Get The Basics Right..

Lately, I’ve been quite shocked how unhealthy people are that I see around me. Three times recently I’ve walked up three flights of stairs and the person I’ve walked up with or has been behind me, not only are out of breath, but they also look like they are struggling to get up the stairs at all.

I am not talking about old people; definitely younger than me on all occasions and sometimes significantly younger than me.

I wondered, “How much exercise do these people do? Any at all?

I then considered how many other poor lifestyle habits people have adopted, unfortunately, most are now just considered normal. So, let’s take a look at all the 101s that it’s important to get right to have good foundational health.

I’ll say at this point as well, that I discuss this with no judgement. Sometimes it’s hard to do everything that’s good for you every day and I also believe it’s good to not overload people. But, if you are finding time to scroll or watch TV then there should be time in your day for the following.

So, Let’s Start With Exercise as I Brought it Up First…

Getting daily exercise in the form of walking should be a basic human requirement in order to ensure that the lymphatic system is moving, toxins are being flushed out, nutrients get to tissues and the cardiovascular system is getting a little push. Even twenty minutes can be beneficial.

This will keep things ticking over, but ideally more is required. That could be walking for longer or faster, jogging, running, hiking, swimming, playing sport, weights in the gym, attending an aerobic type class… the list is endless. An early morning, lunchtime or evening walk during the week plus a weekend session could really make all the difference.

Now let’s talk about Water…

Most of us either don’t drink enough, we drink the wrong type of water or both.

As our bodies are about 99% water, made up of exclusion zone water (gel like type of water that forms inside our cells), it’s important that the water we take on board (and bathe in) is as clean and pure as possible.

First of all, stop drinking mains tap water. It contains, chlorine, fluoride, pharmaceutical drugs, heavy metals, other chemicals. None of which are conducive to health. Filter or distill your water instead. Gravity filters are often best. Avoid drinking water that you buy in plastic bottles as microplastics leech into the water- again not good for us.

Then, add some ‘good’ salt ie not table salt- use celtic, sea, Himalayan, lemon, lime etc. Not only does it structure the water, (ie mean that your body will hold onto it better and therefore hydrate you better) it improves the taste.

Next up, add a filter to your bath and shower as well as your body absorbs toxins through the skin.

Now Food…

After being vegan for 7 years and spending some time eating Paleo before that, I am now a lot less restrictive. Here’s what I currently think about food….

1)    Food is important but it’s not as important as we think. The other things in this blog can be just as, if not more, important.

2)    Eat whole organic food as much as possible and eat processed/ takeaway/ ready meals/ restaurant food rarely.

3)    Learn how to make simple nutritious meals. You do not have to be Gordon Ramsey to make a salad, bake a potato and cook a piece of meat or fish. Simple is often quick and best.

4)    Eat enough for your lifestyle and energy expenditure. The problem most people make is not eating too much good  whole food, but eating too much processed food.

5)    Eat a mix of food, especially fruit and veggies- eat raw whenever possible.

6)    If you drink milk/ eat dairy- choose raw whenever possible. Pasteurised milk is a processed food.

Now Let’s Talk About Sleep

In Hong Kong, people wear their lack of sleep with pride, which is crazy. Is it any different here in the UK?  No! The British average is 6-6.5hrs per night. The recommended amount of sleep per night is 7-9 hours. Do you know what your optimal amount of sleep is? Six hours sleep or less per night puts you at risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.

Going to bed at midnight and being up at 6am is so common, but how does it make you feel? Tired, reaching for caffeine, and wanting to eat crappy carbs and sugary foods are often the side effects. You’re also less likely to exercise and more likely to feel depressed and anxious. Disjointed sleep is just as bad. You can’t make up for bad sleep. Ask yourself, ‘Why am I tired?’ Do I need to go to bed earlier or do I need to optimise my health so that I sleep better?

Time in Nature

Here in Wales, nature is all around us, however not everybody lives in the countryside. Actively seeking time in nature; getting fresh air, sunshine, grounding, time alone with your thoughts or spending time with family and friends, regardless of the weather are all so important for our physical and mental health.

