We don't have to wait until we feel lousy or until an obvious health crisis hits to determine if we are on a path to better health. While traditional doctors can only offer us expensive tests that only tell us if we are about to enter into a health crisis, our bodies offer us free daily indicators of internal health and cleanliness. Keeping an eye on these external indicators each day can help us to become familiar with how our bodies respond to different foods and diets.

• Skin – When we are clean and healthy on the inside, it shows on the outside. When we fill our bodies with toxins, through the foods we eat or the air we breathe, and if we don't eat enough fiber to expel them through normal excretion, our bodies may try to push them out through our skin. Common food culprits of bad skin are cooked fats including meat, dairy products, sugar, excessive healthy fats, and processed foods. Other factors include dehydration, insufficient fiber, smoking, and commercial skin products.
• Tongue coating – Is your tongue coated with white goo, particularly when you wake up in the morning? Not only does this cause bad breath, but it also indicates that your body is processing a lot of mucus and toxins, mostly during sleep when your body is fasting and detoxing. Brush your tongue thoroughly each morning and night so that you can have a clear indication of how much is being expelled, and to keep your breath fresh in the meantime. Avoid mucus-forming foods, such as gluten, dairy, cooked fats, sugar, and processed foods.
• Body odor – Much like skin conditions, body odor is most often the result of a toxic body. It is the job of our sweat glands to help expel waste. If that waste is excessive or if our bodies are overridden with unhealthy bacteria rather than healthy bacteria, our sweat will lead to body odor. Meat, dairy, and cooked fats are common causes of body odor. A zinc deficiency can also cause body odor. Do not use antiperspirants to treat odors, as they prevent the body from expelling waste altogether, thereby making the underlying toxicity even worse. Antiperspirants are different from deodorants in that they intentionally clog the sweat glands.
• Poop – Our poop isn't just a waste product. It is a view into our internal health. Poop should be a uniform consistency, light brown in color, and a solid banana shape. If you can see pieces of undigested food, or if your poop turns colors with the food you eat, that can indicate insufficient hydrochloric acid in your stomach or an otherwise weakened digestive system. Fiber is vitally important for a healthy colon and digestive tract. Healthy bacteria, which can be taken directly as probiotics, keeps the colon clean and efficient, allowing nutrients to be absorbed and waste to be expelled. You should have a bowel movement at least once per day, and as many as 3 times per day. Many people can benefit from colon hydrotherapy after years of eating toxic, mucus-forming foods.

If you are trying a new, healthier diet, and you feel good on it, don't be immediately discouraged if you see some signs of poor health. It may be that your body is going through a detox period. To help alleviate these symptoms, try increasing fiber intake, or slowing down the transition to your new diet. But do keep an eye on these outward signs on a daily basis, to ensure that you are on the right path. All bodies will respond differently to different diets, so it's important to get to know your own body and to be able to adjust according to what it is telling you.

If you are worried about your internal health make sure to look into some internal medicine. There are all sorts of health factors to keep track of and it can be overwhelming to learn about different medical research. So the next time you feel swamped try using simple medical advice from a source you trust.

Coconut oil, also known as coconut butter, has been used for centuries, by various cultures, as a health and beauty product, both cosmetically as well as in food. These benefits are no doubt a result of its proven antibiotic and antiviral properties as well as its resistance to heat and light, which make it superior to other oils. Over the past several months, I've tested just a few of its proclaimed uses personally, all with remarkable success.

