Fortunately, there is consensus about some of the most important habits that contribute to and complement our health and well-being, as well as those habits that impede, obstruct, or insult our health and well-being. This is not meant to be a definitive list; just a representative list based upon the principles of Functional Nutrition and common sense. Keep in mind that our goal is to identify and practice those habits that nourish our most essential biological functions and meet our most basic nutritional needs...particularly the needs of our cells which contribute to the proper functioning of our digestive systems. When our digestive systems are functioning better, all the other organs and systems of our body benefit.

Look at the following information as interesting 'food for thought.' When you find something appetizing, give it a try. Experiment one habit at a time, for at least one week at a time. You will soon discover, as countless others already have, that these habits are simply some of the most important habits that nourish us best!

Practice these "complementary" habits as much as possible:

• Always sit down when you eat. Relax, breathe, light a candle. Strive to create an orderly, nourishing, and harmonious environment around your mealtimes. Create meaningful mealtime rituals that complement the principles of balance and harmony in the foods themselves.
• Approach each meal with an attitude of gratitude. Before you eat or drink anything, ask yourself: Is this something that is going to nourish me best?
• Eat your Simplexity Health nutrition products with meals whenever possible, particularly the digestive enzymes and probiotics.
• Don't dine without Simplexity Health's digestive enzymes.
• Chew each mouthful of food thoroughly (drink your solids and chew your liquids). To not chew food thoroughly may be the greatest dietary and nutritional insult. We all know that chewing our food thoroughly is important, but we rarely if ever do.
• Select the highest quality organic foods and beverages whenever possible.
• Participate in cooking classes on the methods of wild food foraging, whole food selection and preparation, juicing, and sprouting. The issue is proper cooking, not just cooking. Improper cooking techniques destroy the nutritional value; proper cooking techniques enhance the nutritional value. These websites are dedicated to organic and whole food cooking and provide practical guidance for getting started: www.christinacooks.com and www.naturalgourmetschool.com.
• Proper Hydration is one of the foundational habits of naturally healthy people. Author of Your Body's Many Cries for Water, Dr. F. Batmanghelidj is perhaps the foremost authority on the subject of proper daily hydration, and he suggests a minimum of half of your body weight in ounces of water per day. This is purified, non-chlorinated drinking water. The water should also contain a small amount of organic quality sea salt, about one-quarter teaspoon per quart of water. A two hundred-pound person would need to consume one hundred ounces of water per day. Water is essential to all biochemical reactions and functions within the body. An easy, reliable, and effective step to take towards better nutrition and better health is to integrate the habit of proper daily hydration.
• Exercise moderately and frequently. Walking every day for 20 to 30 minutes may be all that most people require. Exercise increases oxygen levels in blood and throughout the body. Exercise is also the very best way to circulate lymphatic fluid, bringing necessary nutrients to cells and removing undesirable and toxic waste matter away from cells. Our blood supply has a pump called the heart; but we have twice as much lymph fluid in our body as blood, and the only pump activator is 'us'... bending and stretching our skeletal muscles. Exercise!
• Get enough sleep at night, and rest during the day if necessary. Learn to listen to your body, and honor what you hear.
• Order Simplexity Health nutritional products every month and consume them every day!

Avoid these 'insulting' habits as much as possible:

• Eating anything too late in the day. Remember the story of the king, the prince, and the pauper? Eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch, and a pauper at dinner. When your body is digesting, it isn't resting. Eating late at night can contribute to acid indigestion, acid reflux, restless sleep, and insomnia. Eating more food earlier in the day, along with eating less at night and not eating late at night, is one of the best ways to lose weight easily. Your body prefers to digest food earlier in the day, not late at night. But don't take our word for it…experiment and find out!
• Eating or drinking anything too cold...especially ice water, ice cream, frozen yogurt, etc. This is the root cause of many symptoms associated with indigestion. All bodily functions work best at 98.6 degrees F. Consuming foods or liquids that are even a few degrees above or below this ideal can lead to symptoms of imbalance.
• Eating when you are upset, angry, stressed-out, over-tired, or overworked. This is a tried and true recipe for indigestion. Go for a walk first. Clear your head of difficulties. Make sure you are relaxed before you start eating.
• Excess meat and dairy consumption. Choose quality and find a balance.
• Alcohol, cigarettes, and caffeine. Just one day at a time.
• Processed or synthetic foods and beverages. Read labels. Avoid junk food.
• Toxins in food, air, water, cosmetics, personal care products, clothing, housing, and building supplies. Chapter 6 includes many helpful references on this issue.
• Excess consumption of fruit juice 'from concentrates,' especially with children. Concentrated juices may concentrate nutrients, but they also concentrate the various sugars. If you use fruit juice from concentrate, dilute it with water and try to minimize your consumption.
• All carbonated beverages. CO2 (carbon dioxide) is a toxic by-product of normal human metabolic activity. We inhale oxygen and we exhale carbon dioxide (CO2).
• Artificial and synthetic sweeteners, colors, additives, preservatives, fortifiers, fillers, etc. Consume whole foods--not non-foods.
• All diet beverages containing aspartame and aspartame-like substances, and all artificial sweeteners in any form. The emotional and psychological key to effective weight management is not found in depriving yourself of desirable foods and beverages. The key to effective weight management is to transform your desire for non-nutritious substances into desire for genuinely nutritious foods and beverages. The biological (or ecological) key to effective weight management is to restore the health and happiness of your digestive system. Diet beverages feed the pathogenic yeasts and bacteria that increase digestive imbalances such as an uncontrollable appetite and inexplicable weight gain.
• Artificial and synthetic placewares, cookware and utensils, and artificial cooking techniques, microwave cooking in particular. Use wood, ceramic, glass, cast iron, stainless steel. Avoid the use of aluminum pots and pans.
• Use of artificial cooking, processing and preserving techniques in general and microwave cooking in particular.
• A 'mono' diet...as in monotonous. Variety is an important nutritional requirement. Studies show that the more dynamic and flexible your food choices are, the greater variety of beneficial bacteria and vital food enzymes will be in your digestive system. Variety is the spice of life!
• Being too focused on avoiding things in your diet and lifestyle. Though absolutely necessary, remember that avoiding insults is just one side of the coin. Equally important is what you proactively do and include in your diet and lifestyle that is complementary and nourishing.

There is substantial and reliable documentation to support each of the habits outlined above. However, nothing is more important or convincing than the practical experiments you conduct yourself. You are the one who will determine which of these habits complement your goals for better health and which habits insult your goals. This determination is yours alone. It is our hope that increased confidence, certainty, and better health make for a lasting and nourishing decision, based on your own personal experimentation and self-discovery. Here's one more complementary habit that we have discovered that can help you determine with greater clarity and certainty the habits that nourish you best.

Seven Days is the absolute minimum period of time to conduct a meaningful experiment.

1. Pick a habit that you want to experiment with from the list above.
2. Make an unbreakable commitment to experiment with 100% enthusiasm and integrity. This means that no matter what comes up in your life in the form of any distraction whatsoever, you will not break your commitment to your experiment.
3. Let's say you have decided to conduct a chewing experiment. You obviously cannot avoid chewing, so you simply decide to chew more diligently and more completely than ever before. Not just for one or two meals, but for every meal, beverage, and snack during the next seven days. You will be amazed at your results. To be effective you must count your chews. Don't swallow until each mouthful has turned to liquid. Eat only one mouthful at a time. Put your fork down between mouthfuls. In other words, eat with total awareness, sensitivity, and consciousness!
4. If you need to, write down your commitment to yourself and sign it. Put it on the wall of your bedroom or office or the bathroom mirror. Have your wife or husband sign it. If you need to, get it witnessed and notarized. Do whatever you need to do to make, and then keep, your unbreakable seven-day commitment to yourself.
5. Don't try to do this seven-day experiment. Just do it! Get serious. Be real. Follow through. We can't tell you how many people have told us: "Oh, I just couldn't do it. This came up and that came up and blah, blah, blah." Of course things are going to come up! But excuses are just excuses. Personal healing requires personal power...the power to choose and decide what nourishes us best and what doesn't. No one ever experienced self-improvement by not following through, or by just trying. No one ever grew a magnificent garden without weeding and composting. Insulting habits are weeds. Complementary habits are compost. If you are not willing to identify the weeds in your life and pull them out by the roots, they will eventually take over your garden. You cannot let the weeds in your life dictate what your garden is going to look and feel like. You must cultivate the habits that nourish you best. Become a master gardener. Separate the weeds from the things you most want to grow. You will be amazed at how successful you can become at this.

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