Here are a few ideas for how to improve your physical and mental health
- Eat REAL food: meat, vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, water, herbal tea. As whole and close to its natural state as possible. Eat less processed stuff from a box, can, or bag.
- Eat more, colorful vegetables (corn is not a vegetable, it’s a grain). Ideally, purchase fresh organic vegetables in their season, from your local farmers. But conventional grocery store vegetables are better than no vegetables. The very best is if you grow them at home. If you have a backyard, plant vegetables, not grass. Grass might be pretty but it is useless. Planting vegetables is not rocket science but requires labor. The best come from non-GMO heirloom seeds. Some vegetables can be planted reusing the seeds from vegetables bought at the market. If you have even more space around your house, raise animals too. There is a huge difference between the eggs and meat you buy at a store chain versus a local farm.
- Still about eating, cut out sugar (in all its hidden forms). Sugar is as addictive as alcohol and it is very bad for you, feeding chronic illness and inflammation. Stop eating sweetened food and drinking soda. Instead eat fruits, they are delicious. Plant trees in your backyard and they will be free, most of them require little care. Consider cutting gluten, soy, and corn; most are heavily modified, genetically engineered, and not the wholesome whole varieties eaten by your “perfectly fine” ancestors. These are ubiquitous in processed food, hiding in just about everything you buy at the grocery store. The abundance of these three is a big driver of inflammation and the resulting chronic disease.
- Don’t take drugs that have a commercial. Most likely they are not more efficient than the cheaper, generic ones. This includes “commercials” your doctor has been paid to promote to you; always ask about generics and cheaper, sometimes even OTC, alternatives. And foremost find out if you really need it. You’d be surprise how many illnesses can be cured with simple things as changing your diet and moving your body. Your body’s own immune system is the cure to most contagious diseases; treat it well.
- Stop eating fast food. Not because it makes you fat, but because it is made out of artificial ingredients. Our bodies were not made to be fed on synthetic food. If you have no more than 15 minutes to get food, make a salad (prepare your own olive oil and herb dressing).
- Put down your phone. In today’s society many people are enslaved to their phones. Just look around you, it seems like the phone is pulling the people on a leash. Be present, talk to people, or if you are not the chatty one observe the surroundings, think. Even better, rest and be present in the moment.
- Don’t buy things you don’t need. Did you ever sum up how much stuff you bought that you didn’t really need? Instead of buying useless objects, put your money in your savings account and invest. If you want to buy something, buy a plane ticket and travel, there is so much to see in this world.
- Give to the world. Help people whenever you can. Everybody could use help; if you can, be the one to do it. You’ll see, it’s always returned.
- Don’t trash our planet. We have a single Earth and it is a heck of a special place. Recycle everything you can. If possible walk and don’t drive, turn off electric devices when not in use. Do not waste food! Only put as much on your plate as you are going to eat, never more. If you are still hungry you can always have so more.
- Stay away from ticks! These tiny arachnids might seem to be harmless but they carry many diseases. Diseases that can bring you down on your knees and disable you for years, decades; even kill you, so use serious precautions when spending time outdoors. Treat clothes with Permethrin before venturing into meadows and forests. Cover skin, tuck in your shirt and pants, and always do a thorough body check after outdoor activities, in all seasons. Learn the nonspecific signs of tick-borne infections and be aware of changes in your health.
+1 A few books that are going to help you on your journey
Eckhart Tolle – The Power of Now
George S. Clason – The Richest Man Of Babylon
John Abramson – Overdosed America
Leo Babauta – The Power of Less
Mary Beth Pfeiffer – Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change
Simon Sinek – Start With Why