Your body has the amazing ability to heal itself, so even if you haven’t been eating right, still on the stick and the bottle, or have less than healthy habits, you can still wipe your slate clean, make the decision to start living healthy and never look back.

This year could be your healthiest ever if you want it to be. Here are Dr. Joseph Mercola’s recommended lifestyle changes that will help you take control of your health this 2010:

1. Learn How to Deal with Stress
   Dr. Mercola notes that the vast majority of patients he has treated who were suffering from serious chronic illnesses have previous emotional stress that contributed to their problems. But it doesn’t take serious trauma to cause these changes, because the sum of the normal, emotional situations that you experience on a daily basis can negatively affect your future health. Mercola recommends meditation, prayer, physical activity and tools like the Meridian Tapping Technique (MTT) to help you maintain emotional and mental balance.
2. Get More Sun
   Studies show that vitamin D, which you can get for free by simply getting enough sun exposure, can help decrease your risk of cancer and many other diseases .Vitamin D receptors can be found in almost all of your cells, from your brain to your bones, so its ability to influence your health is simply amazing, Mercola points out.
3. Eat According to Your Nutritional Type
   Dr. Mercola’s nutrition plan is based on natural whole foods and is designed to help increase your longevity. This involves eliminating, or at the very least, drastically cutting your consumption of grains and sugars and at the same time, eating foods that are right for your unique biochemistry.
4. Exercise
   Don’t kid yourself – you can’t be at your peak condition if you don’t work it and sweat it out. That’s because exercise helps boost your immune system, aids in weight loss and weight management, and helps you sleep better, among other benefits.
5. Keep Your Toxin Load Low
   The world is more toxic nowadays and the number of dangerous chemicals lurking around you continues to increase. That is why you need to become an informed and vigilant consumer, Dr. Mercola advises. This means using non-toxic household cleaners, soaps, personal hygiene products, air fresheners, bug sprays, lawn pesticides, insecticides and other products.
6. Drink More Pure Water
   You can survive without food for weeks but you’d die without water within a few days. Your body needs to be constantly rehydrated as it loses water when you sweat and urinate. Checking the color of your urine will tell you what your water requirement should be. If you notice that your urine has turned deep, dark yellow, it’s likely that you’re not drinking enough water. Installing a quality water filter in your home will provide you pure drinking water and help you remove impurities and toxic disinfection byproducts from your tap water.
7. Get Quality Sleep
   Studies show that disrupted sleep cycles can lead to serious health problems like cancer, coronary heart disease and depression. If you feel rundown or tired all the time, lack of sleep is a big factor because circadian rhythms regulate the energy levels in your cells. Also, the proteins involved with your body clock and metabolism are intrinsically linked and are dependent upon each other.

Most kidney stones are easily eliminated from the body. A small stone may be excreted without causing too much pain. However, a large kidney stone can get stuck in a ureter, the bladder or the urethra, blocking the flow of urine and causing:

• Pain in the side, lower back or groin area lasting between 20 minutes to an hour
• Bloody, cloudy or foul-smelling urine • Nausea and vomiting
• Pain in urination
• Persistent urge to urinate
• Fever and chills

Almost one million Americans develop kidney stones annually. Men are four times more likely to suffer from kidney stones than women. People living in the southern part of the U.S., where the climate is hot, have an increased risk of forming kidney stones since they can get dehydrated, causing their urine to become more concentrated.

Heredity can also increase your risk. The younger you are when you form kidney stones, the greater your risk of recurrence. Once a person has experienced a kidney stone attack, the chances of a recurrence are between 70 to 80 percent.

Dr. Mercola explains that the rising cases of kidney stones among adults and children alike are the side effect of our modern eating habits. Different types of kidney stones are formed depending on the highest concentrations of substances in your urine, like calcium oxalate, which comes from eating too much dark green vegetables, nuts and chocolate.

A diet high in sugar and high fructose corn syrup interferes with the calcium and mineral absorption in your body. A study showed that drinking soda worsens conditions in the urine that contributes to the formation of calcium oxalate kidney stones.

Eating too much processed salt from processed foods and sports drinks are also blamed for increasing the risk of kidney stones in children.

A sedentary lifestyle, high blood pressure, the consumption of soy and caffeine, and taking certain drugs such as Lasix (furosemide), Topomax (topiramate), and Xenical, have also been associated with the formation of kidney stones.

