When you can’t properly empty your bowels, you could experience damage to every cell, gland and organ in your body. Even worse, without regular, daily elimination and colon maintenance, your bloodstream and lymph system may become overloaded, and unable to efficiently detoxify.

According to world-renowned British physician Dennis Burkitt, M.D., African tribesmen experienced a rapid bowel transit time of four to six hours compared to 60 to 90 hours for to people eating a traditional Western diet. Burkitt discovered the tribesman consistently experienced:

• Healthier bowels
• Stronger hearts
• Powerful digestive systems
• Regular elimination

What’s their secret for regular and healthy bowel movements? Fiber. According the American Dietetic Association, most Americans consume only 12 to 17 grams (g) of fiber daily but the recommended amount for women is 25 g and for men is 38 g.

Fiber is either soluble or insoluble, and both promote a whistle-clean colon and digestive system. While insoluble fiber moves bulk through your intestines and pushes out toxins with your waste… soluble fiber helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels and boost cardiovascular health.

So how can you boost your fiber intake? Try to increase your consumption of fiber-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, beans and whole grains. Also look for quality supplements containing cascara sagrada, senna leaf extract, black walnut bark and slippery elm bark.

In fact, the NIH reveals there are various forms of distended or engorged veins that can occur in areas throughout the body. The Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine indicates they may be visible just under the surface of the skin as swollen, twisted clusters of blue or purple veins. Other types of visible veins may be thin red capillaries that branch out from the main veins.

Fortunately, there are many natural methods for supporting vascular health and easing the appearance of unsightly, distended veins. The NIH recommends these helpful tips to keep your veins and arteries healthy and flowing freely:

• Exercise regularly with low-impact activities such as walking, swimming or biking, which can all help improve circulation.
• Wear loose clothing to prevent circulation interruption. Specially designed stockings and socks can also be worn to help boost vascular health.
• Elevate your legs after long periods of standing or sitting.
• Promote healthy circulation when sitting by placing your feet firmly on the floor. By crossing your legs for extended periods or dangling your lower legs you risk cutting off your circulation.
• Maintain a healthy weight to avoid added pressure on your legs.

One surprising natural remedy for unsightly, distended veins may be increased consumption of pineapple and its juice. This fruit contains high levels of the enzyme bromelain that can help reduce inflammation, promote normal fluid distribution in the body, and support integrity of your veins and vessels, according to Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

However, a nutrient called di-indole methane (DIM) has been shown to help reduce the symptoms of estrogen dominance without the side effects associated with other commonly recommended products. Di-indole methane (DIM) is a natural plant nutrient found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage. 

As DIM balances the good estrogen metabolites, it simultaneously regulates the levels of bad estrogen metabolites, which include the 16-hydroxy estrogen. The bad estrogen metabolites are influenced by obesity and exposure to many commercial and household chemicals. 

DIM promotes balanced estrogen metabolism in a direction favoring production of healthy estrogen metabolites, resulting in increased production of testosterone and progesterone. And in doing so, DIM helps eliminate the concern of estrogen dominance that plagues both women and men.

Your body works at its best when you’re in alkaline and acid balance. The pH, or “potential of hydrogen”, is a measure of the relative acidity or alkalinity of a solution. A pH of 7 is a perfectly neutral pH; from 0 to 7 indicates acidity; and from 7 to 14 indicates alkalinity. You want to fall somewhere in the middle around 7 or 7.5.

If you suffer from a pH imbalance, it can:

• Thicken your blood and increase your risk of heart problems.
• Block vitamin absorption and starve your body of essential nutrients.
• Create toxic buildup in clogged cells.
• Slow down organ function and make you feel sluggish and weak.
• Prevent proper digestion and create excess gas and bloating.
• Cause unhealthy weight gain.
• Speed the aging process and make you look and feel older.

In order to reduce your acidity, you need to avoid acid-forming foods like animal meats, processed foods, fried foods, refined sugars, pasteurized dairy products and white flour products. Instead try to add more nutritious alkaline foods like fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans and other foods high in fiber. If you follow the 80/20 rule, where you consume 80 percent alkaline foods and only 20 percent acid-forming foods, you should see a difference in your pH balance.

So don’t worry—your pH level is not permanent. You can make smarter choices with food and learn to balance acidic foods with alkaline ones to get your whole body in tip-top shape.

“This is significant because it suggests that improving blood flow to the brain might be an effective therapeutic approach to prevent or treat Alzheimer’s,” Vassar said.

The results also show the importance of exercising, reducing cholesterol and managing blood pressure. Currently, doctors look to destroy specific protein plaque buildup within the brain, but now new therapies are focused on addressing the plaque buildup in the blood caused by similar proteins.

Not only have decreased blood flow and plaque buildup been linked to Alzheimer’s, they could lead to:

• Heart attack
• Heart disease
• Stroke
• High blood pressure
• Fatigue
• Muscle pain

To avoid these and other circulation concerns, it could be beneficial to add nattokinase to your daily regimen. Discovered by the Japanese more than 1,000 years ago, this enzyme can help safely and naturally eliminate protein buildup—and increase blood flow from head to toe. In one scientific study, 173 blood clot samples were exposed to various nutrients, but results indicate nattokinase was the only nutrient to successfully break down the clots.

Krill is a shrimp-like crustacean that abounds in the ocean. In fact, this tiny sea creature is a favorite food of marine life, including Beluga whales. Krill are almost 100 percent free of heavy metals and other toxins. By contrast, large predatory fish are often "filled to the gills" with dangerous toxins.

