Here is the Secret to Avoiding the Top 10 Biggest Health Mistakes:
As patients come into the clinic with their ailments and conditions, they also bring in their health misconceptions. These 10 health mistakes are the most common misconceptions that create more distress and poor health. Most of the patients believed that what they were doing was a good thing, but after eliminating or changing that practice, their health rebounded.
Number 10: Exercise
Most people believe exercise is good for you. I would generally agree with that statement, but the wrong type, excess amount, or pushing past your limit will cause damage. This damage is not limited to a muscle tear, it could be damaging to the cardiovascular system, or you could be creating a hormonal imbalance.
Exercise should restore proper circulation of both lymph and blood, improve the body’s proprioception (balance and where you are in space), restore resting muscle length, improve coordination and brain function, and also help regulate hormones and metabolism. We are a sedentary society that lives in stress the response more than the rest response. Choose exercises like yoga, dancing, Gigong, Tai Chi, or walking. Choose exercises you can do when you’re 90! It’s not that I have a problem with high intensity, but if you’re 45 and your diet hasn’t been supportive towards your cardiovascular system for the past 30 years, you’re looking for trouble. Get your diet under control first before thinking about making your heart suffer.
Number 09: Poor Supplement Quality
Just because it says Vitamin D on the bottle, doesn’t mean it’s Vitamin D! We hear that taking a supplement or vitamin is good for you on the T.V., from a doctor, or online. However, the quality of the supplement is overlooked by most. Patients bring in their bags filled with supplements that are useless when they are good, and damaging when they are bad.
Tricky sentence, but here’s the truth, a good poor quality supplement is the actual vitamin or supplement, but can’t be assimilated or is in a form that is just excreted example: Coral calcium supplement compared to calcium from Chia seeds. Your body will not benefit from coral calcium. It will be excreted. A bad supplement, is toxic. It has fillers like saw dust, formaldehyde, or petroleum. These fillers affect nervous tissue, and organs like the liver and kidneys. Plus, the supplement may not even be found in the product! Get yourself good quality, medical grade, supplements. Don’t be fooled by imitations.
Number 08: Chew Your Food
There is a Chinese saying, “You should drink your food, and chew your drink.” Slow down and make sure you really break down your food before swallowing. The very first part of digestion begins with chewing, it is the mechanical process of digestion. If you want to get the most out of your meal, savor each bite. Take your time, and chew. This is an easy thing to do, but very few people take their time with their meal.
Number 07: Create Tranquility
Everyone looks for the easy fix, the skinny pill, or the magic bullet. In Chinese culture, there is a health system called Yang Sheng, the ways of nourishing life. Every detail about how to live in accordance with nature and our body was examined and boiled down to this lifestyle. Find tranquility when you socialize, find tranquility while you exercise, find tranquility while you rest.
The more stimulus you create for your nervous system, the less it can focus on your health. By limiting the amount of time you spend on social media, or by making exercise a chore, the less you will really enjoy your health and life. Instead of being on the internet, write a letter to a friend, or go out for a hike with your friends. If you have difficulty calming down, don’t excite yourself by looking external outlet. Practice breathing or make yourself a cup of tea. You don’t need to be stimulated all the time. Take a moment to be in the moment.
Number 06: Brain Exercises
Taking time to improve our brain health is incredibly important. We can do this by learning Qigong, Dance, or by studying a different language. The Arts are important, and learning how to play an instrument or reading classic texts, are an incredible gift. Confucius has stated, “ No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self chosen ignorance.” You may also want to try brain puzzles too.
Number 05: Living in Moderation
This is the hardest for most people. You don’t always need to go for that second slice of cake! We should feel satiated, and practice self control and discipline. This isn’t just about food. Creating the proper balances with our work and social life is important, but so is the proper balance between time spent with certain people. Creating healthy boundaries and respecting our own alone time is necessary too. Moderation should be applied to all the aspects of our life.
Number 04: Gut Health
The gut was so important in Chinese Medicine, there were schools just devoted to it in ancient Chinese culture. The gut makes up most of your immune system, it assimilates all of your nutrition, and it produces 90% of your serotonin (a neurotransmitter).
Digestive health is pretty important. Make sure you take a probiotic, a good quality. Or eat fermented foods, 4-6 ounces of Kombucha, or a ¼ cup of Kimchi a day. Stay away from sugar that cause an overgrowth of bad bacteria or yeast. Drink Puerh Tea to help cleanse the intestines, or change in the morning to pull toxins out through the colon.
Number 03: Playing and Laughing
It is so important for humans to play and laugh! That youthful feeling of being silly and laughing has been lost to a culture who bullies and attacks each other for being different. Why have we taken ourselves so seriously? We have lost the ability to have a good time, without it being at someone else’s expense.
It is scientifically proven that laughing is a health benefit for the entire body. However, so is playing. Whether playing means being on a softball team, having a weekly board game night, or just playing with your children or grandchildren, it has a profound effect on mental health, and feelings of well being. There are three questions that a shaman would ask someone who was ill, “When did you stop singing? When did you stop dancing? When did you stop dreaming? All of this points to one’s creative nature and perspective, and spontaneity. This is an important piece of health.
Number 02: Unrealistic Goals
Do not make unrealistic goals! We have been influenced by the media that health requires 6 pack ABS, and a year round tan. This is simply not true! Take a moment to review your goals. Are they achievable? Do they make sense to you with your lifestyle? What is the reason for this goal?
Making unrealistic goals set you up for failure and dishearten you. There is nothing wrong with baby steps. Take your time and enjoy the journey. Create goals that will build you towards your ultimate goal. Use your goals to build your intention and strengthen your focus and discipline.
If your goals become an obsession, you have lost. Remember why you have created a particular goal in the first place. If there is another way to achieve the results you are seeking, don’t be afraid to try new ways to get results. Goals are created to help give direction to a destination, but they are not the journey.
Number 01: Self Medicating
Just because you saw it on TV, read about it online, or heard the miracle cure is this supplement, don’t do it! Self medicating a condition is never a good idea. You never know if you are giving yourself the proper dose, using the appropriate part of an herb, or if you will have any side effects of a supplement. If you have a condition, seek help from a qualified medical professional.
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Read more: How to Make Kombucha, The Truth in Movement