Many people spend a lot of time and energy saving, investing and planning for retirement. Unfortunately, most of these people will develop chronic and degenerative health problems as they age, which diminish the quality of life they experience in their senior years. It won't do much good to have a fat bank account if they die of a heart attack or cancer, or suffer from crippling arthritis or other conditions that prevent them from enjoying life as they grow older.

When we are planning and preparing for our senior years, we ought to invest some time, and money into improving and maintaining our health at the same time. And rernernber that government health care programs like Medicare and private health insurance policies don't really insure glood health. All they cover is the cost of disease care, the use of drugs and surgery to treat symptoms of disease after they develop. This is not the same as investing in creating good health.

An investment in good health is not all that complex. It does not even require that much self-discipline! Self-discipline suggests some type of self-deprivation, but caring for your health is the exact opposite of self-deprivation. Instead, it is self-nurturing.

What it takes to invest in one's health is to form positive health habits. Once you start making these investments and notice how much better you feel, you'll want to keep investing because the physical, mental and emotional dividends will become obvious. Here is a checklist of places to invest time, energy and money in your health.

Eat Quality Food
Obviously, good nutrition is the place to Start. The basic investment rule here is simple; avoid putting your money into refined and processed foods and purchase whole, natural and organically grown foods instead.

The most important dietary habit you can establish is to eat five to seven 1/2 cup servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. It's also important to select whole grain products and natural sugars (such as raw honey, xylitol, organic natural brown sugar, etc.) over their refined and processed counterparts. If you crave sugary snacks and white flour products, you need to eat more healthy fats and protein.

When selecting fats, avoid margarine, shortening and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Instead, use olive oil, organic butter and cream from grass-fed cows, coconut oil, avocados and nuts as good sources of quality fats. Starting your day with a tablespoon of coconut oil will greatly reduce sugar cravings,

Food is both the fuel that energizes your body functions and the source of raw materials to produce healthy structures. Eating cheap junk food is no way to save money. It will reduce your energy, weaken your tissues and you'll wind up spending far more in doctor and hospital bills than you saved by eating low quality food.

Drink Water and Breathe Deeply
Two very simple things one can do to insure ona health are to drink plenty of pure qater and pracricc deep breathing. For optimal health one needs to drink about 1/2 ounce of water per pound of body weight every day. Practicing any form of deep, abdominal breathing will also greatly benefit one's health. These two practices alone can reduce pain and inflammation throughout the body while increasing energy levels and overall health.

Balance Rest and Exercise
It is very important to stay physically active as one grows older. A rigorous exercise program is not necessary, but some form of moderate physical activity such as walking, swimming or gentle bouncing on a mini-trampoline is essential to good health. The lymphatic System stagnates when we are not breathing deeply and moving around.
This causes causes toxins to accumulate in the system and contributes to aging and degenerative disease. A daily stretching routine is also beneficcial.

Of course, it's also important to balance activity with rest. As we grow older. it's natural to slow down a little. Taking short naps or otherwise resting when tired is good for our health. It's also important to get a sound night's sleep, something that is ofen a challenge as we get older.

If you are having trouble sleeping, there are numerous herbs and supplements that can help such as Herbal Sleep or Nervous Fatigue Formula.

Use Appropriate Supplements
Even if you are eating a healthy diet, you can take out additional health insurance by selecting a few well-chosen supplements. These can be general supplements, designed to support overall nutrition, or specific supplements to address common health concerns associated with aging.
Here are a few ideas for basic supplements.

Super Trio is a great basic program containing three important supplements: Super Supplemental, a high quality multiple vitamin and mineral; Super Omega-3, a source for the essential omega-3 fatty acids: and Super ORAC, a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory blend. Super Trio can provide basic nutrients that may be lacking in the diet, reduce the inflammation and oxidative damage associated wWith aging and degenerative disease and support general health.

Three other basic supplements to consider are Mineral Chi Tonic, Thai Go and Ultimate Green Zone. Various tonic herbs like Ginseng, Ginkgo, Cordyceps and Ho shou wu are used in ocher cultures to help people stay healthier as they age. Other possibilities follow; pick the remedies that fit your needs the best.

Below is a list of suggested products. Those in bold are key products for the health issue explained on this page.
For details and ordering simply copy a product's name in the search box above or click on the bold name.

Therapies: Aromatherapy, Deep Breathing. Exercise, Fast or Juice Fast, Hydration, Glycemic Diet and Stress Management.

Herbs: Bee Pollen, Cordyceps, Eleuthero, Ginkgo Biloba, Gocu Kola, He Shou Wu, Korean Ginseng, Nature's Gold and Wild American Ginseng

Herbal Formulas: AdaptaMax, Noni, SUMA Combination and Trigger Immune

Herbal Extracts: Green Tea Extract

Nutrients: Alpha Lipoic Acid, CoQ 10, Colostrum, DHEA-F or DHEA-M, Grapine, L-Glutamine, Pantothenic Acid, Pregnenolone.
Vitamin E and Zinc.

Nutraceuticals: Brain-Protex w/ Huperzine, Master Gland, Mega-Chel, Melatonin Extra, Mind-Max, Super Antioxidant, Super ORAC and Thai-Go

Foods: Ultimate Green Zone (Powder or Caps.)

Essentials Oils: Frankinsense, Lemon, Patchouli, Snadalwood, Ylang Ylang