• Moisturizer: I was having problems with dry, red patches on my face. Commercial moisturizers seemed only to offer temporary relief while the problem became worse and worse. A small amount of coconut oil rubbed into the skin, offered immediate relief and after using it exclusively for several days, the dry patches disappeared entirely. Coconut oil nourishes the skin from the outside in the same way nutritious food nourishes the skin from the inside, and doesn't put any toxic substances into the skin like moisturizers do. It has even started to heal my dry, cracked feet after 2 weeks of daily use.
• Deodorant: This is embarrassing, but the truth is, I've had a bit of a body odor problem. Deodorants never helped much, and some of them even made it much worse. I tried many brands, as well as crystal rock salt, tea tree oil, and rubbing alcohol, without lasting success. Coconut oil fights bacteria that causes body odor and doesn't contribute to the toxins that can make odors worse. It smells great going on and it works all day long.
• Cooking oil: Most oils are light and heat sensitive, meaning that they easily turn rancid if not kept in a cool, dark place. Many actually become carcinogenic when cooked at high temperatures. Coconut oil is highly stable and is much more resistant to heat than other oils, even olive oil. The coconut flavor doesn't overwhelm the food as you might expect. Raw oil is always best, but if you are moving toward a healthier lifestyle and enjoy cooking, coconut oil is a great choice.
• Virus buster: Coconut oil is a proven virus fighter. On two separate occasions, when I was starting to feel ill with a flu or cold, I had cravings to eat coconut oil. It tasted so good, I ate it by the spoonful, like it was ice cream. I felt better by the next day and tried to eat some more, only to find that it tasted gross to eat it straight, in large quantities. Only when I'm sick is coconut oil edible that way. My body must be telling me something.

If you've got a problem that commercial products can't seem to fix, give coconut oil a try. Coconut oil is a great example of how less is more. Rather than loading up on complex formulas for health and beauty, see if nature doesn't have a simple answer. Organic, cold-pressed coconut oil, or coconut butter, can be purchased in the refrigerated section of most health food stores for around $10 and it will last for months.

Most of us didn’t have to think much about our weight when we were young. No matter what we ate, we looked and felt great. At a certain point, the pounds suddenly started to accumulate – sometimes gradually enough that we didn’t at first notice, other times it was much more obvious. This change may have been a simple result of a slowing metabolism or a consequence of another lifestyle change, such as having a baby, taking birth control, or a career change that no longer leaves room for exercise. We tend to face these body shifts multiple times throughout our lives, and it may seem harder and harder to keep the weight off.

I have personally faced these metabolism slow-downs three times so far, at ages 26, 29, and 31. My favorite pair of jeans alerted me to the changes right away, and I’ve managed to bring my weight back down and maintain it each time. Limiting what I eat or making drastic diet changes never worked, and usually had the opposite effect because everything seemed like a forbidden temptation that I could not resist. A totally new eating paradigm is simply not realistic for most of us because our hectic lives don’t allow the necessary time to entirely relearn how to shop and eat.

What has been remarkably successful for me is making small mental shifts about eating. Sometimes new knowledge about a particular type of food is great inspiration to make a small but meaningful change in eating habits that can make a dramatic improvement in health and fitness. To offer some ideas, I will list out a few of these mental shifts that have worked well for me.

• Avoiding partially hydrogenated oils – Once described by a health professor as “like eating cancer,” partially hydrogenated oils are found in the worst kinds of processed foods. A similar alternative might be to avoid ingredients that you don’t recognize as food.
• Green smoothies – Adding a green smoothie to my morning routine, not only gave me abundant vitamins, minerals, and amino acids from fresh greens and fruits, but also left less room for less healthy breakfast choices, like frozen waffles and processed cereals.
• Going gluten-free – You may be allergic and not even realize it. Regardless, avoiding gluten will still allow for plenty of healthy and tasty alternative treats while eliminating the cheap, wheat-based junk foods.
• Kicking the sugar habit – Sugar, particularly refined sugar, is one of the most damaging, and addictive food substances around. A bad sugar habit will cause not only weight-gain, but also mood swings, tooth and gum disease, a weak immune system, and severe PMS symptoms, just to name a few. There are plenty of treats that use maple syrup, fruit juice, or other sweeteners.
• No more processed foods – This basically boils down to avoiding anything in a can or a box. Your refrigerator will look like the produce aisle of a natural food store, and you will find you are producing almost no trash anymore.
• Only raw desserts – For those of you still struggling to find a 100% raw food diet that suits you, you may consider at least committing to only eating raw desserts. With an ever increasing selection of gluten-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free sweets out there, it’s getting easier to gain weight and feel unhealthy even on a relatively disciplined diet.

