Many people are confused about the term – Optimal Health. Is Optimal Health simply the absence of diseases? Or is it slower ageing? If you’re interested in learning what is Optimal Health and How to Achieve it, keep reading because I will share my 5 Simple Steps you need to follow if you want to become truly healthy. You can go and implement them into your life right now and you will improve your health tremendously.

 

 

I will be sharing my easy to follow steps of how to achieve optimal health, I will explain what is optimal health diet, what are the best optimal health supplements, types of exercise and other important factors such as stress management and sleep, all you need to achieve optimal health! I’m a UK based nutritionist sharing all my knowledge for free because I care about you getting the right information that will enable you to become the best version of yourself.

 

What is Optimal Health?

 

I see a lot of people confused when it comes to defining optimal health. Optimal health is far more than simply the absence of disease. Optimal health is being the best version of yourself and living your life to its fullest. It involves being healthy physically and mentally.

 

What are the symptoms of Optimal Health?

 

 

When you’re at your optimal health you have no hunger or cravings, you can go long periods of time without eating and you don’t get irritable, emotional, or edgy. You don’t look for happiness and comfort in foods. You don’t binge because you are in full harmony with your body. It’s different now because you know how to nourish your body and understand its signals.

 

You treat your body with love and respect because you think about how you want to feel and look in the future, not only the present moment. You’re different now and you don’t go after quick temptation anymore, because you know that it’s not worth sacrificing your health.

 

In addition, you have high-stress tolerance, high quality of sleep, great concentration, cognitive function, and memory. You have high energy levels, you’re physically active and flexible. Your skin is beautiful and soft, you age slower than other your age people and you’re always in great shape! Taking care of yourself is an enjoyable activity and not torture because you are a strong, self-disciplined, and ambitious individual. You have optimal blood sugars, balanced hormones, low triglycerides, and normal blood pressure – these are all indicators of optimal health.

 

How to achieve Optimal Health?

 

It is important for you to set up your long-term goals. You have to want to become optimally healthy a lot! It has to be really important to you. Otherwise, you won’t be able to put the right amount of work into it. And you have to be clear about what you want and why you want it, as this is the driving force for success. Your entire life can change in a couple of months. You just have to love yourself enough to know that you deserve more, be brave enough to demand more and be disciplined enough to actually work for more. Once you get this part right, nothing can stop you.

 

My long-term goal is to live until more than 100 years and still be fit and active, be able to travel, meet new people, explore, and learn new things. I want to look and feel great for the longest time possible, and this feeling is stronger than the temptation to eat whatever I want and drink alcohol. I’m in control of my future and I want my future self to say “thank you”, to me now, for doing great work and practising self-care from a young age.

 

After finding the motivation and your WHY, you have to focus on the practical steps for achieving optimal health. There are 5 main areas you have to be focusing on.

 

1. Sleep Habits for Optimal Health.

 

You have to get good quality sleep every single night. Aim for 8 to 9 hours of high-quality sleep. What do I mean by good quality sleep? No distractions, no noise, no light, your bedroom must be in total darkness. One hour before the bed you should be preparing for rest, staying away from bright screens, social media, and similar stimulations.

 

You should wear blue light blocking glasses later on in the evening and make sure your phone and computer have night light settings on. This will help you to sleep better.

 

Did you know that staying in bed for 8 hours a night might not be enough? Do you ever feel extremely tired in the morning and feel like you don’t want to leave your bed? That might be an indicator that you have low sleep efficiency. For example, you might have spent 8 hours in bed but woke up during the night because of your baby crying, neighbour’s dog barking, or simply couldn’t fall asleep for a long time, or woke up before your alarm…

 

This could result in your sleep efficiency being 80% or less. Meaning that if you spent 8 hours in bed, you possibly slept for only 6 hours and a half!

 

If you suffer from poor quality sleep and want to know what helps and what disturbs your sleep, you can measure it with Oura ring. It is the most accurate sleep tracking device. I use it myself and it helps me to track my quality of sleep and my health.

 

I know that all my health measures and quality of sleep are at their highest when I have regular sleeping times and meal times, I’m on a low sugar clean diet with plenty of veggies, I’m physically active, I take my supplements, don’t drink coffee after 12 pm and wear my blue light blocking glasses later in the evening. My sleeping efficiency is always around 96%, my sleeping scores are close to the maximum, my resting heart rate and heart rate variability both indicate great health.

