What is ESSENTIAL for Optimal Wellness?
Optimal wellness looks different for everyone. What might work for some, may not always work for others. Every “body” is different and everyone’s circumstances vary, your lifestyle, along with your specific physiology, plays a significant role in your health and wellness. What we do know is that there are 5 foundations that are essential for everyone in order to experience their best health, both physically and emotionally. Essential means “ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY” or '“EXTREMELY IMPORTANT”.
And DID YOU KNOW? There are ESSENTIAL vitamins & minerals we need every day in order for our body to function at its highest level. If our body can’t make them, we must take them. The 5 foundations and the ESSENTIAL vitamins & minerals work together to keep our bodies in balance, so we can achieve our Optimal Wellness.
First, the 5 foundations:
Quality Sleep
Stress Management
Adequate Water Intake
Physical Activity
Proper Nutrition
Let’s explore those 5 foundations in a little more detail….
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional.
Second, ESSENTIAL vitamins & minerals:
Vitamin A - Healthy eyes and general growth & development
Vitamin B (all of them) - Energy production, immune function and iron absorption, improves mood
Vitamin C - Strengthens blood vessels & immune health, gives skin its elasticity
Vitamin D - Promotes normal bone mineral density and healthy arteries
Vitamin E - Blood circulation and protection from free radicals
Vitamin K - Blood coagulation and getting Calcium from blood to the bones
Calcium - Healthy teeth and bones, promotes quality sleep
Iron - Building muscles naturally and maintaining healthy blood.
Magnesium - Helps with blood sugar maintenance and maintaining normal blood pressure, works with B’s for healthy heart
Chromium - Glucose function – making sure every cell in your body gets energy as and when needed.
Zinc - Immunity, growth and fertility.
Quality Sleep
Sleep quality is different from sleep quantity. Sleep quantity measures how much sleep you get each night, while sleep quality measures how well you sleep.
Measuring sleep quantity is simple, as it’s quick to determine if you’re getting the recommended amount of sleep per night (usually defined as 7-9 hours for adults). Generally, good sleep quality is defined by the following characteristics:
You fall asleep soon after getting into bed, within 30 minutes or less.
You typically sleep straight through the night, waking up no more than once per night.
You’re able to sleep the recommended amount of hours for your age group.
You fall back asleep within 20 minutes if you do wake up.
You feel rested, restored, and energized upon waking up in the morning.
So how do we get better sleep? Get on a sleep schedule - go to bed at close to the same time every night & wake up at close to the same time every morning. Create a restful environment - keep your room cool, & dark & quiet, wear a mask to block out light & use a fan to block out sounds. Eliminate or at least limit TV and phone use before bed - your phone should NOT be next to your bed! Think about adding a relaxing activity before bed - taking a bath or reading and adding a sleep support product might be a good idea too.
Adequate Water Intake
It’s important to replace the water we lose from sweating in the summer months. By the time we feel thirsty, we’re already dehydrated. Hunger is also a sign of dehydration. So, if you feel hungry, drink a glass of water first, this can help manage your appetite as well, aiding in weight loss. Staying hydrated keeps your body functioning efficiently. By avoiding dehydration, you can keep your energy levels up and regulate your mood. How much you ask? Take your weight and divide in half, that’s the amount, in ounces, of water you should be drinking every day. So do whatever it takes to drink more water.
We like our soda stream, but sometimes a plain, cold glass of water is so refreshing on a hot day. You can also add fruit - lemons, oranges, limes, cucumbers, watermelon and berries - all good choices. Food contains water too.
Or mix it up with a little flavor. I like adding Aloe Vera juice. Tastes great AND I get the benefit of better digestion & nutrient absorption.
