42 tips for optimal health and longevity

Every day we make food and lifestyle choices which can heavily impact our health and quality of life. Years of poor dietary choices, lack of exercise, exposure to synthetic chemicals and toxins, stress, infections, and others can lead to serious health conditions and chronic disease. Implementing appropriate lifestyle choices can help prevent disease and may slow down the progression of aging. Below are key fundamental changes you can incorporate to both prevent disease and achieve optimal health, based on real science.

Quick Answer

Optimal health and longevity come down to consistent daily choices: eating a whole-food organic diet free of lectins and processed chemicals, minimising toxic exposure in your food, water, cookware, and personal care products, prioritising sleep, movement, and time in nature, and nurturing your mental and spiritual wellbeing alongside your physical health.

Key Takeaways

✔ Preparation is the foundation of any successful health plan — plan your week ahead.
✔ A whole-food, organic diet free of lectins and inflammatory foods supports long-term health.
✔ Everyday plastics, cookware, and personal care products are a major source of hidden toxins.
✔ Sleep, fasting windows, and mindful eating all directly affect digestion and cellular repair.
✔ Movement, sunlight, and grounding in nature all measurably reduce stress and inflammation.
✔ Healing is spiritual, mental, and physical — true longevity addresses all three.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Tips 1–2

Preparation & daily routine

Be prepared! The most important thing you can do is be prepared for new changes. Purchase all the great lectin-free options available and eliminate the problematic foods. Tip: on Sunday or Monday, shred carrot, beetroot, cabbage, leek, and onions for the week and keep them in separate containers in the fridge. Purchase nuts, seeds, avocado, cheese, olive oil, and protein of choice. This process creates many easy lunch options to put together for the week. Always prepare for the week — the key to treatment and effectively sticking to the treatment plan is preparation.
Incorporate a healthy daily routine, including wake and sleep times, exercise, fasting, eating, working, faith, and — most importantly — enjoying life. Specific times should be allocated for each lifestyle factor daily.

Tips 3–9

Diet fundamentals

Consume a healthy, balanced, organic wholefood diet, rich in colourful fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, oils, herbs, and healthy proteins.
When eliminating foods from your diet, always remember to replace them with a healthier option — otherwise you’ll find it very difficult to follow the diet. E.g., gluten-free almond bread, cakes, wraps, pancakes, etc.
Avoid foods that contain pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, germicides, hormones, and antibiotics.
Use an “enviroclean” solution to wash fruit and vegetables if organic options aren’t available.
Consume small to medium sized wild-caught fish regularly.
When consuming red meat and poultry, make sure the animal was grass-fed, grass-finished, pasture-raised, and organic.
Minimise or eliminate intake of cow dairy, as it is pro-inflammatory and contains lipopolysaccharides and IGF-1 — IGF-1 has been linked with cancer and other metabolic diseases.

Tips 10–13

Eating habits

Chew your food to the point of liquifying it before you swallow. If not, you won’t be able to break down and utilise the nutrients effectively — the first step in digestion starts in the mouth, so ensure you chew your food!
Always sit and relax when you’re eating — it stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system, which helps you digest your food efficiently. Don’t consume food while standing, in a car, stressed, or on the run. Sit, relax, and take your time to eat!
Practice healthy sleep hygiene. Our body utilises healing and cell-regenerative processes to support cell recycling and recovery. Sleep 8 hours each day, avoid stimulants and blue light (phones, tablets, and computers) at least 3 hours before bed, and wake and sleep at the same time daily.
Use good quality complex salts, including Celtic Sea salt, Redmond’s sea salt, or Himalayan salt.

Tips 14–15

Understanding & avoiding lectins

Lectins are plant proteins which are toxic to your cells. They may cause leaky gut syndrome, inflammation, irritation of the gastrointestinal tract, heartburn, reflux, constipation, bloating, burping, flatulence, weight gain, impede nutrient absorption, increase oestrogen compounds, and cause autoimmune disease. Avoid them!
Avoid lectin-containing foods, including grains, beans, legumes, cashews, peanuts, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, capsicum, chilli, white potato, pumpkins, sunflower seeds, and pepitas, plus processed foods. Some whole foods can be soaked, pressure cooked, skinned, or seeded to remove the lectins — refer to the yes and no food list.

Tips 16–19

Fasting & cooking methods

Incorporate intermittent fasting every day, at least 12–18 hours per day. Eating 2 meals per day — e.g., 2–4 hours after waking and finishing 4 hours before bed — may help assist in weight loss, support the immune system, assist in autophagy (cell recycling), increased energy, increased growth hormone production, improved longevity, reduced inflammation, reduced oxidative stress, detoxing, and reduced blood sugar, insulin, cholesterol, and blood pressure.
Avoid fast food, deep-fried food, barbequed meats, processed food, processed meat, food cooked in vegetable oils, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, monosodium glutamate (MSG), high fructose corn syrup, and other food chemicals.
Avoid food and beverages that contain artificial colours, flavours, and preservatives.
Never overcook your meat — cooking at high temperatures, on a BBQ, over an open flame, or above 149°C develops toxic compounds such as Heterocyclic Amines (HCAs) and Advanced Glycation End-products (AGEs). These are toxic and cause oxidative damage to your cells, which may lead to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, liver disease, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, kidney failure, high blood pressure, and others. When oven baking, stay below 149°C — the best cooking methods are slow cooking, boiling, and steaming.

