5 Steps to A Healthier You
6:35 PM Posted by Jo Pedranti
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It can be confusing to know where to start when it comes to health, so I thought it was a good idea to put together a mini guide to my blog. Below are five steps with links to suitable posts that will make it easier for you to become healthier.
I'm an aromatherapist so naturally I write a lot about aromatherapy, Young Living and essential oils. I run Naturally Sports & Wellness together with husband, so I also cover topics such as wellness, fitness, sports, diet, and nutrition too. As a distributor of Nature's Sunshine I have a passion for herbals and supplements, and I love to share how to use their products in for health building and sickness. Our family has recently made the switch to the Paleo Diet, which means that we exclude grains, legumes, and dairy in our diet.
1. It all starts with the diet
It starts with a good diet, and this is especially important to remember when using natural remedies. Many still believe they can use natural remedies like regular medicine, but in order for a remedy to be really successful you need to address the diet as well. It doesn't make sense to purchase expensive remedies if the diet is bad. Don't forget that food is medicine. Whole foods, un-refined products, fresh fruit and vegetables, high quality protein, non-refined sugar and flour (I prefer a grain-free diet) should be the goal. Packaged food, refined products, artificial ingredients, and trans fatty acids weaken the immune system.
Here are some of my favorite posts to get you started:
7 Pillars of Prevention * How I Replaced Refined Sugar in Our House * Why pH Balancing Is Important * Why It is Important to Remove Toxins * Juicing - Get The Kids Involved * Why Are Children So Often Sick? * Most Children Are Not Drinking Enough Water * Blueberries- Yummy Superfods for Children * Why Eat A Paleo? * Is The Paleo Diet Beneficial for Autoimmune Diseases? * Getting Started On The Paleo Diet * Grain and Dairy Free Snacks for Kids * Why I Don't Eat Canned Tuna Anymore * Dr.Jensen's Juicing Therapy * Cooking
2. Eliminate toxins in your life
Toxins found in cleaning products, body and skin care products, pesticides, and in the environment cause a toxic overload on the body. This will eventually lead to disease. Even though our body is designed to deal with a certain amount of toxins, it wasn't meant to deal with the huge amount of toxins we are exposed to today. Today we face a toxic overload from chemicals in the food, cell phone and other EMF radiations, heavy metals, and industrial pollution.
Some exposure to toxins are out of our control, but we should do our best to minimize the exposure by changing things that we can control:
- use non-toxic cleaning products
- buy better food without chemicals, non-GMO.
- stop using the microwave
- replace the aluminum foil
- use more glass instead of plastic
- use natural ingredients in your beauty products
- use organic pesticides
- use essential oils instead of commercialized air fresheners
- don't use products with flouride
- avoid fish high in mercury
My favorite posts:
Natural Cleaning * Cleaning With Essential Oils * Are You Letting Your Daughter Be Exposed to Secret Chemicals? * Why it Is Important to Reduce Toxins * Vinegar Uses for the Garden * Essential Oils for the Garden * Toxic Mold vs. Essential Oils * Natural Dental Care * Heavy Metal Toxicity * Cleansing with Essential Oils * Do You Need to Clean The Brain? * Make Your Own Body and Skin Care Products * Radiation - Tips on how to Protect Yourself with Essential Oils
3. Health Building
As mentioned previously, diet is the first step and we should aim to get as many nutrients as possible from the diet. Depleted soil due do over-farming, long transportation time, cold storage, and picking the produce too early all affect the nutrient content of the food. Studies have shown that vegetables and fruit contain different amounts of iron for example. Cabbage can vary in it's iron content from 94 ppm to 0 ppm, and tomatoes can vary in iron content from 1,938 ppm to 1 ppm. So today you cannot be sure the fruit and vegetables have the vitamins you need.
Stress also depletes the nutrients in the body, and so does eating a diet high in nutrient robbers such as refined sugars. Certain prescribed and over -the -counter medication deplete the body of important nutrients. Aspirin triples the vitamin C excretion, and Acetaminophen reduces the glutathione in the liver. Statin drugs lower the COQ10 levels, and anti-depressants reduces the B-vitamins in the body. There are plenty of other drugs that also will deplete the body of vital nutrients in the body.
Deficiencies and toxicity are the major causes of disease today, so the goal should be to make sure the body has enough nutrients, and to make sure you cleanse regularly.
My favorite posts:
All Supplements are Not The Same * Spirulina, Bee-Pollen, and Alfafa - My Favorite Super Food Supplements * Do You Get Enough Vitamin C? * The Master Tonic - A Powerful Immune Booster * Dr.Jensen's Juicing Therapy * Make Healthy Shakes * Boost Your Immune System Naturally * We Eat Our Sunscreen * Why pH balancing is So Important * 7 Pillars of Prevention * Evening Primrose and the Importance of GLA * Flavonoids * Cellfood * Capsicum * Why Eat A Paleo? * Getting Started On The Paleo Diet * Grain and Dairy Free Snacks for Kids *
4. Use Natural Remedies instead of Pharmaceuticals
It is much safer to use natural remedies instead of pharmaceuticals, but remember just because something is natural doesn't always mean it is safe. When using essential oils it is especially important to consider any contraindications of the oils, as well as remember that certain oils may be contraindicated in certain conditions.
