We are born with miraculously integrated bodies and minds. Our lungs draw in vital oxygen, essential for producing energy. Our hearts ceaselessly pump blood through vast networks of vessels to all of our tissues and organs. Raw materials are transformed into fuel by our digestive systems. Our muscles and bones propel us through the world, allowing us first to stand, then walk, then play and work.

Each day our brains take in a barrage of new information, filtering it, selectively storing it, and adapting their way of working accordingly. At the end of each day, we recharge and reset our systems by sleeping. All of us come equipped with a self-contained set of tools that, properly used, may allow us to live 100 years, or maybe even longer.

Beginning early in our lives, though, our genes, our environment, our culture, and our own free will conspire to test this marvelous organism—sometimes to the breaking point. There are people who maintain their health and live long, fruitful lives, sustaining minimal wear and tear. But others—perhaps most of us—push our bodies to the limit. Instead of eating the way our bodies were designed to eat, we indulge in foods filled with sugars and other refined carbohydrates, trans fats, and unhealthy food additives. Instead of walking to nearby destinations, we drive our cars. We sit most of the day. Some of us smoke. Some of us drink too much. Many of us allow negative feelings and stress to rule our thoughts. Not many of us get adequate sleep. The wrong choices trap us in a lifestyle that actually endangers our lives.

The effects of these poor choices compromise every system that keeps us well, and the damage is not pretty. After years of a diet high in refined carbohydrates, arteries become narrow and clogged with plaque, raising the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack. We find ourselves on the unhealthy path to metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and cancer. Eating too much of the wrong foods and getting too little exercise allows fat to build up around our organs and beneath our skin. Smoking fills our lungs with toxins, damaging our health in myriad ways. Not getting enough sleep worsens our memories and disrupts an important hormone cycle that prevents us from overeating. And too much stress compromises our body's natural immune system, the very tool that would help us combat much of the other damage.

Return to the Path of Good Health

Fortunately, we have the ability to choose.

That’s where our series of HealthJournals on Wellness come in. Our Wellness series will show you how to completely change your lifestyle to a healthy and sustainable one that will restore your vitality and reverse chronic medical conditions. It will provide you with innumerable health benefits. It will lessen dangerous abdominal fat, lower chronic inflammation, and reduce the threat of other chronic diseases. Your risk of getting heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases will be greatly reduced. You will be likely to live longer, too. What’s more, your systems and organs will be provided with all the nutrients they require, so that your hunger will be satisfied, and your body brought into homeostatic balance.

This wellness information is based on real science that refutes current mainstream medical notions of what we should be eating. In this series, we explain the most natural way to eat—so that fat melts away and the body’s hormonal systems rebalance themselves. In doing so, we turn popular notions of a “healthy diet” on their head. Moreover, we give you all the leading science on other aspects of wellness in your life—including how to break your bad habits, the benefits of sleep, how to de-stress, and the real benefits of exercising.

It’s rarely too late to make changes that can reverse damage to your abused organs and tissues. Even people who are sensitive to carbohydrates, and therefore genetically predisposed to putting on weight, can get back on the path to good health. By eating the right foods, exercising, modifying your negative habits, quitting smoking, sleeping well, and celebrating life, you can reverse many chronic conditions—and increase your enjoyment of life immeasurably.

We hope that you will continue to explore the miracle that is your body, knowing that the good choices you are making will enable you to enjoy a life full of activity and fulfillment. You have the power to keep your body and mind healthy, strong, and alive. You can live longer and live better.

To life!

Wellness and Nutrition – Prevent and Reverse Chronic Diseases with the Right Diet

In the series of HealthJournals on Wellness and Nutrition, learn which foods work to burn fat, which work to keep fat on you—and why. Learn about nutrition, including the macronutrients and micronutrients that your body does and doesn’t need. Learn to make the necessary changes to your diet while we provide you with the necessary tools to be successful with your new way of eating. Finally, learn about intermittent fasting and how it can help with weight loss and the reversal of chronic diseases.

Where there is water, there is life. Maintaining adequate hydration is fundamental to human health as it is to all organic life on Earth. We’re born with an innate and ongoing demand for fluid, but behind the familiar sensation of thirst is a reliance on water to transport nutrients, create blood pressure, eliminate waste, fight disease, feed cells, and conduct many more life-giving functions. At every moment, molecules of H₂O flow through every cell of every part of your body.

Here are some of the important functions that water has in your body:

Waste Removal
Water helps your body eliminate waste through sweat, urine, and feces

Protection
Water cushions and lubricates your tissues, organs, and joints

Temperature Regulation
Water helps your body to adjust its internal temperature

Nutrient Breakdown
Water aids in food digestion, releasing nutrients so they can be used by the body

Nutrient Transport
Water is the main component in blood, which carries nutrients and oxygen throughout your body

How much water should we drink? The advice often quoted—and almost as often questioned—is to consume eight 1-cup (8-ounce) glasses of water per day. It’s a good baseline recommendation, but in truth it’s impossible to set an intake that will suit every individual. We vary too greatly by body mass, activity level, and physical and environmental conditions to establish a universal requirement.

One easy way to judge if you’re getting enough water is by the color of your urine, which should be pale yellow or nearly clear. Darker urine indicates your kidneys are working too hard to filter impurities. Note, however, that certain vitamin and mineral supplements, including riboflavin, can turn the urine yellow or orange, even in a well-hydrated person.

It’s especially important to keep well hydrated when you are reducing your overall carbohydrate intake. Your body’s increased production of ketones (produced when you’re not utilizing glucose for fuel) may cause you to become dehydrated unless you drink that recommended 8 cups of water per day. You may find you need even more than that. Drinking lots of water can also help to relieve “ketone breath,” which is described as fruity or similar to the smell of nail polish remover. Being adequately hydrated can also prevent constipation—although when you’re eating plenty of healthy fats and fibrous vegetables, this may not be a problem for you.

Given that the alarming rise in obesity in the US is due in part to our over-the-top consumption of sugared soft drinks, it seems most Americans would be wise to swap out the soda for water. The body can derive the fluid it needs from other beverages, but none satisfies our thirst and basic need for internal cleansing like pure, clean water.