Healthy Eating and Living

More recently, with growing understanding of the mind body connection, thoughts, emotions and beliefs are also shown to have a major impact on health.

Healthy Food and Drink

Healthy eating goes beyond the standard recommendations of eating vegetables, fruits, lean protein, essential fats and complex carbohydrates.

The healthy living diet is also about portion control, proper food preparation and eating habits. Sitting down and eating slowly is healthier than wolfing food on the run. Stress-free food preparation and consumption helps you get the most benefit from your food.

A few purists advocate aiming for a "perfect" diet, but many experts are more lenient. A standard rule for a healthy living diet is to consume 80% good quality healthy food and a variety of superfoods.

Although real foods contain much of the water your body needs, it's important to drink enough pure water and healthy beverages to keep fully hydrated.

There are many health benefits of drinking water. For example, even becoming slightly dehydrated can bring on fatigue and foggy thinking.

Moderate Exercise

The human body is meant to move and work. Since many of us live more sedentary lives nowadays it is beneficial to build in opportunities to move often during the day and engage in resistance training, yoga, walking and/or other exercises you enjoy and are physically capable of doing.

Quality Sleep

Lack of sleep causes a variety of mental and physical symptoms and even disease over time. It adds a great deal of stress to our minds and bodies.

Proper sleep hygiene, consistent sleep habits, adequate exercise, controlling pain, and reducing stress contribute to a good night sleep. Your mind and body will function better as a result.

Stress Reduction

Stress changes the chemicals in your body and takes away energy resources from the 'less necessary' immediate functions of digestion, fighting infection, and rebuilding tissue.

Our bodies are equipped to handle occasional bouts of stress, not the steady diet many of us feed it.

Over time too much stress can lead to illness and a lower quality of life.

Learn more about the effects of stress on health and natural stress relief tips here.

Healthy Social Support

People who have strong family or community ties or regularly attend religious services tend to live longer. Survival rates of cancer patients who feel loved and supported often far exceeds those who don't. Having strong healthy social ties improves quality of life on all levels.

Limit Toxic Exposure

Many chronic illnesses are attributed, at least in part, to toxic overload. Researchers find hundreds of chemicals in the umbilical cords of newborn infants. This is the price we pay for modern living and mass food production. Well-sealed modern homes are often several times more polluted than the outdoors.

Sometimes the 'toxins' we generate are a result of stress and negative thinking patterns. It's important to detoxify your life on all levels.

Mind Your Thoughts and Emotions

Thoughts and emotions trigger chemical responses in the body. Positive thoughts lead to the release of brain chemicals that make us feel good. Negative thoughts and emotions release brain chemicals that cause stress on our systems. These mental toxins can make us ill and speed aging just as environmental toxins can.

You can greatly impact your overall health and well-being for the good by reducing your toxic load of negative thoughts, beliefs and emotions and shifting to more positive feelings.

Follow the adage, "Live, Love, Laugh". Enjoy your life. That is why we pursue good health and healing. Laughter is a wonderful healing medicine. So is love and living life to the fullest. That doesn't mean abusing yourself. It means living a meaningful, purposeful life that is rewarding and fulfilling.

Healthy eating and living encompass all aspects of life. Our health depends on how we treat our minds and bodies on a regular basis. It depends on how we treat our personal environment and the environment at large. It depends on having healthy, fulfilling relationships with others, including Source.

Although improving just one aspect of our lives can have a positive impact, using a holistic mindbody approach to healthy eating and living has the potential to maximize overall health and well-being.