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Guest Post By Kelli Carter, RN

In real estate it is all about “location, location, location” but when it comes to your health, it is prevention, prevention, prevention! It is estimated that only 10-30% of your health conditions are due to a genetic predisposition (the genes you are born with).

Guess what that means?

Your environment (what you control) is responsible for 70-90% of your health outcomes according to Stanford Medicine.

You are in control of 70-90% of your health!  Yes, much of your health, is in your hands.

When I fell seriously ill in 2010, my out-of-pocket healthcare costs were over $10,000 a year for three years in a row.  That is not including my lost wages, travel costs, and cost for someone to clean my home, and to drive me to and from appointments.  There are so many financial aspects of getting ill.  A serious illness could cause you to go bankrupt, and quick.

“The total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes in 2012 was $245 billion, including $176 billion in direct medical costs and $69 billion in decreased productivity. Decreased productivity includes costs associated with people being absent from work, being less productive while at work, or not being able to work at all because of diabetes,” according to the CDC.

The Hidden Costs of Getting Sick: 

• Lost wages
• Change in family dynamics
• Pain
• Copays
• Prescriptions
• Isolation
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Bankruptcy
• Travel costs
• Loss of mobility
• Need to hire help around the home and other tasks like driving, grocery shopping, etc

Prevention, Prevention, Prevention

There are 5 Core Health Elements required to maintain and regain your health.  Today we are focusing on the financial element.  If any area is out of balance, your health is at risk.  How would you rate yourself in these five areas?  (1 poor and 10 excellent)

• Financial Health

• Emotional Health

• Physical Health

• Nutritional Health

• Spiritual Health

What can you do about it?  You have control over what you put in and on your body.  It is time to start paying attention so that you can remain healthy.  It is not up to anyone else.  You must decide and take action.

15 Ways to Protect Your health

1. Reduce toxins put on and in your body by eating whole, organic foods and using clean personal care products.  Women absorb nearly 5 lbs of toxins through their skincare products alone, every year!
2. Reduce your inflammation.  There are countless ways to reduce inflammation.  Inflammation is at the heart of nearly every chronic health condition.  Download my FREE ebook 7 Strategies to Naturally Reduce Inflammation to reduce your inflammation naturally.
3. Stop Smoking.  You would think this is a no-brainer, but there are still smokers so I feel a need to discuss it.  The CDC predicts that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men will have cancer in their lifetime.  If you are a smoker, you are almost guaranteeing you will get sick.
4. Lower your intake of bad fats. (Vegetable oil, lard, processed fat, canola oil, etc).  These fats promote oxidation and inflammation.
5. Increase your intake of good fats. The “low fat” diet did a lot to ruin our health.  Our brains are made of fat.  Our cell membranes are made of fat.  When we deprive them, we are starving both our brain and every cell in our body.  We need good fat to process every cell function of the body.  It is thought that the “low fat” diets are causing our exponential rise in dementia and type 2 diabetes.  Fats were removed and had to be replaced with something, so they put in sugar.
6. Decrease sugar intake.  Processed sugar causes inflammation.  It also gives a quick spike in insulin so that the cells can absorb the sugar.  This can cause wild swings in blood sugar.  Before you know it, your sugar has bottomed out.  Then you crave sugar again.
7. Get your body moving for at least 30 minutes a day.  This will help every system in your body from circulation to digestion.  According to research by The American Heart Association Journal Stroke, moving your body as little as 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, reduces your chance of dementia by nearly half.  There is no medication on earth that will reduce your risk by 40%! Get your booty moving, it is never too late.
8. Increase your intake of high-quality fruits and vegetables (variety is important).  Fruits and vegetables are great natural cleanses for the body.  They help provide fiber as well as anti-oxidants to reduce inflammation.
9. Weight Management by maintaining a healthy BMI (Body Mass Index calculator).  Body fat holds onto toxins.  Having a high BMI also taxes many of the body systems.
10. Reduce/minimize alcohol intake.  Alcohol can lead to other poor choices that can harm health.  However, it directly increases inflammation and raises your blood sugar.  Both are important factors to avoid to remain healthy.
11. Spiritual Practice of some sort (Meditation, prayer).  Find quiet time and space.  When we take the time to clear the mental clutter, we make better and more clear choices.  It also reduces our stress.  Stress is directly correlated with poor health.
12. Emotional healing from anger and resentment.  There are physical changes at a cellular level when we hold on to unhealthy emotions.  When we clear that, our body is freed up to heal.
13. Time Block.  When did we start allowing others to control our time?  This is a great video to get started on taking your time back.  It is your life.  Start living like it is! 
14. Work with financial advisor/coach to pay down debt and build an emergency fund.  
15. Work with a health coach to identify habits you may not see in yourself, to grow, and heal emotionally, spiritually, nutritionally, physically, and financially.