Realistically assess your current eating habits and what kinds of diet changes you can stick to. What works well for me may not work at all for you. Think in baby steps. Give up just one thing but give it up 100%, without exception. Do some research first. Doing a Google search about the health consequences of partially hydrogenated oils or refined sugar will further discourage you from eating those foods. Bookmark helpful sites and reread them when you feel tempted to cheat on your diet commitment. In the beginning, have some healthy treats on hand that you turn to so that you don’t fall back on your old habits. Do everything you can to stick to your plan for the first 30 days. It will get much easier after you’ve had that time to adjust.

If you fail in your first attempt, there is no shame in that. It just wasn’t the right plan for you. Find an even smaller change that you can succeed at. Life is too short to feel bad physically or emotionally, so make a positive change right now.

Animal activists, when promoting the vegan diet, often focus on the health benefits because they believe that people will care more about their own health than about animal suffering. We need to rethink this strategy. A vegan who is out of shape, has bad skin, or is sucking down potato chips, has no business telling anyone how to be healthy, and has little chance of convincing a meat-eater to go vegan on health grounds.

In this age of limitless vegan junk food options, the vegan diet is no longer a free ticket to better health. Most vegans, just like the rest of the Western world, are not healthy. The only difference is that many of the unhealthy vegans believe they are healthy by mere virtue of the fact that they are strict vegans, regardless of how many vegan donuts and corn dogs they consume. If you are still telling people that veganism will save them from diabetes and cancer, you are spreading misinformation. Because of the wide array of acidifying, sugary, processed vegan foods, it is quite possible to develop these life-threatening conditions while maintaining a vegan diet. There is nothing wrong with discussing health issues with the public, especially when combating the misconception that one cannot be healthy on a vegan diet. Eliminating meat and dairy is certainly an important aspect of optimal health, but so is eliminating many other ingredients that may still be vegan.

If you are vegan for health reasons, then by all means, promote the vegan diet on those grounds. Health-seekers will find your enthusiasm and experience inspiring. If you don't actually know much about what constitutes a healthy diet, telling omnivores that they need to be vegan to be healthy will not be effective. Even if your statements about health are true, the fact that they come from a disingenuous place will show through. On the other hand, if you speak from a genuine passion for ending animal suffering, thoughtful, intelligent people will appreciate your honesty and integrity and will be more open to your message, even if they don't agree with you.

Veganism is an ethical movement. It is not a health movement. Those who eliminate animal products from their diets purely for health reasons don't tend to identify with the label "vegan." Why would someone who is only interested in improving his health take advice from a vegan animal rights activist? People are more confused than ever about health issues these days, and are wary of those who push their health solutions for ulterior motives – whether those motives are financial or political. This confusion also causes dieters to shift their opinions every time a new study comes out. If you convince people to switch to a vegan diet for health reasons, all it will take to lose them is a new Atkins-like diet fad, extolling the virtues of a meat-based diet.

Even if a person doesn't support the idea that an animal deserves its life, they can still look at the horrific conditions and abuses of factory farming and make a compassionate decision to eliminate or reduce the animal products in their diet. Public opinion is shifting in favor of animal welfare, so don't perpetuate the perception that people don't care about animals. But if you still want to show meat-eaters that veganism is a path to good health, then set a good example and actually be a healthy vegan.

Invisalign, which offers a series of removable trays to align the teeth, has become a widely popular alternative to traditional braces. Invisalign trays are nearly impossible to detect, making them especially popular among adults who don’t want the adolescent look of braces. Rather than being cemented to your teeth like traditional braces, they can be removed entirely when eating or brushing your teeth, so you no longer have to worry about abstaining from certain foods or not being able to floss properly. While Invisalign offers considerable benefits, there are negatives as well which should be considered.

