Everywhere you look these days, it seems like everyone is into health and wellness. Just look at how many vitamins and supplements there are lined up in shelves in supermarkets and department stores. But the simple truth is that we need to learn the basics once again. Did you know that we can go without food for 30 days but we can only do so without water for 3? We need water to survive. We need it for our health too. However, even our tap water is laced with chemicals, harmful bacteria, and other toxic substances. So what do we do? 

Today, there are several water purification methods available. We can get distilled water, filtered water, and water purified by reverse osmosis. Take your pick. But while water is essential to our survival, we should also be careful as to how much we take in because many people are unaware that water becomes toxic to the body when consumed in large amounts. Yes, water can kill — as evidenced by the death of a woman who recently drank way too much water in order to win a radio show contest.

On the other side, we need to be careful to make sure our body stays hydrated, especially on hot days or when we are working out. We can easily become dehydrated, particularly when we perspire. But even when you’re not showing apparent signs of sweating, water is constantly evaporating from your body, thus the need for you to drink water. When the body becomes dehydrated, it loses its fluid balance, and its electrolytes go out of whack. A simple remedy to help regain the electrolyte balance in the body is to mix a pinch of sea salt (not table salt) to a gallon of water and drink that throughout the day.

Drinks

If you truly want to get back to the basics, look at what you’re drinking. How much soda, fruit juice, shakes, and alcoholic drinks do you consume every month, every week, or even every day? Cut back on these processed drinks and stick to water. If your taste buds are craving for flavor, add a slice of lemon to your water. When it comes to hydrating the body, nothing beats pure water.

Food

When it comes to food, you can apply the same back to basics rule: foods that are nearer the point of growth are much better. This means fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes. There is truth to the old adage that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. However, we’ve taken so much liberty on this saying that many people think that apple juice and apple pie qualify as healthy foods.

Take for instance that strawberry drink mix you like so much. Look at the label; it doesn’t really have strawberries at all! It’s made up of ingredients formulated to simulate the taste and smell of strawberries.

The new food guidelines today recommend we eat five vegetables and fruits daily, although if you truly want to experience good health, you should be eating 8-10 servings per day. Many people would think that’s a huge amount of vegetables and fruits to eat in a day; however, if you simply start replacing the foods you eat with fresh fruits and vegetables as much as you can, soon enough you’ll feel the difference in your body.

Canned Goods

You’ve got plenty of healthy options: foods that are frozen, fresh, dehydrated, and even juiced. During the winter months in many areas in Europe, North America, and Asia, the fresh fruits and vegetables are typically replaced by canned produced. Whenever you have to eat canned products, it’s a good idea to develop the habit of label reading. Be responsible enough to know exactly what you’re putting in the foods you’re preparing. Avoid canned goods that are too high in sodium, fat, sugar, and other preservatives.

Meat

If you’re a meat eater, educate yourself as to what you’re eating. . Ideally, The cow where the beef patty in that hamburger you’re eating is very likely to have been injected with growth hormones and who-knows-what elseyour best source of meat is livestock you grow yourself or livestock that’s been fed purely organically and used right away after it has been slaughtered.

Find the local slaughterhouses close to where you live. Identify the ones that only slaughter livestock that has been organically grown. Many slaughterhouse butcher shops sell meat to the public. If you buy your meat this way, you can be assured of getting fresher meat. Also stick to leaner meats. For poultry, make sure the skin and any visible fat are removed. Cook your meats on a broiler or roasting pan that has a raised rack at the bottom. This way, any grease is removed during the cooking process.

Look to Nuts

Did you know that nuts are the best (yet most overlooked) sources of protein and low saturated fats? While nuts have both monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat, these fats are healthier than the ones you’ll find in other sources. So eating a handful or two of nuts each day can do wonders for our health.

Why It’s Important to Stick to the Basics

When we’re closer to the basics of good nutrition, the more benefits we’ll receive. Our body will develop a stronger immune system, one that’s able to fight off many of the harmful effect of pollutants and stress that our body is exposed to day in and day out. It can help lower our risk of developing many health conditions, including headaches, diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and stroke. Eating well also helps us to better manage our weight. When out body isn’t in the best of health, our quality of life suffers.

We need to make sure we limit, if we’re unable to completely eliminate, our intake of processed sugars and starches. These things only make our pancreas work overtime, and they are the leading contributor to diabetes among Americans. What these starches and sugars do is trick the pancreas into producing too much insulin, causing the body to start storing fat. As we gain weight, the stress on our body increases, especially on the weight-bearing joints like the hips, knees, and ankles.

In general, we need to avoid any food that belongs to the white food groups: white rice, white sugar, white potatoes, bleached flour. Any food product that contains any of these things needs to be avoided. Find healthier substitutes also. There’s brown rice or wild rice, sweet potatoes, honey, pure maple sugar, whole wheat flour. Also avoid food products labeled “non fat”, “sugar free” or “lite”. They’re simply loaded with sugars in other places.