Your Mindset is Also Important

Even if you do all the right things as listed above, if you have a negative mindset, experience negative thought patterns, are overly self-critical and experience limited self-love these can also be detrimental to your health. Masuru Emoto’s experiments prove that water holds emotion and has consciousness. Holding onto negative emotions and thought patterns is detrimental to health. Over 70% of cancers are thought to be caused to have their root cause in  trauma or negative emotions.

Positive Relationships are Important

If you surround yourself with positive people, you are more likely to be happier than if you have negative people around you. Having a purpose, being a member of a community is all important for your mental and emotional wellbeing. Create boundaries around toxic family members who you may not be able to avoid. Get out of toxic relationships.

Nervous System Regulation is Critical

If you spend a lot of your life in fight or flight mode, maybe walking on eggshells around emotionally challenged people, or if your system is on high alert because of past traumas, as well as being exhausting, it means that our cells don’t repair as they should. Over time that looks like chronic health issues.

Reducing Chemicals in your Life

Take an audit and check out what chemicals you use in your home and on your body. Ideally use few (if any) toxic chemicals. Anything you put on your skin, think ‘would I eat this?’ as everything that is put onto the skin is absorbed into the body. Using chemicals that ‘off gas’ like bleach mean that we breathe in the chemical, causing harm to our lungs and the liver which ultimately breaks down the chemical. Do you smoke or drink alcohol regularly? These are chemicals that your body views as toxic and can have detrimental systemic effects; including your liver, lungs, digestive system, hormones.

Reduce Big Pharma in Your Life

Sometimes pharmaceutical drugs are important and can be lifesaving, but often they are used as a tool to get rid of the symptom while the root cause goes unattended. The problem with many pharmaceutical drugs (prescription and over the counter medicines) is that constant (and sometimes even one off) use often produces side effects. The body views them as toxic.

I have undertaken much research into vaccines over the years and I consider them totally unnecessary and unsafe and the insidious side of big pharma, because they are so ‘normal’. In addition the word ‘antivaxxer’ is used as a slur. Many of the ingredients are toxic on their own (mercury/ aluminium, formaldehyde, polysorbate 80) or of animal origin that you probably would not want injected into your body (human or bovine fetal cells, monkey kidney cells, dog kidney cells, antibiotics, even cancer cells). Their testing is particularly unsafe; no long-term testing takes place and the placebo (which should be salt or sugar water) is often another ‘established’ or older vaccine. This means that if 4 people died in the study in the placebo cohort and only three died in the new vaccine cohort, it is seen as safe as fewer people died who were given the new vaccine than the placebo (which was not a placebo). Additionally, if you follow the trail of vaccines used as a placebo down the line you will eventually find vaccines that were never tested at all from before 1954. Not scientific at all.

The party line from the mainstream medical industry is that vaccines are safe and effective. We’ve just discussed safety above and there has been much research conducted into their effectiveness. Unvaccinated children and adults are healthier; a fact that Big Pharma does not want you to know about. Check out ‘Turtles all the way down’ (foreword by Mary Holland, edited by Mary Holland and Zoey o’Toole. by ‘To vaccinate or not to vaccinate’ by A Amantanio or the works of Dr Tom Cowan, Dr Andrew Kaufman, Dr Sam Bailey, Dr Mark Bailey, Andrew Wakefield.

All toxins are either metabolised by the liver, or held in fat stores. This gets particularly unsafe when the toxic chemicals are held in visceral fat close to major organs. The overall impact is that the body’s organs and systems and overall functioning get negatively affected. Health conditions are the result as nothing unnatural is supposed to belong in the human body.

These are the elements that I encourage everyone to get on top of first before adding in supplements or different types of biohacking, in order to optimise their health.

Ally van de Pol is a Certified Naturopath, Certified Healing Diets Coach, Certfied Iridologist, Certified Herbal Medicine Therapist, as well as a Strength & Conditioning Coach (NASM-CPT, PPSC).