What is the key to health?
The key to health in old age is to prevent disease before it occurs. Consuming a nutrient dense diet from birth that includes high vitamin C and E content is fundamental for long-term health, and may extend your life 10 healthy years.
Holford (2010) suggests supplementing with up to 1g of vit C and 75mg vit E for each decade of age. An eighty year old may therefore benefit from 8g of vit C and 600mg of vit E.
According to Holford (2004) age related memory decline and Alzheimer’s disease are the result of years of taxing the body of resources, resulting in inflammation and putting pressure on its ability to remove toxins. It is suggested therefore that most disease is both preventable and reversible in the early stages.
Avoid The Drug-Health Cycle
Avoiding the drug cycle may well reduce stress on the body’s resources from toxins.
Many of us begin taking painkillers or steroids, progressing possibly to antibiotics in the presence of infection. Problematically drugs treat symptoms not causes, and the resultant irritation of the gut and leaky intestinal wall cause further problems.
More toxins can enter the body, further taxing the detoxification resources of the body. Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Many drugs such as paracetamol are poisons that require the liver to work overtime.
Treating the cause rather than the symptom will avoid this dilemma. Permeability of the gut wall and its balance of bacteria are important in reducing the absorption of toxic substances.
Known as dysbiosis the permeability of the gut can be tested for with a urine test as can the extent to which the liver has been overloaded.
Dependent on enzymes dependent on nutrients this overload can be undone with the consumption of nutrient dense diet and vitamin, mineral, enzyme supplementation therefore restoring the ability of the body to detoxify, reducing oxidation and potential for reduced brain function.
Toxins:
• Alcohol
• Food additives
• Environmental toxins
• Pesticides in food
• Food allergens
• Medication
Leads to dysbiosis:
• Bacterial overgrowth
• Fungal overgrowth
• Parasites
• Infections
• IBS
Leads to gut permeability made worse by:
• Antibiotics
• Anti-inflammatory drugs
• Alcohol
Leads to overload:
- Exacerbated by a lack of essential nutrients
- Result in unsafe toxins
Detox – How to detoxify:
• Healthy unadulterated food
• Vitamins and minerals
• Essential fats
• Digestive enzymes
Combined with:
• Beneficial gut bacteria
• L-glutamine
• Glucosamine
• Zinc
• Vitamin A
• Antioxidants healing the gut
• B vitamins for the liver
• Antioxidants for the liver
• Glutathione and a range of amino acids
Result in safe toxins.
Circling back to the original question – what is the key to health? Food really is the best medicine and along with other positively healthy lifestyle choices like the benefits of exercise and not smoking you can help to prevent disease before it had you in its grips.
Next Steps
If you’ve been wondering what is the key to health and would like to take the next steps towards improving your health then here are a couple of suggestions for you:
This article on how to lose weight without dieting is a useful resource if you are seeking to improve your health through nutrition.
You are welcome to take a look at this weight loss cheat sheet, and if you feel ready to take the next step with coaching then you can join us on the ProCoach program with your very own online nutrition coach.