 

So, if you suffer from poor quality sleep, I highly encourage you to get the blue light blocking glasses and Oura ring so that you could start improving your sleep and understand your body better. You can find my Blue Light Blocking Glasses HERE and the Oura ring HERE.

 

2. Stress Management for Optimal Health.

 

 

Many of us have stressful jobs and complicated relationships, and we’re always in the rush. In these stressful times, it becomes crucial to learn how to manage your stress well. High-stress levels can not only age you faster, it can even kill you! High-stress levels have been linked with cancer, heart disease, dementia, and many other conditions.

 

Make sure you manage your stress effectively and are fully in control of your emotions. If you feel like you want to explode because you’re just full of negative emotions, just talk about it. Practice some deep breathing, go for a walk in the fresh air, exercise, don’t let those negative feelings affect your health. Practising yoga, meditation, mindfulness, long walks outside, drinking herbal teas, and diffusing essential oils… it all does wonders for me. You should definitely try it out!

 

3. Best Diet for Optimal Health.

 

 

I believe food is medicine – and that what you eat is the single most important thing you do every day to affect the health of your body and mind. What we put into our bodies has a huge impact on our health, mood, and energy levels. With each bite of food, we either nourish our bodies or slowly create diseases.

 

Let’s look at what is optimal health diet because it is one of the most important factors in improving your health. Once you get the optimal nutrition part right, you’re half-way there. After removing the toxic foods and replacing them by nutrient-rich foods, it will become easier to be on top of all of the other areas needed for achieving optimal health.

 

Eat a diet that doesn’t spike your blood sugar. Focus on eating quality, real, whole foods instead of processed, industrial foods, sugar, flour, farm-raised meat, and dairy. Eliminate non-food ingredients from your diet. Eat mostly plants – lots of low glycaemic vegetables and some fruits. This should be 75 % of your diet and your plate. You should eat 8-10 servings of fruit and veggies a day, but only 2-3 should be fruit. Eat healthy fats – omega 3 fats from small wild fish, extra virgin olive oil, nuts and seeds, avocados, whole eggs, grass-fed meats, grass-fed butter, virgin coconut oil, MCT (medium-chain triglyceride) oil.

 

Stay away from refined oils processed with heat, solvents, and deodorizers. This means almost all vegetable oils including canola, safflower, corn, and especially soybean oil. Avoid or limit dairy, especially from modern dairy cows. Avoid gluten and grains in general. Eat small amounts of gluten-free grains if you want.

 

4. Best Exercise for Optimal Health.

 

 

Did you know that walking is one of the healthiest forms of exercise you can do? Walking for around one hour a day can significantly improve your health and keep you fit. I walk a minimum of 1 hour a day and try to spread it so that I wouldn’t have a few hours straight where I’m not moving at all. Yoga is another way to stay healthy and fit. It makes you move and stretch your entire body. Yoga is beneficial for your joints, muscles, skin, and even your mind, as it involves calm breathing and relaxation. People who practise yoga tend to look way younger! I highly recommend trying out this amazing form of exercise.

You can start with free YouTube videos. or find your local yoga classless.

 

5. Best Supplements for Optimal Health.

 

When aiming to achieve optimal health, supplements are also important. We get most of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals from our diets when we eat natural whole foods. However, the addition of high-quality supplements can help to make sure that your body gets all it needs for optimal functioning. I’ve been researching and trialling various food supplements for optimal functioning for several years now, and these are my top recommended ones:

Collagen

 

WHY COLLAGEN:

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body and is critical for proper bodily function. Nearly all of your connective tissue, plus up to 70% of your skin, hair, and nails, are made up of collagen. As of age 25, our bodies begin slowing down collagen production, which can lead to premature ageing and cause health issues. Taking a collagen supplement has been scientifically shown to slow down the ageing process and increase overall vibrancy and health.

 

FULL BODY BENEFITS:

Since collagen makes up 30% of all your body’s protein, it makes sense that helping your body replenish its collagen supply would have a wide range of health benefits. Collagen has been shown to increase skin, hair, and nail strength, improve muscle tone, heal gut inflammation, and protect the liver, heart, and kidneys. In short, taking a collagen supplement will enhance the functioning of any part of the body that naturally contains collagen.

