Should you be taking vitamin and mineral supplements, using a variety of essential oils, and eating sundry super foods to improve your health? For example: We hear that garlic and leafy greens are good for unclogging our arteries. We are told that beetroot and walnuts should play a daily role in our diet for better heart health. Ginseng and cinnamon supposedly can battle diabetes. What about milk thistle, ginger, fenugreek, and holy basil? Some propose cold showers and ice baths, smoothies and cleanses, dark cocoa and coenzyme q10. 

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These likely all have a place. But where is that place and in what order? We often think we can add supplements and super foods to our diet or daily regimen and bam, we are now healthier creatures. For the most part this is simply not true. Hear me out. 

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Here are some thoughts about ways to improve your health and get serious about feeling better, whatever “feeling better” means to you—weight loss, better blood pressure, lower blood sugars, improved mental health. Whatever the case, with these steps, order is important. Start with step one. 

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1. Stop fueling your body with bad stuff. I will admit that with this one (well, all of these) I sound like a broken record but bear with me, we need to hear this stuff. Cut out the energy drinks, the sugary colas, and the sweet iced tea (I say this as I go into hiding). Breakfast cereals are a mastery of misinformation promising much in the way of heart health but delivering mostly obesity and high blood sugars, all which lead to insulin resistance. Processed sugar is in almost everything so watch out! High fructose corn syrup is evil. Bread may be a mainstay but if you want to lose weight and gain better health you will need to cut back or cut this out of your diet. 

2. Start fueling your body with good stuff. If you cut most processed sugars or carbohydrates out of your diet, what are you left with? Proteins and fats. Go ahead and eat meat and eggs. In general, go with fresh and whole foods. Vegetables are fine. Berries divine. Fruit is okay depending on if you wish to lose weight, are diabetic, or have metabolic syndrome. Most fruits are high in sugar which is, unfortunately, not necessarily offset by their fiber content. Go easy on these. Again, focus on whole and fresh. In general you are pretty safe here. 

3. Consider the supplements and alternatives. Now that you’ve stopped the bad stuff and started the good stuff, you may no longer even need or wish to add the supplements. But you can. Most are probably beneficial in some way although overall it’s a little hard to tell, there not being a lot of studies out there to support much of it. 

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So there’s the plan. Give it a shot. Start with number one. Proceed immediately to number two. Consider three at some point if you wish.