Living in a healthy way is not rocket science. Nor is it about restricting yourself, forever limiting yourself to a diet and lifestyle that you find dull. There are so many simple things we can incorporate into our lives to increase our health and vitality, and below is a list, in no particular order, of some very important ones:

-Drink water with freshly squeezed lemon.
Try to consume the juice of 1-2 lemons per day. And drink at least half your body weight (in pounds) in ounces every day. (So if you are 130 pounds, drink at least 65 ounces of water each day.) Drink filtered water, not tap water.

-Surround yourself with people you love and that inspire you.
Prioritize your close relationships. Be a part of a community (or communities). After all, it is our relationships that make us the happiest. Countless studies have shown that people with strong social networks live healthier and longer lives. Isolating oneself is as detrimental to longevity as is smoking or high blood pressure. So spend time with others, and be sure to let them know how much you appreciate their being such wonderfully health-promoting parts of your life.

-Drink green juice!
The benefits of green juice are nearly endless. You can read more about why that is here. Drinking green juice is also very hydrating, so can take the place of some of your daily water intake.

-Increase your consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and decrease your consumption of animal products, particularly dairy and land animals.
That doesn’t mean eradicating them entirely, but trying to get to a place of 60/40 and then eventually 80/20, wherein you are eating wholesome, nourishing, organic plant foods 60% of the time and then eventually 80% of the time. The most important thing to do is reduce consumption of inflammatory foods (e.g. dairy, meat, gluten) and increase consumption of anti-inflammatory foods (e.g. green leafy veggies, fruits, seeds, lemons). You don’t want to be eating things that are going to make your body more inflamed; you want to be eating things that decrease inflammation as much as possible. Doing so has so many positive effects in all aspects of your health, particularly with regards to energy levels, aches and pains, blood pressure, glucose levels, etc.

-Manage your weight.
If you are overweight, losing even a marginal amount like a couple pounds, can make a big difference.

-Take a daily probiotic.
This is ideally done on an empty stomach, so either right when you get up or right before bed. Probiotics help maintain the balance of friendly bacteria to unfriendly bacteria in our GI tract, which is absolutely essential to be healthy long-term. The digestive tract must be healthy and working properly in order for the body to function optimally. 70% of our immune system lives there, and 90% of our serotonin (the happy, feel good neurotransmitter) is produced there. You can also eat more raw, fermented, UNpasteurized foods like sauerkraut or kimchi or drink kombucha as these are naturally high in probiotics. Yogurt is as well, but dairy is very inflammatory and mucus-forming so I recommend other probiotic foods more wholeheartedly.

-Reduce your sodium intake.
Never use iodized table salt (i.e. the normal salt you are used to seeing in the grocery store). It is horrible for you. Buy Himalayan salt, Celtic salt, or sea salt that has been air dried. These contain traces of over 82 minerals. This is the only kind of salt you should ever cook with, etc.

-Practice abdominal breathing.
Abdominal breathing helps to oxygenate your blood and brain. Abdominal breathing is just the kind of deep breathing people talk about in yoga and meditation and that sort of thing. Breathe in through your nose and fill your throat, lungs, and then abdomen, and then exhale slowly either through your mouth or nose. (You can put your hand on your stomach and make sure you’re breathing so that you can feel your stomach rising.) It’s a slow and much more conscious form of breathing. Most people spend all day breathing very shallowly and it’s actually detrimental to their health to do so.

-Get enough sleep.
The magic number is different for everyone, and it changes throughout life, but if you feel exhausted during the day or need coffee to get going, you’re not getting enough. It’s best to sleep on your RIGHT side so as to avoid putting any pressure on the heart, and to put a pillow between your knees in order to keep your spine in alignment.

-Exercise!
Even moderate exercise is enough. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, take walks, hike, etc. Do whatever reasonably active things that make you happy! Aim to walk 10,000 steps every day.

