For over 15 years, our family has learned from integrative health practitioners and put this knowledge into action. Since 2016, when For the Ageless was born, we've been sharing these tips with customers and have carefully reviewed all feedback to uncover which health habits actually work.
Our findings show how specific lifestyle choices can boost the effectiveness of supplements like CBD, mushrooms, and bioregulators. (Some of you have kindly given us permission to share your insights below.)
Consider these tips and habits not as chores but as refreshing practices to help you grow more aware and improve your health day by day. Here's a short list of what we've learned, followed by a simple checklist you can come back to.
CBD works better when sleep cycles are respected.
We have seen a clear correlation between the effectiveness of CBD and sleep hygiene. For instance, in people who travel or work night shifts and cannot keep a stable sleep schedule, CBD does not work as well as those who go to bed early.
Our customer Joanne, who has had excellent results combining CBD with hemp tea, uses red lights in the winter during the evening:
“I avoid any harsh lights and changed my living room and bedroom bulbs to a warm light that won’t keep me awake. I go to bed no later than 10.30.”
Respecting your body’s internal clock has health benefits of its own: it provides more energy and mental clarity, better repair, and resilience for the body.
So, what do we need to do? Become aware and follow your natural circadian rhythms by adjusting to the seasons when to wake up, eat, and sleep.
Aim to sleep for eight hours, waking right before sunrise.
Keep a regular sleep routine: Try to sleep and wake up at approximately the same time every day. This will be adjusted depending on the season, with an earlier rise in the shorter days of the autumn and winter seasons.
If you travel or work night shifts, adjust your light exposure slowly to stay in sync.
Establish your eating window between 8 to 10 hours.
Have your last meal three to four hours before going to bed.
Daniel’s tips on sleep and which foods to eat and avoid in the evening have been published in magazines and papers including the Express.
Be exposed to natural daylight: Go outside often, in the morning, afternoon and evening for sunlight or daylight to set your body clock. Melatonin gets prompted as morning light enters the skin and eyes.
The near-infrared and red light of the morning and evening have proven to be healing.
Reduce the amount of artificial light that you are exposed to. Avoid bright lights and screen time in the evening and at night to protect your circadian rhythm and help you sleep better.
While avoiding environmental toxins and pollution entirely may not be possible, it’s sensible to minimise our exposure and balance it with clean food, water, and air. Spending more time in nature and connecting directly with the earth provides additional benefits.
Going outside, no matter the weather, is good for your body because it strengthens your immune system, boosts vitamin D, and encourages more physical activity.
Watch out for environmental toxins. The most toxic ones are the ones in direct contact with your body like those found in packaged foods, toiletries, cosmetics and cleaning products.
Stay away from addictive and harmful habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, and eating highly processed foods. Free apps like Yuka are useful when shopping barcoded products to identify harmful artificial ingredients and additives.
Also be mindful of certain unprocessed 'natural foods' that are high in heavy metals like tuna or loaded with antibiotics like caged chicken meat.
Whenever possible, grow your own food nurturing your soil. Or buy your food from a local, trusted organic or biodynamic farmer.
Getting a high-quality water filter system is a sure win for your health to avoid the heavy metals and other residues in tap water. Both reverse osmosis and distillation are effective at removing toxins from tap water.
Bottled water is not environmentally friendly, and, besides, if bottled in plastic, there’s the threat of microplastic contamination.
By gradually eliminating built-up toxins from your body, you can significantly boost your health and allow nutrition and supplements to be more effective.
When needed, try gentle detox methods that suit your body and situation, like:
Ethan uses a mushroom bone broth with Reishi, Maitake, and Cordyceps for immune support in colder months.
"They don't work in a vacuum. When I whip up my own meals, cut back on the booze, go to the gym and steam room, or do any of those things that are good for me, I notice the mushrooms work better.”
Adaptogen supplements, like Reishi mushroom, Ashwagandha, and CBD, are more effective for those who manage their toxic load well.
Air your house periodically, particularly in the winter when we keep the windows closed.
Use plants, filters and ionisers to improve indoor air quality.
Spend more time outside in green areas where the air quality is optimum.
Deep breathing can enhance relaxation, improve oxygenation, and promote the expulsion of toxins through increased lung capacity.
It is such an important skill, it is worth learning breathing from experts like Erwan Le Corre.
We usually recommend to our customers a free app called Breathing Zone that you can use to learn or whenever you would like to follow a guided breathing exercise. It’s a digital flower that opens and closes, guiding you to breathe in and out at slower and slower intervals. We like to set it to 4 breaths per minute, which trains you to get there gradually and makes you feel so good.
Use a speakerphone or a wired headset instead of holding the phone to your ear.
Switch off your mobile, electrical devices and Wi-Fi stations at the very least during the night when you’re sleeping and ideally any time you’re not using them.
Use cables and Ethernet connections instead of WiFi, Bluetooth, or other wireless transmission.
Ensure you don’t spend too long (sleeping or sitting) near magnetic and electric radiation hotspots like sockets, adaptors, and electrical appliances.
A good number of our customers claim grounding or “earthing” has helped them improve sleep and reduce inflammation. They benefit just by spending a few minutes in direct contact with the ground (their gardens or a park, for example).
The premise is that by allowing the body to absorb electrons from the Earth's surface and discharge from excess electrical charge.
Lesley says her combination of Joint Pro and OSI Magnesium works better when applied on her legs, ankles and feet after a bath rather than just a shower.
