It’s easy to get confused when it comes to health and wellness. Depending on your goals, your list of healthy tips could look a little different than mine. My goal is healing, so I choose to eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables full of healing flavonoids and antioxidants.  

Here are my 5 top tips that have accelerated my healing:

1. Add smoothies to your diet

I eat 2 cups of wild blueberries every day in my smoothie. I also add spinach, other greens, and even seaweeds. Wild blueberries are the king of antioxidants, with over 13,000 antioxidants in just one cup. I buy Trader Joe’s Wild Blueberries in the freezer section or Wyman’s Wild Blueberries at Walmart. Bananas are a must in my smoothie; they make it a delicious meal and add vitamins C and B6 as well as potassium, copper and manganese. For additional healing benefits, I sometimes even have two smoothies per day – one for breakfast and one as an afternoon snack. 

2. Focus on hydration

I add lemon, herbs, or raw honey to my water for better hydration and added nutrients. I choose to drink natural spring water from a local natural spring by Mt. Rainier. Spring water is free from chemical additives. To find a natural spring near you, go to https://findaspring.com/.

Staying hydrated impacts the brain, helps nutrients enter cells and toxins leave the body. It’s also good for the heart and joints according to this article. I drink a quart of lemon honey water first thing every morning. The liver is hard at work cleansing your body at night. Drinking lemon water first thing in the morning supports the liver to continue cleansing and flushing the toxins away. I also add another quart of lemon water throughout the day.

3. Eat an apple a day

I always carry a bag of sliced apples with me. Apples have impressive health benefits for your heart, digestion and may help prevent cancer. In the book “Liver Rescue,” by Anthony William, apples are a critical food for the liver.  This high pectin fruit is a delicious way to improve your health and heal your body. I typically eat 1 or 2 apples every day.

4. Enjoy a fat-free morning 

About a decade ago, I noticed how much better I felt waiting as long as possible before eating anything unhealthy. After reading “Cleanse to Heal” by Anthony William, I better understand the cleansing work our liver does overnight.  Eliminating fats and staying hydrated in the morning supports the body to eliminate toxins which improves health. Drinking a smoothie with 2 bananas or eating oatmeal and wild blueberries for breakfast are filling and tasty fat-free options. If you are still hungry, eat an apple after breakfast. I’ve been following the Medical Medium Morning Cleanse for about 2 ½ years. I contribute this morning routine to be one of the biggest factors in turning my health around. Support your body’s natural healing process by enjoying fat-free whole foods in the morning.

5. Add herbal teas and infused water

It was a slow process for me to eliminate coffee. A vanilla latte was my happy place. First, I switched to decaf coffee. Later, I started drinking a roasted dandelion blend like Dandy Blend. When I realized herbal teas and dandelion roots were beneficial for my body and coffee was dehydrating and stressed my adrenals, I decided I wanted to make a change. I now love to pour hot water over fresh herbs from my garden for a healing tea. I add a handful of dried herbs, like nettle and peppermint, to a mason jar of spring water at night. In the morning I have a multivitamin drink to sip on throughout the day. Adding herbal teas or infused water brings together hydration and herbal medicine into one powerful beverage.

I would encourage you to try one of these tips for a week and see what you think. It took me years to make all these changes. Slow and steady is the best pace when it comes to healing. Make one adjustment that feels right for you and enjoy the benefits that it brings to your life.