Proper Nutrition
Now, proper nutrition includes those ESSENTIAL VITAMINS & MINERALS we mentioned earlier. Ideally, we would like to be able to get everything we need from the foods we eat, however, with today’s food supply greatly lacking in nutritional value, that is challenging. Poor soils, pesticides & harvesting too early are all big reasons why many foods today have less nutritional value than 50 years ago. Plus, the fact that the majority of Americans do not eat a well-balanced diet in the first place. The Standard American Diet is S.A.D. - ultra-processed foods high in chemicals & high fructose corn syrup, or fast foods with little or no nutritional value.
Growing your own food or shopping from local Farmer’s Markets are great for getting more nutritional value, however, that’s only for a few months out of the year. What do we do the rest of the year? Well, we should all be taking a quality, highly absorbable supplement EVERY DAY!
The good news is that 86% of Americans are already taking a daily multivitamin.
The bad news, most likely it is not of great quality AND if it’s in pill form or tablet or gummy (NOOOOO), there’s maybe 20% absorption. So, you need to LEVEL UP your multivitamin!
Let me introduce you to everything you need on a daily basis that you’re likely not getting from diet alone:
DAILY ESSENTIALS
Contains 100% or more of the Recommended Daily Value of essential vitamins & minerals with the added benefit of red wine & grape seed extract and pycnogenol all in one, convenient serving.
AND the liquid advantage delivers nutrient dense solutions which move from the stomach into your intestine in a fast, controlled way.
Rapid Absorption
Easy to Swallow
Highly Concentrated Nutrients
Maximum Benefits
No pills to swallow, many of which pass through the body whole.
Stress Management
If you’re living with high levels of stress, you’re putting your entire well-being at risk. Stress wreaks havoc on your emotional equilibrium, as well as your physical health. It narrows your ability to think clearly, function effectively, and enjoy life. It may seem like there’s nothing you can do about stress. But you have a lot more control than you might think.
Effective stress management helps you break the hold stress has on your life, so you can be happier, healthier, and more productive. The ultimate goal is a balanced life, with time for work, relationships, relaxation, and fun—and the resilience to hold up under pressure & meet challenges head on. But stress management is not one-size-fits-all. That’s why it’s important to experiment & find out what works best for you. The following stress management tips can help you do that.
Listen to your body and identify your stress triggers. Try to minimize those triggers, meditate, exercise and avoid people and places that stress you out.
Be willing to compromise and don’t try to control the things that are out of YOUR control.
You may want to think about adding a nutraceutical to help your body better manage stress & create some calm.
Physical Activity
Millions of Americans simply aren't moving enough to meet the minimum threshold for good health — that is, burning at least 700 to 1,000 calories a week through physical pursuits. The benefits of exercise may sound too good to be true, but decades of solid science confirm that exercise improves health and can extend your life. Adding as little as half an hour of moderately intense physical activity to your day can help you avoid a host of serious ailments. Regular exercise can also help you sleep better, reduce stress, control your weight, brighten your mood, sharpen your mental functioning, and improve your sex life.
A well-rounded exercise program has four components: aerobic activity, strength training, flexibility training, and balance exercises. Each benefits your body in a different way.
In a nutshell, exercise can:
Reduce your chances of getting heart disease. For those who already have heart disease, exercise reduces the chances of dying from it.
Lower your risk of developing hypertension and diabetes.
Reduce your risk for colon cancer and some other forms of cancer.
Improve your mood and mental functioning.
Keep your bones strong and joints healthy.
Help you maintain a healthy weight.
Help you maintain your independence well into your later years.
Even short periods of light exercise can help break up the sitting cycle & keep your body out of hibernation mode. A brisk walk, or taking the stairs is always a good idea. Variety is key, mix up your routine, adding stretching & yoga is smart too!
The Bottom Line…
Every “body” is different, and has different ideas of what optimal health means. However, I think we can all agree that if we integrate these 5 foundations into our lifestyle, and make sure we are getting the ESSENTIAL vitamins & minerals we need every day with the addition of a quality supplement, it’s possible that we may reach our own idea of Optimal Wellness and may live not just many years, but also many QUALITY years.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional.