Here are two questions for you to consider:

• If eating is so simple, why are there so many people who are overweight?
• Why are so many people experiencing declining health over time?

We know, for example, the biology of science, Senescence, is showing that your body is fully capable of rebuilding a perfect replica of itself, cell by cell, every 7 years.  By producing 300 billion cells every night that are programmed to die, it replaces all of the 750 trillion cells that make
up your body.

Every minute of everyday your body assembles and disassembling all sorts of:

Enzymes to:

• digest your food
• operate your body
• fire nerves
• fire metabolism
• repair and replace damaged tissue

Amino acids to produce:

• hormones to start and stop different functions
• neurotransmitters to operate your brain
• immune cells to protect your body
• blood and lymph cells to carry substances around the body
• repair and replace damaged cells and tissue
• and, there’s even more – suffice it to say – the scope is enormous!

Here’s the rub:
the only way your body can do any of this is if the food you are eating contains the “stuff” the body needs to accomplish the tasks.

This business of eating the food you “like” virtually guarantees that your body won’t get what it needs to rebuild a perfect replica of itself – let alone carry on all of its minute by minute activities that keep you focused, active and healthy.

There are two thresholds, energy and nutrition, that must be met or your body ceases to operate efficiently – the perfect replica starts to become less perfect.

Carbohydrates

Your body burns carbohydrates, fat and water to create energy. The main dietary source to energize your body is carbohydrates.

• If you eat too few, or the wrong kind, you will run out of energy before you run out of day.
• If you eat too many or you are eating the wrong kind – you will get fat.
• If you hit the threshold, you will breeze through the day.

The “wrong” ones are easy:  white flour products, vegetables that grow underground, sweet fruits, sugar and sugars that added to packaged food.

• If you cannotburn these simple carbohydrates within two hours your body will turnthem into fat.
• And, you willget hungry because you need energy again.

The best carbohydrates come from whole grains, vegetables that grow above ground and fleshy fruit.  The Harvard School of Public Health provides guidance to help you select the “right” carbohydrates.

Fat

Fat has been painted with too broad of a brush so, people avoid it at all costs – this is a big mistake!  Granted, there is a “wrong” kind that can turn into plaque and body fat if you eat too much of it.

But, the “right” kind is essential to your body – that’s why they are called essential fatty acids.  Essential fatty acids keep your heart and arteries flexible, fight inflammation and support metabolism.   Harvard, once
again, explains the details if you want more information.

Water

Research has shown that within 10 minutes of drinking a pint of water, the metabolism increases by as much as 30 percent.  Other drinks did not show the same effect.

If you drink too little water and you may be at risk for headaches, muscle cramps, dizziness, constipation and other nasty symptoms.

If you drink an adequate amount of water you gain some great benefits such as a clearer mind, more energy and even help your body metabolize body fat.  

The second threshold is nutrition.  The tissue of all plants and animals are made up from building blocks, called Amino Acids.  Your body disassembles the plant and animal tissue then reassembles their Amino Acids, along with minerals to produce your tissue.

Protein
Protein provides the building blocks your body uses to create all of its cells, tissue and fluids are amino acids – they come from protein.  The source for protein is plant and animal tissue.  If you eat too many of the wrong kinds you will plug up digestion, the heart, arteries and your brain.  If you eat too few, your body will start to gradually deteriorate.  If you hit the threshold, you will be blessed with perfect replacement cells that maintain an efficient, perfect body.

The “right ones are easy:  vegetables, fleshy fruit, fish, poultry and limited
meat from vertebrates (beef and pork).  The Harvard School of Public Health provides guidance concerning meat and plant protein.

Minerals

Particular minerals like calcium have received lots of attention, so, there isn’t much to say about it and the other minerals for which a recommended daily intake has been established.

BUT (and there is always a but), most authorities fall silent when it comes to an entire category of minerals called trace minerals.  Also known as electrolytes, this obscure collection of water-soluble minerals are, in fact, essential for your well being.  They are co-factors in virtually every activity of your body.

The assumption is: you will receive sufficient amounts of these important nutrients when you consume fruits and vegetables.

This assumption is wrong in two ways:

• most people do not consume enough vegetables and even if you do consume the recommended 9 servings of vegetables and fruit
• the soils, on which the plants are grown, have long-since been depleted of these elements due to commercial farming practices.

In fact, this is one area were you must rely on a dietary supplement to support your body’s requirements.  They are marketed as Colloidal Minerals and/or trace minerals, typically liquid and a must if you plan on staying healthy.

Water

Did you notice that water is in both thresholds?  Water is your body’s principal chemical component, making up, on average, 60 percent of your body weight.

Every system in your body depends on water.  Water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells, plumbs your body to protect vital tissue and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues.

Possibly the most important thing you can do for your body is to keep it hydrated.  The biggest mistake most people make is to believe beverages count toward hydrating the body.

Water is . . . water!  Beverages:  coffee, tea, soda and juice are liquid food.  So, don’t get caught in that trap.

Drink at least 8 – 8oz. glasses of water everyday – more if it is hot, cold or your are sick.   There is no substitute for water and it is free from your tap and, if you let the water sit overnight in an open container, all of the chlorine will dissipate.  Fresh, clean, free water.  What could be better? 