Tips 20–22

What you drink

Don’t drink more than 2 cups of coffee each day, and if you’re experiencing anxiety, avoid coffee and other stimulating beverages. Add unsweetened coconut, almond, or macadamia milk instead of dairy to your coffee.
Avoid excess alcohol intake — 2–3 cups of red wine per week is more than enough to enjoy a drink. Avoid alcohol if you have any mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, or PTSD, and when using medication.
Drink enough water daily, and more with exercise. To avoid dehydration, use the following calculation: 30ml × weight in kilograms = millilitres required each day. Example: 30ml × 75kg = 2,250ml of water each day is required to avoid dehydration. Add an extra 1 litre of water when exercising.

Tips 23–34

Kitchen, home & body toxins

Use good quality, chemical-free cookware such as glass, ceramic, stainless steel, and ceramic-coated pans. Avoid Teflon and other toxic non-stick pans.
Don’t use a microwave to reheat or cook your food — always reheat food on the stove or in the oven.
Avoid canned foods, as they’re lined with plastic which is toxic and an endocrine disruptor — meaning it may lead to hormonal imbalance when consumed.
Find a good quality water filter which removes fluoride, chlorine, pathogens, synthetic toxins, and heavy metals — but make sure the filter doesn’t remove the natural minerals in the water. A 12-litre gravity-fed water filter with a fluoride remover attachment, or a reverse osmosis water filter that doesn’t remove good minerals or alter water pH, is recommended.
Use a fluoride-free toothpaste, such as Jason’s fluoride-free toothpaste.
Use an aluminium-free, roll-on deodorant without harmful synthetic chemicals. Spray perfume on your clothes rather than your skin — one spray is enough.
Avoid genetically modified foods (GMO) such as corn, wheat, and soy. Most farmed animals, including fish, are fed GMO corn, wheat, and soy. These foods are inflammatory, toxic, and phytoestrogenic — phytoestrogens mimic oestrogen in the body, and while they can be somewhat beneficial in some cases, they can ultimately elevate oestrogen levels, which may lead to cancer, obesity, and infertility.
Do not consume food and beverages out of plastic bottles and containers. Never heat plastic, as the water content in food leaches plastic and saturates the food with harmful chemicals — use glass, ceramic, and good quality 18/8 stainless steel containers and bottles instead. Even “BPA free” plastic still contains BPS, BPH, and other compounds just as toxic as BPA. These are xenoestrogens which mimic oestrogen in the body, and have been associated with cancer, increased infertility, lower sexual function, damaged sperm, increased risk of miscarriage, low birth weights, early-onset puberty, diabetes, hypertension, insulin resistance, and altered levels of FSH, TSH, prolactin, progesterone, and androgens. Other xenoestrogens include pesticides, herbicides, and a multitude of synthetic chemicals. For a full list of xenoestrogens, see this reference.
Avoid personal care products that contain parabens, phthalates, synthetic colours, fragrances, sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), formaldehyde, toluene, and propylene glycol. For more information on synthetic chemicals in personal care products, see this resource.
Avoid all drugs, and only use medication when required by a health practitioner.
Avoid sunscreen which contains benzophenone, PABA, avobenzone, homosalate, and ethoxycinnamate. Use natural sunscreens consisting primarily of zinc oxide, minus the chemicals.
Use good quality, chemical-free household cleaning goods. Try Honest to Goodness.

Tips 35–37

Movement, nature & environment

Exercise 4–5 days per week and incorporate a balance of weight-bearing and cardiovascular exercise.
Get out in nature and expose your skin to daily sunlight when possible. It may help reduce stress levels, calm the mind, support hormonal balance, and strengthen the immune system.
Try grounding — the practice of walking barefoot on grass, sand, and dirt, which helps ground your body. Grounding has been shown to reduce stress, toxic energy, and inflammation. A review published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health looked at several studies highlighting how drawing electrons from the earth improves health.

Tips 38–42

Mind, relationships & spirit

Find a job that doesn’t involve a lot of stress — a job that you love, and one that you’re proud of.
Engage in healthy relationships. Walk away from people who are stressful, troublesome, and full of drama, especially if there’s no hope in the situation. Avoid stressful and toxic situations!
Try shopping at stores such as Eco Farms, Honest to Goodness, Lettuce Deliver, Doorstep Organics, Harris Farms, and Austral Herbs.
Be happy and grateful for all that you have in life, as it can help create a positive mindset. Your mind can either be your best or worst enemy!
There are 3 types of healing: spiritual, mental, and physical. Don’t leave a weak chain between the three, as it can severely impact your potential to heal! Prayer, faith, and meditation are essential for reducing stress and inflammation, strengthening immunity, and finding peace within yourself. God bless you on your journey.

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