Seven Basic Steps

To get the most from any Natural StressCare technique it's good to start with an awareness of the effects of recent changes in our food supply, improvements in our technological abilities and our spread as a species all over the globe. Taking the Seven Basic Steps is the best foundation for your Natural StressCare program.

The Seven Basic Steps are made up of two groups:

  • The Four Basic Nutrients:
    • B Vitamins
    • Fully Chelated Trace Minerals
    • Well Made Essential Fatty Acids
    • Antioxidants

Please note that, to avoid problems, it's important to start some of these slowly and gently, and to source others carefully. Be sure to read the detailed instructions on each page with respect to individual nutrients, especially when starting B vitamin supplements.

The last four steps involve becoming aware of the way food makes us feel and sometimes changing long-standing habits:

  • Three Food Awareness Steps:
    • Reduce or Eliminate Refined Carbs
    • Reduce Salt
    • Identify and Reduce Allergic Foods

I'm a naturopathically-oriented acupuncturist, which means I practice a form of "soft medicine." I work with the body's own processes. Success with soft medicine work often depends on combining a number of complementary approaches. Eager and thorough patient participation is crucial if we want to achieve the best possible results.

The Seven Basic Steps are for people who want to get active about their own healing. Everyone can take the Seven Basic Steps although I've found them particularly helpful for people in physical or psychological pain. They're certainly not the whole story with respect to preserving or regaining one's health. They are however critical if one wants optimal health in body and mind.

Brains are profoundly affected when critical nutrients are absent or substances are present in our food that may not belong there. Brain neurons are quite metabolically active and need a constant supply of fuel and nutrients to be their best. Another problem is that uninformed eating habits can lead to chronic inflammation. In the brain inflammation alters the characteristics of cell walls creating cognitive and emotional disturbances; in the body inflammation creates pain.

Other more targeted interventions can be very helpful and even crucial - but the body usually gets more mileage from them when the Basics are covered. The Seven Steps supply all the most common missing ingredients for a smoothly running brain and removes common impediments. Herbs, advanced nutrients, hands-on techniques like massage or acupuncture, even many pharmaceuticals also tend to work better when the Seven Steps are followed (be sure to check with your doctor before starting any supplement program if you're already under a doc's care and especially if you're taking medicine.)

So here's the Seven Basic Steps. In other parts of these Natural StressCare Reports there's more information and research supporting the utility of taking these steps in support of good psychological health. Here I'll focus more on the steps themselves. I'll draw on the idioms and user-friendly metaphors I've developed to make the reasons for taking these steps clear to patients without medical backgrounds and leave the science behind them for other pages.

The first four Steps are relatively simple, involving nothing more than finding a good health food store, paying a moderate amount of money, and remembering to take the nutrients every day, or at least most days. The last three Steps are a little more demanding, requiring an increased awareness and a readiness to work on one's relationships with food.

My advice is to never attempt to take all the Seven Steps at once. Giant steps rarely lead to permanent change ... at least when it comes to diet and nutrition. Almost always it's better to take a few baby steps and let the changes assimilate and become a part of one's daily routine. Once new habits take hold and don't require conscious attention and effort, it's time to take the next few baby steps.