Kidney stones should not be taken for granted because they can be a lifelong problem and can lead to serious kidney damage. Thankfully, making simple lifestyle changes will greatly help you avoid suffering from a painful kidney stone episode:

• Drink a lot of water – The safest and simplest way to treat a kidney stone is to let it pass on its own. Drinking plenty of water will help dissolve kidney stones by decreasing the concentration of solids in the urine. Teach your children the benefits of drinking water. Avoid tea because it’s high in oxalates
• Eat according to your Nutritional Type.
• Eat foods rich in magnesium and vitamin B6, which help prevent the formation of kidney stones.
• Limit your intake of sugar, caffeine, excess salt and processed foods.
• Exercise to keep your body’s fluids circulating.
• Avoid taking prescription drugs.

If you’re suffering intolerable pain from a kidney stone attack, herbs like nettle leaf, bearberry, cleavers, corn silk, crampbark, gravel root, kava kava, khella, hydrangea, stone root may help relieve the symptoms. But remember: consult a natural health physician or an expert herbalist before trying any herbal products

Weight loss fads come and go but because there’s never a shortage of people who take the easy way out, weight loss shortcuts never really go away. Americans spend billions of dollars on cosmetic surgery yearly but for those who are afraid to go under the knife, the diet pill seems like the next best thing.

Diet Pills: A History of Hits and Misses

Would you believe that the earliest forms of diet pills contained tapeworms or tapeworm eggs? Ugh. Since tapeworms are parasites, they cling on to the host’s intestinal wall to absorb food as it passes through the intestines. Tapeworms may also cause loss of appetite and pain the abdomen. It’s kind of hard not to lose your appetite knowing that you have parasites inside you.

In the early 1930s, two physicians from Stanford began promoting the use of dinitrophenol (DNP), an industrial chemical that speeds up metabolism and turns food energy to heat, making the user sweat profusely. The downside: DNP’s side effects included potentially fatal fevers and blindness.

By the 1950s, amphetamines came into fashion. Amphetamines are drugs which stimulate the central nervous system and also encourage weight loss by decreasing appetite. But despite good weight loss results, amphetamines were also very addictive and produced disruptive side effects, including increased heart rates, mood changes and chronic insomnia.

The 1990s brought Fen-Phen, a combination of two appetite-suppressing drugs: fenfluramine and phentermine. A University of Rochester study showed that people who dieted, exercised and took Fen-Phen lost an average of close to 16 percent of their weight. The publication of the results of the study put the combination diet pill on the map. However, Fen-Phen’s success was short lived because the FDA withdrew the product from the market after hundreds of cases of hypertension and heart valve disease among users were reported.

Besides appetite suppressants, the fat blocking drug Orlistat also joined the diet pill market. Marketed by Roche as Xenical and by GlaxoSmithKline as Alli, Orlistat is said to prevent up to approximately 30% of diet fat from being absorbed in the body.

Alli, the first weight loss pill to be approved for over-the-counter sale by the FDA, has a gross side effect: it can make you poop in your pants! That’s because if you take Alli and eat too much fat – which you can’t absorb properly with the pill – you’ll suffer the consequences.

Xenical and Alli are still in the market because they haven’t caused as much trouble as ephedrine, which is perhaps the most dangerous diet pill ever to be sold in the market.

Diet Pills Can Kill You

Ephedrine is an appetite suppressant, energy booster and performance enhancer derived from the herb ephedra, called ma huang in China. From 1993 to 2000, the FDA received 1,398 reports of adverse reactions linked to products containing ephedra, including 81 deaths, 62 cases of cardiac arrhythmia, 91 reports of hypertension, 69 strokes and 70 seizures.

The highest profile death was 23-year-old Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, who succumbed to multiple organ failure due to heatstroke after he collapsed during spring training in 2003. Bechler was taking an ephedrine supplement and died less than 24 hours after complaining of dizziness.

The FDA banned the sale of ephedra-based supplements in 2004. But despite the well-documented side effects of using diet pills, people are still willing to risk their health to shed those unwanted pounds.

Just last month, StarCaps, another popular weight loss product being marketed as a “natural” diet capsule, was found to contain bumetanide, a powerful diuretic with potentially dangerous side effects, including serious fluid and electrolyte loss and increase in uric acid levels.

The FDA has released a list of 69 tainted products (including StarCaps), mostly made in China, to warn consumers and help prevent adverse reactions.