• Although it is easier to brush and floss, any bacteria not removed from your teeth and gums will spend 20 hours a day locked inside the Invisalign tray. Your visits to the dentist may turn up more gum pocketing and plaque build-up than you are used to as a result. Some people complain of a bad taste and odor from wearing the tray, particularly first thing in the morning.
• Every time you eat, you need to thoroughly clean your teeth and your Invisalign tray before putting it back in your mouth. For frequent snackers, this can be quite a hassle, and may require you to adjust your eating schedule. On the other hand, this can be an added incentive for those trying to break bad eating habits.
• You must be very disciplined and organized; leaving your tray out for more than 4 hours per day, even occasionally, will reduce the effectiveness of the treatment. If you often find yourself running to work or school in a hurry after breakfast, and have a tendency to leave things behind, you may want to think twice about Invisalign. Going without it out for an 8-hour workday is not an option. Also, even disciplined patients have a tendency to slack off over time. This will inhibit the effectiveness of Invisalign. Consider the length of your treatment when deciding which method to choose.
• The treatment process for many people includes “shaving” your teeth down to create more space in your mouth for the teeth to move. Some may find this shaving uncomfortable, but there is no lasting pain from it. If you have fillings in the areas needing to be shaved, the process may be significantly more cumbersome and uncomfortable.
• At the end of your treatment your teeth may not be perfectly straight. The orthodontist can do nothing about it except take all new impressions and get a new set of trays, which can add months onto your treatment plan. With traditional braces, the orthodontist can make a quick adjustment to fix any misalignments.
• Although not scientifically studied, some people have complained about allergic reactions to the plastic used in the Invisalign trays. Allergy symptoms complained of include sore throat, cough, nausea, or constant throat clearing which goes away when the tray is removed.
• Once the treatment phase is over, and you enter into the retainer period, you have to wear the Invisalign tray every night, indefinitely. If you’re already experiencing problems with allergies, gum disease, or tooth decay, this can be a serious issue. You may be able to work with your orthodontist to use a traditional style retainer, instead of the Invisalign tray.

Whether to go with traditional braces or Invisalign, will be dependant on your lifestyle, habits, and personality. While there are pros and cons to every option, don’t let that deter you from going forward with orthodontics. If crooked teeth are annoying your or preventing you from smiling and feeling great about yourself, then the benefits of orthodontics will far outweigh the downsides.

Have you had positive or negative experiences with Invisalign? Please share your experiences with us in the comment section.

Since starting down the raw food path, I've met a lot people struggling with answers to health and diet questions. Some people transition to a raw food diet quite easily, while others have to invent clever strategies for staying on raw food. Food cravings can be intense as our bodies struggle to kill off unhealthy intestinal bacteria and build up healthy internal flora. If you're constantly struggling with binge eating, feelings of deprivation, or lack of health and vitality, staying 100% raw may not be your best path to good health.

A common strategy for transitioning to raw is to eat a certain percentage of raw food. This can be a great strategy, provided that when you are eating cooked food, you choose healthy cooked food. If you are eating 75% raw and 25% Twinkies and fried tofu, you're missing out on the beneficial effects. Those processed foods are making your body more acidic and feeding the anaerobic bacteria in your gut, worsening your cravings.

Another popular strategy is to eat a lot of gourmet raw foods that mimic cooked favorites. There are dozens and dozens of gourmet raw food recipe books and a wide array of pre-packaged raw food snacks and desserts. Restaurants and grocery delis are adding raw selections to their menus. These are great for a fun delicious treat, but they are not part of a healthy, long-term diet plan. They tend to be high in sugar and fat, low in natural water, and lacking in substantial nutrients as compared with a fruit- and vegetable-rich diet. Eating raw junk food makes us feel sluggish and bloated, much like with any other junk food. The idea of staying raw at all cost is not necessarily the best strategy. Maintaining a raw food diet is supposed to be the means to being healthy. It is not the end in itself. If we are raw but unhealthy, then we have completely missed the point.

There is another alternative, and I'd like to suggest that it is superior to an all-raw diet that relies on fancy gourmet dishes and desserts: eating a mixture of raw foods and healthy cooked foods. The bulk aisle of natural food stores offer a variety of high protein, high fiber, mineral-rich, gluten-free grains such as quinoa, amaranth, and wild rice. These are all easy to prepare and can be mixed with raw fruits and vegetables for a very satisfying and tasty meal. Squashes, which are difficult to prepare raw, can be cooked and eaten plain to add healthy variety. Lightly steamed vegetables, while losing their enzymes, do retain most of their nutrition and cancer-fighting qualities.

