Health is something that is both luck of your genes that is gifted from your parents and what you can do in your lifetime to improve your health.
If your gene pool that you inherited from your mom, dad and grandparents were basically good, you will have a more productive time with the efforts you make to help yourself regarding eating healthy foods, exercising, and maintaining some sense of spiritual peace and emotional calm.
Genes. We get 50% of our genes from our mother’s side, and 50% from our father’s side. We get 25% from each or our grandparents. If there is a thread from one line of say cancer, heart disease or autoimmune issues, you will likely be at risk for these health challenges.
Any of the many gene reports that can be conducted today can give you feed back as to the genetic health risks you face, whether it is Ancestry, 23andme, or many other reports.
What we now know about genes is that for the most part if essential genes and their respective enzymes are not absent or seriously impaired, you can favorably manipulate them with your lifestyle choices and specific supplementation to keep your healthy genes flipped on and keep your unhealthy genes flipped off or delay their full onset.
For instance, if both your parents died or were treated for cardiovascular disease, you may be at risk for this health challenge. To counter this inheritance, if you follow a 80-90% plant based unprocessed food diet, minimal to no sugar and alcohol, exercise regularly 4-6 times per week, with aerobic and weight training, and practice some type of stress reducing practice, i.e. yoga, tai chi, Qigong, or meditation, you will most likely not incur the same disease diagnosis.
To that end, modifying your genetic inheritance and get healthier relies on the following ten things to do when budget allows.
- Fluids: Drink one third to one half of your body weight. Your best fluids are water, herbal teas, seltzer or mineral water. Beverages should be calorie, phosphorus and chemical free. Filtered water and fluids best.
- Learn to cook healthy foods for yourself. If you are living with someone who does the cooking, help them, if possible, in the kitchen to learn. Use YouTube videos or learn from Alix how to prepare healthy foods.
- Make half of what you eat daily vegetables and fruits. Fill you plate with raw veggies, cooked veggies, vegetable soups. The more vegetables you eat, your body will use their antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, botanical compounds and fiber to support your energy needs, DNA and cell protection and repair and detoxification. Eat whole fruits only, approx. 2-4 daily.
- Food: Think greens- broccoli and all its friends- broccolini, broccoli rabe, kale, collards, Bok choy, lettuces, green beans, zucchini.
- Food: Think reds and oranges- red and orange peppers, carrots, red radishes, butternut, acorn, Calabaza, kabocha hard squashes, sweet potato, yam.
- Food: Eat healthy fats daily. Olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds. For those on low oxalate or low histamine diets, olive oil and seeds will be fine. Fats from sardines, trout, mackerel, salmon, herring are rich in essential fatty acids our bodies need.
- Food: Learn to cook and sprout legumes(beans), seeds and whole grains. Foods like alfalfa sprouts, broccoli sprouts, mung bean sprouts, lentil sprouts, or other bean sprouts, or quinoa, brown rice sprouts are a super nutritious way to consume these foods. Prepare beans in soups, stews, or add to salads. Whole grains can be added as a side dish, added to soups, in amounts based on your energy and weight needs.
- Proteins: Keep proteins to 20-30 percent of your diet no mater what dietary program you are following. Keep animal protein lean. Select fatty fishes as mentioned in #6. When possible, select organic proteins. For Plant based proteins, organic soy products like tofu, tempeh, yuba, and natto can have a place in most people’s diets. Plant based protein burgers; meatballs vary considerably depending on how they are made. The more natural the ingredients, the better.
- Exercise and movement. Your body will always feel better, sleep better, and your mood will improve when you are able to regularly conduct any type of exercise. Our bodys need aerobic and weight challenging exercise at least 4-5 times per week. As we get older, we need to maintain muscle mass through challenging the muscles. That can occur through weight training, calisthenic, Pilates, yoga, TRX, climbing stairs, and other forms of movement.
- Social interaction that brings joy. We need a strong social connection to either family, friends, or both to feel well and whole. Mend what you can, heal your past as best you can, and join with others to interact and share conversation.
These ten things to do will bring your body and mind to a healthier place. They seem easy but are challenging to get all going at once. It can take years to learn how to eat well, break patterns of eating that do not serve you anymore, or exercise after injuries or emotional challenges. Most people I know need an outside force, a person who can motivate them, whether a friend, a trainer, a therapist, or an event to work towards to start new behaviors and sustain them.
Good luck and use some of these recipe resources to help you.
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