 

I trialled many different collagen supplement brands and found 5 types of Collagen from Revive Naturals (can order here) to be the best one, as this collagen is formulated from multiple sources including eggs, chicken, fish, and hydrolyzed bovine. Together, these sources create a synergistic blend that provides the five types of collagen that the body naturally craves, types l, ll, lll, V, and X.

 

This grass-fed, pasture-raised multi-collagen protein is optimised for maximum potency and health benefits. I’m having 1 scoop (10g) in my morning coffee every morning and I can see some great improvements in my skin and my health. You can dissolve it in water or add to your smoothies too, as it is tasteless and odourless, unlike some other brands I’ve tried in the past. Definitely worth including in your optimal health regimen!

 

Medicinal mushrooms – Lions Mane, Cordyceps Sinesis

 

WHY LIONS MANE:

Lion’s mane mushroom is a nootropic food, which means when consumed it can enhance cognitive function. It is very popular in traditional Chinese medicine. It is well studied and there’s a large body of research proving its ability to enhance health.

 

One study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found the list of health benefits of lion’s mane mushroom to include: anti-ageing, reducing the risk of cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc… In addition, it can improve anxiety, cognitive function, and depression. Definitely worth trying it out. You can read the source here. Lion’s mane promotes better concentration, focus, and memory while also supporting a healthy gut.

 

Time Health High Strength Lions Mane extract is grown traditionally and naturally (not grown in a lab on substrates) on large hardwood sticks. In addition, it is 100% vegan friendly.

 

How do you take it? Follow the instructions on the packaging, try out mushroom tea! I like mixing a teaspoon of Lions Mane and a teaspoon of Cordyceps with half of a glass of hot water, it tastes great!

 

I’ve been using Lion’s mane for a few years now and I can feel its brain-boosting effects! You can find high-quality Lion’s mane mushroom supplement here.

 

WHY CORDYCEPS:

 

This medicinal mushroom has been a staple in holistic medicine for centuries and has long been known for its potent anti-ageing, health-promoting properties. In recent years, research on the cordyceps mushroom has turned up even more impressive findings, reporting that this amazing supplement can also enhance athletic performance, promote heart health and decrease inflammation to keep you feeling your best.

You can find high-quality Cordyceps here.

 

Turmeric

 

The ancient spice Turmeric may be the most effective nutritional supplement out there! Many high-quality studies show that it has major benefits for your body and cognitive function. The active compound in turmeric, curcumin was shown to suppress many molecules known to play major roles in inflammation. Curcumin has powerful antioxidant effects. It neutralizes free radicals on its own but also stimulates your body’s own antioxidant enzymes.

Also, it increases the levels of the brain hormone BDNF, which increases the growth of new neurons and fights various degenerative processes in your brain. Curcumin can cross the blood-brain barrier and has been shown to prevent and lead to improvements in Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, it can help treat symptoms of arthritis and is in some cases more effective than anti-inflammatory drugs. The benefits are endless!

You can get high-quality organic turmeric supplement here.

 

Vitamin D

Vitamin D – the sunshine vitamin, can help you to reduce the risk of getting various diseases including Multiple Sclerosis, heart disease, flu, and even depression. It helps to improve the immune system and keep us healthy and strong all year round.

You can get a high-quality liquid vitamin D supplement here.

 

Extra: Optimal health products

In addition to my 5 steps, you can bring your health even further by practising the so-called biohacking. Biohacking basically means hacking your system to achieve optimal health. In cases, when correcting the diet, managing stress, correcting sleep, taking the right supplements, and improving physical activity is not enough, you can consider biohacking techniques. You should try out acupressure, dry brushing, and red light therapy.

They are shown to enhance health and help slow down the ageing process. But enough, for now, these are topics for the next time. You can watch my video on Red Light Therapy where I explain what is it, how it works and what are the health benefits.

 

Also read:

The 11 Biggest Weight Loss Myths stopping your Weight Loss

https://advanced-nutrition-and-health.com/the-11-biggest-weight-loss-myths/

Can I eat what I want, count calories, and still lose weight?

https://advanced-nutrition-and-health.com/free-low-carb-keto-diet-plan/