Whatever we are doing in our lives our biggest asset is always going to be ourselves.  Our busy lives take up a huge amount of energy and effort, alongside the need to keep focussed on the really important issues.  We know we need to be aiming to be operating at peak efficiency yet it can be hard to see what to do to get the best for and out of ourselves, our time and our energy when there are so many demands on us.   So here are a few tips to help you check if you have the basics in place:

Practical tip #1  Eat Well

We live and die at the cellular level.  Damaged cells are the source of all known diseases and cells need nutrients and oxygen to survive.  Scientists have shown that they can keep cells viable in a Petri dish for 50 years after the donors body has died if they have the right nutrients!  This shows that what we put inside our bodies is perhaps the most important thing to consider for keeping the body healthy and active and the mind focussed.  Nutrition provides the very basis for our body and health.

One of the most common sources of poor eating habits are excess sugars in the diet. Refined sugars can give a high boost to energy, but then there is a crash as the levels plummet again, which leads to a craving to eat more.  Excess sugars are then turned into fat. This activity causes strain on the body at a cellular level and depletes its precious resources.

The body needs slow release sugars and a plentiful supply of micronutrients to keep it in a balanced state for maximum working efficiency and long term health. Local fruit and vegetable, limited meat, raw and cooked whole foods and salads for example. A varied well chosen diet is important to provide the complete range of building blocks for the body’s long term health and vibrancy.

Practical tip #2 Water

At school if our class was being disruptive, and in an attempt to humble us, our chemistry teacher would make us all stand and recite the chemical makeup of the body.  I can’t remember the figures for calcium, magnesium, iron, etc, but I can remember it always started with us chanting in unison ‘I am 80% water……etc’

I now know that it is only babies that have such a high proportion of water making up their bodies and that as we age the proportion drops quite considerably unless we are careful to keep ourselves hydrated.

Dehydration is possibly one of the most undervalued resources for keeping energy levels high and maintaining good health.  Unlike hunger, thirst is for many not necessarily a good indicator of the body’s needs.  By the time we are thirsty the body may already be significantly dehydrated.

There is research to suggest that dehydration of the cells in the brain affects co-ordination and concentration, and if a muscle is dehydrated by just 3% there is a 10% drop in strength and 8% in speed.

Water is the perfect conductor of electricity and as such is critical in the day to day function of our bodies as signals travel between and within cells and tissues.

How much do we need to drink? One rule of thumb is halve the body’s weight in pounds and and drink that many fluid ounces of water a day. So if you weigh 140 pounds drink 70 fluid ounces of water. Some say we often reach for a snack when in fact our bodies are trying to tell us we are thirsty, so you could try a glass of water instead.  Water is well known to be an appetite suppressant as well as a detoxifier.  Filtered  water is generally considered best.  Tea and coffee however are diuretics and whilst they may quench thirst in the short term, in the long term they contribute to dehydration and therefore also fatigue.

Practical tip #3 Sleep

Sleep is one of the restorative activities of our body and probably the one most generally overlooked.  All day long our bodies are subject to oxidative stress and damage from free radicals, toxin build up, hormonal activities and imbalances as well as simply the stress and emotions of modern day living.  The body doesn’t have time to care for all of these issues in their entirety during the day and so hormones are activated to shut down the systems of the body at night in order that the restorative processes can get to work clearing out the toxins and restore the body back to balance while we sleep. When this happens we can wake up refreshed and ready to go.

However many are not getting enough sleep or good quality sleep. This means the body isn’t getting enough time to go through the cycles of healing and balancing that it needs to do. People who get good quality and sufficient sleep tend to be able to function at a much higher level every day and are not so susceptible to stressors.  There is extensive research to demonstrate that over time restorative sleep cleans and cleanses the body and restores health.  There is no substitute.

Practical tip #4 Exercise

Our bodies are designed to be in motion.  They are designed to move to stay fit. That doesn’t necessarily mean going to a gym but it does mean keeping active.  For example 20 minutes of brisk walking for some people may be better than a 10 mile run, simply because of the strain and stress on the joints and the wear and tear that significant exercise can create. It’s a personal choice for each individual, and what suits individual circumstances best. Tai chi or yoga can provide a wide range of movement and stretching, cycling or swimming can build stamina, whilst dancing can provide varied exercise movements.

The body’s muscles will develop in response to the challenge of exercise, and get stronger. This includes the heart muscles as well as the muscles that are used to stimulate the lymphatic system.  If muscles are not used, say for example after having been in a cast for a while for a broken limb, they will atrophy.

There are one way valves to help keep the lymph systems working and for pumping blood to the heart from the legs etc. For this reason it is good to keep moving regularly during the day whenever possible and not too sit for too long without at least a break and stretch. This improves circulation and helps the body to detoxify. By the same principle regular exercise is also beneficial for building and maintaining bone strength.

Practical Tip #5 Redox Signalling Molecules

At the moment very few people have ever heard of redox signalling molecules and you may be one of them. Soon they are going to be as famous as antioxidants and penicillin and understanding them is now at the cutting edge of health science.

So what are they? They are tiny molecules, no more than four atoms each in size, that are created within every cell of the body and are vital to the immune system, to cellular communication systems and for activating antioxidants. They undertake functions that are central to all higher forms of life on the planet and a proper balanced supply of them enables, for example, damaged dysfunctional cells to fade away and healthy vibrant cells to take over.  These highly reactive molecules are so critical to the processes in the body that without them life functions stop.

Until recently food, water, sleep and exercise would have been the basic list for physical self help.  However a group of scientists have managed to stabilise and balance redox signaling molecules outside the body, molecules identical to those the body produces itself naturally, and they are now available to take as a drink supplement known as ASEA.

Whilst ASEA is 100% safe and clinically proven, it makes no claims to cure, diagnose or treat any disease or problem. It does however verifiably contain trillions of perfectly balanced and stable redox signalling molecules, identical to those produced by the body and the astonishing stories from people who are drinking it are emerging in numbers every day. These are people ranging from those with serious health challenges, athletes who want to improve their training endurance and recovery, busy mums and families who want to keep healthy, and anyone interested in anti-aging and want to maintain a high quality of life for as long as possible.

So now you really can drink to your health!
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