*Photo courtesy of National Geographic

Witch Hazel (Hamamelis)
By Athina Chatzi

Witch Hazel, or Hamamelis, has been known for its natural healing properties since the Native Americans discovered its use as an astringent. Witch Hazel is a small tree that reaches 2 meters in height and has yellow flowers that bloom in the months of January or February. It is often available in the form of Witch Hazel distillate, or it can be used as infusion of the leaves or decoction of the bark.

Because it can be used to activate circulation and has antiseptic properties, some of its therapeutic uses include application to light sunburn, bleeding (internal or external), varicose veins, or haemorrhoids.

Witch Hazel is currently popular in the cosmetics industry as a toner and stimulant for the skin, ultimately making it firmer. It is excellent for anti-aging and for correcting skin imperfections. It can be used to improve skin texture, especially in the cases of blemishes or acne, and to reduce the swelling of the skin, particularly puffiness under the eyes.Since it reduces facial pores, oiliness, and gives a matte finish, it is ideal for oily skin.

Look for toners or lotions that contain Witch Hazel as a major ingredient. For even more efficacy, seek out products that combine both Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera. Aloe Vera is the only known substance that can penetrate the dermis layer of the skin and can act from the inside out. When used with Witch Hazel, it amplifies the firming and toning properties.

Acai: Loaded with antioxidants, amino acids, and Omega fatty acids (including Omega 3s), and containing many other micronutrients, including polyphenols and flavonoids, acai (pronounced ah-sigh-EE) is a bonafide superfood. It is a very beautifying food because it contains nutrients that are particularly great for the skin, and consuming it truly helps to give skin a more radiant, plump, and youthful look. It is also great for boosting energy.

Acai berries are native to the Brazilian Amazon and that, in addition to the fact that they spoil quickly after being picked, makes them very difficult to find fresh elsewhere in the world. Luckily for us, the fruit can be freeze dried and made into a powder from which we can still derive all its wonderful benefits. Many health food stores also carry frozen acai packs that are easy to add to smoothies. Several places offer acai juices, but these have been pasteurized, meaning that many of the nutritional benefits have been compromised, so I recommend finding a good all natural and organic powder or using the frozen packets. This particular recipe calls for the powder, but feel free to use a frozen packet instead.

Camu Camu: The camu berry is best known for its high vitamin C content. In fact, it is the food with the single highest concentration of Vitamin C that we know of on this planet (50 times more Vitamin C than an orange!). Vitamin C is an antioxidant that prevents free radical damage to our cells, strengthens the immune system, and helps in the prevention of chronic disease.

Camu Camu is native to the rainforests of Peru. As with acai, it is nearly impossible to find fresh camu berries outside of that region, but it can also be freeze dried and made into powder form. As such, camu camu powder can be found in many health food stores.

Creamy Antioxidant Superfood Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 banana (the riper, the better)
1/2 cup frozen or fresh pineapple
1 tsp acai powder
1/2 tsp camu camu powder
1 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
Optional add-ins: hemp seeds (for protein and Omega 3s), raw cacao nibs or powder (for magnesium, antioxidants, and to make it a chocolate smoothie!)

Directions:
Place all ingredients into a Vitamix or other high-speed blender and blend until creamy. Enjoy the wonderfully healthy and decadent smoothie!

Staying Present
By Trisha Hadley

Presence. The concept may sound simple or elusive. Does it mean living in the moment? Shifting focus away from the past and future? Is it the actual physical experiential component of the here and now? Well, yes, to all of the above. But it’s even more than that.

The only reality is now. This is one of those statements that one reads and thinks, “Hmm, yes that makes sense,” but it doesn’t really stick. But take a minute to really think about this. The only thing that is real is what is occurring right in this moment. You’re reading this post, breathing, maybe some music is playing that you can hear, or a candle is lit that brings a warm scent to your nose. This is real. This moment. Then it’s gone and replaced by a new moment to savor.

