“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.” - Ann Wigmore

Proper nutrition and hydration are the most fundamental foundations of health. Unfortunately, when stressed, these two foundations are often sacrificed in order to meet a deadline or complete a task. During stress, the body is bathed in hormones that push it toward degradation, while being starved for proper nutrients and bloated in its own filth because the lymphatic system slows from dehydration. These events set the stage for inflammation that further compromise health and well-being.

Drink the Solids and Chew the Liquids

Optimum digestion and assimilation begin with chewing. It is recommended to chew foods at least 30x so that the solid aspect of the food liquefies. When drinking, do not drink so fast that the saliva has no chance to mix with the liquids.

Different Diets for Different Folks

Diet is very individualized. "A man's poison is another man's meat" is true. For example, beef may be high in iron and B12 so is good for someone with fatigue due to anemia, but too much beef in someone who is Yin deficient will cause increased fatigue because beef is hot in nature, which makes it more Yang, so sleep becomes more difficult because there is too much Yang and not enough Yin.

The elimination diet is the most accurate way to determine whether an ingredient or food item is not well tolerated. To do this, eliminate the food or food item in question for 3 weeks, observe whether symptoms improve; then, reintroduce the food or food item, again observe whether symptoms worsen. An allergen is identified when symptoms improve during elimination phase and worsen during reintroduction phase. One must either eliminate the food or food item in question, or rotate it every 4-7 days, depending on the severity of the intolerance.

While there is no one particular diet rule for everyone, it is generally healthy to reduce simple sugars and increase vegetables. Sugars in excess become inflammatory while vegetables provide important vitamins and minerals for proper functioning of enzyme systems and cellular repair.

Cellular Nutrition

When poor nutrition persists for a long time, digestion and assimilation diminish. Even if food intake contains necessary vitamins and minerals, the intestines cannot absorb these substances to nourish the body. In this case, the body needs help by modifying cooking methods, simplying food selections, or supplementing with cell salts.

Cell salts are a subset of homeopathic medicine. They are diluted 1:10 instead of 1:100 and are used in lower potency of 6x or 12x. (The "x" stands for "10" in Roman numerals.) Because of how they are made, cell salts retain a material nature that can replete mineral deficiencies while also having energetic information like homeopathic remedies. Like a door that has been locked, cell salts provide the keys for the dysfunctional cells to recognize the crude form of the minerals so they can be absorbed.

Dr William Schuessler, Founder of Biochemic Therapy (Cell Salts)

Proper Hydration

There are two general rules for proper hydration:

• 1/2 of body weight in ounces of water daily; for example, a 150-lb man would need 75-oz of water daily.
• 1/3 of body weight in ounces of water daily + extra 8-oz for every "vice" (coffee, alcohol, 1 hour of intense exercise).

The body is nothing more than a bag (cells) within a bag (tissues, organs) within a bag (skin). Water fills these "bags" and form passageways for all cellular communications. Water in plasma help carry nutrients to cells while water in lymphatic help drain wastes away. Water is the universal solvent for most of biological processes, which is why 2% dehydration may result in 20% loss of functions.

Dehydration occurs first in the lymphatic system. When the lymphatic system slows, wastes accumulate and congeal in the joints and muscles, causing stiffness and fatigue. If water is not replenished, the body borrows water from the digestive tracts resulting in constipation, or from the muscles and skin, giving rise to body aches and skin dryness.

Water is water, everything else is fluids. Herbal teas have medicinal quality and count toward water intake, but caffeine-containing or sugar-laden drinks add to the body's burden because detoxification measures are needed to purify these substances to be excreted.