Hydration

I call water the “real” energy drink. When we drink water and are properly hydrated, we have 20% more energy, which is an even greater energy boost than caffeine.

Water is the winner for the real energy drink. Why then is the majority of the population under hydrated at any given point? It’s so important for our health, down to the cellular level.

We can’t always follow the feeling of thirst as our reminder to hydrate. 

Interestingly, children under the age of 12 and adults over the age of 65 may have a delayed thirst cue, meaning they may not feel thirsty even when their body is under hydrated and in need of water and fluids, so it's especially important to be aware when you're with someone under 12 or over 65 to encourage hydration.

One of the ways we can really encourage hydration is by making water taste good. 

Within the water category would be anything that doesn't have calories. For example, you could use herb tea that has strawberry or lemon in it. Make it yours.

We need to be sure to drink 6 to 8 glasses a day to hydrate properly. If it's hot, you may need a little more if you've been sweating. But ultimately, 6 to 8 cups will properly hydrate for a typical day.  

Some researchers suggest we need 4 ounces of water every hour we are awake, which is about 16 hours each day. This adds up to roughly 64 ounces of water daily for optimal hydration and health.

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Alcohol

Let's look at another health habit related to what we drink: alcoholic beverages.

Alcohol can be a confusing topic. Is drinking beneficial to your health? The Mediterranean diet’s research findings show that red wine has "cardioprotective" health benefits. Yet there are conflicting studies from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) showing that drinking alcohol does, in fact, increase the risk of several types of cancer.   

And even among those who are aware of alcohol’s risks, there is a persistent belief that the cancer risks come only from hard liquor and beer and not from red wine. In fact, many believe red wine actually lowers the risk of cancer.    

Let’s look at the stats from the National Cancer Institute. Nearly 4% of all cancers diagnosed worldwide are attributed to alcohol consumption.   Alcoholic drinks contain ethanol, which is a known carcinogen, and there are several ways it causes cancer. One example is that ethanol can increase estrogen in the body and increase the risk of breast cancer. The breakdown of ethanol in the body can also create higher levels of acetaldehyde, which can damage our DNA and cause liver, head, neck, and esophageal cancers.

Public health experts generally agree that alcohol - including wine - does not have a so-called "cardioprotective" effect. In general, they encourage public health organizations to increase awareness that drinking alcohol can increase the risk of cancer.  According to the United States Dietary 2020-2025 Guidelines, drinking less alcohol is better for health than drinking more, and some adults should not drink at all.  

So my recommendation is if you choose to drink, limit your daily servings to one alcoholic drink per day and five drinks max per week.  

One important point about alcoholic beverages is that they further dehydrate your system. So be aware that if you drink alcohol, your body will need more water to be hydrated.

We also need to be sure you're meeting the guidelines for alcohol. Though the Mediterranean diet espouses red wine's "cardioprotective” benefits, I still do not recommend drinking alcohol for heart health.  We can get "cardioprotective" effects from eating more unprocessed fruits and vegetables.   Eating foods like broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables every day decreases our risk of cancer and is cardioprotective. So we do not need to drink alcohol for any health benefits.

If you choose to drink, I recommend limiting your daily servings to one drink per day and a maximum of five drinks per week. This earns one point on the daily Wellness Score.

What is considered a drink of alcohol? Technically a drink is about 14 grams of ethanol. But, ultimately, a drink would be five ounces of wine or approximately one beer. 

 My advice? If you don’t drink, don’t start. There aren’t any real health benefits to drinking. 

Earn one point on your Wellness Score for not drinking or limiting your alcohol intake to meet the guidelines to lower your risk of disease and increase longevity.

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Movement

Movement is a super important daily habit that helps to supercharge what you've eaten. Moving 30-60 minutes each day increases our energy levels, boosts our metabolism and helps us live longer.

Some people love to exercise, and others like to track all their physical activity. They feel the difference exercise makes with more energy and improved mood and overall health. If you are one of the lucky people that naturally love to move and exercise regularly, the daily movement habit will be a super easy point to earn on the Wellness Score. You may want to do even more exercise each day. And that's great.

But I want to speak to those who don’t naturally love exercise. 

The good news is that simply walking 30 minutes every day has major health benefits compared to not walking daily. And even better, you can divide your minutes of walking into 10-minute walks divided throughout the day. 

