I can’t tell you how pleased I am whenever I see articles such as this, although the advice given for alternative therapies is oftentimes seriously flawed or lacking. However, counteracting the disease mongering of the pharmaceutical industry with articles showing the benefits of simple lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise is, overall, a great thing, and something that really has to take place on a grander, more frequent scale if we are to change this deadly trend of pill-popping. 

The seven common health conditions mentioned here can indeed be managed without resorting to pharmaceutical drugs, which oftentimes cause serious side effects and deteriorate your health even further. 

Arthritis -- Osteoarthritis, the deterioration of cartilage that cushions the joints, is the most common form of arthritis among the elderly. Vital components to improving this condition include: optimizing your diet to make sure you’re getting proper nutrients for your nutritional type; making sure your vitamin D levels are healthy (sun exposure is your BEST source!), and that you’re getting adequate omega-3 fatty acids, which are profoundly helpful for normalizing your immune function; and regular low-impact exercise.

 Rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune disease in which your body starts destroying itself -- in some cases resulting in chronic destruction and deformity of your joints – can also be greatly relieved without going to the pharmacy. I recommend you review my RA page, Your Comprehensive Guide to Treating and Overcoming Rheumatoid Arthritis for more information about this subject.

Additionally, in almost every case of rheumatoid arthritis there’s an underlying emotional cause; a severe, emotional trauma that took place before the age of five. Typically, all the traditional counseling in the world will not effectively address this. Energy-psychology tools such as the Emotional Freedom Technique, however, can be far more helpful in this regard.

Cholesterol – The issue of “good” and “bad” cholesterol is perhaps one of the most pervasive medical myths out there, created and perpetuated by pharmaceutical advertising. Dr. Ron Rosedale is an expert in the field, and if you didn’t already watch the video in today’s article How You Have Been Fooled by Good and Bad Cholesterol, make sure you take a look at it now.

Very few people are educated correctly on cholesterol -- how it’s really all about your LDL particle sizes, not your overall LDL level.

The only way to truly correct your underlying problem is through diet. By eliminating sugar and most grains, you will effectively reduce your insulin and leptin levels, which are the underlying causes that create LDL particles that are too small to circulate without sticking to the interior walls of your arteries.

There’s not a single pharmaceutical drug that can modulate LDL particle sizes.

To normalize your cholesterol level naturally, these three primary strategies work well 99 percent of the time if properly implemented: daily exercise; eating a low grain, low sugar diet; and, taking a high quality omega-3 supplement.

Cognitive Decline – Alzheimer’s disease is an epidemic.  Appropriate diet and removal of heavy metals are the ABC’s of optimal brain health and Alzheimer’s prevention.

Keeping your insulin levels normal, getting the right amount of omega-3 fats, avoiding sugar, eating more vegetables (high in folate) and foods with high antioxidant content are dietary changes that can help prevent cognitive decline.

Avoiding and removing mercury and aluminum can also have a major impact. Dental amalgam fillings are one of the major sources of mercury, and common sources of aluminum include antiperspirants and cookware.

You should also avoid all flu vaccinations, as they contain unhealthy doses of both mercury and aluminum.

Depression – Antidepressant drugs do not in any way, shape or form treat the cause of your depression. This is so important to understand!

To address the underlying problem, few things work better than a combination of a high quality omega-3 combined with exercise, which is clearly one of the best-kept secrets for depression.  If you haven't read Dr. Stoll's book on omega-3’s and depression, I highly recommend it.

Last but not least, learning how to use an energy-psychology tool such as the Emotional Freedom Technique can be extremely helpful. Energy psychology tools are one of the most powerful methods I know of, and really are a crucial element of a successful treatment program.

Diabetes – The thing everyone should know about type 2 diabetes is this: it is completely preventable and is almost always curable, using nothing but dietary and lifestyle modifications, including:  

• Limit or eliminate sugar and grains in your diet
• Exercise regularly and intensely
• Avoid trans fats
• Get plenty of omega-3 fats from fish oil or krill oil
• Get enough high-quality sleep every night
• Maintain a healthy body weight 

Nutritional typing can be particularly helpful here. Nearly all type 2 diabetics need to swap out their grains for other foods, but whereas some people will benefit from using protein for the substitution, others will benefit from using more vegetable-only carbohydrates. Therefore, along with reducing grains and sugars, determining your nutritional type will give you insight into what foods you should use to replace those grains and sugars for optimal health benefit.

High Blood Pressure -- High blood pressure can be a serious risk factor for cardiovascular disease. As many as 90 percent of Americans may eventually be affected by it. Fortunately, monitoring and regulating your blood pressure is very easy to do.

The single most important factor in normalizing your blood pressure is to get your insulin and leptin levels normalized.  This is done through limiting grains and sugars and making certain that exercise levels are appropriate.

Interestingly this is the same strategy that normalizes virtually every high cholesterol level.

A word of caution: you need to make certain that whoever takes your blood pressure does it properly. With over two-thirds of the U.S. population overweight, it is important to have the right size cuff when measuring your blood pressure. It’s also important to pay attention to the correct arm position during your reading.

The vast majority of high blood pressure cases can be treated safely and naturally by following those simple guidelines.

Osteoporosis -- Just as exercise and diet work in tandem to beat obesity, the same can be said for osteoporosis. Vitamin D and K are also crucial factors.

Diet is, of course, also tremendously important for strong bones. One thing you can do is to increase your consumption of vegetables based on your body's unique nutritional type. However, if after determining your nutritional type you still find it difficult to eat the recommended amount of vegetables you need daily, try vegetable juicing.

One of the many positive qualities of vegetable juice is that it is high in vitamin K, which is a crucial part of bone health. Yet most people do not get enough of it from diet alone unless you juice your veggies or eat large amounts of dark green leafy vegetables. The type of vitamin K from plants is vitamin K1. An even stronger vitamin K is vitamin K2, which is obtained from animals. Probably one of the best ways to obtain vitamin K2 is from fermented raw milk products. An easy way to go about it is to ferment raw milk with kefir starter packets.

Another basic tool to maintain your bone health is sun exposure, to allow your body to metabolize sufficient amounts of vitamin D. I am not talking about casual few-minute exposures on your face and hands, but the healthy dose you receive while wearing shorts and either no shirt for men, or a sports bra for women. For more information on proper sun exposure, please see my previous articles on the subject, using the Search feature in the top right corner.

If you found this information helpful, don’t forget to forward it to your friends and family to show just how easy it can be to improve their health as well.