FOR HEALTH

Everyone has their own little health tips that they swear by and believe that everyone else should swear by, too.  "It's the secret to youth and vitality!  Good skin!  Weight loss!  Cures cancer!!"  Who knows what works or what is true.  Honestly, the answer is that no one knows.  Especially when it comes to nutrition and diet.  No one knows, so just give up.  No, no - don't give up, but find out what works for you!  Doing experiments on yourself is fun.  Self-experimentation is the most rewarding and interesting experimentation, because what is more interesting than yourself?

For me, some health routines come and go, and some stay.  I will tell you what I'm doing each day currently.  I'm feeling good, placebo or not!

1. Vitamin D3.  2,000 IUs and as much sun as possible (but not too much sun - don't burn).  I'm putting this first because I truly believe that Vitamin D deficiency is an epidemic right now and responsible for many, many of today's modern diseases and ailments.  I tell everyone I know, unsolicited, to supplement with Vitamin D3.  AT LEAST 1,000 IUs a day.  If you take one vitamin, or do one thing at all for your health, do this.  This one has stuck, I've been taking this for years (4,000 IUs a day for a while, 2,000 throughout pregnancy and since).

2.  Magnesium. 400 mgs of "Super Magnesium Triple Blend".  Just about everyone is deficient in magnesium, too, and it's quite an important mineral for our bone and digestive health.  It's responsible for a lot, actually.  It is present in the soil and thus in fruits and vegetables grown in soil, and in animal products that eat roughage grown in soil.  Apparently modern farming soil has less and less of this mineral, though, and it's hard to get enough from diet alone unless you are reaaaallly trying. So magnesium is another one to take.

3.  Multivitamin.  I take a gummy women's multivitamin.  It's really tasty and I look forward to it.  I forget to take it some days, but I don't stress.  Key components that are good coverage are folic acid, B vitamins, and an array of other shit.  Just good practice, though not as necessary as the previous two things I've mentioned.

4.  Apple cider vinegar.  I have been taking 1 tsp - 1tbsp of ACV mixed with water each day.  Depending on who you talk to, ACV will help you in about 1,000 different ways.  It will definitely help with insulin regulation, and it will most likely just make you feel good.  So I've been taking it regularly.

5.  Drink water.  I'm putting this on here just because it's something I have to remind myself of each day.  Water = good!  Drink it!

6.  Probiotics.  Your body is like 90% bacteria.  You want lots of the beneficial kind!  They help with digestion and help keep the pathogenic bacteria at bay.  Really great for the immune system.  Take the pills and eat fermented foods like yogurt and kefir.


7.  Eat organic when it comes to the "dirty dozen".  You can sign up to receive a PDF version of the Environmental Working Group's "Guide to Pesticides in Produce."  They emailed me a guide, and I'll be happy to continue to receive their newsletter.  They update the list of pesticide-heavy produce each year - try to buy the organic versions of these.  The top five are apples, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and grapes.  I think I just ate like 2 pounds of non-organic grapes over the weekend...wish I'd known this before I did that!

8.  Make your own food whenever you can!  REALLY limit your consumption of processed, packaged, frozen food.  It has tons of added salt to preserve it, if nothing else.  And usually lots of questionable extras.  It's cheaper to cook your own, too.  A few hours of meal prep when you have a low-key evening can do wonders.  Throw some sweet potatoes/russets in the oven.  Bake some chicken.  Chop some veggies to cook throughout the week.  You get the idea.

9.  Don't limit saturated fat or dietary cholesterol - eat it for your brain.  Egg yolks, bacon, beef - all of those fatty things that contain high amounts of dietary cholesterol - are actually VERY good for your brain (in moderation - don't go crazy). They are the best sources of choline, the importance of which is just starting to be understood for brain and heart health.  It's particularly important during pregnancy - maybe AS important as folic acid.  So eat some eggs every week! Really, 1-2 a day would be optimal.

10.  Fish.  Eat 'em, and stick to the low-mercury ones for the most part.  But you also want fatty ones for the Omega-3s (best source of these, and of dietary vitamin D).  The sweet spot is wild caught salmon!

I'm not going to put sleep on this list, simply because this is a list of what I do for my health, and I don't do this.  But YOU should.  Sleep is so important.  Hopefully I'll be able to add this soon, ugh.

What little/big things do YOU do for your health?  I'm always so interested in this!