’re looking for a few natural “tricks” that will allow them to keep smoking, or drinking soda, or eating fast food. And I know them. I know tons of them. And they work – for a little while. You can take an Advil for a headache, or you can take enough high quality Boswallia, but being healthy means avoiding behaviors that cause headaches and not blaming them on stress and/or genetics. When the body is healthy, I mean really healthy, it is amazing how well it can handle stress, allergens, and even environmental toxins without negative physical reactions.

Genetics are a predisposition. If your father died of a heart attack at 50 years old, that does not mean that you have to die at 50. It simply may mean that if you don’t take care of yourself your heart may be one of the first organs to go. That’s how genetics work.

It’s a hard truth for most to accept. It’s hard because it takes away the excuses and makes it much more difficult to live life in the conventional way, the way most have been raised believing is “normal.”

How To Eat Healthy

Cut Out All the Crap. No soda, coffee, smoking (anything), drugs (over the counter and prescription), alcohol, pre-packaged processed foods, fast foods, microwaving, and restaurants.

That last one is tough, I know. And that includes restaurants that claim to be healthy. They aren’t. Of the 65 restaurants I know of that claim to be healthy, two of them are. Even the healthiest options from the other 63 are prepared by cutting corners that render the food much less beneficial than if it was prepared by you at home. I do eat out. But I don’t do it often, and I know how to order healthy when I do. And every now and then I splurge. But I spent a lot of time eating perfectly, detoxifying, and learning to listen to my body. I also worked in a few restaurants that were supposed to be healthy, and know what to avoid. For the purposes of this article, it’s better to just give up restaurants for a month at least. If you want to be truly healthy, it’s time to prepare your own food. It’s time to learn raw food recipes. It’s time to cook with quinoa and brown rice. No more refined foods. Almost everything should be unadulterated. The few exceptions are certain foods that can or should be fermented, but that’s another article.

Recommended: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

No More Drugs

Smoking marijuana is not healthy. It’s got a ton of benefits, and there are way worse things you can do to your body that are totally legal. But smoking, smoking anything, introduces tons of carbon and free radicals into your body. And if the marijuana isn’t the pure high quality stuff, who knows what else you’re burning into your lungs. There are better ways to get all of the benefits that marijuana can provide.

As written above, no more over the counter medication. It’s not a small thing. One aspirin is not inconsequential. It does damage. I have yet to see anything at all healthy that is sold at a pharmacy, believe it or not. Everything in there is toxic! That is, unless you know of one that sells some organic produce. I haven’t found that drug store yet. Give up cough medicine, throat lozenges, and antacids; nothing you would buy at pharmacy is good for you or your health.

There is a catch that I am well aware of–birth control. Other than condoms, birth control is absolutely terrible for you. Pills, shots, IUDs, they are all absolutely terrible for your health and I have yet to find a natural birth control that works. I recommend condoms and/or spermicide. But I do understand that sometimes those aren’t the best options and we all have to figure out what works best for us. But I do not know of a way artificial hormones can be healthy. And IUDs have serious problems associated with them as well.

Another tough problem to deal with is the prescription drugs for serious issues such as mental illness or diabetes, or other conditions with dangerous consequences if/when we quit taking them. In most cases there is a way off of them. But it’s a long road, and it takes time, patience, and diligence. And while I feel everyone should take health into his or her own hands, this is an exception. Most people on medications such as these should have guidance; someone should be watching and making sure things are going well.

It can be very tough to find a professional who knows enough about health and knows how, or has the desire, to get someone off drugs. If you suffer from a physical health issue, take things slowly. And consider getting help if possible. If it’s a mental condition, and it would be dangerous to be off the medication, I do believe there is a way to get off of the pharmaceuticals and be healthy, but it will take a lot of time and a lot of help, and a lot of discipline for the rest of your life. There are a few cases were I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to take this route. The risks are so high.

No More Processed Foods

I know a lot of vegans. I only know two who are healthy. The rest are junk food vegans.

I know a lot of health nuts. It’s my field; it’s my circle. And while many of them don’t want to hear this, I only know of a handful that are really, truly healthy. Most choose to be “healthier.”

Understanding the difference between healthy and healthier is imperative. Cliff Bars are healthier than a Snickers bar. The latest raw food spirulina bar sweetened with dates and apple juice is healthier than the cliff bar. But what’s healthy is raw whole dates and apples. I haven’t found a mass marketed food bar that is actually healthy. I’ve only seen healthier. The few that I have seen that I would consider to truly be healthy are made by very small companies and sold at smaller individually owned health food stores. And still, the other 19 out of 20 of those sold at these places would fall under the “healthier” category.

