Claim health, well-being and thrive in the 21^st century while spending less money and gaining more value. Invest in yourself. You will need to pay less at the doctor or hospital if you put this information into practice. Knowing is good. Doing is better.

For Part 4, the final in this series, we cover non-food assessments and changes to make to save money now, as well as to keep medical costs down into the future.

Here are a few more tips to ensure that you truly THRIVE on the inside and out:

• In order to ensure your body is functioning at optimum capacity, you can start with four self-assessmentsand eight predictive biomarker tests. There is much that is helpful that can be done concurrently or sequentially.

One of these eight biomarker tests is the Lymphocyte Response Assay (LRA). LRA tests can determine which items or groups need to be substituted during a window of opportunity to restore health and wellbeing. Healthy digestion, from digestive transit time to urine pH after rest to determine how much magnesium and choline citrate are also needed to prevent metabolic acidosis from undermining health.

• Consider smart supplementation. To thrive in the 21^st century, intelligent supplementation is essential. Sadly, diet alone cannot keep up with the toxins in the environment today.

Everyone needs a super multivitamin, hopefully with 40 beneficial ingredients in full disclosure formulas. Use this to keep your urine sunshine yellow to protect your kidneys, bladder, and urinary tract.

Everyone also needs nature’s ascorbates with polyphenolics, a triple detoxifier, omega 3 EPA/DHA in a micellized softgel, and coenzyme Q10 micellized in rice bran oil.

Many people also will need adrenal, liver, bone marrow, prostate, mood or sleep adaptogenic supports.

• Improve your digestive health with digestion-specific supplements such as digestive bitters, prebiotics, probiotics, symbiotics and Campari. Digestive bitters can aid digestion in the mouth and stomach. Prebiotic fibers, of which we need 40-100 grams daily, provide bulk, and help feed the healthy bacteria in the gut. Probiotic organisms l. acidophilus, l. bifidus, and s. thermophilus aid digestion, and can be taken at doses of 40-100 billion daily. Symbiotic recycled glutamine uniquely repairs and energizes the gut withoutglutamate build up.

  Campari is an aperitif made of roots and herbs that stimulates liver bile flow to improve digestion and helps remove fat soluble toxins that need to bind to prebiotic fiber in the gut to prevent reabsorption.

• Review any medications you may be taking. Most medications treat a symptom. Nature’s Alkaline Way and Nature’s pHarmacy™ tips provided in this 4-part series address fundamental causes of these symptoms. As your symptoms abate, the medication can be weaned; work with your doctor.

Also, Dr. J has recommendations on which nutrients you’ll need more of if you take a specific class of medicine, to avoid side effects and get the most benefit.

• Clean up your external environment. Shade tolerant plants like dracaena, spider plant, moss, and other indoor plants can help clean the air and add ions which are often depleted because so many surfaces today have a positive charge that draw the ions (electrons) to them leaving the indoor air ‘dead’.
  You might also want to add an ULPA, charcoal filter, ionizer to your home or work environment.
• Be sure to take some “me” time. Everyone needs a certain amount of time alone to take stock and check in on how we are feeling. Carving out regular alone time is often difficult. Responsibilities abound. Time is short. You might set aside 20 minutes once or twice a day for relaxation response practice or meditation or mindfulness.
• You might find that listening to inspiring music brings you to a place of peace and harmony. Gardening or singing or dancing can do the same.
• Indulge in the occasional ‘guilty pleasure.’ With the emphasis on occasionally, if you want an ice cream sundae or cream pie, my suggestion is to enjoy every morsel. What you do most of the time is more important. If you have trouble with over-indulging, seek something that helps you not substitute food when you are anxious or under stress.
• If you feel that too much information is coming at you or just for balance in life, you might unplug for a day or so each week. Turning off screens and setting the phone aside allow for life to be lived more fully; with fewer distractions.
• Relax under a green dichro (PAR 38, 150 watt) bulb to bring harmonizing messages to your pineal gland deep in the brain. This directs the pituitary gland to release various factors to stimulate the thyroid, adrenals, ovaries or testes, and pancreas. 
• As opposed to other bulbs that may emit just the green light frequency, the PAR 38 dichro bulbs emit the full green spectrum with the ideal blue- green light ratio – just as if you were in a forest.
• Connect with others. Are we part of a whole entity or independent isolated entities. Alone and independent we are adrift, fearful, uncertain, and autonomous. I prefer to be connected, adrift, unknown, and connected at least through social medias but more importantly through local friends and family, garden and table, rambles and flowers discovered.
• Finally, be sure to get enough restorative sleep. Restorative sleep leaves you renewed and ready for the day. We suggest you invest half an hour in transitioning from waking time to sleeping time. You can soak in Epsom salt and baking soda or sweat in a personal sweat cabinet for 20 minutes. The goal is to come out pink like a baby not red like a lobster. Then practice abdominal breathing for 5 minutes and a relaxation practice for 15 minutes. Finally, stretch for 5-10 minutes either before getting into bed or while in bed. Your preference. Keep the bedroom cool, dark, and free of screens. Go to sleep early enough that you can get up when the sun rises. Reduce what you drink for a few hours before bed if you find yourself getting up too many times at night.

So, these are a few of things we can do to invest in ourselves, save money, and add years to life and life to years. Nature’s pHarmacy™ adds value at all levels and makes better health for healthy life outcomes.