Lose Weight the Natural Way

Dr. Mercola explains that contrary to the popular belief that you should eliminate fat, fat cells are actually very important to your body. There are two contributing factors which lead to an increase in fat mass: the number of fat cells and how much fat the fat cells store.

This means that it’s possible for you to have fewer fat cells and still be overweight because your fat cells are at their fat content limit. You can also have more fat cells but still be at your ideal weight because your fat cells are working properly and are not storing extra fat.

Either way, you’re still in control.

It’s not too late for you to take control of your weight. For Dr. Mercola, these four principles are the key to optimal health and weight management:

• Eating according to your Nutritional Type

• Sleeping right

• Managing your stress levels, and

• Exercise

Don’t be a diet pill junkie. Stop waiting for that magic pill. If you want to lose weight and get fit, it can be as simple as changing your eating habits, getting enough sleep, staying stress-free and breaking a sweat. If you badly want to lose weight and keep it off, you can do it.

I would like to age gracefully too and hopefully, live longer as well. But there are no secrets to turn back Father Time. However, for leading anti-aging researcher Dr. Aubrey de Grey, aging, like disease, is a preventable phenomenon because aging is a side effect of being alive.

Dr. de Grey believes that it is possible to extend longevity and live beyond the estimated maximum life span of 120 years because there is no “death gene.” We don’t die because we have a biological clock counting down to death, but because by nature, our bodies don’t promote self-healing past a certain point.

According to Dr. de Grey, the seven major causes of aging are:

• cell loss – some cells in the body cannot be replaced and the decrease in cell number weakens the heart as you age, impairs the immune system and also causes Parkinson’s disease

• death resistant cells or cell senescence – a phenomenon where your cells become unable to divide but also do not die and allow other cells to divide

• nuclear DNA mutations – can lead to cancer

• mitochondrial DNA mutations – may accelerate the aging process and affect normal cell functions

• intracellular junk – harmful proteins and other molecules that are no longer useful and are not broken down properly by your cells accumulate and cause atherosclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases

• extracellular junk – harmful junk proteins can also accumulate outside of your cells, like the amyloid plaque in the brains of those with Alzheimer’s disease

• extracellular crosslinks – which link cells that should be kept separated, causing tissues to lose elasticity, leading to diseases like arteriosclerosis.

Recent studies suggest that only one in every 10,000 people will live to see 100. So what can one do to live longer?

For Dr. Mercola, healthy lifestyle principles are your primary weapon to fight the effects of aging and will help you live your life to the fullest.

Here are Dr. Mercola’s nine top tips to beat aging and live longer:

• Maintain normal insulin and leptin levels. – There’s no way you can slow down the aging process if you have elevated insulin and leptin levels. Insulin is the culprit behind those bulging stomachs, love handles and fat rolls in thighs and chins and is stimulated by too much carbohydrates (grains, starches and sweets) in the diet.

• Eat according to your Nutritional Type – For Dr. Mercola, nutrition is all about feeding your body with the right types of food based on your unique needs.

• Increase your omega-3 fat intake – Ever wondered why the Japanese have the highest life expectancy rate in the world? Experts believe that the high fish diet (which yields optimized levels of omega-3 fats) is an important factor that contributes to the longevity of the people of Japan.

• Eat foods rich with antioxidants – Blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, beans, and artichokes are some foods that are good sources of antioxidants, which have been shown to have anti-aging benefits.

• Use coconut oil – Coconut oil is the healthiest and smartest oil you can use. It’s edible, can be applied directly to your skin and is used to replace other oils, margarine, butter, or shortening. It helps you lose weight and/or manage your ideal weight, helps lower your cholesterol levels and helps protect you from heart disease.

• Get resveratrol from natural sources – Resveratrol is the powerful antioxidant found in red wine but since alcohol is a harmful neurotoxin, it’s not a good idea to get resveratrol from wine. You can get resveratrol naturally from whole grape skins and seeds, raspberries, mulberries, and peanuts.

• Exercise – A lifetime of exercise will go a long way in the fight against aging. Studies show that regular, moderate-to-vigorous exercise can help prevent or delay hypertension, obesity, heart disease and osteoporosis, and falls that may cause hip fracture. It’s never too late to start because you can still substantially increase your strength and endurance with exercise even if you’re in your 70’s.