Prepare your own food. Take the time. Health is taking time for yourself and your family. Enjoy cooking or preparing raw foods from scratch with your family, instead of choosing a lifestyle that demands quick and cheap meals.

I can cook most meals as fast as other people can cook out of a box. It takes practice, lots of time and energy put towards learning the skill. But there is nothing more important to one’s health than preparing one’s own meals.

Drink

Don’t drink coffee. It’s acidic. It’s not good for you. The caffeine wreaks havoc on your thyroid. It causes a lot of other problems. Soda should come with a warning label as serious as a pack of cigarettes. Don’t touch the stuff. Diet soda is worse. Artificial sweeteners are an absolute no. Truvia is bad too. No soda. No flavored water. No store bought juice.

Limit the fruit juice even when it’s fresh and pressed. It’s still refined and processed because you are removing the fiber. Fruit juice, at its best, is still a concentrated refined sugar product. Green apples are an exception, and can be mixed with vegetables, but juice green apples, beets, and carrots sparingly because of the sugar content.

No alcohol. Humans weren’t meant to ingest alcohol. A glass of red wine has benefits, but those benefits can be had with better choices. Drink water. And make sure it is filtered and toxin free whenever possible. Don’t worry about drinking “enough” if you’re eating right. More on that in a moment.

Exercise

When someone tells me that they don’t have time to eat right or to exercise, I ask them if they ever watch television, and if they have a Facebook or a Twitter account, and if they ever go out drinking with their friends. People are so addicted to convenience and pleasure that it all ends up being very inconvenient. I try to remember that what is convenient today may have a high price to pay, and I also try not to confuse pleasure with happiness.

The truth is exercise pays you back with time in more ways than one. I’m not just talking about the idea that you live longer. And exercise alone does not necessarily help one to live longer when their diet is poor. Exercise for 20 minutes in the morning and once your body becomes accustomed to it you get back much more than 20 minutes in that day. You get that time with mental clarity and the ability to handle stress more effectively. We are more efficient, more productive, and see things in a more positive way when fitness is a part of our lifestyle.

And 20 minutes done right is all I believe anyone needs. I workout for longer than 20 minutes on most days, but the benefits of 20 minutes of very intense ass-kicking exercise are massive. And while one could argue that 30 minutes would be better, I find that on a busy day when I feel that my time is limited, 20 minutes offers me the best return on my investment. I am a firm believer in HIIT training. High Intensity Interval Training. Google it if you’re unfamiliar. I also do yoga, I ride bicycles, I weight lift, I do exercise that last for hours and I do very short and intense circuit training. I mix it up. There are different benefits to all. That said, for anyone short on time, nothing beats HIIT.

If there is no time or money for the gym, that’s fine, because the best exercises in the world are bodyweight exercise! From yoga to squats to sprints, the variety is endless. I believe that squats are the most important exercise anyone can do, and you don’t need weight. If you’re too out of shape to squat all the way down, try what I call “get ups.” You lay down and you stand up (alternating between what side you get up on each and every time is very important). When one ‘s health is too poor do “get ups” then sit down and get up as many times as possible from a seat. As soon as the soreness goes away, try for at least one more than you did before.

Be careful not to do it if you’re out of shape, especially for those with issues that affect muscles and joints like fibromyalgia. It is very easy to get very sore when you’re out of shape, and a toxic body takes so long to heal that a tough workout can be counterproductive.

And while this is one area that I do not heed my own advice with often enough, I recommend everyone take up yoga. An intense 20 minute exercise routine that builds endurance and strength is essential, but yoga is a close second. I don’t make enough time for it, but I will, as it improves one’s life immensely when practiced regularly.

Fast and Detoxify

You can fast without detoxifying. You can detox without fasting. And you can fast and detox while getting lots of nutrition, too. I recommend the latter. A calorie fast is a great way to reduce and eliminate the urge to eat junk food and to eat too much. It helps to reset the taste buds so that fresh raw produce tastes as it should. It can eliminate addictions. And when one is looking to lose weight, the initial results from a fast can help inspire those to start eating well afterwards. But it can also be the beginning of a rollercoaster ride. Coming off the fast gently and slowly with raw and healthy produce is the proper way to ease off. For a few choices on affordable fasting and detoxifying check out Fast and Easy Detox. You can also add a high quality nutrition supplement to the detox and insure you are getting plenty of nutrition. I am a fan of calorie fasting, but not nutrition fasting.

