General Maintenance Regimen

Summary:  For maintenance, use a basic regimen which includes adequate vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids, limit intake of starches and sugars, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, consume adequate protein and good oils, avoid hydrogenated oils, trans fats, and toxic chemicals, and drink plenty of water.

General Maintenance Supplements

1. Multivitamin. Take multivitamins during the day. If they are taken too close to bed, they may interfere with sleep, mostly from the vitamin B12.

2. Multmineral (not necessary if the multivitamin contains adequate amounts of major minerals, especially magnesium.) Separate multiminerals are best taken at night before bed since they are better absorbed when the liver is active, which is at night (around 2:00 - 3:00 AM), plus they are relaxing and stimulate elimination.

3. Essential fatty acid supplement. Since most people do not get enough undamaged omega 6 and especially omega 3 oils, this can be just as important as the multivitamin and mineral.

It is not necessary to follow a rigorous regimen for general health maintenance.  If there is a disorder, though, it may be necessary.  For example, it is usually only necessary to simply avoid excess sugars, starches, hydrogenated oils, and trans fats, and eat a reasonably good diet, but if there is a disorder, following The Zone and Eat Right 4 Your Type diets strictly may help one overcome it much more quickly.  Drinking plenty of water is always helpful to maintain health, but if there is a disorder which requires good hydration and cleansing to overcome it, following The Water Cure strictly may be required.  General Maintenance supplements can be helpful or even all that is needed to fight many nutritional deficiency disorders but others require additional vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other supplements.  It is always a good idea to avoid absorbing or ingesting toxic chemicals, but strict Toxin Avoidance can be crucial for some disorders.