The warm water makes the skin pores open, allowing for better absorption of the creams, but being in the bathtub for about 20 minutes has some additional benefits:
“I was lucky to hear in a podcast that the bathtub is the best place in the house where you can ground your body because the pipes are connected to the ground. I love it… it’s my golden time to switch off and it’s great relief for my legs.”
A study published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health shows that grounding may improve sleep, reduce pain, and lower stress, but it highlights the need for more rigorous research.
There are many schools of thought and practice on how to eat and drink. If you are agnostic like we are—not subscribed to any of these in particular but open to learning—you may find it sensible to stick to a clean and balanced diet adjusted to your own particular needs.
A balanced diet is one that aims for acid-alkaline balance, slow-release carbs and sufficient but not excessive protein and fat.
Susan says that removing processed and prepared food and fast carbs from her diet, cooking more from scratch, using mainly organic whole foods, pulses grains and vegetables in stews and casseroles has helped her achieve blood sugar balance, improve her blood pressure, and deepen her sleep.
“My breakfast is now as rich in protein as is my dinner and marine collagen helps me achieve that. This keeps me going through the afternoon.”
To keep hydrated, aim for 6 to 8 glasses of water (or other non-stimulant, non-sugary liquids) each day. Your age, how much you move, your health, and the weather can all affect this. A good way to check if you're drinking enough is by looking at your urine; if it's light yellow or clear, you're on track.
Learn about nutrition. It is a fascinating subject that allows you to be your own doctor.
Allow rest periods for the gut but be careful not to fast too long if you’re going through a period of convalescence when the body will require additional support.
If you’re looking to achieve metabolic balance, start your meals with savoury dishes and avoid fast-release carbs and stimulants.
Supplements work best when the diet is optimum and are intended simply to complement it when there are punctual deficiencies or imbalances.
Other natural supplements like CBD, which aims to harmonise systems, or Nature’s Marvels, which helps bodily systems self-regulate, are best complemented with a balanced diet.
Contact us if you would like recommendations for your specific case.
Our findings show that moderate exercise tends to be more beneficial than doing too little or engaging in very intense workouts. Walking for at least 30 minutes per day and doing cardiovascular exercise and resistance training 2 to 3 times per week can be a good amount for most healthy adults.
We’re not the only family who likes getting out in the morning, like our friend Laura, who prefers to be the one to walk the dog first thing:
“When I move in the morning, I have more energy throughout the day.”
Much has been studied about the importance of frequent movement. Dr. Joan Vernikos, a former NASA director, emphasises the health benefits of regular movement and posture changes. Her research, focused on the health of NASA astronauts, shows that simply standing up from your chair every half hour improves overall health.
Become aware of how you stand, how you sit, how you work, and how you lay in bed so that you can improve your posture and how long you spend in each of them. This will affect your overall health.
"I’ve cut down my trips to the back doctor by stretching for a few minutes a day and being mindful of my posture."
This is what Paul, a customer using Aua Power and the Arthro Pack, has to say about postural awareness and correction. He’s been an inspiration to us as he’s self-trained and has found great relief from this habit.
Paul learned from a variety of sources but he swears by Robin McKenzie's extension exercises. Robin was a physical therapist who came up with a way to help people help themselves with neck, shoulder, hip, knee and back postural exercises that preserve lordosis (the natural curve in the back and neck) and correct hunching and other common bad habits.
Extension exercises are simple and take as little as 10 minutes daily. They involve lying flat on your stomach, lifting yourself onto your elbows while still on your stomach, and increasing the curve in your back and neck using pillows for support. By incorporating these simple exercises every few hours into your usual activities, you can stand straighter and find relief in the neck, back, shoulders, hip and knees.
For greater posture awareness, you can also follow the basic guidance of the Alexander Technique, a method of rediscovering natural balance and poise through mindful movement and self-awareness, focusing on the relationship between the head, neck, and spine to improve overall function.
Movement, posture, diet, natural rhythms, and connecting with nature are all interlinked. By dedicating attention to each, you can enhance your overall health and wellbeing.
Harry, who takes cordyceps and collagen for joint support, has gotten into the habit of having a long walk first thing in the morning:
“Getting out in the am sets an upbeat tune for the rest of the day. I’ll put on some music or play an audiobook til I get to my nearby patch of green. On lucky days, I catch the sunrise and ground even if it’s just for 5 minutes.”
He’s aware not only of the physical and cognitive benefits of bilateral movement, but also of the importance of morning daylight for regulating circadian rhythms.
When the body experiences imbalance or disharmony, it often manifests as symptoms of discomfort, illness, or pain. Are you "listening" to your body and addressing these signals? It's important to seek medical or professional guidance whenever you feel uncertain about these matters.
We're here to assist with any supplement recommendations or if you'd like to discuss any of the findings featured in this article.
Your testimonials over the years have shown us that the five practices discussed here—movement, posture, diet, sleep, and natural connections—work together to amplify the benefits of supplements. However, for certain supplements like bioregulators, mental habits are equally crucial. Stay tuned for the next part of this series, where we’ll explore the 5 mental keys to supplement success.
Excellent tips, thanks for this comprehensive article.
It’s said that ‘fix 1 problem and 100 disappear’ – I think good sleep might be the 1 thing to improve.
Thank you! What a wonderfully comprehensive list for healthy living. So great to be reminded of all we should be doing…think I’ll read it every week! Also appreciate the links you have kindly given. Look forward to the second part.
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A mighty team of natural health researchers led by Daniel Perez Vidal. We follow strict selection criteria and test everything we retail, from ground-breaking food supplements to natural skincare products. Our main area of expertise is CBD.