How amazing is it to notice all of these elements in our daily lives? So often we run around in a hectic, rushed state of mind (and body) that we fail to notice all that is happening around us. We aren’t even aware that we’re missing anything in the first place. But life is happening. The world is constantly in flux, and we are a part of that. We have the ability to notice, experience, and enjoy so much more than we can possibly imagine.

How does one cultivate presence? Many ways! First, the acknowledgement of the concept is a great starting point. Mull it over in your mind; if it resonates with you, it will start to become truth. A place to go from there is cultivating self-awareness. This is another one of those concepts that’s a bit tricky to understand when you have yet to experience it, but bear with me. In my life, the practices that helped (and are still helping) most in bringing about awareness are meditation and yoga. Meditation allows us to sit with ourselves and simply experience what is going on in our minds. With practice, it fosters the ability to train the mind that for many of us begins with quieting it, often by focusing on something (such as the breath). Meditation is extremely powerful and though we are just beginning to study it in the West, thousands of years of practice exemplify the benefits. The best part is that you don’t have to understand how it’s happening to experience that it is happening. Further, self care in the form of nutritious eating and various forms of wellness (acupuncture, exercise, cultivating relationships, for example) have helped continue the journey of my self-awareness. The beauty of this experience is that it’s different for everyone. And the further you progress, the more in tune with your body you become and the better you understand what you need for wellness. For life.

It is often stated that people who are living in the past are depressed, and those living in the future are anxious. You can easily apply this thinking to your own life or those you are close with and see truth in that statement. The more you are present, the less time available to those uncomfortable and often harmful states of mind.

It’s important to realize that living in the present – even though a vast majority of the time will lead to happiness – isn’t always a happy affair. We all know life brings challenges, and the beauty of this practice is that it allows you to truly experience those feelings in a genuine way. You have the ability to process and understand before reacting. You learn from every situation, and you become more equipped to handle future situations, both good and bad. Most importantly, you begin to understand that this is happening right now, but soon there will be a new moment, and then another as life continues to ebb and flow as it always has. Your attachment to these moments wanes, and you take pleasure from the experience of, well, everything.

Cultivating presence in your own life has the capacity to be life changing. I do not say that lightly, but in my experience it truly has been. I encourage you to explore this concept and practice – and start truly living!

Life is flowing, moment to moment. Don’t let it idly pass by… Enjoy the ride, now.

2) Forgive. Harboring negative feelings about anything is detrimental to your health and creates negative energy all around you. Moreover, harboring negative feelings toward something or someone else usually has little to no effect on the other thing/person and only makes you feel badly. Learn to let go and forgive. This is true even of things that seem or feel unforgivable to you. Maybe you aren’t ready to let go completely, but try. Say out loud to yourself, “I forgive Person A for doing ____ and/or making me feel ____ and I forgive myself for holding in these feelings of resentment for X amount of time.” Something so incredibly simple, even if you feel ridiculous and do not believe what you’re saying, can have profound effects on your state of mind and being.

3) Forgive yourself. This one is more difficult. We all make mistakes and we all deserve to forgive ourselves so that we can be better people who live healthier, happier lives. (See #2 for the effects of harboring negative feelings.) Holding in guilt will only serve to make you sad and to make you question your self-worth. Make a practice of forgiving yourself for any wrongdoing by saying out loud to yourself, “I forgive myself for _____” (where _____ is a specific incident that is bothering your mind). Likely some good came from the mistake, even if only the lesson not to repeat it. Acknowledge your mistakes, learn and grow from them, and move on and find peace in knowing that, with every day, you are becoming a more knowledgeable, kinder, and better person.

4) Always see the positive in a situation. It is difficult, for example, to lose something you love, but you can choose to focus on what you gained from the experience and feel excited about the new opportunities that the future holds—opportunities you will be ready to seize because of all that you have gained from your prior experience. Even in the worst of situations, you have, at the very least, always learned something invaluable about yourself. Cultivating this sort of optimistic mindset will make you a much wiser and happier person. When life gets tough, always look for, and focus on, the silver lining.

