Your lifestyle can have a great impact on how your body uses the food you eat. There are many factors that may block the absorption of certain nutrients or increase your requirements.

Stress
Stress comes in many forms including:

• Physical- exercise, heat or cold, environmental toxins, toxins produced by bacteria, physical trauma, chemicals such as alcohol, caffeine and nicotine.
• Emotional - fear, anxiety, frustration, personal loss, anger and excitement

Emotional or physical stress plays a large role in blood sugar regulation and can lead to feelings of fatigue, irritability and headaches. In addition stress increases the body's requirements for B vitamins and vitamin C.

Smoking
Cigarettes have many actions upon the body, they contain:

• Chemicals that are known to cause cancer
• Tar that settles in the lungs and prevents them from fully inflating
• Cadmuim, a toxic heavy metal that depletes zinc in the body

In addition, smoking increases the amount of damaging molecules called free radicals. These have many detrimental effects upon the body from increasing the risk of cancer, arthritis and heart disease to speeding up the ageing process. Anti-oxidants are needed to "mop" up the damaging free radicals. Smoking increases the need for anti-oxidants and can cause low vitamin C levels.
So, smoking really is bad for you...

Pollution
Environmental pollution from exhaust fumes, industrial processes, hazardous waste, pesticides and fertilisers can have varying effects upon the body. In general they are added stresses on the body and cause an increase in damaging free radicals and increase the need for anti-oxidants. It can also involve the accumulation of toxic heavy metals within the body and mineral deficiencies such a zinc and copper.

Exercise
Exercise has many beneficial effects upon the body including:

• Reducing cholesterol
• Decreasing blood pressure
• Building bone density and strengthening bones
• Reducing anxiety, tension and depression
• Improving energy levels and concentration

Unfortunately too much exercise can increase the damage to muscles and joints and increase the body's requirement of vitamin C, vitamin E and protein.

Alcohol
As well as being an addictive substance, alcohol causes the storage of fat, depletes B vitamins and plays a role in blood sugar imbalances.

A healthy balanced lifestyle