To obtain as many antioxidants and nutrients as possible, update your shopping list. The body needs variety.  Eating the same thing day in and day out is boring and will leave you nutritionally deficient.  Supplements are great, but you need to eat and whenever possible eat:

• Whole Foods      
• Organic        
• All Natural     
• 100% Whole Wheat           
• Wild         
• Free-Range        
• No Preservatives

Put a red check mark next to the items whenever you eat them. Make it a goal to take in most of these items every month. You do not know how lucky you are to have a variety of foods at your fingertip when its time to shop. Just remember that many crops are genetically modified or picked when unripe, so we have to be selective about where we shop and what we buy. For instance years ago there were different kinds of broccoli planted but now due to high costs, most farmers tend to stick to one kind. If a veggie grows fast and is resistant to pests that’s the one that’s selected for planting. Therefore...variety is diminishing.

Recently in the news, there has been a lot of talk about the status of the nation’s security post 9-11. Some say the subway system is still not safe and more could be done to keep this country from harms way. That got me thinking this week as I was talking to someone who has been experiencing chest pain for a week, and I told him he should get a complete work-up and see a heart doctor. This person refused. Said he was a fit as a fiddle and that he had a catheterization two years ago and normal cholesterol tests. Standing before me was a person with a false sense of security.

Many of us are afraid of the “enemy” beyond our borders - immigrants, religious fanatics or enemies in our neighborhoods like pedophiles or gang members. But sometimes when it comes time to answer the question of “How healthy are you?”, we rely on old blood tests and the need to convince ourselves that we are okay. 

News flash: Half of people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol tests. I have even seen in the Emergency Department people who have “clean arteries” on cardiac catheterization have massive heart attacks two months later. The message we should glean from this: its great to pass our tests with flying colors but we should make healthy behaviors a daily part of our lives. Don’t let your defenses down. Get moving, get active and eat right.

Let's see - have you been lulled into a fall sense of security?

• Do you take in less than 25 to 30g of fiber a day?
• Do you eat less than five veggies a day?
• Do you drink more than one glass of wine a day for women, or two glasses per day for men?
• Do you get in a minimum of 30 minutes of activity on most days of the week?
• Have you missed your doctor's appointment?
• Would you rather take medication than try to heal thyself (i.e. It's too hard to eat right and lower cholesterol, blood pressure, or blood glucose)?

• Women who sleep less than six hours per night weight 13-17 pounds more than those people who sleep at least seven hours.
• Men who sleep less than six hours per night weight 19-24 lbs more than those who sleep at least seven.