Get Educated

Read all about natural health. The key phrases for Google are: natural health, alternative health, natural remedies, home remedies, holistic health, and alternative medicine. I will warn you, like everything else, most of the information on these topics is crap. But almost all of the information is better than conventional medicine, and even most of the lousy information on natural healing has a higher success rate than conventional medicine, believe it or not. Seriously, the statistics on conventional medicine are scary!

It takes time to get educated. You get better and better at weeding out the B.S. It needs to become a hobby. Health and the knowledge of it should be one of everyone’s favorite hobbies. Doesn’t that make sense?

A lot of people who go through a traumatic health experience dabble in alternative medicine. Then they say, “I tried everything.” The truth in many of these cases is that the person tried 19 conventional medical treatments and one or two alternative medical treatments, none of which included patience and the most important aspect of holistic healing, a lifestyle change. True natural health takes time, patience, and discipline. But once you find it, that magical balance when you are totally in tune with your body, it’s easy and surprisingly simple.

If you’re looking for alternative medicine to compliment conventional treatments, I firmly believe you are wasting your time. As I’ve stated, the only alternative medicine that works in the long run includes a nutrient dense, toxin free (or as close to it as possible) diet, which cannot possibly be very effective if one is consuming the incredibly toxic substances that pharmaceutical companies call medicine.

Take Supplements

There are two reasons I recommend people take supplements. One is that our food, even the organic produce, is grown in depleted soil using conventional farming practices. We have spent a long time developing our agriculture practices to grow food that looks good and lasts a long time on the shelves, without a care for the nutrition content or taste of the produce (and the two usually go hand and hand). For this reason I recommend a nutritional supplement like Total Nutrition Formula. I like to make my own. This article shows you how to make your own Total Nutrition Formula. I also recommend vitamin D, a B vitamin complex (a whole and complete B vitamin complex), and Body Balance. You can also easily make Body Balance yourself, if you are so inclined.

Some people need more nutrition than others. For instance, when someone’s thyroid is weak, which is very common with our lifestyle, there are a lot of supplements to choose from based on their specific needs.

The other reason I recommend supplements is to eliminate parasites and fungi. If you’re familiar with Candida, you know that it’s yeast, a fungus, that when left unchecked causes series problems. And almost everyone you know living the modern conventional lifestyle can contribute every single one of his or her health conditions, at least to some degree, to Candida. Many different kinds of parasites also affect many people in many ways.

And what most people don’t know is that Candida can grow anywhere. Yeast infections are not just vaginal. Athletes foot, sore throats, ear infections. Most infections are actually in part, if not completely, caused by Candida.

How to Know If You Have Candida

If you are prone to any kind of fungal infection (including athletes foot), if your tongue is white, if you regularly drink alcohol (which turns into simple refined sugar in the bloodstream feeding all the bad bugs), and if you have taken antibiotics recently and not addressed Candida, you have Candida overgrowth.

Related: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Kill The Parasites

What do bacteria, virus, yeast, and parasites hate? Garlic, Oil of Oregano, Clove, and a healthy body. In addition, nothing is better at killing Candida than SF722.

Anyone who is getting started with natural health, and/or detoxifying, needs to take Oil of Oregano, a parasite cleaning supplement with clove, and SF722 for at least the first month. And most should continue with lots of garlic and SF722 thereon after if they are typically going to “cheat” and eat sweets every now and then. This is why I always have SF722 ready. I do “cheat” every now and then. You don’t have to always be perfect to be healthy, but most people have to be perfect for at least a month or two (in many cases more) before cheating doesn’t set them back as if they never cleaned up their diet in the first place.

The Most Important Supplement

Blood Detox. I believe everyone should take this. It’s one of the (if not, the) most powerful tinctures there is. Thick, sludgy, toxic blood comes with an unhealthy body. It contributes to all health issues. Thick and gross blood makes it harder to rid the body of any and all infection.

The Mindset

I think this is the hardest part. The healthy mindset sets apart those who are “healthier” and those who are truly healthy. People who will never get cancer, people who will never die in a nursing home, people who will have their cognitive abilities until the day they pass on, all understand that every aspect of our health in almost every single case is under our complete control.

Now comes the information that even most of my close friends who are health advocates will disagree with me on, but I know that the following is absolutely true. If you’re pregnant and have morning sickness, you’re not eating right. If you are nursing a baby who gets diaper rashes, you’re not eating right. If your nails break easily, you’re not eating right. If you have allergies, you’re not eating right. If you get headaches, you’re not eating right. If you have body odor and need to mask it with deodorant or perfumes, you’re not eating right. If you wake up in a fog, sore and achy, you are not eating right.  If you have ADHD or you are not sleeping well, chances are you are also not eating right. If you get cavities, you are not eating right. If you need any medication that is not for an emergency situation, you’re not eating right. The bottom line is, if you have health issues, you either are not eating right, or did not eat right for a significant period of time.

