Now let’s take a look at some guidelines that are based on you.

Step 1: Add Fish Oil

Make one of the following a part of your daily routine:

• 4 ounces of fatty fish three times a week (e.g., salmon, mackerel, sardines). Note: Your Weekly Habit of Health should satisfy this.
• 3-6 walnuts a day
• 1-3 grams of omega derived from a cold-water artic fish, with EPA and DHA, taken 30 minutes before meals (sprinkle flaxseed on your breakfast as well)

Step 2: Take a Daily Multivitamin

If you’re not already taking a multivitamin, start today with a one-a-day multivitamin specifically designed for your sex and age. Make sure it’s a high-quality bioavailable vitamin, not one from a wax matrix (some companies use a petroleum-based process that interferes with proper vitamin and mineral absorption).

Step 3: Add B Complex Vitamins

The B complex vitamins work as a team. Unless you have specific needs, it’s usually best to take them in the form of a high-potency B complex formula, and they be included in your one-a-day multivitamin. Reference page 261 in the Habits of Health for a breakdown of B vitamins and recommended daily-intake.

Step 4: Augment with Other Key Vitamins

Add any necessary vitamins and minerals that aren’t part of your multivitamin and B complex, like vitamin A, C, D, E, and K.

Step 5: Add Antioxidant Power

To enhance vitamin C’s antioxidant capacity, combine it with one or both of the following:

• Quercetin. Found in apples, onions, broccoli, and tea; includes citrus compounds. Take 500 mg per day on an empty stomach.
• Pycnogenol. Part of a group of powerful antioxidants called proanthocyanidins. Take 50 to 400 mg per day as pycnogenol or grape seed extract.

For further antioxidant support, try these:
Lutein. Obtain from kale, collard greens, spinach, and other green leafy vegetables, or take 40 mcg per day.
Lycopenes. Found in high levels in cooked tomatoes. Eat one half cup of tomato sauce per week (500 mcg) or take 10 to 20 mg per day as a supplement.

Step 6: Add Key Minerals

Take the following daily dose of these important minerals:

• Calcium. Women take 1,500 mg, men take 1,200 mg.
• Magnesium. Supplement with 200-400 mg or take a warm Epsom salts bath.
• Selenium. Take 200 mcg as sodium selenite, selenmethionine, or, if you’re not prone to yeast infections, yeast-derived selenium, or eat two Brazil nuts. Take with vitamin E for enhanced effectiveness.
• Zinc. Take 15 to 25 mg of zinc per day. If you can’t taste it on your tongue, increase the dose until you do. Caution: Zinc competes with other minerals, especially copper, manganese, and iron. Don’t exceed 200 mg per day.

In health,