My Number One Supplement Recommendation

A common mistake I see a lot of people committing is bringing their consumer-driven, “want it now” attitudes to health. This is one of many areas in life where you simply can’t rush things. People want to lose weight, look better, have more energy and a more vibrant life but these don’t just POOF! occur over night. Of course there are ways to speed up this process, which I’m all about, but there still isn’t and never will be any magic pill.

However….

If there were one supplement that gave you the most bang for your buck, the most broad spectrum of benefits, and jumpstarted your way to healthy living, would you take it?

My guess is that you would.

You can’t have all your health goals achieved at once or without any effort, but you can get a jumpstart on the process with Healthforce’s Vitamineral Green.

Vitamineral Green is a nutrient dense, low-calorie blend of some of the most nutritious, healing and protective plants in the world. It contains three blends of herbal substances – From the Land, From the Waters, and From the Oceans, as well as a blend of digestive enzymes and probiotics.

It’s “From the Land” portion of the blend boasts hearty doses of Nettle Leaf, a strong detoxifying and hormone regulating tonic, the concentrated juices of Alfalfa leaf, Dandelion (powerful liver detoxifier), chlorophyll rich barley and wheat grass, as well as oat grass. This portion of the blend also contains silicon-rich horsetail (great for hair, skin and bones), the adaptogenic herb tulsi to help manage with stress, ginger for digestion and it’s anti-inflammatory properties, as well as shilajit, an Ayurvedic substance that not only detoxifies the body but enhances absorption of other compounds consumed with it.

The “From the Waters” blend contains almost 4 grams of Spirulina and Chlorella, two of the most nutrient dense foods available. These two algaes both have more protein by weight than even beef, and it comes in a highly digestible free-amino acid form. They’re both rich in detoxifying chlorophyl as well as the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory blue pigments known as phycocyanins. Chlorella is also rich in nucleic acids, the building blocks of DNA and RNA, and has this cool compound called Chlorella-Growth Factor, all of which combine to make to chlorella one strong rejuvenative substance.

The “From the Oceans” blend is an array of seaweeds, known for being very nutrient dense and high in iodine, a mineral sorely lacking in today’s diets. Iodine is crucial for proper thyroid function, so if you’re looking to have a healthy balance of hormones as well as a metabolism that hums so loud you can hear it, get your iodine, folks.

As mentioned above, it has a hefty dose of digestive enzymes, which not only help your body to absorb the above listed ingredients, but can help to digest food when taken with meals.

It also boasts 10,000,000,000 live probiotic cultures per serving. Probiotics, those lovely little bacteria in our digestive tracts, are proving to be more and more valuable. They help digest and absorb food as well as create new nutrients for us – hunger suppressing butyric acid, anyone? They’re also a nice source of various neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin, which play crucial roles in mood and energy levels. You can’t claim to be health conscious without using probiotics, whether as a supplement or in whole food form.

As you can see, this is one badass supplement! There are other green blends out there, but with the exception of Green Vibrance, I haven’t found any that pack as strong a punch. If you’re looking for a quick and noticeable boost in health, I strongly recommend you pick up one of these supplements and try it daily for just one month. You’ll be amazed at how great you’ll feel.

Have you used Vitamineral Green or Green Vibrance? If so, what were your results? Leave a comment and let us know.

Why Diets Don’t Work

If you’re one of the millions of people who have ever gone on a diet, you’re likely to have gained the weight back after the diet ended, maybe even ending up weighing more than when you started. This is the unfortunate reality for many people, and it’s not their fault – it’s a problem inherent in the entire dieting mindset.

Let me explain.

Taking freak genetic and metabolic conditions aside, a person is only as overweight or fit as their habits allow them to be. Let me say this again – a person is only as overweight or fit as their habits allow them to be. So when someone “goes on a diet” and temporarily changes their eating and exercising habits, they wind up seeing different results and they lose weight. But as soon as they “go off” their diet, i.e. revert back to their old habits, they gain most of the weight back, and sometimes even more.

This is why it’s crucial to not start a diet that you can only stick with for a month or two, at which point you give it up and go back to your old ways.

So what’s the answer?

Instead you must implement new, healthy habits, and ensure that they stick and take root.

This is as simple as adding one salad a day to your meals.

It’s as simple as jogging one mile three times a week.

It’s as simple as doing 20 body weight squats or 20 push ups before each meal.

As simple as adding more protein and fiber to your meals.

By doing this you won’t lose 20 pounds in 20 days. It may be more like 20 pounds in 2 months. But guess what? You’ll lose the weight enjoyably and it’ll stay off, and because your self-perpetuating habits will prevent you from gaining the weight back, it’ll stay off for good.

Change your habits, change your life.

A New Definition of Health

A lot of people view health as just the absence of disease. “Well there’s nothing wrong with me, I’m not on any medications, so I must be healthy… Right?”

I’m here to tell you otherwise. I got into health not because I was on medications or was overweight, nor for some lofty goal of helping others. It was quite a selfish reason actually – it was because eating healthy made me feel good. Not just good, great. Better than I’d ever felt before. And the further I went down the rabbit hole, the more it felt like I was on some new drug where every day was better than the last – I had nearly limitless energy, colors were brighter, and I was happy for no damn reason at all. I felt like I was cheating life somehow.

Let me back up a second.

It all started when I was working at Starbucks. I’d just moved downtown and just turned 21. Needless to say, I was burning the candles at both ends. It got to the point where I was drinking at least 8 shots of espresso each day, just to feel normal. I realized that that was far from normal, so I decided to cut back on the caffeine and booze and try to eat healthier.

Problem was, I hated vegetables. The plan? Put one leaf of spinach on my turkey/cheese/bacon sandwich. The next sandwich would have two leaves of spinach. Eventually I got to the point where there was a nice level of 10-15 leaves of spinach on my sandwich, and I actually liked it! I was on my way.

Then I progressed to salads, aka some meat and cheese atop a thin layer of baby spinach. Then I cut back on taco bell. Then I started doing yoga. And I realized that with each new addition (or subtraction) to my healthy lifestyle, I felt better and better. I had more confidence, more energy, more zest for life. The rashes that had plagued me since adolescence disappeared. I no longer needed 8 shots of espresso just to feel normal. I came into work chipper and full of energy while those around me went from manic to grumpy and tired in the matter of an hour, day in and day out.

At that point I wondered, “Just how far can I take this?”

That was 5 years ago, and to this day I’m still increasing my energy levels and feeling amazing beyond what I thought possible.

So I’d like to posit a new definition of health, not as merely the absence of disease, but as a dynamic state of vitality which has you thriving on the physical, mental, emotional and even spiritual levels.

In laymen’s terms, feeling freaking great. And yeah, not having any diseases or health issues is important too.

And remember, health is not a destination. It’s a continuous journey.