The reason krill oil is more effective than other marine oils is the amount of omega-3 fatty acids, phospholipids and extremely potent antioxidants it contains. It’s the unique combination of these essential ingredients that provide the greatest health benefits.

Krill oil has been shown to outperform fish oil supplements when it comes to lowering your bad low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. Patients who took 1 to 1.5 grams (g) of krill oil a day—compared to three times the dose of fish oil—showed a significantly greater decrease in bad cholesterol than the fish oil patients.

In an Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) test, krill oil was shown to contain 300 times the amount of vitamin A and E, plus 48 times the antioxidant power of standard omega-3 fish oils.

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for your diet—and should be supplemented since your body doesn’t produce them on its own. These fatty acids are the best source to help prevent blood clotting, lower blood pressure and relieve inflammation.

Krill oil contains a healthy balance of omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids—which help fight infection. These two fatty acids need each other and work together to prevent other inflammation-related ailments like heart disease, arthritis and diabetes. By supplementing with all-natural krill oil, you can protect your heart and brain for decades to come.

How do you know you are getting the most absorbable form of CoQ10? Let’s examine the methods of production and see which one has been shown to be most effective.

If your supplement is powder form, then you may not be getting the full benefits of CoQ10. Laboratory studies show that up to 99 percent of powder CoQ10 is not absorbed in your body. If your supplement is liquid form, then it may contain crystallized molecules formed in the heating and cooling process of manufacturing. These microscopic molecules can’t easily be absorbed so you’re not getting ample CoQ10 in this form, either. If your supplement doesn’t contain healthy fats, then you can’t absorb CoQ10. This nutrient needs fat to be absorbed into your bloodstream.

To get the most effective CoQ10, you should find a quality supplement that contains vitamins and healthy fats for optimum absorption. With this energy-boosting nutrient, you can help strengthen and protect your heart… prevent serious brain events… boost healthy circulation… stabilize and regulate your heartbeats… and more.

The critical balance between acidity and alkalinity is measured on a scale of 0 to 14 known as the pH—or “potential of hydrogen.” On this scale, 0 to 7 is acid, 7 is neutral and 7 to 14 is alkaline. If you’re a healthy person with perfectly balanced pH, you would have a reading of about 7.4 in your blood and about 7.25 in your tissues. However, most people fall in the acidic range of 6.2 to 6.4.

If you suffer from pH imbalance, it can:

• Thicken your blood and increase your risk of heart problems.
• Block vitamin absorption and starve your body of essential nutrients.
• Create toxic buildup in clogged cells.
• Slow down organ function and make you feel sluggish and weak.
• Prevent proper digestion and create excess gas and bloating.
• Cause unhealthy weight gain.
• Speed the aging process and make you look and feel older.

To help prevent acidity, you should avoid acid-forming foods like high-fat meats, processed foods, fried foods, refined sugars, pasteurized dairy products and white flour products.

Why not try to add more nutritious alkaline foods like fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans and other foods high in fiber. If you follow the 80/20 rule, where you consume 80 percent alkaline foods and only 20 percent acid-forming foods, you should see a difference in your pH balance.

This deficiency could be the result of many reasons, but one of the main causes is less time spent in the sun. A moderate amount of healthy sun exposure can provide an ample supply of vitamin D. However, most people don’t get enough, and here’s why:

• Age­—by age 60, your body doesn’t absorb enough vitamin D levels from the sun.
• Sunscreen—this decreases your chances of vitamin D absorption from moderate time spent in the sun.
• Indoor lifestyle—most people spend a majority of their time indoors.
• Darker skin—the higher the amount of melatonin in your skin the more difficult it is for the sun’s rays to penetrate the skin.
• Processed foods—the packaged and processed foods we eat contain very little vitamin D.
• Winter months—this means less sunlight and a decreased chance for healthy sun exposure.
• Low-fat diets—since vitamin D is fat soluble, when you restrict your intake of healthy fats then you lower your chances of optimum absorption.

Research indicates that low vitamin D levels are associated with increased inflammation from head to toe. Inflammation in your arteries results in more than half of all serious heart or brain disasters. However, by increasing your time spent in the sun year-round and including healthy fats into your diet, you can help overcome some of the challenges associated with vitamin D deficiency.

According to The Vitamin D Council, a high-quality supplement containing cholecalciferol, or vitamin D3, can help boost your vitamin D levels.

Your body works at its best when you’re in alkaline and acid balance. The pH, or “potential of hydrogen”, is a measure of the relative acidity or alkalinity of a solution. A pH of 7 is a perfectly neutral pH; from 0 to 7 indicates acidity; and from 7 to 14 indicates alkalinity. You want to fall somewhere in the middle around 7 or 7.5.

If you suffer from a pH imbalance, it can:

• Thicken your blood and increase your risk of heart problems.
• Block vitamin absorption and starve your body of essential nutrients.
• Create toxic buildup in clogged cells.
• Slow down organ function and make you feel sluggish and weak.
• Prevent proper digestion and create excess gas and bloating.
• Cause unhealthy weight gain.
• Speed the aging process and make you look and feel older.

In order to reduce your acidity, you need to avoid acid-forming foods like animal meats, processed foods, fried foods, refined sugars, pasteurized dairy products and white flour products.

Instead try to add more nutritious alkaline foods like fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans and other foods high in fiber. If you follow the 80/20 rule, where you consume 80 percent alkaline foods and only 20 percent acid-forming foods, you should see a difference in your pH balance.

So don’t worry—your pH level is not permanent. You can make smarter choices with food and learn to balance acidic foods with alkaline ones to get your whole body in tip-top shape.