If 2020 taught us anything, it's that we can't take good health for granted, right?

In the wake of a global pandemic, the Health and Wellness industry saw a spike in hunger and thirst for information on specific ingredients to help support the body's natural defenses. 

But information does not automatically equal transformation. 

With that in mind, today we bring you a quick refresher course on healthy living. The five guidelines below will help you thrive—not just survive—through the stress and challenges that lay ahead.

Act on those that are most appropriate for you, and share this article to help others find which ones are best suited for them.

5 mortal enemies of your health

These threats to healthy living are so important, we grouped them together as the 5 mortal enemies of your health. 

More disease and death are connected to these threats than most people can imagine. Strong language, yes, but too many everyday people are barely able to function because they assumed these “rules” only apply to other people.

Those five health threats are: sugar consumption, continuous sitting, environmental toxins, electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs), and food allergies or sensitivities. Let’s take a closer look at each one. 

1) Effects of Sugar On Your Body: How Sweet It Isn’t

There's long been a well-established link between cancer and sugar, a discovery that was awarded the Nobel Prize in the 1930s. In spite of that, food manufacturers and processors have managed to convince the public that sugar is a harmless substance.

Now, it’s in nearly every pre-made food imaginable. As a result, the average American consumes close to 200 pounds of sugar every year – compared to our grandparents’ intake of about one pound in an entire year! (Skeptical? Sugar has been shown to be as addictive as some of the worst illegal drugs, like cocaine.)

Unsurprisingly, cancer is just about as common as sugar. Studies suggest that 50% of Americans face a positive cancer diagnosis at some point in their lives. But cancer is not the only concern when it comes to sugar.

Obesity rates in this country are steadily rising, along with serious health complications, such as prediabetes, diabetes, fatty liver, and joint difficulties.

An occasional sweet treat is fine, unless you are currently being treated for cancer. In that case, it's important to skip as much sugar and simple carbohydrates (food made with white, refined flour, for example) as possible.

If you’re not consuming sugar at every meal, then a cookie or a scoop of ice cream occasionally is not a deal-breaker. But keep in mind, if you eat fast food or prepared, processed foods, you are consuming sugar—whether you know it or not.

Lastly, we strongly recommend you read food labels for sugar content. Keep in mind, sugar has zero nutritional value and often masquerades by other names, including sucrose, fructose, lactose, dextrose, galactose, maltose, and concentrated juices, like grape or apple, and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

2) Sitting: The New Smoking

Years ago deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the medical term for blood clots deep within the leg, was in the news. At the time, DVT was considered a result of sitting in an airplane for hours at a time. But what about sitting at work, in front of the television, or while reading?

It turns out that prolonged sitting under any circumstances is a bad idea for any of us—including those who exercise regularly—and not just because of DVT.

In the past few years, several clinical trials have shown major health benefits for people who exercise moderately (i.e. light workouts with no heavy lifting) and avoid prolonged sitting. That simply means that every 20 minutes or so you should stand up, move around for a couple of minutes, and then return to whatever it was you were doing.

The idea that brief periods of not sitting could improve health might seem silly, but research shows how damaging it can be to ignore this advice.

British scientists observed a nearly 150 percent increase in the risk of heart disease, a 112 percent increase in the risk of developing diabetes, and a nearly 50 percent increase in premature death among those who spent the most time sitting.

Meanwhile, an Australian study found that people who watch television for six hours a day—and presumably sit while doing so—shortened their life expectancy by almost five years.

When you look at it that way, standing up every 20 minutes or so is a pretty small price to pay for an extra five years, isn't it?

3) Environmental toxins: An Epidemic of Disorders

These days, more and more people suffer from auto-immune disorders and degenerative diseases that once were considered rare or found only in the very elderly.

What has changed in recent decades that could trigger these types of ailments? The answer we keep coming back to is environmental toxins.

During the past few decades, environmental chemical usage has exploded. Some 4 billions pounds of toxins are released into the environment each year, and that is in the U.S. alone.

When not going directly into the air, water, soil, farm animals, and (eventually) our food, some of these chemicals are found in cleaning supplies. Others are used in non-stick cookware, plastics, personal care products, and clothing. 

They even appear in home furnishings like furniture and mattresses that are chemically treated to resist fire—who can sleep peacefully knowing that?

We recognize how difficult it is to detoxify and remove some of these substances from the body, particularly lead and mercury. (Side note: there is no such thing as a safe level of lead, mercury, arsenic, or other heavy metals in the human body.)

How to Remove Toxins From Your Body?

When it comes to detoxification, your liver is your best friend. Help this detoxification powerhouse do its job by: 

• minimizing your use of plastic;
• eating organic foods often—especially vegetables (phytochemicals in veggies protect against toxins and various diseases, and the fiber in them aids in healthy waste and toxin removal)
• drinking lots of fresh, filtered water; and
• getting at least 8 hours of deep, restful sleep at night (doing so allows your cells to do some serious repair work)

Exercising to the point of breaking a sweat is another good way to flush unwanted toxins from your body. And then there’s our personal favorite: green foods.

