Proper nutrition involves more than eating healthy food and taking supplements. When it comes to health, most people are looking for a magic bullet to fix all their problems. Unfortunately, Western medicine has promoted the myth that health can be found in a drug or a pill. The creation of disease takes time and the restoration of the body back to health also takes time.
If you truly desire a change in your state of health, you need to begin by going back to the basics. The basics include Water, Air, Sunlight and Exercise and they are the true foundation of health. I host a daily health show and receive many calls from listeners asking how to treat various health problems.
A gentlemen once called asking for a remedy for his wife's arthritis. As a beginning point, I suggested that his wife drink more water. He seemed very upset with me and demanded that I recommend a supplement or a product for the arthritis. I recommended a natural anti-inflammatory for the pain that probably worked very well. My point is that this man ignored one of the basics of a good nutritional foundation. If he had listened to me and told his wife to start drinking more water, she would not have needed to buy the supplement.
Water is essential to life and I recommend people drink more water than nutrition experts currently recommend. I agree with Dr. Lorraine Day, an orthopedic surgeon and author, who healed herself completely of cancer using a natural approach that included water, sunlight, exercise and proper nutrition. She feels that people need a minimum of 10 glasses of water daily. My minimum for water is 10 ten-ounce glasses of water daily. This sounds like a lot of water but it's actually the amount of water the average adult needs to drink daily in order to avoid dehydration. Some of the many health conditions that are helped by drinking more water include arthritis, fatigue, depression, asthma and heart disease.
All water is not the same. Avoid water with chlorine. Chlorine is a poison. It is toxic and it accelerates the aging process. You also do not want water with fluoride. Fluoride is a toxin that never should have been put in our water supply. It is an industrial waste that has never been proven to be good for our teeth. I recommend you drink either reverse osmosis or distilled water which is free of chlorine and fluoride.
We also need exercise. When we exercise we take in more oxygen, which is beneficial for the blood, the brain and all the tissues of the body. Oxygen is vital for a healthy immune system. It is a purifier and helps eliminate wastes in the body and fight germs such as bacteria and viruses. Diseases such as cancer cannot exist in an oxygen-rich environment. The human body is 80% water and oxygen accounts for 90% of the weight of water. So water combined with breathing gives our bodies the oxygen it requires for good health. People lacking in oxygen are usually depressed and tired. It is needed for vitamin C utilization, to retard collagen breakdown and to prevent premature aging.
Another basic nutrient is sunlight. Today, due to misinformation from the medical establishment and the media regarding the risk of getting skin cancer from sunlight, many people are afraid of the sun. Our ancestors were exposed to sunlight all of their lives and skin cancer was not a problem. So why are we getting skin cancer today? Research is now implicating hydrogenated fats and oils that have been added to our foods as being responsible for the increased incidence of skin cancer.
We need sunlight for the proper functioning of our pineal glands. This is an important gland that regulates our biological clock, and stimulates other organs and glands to release enzymes and hormones for the proper functioning of our bodies. The pineal gland requires the stimulation of sunlight for proper functioning. Sunlight is also essential for the body to convert Vitamin D and it helps to stimulate bone growth and repair.
Another vital nutrient is love. We need to have people who care about us. We are tribal beings that evolved with support groups of closely knit individuals. Today we live in virtual isolation. With the advent of modern technology such as computers and television, we have begun to dissociate from each other and focus on external objects. You should cultivate friends and stay close to your family. Appreciate all the people you have around you because they are keeping you healthy.
One final nutrient is knowledge. We need to feed our brains. People who live the longest are mentally and physically active. People who continue to read and exercise their minds are individuals who do not succumb to diseases such as Alzheimers. When we study something new, like a language, we form new neuronic connections in our brains. Our brains get larger and stronger. It has now become a cliché but I am going to use it anyway, "If there is anything that you don't use, you are going to lose it." This includes our intellect.
Knowledge is the key to staying healthy. By being informed
about various aspects of health and well-being you can take charge of your
health. Never give up your power to "experts". I encourage you
to stick to the basics of nutrition and take charge of your own health.
Dr. Heigh is the medical director of East West Natural
Medical Associates in Tampa. He also hosts the "Talking Health"
radio talk show 1 - 3 PM weekdays on WTAN AM 1340. Tampa, FL. (813) 871-6700.