Do you want to be healthy?

We’re all hearing so much information about the immune system, so much advice about how to be healthy it can be annoying some times. What’s the immune system anyways?

The immune system is a very complex network of biological processes that protects the organism from disease. Again, what does that mean? Basically all we need to know is that we have something in our gut called healthy bacteria which is crucial for a good health. We need to protect that good bacteria.

1. eat fruits and veggies (1 apple a day keeps the doctor away is very much accurate)

2. drink lots of water (water is life, please drink your water)

3. don’t exaggerate with coffee, especially on an empty stomach

4. don’t eat processed foods (not as much anyways, try to minimalize your daily intake)

5. don’t eat nonprescribed medicine

6. don’t smoke (auch, sorry, but you knew that's not healthy, do you love it more than your own body?)

7. don’t eat too much fried food

8. take a walk everyday (at least 5000 steps/day is not that hard to accomplish)

9. keep a healthy weight

10. too much alcohol is not good (1 decent glass of wine per day/1x500 ml beer for a woman according to some sources, for men the quantity can increase a little)

11. sleep well (going to sleep at a decent hour is so underrated these days)

12. minimize stress (that’s maybe one of the most important advices I can give you as a medical nurse, stress can cause so much harm you would not believe it) So many diseases are caused mainly by too much stress and an unhealthy lifestyle. I recently started YOGA and is huge for mental health.

13. laugh (yes, that helps our bodies in so many ways)

I gave up meat about a year ago and since then I discovered the benefits of introducing more vegetables in my diet. Meats have something called the stress hormone, which is caused by the way the animals are being sacrificed, and of course we also eat that stress hormone that “hardens the meat” or so to speak.

Not to mention how the animals are fed and cared for in the food industry. Do you know why they say “we are what we eat”? Natural, organic food have some sort of DNA that will then be recognized by our DNA when we eat and properly feed and nourish our bodies. Well, the processed food and meats and even the pills we have to take are full of toxic chemicals that have no DNA and our body will try to get rid of, with the extent of exhausting the liver and kidneys trying to clean our body.

Some pills that we often take for a head ache or the menstrual pain also kills that good bacteria that we have to protect. Don’t be hasty with taking a pill, some headaches are caused by stress, tired eyes, too little water, crying, sometimes even cold whether if you don’t dress accordingly.

First we should see what could be the cause for the headache, maybe it will go away if we drink enough water, for terrible menstrual pain the best thing that can help sometime is a heating pad. So don’t take that painkiller pill right away, think about it for a minute.

Maybe the hardest advice to follow for most people is to not stress. It’s so hard to control the stress, it consumes us, it can make us feel sick, it affects the entire body. Even so, you would be amazed how much can help to take a few minutes to step outside in nature, or just look outside at the sky, empty your mind for a minute, meditate, have a short prayer if you like.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, exhale, lower your shoulders, unlock your jaw.

I have been trying to follow these advices for a while and I tell you, I have not been sick for years now.

Please be kind to yourself, to build a healthy lifestyle is not easy, it can’t be done in a week, but it will save your life.