Raw food is supposed to be about energy, vitality, and good mental and physical health, and for a lot of people, it is. If you aren't one of those people, don't beat yourself up over falling off the raw food wagon. Concentrate on good health first. Once you clean out the toxins and unhealthy bacteria and build up a healthy internal ecology, your body will demand nutritious, natural foods. Junk food won't even look like food anymore. You'll know raw food is the best diet for you because your body won't want anything else.

Americans are on a constant search for the answers to our health and weight problems. Whenever we find a new answer that seems to make sense, we think our problems are over for good, and we argue vehemently over the rightness of our newly discovered health "truths". But even when we make a positive shift in our thinking about health and diet, we can't seem to change our bad habits long enough to see ongoing positive effects. For every change in direction toward a healthier society, there is a line of junk food products catering to those who follow that direction. All we ever seem to do is upgrade to a more expensive brand of fat and sugar addiction.

When I first went vegan in 1995, vegan convenience foods, if you could find them, were geared toward the health-conscious more than the ethical vegan, so going vegan was a near guarantee that you'd be significantly healthier than you would have been otherwise. A tofu pup or veggie burger was a big step up from a hot dog or meat burger. Getting off of dairy typically made for a huge health improvement. These days, just going vegan alone is no longer a path to good health. Go into a natural food store and you can find cookies, donuts, pizza, pot pies, and even corndogs, all with a "vegan" label on the package. Just about anything you ever ate on the Standard American Diet is available, either in stores or online, in vegan form. This is great for animals because it's easier than ever to go vegan. But it is very detrimental to junk food vegans who believe that the vegan diet is an automatic ticket to good health.

In 2004, when I was forced to give up gluten after discovering that I was allergic, my consumption of processed junk food was nearly eliminated out of necessity. Pasta, bread, and vegan pastries, which had dominated my diet, were no longer options. I was elated about my newfound health and energy. But then I discovered the gluten-free pastas, the huge variety of gluten-free desserts, and even the amazing gluten-free, vegan bakery in Seattle, where I lived at the time. With so many people giving up gluten, the gluten-free food market has exploded. Once again, anything you ever ate on the Standard American Diet, can now be found in gluten-free form.

Even the Atkins diet, which has thankfully lost its appeal after sending people to the hospital for high blood pressure and kidney failure, has it's own line of Atkins junk food. When Atkins first came out, I'm sure many people felt much healthier. Having to limit carb intake to less than 20 grams per day essentially forced followers to remove processed junk food from their diets. But Americans, rather than breaking themselves of poor dietary habits, flocked instead to low carb versions of breads, pastas, and cookies, approved for the Atkins dieters.

I really thought I had this whole health and diet thing figured out when I got into raw foods. All the packaged foods were out of my life again and replaced entirely with fresh produce. I felt so amazing, physically and mentally, like I never had before. I no longer suffered even so much as a bad day. A year and a half later, I don't feel that way anymore. In fact, sometimes, I feel quite lousy. And it wasn't until today, when I was walking through the raw food snack aisle of the natural food store, that I put it all together.

Americans have started to make a new shift toward eating more raw food. Naturally, a market has opened up for pre-packaged, raw convenience foods. There are crackers, cookies, chocolates, and dozens of raw energy bars. There are raw recipe books with recipes for "buffalo wings" and "strawberry shortcake". Once again, I've made the shift in thinking to a better way to eat and live, but I've been unwilling to make a genuine change in my poor lifestyle habits.

We are in a health crisis in this country, and simple answers with no substantive changes are not going to fix it. We need to go back to eating actual food that grows in nature, rather than in a laboratory. We need to make dinner from scratch. We need to learn to appreciate the taste of a tomato by itself. Or, at the very least, we need to stop tricking ourselves into believing that we can feed our junk food addictions and achieve optimal health at the same time.