Happy Chinese New Year! To celebrate the year of the Rabbit, we look to our health, wellness and happiness. 

If you were born as a Rabbit, the horoscope is that this year will be difficult. According to Chinese New Year, Rabbits should watch past illnesses that may return in 2023, in particular if they work too hard for an extended period of time. Frequent check-ups are advised, as is a healthier lifestyle characterized by temperate and regular eating habits – your digestion will be under great stress if you’re not careful.

For everyone, 2023 should be declared a year of health and here are 8 healthy tips to help get you there. 

Cleanse the Body 4x Per Year 

A clean bloodstream and colon is truly the most important keys to maintaining true health. Think of it like taking out the trash - if you let it build up bad things happen! 

Ultimately, a complete cleanse 2-4 times a year is optimal. Many people will do a fasting cleanse, with their doctors supervision, twice a year. Plus do a mild cleanse the other times. 

The colon cleansing eliminates the accumulated mucous, toxins and hardened feces that prevent the absorption of nutrients form our foods and supplements. Likewise, this type of cleanse also cleans the bloodstream. Aiding in carrying away waste and allowing the blood to be more nourishing. 

For a full fast, the Sonne detox kit is a superb support to a multi day fast. For quick cleanses, use Sonne Detoxificant and Sonne Intestinal Cleanser. (Due to supply chain issues, these products may not be available at the beginning of 2023.)

Daily Intestinal Health

Daily bowel movements are essential to health. The use of fiber is essential to this key to health and longevity. Neglecting daily bowel movements leaves this undigested, fiber-less food in the gut to ferment and putrefy - this leads to poisoning and pollution of the bloodstream, organs, tissues, and cells, which ultimately leads to poor health. A diet with plenty of roughage from green vegetables, soaked whole grains, flaxseed, psyllium, etc. can provide sufficient fiber allowing for the ease of daily bowel movements.

A diet filled with fiber is the best way to maintain intestinal health and supplements can provide the foundation. Try Sonne Intestinal Cleanser for a daily dose of fiber. 

Many will also use an occasional colon hydrotherapy, colonics or enemas to assist in the elimination of built up feces in the bowl. We suggest these are done with care and under physician supervision. 

Bring on the Sun 

Getting natural Vitamin D from sunlight has numerous health benefits! Plus sunlight has been shown to elevate mood and mental fitness. Of course, use sun block to block the most harmful of rays. 

Vitamin D may go beyond the well-established role in bone health. Vitamin D is not only a vitamin but also a hormone that your body can make from the sun. Unfortunately, 40%-75% of people are deficient in Vitamin D because it is not abundant in our food choices, plus lack of sun due to the use of sunscreens, or the environment and climate where sunlight may not be a reliable source for everyone. If you can't get enough Vitamin D from sunlight, try our Sonne Cod Liver Oil in a one teaspoon daily dose. Sonne Cod Liver Oil provides 100% RDA for Vitamin D and supplies 80% Vitamin A. 

Daily Healthy Diet 

What more can we say? Lots of whole foods. Heavy on fruits and vegetables. Get lots of fiber. Work on a balanced diet that is eaten earlier in the day. Stay away from fast foods, nasty fats and sugars. With that reminder, add: 

