Prevention is better than cure is the old adage. And often old adages speak absolute truths.
Given the ever increasing cost of modern healthcare and insurance premiums, it makes not just common sense but also economic sense to keep oneself healthy.
From my work as a naturopath and as a woman nearing 50, I am listing out 5 habits that work like Preventive Medicine. Form them by the age of 40 (sooner the better), and they will regulate natural age related changes and prevent any new major chronic disease from taking hold.
But remember they are preventive and will not be enough if your aim is to root out an existing disease, or cure a chronic condition. For curing, food will need to be used as medicine more extensively and follows a different protocol.
1. Drink Morning Water within the First Hour of Waking Up
Elimination is far more important that nutrition. So, while you might eat very healthy if your elimination channels are not optimal: stool, urine, sweat, breathing, then the body will catch some disease.
Drinking water, immediately on waking up or within the first 1 hr (but still as the first thing) is what kick starts the body’s elimination channels. Morning stool and urine have enough toxins that need to be flushed out and drinking water between 200ml-1 litre does exactly that.
Just PLAIN WATER. Can be room temperature, lukewarm or slightly warm depending on weather condition and body condition. No added lemon, honey, green tea, tea, coffee. The idea is to flush the pipes and if you add anything, even lemon then the body starts absorbing and not flushing.
2. Sleep Before 11 PM
Nothing balances hormones, repairs tissues and restores nerve strength like a good night sleep. Mind you Not daytime sleep but night sleep. A healthy body, one that is aligned with its circadian rhythm starts shutting down between 9-11 pm. Follow that drowsiness and sleep. How many hours you sleep and how early you wake up, have less value than WHEN you sleep.To read more about circadian rhythms and how you can overcome insomnia, read these earlier articles:
https://yoururbannaturopath.com/circadian-rhythm-and-body-clocks/
https://yoururbannaturopath.com/natural-remedies-for-insomnia-tips-for-restful-sleep/
3. Finish Dinner by 7/7:30 PM
If you have crossed 40 and are still doing heavy/late dinners, you are setting yourself up for Disease. The ability of an empty stomach to repair itself and direct energy towards other internal healing is the main principle of FASTING.
If you finish your dinner by 7 pm and don’t eat till 9am the next day, you are already on a 14-hr intermittent fasting schedule.
Read more about why this preserves health & how to do it read: https://yoururbannaturopath.com/why-intermittent-fasting-works-for-respiratory-heart-and-stomach-disorders/
4. Have Movement/Exercise Built Into Your Day
Even if you get your food 100% right, long term health won’t sustain if not combined with movement. The human body is built for movement. You cannot stay healthy with a very sedentary lifestyle. The body demands movement not just once 24 hrs but every few hours.
Move around whatever space you inhabit. Walk, stretch, squat, go up & down stairs. Learn to do daily activities that involve all types of movements: use your fingers (especially important for brain health), arms, legs, torso.
Those who do traditional housework that involves sweeping and mopping the floors while squatting are doing their bodies a favour. If you notice specific symptoms, then do appropriate exercise:
Stressed: Squat, it releases the adrenal
Worried: Walk, it clears the head & spleen
Depressed/Low Mood: Get in the sun and stay under light all the time. Sweat & sweat some more
Anxious: Cold baths and intense exercise. Keep grounding yourself to release the nervous energy: walk bare feet at home, hold something in your hands constantly: squeeze a tennis ball, use a rosary.
5. Don’t Just Eat for Taste
If your idea of eating is always ‘tasty food’ then sooner or later, you will find yourself in trouble. Develop tastes that are tasty when the body is clean/detoxed: like fruits, soaked nuts & seeds or raw vegetable salads or very lightly cooked and minimum spice added vegetables. Think sweet potatoes with just lime and a dash of chat masala.
Learn to add sour and bitter taste to your palate (it will keep organs like your liver & pancreas healthy in the long run). And NO Bitter does NOT mean BITTER/BLACK COFFEE
Learn to regularly eat bitter gourd, fenugreek, kadi patta. Use recipes that make them retain some of their bitterness post cooking.
Sour taste is a must. Easiest if you have serving of citrus fruits 3-4 times a week. Else learn to consume lemons, tamarind, mango powder (don’t overdo these)
