Many people are in search for healthy living. But what are really the essentials for health and fitness? And how do you achieve good health and overall well-being?

When we have a closer look at the concept, it all boils down to the following four components, which are crucial for healthy living:

1. Good nutrition 2. Regular exercise 3. A good night sleep 4. High-quality nutritional supplementation

Healthy living means: keeping a balanced, healthy diet Avoid smoking and excessive use of alcohol and toxic chemicals.

If we choose to make good nutrition, including supplementation, and an active lifestyle a daily habit, we could add five to fifteen healthy years to our lives.

It has been said that we are what we eat, but a more accurate definition would be: we are what we can get out of our food. Because it’s the bio-availability of the nutrients we inject, and more importantly, the cell’s ability to absorb those nutrients, which are the crucial factors that determine a person’s health and well-being. These two are often overlooked facts. These are the keys to optimal nutrition. That’s why most supplements miss the mark. They simply do not address the cellular condition of the body. Even worse, many are in a form which are unacceptable to the cells themselves. There is however, one remarkable exception to this depressing trend, and that are the supplements manufactured by USANA Health Sciences. When we age, we must eat well and adjust our eating habits. As we get older, our needs for certain nutrients will change significantly. To be healthy for life, it’s important to consume eight to ten servings of fruits and vegetables daily. And many of these should be raw, because they contain those natural digestive enzymes. But the quality of our foods has depleted, due to modern farming techniques. For example, the use of hybrids. Unfortunately, economics is the driving force behind the American agriculture, causing farmers to be more concerned about bushels per acre, than the nutrient content of the food they harvest. Physicians are biased against nutritional supplements. They learn very little about nutrition in their study on medical school. They would tell you: taking supplements is a waste of money.

But Dr. Ray Strand’s title of his book: ”What your doctor doesn’t know about Nutritional Medicine may be killing you.” Says it all. He was converted when his wife became sick. She suffered from fibromyalgia, and no drugs could cure her. As a last resource she tried nutritional supplements, and after three months she was cured. Dr. Strand learned about oxidative stress, which is the underlying cause of degenerative diseases. Oxidative stress is caused by cell damage of free radicals. It is the root cause of more than seventy chronic degenerative diseases. The same process that causes iron to rust and a cut apple to turn brown. It’s the underlying cause of diseases like: coronary artery disease, cancer, stroke, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer dementia, and macular degeneration. We are actually rusting on the inside. In fact, oxidative stress is the leading theory behind the aging process. In addition to this, our bodies are under constant attack from an army of pollutants in air food, and water. Our stress filled live styles also take a toll. If we do not counteract these processes, the result will be cell deterioration and ultimately disease. When you understand the tremendous damage that oxidative stress inflicts during normal daily life on the human body, you will realize how important it is to optimize your own natural antioxidant and immune system.

Dr Strand concluded after much study, that using nutritional supplements on patients, is not alternative medicine, but instead complementary medicine. After reviewing medical research studies, he was certain, that his patients, who take high quality nutritional supplements, have a health benefit over those who don’t. This he called: cellular nutrition. The purpose of my book is to make people aware of the factors that cause illnesses and diseases, and to learn how to adapt a healthy lifestyle. What I want readers to take away from my book is to understand that degenerative diseases are not the natural consequence of old age but can be avoided by adapting a healthy lifestyle.

My book “Recipe for a Long, Healthy Life” is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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