There are so few exceptions. Genetics is very rarely one of these exceptions. In almost every case, genetics are simply a predisposition, not a curse.

There are a very few people who try eating right but are so infected with Candida and various parasites that it seems as though there is nothing they can do to their diet to get healthy. That’s where the nutritional support listed above comes in.

A Truly Healthy Diet

The most important part of this whole article is the diet. Nothing else alone will get anyone to a healthy state, but for many, especially younger people, the right diet can be followed and everything else ignored to get one to a healthy physical condition.

Stop Feeding the Bad Guys – No Sugar, No other Crap

Candida makes everything worse. And it is fed by sugars, rancid fats, and damaged cells. It doesn’t take much! Even a little bit of sugar feeds it and keeps Candida thriving. It is hard to kill, and it comes back so easily. The reason Candida is so pervasive is that humans were not meant to eat refined sugar. This includes agave, fruit juice, sugar in the raw, and date powder. It’s all refined sugars (even “raw sugar” is a refined sugar). Even the seemingly healthiest health-nuts typically eat way too much sugar. This is the number one reason why so many of my health-food loving friends still have health issues. They cannot get away from sugar.

Bacteria, viruses, fungus, molds, and all manner of parasites love sugar and decaying cells. If you eat crap with sugar you feed these infectious organisms. If you eat crap food without sugar you damage your own cells, which feeds these organisms.

These organisms are not inherently bad. We need them. Our bodies and our planet need scavengers to take out the garbage. The trick is not to eat garbage causing our body’s cells to become garbage.

Avoid These Foods

Soy, pasteurized foods, homogenized foods, foods from conventional farms, prepared packaged snack foods, microwaveable foods, “ready-to-eat” foods besides fruits and vegetables, and foods in the health food section (because the real health food section is the produce section).

Also avoid MSG, GMOs, and anything refined that we wouldn’t normally eat wild in nature. I do make an exception for oils, not for health, but for taste. I use a very little bit in my salads and some of my cooking. I cook with high temperature oils, so I don’t eat spoiled rancid fats. I also get plenty of healthy fats from my diet. At times, when money is tight, and/or good produce is scarce, I do take a fat supplement. UDO’s Oil with DHA is my personal favorite. I also like the Nordic Naturals, Thorne, and Carlson brands for their commitment to quality.

If you choose to take a fat supplement, make sure it smells right. It should not smell rancid or fishy.

What to Buy

My diet, in order of what I eat most of to least of, when I can afford it is: fresh raw vegetables, fresh raw fruit, cooked vegetables, brown rice, various beans, quinoa, oatmeal, eggs, and fresh herbs and spices. With very few exceptions, this is my diet. The main difference between when I have a better income and when money is tight is that rice and beans move closer to the top of the list.

I don’t shop at Wal-Mart. I have in the past, but not anymore. There are plenty of great reasons to boycott Wal-Mart, but the point I am making here is their food is awful. I shopped there for groceries a long time ago before I knew better, and a few times since to prove a point. The produce is absolutely tasteless. There are few exceptions that come and go. For the most part, the produce at Wal-Mart is bland and nutritionally void.

Unfortunately, most grocery stores aren’t much better. A little, but not much. Find your local farmer’s markets. Buy produce at a supermarket as a last resort. And buy organic whenever possible, but don’t let that stop you from eating fresh raw produce as often as you can. The exception here is genetically modified foods. Read about GMOs here. Avoid them at almost any cost.

What’s better than buying food, if at all possible, is to grow your own food. It takes time to master the art. It’s not a quick and easy solution. It will likely take a few seasons to get things right, and most people who do grow much of their own food cannot grow everything they need to sustain a healthy diet with enough variety to get all of their nutritional needs meet. Though I do know a few people who forage with great success, but that’s another topic for another article.

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Meat

If you do not want to be a vegetarian or a vegan, choose your meat carefully. Make sure it’s sourced from humane farms for ethical reasons and for good health. Chickens should be pasture raised and allowed to eat all kinds of bugs, grasses, and weeds. Cows should be free range too, grazing on grasses all day long. Healthy meat, from a healthy animal, cooked in a healthy manner, is not bad for you, contrary to what most vegans will tell you. But overcooked meat, meat that is cooked on too high a temperature, meat smothered in MSG and other toxic ingredients, and meat from unhealthy animals feed unhealthy unnatural diets is what most people eat. And that is how meat causes cancer.

