Essential Nourishment: A Basic Guide to Optimal Health and Wellness

By Beth McCall Whitley and Kim Francois

This is a wonderful book on nutrition, as well as on health and happiness. Ms. Whitley provides many valuable gems for the betterment of ones life.
William Tullis, MD, President of Neuropsychiatric Associates of Austin; Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association

This book is an excellent guide to health and discusses both the types of food that are ideal to include in a healthy diet and which ones we would best avoid. Ms. Whitley has provided us with a usable and readable resource for nutrition, health and fitness in general.
Jane Derebery, MD, FACOEM; Diplomat, American Board of Preventive Medicine

Beth Whitley has written a rich and concise book imparting wisdom distilled from a wide range of deep thinkers but also from her own experience and faithful practice. As an addiction medicine specialist, I know that living a balanced life is very important and includes feeding the mind, body, and soul, as so well outlined in this valuable book.
William M. Loving, MD; Board Certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine

Beth Whitley has done a great job of simplifying a very complex subject. Health and wellness are ongoing strategies that require a persons individual participation. This book gives you a simple, comprehensive outline of how to get started creating a more functional body, mind, and spirit.
Vincent Bellonzi, DC; CCN; CSCS; ACSM H/FI

Essential Nourishment is essential reading for anyone interested in improving their health and wellness. Beth Whitley provides practical steps and clear principles to facilitate greater well-being for body, mind, and spirit.
-Keith Hergenhahn, LCSW

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Dec 29, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452540368

Beth McCall Whitley

Beth Whitley holds a BA in communications and an MS in health and nutrition education. Since overcoming serious health issues as a result of being allergic to several different foods, as well as having children with food allergies, Beth is passionate about proper nutrition and is thankful to be able to share her extensive knowledge and experience.

Book preview

Essential Nourishment

A BASIC GUIDE TO OPTIMAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Beth McCall Whitley

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Copyright © 2011 Beth McCall Whitley

Photography by Kim Francois, Francois Photography

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4525-4036-8 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-4037-5 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011918327

Printed in the United States of America

Balboa Press rev. date: 12/22/2011

Contents

Disclaimer

Introduction

Health and Wellness

Nutrition

Food

Nutritional Supplements

Exercise

Happiness

Parting Thoughts

About the Author

To my three beautiful daughters: Justine, Cecily, and Lara. They give purpose and joy to my life. I have learned so much from them, and they continue to teach me every day. I am eternally grateful for the privilege of being their mother.

"Each of us is here to discover our true Self …

essentially we are spiritual beings

who have taken manifestation in physical form …

we’re not human beings that have occasional spiritual experiences …

we’re spiritual beings that have occasional human experiences."

—Deepak Chopra

Disclaimer

This book is intended to be a simple guide to start you on your own journey of self-discovery and optimal health. The suggestions offered are my opinions, based on what I have learned through my own education, research, and life experiences.

I do not diagnose or treat disease. You should consult a physician or healthcare practitioner before implementing any dietary, supplement, and/or exercise changes.

Any recommendations you follow in this book are entirely your responsibility.

Thank you to all who have loved, helped, listened to, taught, and inspired me: parents, sisters, teachers, authors, friends, foes, ex-husband, children, lovers, bosses, colleagues, life coaches, therapists, doctors, clients. I have learned from all of you, and I am who I am today because of these experiences.

I am thankful for each and every one of you.

Special thanks to three angels who were sent to me at just the right time: Bill T., Bill L., and Roger G.

I am truly blessed.

Introduction

Like many of you, I’m older than I ever intended to be. Not that I’m old old, but still …

Old is a relative term, I suppose. Unfortunately, we live in a society that does not value older and wiser individuals, and aging is viewed as a fate worse than death. In any case, I have decided to age gracefully.

Aging is not a disease. It took a lot of years, but I’m finally at peace with my body, which explains the cover of this book. I was inspired by the Dove campaign that ran a few years ago and featured older women tastefully nude, proving to me that older women are, in fact, beautiful, just the way we are. There is an inner wisdom and grace present that simply doesn’t exist in youth. The facial lines, gray hairs, age spots, spider veins, scars, and stretch marks are symbols of our life experiences and the strength that we have acquired on this adventure, with all of its ups and downs, unexpected twists and turns, joys and sorrows. Embrace whatever age you are—you will never be this young again! I love Martha Beck’s quote: Although beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, the feeling of being beautiful exists solely in the mind of the beheld.

A little history about me: about fifteen years ago, when I was living in Cincinnati, I was told I had a rare non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The symptoms manifested on the skin and had been coming and going for many years prior to me going to the doctor. I thought it was eczema all that time until my dermatologist expressed a concern about it. I was sent to an oncologist for further testing. Without going into all of