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Proper nutrition supplies your body with everything it needs to function at the most basic of levels; the cellular level. That’s where all the action is. For instance, let’s take a look at the minerals calcium and magnesium. Why these two in particular? Well, they’re both members of the same team. They need each other to function properly like a defenceman and a goalie. A deficiency of one will reduce the other’s ability to perform and can produce symptoms of deficiencies of both.

A deficiency in calcium can lead to symptoms such as aching joints, brittle nails, and eczema or heart palpitations. A deficiency in magnesium can lead to symptoms of hypertension, chronic fatigue and even irritable bowel syndrome.

So, where do we find calcium and magnesium in our diet? Both can be found in ample quantities in dairy products, brewer’s yeast and blackstrap molasses, to name just a few. This is where eating a wide variety of foods will ensure your body is ingesting the minerals it needs to function.

Another dynamic duo is potassium and sodium. Potassium is essential to a healthy nervous system and works in concert with sodium to regulate the body’s water balance.

The B complex of vitamins are important to a healthy nervous system which, in turn, is important to your digestive system; the system responsible for the “ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation, and excretion of nutrients”. In other words, making use of the nutrients we eat.

To move the food from your mouth to your stomach, your esophagus employs a series of movements called “peristaltic” movements – a sort of “squeeze and release” rhythm that moves the food downward, churning it as it travels toward the stomach. These movements rely on the good working order of your nervous system, which is responsible for contracting and relaxing the muscles in your esophagus that perform peristalsis.

The Cost of Doing Business
As the cells in your body make use of the nutrients in your food, they produce byproducts of the work they are doing known as free radicals.

You can think of free radicals as being the same as the exhaust from your car – a product of the car’s engine doing its work. Free radicals can effect dramatic changes in the body and cause a lot of damage. Each free radical may exist for only a tiny fraction of a second, but the damage it leaves behind can be irreversible, particularly damage to your heart muscle cells, nerve cells, and certain immune system cells.

So what’s a body to do? Well, there’s no way to avoid the production of free radicals but you can minimize the damage free radicals do by ingesting higher levels of antioxidants which neutralize free radicals. Foods containing antioxidants include blueberries, watermelon, garlic, green tea, curcumin, and grapes.

For a full explanation of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and amino acids, CLICK HERE.

Four Steps in the Right Direction
The following four steps should ensure your body is getting the nutrition it needs:

Make Certain Your Body Is Healthy

See your family physician for an annual physical. The results of your physical will allow you to pinpoint areas of concern and choose supplements and regimens to support specific organs in your body.

Eat A Wide Variety Of Foods
The easiest way to ensure your body is getting the myriad of building blocks it needs to synthesize good health is to consume the widest possible variety of foods. Organic foods are your best bet, as they have been certified free of chemicals and processes that can harm your body.

An easy rule of thumb is to eat a “colorful” meal – have at least three colors of vegetables on your plate at any one meal and snack on fruits and vegetables of many colors in between meals. Add whole grains, nuts, legumes, olive oil, green tea, and plenty of water to the mix and your body will be getting what it needs.

Be a “grazer” – instead of eating three meals a day, try to eat five small meals throughout the day. This will keep your insulin and energy levels steady and keep the munchies at bay.

As much as possible, steer clear of the following:

• Processed foods
• Foods with high sugar content
• Foods with high salt content
• Caffeine (soda, chocolate, coffee)
• Burnt foods (overly-cooked meats with a charred exterior)
• Trans fats – eat any fats sparingly because your body does need them. If you have to eat fats, stick with healthy fats such as salmon, avocado, almonds, and walnuts.

Exercise
Exercising not only tones your muscles, works your lungs, moves your joints and keeps the toxins moving out of your body but it also uses up excess ingested calories you might end up storing as fat.

Supplement Your Diet

Over the past six decades, world food production has been forced to unimaginable limits to accommodate the growing global population. New production methods and higher yields mean that the soil the crops are grown in is being depleted to the point where it may no longer contain the same amount of minerals it did sixty years ago. Even if you eat a healthy, varied diet, it is prudent to add a daily supplement to your nutritional routine. It just makes sense to offer your body that little extra help it needs to keep you going for the next few decades.