How to Prepare Healthy Food

If you think my diet is bland, think again. I eat very well. People love my food. It’s really very good. And I am still learning. It’s fun. It takes time, but you get fast and you get good. I can make the most amazing rice and beans in a pressure cooker in 20 minutes. I do have to soak the beans first, and there is about 5 minutes of prep time chopping the onions and mincing the garlic, etc., but once the beans are cooking, I’m able to clean up the mess I made and relax well before it’s finished.

Make salads. Not your typical salads, but salads with lots of variety. My type of salads typically consist of spinach, arugula, collard greens, spring mix, shredded leeks, red onions, red cabbage, red bell pepper, rainbow chard, beet greens, grated beet root, graded carrots, grated zucchini, cucumbers, cilantro, pomegranate seeds, raisins, dried unsweetened cranberries, sesame seeds, and ground papaya seeds. A large salad with a wide variety of vegetables is the most important meal of every single day!

I mix it up. Sometimes I have other vegetables in there. Sometimes I shred an apple and throw it in. My dressing is a balsamic vinaigrette. For the recipe check out my article 80% Raw Food Diet.

You will find that when the bulk of your diet is made up of fresh raw produce, you don’t necessarily need to drink a lot of water. You get it from the produce. And your body will do a much better job than it used to of letting you know when you are thirsty.

When cooking foods, it is important to understand Advanced Glycated End Products. Don’t overcook your meat as this binds the proteins. Rare beef is not dangerous when it’s from a healthy cow.

I also love sprouts! They are super easy to make at home. Check out Five Reasons to Sprout.

Soaking and Sprouting

To be on the safe side, soak all dried beans for 24 hours. Soak all raw nuts for 24 hours as well, and then dry them before eating for taste if you want the familiar crunch. Don’t eat more than a handful of nuts a day except on special occasions. It is common for raw food enthusiasts to eat nuts with every meal. They make cashew cheeses and almond butters. Once you get the hang of these recipes, what you can make is simply incredible. But most raw food advocates eat too many nuts and I believe this is the most common cause of health issues for people who eat mostly or entirely raw. Raw junk food is much healthier than regular junk food, but it is still junk food.

Veganism

I wish everyone would eat vegan. I love animals. But I do not believe that meat is inherently bad for us. And I do know that most vegans are no more healthy (or only slightly healthier) than meat eaters. Junk food vegans, junk food vegetarians, and junk food health-nuts are people who eat prepackaged processed foods of the healthier variety. This isn’t healthy. At best, it’s healthier.

If you do choose to go vegan or vegetarian, you really don’t need nearly as much protein as we have been led to believe. And the protein you do need does not have to come from meat. There are plenty of all natural vegan bodybuilders. And a good protein supplement for those who do need more protein is the Nutrition Formula I also recommend as a multivitamin/mineral.

Get Enough Sleep

This can be very difficult to do when one’s health is poor. But the body needs to regenerate or else lots of health problems will remain and damaged cells feed the bad bugs. For more on sleep check out Ask OLM, Pure Sleep, and 10 Things You Can Do to Have More Energy. We have many articles.

No Shots

Vaccines and other shots are toxic. No matter how useful you think immunization are (and the reason they are crap is beyond the scope of hits article) they put toxic chemical preservatives in every single one of them. You cannot be as healthy as possible with that toxic crap in your system.

My Diet and Lifestyle

It’s simple. Eat like we would eat in nature’s most optimal conditions. If we were the very best, very fastest, very smartest humans before technology and alcohol were discovered, in the healthiest most abundant environment, how would we eat?

But like everyone else, I have my demons. I don’t eat perfectly. There are a few people I know who are healthier than I am. But only a few. And only two of all of the many doctors I know are healthier than I am. I find that when you focus your energy on healing other people all the time, it’s too easy to let your own health become secondary.

I rarely get enough sleep. This is my biggest issue. I spend much of my time trying to help people and trying to make the world a better place in the ways I believe I can, while giving my family as much of my time as possible. It’s a balancing act I am still getting the hang of. I know it’s difficult, balancing one’s life.

But our child is healthy. He’s progressing very quickly, without a single health issue or a cold or anything. At 7 months old he has not had one single health problem besides an occasional diaper rash when his mom’s diet has a little too much sugar (due to smoothies at work with sweetened almond milk or apple juice). Gabriel doesn’t get sick, I don’t get sick, and neither does his mother. We both wake up with energy and clarity. We can focus almost all day, every day. We are vibrant and full of energy. And we ride our bikes everywhere.

I still have a ways to go. I get better and better at practicing what I preach every day. Health is a journey, not a destination.

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