June Newsletter Article:

Success Tips: Three Simple Ways to Begin Your Journey Back to Health Right Now!

You might be thinking “I eat a good diet with lots of veggies and I do my best to take care of myself. Why do I feel so crappy?”

In my experience there are two main causes of dis-ease. They are:

1.   Toxicity  –  our tissues, cells and organs are loaded with toxic material which the body has stored.
2.   Deficiency –  that is, our body isn’t receiving the nutrients it needs to support optimal health and well-being.

There are other factors of course. Stress, for example, plays a huge part in the body breaking down. While it’s always best to work with a qualified naturopath, chiropractor or other knowledgeable well-care provider, especially if you are dealing with a life-threatening illness, there are a few simple changes you can make to support greater health and vitality:

1. Eliminate food with little or no nutritional value – things like packaged goods and so-called snack foods that are laden with chemicals and other additives. Instead, substitute some delicious fresh fruit, crisp veggies or some raw dehydrated crackers or other raw food snacks. These goodies are finding their way into many of the local supermarkets and farmer’s markets.

2. Eliminate refined oils – many oils are highly processed and some, like canola for example, use a toxic chemical called hexane in order to extract as much oil as possible from the seeds. Your body needs some good quality fat, and raw, unprocessed coconut oil is one of the best choices you can make. In fact, coconut oil is thermogenic, which means that it takes more calories to burn it up than it contains. Don’t be fooled by the “no fat”, “low fat” options out there. Eat your fat in moderation and be sure it comes from good whole food sources. Other excellent choices are cold pressed olive oil, flax oil and avocados.

3. Eliminate refined and artificial sweeteners – in addition to white sugar, this also includes anything with high fructose corn syrup, sucralose (Splenda),  and aspartame, a/k/a  NutraSweet  which has recently been renamed  “amino sweet.” Aspartame has gotten a pretty bad rap, and rightfully so since it is toxic, so they’ve rebranded it with a really innocuous-sounding name. It almost sounds healthy, doesn’t it? Kind of like an amino acid, but not! High fructose corn syrup is not a natural ingredient so don’t be fooled. Most of the corn is now genetically modified making it anything but natural! Good substitutes for sweetness include dates (and date paste), raw local honey, and stevia. You can also use some grade B maple syrup on occasion which does provide some minerals.

This may not be new information to many of you, but if you are still eating any of these ingredients, I hope that I have inspired you to switch to some of the more healthful alternatives.

Next month I’ll share some simple ways to detoxify your body and your life.

Until then… be healthy!