I call short 10-minute walks "Oxygen Cocktails," and they have their greatest benefits of boosting metabolism and fueling the cell when walking in the 30 minutes right after meals. If you walk 10 minutes after breakfast and 10 minutes after lunch, you already have 20 minutes of movement in your day. At dinner time, enjoy an after-dinner 10-minute walk, and you have hit the minimum of 30 minutes of walking daily.   Better yet, turn your dinner “Oxygen Cocktail” into a 30-minute walk and get close to 60 minutes of daily walking for maximum health benefits.     

Walking after meals has added health benefits by helping to lower the post-blood sugar response and improving insulin sensitivity and lowering disease risk, and helping us reach our healthy weight goals.

If you want to expand your movement goals and work out for optimal weight loss, add more continuous cardio fitness holding your heart rate at Zone 2 level (50% to 60% of heart rate max).  

If you want to boost your metabolism, add high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with six cycles of 2 minutes in zone 2 exercise followed by 30-second bursts in zone 5 heart rate (80 to 100% heart rate max).   Adding HIIT training to your weekly physical activity goals for 2 to 3 days per week is a great way to increase your fitness abilities and improve cardiac health.

Add strength training 2 to 3 days per week and get all the benefits from weight-bearing training with improved muscle tone and bone health.  

Find movement activities you love to do every day for 30 to 60 minutes and earn one more point on your Wellness Score and improve your health and longevity.

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Breathing Fresh Air 24/7

The next habit is to focus on our breathing. Are we purposely practicing deep breathing for 10 minutes each day? Are we sitting up straight and taking deep breaths each hour that we are sedentary or sitting at a desk? Are we wearing clothes that are not restrictive in allowing deep breathing and not trapping our diaphragm from taking a deep breath?

We also need to consider our environmental air. Be sure your environment in your home and workspace is well-ventilated with fresh air.  Open windows each day and air out the rooms in your home and sleep in a well-ventilated room with a window cracked open whenever possible.

This is also where smoking comes in. The research is clear that smoking is not great for our health. We obviously must recommend avoiding smoking and vaping, and secondhand smoke as much as possible. 

Earn one more point on your daily Wellness Score by not smoking, practicing deep breathing, and keeping your home well-ventilated.

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Sleep

Sleep is very important to recharge our body and reduce stress.  Sleeping 7 to 9 hours per night with a consistent bedtime and waking up feeling rested is ideal for optimal health benefits.

But getting good sleep can be harder than you think.   In fact, most people find going to sleep at night difficult after a busy day and need a glass of wine to wind down or need a sleep aid in order to get to sleep at night. They wake up not feeling rested and need caffeine to start their day.  

There are daily habits that can impact our ability to sleep that night. Early morning sunshine directly in the face for 10 minutes a day can boost the hormones that help us sleep at night. Exercising daily can also help us sleep better each night. However, there are activities we do that can make sleeping at night more difficult -- too much caffeine during the day, low physical activity, and high stress can make falling asleep at night more difficult.      

Higher points on the Wellness Score will support a lifestyle that lets us fall asleep at night much easier without the need for sleep aids and let us wake up feeling rested and recharged.  

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Sunshine

Sunshine is really important, though we’ve been trained to worry so much about skin cancer. So, we start to cover up with sunglasses and sun hats, but are we getting enough sunshine? 

Sun is a key player in regulating our hormones and synchronizing our body's clock. I recommend 10 minutes of early morning sunshine directly in the face and, on cloudy days, up to 20 minutes of early morning sunshine. 

The early morning sunshine is when sun rays are not harmful, and we get all the health benefits without the risks that come from too much sun exposure to the skin during the days, especially in the summer seasons.   

Sunshine on the skin boosts nitric oxide, boosting energy, lowering blood pressure, and improving cardiovascular health.

Sunshine also helps our body make all the vitamin D we need for optimal health and boosting our immune system, and fighting cancer. Again, this is sunshine in moderation.

Sunshine also synchronizes your body and your body clock, which helps you sleep better at night.

Earn one more point on the daily Wellness Score by getting your daily dose of early morning sunshine for better health and longevity.

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Joy 

Engage in daily recharge activities to stress less, break away from burnout, and do activities that bring you joy.  

Take time with your pet, listen to inspiring music, read a favorite book, find a hobby you enjoy, spend time with a creative activity, and spend time in nature.  Each person finds joy in their own way, and taking time for activities that bring you joy is very important to prevent burnout and recharge from stress.   