Want a powerful way to kickstart toxin removal? Start your day with a heaping helping of juiced greens (kale, cucumber, spinach, parsley, and cilantro, plus a little organic coconut cream and raw honey). 

Looking for more convenience? Greens are also available in dietary supplement form to help remove the all-too-common bisphenol A (BPA) from the body.

BPA is a known endocrine-disrupting chemical found in plastics. It's linked to hormone imbalance, cancer, and many other ailments. Avoid it as much as you can.

4) Electro Magnetic Frequencies (EMFs): The Unseen Threat

Technology makes our lives easier, but it also exposes us to more radiation.

Electro-magnetic frequencies (EMFs)—the byproducts of devices like kitchen appliances, cellular and cordless phones, gaming platforms, and wireless internet (WiFi)—are particularly troubling because they are everywhere.

With millions of appliances, plus additional millions of cell phones and computers, and tens of thousands of cell towers operating in this country, we are being bombarded by electro-pollution. You can’t see it, touch it, or smell it, but experts are now calling these unseen threats “dirty electricity.”

And, in spite of how common EMFs are in our lives, we have very little information about how the dirty electricity affects us—what we do know about the health impact of electronics is not good.

Studies show that electro-magnetic frequencies can affect the body’s biological clock, causing such symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disorders, and chronic insomnia. There is also evidence that EMFs disrupt blood sugar management, which could affect anyone with diabetes or pre-diabetes and interfere with pain-relief medication.

How To Reduce EMFs in Your Home?

To avoid electro-pollution from EMFs, use electronic devices sparingly, particularly those with variable speed options. Hair dryers, microwave ovens, fans, heaters, and similar appliances release large amounts of EMFs—try as much as possible to minimize your use of these devices.

Furthermore, if you have access to the circuit breaker that supplies electricity to your bedroom, switch it off every night.

Or unplug electrical devices in your home when they are not in use, particularly those in your bedroom that could be emitting dirty electricity while you sleep. (If you have an electric alarm clock, for example, replace it with a battery-powered version.)

There are other ways to reduce your EMF exposure through a practice known as “grounding” or “earthing.” This is based on the theory that being in contact with the Earth’s own electrical impulses enhances your body’s immune system, helping reduce pain, stress, and inflammation, while improving sleep and stimulating circulation and waste removal.

There are a number of devices that help the grounding process, including earthing shoes, mattress pads, and more. Search for “earthing” on your favorite internet search engine, and you will find plenty of resources to help you connect with the Earth’s energy.

Until we know more about EMFs, these kinds of small changes can minimize your exposure to electro-pollution. 

Plus, they give us another good reason to spend a little time walking barefoot in a park or on the beach this spring and summer.

5) Food Allergies and Sensitivities: What’s Eating at You?

If you struggle with digestive problems, you probably know which foods cause them—for instance, rich sauces, spicy fare, or acidic foods like coffee or tomatoes often upset the stomach.

In many cases, simply avoiding those foods or taking digestive enzymes and/or hydrochloric acid supplements may help avoid the discomfort. However, problems with digestion among people over age 40 tend to be about too little stomach acid rather than too much.

That’s the opposite of what conventional medicine claims, but trust us—they are wrong.

Meanwhile, one “healthy” food is turning out to be a problem for many people. Wheat, once considered a staple food, is turning out to be less beneficial than we thought, even for people who do not have celiac disease.

Like sugar, wheat is used as an ingredient in so many things that it’s very challenging to avoid. But more and more often these days, the more that worrisome symptoms don’t respond to various treatments, the more necessary it is to take a “wheat-cation” and go off wheat for a month to see if the situation improves.

More often than not, you'll notice a big difference without wheat.

Another excellent move for anyone with digestive woes is to try probiotic supplements. These friendly intestinal bacteria are especially helpful to anyone who has taken antibiotics, which destroy both the good and bad bacteria in the body.

There are many kinds of probiotics available today. we suggest looking for supplements that contain at least 10 billion live organisms—and follow the dosage instructions as directed by the product manufacturer.

Newport Natural Health offers a probiotic formula made up of six unique strains of beneficial bacteria, each conferring its own benefit to the gut, the immune system and the body as a whole. Plus, it’s microencapsulated to ensure all 10 billion CFUs (colony forming units) can survive your powerful stomach acids and arrive safely in the intestines, where they do their most important work. You can learn more about this top-notch probiotic here.

Take these 5 to stay alive—and thrive

As you can see, it’s not all that difficult to maintain good health, even during stressful times like the one we're in now. So, with this handy guide in mind, you know have the tools to stay healthy no matter what may come.

As always, start with a nutritious diet of whole foods, chosen with your specific needs in mind. Detoxify your system as needed, by juicing and consuming organic foods. 

Mix in about 30 minutes of moderate, exercise, plenty of fresh, filtered water, a good night’s sleep, and a few targeted supplements daily to cover all the bases, and you'll sail through any health curveballs the new year may throw our way confident in your body's ability to fight back.

After all, as one intuitive friend once said:

Disclaimer: Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

Last Updated: May 21, 2021
Originally Published: October 8, 2013