It looks like health is becoming more of an issue nowadays. While we are the most medicalized culture in the history of humanity, we are also the sickest. We are constantly being bombarded about health and about what being healthy is or is not. But do we really know what health is? Do we even know our own body? Whether you answered yes or no to those questions, you might want to know that health can be simple… if we understand some basics about how our body works.

First of all, the body needs some essential nutrients, without which it cannot do the work of growing and repairing itself. Without these basic nutrients, we will  be headed down the road of degenerative disease, which is simply the body falling apart for lack of raw materials. Just like a car that doesn’t have the right maintenance would stop working . Ironically, most of us know more about how our car works than how our own body works.

Fortunately , we can reverse the process of degeneration with a little bit of diligence on our part. In simple terms, the body needs protein, fats, vitamins and minerals , which all work together as a team. Deficiency in one of them can cause the rest to not work properly. So let’s break it down.

First, protein is so essential to the body that our need for it is hard wired in our brain, meaning, if we don’t get enough, or good quality or our body cannot digest it, our brain is going to send us on an unstoppable quest for food which will manifest in the form of uncontrollable cravings. Now, if our purpose is to take control our body so we can control our health , this situation doesn’t look very appropiate, does it?.  Specifically, our bodies need around 1/2 a gram to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. You do the math, but above all , observe your body as you give it the protein it needs, because once the body gets what it needs the brain will signal satiety to the body. Only when this happens you will be able to avoid the millions of food tempations in the tv comercials, the food smelling malls and new pizza flavors and combinations that will not only wreck your appetite but your health.

Second , but not less important is fat. Like with protein, our need for fats are hard wired in our brain. High quality fat is essential, we will go into details in the next blogs,  but for now you need to know that EFAs (essential fatty acids) are like the name says, ‘essential” Your brain is fat and each of the 100 trillion cells in your body has an outer membrane that is made of fat. What is more, deficiencies in EFAs are associated with a long list of health problems including skin issues, degenerative disease, impaired mental health and heart pathology to name just a few. There are many products in the market , so it can be confusing, but the  ones I recommend are Udo’s blend, which you can find here http://udoerasmus.com/products/oil_blend_en.htm, Youngevity’s EFA Plus  http://pharmacistben.com/youngevity/ or BiOptimizer’s Protein Breakthrough product which will give you also 17 grams of protein in every serving, more than 8 grams of fiber, and 3.7 grams of essential fatty acids. You can find it here: https://www.proteinbreakthrough.com/ordering/orderpage.php?a_aid=lifeforce&a_bid=7ec1292a or https://bioptimizers.com/?a_aid=lifeforce

Any of these three products are the ones I know are the best quality. Make sure you keep the oils in the refrigerator and away from sunlight to keep them fresh, and never consume an oil that smells rancid. Also, make sure your body is being able to digest the oils. Nowadays is not uncommon to have digestive disorders, and since fats can be tricky to absorb, you need to make sure your body is able to digest them and assimilate them. You will know you have problems digesting fats if they give you digestive discomfort like nausea, or even headaches, or you ‘burp’ the oil. This is a sign of malabsorption, which can create more problems than benefits. If this is the case, get some digestive enzymes, lecithin and/or bile salts, take the fats with food instead of an empty stomach. Also, drinking some apple cider vinegar at the end of meals will help with absorption.

Third, vitamins and minerals.  Both of them work together and deficiencies can create havoc in our health. We will go into more detail in the weeks ahead, but for now you need to know the body needs a constant flow of both, specially the water soluble vitamins (B and C) which are excreted from the body when we urinate. So it is a good idea to replenish them afterwards, this will ensure you are not running low on a daily basis. The ones I recommend are Youngevity’s Beyond Tangy Tangerine , you can find it here: http://pharmacistben.com/youngevity/ or BiOptimizers Primergen V and Primergen M which you can find here : https://bioptimizers.com/?a_aid=lifeforce  Either of them are high quality supplements in liquid form which makes them highly absorvable by the body as opposed to pills.

Last but not least, water. Water is essential to health mainly because our body is mostly water. This is why good quality water, without chemicals and pollutants is essential. You might want to check your city’s/town’s water report to know about toxic overload, but mostly all tap water is high in contaminants. A good water filter is a good idea and although it might require a small monetary investment, it is well worth it. Either this , or you may want to move to the Hunza Valley in Pakistan whose mineral-rich clean glacier water irrigates the crops allowing their food to be so high in nutritional value that their inhabitants live to be more 100 years old, they have no sickness, no jails, no hospitals and even the trees live to be over 100 years old! How do you like that ?!

To sum up, we can take our health in our own hands. Knowing how our bodies work is an essential first step , then knowing what we put in our bodies. If this is overwhelming at the beginning, start step by step. Incorporate one thing at a time and see how your body responds. Remember, our bodies are very wise and they talk to us constantly. Let’s learn to listen to our body.

Thanks for reading. Till next time.