You make the choice then you will experience the consequences.

• Too many simple carbohydrates – you will get fat.
• Too much exercise – you will tear up your joints.
• Too few minerals – your body can’t work right.
• Too little protein – your body will deteriorate.
• Too little water – metabolism slows down, you will become a husk, plus your body can’t clean itself.

Let me make it simple:  today’s choices are tomorrow’s consequences.  Too many people, me included, have been sugar coating the facts for too long.

• If you are not healthy, you have bought your own trouble.
• If you are neglecting your body but not experiencing the signs of neglect now, you have agreed to a layaway plan to experience
  those same sign of neglect – later.

You are paying, every day, with the choices you are making about convenient, fast food and adhering to a false paradigm that there is some special person or some magic bullet that can fix what you are breaking.

• The special person who can change the consequences is YOU.
• The magic bullet is the “stuff” you are consuming – everyday.   

You can change the way things are by changing the things you are doing.  The arguments that it is too expensive or you don’t have the time won’t hold water.

You either make time for health or spend time being sick.  The latter is very expensive in both money and the quality of your life.

• Start with an action plan to meet the thresholds your body needs to stay healthy or get healthy.
• Assess what you are eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner – everyday -  to care for the needs of your body.
• Fill the gap in your diet with the best nutraceutical supplements you can buy.  Know this: the better you do with the foods you are eating – the fewer supplements it takes to fill the gap in your diet.
• Do your best.  It is not practical to expect to “eat right” everyday.  There is a principal in health that you can take to the bank:  It is not
  what you do occasionally that hurts, it is what you do everyday.
• Splurge once in a while.   After all, life is worth living.  But, get back on the wagon as quickly as possible. 
• Health is a journey.  You can choose to accept the fact that you are in charge of your own health or cling to the false hope that someone orsomething can fix what you have broken.

It’s Your Life – It’s Your Choice.

 

Being overweight and obesity are about to replace smoking as the #1 killer of Americans. Extra pounds and inches restrict activity, damage health and shorten life; it harms self-esteem and social life.

The United States Center for Disease Control found that being overweight is a significant contributing factor for: Diabetes, High blood pressure, High cholesterol, Asthma, Arthritis, Poor health and yes – Cancer.

Some years ago, nutritionists devised a theory for weight management. The theory is: the energy value of food can be measured and called calories; caloric burn is the measure of the energy required to support the body; therefore, eating fewer and/or burning more calories than required to support the body will create weight loss.

Dieting or the “eat less – exercise more” school of weight management was born – and indeed, people lose weight. The problem is: when people stop dieting, they regain the lost weight – and, in some cases, gain even more!

The theory has a two-fold problem.

First, on the average, Basal Metabolic Rate (resting metabolism) is responsible for 80% to 85% of the overall caloric burn while exercise uses 15% to 20%. Dramatic increases in exercise create modest increases in caloric burn.

Second, when faced with insufficient calories to support its needs, the body simply “turns down” basal metabolism to conserve energy. When you eat less food your body simply adapts to fewer calories. Rebound weight gain occurs, after the diet is discontinued, because the caloric intake increases more quickly than lower basal metabolism that was set for consumption of fewer calories.

A solid weight management program requires moderate exercise, better nutrition and a catalyst to promote basal metabolism. In many cases, that catalyst is a dietary supplement.

Here are examples of nutraceutical supplements that support weight loss.

The daytime supplement promotes, in addition to weight loss, helps regulate appetite, metabolism and energy; the night time supplement helps tone and firm the body, promotes stress management and restful sleep. Together, they offer a powerful tool to help you feel good and look great – around the clock.

Choosing to lose weight is one thing – making the changes that will keep it off is the smartest, healthiest decision you will ever make.

 

There is a tendency, in the supplement industry, to guise supplements as magic bullets, too.  It is easy to understand because once medicine has failed them, people still want to believe that there is a secret natural something, collected from some remote area of the world or a carefully guarded “secret” purloined from a tribal healer that will fix them.

The first thing you must know:  there are no magic bullets.

One of the objectives of our blog is to provide knowledge you can build on. Within our blog are solid, practical concepts that can help you understand the role you should play when you are dealing with issues concerning your health.

Manage Your Most Valuable Asset

The first step is to change your perception that there is a magic something that will fix you.  There are no magic bullets.

Next, your body is a complex organism with straightforward rules.  Learn the rules.

Finally, take control of your health.  Don’t wait for the shoe to drop before taking action.  Become proactive with a strategy that promotes health.

Build From a Foundation Knowledge

Frankly, it is difficult to get most people’s attention unless they are looking for the magic bullet, or a secret concoction to fix their health.  When people are looking, they can fall prey to the lure of magic bullets and secrets.  Likewise, it is easy to overlook the probability that their body lacks a sufficient quantity and quality of the nutrients that are essential to maintain and promote health.

Please, take a few minutes to review links provided in this essay.  They, along with your good judgment, should provide you knowledge you can build on to help put you squarely in control of your most valuable asset – your health.

Remember:  it is easier to stay healthy than to get healthy; or if you have neglected to protect your health, your body can heal itself given enough time and the nutrients it needs.