I consider stress one of the highest risk factors for disease, weakened immune system, and shortened life span.    

Finding ways to cope with the stresses of life is very important.  Some stresses in life we can change, like finding a job less stressful or working on getting out of debt to reduce stress, but other stresses in life we can not change, like facing grief and the loss of loved ones.   

Removing any stress factors that we can change is very important to a healthy, happy life.  But finding ways to cope with stresses we cannot remove from our life is most important to live a healthy and happy life and improve our mood.     

Taking time each day to practice stress reduction activities that bring us joy and engaging in other wellness habits like daily movement and eating well, as well as having healthy connections with people that inspire us and support us, can really help us relax, recharge, and reduce stress.  

Add one more point to your Wellness Score by adding joyful activities that help you relax, recharge, and reduce stress in your day.

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Healthy Connections

Our social connections make us happy. Having healthy relationships, nurturing those relationships, expressing gratitude, and finding a friend you confide in all greatly increase your quality of life. This is what really makes people happy. 

I often find that people are lonely, especially after COVID and the shift to remote working for so many people. 

So I challenge you to work on investing in healthy relationships daily. Think of nurturing, healthy relationships, people that inspire you, and people that make you better. 

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Mindful Choices

This habit is all about the thoughts we allow to take space in our minds. What we focus on in our mind every day has a powerful effect on our attitude, stress levels, and mood.

Making mindful choices about what we allow our minds to focus on is very important.  Making a positive, mindful choice includes removing the inner food police that shames us for eating that piece of chocolate cake or shames us for gaining 5 pounds.

This type of thinking can steal our joy every day. If we are trying to eat the perfect meals, restrict certain foods, and exercise just right for the perfect body, this kind of thinking can overtake our mind and keep us obsessed with being perfect and literally steal all the joy in our life.

I am here to help you kick out your inner food police and inner judge. It is time to take control of our lives and our minds and be judgment-free with ourselves number one and others number two. We need to inspire each other and accept ourselves for the genetic blueprint we have, and start being as healthy as we can be today and not shame ourselves for what we did or didn't do yesterday.

There is research connecting diet and depression, and cognitive function. Eating processed foods like high processed sugars and fried foods and foods that increase oxidative stress can negatively affect our mood and cognitive function.    

Eating a diet high in unprocessed plant foods loaded with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory foods like fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts, and foods rich in omega-3 fats can help us improve our mental health and make us feel happier.  The mind-gut connection looking at the foods we eat and the effect on our mood and happy factor, is being explored and supported in current research.        

This is why I am a big advocate of taking time each day for activities you enjoy and not restricting every food you love from your diet forever.    Each healthy plate includes room for you to add small amounts of your favorite comfort food that makes you happy.  You can eat meals that are just yours with foods you love and give yourself permission to enjoy life without guilt.    

Add one more point to your Wellness Score, focusing your mind on positive thinking and making mindful choices in what we eat and how we live.

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Power and Purpose

Finally, we have power and purpose. This is where spirituality plays a primary role in helping people understand their purpose and know their “why,” leading to improved health and happiness. This is where we get our power and find our purpose.

This is where we find our “why.” Spirituality is a really important part of who we are. I want us to dive deep into that and spend time with God or your spiritual belief system every day. Practice meditation, prayer, time for self-reflection, a daily inspirational talk or podcast, or reading a book. 

Find something that inspires you daily and helps you build your connection and purpose. 

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Putting It All Together

These are the health habits that have the power to turn on our body's healing. When combined with eating whole, unprocessed food, these habits put our bodies in the best environment to heal using the least amount of medication, improving our quality of life today and improving longevity. 

Wherever you're coming into this, if you already have cancer or want to fight cancer, whatever your genetics are, we have proof that eating the right foods and practicing healthy habits every day can change genetic expression, heal our gut, boost our immune system, heal our blood vessels and circulation, and trigger natural healing in our body. 

This Wellness Longevity Score is made up of 10 of the best foods and 10 of the best lifestyle habits that have the power to turn on healing in our body and increase longevity when practiced on a daily basis, with a score of 18+ out of 20.

As you do more of these things, you'll begin to see your quality of life improve, have more energy, start to see your blood pressure come down, and reduce your need for medication.

Here are the best of the foods and lifestyle habits that heal and lead to longevity from my understanding of research and my past 20 years applying this with thousands of real patients. Go for 20 points a day and improve your wellness and live younger longer.

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