5) Take care of your physical self. If you feel physically unwell, it is difficult to be happy and vibrant. Make exercising (any form that you enjoy) a priority, aim to get enough sleep, and eat well. You need to feed your body nutritious foods so that you have the energy to live the life you want. Increase your intake of especially nourishing foods like raw dark leafy green vegetables. (You can easily do so by drinking green smoothies and green juice!) Make sure you are prioritizing your health, and allowing yourself whatever time is necessary to do so.

6) Practice acts of kindness every single day. Doing something kind for someone actually causes serotonin to be released in your brain and even in the brains of the people who witness it. Doing something kind for another person literally makes everyone around feel better and happier. Moreover, you create a ripple effect of positivity and generosity in that the person who received the act of kindness will then be happier and will likely do something nice for yet another person, who will then do something nice for yet another person, and so on. Do something kind for someone else everyday. You will be a much happier person, and the world will be a much happier place.

7) Avoid social comparisons. Do not compare yourself to others. Envy is poison and a waste of time. You will never be happy if you always covet another person’s something. On the other end of the spectrum, comparing yourself to someone and feeling superior to them is unkind, and only serves to inflate your ego. Instead of comparing yourself to others, focus only on yourself. Make the effort to become a better version of yourself. Focus on—and appreciate—what you have rather than spending time coveting what you do not. In so doing, you will be a happier, kinder, and better person.

8) Have meaningful relationships. Nurture your important social connections. Feeling connected and that you are a part of something is a tremendously important component of both our physical and mental health. Lonely people have much higher rates of mortality. Having people with whom you can share your experiences is invaluable.

9) Have some sort of spiritual practice. Find a spiritual practice, one in which you recognize that there is something bigger than us in the universe. It humbles the ego, but, even more importantly, it creates a sense of connectedness with everything around us. Your spiritual practice can take whatever form suits you best (organized religion, meditation, yoga, etc.)—even taking from all different practices the bits and pieces that resonate with you and creating your own integrated spirituality. The act of having and believing in a spiritual practice makes people happier.

10) Be present. Only by slowing down and focusing on the present can you notice and savor the many pleasures of life. Life these days can be so over-stimulating and stressful that it is easy to forget to appreciate, or even to overlook entirely, the things that bring us happiness. Instead of getting caught up in the chaos, try to be present and take the time to notice and feel grateful for all the joys you witness.

*Picture courtesy of The Happy Movie

Most people never think about where the food they eat comes from, and this is certainly true in the case of milk. Cow’s milk is the lactation fluid of a cow, meaning that a pregnant cow produces breast milk to feed to her baby so that it can grow. Instead of the baby calf drinking the milk, humans do. That humans artificially impregnate cows and then take their milk and consume it defies nature. It is analogous to a dog artificially impregnating a human woman and then feeding her human breast milk to other dogs. In fact, humans are the only animals in the world that drink the milk of an entirely different animal and that drink milk past infancy.

The dairy industry has spent billions of dollars advertising, lobbying, and paying for political campaigns in a successful effort to make society believe that the consumption of dairy is requisite in a healthy diet. It is not. There are myriad problems with dairy, and they are rooted in the fact that it is very difficult for the human body to digest. Our gastrointestinal tract is not designed to break down the milk of another animal, and certainly not when we are adults and are no longer supposed to be consuming even our own mothers’ milk. Years and years of studies have shown that milk and cheese contribute to digestive problems, heart disease, skin inflammation, and a host of other health problems. Dairy is extremely mucus forming, and contributes greatly to allergies and congestion. Recent studies have shown that dairy is so mucus forming that it can create an excess mucus coating along the inner wall of the intestines that blocks the absorption of nutrients, leading to chronic fatigue, emotional problems, allergies, faster aging, and so on. Several studies examining the link between dairy consumption and cancer revealed that breast cancer was almost nonexistent in countries where dairy was not consumed. The mammoth dairy industry is so effective at promoting exactly that which it wants the public to hear that we unfortunately do not hear about these studies.

Nearly everyone believes milk provides calcium, allowing for strong bones and a decreased risk of osteoporosis. While it is true that dairy contains calcium, our bodies have trouble assimilating the calcium in cow’s milk and other dairy products. In fact, countries that consume the least amount of dairy have the lowest rates of osteoporosis.

Defending the practice, people often cite the fact that humans have been consuming cow’s milk for thousands of years. This is only partially true. The milk we consume today is very different from the milk our ancestors consumed 100 years ago. The increasingly unnatural circumstances in which modern dairy cows are raised has transformed the milk we now encounter. Farmers inject the cows with hormones and steroids and antibiotics, all of which we then consume if we drink the milk. Furthermore, modern dairy cows, unlike their pasture-fed counterparts of 100 years ago, are milked 75% of the time that they are pregnant and their milk therefore contains markedly elevated hormone levels, particularly estrogen and progesterone. That people are consuming all of the hormones in this dairy on a regular basis obviously contributes to the continued increase of hormone-related cancers, to the problem of girls developing increasingly young, and to the myriad other problems associated with having your body pumped full of hormones (hormones coming from a pregnant female cow!) that should not be there. The practice of milking pregnant cows also occurs on most organic farms, so even if you use organic dairy, you are consuming high levels of hormones.

The best sources of calcium are green leafy vegetables, broccoli, tofu, sea vegetables, and legumes. Our bodies can easily absorb the calcium, along with all the other wonderful and plentiful nutrients, in these vegetables.

*Photo from Whole9Life

Simply by existing in this world, we are exposed to myriad toxins on a daily basis, so it is important that we make an effort to reduce exposure where possible. People wanting to protect their children’s health should take even more precaution because children’s undeveloped immune systems make them less capable of detoxifying, and, therefore, even more susceptible to damage. The rise of cancer and developmental disorders–ADHD, for example, has increased by 250% in the past ten years– is linked to the increased consumption of pesticides. That a recent study at Stanford’s pediatric hospital showed that babies today are born with 200 industrial chemicals in their bodies indicates just how severe the problem of pesticide exposure truly is.

Eating organic food and using organic products significantly reduces our bodies’ buildup of toxic chemicals. Even if damage has already been done, it can be improved, or even entirely reversed, by switching from conventional to organic as much as is possible. In order to protect yourself and promote your health, choose organic.

Organic foods are more expensive than their conventional counterparts, and purchasing all organic is not feasible for everyone. If you are on a strict food budget, buy organic for, at the very least, the “Dirty Dozen,” the twelve foods with the highest levels of pesticides. Thoroughly washing or peeling the skins on these fruits and vegetables is ineffective because the pesticides are absorbed into the flesh, so the conventionally grown versions of these twelve should be avoided. The “Dirty Dozen” includes:

1. Peaches
2. Strawberries
3. Apples
4. Spinach
5. Nectarines
6. Celery
7. Pears
8. Cherries
9. Potatoes
10. Bell peppers
11. Raspberries
12. Grapes

If you consume meat and/or dairy, eat only organic varieties. Organic meat and dairy farms must adhere to very specific guidelines about what is allowed in the feed, whereas conventional farms do not. In conventional farms, for example, animals are legally given feed that contains animal byproducts that include slaughterhouse waste (e.g. blood, fat, meat, bones, feces), growth hormones, and even arsenic-based drugs. If you eat meat and dairy that comes from these animals, you, too, are ingesting those things in addition to whatever harmful byproducts they may create in the animals’ bodies. Animals are also fed high amounts of antibiotics—so much so that roughly 75% of the antibiotics used in the United States go to animals in factory farms—enormously contributing to the extremely serious global public health concern of antibiotic resistance in human populations. Choosing organic decreases the amount of antibiotics used and can help prevent a future calamity.

In addition to promoting better health, choosing organic significantly helps to protect the environment. Organic farms do not use pesticides and other noxious, artificial chemicals on their crops, so, unlike in non-organic farms, they do not pollute the environment with these harmful chemicals. Organic farming practices as a whole are not only more sustainable for the environment, but they also protect the health of farmers and farm workers. These people have to come into direct contact with the chemicals when they work on non-organic farms (whereas consumers “only” ingest and breathe in the residue), and they have higher incidences of cancer as a result. By supporting organic farming practices, we prevent farm workers from being exposed so directly to these toxins, while simultaneously contributing to farms that do not pollute the environment with them in the first place.

Today, only 2% of the food Americans eat is organic. If we increase that number, we can positively impact our personal health, the health of those around us, and the health of the environment.

Detoxing on a continuous basis is important because everyone inevitably has toxicity buildup. Not only is everyone exposed to myriad toxins in the environment, but the vast majority of people also eat processed, unnatural foods and use personal products full of harmful chemicals on their bodies. (The skin, our largest organ, absorbs up to 60% of what we put on it.) Decreasing this toxic overload allows the body to function more optimally, and, as a result, dramatically improves health.

Recently popularized in the media, full-on juice fasts are not the only means to detox. While juice cleanses are a legitimate and effective way to detox very quickly, they are not appropriate or feasible for everyone. Eating low-quality food regularly and then embarking upon a weeklong juice fast once or twice a year is not an effective way to achieve great health. Fluctuating between such extremes is stressful for the body, and, more importantly, it is the tendency to eat unnatural, processed foods on a consistent basis that needs to be addressed. Making small dietary changes and moving, however slowly, toward a more nourishing diet is the best method to improve wellbeing. That is not to say that juice fasting does not have its place—it does—but one must have some knowledge about juice fasting as it relates to his or her own health in order to reap its benefits properly, and in order to ensure that the method is used safely. Fasting can be very beneficial, but it is a short-term, unsustainable program and therefore is limited in what it can accomplish.

There are many ways to detox without having to go to extremes, and many ways to detox the body on a continuous basis. Learning how to implement practices that will be sustained in the long-term and that will allow the body to stay healthy is ultimately more beneficial.

Some very effective forms of detoxing include:

• Eating a nourishing, easily digestible diet that is rich in greens
• Drinking at least half your body weight in ounces of filtered water per day
• Dry skin brushing
• Enemas and colonics
• Sweating (e.g. exercising, sauna/steam baths)
• Tongue scraping
• Drinking green smoothies and/or green juices on a regular basis in order to flood the body with chlorophyll
• Drinking filtered water with freshly-squeezed lemon juice throughout the day

Of the aforementioned, one of the easiest and most effective ways to begin cultivating the body’s natural ability to detoxify is by drinking filtered water with lemon juice throughout the day. Water helps the body to flush out toxins; the addition of lemon juice amplifies that effect. Lemons act as a diuretic and increase the body’s rate of urination, thus expelling toxins in the body more often and more quickly. Lemon juice encourages the liver to produce bile, an acid needed for digestion. In so doing, it helps the body digest more efficiently and reduces heartburn and constipation. Moreover, lemons boost the immune system due to their being high in Vitamin C, high in enzymes, and containing antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. The high Vitamin C content also improves skin’s appearance because Vitamin C counters the effects of sun exposure, smoke, and pollution by reducing the damage caused by free radicals. It also preserves collagen and elastin, helping skin maintain a youthful appearance. Finally, lemons promote a healthy pH in the body. Though acidic outside the body, lemons are very alkaline-forming within the body, so drinking lemon juice reduces the body’s overall acidity.

Since disease thrives in an acid environment, maintaining an alkaline pH is very important in order to stay healthy. One of the primary goals of detoxification is to shift the body from an acid environment to an alkaline environment. Juice fasting certainly helps, but one week of juice fasting does not magically mitigate the effects of years of eating low quality, processed, non-organic foods. Cultivating a sustainable, healthy lifestyle in which you avoid, wherever you can, inundating your body with toxins and you encourage your body to detox continuously is the most effective way to promote an alkaline pH within the body and improve and maintain overall health.

