10 Tips to Greatly Improve Your Health

One: Increase fruit intake. It's full of antioxidants and nutrients, and many fruits contain digestive enzymes that'll keep your pipes running clean and efficient.

Two: Avoid fruit juices. It's a common misconception that they're great for you; sure, they're loaded with vitamins, much like the whole fruit, but they lack the fiber, and so the sugar in it will cause an insulin spike in your body--something that eating whole fruit will not result in.

Three: Reduce dairy products. Yes, things like milk are a great source of calcium, protein, and other essentials. But unless you can find a raw milk vendor in your area, the milk that you are drinking, while it delivers lots of protein and calcium, will do more harm than good. Cows these days are loaded down with hormones and artificial feed, and the chemicals therein are transferred to the milk. Also, dairy products have been shown to increase phlegm and result, sometimes, in reduced immunity. Besides getting calcium, try getting magnesium and vitamin D, too. Vitamin D and magnesium are essential in the use of calcium in the body, and without them, the calcium is nearly useless. It's estimated that up to 60% of the calcium in milk is not used, unless you get a magnesium and vitamin D intake to match. Try getting most of your calcium from nuts and vegetables; almonds are a good source, as is broccoli, I believe.

Four: Drink more water. I can not emphasize this enough. Water does several very important things for your body: It provides 'padding' for your joints, it regulates body temperature, it flushes out toxins, increases metabolism, can stave off hunger, aids in digestion, and has no calorie content. It is one of the few 'perfect' edibles there are out there. It has no adverse effects, unless you drink way too much and become waterlogged. But that takes care of itself. You might worry about having to urinate all the time if you drink more water. The fact is, your body will adapt to the heightened water intake after a few days to a couple of weeks (depending on various things), and you may even end up heading to the bathroom even less than before.

Five: Reduce your sodium intake. Or, if you absolutely have to have sodium for some unknown and un-thought-of reason, match it with potassium. Potassium can help ease the adverse effects of sodium on the body, research shows. While a little bit of sodium is necessary, most of us take in way too much. Before popping a handful of mixed salted nuts in your mouth, maybe you should rinse them off first.

Six: Increase your iron intake. Iron is one of the main nutrients that helps the blood carry oxygen throughout the body. More oxygen flow results in more energy; more energy, and you might just want to get out there and do something, like exercise.

Seven: Exercise. This one's a given. Don't do just cardio or just strength training, but, rather, do both on different days of the week. Make sure you don't overdo it, if you're just starting. Jumprope is excellent conditioning, as is running. Anaerobic activity trumps aerobic activity for fat loss; 30 second sprints followed by 15 seconds of rest, and repeating several times, will burn off more fat than as much as twice that time spent running long-distance.

Eight: Meditate. Or find some other way to chill out. It's a proven fact that stress and anxiety increases chemicals in your body that tell your body to begin storing fat; this is probably a descendant instinct of the old body-logic, "Oh, no. The mind is panicking. We must be about to run out of food! Time to store up..."
Meditation has also been shown to have other positive effects.

Nine: Get a good night of sleep. Running on fumes (so to speak) and not sleeping for long periods of time invokes the same 'panic button' in the body that stress does. It will result in excess fat storage. And, besides, a good night of sleep is just nice to have. No need for scientific facts to back that up; a good rest will make just about anyone feel better.

Ten: Reduce processed sugar and sweetener intake, for the love of God. There's a huge difference between simple sugars from fruits, and processed sugars found in cakes. The latter bears the blame for acidic saliva that often results in cavities, obesity, hyperactivity, some gland disorders, diabetes, and others. Processed sugars, such as high fructose corn syrup, also are reported to stunt growth, slow down metabolism, and cause digestive problems. Avoid artificial 'sugar-free' sweeteners as well; they're often just as bad, but for different reasons.