My favorite posts:
Boost Your Immune System Naturally * The Common Cold * Candida albicans * Sore Throat * Respiratory & Immune System * Varicose Veins * Adrenal Health * Bronchitis * Thyroid Health * Anxiety * Asthma * Painful Conditions * Leaky Gut Syndrome * Allergies * Yeast Overgrowth * Ways to Use Silver Shield * First Line of Defense - Silver Shield
Children:
Food Poisoning * Fevers * E.Oil and Infants * E.Oils and Newborns * Herbal Remedies for Young Children * Aromatherapy
Female Issues:
PMS * Perimenopause * Especially for Women * Pregnancy * Birth * Painful Cramps * Morning Sickness * Stretch Marks
First aid:
Protect Your Family- E.Oil First Aid Kit * How to deal with a Scorpion Sting * Herbs and Oils in My First Aid Kit * Antiseptic Vinegar * Lavender to the Rescue
5. Wellness and Fitness
"Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save and preserve it."
Plato - 350 BC
"Positive health requires a knowledge of man's primary constitution and of the powers of various foods, both those natural and those resulting from human skill. But eating alone is not enough for health. There must be exercise of which the effects must likewise be known. If there is any deficiency in food or exercise, the body will fall sick."
Hippocrates - 5th Century BC
Plato - 350 BC
"Positive health requires a knowledge of man's primary constitution and of the powers of various foods, both those natural and those resulting from human skill. But eating alone is not enough for health. There must be exercise of which the effects must likewise be known. If there is any deficiency in food or exercise, the body will fall sick."
Hippocrates - 5th Century BC
My favorite posts:
Exercise & Physical Activity (a naturallysports.com post) * Add Essential Oils to the Weight Loss Program * Why We Do Cardio After Weights * Let Metabolism Work In Your Favor * A Great Family Sport * Tips - Reduce Body Fat * Why Body Composition is More Reliable than the Scale * The Anti-Fatigue Potential of Noni * Tone and Firm the Skin * Estrogen and Progesterone * Thyroid Hormones * Adrenal Hormones * Insulin *
I hope this will make it easier to find the information you need. I am also working on a post that will make it easier to find the information you need in order to get started making your own products.
Thanks for visiting!
Johanna is an aromatherapist and an independent distributor of Young Living Essential Oils and Nature's Sunshine. She is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives. She also runs Naturally Sports & Wellness together with her husband.
Follow Johanna on twitter and facebook for more health tips and information. Don't forget to explore her new aromatherapy new blog
This post is linked up to Monday Mania hosted by The Healthy Home Economist,
and to WFMW.
March 20, 2011 at 11:43 AM
Sometimes I wonder if you've forgotten more about natural healthy than I've learned in the first place. ;-) Holy catfish, Jo, you sure are a prolific blogger. :-) Thanks for sharing all this great information.
March 20, 2011 at 11:51 AM
Jo - Laurie Neverman sent me to this post after she posted something about soy and then I asked a question about "de-toxing" from exposure to it. Maybe you can help so here's the situation:
I was not able to nurse my children and my younger daughter (now almost 9) had a reaction to the first formula I tried. I was advised (by her doctor - ugh) to put her on soy formula. Now, if that were to happen today, I'd either try other regular formulas and/or keep her on soy for a very short time. However, I was not very wise about such things at that time and so I kept her on soy for the entire year. Honestly, I am really afraid of long-term effects for her (and I believe she already has some - the breast tissue on her left side has been preternaturally swollen since she was 7 - which the doctor (a different doc) insists is not related to the soy...but which I feel strongly with my mother's intuition that it is). Is there anything I can do now to mitigate these effects - or de-tox her after the fact? This is one of my greatest regrets as a mother - that I took a doc's advice at face-value and, thus, may have jeopardized my daughter's health. If I can do anything to help her with it, I'd try it.
Thanks!
Tina
March 21, 2011 at 7:22 AM
Great post, Jo! Thanks so much for sharing your research and knowledge!
Much appreciated!
March 21, 2011 at 9:50 AM
@ Thanks Laurie.
March 21, 2011 at 9:51 AM
@Tina,
I will send you some suggestions later today.
March 21, 2011 at 9:53 AM
@Andrea,
You're welcome Andrea. I'm glad I can help..
March 22, 2011 at 7:32 AM
I definitely need to get more exercise. I've always been bad with that one. I am working on it though. Mostly I dance for exercise. That's the best way I try to fit it in.
March 23, 2011 at 5:19 AM
@Victoria,
Dancing sounds like a lot of fun. When my children were very young I had a hard time finding time to exercise. I just started walking and taking the stairs instead of the elevator, that was a great exercise.
March 23, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Awesome post! Sounds like the 5 essentials we teach, Chiropractic can HELP also!
March 23, 2011 at 4:21 PM
Thanks Rachel! You're right, chiropractic should be part of a health building program if funds allow it.