My father, on a trip we took together to Thailand

A couple of years ago, my sweet father sent me a beautiful Greek poem. Unfortunately I cannot remember the author, but I wanted to share it here as it provides wonderful wisdom on living a happy, genuine, and fulfilled life. Though written by a father for his daughter, the content is applicable to and useful for everyone. Life, in all its uncertainty, can be stressful, scary, and, at times, difficult to navigate. The advice given throughout the poem helps to point us in the right direction, telling us that which we can seek to do in order to live the beautiful life we all desire–and that we all have the capacity to have. I find myself referring back to it at tumultuous or existential times in my life, and I hope that it will help you in the way it always has me.

Before I die, my daughter
I would like to be certain that I have taught you to:
Enjoy love
Have confidence in your abilities
Confront your fears
Be thrilled with life
Seek help when you need it
Allow people to console you when you are hurting
Make your own decisions
Defend your choices
Be your own friend
Not be afraid to take risks lest you be humiliated
Know that you deserve to be loved
Talk to others fondly
Say something or keep quiet, depending on what you judge to be right
Acquire recognition for your achievements
Love and care for the little girl that lives inside you
Not depend on the approval of others
Not shoulder everyone’s responsibilities
Be aware of your feelings and act accordingly
Seek not the applause but your own satisfaction from the event
Give because you so wish, never because you think it is your obligation
Claim that you be paid fairly for your labor
Accept your limitations and weaknesses without anger
Not impose your criteria, nor allow others to impose theirs, on you
Say yes only when you so desire and no without any guilt
Live for today and not have great expectations
Take more risks
Accept change and revise your convictions
Try to cure your old as well as recent wounds
Behave and treat others with respect, and demand that others treat you with respect
Fill first your own glass, and immediately after the glasses of others
Plan for the future, but live for the present
Trust your intuition
Enjoy the differences between the two sexes
Cultivate healthy relationships in which each person supports the other
Make understanding and forgiveness your priorities
Accept yourself the way you are
Not look behind you to see who is following you
Grow and learn from your disagreements and from your failures
Allow yourself to burst into laughter in the middle of the road without any reason
Not glorify anybody, and even less me, your dad.

The 8 most common food allergies are:

1. Dairy

2. Gluten/Wheat

3. Eggs

4. Peanuts

5. Soy

6. Shellfish

7. Fish

8. Tree nuts

I am not a proponent of consuming dairy, gluten, or soy in general, and as is the case with many people working in the realm of holistic health, believe these 3 to be substantially under-reported food sensitivities.  For example, some of the foremost experts on nutrition and preventative medicine believe that up to 70% of the world’s population has a gluten sensitivity. Beyond the obvious digestive trouble, the symptoms of food sensitivities can present in seemingly unrelated ways such as fatigue, respiratory issues, headaches, and many others. The most effective way to determine whether you personally are sensitive to particular foods is to do the elimination diet, wherein you remove all common allergens from your diet for 2 weeks and then re-introduce them one by one every several days (the reason being that symptoms of food allergies can take up to 3 days to appear). If you suspect you have an allergy to any food, be it on this list or not, remove it from your diet for at least a week and then consume the food and note how you feel for the next few days.

In addition to this list, I have found through clinical observation throughout my travels and studies that nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant, etc.) are another very common sensitivity. Of course these foods, save for white potatoes, offer valuable nutrients and need only be removed if they have a detrimental effect on your own system. Ayurvedic medicine suggests limiting or even eliminating these foods due to their acidic nature for certain doshas (body constitutions)–Pitta, in particular–in order to maximize health.

Food allergies and sensitivities can have a profound effect on the way you feel and look; determining whether or not you are reactive to certain foods is most certainly worthwhile.