Start by going through your pantry and refrigerator to identify and discard common unhealthy foods. Throw out all oils other than olive oil, and throw out any olive oil that smells old or rancid. Get rid of any margarine and solid vegetable shortenings, and products (such as cookies and crackers) made with them. Also discard any products made with cottonseed oil. Read the labels of all food products so that you can dispose of any containing partially hydrogenated oils.

If you do not have any extra-virgin olive oil on hand, buy a bottle and start using it. You might also want to buy a small bottle of organic, expeller-pressed canola oil from the health-food store and some dark-roasted sesame oil from a Chinese or Japanese grocery store, or the Asian foods section of the supermarket. Keep your oils in the refrigerator to retard oxidation and prevent them from becoming rancid.

Throw out any artificial sweeteners such as saccharin or aspartame, or any products made with them.

Throw out any products containing artificial coloring (indicated on the label by phrases like "color added," "artificially colored," or the name of a particular dye, such as "FD&C red #3").

Make a commitment to read the labels of all food products you buy. Pay special attention to the fat content, especially the saturated fat content. I would like you to keep your total fat intake to about 20 to 25 percent of calories, and saturated fat intake as low as possible. Do not buy products with labels that list more chemicals than recognizable ingredients.

Eat fresh broccoli twice this week. Eat salmon, sardines, or kippers at least once this week to increase your intake of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. If you don't like fish, buy some flax seeds at a health-food store, grind them, and sprinkle them over some of your food once or twice this week. Flax is a good source of omega-3.

Try to walk 10 minutes a day, five days out of this week. If you are already on a program of aerobic exercise other than walking, do the walking in addition to your regular program.

The advantages of walking over all other forms of exercise are numerous. You do not have to learn how to do it. It does not require any equipment, except a comfortable pair of shoes. It costs nothing, and you can do it anywhere: in cities, parks, even indoors in shopping malls if the weather is inclement. The chance of injuring yourself is small, in great contrast to running and competitive sports. It is much less boring than riding a stationary bike or running on a treadmill. You can walk outdoors and enjoy the beauty of nature. You can also walk with friends and enjoy their company.

Start taking vitamin C if you do not do so already. Take 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams with breakfast, another dose with dinner, and a third at bedtime, if convenient.

Find out where your drinking water comes from, if you don't know, and what impurities it might contain. Stop drinking chlorinated water. If you don't already have a water-purification system for your home, get information on one. In the meantime, buy bottled water.

Again, eat fish at least once this week, and broccoli twice.

Go to a natural-food store and look through the frozen and refrigerated sections to familiarize yourself with the many different products made from soybeans. Select one to try.

Increase your daily walk to 15 minutes and try to do it five days this week.

Start taking one capsule a day of mixed carotenes with breakfast. The product should provide 25,000 IU of beta carotene, along with related compounds (like alpha carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin). It must contain lycopene to give you the full benefits of this family of natural pigments.

Find out where you can buy organic produce. Inquire in grocery and health-food stores. Make a commitment to buy organically produced fruits and vegetables - especially the ones that, in regular grocery stores, would be the most likely to be contaminated with pesticides and other agricultural chemicals. These include strawberries, bell peppers (both red and green), spinach, cherries, peaches, Mexican cantaloupes, celery, apples, apricots, green beans, Chilean grapes, cucumbers, wheat, soybeans, potatoes, and button mushrooms.

If you use an electric blanket, stop. Remove electric clock-radios from the vicinity of your bed. If you use an older computer, buy a radiation shield for the video display of your monitor. Buy a pair of UV-protective sunglasses if you don't have any.

Make a conscious effort to eat extra servings of fruits and vegetables with at least one meal this week.

Replace at least one serving of meat with a soy food of your choice.

Increase your daily walk to 20 minutes, five days of the week. If you do other aerobic exercise, consider cutting that down to two or three days and substituting an aerobic walk on the other days.

With lunch or your largest meal, take 400 to 800 IU of vitamin E (the lower dose if you are under 40, the higher one if you're over 40) together with 200 to 300 micrograms of selenium. Use only a natural form of vitamin E (d-alpha-tocopherol plus other tocopherols), not a synthetic one (dl-alpha-tocopherol).

Ask friends and bookstore clerks about inspirational books they recommend. Make a list of some you would like to read in the areas of spirituality, religion, self-help, poetry, biography, or any other category, and select one that you will begin this week.

Check on your bed, mattress, and sleeping location. Is an uncomfortable bed or noisy bedroom interfering with restful sleep? Or can you identify some other impediment to getting a good night's rest? If so, consider making appropriate changes.

Find out about getting an air filter for your home or bedroom if you live in a polluted area or suffer from respiratory allergies, asthma, sinus problems, or other ailments that might be aggravated by inhaling irritants.

Eat some more garlic this week in any form that appeals to you.

Replace another meal of animal protein with soy protein.

Increase your aerobic walk to 25 minutes, five days of the week.

Locate a steam bath or sauna that you can use. Use it for up to 20 minutes one day. It should be hot enough to make you sweat freely; be sure to drink plenty of pure water to replace lost fluid. (Check with your physician before following this recommendation if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, or other chronic illness.)

Buy a piece of fresh ginger root and make yourself some ginger tea. Put one half-teaspoon of the freshly grated root into a cup of boiling water in a pot. Cover the pot and steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain, add honey to taste, and drink hot or iced. Also, try some crystallized ginger to see if you like it.

Increase your aerobic walk to 30 minutes, five days out of the week.

Try a one-day "fruit fast," eating as much fresh fruit as you like but nothing else except water and herbal tea. Take vitamin C, but skip the other supplements on this day.

Practice daily the breathing exercise you have learned.

Take a steam bath or sauna twice this week.

Continue to eat fish twice this week and soy foods twice this week.

Continue to eat broccoli at least two times this week.

Add some cooked greens to your diet this week: collards, kale, chard, beet, or mustard greens, for example.

Increase your aerobic walk to 35 minutes, five days out of the week.

Try a one-day "juice fast" this week: any amount of fruit and vegetable juices you care to drink, plus water and herbal tea. Take vitamin C, but skip the other supplements on this day.

I use and recommend a number of tonics. A few of the most familiar of these are herbs I've already mentioned: garlic, ginger, and green tea. Another outstanding tonic product is ginseng. Obtained from a species in the genus Panax, whose name comes from the same root as "panacea," that is "all-heal." Used regularly, it increases energy, vitality, and sexual vigor, improves skin and muscle tone, and confers resistance to stress of all sorts. I often recommend it to chronically ill patients and to those who are debilitated or lacking in vitality.

Practice your breathing exercises daily.

Continue the steam baths or saunas, three times a week if possible.

Continue eating as before: at least two meals of fish and two of soy protein, generous servings of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, ginger, garlic, and cooked greens twice this week.

In my opinion, walking is the most healthful form of physical activity, the one that has the greatest capacity to keep the healing system in good working order and increase the likelihood of spontaneous healing in cases of illness.

For a fast day this week, drink only fruit juice, water, and herbal teas. Take vitamin C, but skip the other supplements on this day.

Do your breathing exercises daily.

Reach your goal of a 45-minute walk five days out of the week.

Try a one-day water fast this week. You can have herbal tea with lemon if you like, but nothing caloric. If this proves too difficult, drink some diluted fruit juice. Take vitamin C, but skip the other supplements this day.

Continue taking your tonic. Make a commitment to give it a two-month trial and see what it does for your energy level, resistance, and outlook.

Last updated: March 20, 1998

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