• Lots of Vitamin C. C is for collagen, connective tissues and as an antioxidant. What you may not know is, Vitamin C is constantly being utilized and it should be taken in small, repeat doses throughout the day. If you have trouble getting enough C from food (if for example you are diabetic and lots of fruits means too much sugar), go for our Sonne Natural Source Vitamin C chewable tablets. These tablets are ideal for this purpose. The Acerola berry and Amla contained in our tablets are naturally sour and bitter, so powdered molasses and honey are added to give this a tart but pleasant taste.
• Eat healthy Fats for stamina, strength, & vitality. Healthy fats play a major role in helping you manage your moods, help with mental stamina, fight fatigue and even maintain a healthy weight. Learning to make healthy choices and replace the bad fats with good ones that promote health and well-being. Good fats, such as omega-3, are essential to physical and emotional health and should be eaten daily. Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are known as "good fats" because they are good for your overall health. (The "good fats" include olive oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, olives, nuts (raw almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews, pecans, and hazelnuts) and freshly ground peanut butter or almond butter, avocados, fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines). For "good fats" and daily dose of Omega 3 & 6, look to our YES EFA capsules. 
• Eat at least 50% raw fruits and vegetables, and gradually increase. Eating close to raw foods as possible (garden fresh, organic, non GMO,) is important to your health because the body thrives on enzymes! Cooked foods often kill the live enzymes that are present in the food. When no enzymes are present in foods, the body has to use up its own store of enzymes to properly digest foods. Continued depletion of enzymes eventually weakens the digestive processes. Increasing the live enzymes in the diet is a major factor in contributing to your health!
• Food combining - Eating properly combined foods is not easy for most people. Determining what foods are alkaline and what foods are acid, and then not eating them at the same meal can be difficult. Alkaline foods require an alkaline medium to digest them, and acid foods require an acid medium to digest them. Both kinds of foods cannot be digested properly when eaten at the same meal, since the two mediums neutralize each other. The consequences to eating improperly combined foods at the same meal can lead to undigested waste matter that can clog the colon, purification which creates gases and poisons within the body and blood.

Drinking Healthy  

To start 2023, many people have been on a dry January. Start the year with an alcohol detox. 

While alcohol should be in moderation, so should everything else we drink - except water! 

Drinking pure water. Pure water is important in flushing the liver, kidneys, and blood and supplying oxygen to the cells. Unfortunately, when we drink coffee, vitamin water, soda, juice, etc...the water is adulterate with other substances and the burden is placed on the liver to filter them out. But with pure water, the body uses it more readily. Drink water generously throughout the day, 8 - 10 or more 8 oz. glasses a day, more in summer or when you are perspiring. Try to drink water between meals, not during a meal since this dilutes your digestive enzymes making it more difficult to digest the meal properly. 

Room temperature water is usually best. For an alternative, enjoy hot water with lemon before bed or at a restaurant after a meal for a change. 

Make sure you know your water's source. Drink the cleanest, purest water you can or use a filter water bottle to get the last impurities from entering your body. 

Heavy Mineral Diet and Supplementation

Well, the music kind is good too but most people overlook the necessity of heavy minerals and metals in their daily diet. 

Calcium, phosphorus and magnesium are essential minerals to build strong bones, nails and tissues. These aid in metabolic function and supplement absorption. 

• Calcium (read at the NIH) is responsible for causing several conditions including osteoporosis, rickets and osteomalacia. Calcium is very deficient in American's diets. 
• Phosphorus daily needs is naturally in many foods including dairy, grains, meats, nuts and beans. 
• Magnesium  "The diets of many people in the US provide less than the recommended amount of magnesium", according to the NIH. Magnesium is naturally found in nuts, seeds, whole grains and green leafy vegetables. Supplementation is suggested but read the NIH fact sheet on when and how magnesium supplementation can interact with other medications or ask your doctor or pharmacist for advanced directions. For liquid supplements (easier to absorb heavy minerals), read more about Sonne Calphonite and Yes Herbal Nutritional Supplement. 

Meditation - and Moving Meditation

Consider adding Meditation, Qi Gong, Tai Chi and/or Yoga to your fitness regime. These habits will help keep your mood more or less stable, which can mean the difference between taking a deep breath and walking away, and flying into a rage that ends up causing irreparable damage to your health!

Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Yoga also aide in balance, strength, agility and stability. No matter your age, these practices will help you in your health today and into a healthy older age. 

Consider adding a "personal alter" to your home - or expanding one you've naturally created. Sometimes we add a "reading corner" or beauty area that becomes a place to gather yourself, do a bit of self talking and meditation. This can bring a sense of peacefulness to your environment. Try a Buddha, goddess statue or hand carved diety from our Meditation Collection.

Exercise

Another health tip you've heard over and over (and over). Move, move and move! Walking, aerobic exercise, rebounding, running, jogging, raking leaves, etc...any physical activity is essential to health and well-being! Getting the body moving (especially out in the fresh air) helps oxygenate the blood, increases circulation (blood flow) and stimulates the lymphatic system which encourages elimination of built up toxins in the tissues and muscles. 

The saying applies - A body at rest, stays at rest...