A healthy body fights infection, heals wounds, kills cancer cells, repairs damage, and fights the aging process. However, maintaining and restoring health so your body can effectively utilize the natural healing processes requires a bit more than visiting the doctor after something goes wrong.
In her book, The Metabolic approach to Cancer, Dr. Nasha Winters writes, “When stress, endocrine and sleep disruptors, and environmental and emotional toxins are removed and replaced with peace, purpose, nutrients, nontoxic products, rest, exercise and healthy relationships, the body becomes incredibly resilient. All these elements are powerful enough to affect DNA, and that’s good medicine.”
However, the opposite is true when these things are not in order. It is like a domino effect that can result in a compromised immune system and even serious illness that can be difficult to reverse. If we can implement a few things daily to move the needle in our favor, stacking good habits, we can build a strong immune system that will lead to longevity.
A Few Elements of a Healthy Body:
Eat a Healthy Diet: Eating an anti-inflammatory diet of clean meats and a variety of organic fruits and vegetables is key. Food is medicine to your body. Everything you ingest is either helping or hurting your health, so ditch the sugar, gluten and processed foods. When sugar enters the body, it paralyzes immune cells for several hours following consumption and also causes inflammation, which is linked to multiple diseases, including cancer and auto immune disorders.
Remove Toxins from your Daily Routine: Pay attention to what you are putting on your body and what products you are using to clean your home; swap out your personal care products for cleaner alternatives. Use an app, such as YUKA to scan products and see what chemicals might be hidden that are dangerous to your health.
Drink Clean Water: Make sure you are getting adequate clean, filtered water intake. Ditch the plastic bottles with endocrine disruptors. The rule of thumb is half your weight per day in ounces. Be sure to add any necessary trace minerals or electrolytes as needed. Consider adding a filter to your kitchen, shower or entire home.
Get Plenty of Sleep: If you’re not getting at least 7 hours of sleep each night, your body doesn’t have time to heal and repair. Nothing can replace a good night’s rest. A lot happens in our bodies while we are sleeping, such as brain maintenance and toxin removal.
Exercise Regularly: Movement is medicine. Regular exercise has been shown to help boost energy levels and enhance your mood. It may also be associated with many other health benefits, including a reduced risk of chronic disease. It is also a wonderful natural anti-depressant.
Heal Emotionally & Spiritually: Negative emotions make you sick. I can’t emphasize this enough. Negative emotions and unresolved trauma are toxic and can affect your health in the most adverse way. Learning to manage stress in a healthy manner can literally save your life. Exercises like yoga, Christian meditation and a regular practice of reading the Bible and praying are valuable tools for calming the nervous system and reducing cortisol levels and inflammation. Check out this study: A review and novel theoretical model of how negative emotions influence inflammation: The critical role of emotion regulation – PMC (nih.gov)
Taking a break at wellness retreats is a great way to reset and refresh yourself. Check out Dare to Dream, A Wellness Retreat in Puerto Vallarta. April 22-26, 2025 – Whole_Hearted Yoga (whole-heartedyoga.com) for my upcoming retreat.
Clear Detoxification Pathways: Make sure you are sweating, peeing and pooping on a regular basis. If not, toxins can keep recycling throughout your body instead of being released. Consider using an infrared sauna a few times a week to ramp up your detoxification process and perhaps taking a binder to help clean up circulating toxins.
Check your Microbiome: As I wrote in a previous blog, your microbiome is responsible for about 60% of your immune system. This is a huge piece of your health picture. The GI-MAP is a great test to view immune markers, pathogens and potential bacterial overgrowth in your gut that may be compromising your health.
Enhance the foundations of your immune system now as a lifestyle that leads to longevity and an active future you. Don’t wait until you are sick to take better care of yourself. If you need help getting started, go to the contact page on my site.
Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and not meant to treat or diagnose any illnesses or conditions. Always consult with your doctor before taking any new supplement or medication. Be sure to research any possible drug interactions and potential side effects.
