Holistic health care is an approach to health care that allows you to care for all areas of your health and well being in a completely natural way. This includes caring for your health without the use of drugs or surgery, without over the counter medicines, prescription drugs, invasive surgeries or the removal of vital organs. Holistic health care creates higher levels of health, increased vitality, radiant beauty that comes from the inside and long term health that does not require constant trips to a medical doctor or admissions to the hospital. It is living a life that does not end in debilitating, chronically degenerative health problems, pain or suffering. It allows your body to retain the health it was naturally born with without artificial or unnatural interference. Holistic health care instead depends on the body's natural intelligence to heal itself when needed and maintain perfect health when given the right things and prevented from taking in the wrong things. Here I will give you the Top 12 Holistic Health Tips of 2012 to know just what your body needs and doesn't to keep your health in tip top shape!
Holistic health care is a completely different way of looking at the health of the body. Instead of only looking at health when a symptom appears and then developing a protocol to make that symptom disappear, there is a deeper understanding of how the body works and how symptoms develop in the first place. There is an understanding that a health symptoms is the surface level expression of a deeper problem which comes from not caring for the body properly. There is a heavy emphasis placed on natural preventative care that prevents symptoms from appearing in the first place by caring for the body in the way it needs to maintain perfect balance and health. This happens when the body is given the right levels of oxygen, water, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, probiotics, antioxidants, phytochemicals, and other nutrients, movement and exercise, stress management, relaxation, proper sleep, purpose and meaning. When the body is given these things without filling it with the things that degrade health, your health remains perfectly balance and in fact increases throughout your life.
Here is my list of the Top 12 Holistic Health Tips for 2012...
1. Fresh Foods
The biggest contributor to sickness, disease, pain and lowered levels of health? Not enough living foods in the diet. Most people who eat a predominately Westernized diet eat little to no fresh foods. Most every meal comes from a package, box or can and is then microwaved, cooked or heated in high heats. All of these steps in the food processing cycle degrade and decrease the amount of nutrients available in a food. Cooking alone can take away up to 80% of the nutrients that are naturally contained in a fresh food, meaning by the time you eat a food like this you are eating a nutrient void food, empty calories that only fill you for a short period of time but don't nourish your body in any way. Fresh foods contain ample amounts of oxygen, water, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, enzymes and everything else your body needs to cleanse, restore and revitalize your health and well being on an ongoing basis. If there is only one thing you do to better your health in 2013 it is to increase the amount of fresh, living foods in your diet on a daily basis.2. Manage Stress
We are only really beginning to understand the role stress plays in decreasing health. For decades we have continued to increase the amount of stress we each experience on a daily basis in our lives without really looking at and understanding how it is effecting our health. We now know that stress has an extremely powerful and negative effect on our health and well being and biologically actually begins to tear apart our body from the inside out. During stressful periods of time the inside of your body is actually 32 years older then your calendar age! What does that mean? That means if you are 35 years old, your heart, lungs and brain, during stressful periods of time, are close to 70 years old! How long will a 70 year old heart last as compared to a 35 year old heart? Not nearly as long. Stress basically ages your body rapidly, very rapidly. From your skin and outward appearance to your mental processing and internal functionings. Stress is often inevitable in life, however most of the stress in each of our lives IS preventable we just believe there is nothing we can do about it. It's important to look at your levels of stress often and make changes where need be to reduce the amount of stress in your life, while implementing regular stress reduction techniques such as deep breathing, exercise, relaxation, yoga and mediation. It is important that stress reduction techniques are consistent and constant, not just once and awhile. The higher the levels of stress you experience the more important stress management will be in your life to your overall health and vitality.