• Avoid chemicals, toxins, and pollutants – Check if your household cleaning liquids, soaps, personal hygiene products, air fresheners, bug sprays, lawn pesticides and insecticides contain harmful ingredients.

• Avoid over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription drugs – Almost 100 people die yearly due to overdose of OTC drugs and around 65,000 end up in the emergency room due to OTC drug misuse. These stats still don’t include the death count from prescription drugs! Don’t reach for your medicine cabinet for every ache and pain; there are natural ways to painkillers and anti-inflammatories. If you lead a healthy lifestyle, chances are you won’t need to take any drugs.

There are no shortcuts to good health but the fight against aging need not be a losing effort on your part. The sooner you take control of your own health, the better your chances are of turning back the hands of time.

Today, I’m taking my writing one step further as I’ve decided to blog for the first time. I’m writing about Dr. Joseph Mercola, an osteopathic physician and natural health guru. He’s the founder of a great site called Mercola.com. Now, I know I could have written about Kobe Bryant or Cristiano Ronaldo but I decided to blog about Dr. Mercola because he’s really been a big help to my physical fitness. Kobe and other great athletes are successful because they have discipline in training, work harder than the rest of their peers and they all follow a strict health regimen.

I first heard about Dr. Mercola when I watched a Youtube video about the “Most Astonishing Health Disaster of the 20th Century.” There I saw a simple but thought-provoking minute presentation on what’s happening to Americans and their health. And then at the end of the video was an invitation to subscribe to Mercola.com.

…despite my initial skepticism I decided to check out Mercola.com because of a line I remembered in the video - are you ready to stand up and take charge of your health?

Despite my initial skepticism, I decided to check out Mercola.com because of a line I remembered in the video – are you ready to stand up and take charge of your health?

I can say that I’ve been fairly healthy throughout my life because I’ve never been hospitalized for any serious illness. Since I play a lot of basketball and soccer, I make it a point to exercise whenever I can and try to watch what I eat. But sometimes, I lack energy when I’m at work or while playing a basketball game. One night, I was huffing and puffing just 15 minutes into a ball game and realized that I wasn’t as healthy as I thought I was. I said to myself that same night that enough is enough. I decided to follow Dr. Mercola’s advice and started taking control of my own health.

I logged on to his website and browsed articles on how to increase energy. Here are my favorite energy boosting tips:

• Increase the intake of antioxidants and Omega 3 fats.
• Eat according to your Nutritional Type. According to Dr. Mercola, our bodies are like car engines. Because we have unique genetic composition, we need to consume a certain blend of the right food types in the same way that a car was designed to run on certain types of fuel. Because I generally feel better and full after eating a lot of proteins, I started eating more chicken, beef, and fish to get more Omega 3 into my diet. I reduced the meals I ate at fast foods, such as my favorite KFC fried chicken, baby back ribs, burgers and pizzas.
• Eliminate sugar from your diet. I know, I know – it’s a tall order! But hey, even if you fail at eating zero refined sugar, you’re still bound to eat less sugar while trying. So eliminating sugar is still a good goal, but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t reach it. And so with a heavy heart, I said goodbye to my favorite drink (root beer) to drastically lower my sugar intake. Instead, I drank more natural fruit and vegetable juice from my blender. And I just have ice water when I eat out instead of iced tea and sodas.
• Lastly, get more sleep. If it’s past 10 pm and you’re still reading this article, go to sleep! Your body does most of its recharging between 11 pm and 1 am, so give it a break and get those Zzzzs! Visit http://www.mercola.com/article/sleep.htm for a great list of 33 secrets to a good night’s sleep.

After following these simple tips, the results were simply fantastic. In less than a month after modifying my diet, I noticed that I have more energy at work and during ballgames. In about two month’s time, I noticed that my skin got better. I still eat fast food every once in a while but I don’t miss the carbonated drinks and sweets. The cravings still attack sometimes but I’ve learned how to manage them.

I know that I need to do a lot more to be as healthy as I can possibly be but I’m glad I turned over a new leaf. And I have Dr. Mercola to thank for that.

I’ll be writing more about the valuable gems I’ve picked up from Dr. Mercola, who I know consider my health mentor, so I can share them to you and hopefully, help you get healthier.

Feel free to post your reactions and share about your own experiences – the victories and struggles you’ve had in your own journey towards good health. Your valuable insights will go a long way as we try to live healthier and happier lives.

Stay tuned, there’s more to come!

Luke