3. Consistently Exercise
Exercise is vital to overall health. Some people view exercise as a luxury or something to do only if you want to look better, however that couldn't be further then the truth. Exercise allows your body to release stress, increase flexibility endurance and stamina, strengthens internal organs and regulates body processes. Especially if you have a sedentary job, sitting at a desk all day, exercise will be a number one priority to you for maintaining your long term health. Exercise helps to keep your immune system functioning at the highest levels, helps boost mental functioning and keeps your bones strong and healthy. Those who don't regularly exercise may not see the negative impacts for quite some time, but these will be the ones who see their health rapidly decrease as they age, their joints will deteriorate faster, their immune systems will falter, their bones will be weaker and they will more susceptible and probable to experience debilitating chronic degenerative diseases. Studies have shown that 20 minutes of cardio vascular exercise, 30 minutes of strength training per week and walking 10,000 steps per day has the maximum healthy effect on health. Not too difficult!
4. Regularly Detox
No matter how healthy of a lifestyle you think you live the fact is you live in a toxic environment. From the air you breathe to the water you drink to the products you you, you bring toxins into your body on a daily basis. A body that is extremely healthy and pure can readily cleanse itself of these toxins but because of the overwhelming amount of toxins in the environment the human body can have a difficult time keeping up with effectively cleansing all of these toxins. Toxins not cleansed are stored and begin to deteriorate cells and tissue, processes and organs and interfere with healthy functioning. The CDC estimates that each of us has over 400 toxins stored in and circulating throughout each of our bodies! These toxins reduce energy and cause the body to age more rapidly. Because of this, it is important to undergo a regular detox protocol. This does not mean taking a couple of pills for a few weeks, that will do not the job. Real cleansing means flushing your cells, restoring any gaps or deficiencies while hydrating and alkalizing the body. The Raw Vitality cleanse was created by Align to do just that. You can learn more about Raw Vitality here: www.rawvitalitycleanse.com. It is recommended that you cleanse every 3 to 6 months to keep your body pure and restored. 5. Balance Your pH
Do you know what your internal pH reading is? If not you could be missing one of the most important tools to keeping your health in perfect balance. Acidity is created in the body by normal metabolism and oxidation. However, over acidity is created by too eating too many acidic foods, having too much stress, not drinking enough water, not getting enough exercise, negative thinking, too many toxins and not enough alkaline minerals. Most American's are far too acidic. Acidity in the body wears away at tissues, slows functioning and causes a multitude of health problems. Testing your pH is simple and painless. pH tests can be purchased at most natural food stores or online. The tests are cost effective and allow you to monitor just how balanced your internal environment is on a day-to-day basis.
6. Get Enough Sun
For years the American Medical Association scared everyone out of the sun, warning it could cause cancer. Years later after this wrong and misguided advice, most American's are Vitamin D deficient. It turns out Vitamin D is one of the most important nutrients your body needs and can mostly only be obtained by the body through the Sun. The Sun is our friend and much needed. It provides a valuable nutrient that helps keep hormones balanced, strengthens bones, helps prevent diabetes and keeps the immune system strong and healthy. We all need direct Sun light on unexposed skin each and every day to keep optimal levels of Vitamin D. The important thing is not to let your skin burn. Other then that, enjoy the sun freely and know you are doing your body good!
7. Eliminate Sugar
Although we have come to develop quite a taste for sugar, sugar is toxic and addictive. Some of its most negative effects on human health include diabetes, weight storage, emotional turbulence, anxiety, and symptoms of hyper activity. It has been said that if the FDA knew what it did now about sugar, it would have never been approved. I find that hard to believe with as many things the FDA allows to be approved, but that is a different topic all together! Now days sugar is in almost everything you find in a package. The important thing is to check labels and watch your sugar intake. Some guiding rules include: real sugar is better then sugar substitutes (aka chemicals), natural raw sugar is better then high fructose corn syrup and better them all is stevia or raw local honey.
8. Go Organic
The importance of Organic foods and products continues to grow. From GMO's to cancer causing pesticides, there are many reasons to support the organic movement. Beyond being free of GMO's and pesticides, organic also means healthy sustainable farming methods, which grows in importance as we understand the devastating impacts of global warning, and higher levels of nutrients. If you are one of most consumers who are worried about what is in your food and products, the easy solution is simply to go Organic. One little word by passes so many dangers and supports a healthy sustainable environment and future.
9. Take Responsibility for Your Own Health
As the US Health Care Crisis continues to grow and solutions become more and more scarce, it becomes even more important to take responsibility for your own health. What exactly does that mean? It means not looking to medical doctors to tell you what you need to be, stay or get healthy, but to learn and understand yourself. If you think that going to your yearly check ups is what will keep you healthy, you may be one of the millions that die every year from preventable nutritional and lifestyle factors. Being healthy means knowing what your individual body needs on a daily basis to maintain optimum health and staying committed to continuing to learn and grow in the knowledge and responsibility of your own health.
10. Prevent Deficiencies
Most American's are deficient in key nutrients. These nutrients are responsible for the daily repair and maintenance of health and for normal functioning. When deficiencies occur functions are compromised, systems are altered and everything begins to slow and generally wear out. The reason we see older American's with a myriad of health symptoms at a single point in time is due, in part, to a lifetime of deficiency. Why are most of us deficient Because most of us eat for an entire lifetime from a food supply that is entirely deficient in nutrients. Soil is depleted of important nutrients and minerals, packaged foods are void of most nutrients including water and oxygen and we further degrade nutrients by the ways in which we prepare foods. If most of your diet comes from a package, is microwaved, frozen, boxed, canned or cooked at high heats you are sure to be deficient The easiest way to correct Daily fresh juicing and increasing the number of fresh foods in the diet.
11. Avoid Toxins
We are bombarded with toxins on a daily basis from the products we use on our bodies and in and around our homes, to the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the foods we eat. Toxins come in the form of man made chemicals that negatively interact with our body. Most of us are unaware of just how many toxins we allow to come into our body on a daily basis. How many body care products do you use in your morning routine (think shampoos, soaps, toothpastes, deodorants hair products, lotions, ect)? How many products do you use to clean your home (laundry detergents, dish soaps, bathroom cleaners)? How many foods do you eat on a daily basis? Now ask how many of those are organic or non-toxic? If you answer none or few, then you are being exposed to a large quantity of health harming toxins on a daily basis. Add in the water you drink and the air you breath and you have a recipe for a health disaster. We learned about the heath harming effects of toxins earlier when we were talking about toxins. In 2013, start thinking of ways to reduce and eliminate the number of toxins you are exposed to on a daily basis. Your body and planet will thank you.
12. Listen to Your Body
Your body was created with a built in intelligence that no doctor, nutritionist or book can ever replace. I have clients tells me things regularly like, "I am craving spicy food", "All I can think about is ginger," "Man I need some sleep." All of these are internal cues your body is sending you to tell you exactly what you need when you need it. Craving spicy food? Are your sinus blocked or are you felling like you have excess mucus? Spicy food is the cure. It is amazing to learn that your body is constantly sending you signals for what it needs to remain in balance and even more amazing how often we overlook or do not "hear" these cues. The key is to get in touch with and stay in touch with your body so that you can pick up on these cues on a daily basis and do exactly what you need to do to keep your health in perfect balance. Balance is the key to a lifetime of natural health, and listening to your body is the key to balance.
By following these 12 tips, you help ensure a lifetime of natural, holistic health for you and your family.
Blessing of health in 2013! And we look forward to helping you fulfill your health intentions in the coming year.
Candice Marley is a Holistic Health Practitioner, Holistic Nutritionist, Herbalist & Wellness coach and owner of Align Holistic Health & Well Being who helps people all over the world create vibrant health, greater energy, radiant beauty and a lifetime of health without disease or pain through natural ways of eating and balanced, holistic lifestyle practices. She uses a combination of natural ways of eating, balanced lifestyle practices, medicinal herbs, holistic living strategies and wellness coaching which excels at creating vibrant, lasting health in people just like you! In fact, most people report feeling higher levels of energy and greater health within a week of their first appointment. You can download her free e-book The 5 Top Tips for Creating Vibrant Health at www.alignholistichealth.com.
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