It’s hard to always be an energetic entrepreneur. It’s often round after round of networking, check writing, employee management, and accounting. Weight gain and lack of energy often follow, with multiple cups of coffee, fast food, and erratic snacks. Taking a handful of supplements first thing in the morning is not the answer. This scenario can really be better. Just a few small changes, like looking at good nutrition through the lens of overall health, can lead to big results. Here are seven pillars that support your wellness and help you get through your busy day with energy to spare.

1. Digestion: is yours working properly? This means that after eating, you do not have heartburn, acid reflux, bloating, gas, etc. If you suffer from any of these painful, uncomfortable, and often embarrassing problems, it could be a sign of hypochlorhydria. That means lack of enough stomach acid, produced at the right time, to digest your food. It is the opposite of what pharmaceutical companies would have us believe. They would like us to think that we have too much stomach acid and that we need acid blockers to control it. Usually we don’t have enough! The weak cardiac sphincter at the end of the esophagus allows incompletely digested food to rise back up when it is only partially broken down by stomach acid. Drinking warm lemon water can help. The same goes for apple cider vinegar, diluted or used as a salad dressing. Hydrochloric acid tablets are available, usually labeled HCL, in health food stores. Good digestion is the first step towards good health.

2. Blood sugar regulation: do you need a sweet snack at 10:00 AM? M. And at 3:00 p.m. M.? If that hit of mocha, soda, candy bar, or other sugar is the only thing that carries you to the next meal, then you have a blood sugar regulation problem. Feeding and then refueling your body in less than three to four hours is an indication that you need fewer simple carbohydrates. More complex carbohydrates, adequate protein, and healthy fats slow down digestion and allow your body to absorb blood sugar at a more moderate rate. Looking for a sweet boost of energy is what many of us do every day, fueling the Type II diabetes epidemic sweeping this country. Don’t become a statistic. Instead of a candy bar, try an apple with some nut butter. Instead of a mocha, a small container of yogurt with some almonds or some carrot sticks with a small piece of cheese. Maybe a hard-boiled egg is more your style, with a celery stalk or two? Is soda your thing? Instead, try some San Pellagrino mineral water with a twist.

3. Balance of essential fatty acids: we need fat. It is a component of all cell membranes in our body. Fat protects our organs, allows us to use many vitamins and keeps our skin healthy. What we don’t need are trans fats, fake fats, and non-food fats like cottonseed. Our ancestors did not eat cotton and neither should we. Eat more wild salmon, sardines, and small tuna, such as tongol. Eat fewer canola oil-based products, found in salad dressings and mayonnaise, for example.

4. Vitamins and minerals: Soil depletion has affected the nutrient density of our food supply. The lack of trace elements is usually the cause of our health problems. Buy salt that has trace elements intact. Try Celtic sea salt, Utah royal salt, and other raw salts. When eating chicken, keep the bones in the freezer until you have enough to make a good amount of broth. Bone broths are rich in minerals. They are an inexpensive and tasty way to replenish your body with minerals necessary for nerve conduction, bone health, and many other processes. If you take vitamin supplements, ask questions first. You want to know that the brands you buy contain what is on their labels. Make sure they are not on shelves that allow direct sunlight to brighten your day! Many vitamins are depleted with exposure to sunlight.

5. Hydration: The newest accessory is the water bottle. People transport them as if they were a small pet. We rarely drink as much water as we imagine. Coffee, sodas, fruit juices, teas, and alcohol deplete our body’s water because they are diuretics. For every 8 ounces of these drinks we consume, we need to drink at least an equal amount of pure water. That is in addition to the suggested six to eight glasses of water per day. If you drink bottled water, find out the source. It may just be municipal water in a fancy bottle. If you drink tap water, use a filter. Well water can be a rich source of minerals, but check it frequently for contaminants. Water is the number one nutrient deficiency in the United States.

6. Nutrient dense and properly prepared foods: Eating on the go is difficult. If you go to three or more networking events a week, you are eating mass-prepared food. That means the possibility of trans fat, poor quality, and less-than-optimal freshness in those three meals. If you visit a self-service at least twice a week and then enjoy a meal at a restaurant once or twice a week, you’ve just spent more than a third of your meals on someone else’s bottom line. And you can bet your good health isn’t your main concern. So what to do? Join a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture. Once a week, you will receive fresh vegetables from the farm, sometimes delivered directly to your door. Go to farmers markets for farm-fresh eggs. Boil half a dozen for a snack to go. Buy only bread and cookies that say 100% whole grain. Try to eat the rainbow of colorful foods every day. However, at least every other day. Buy organic. It’s good for the planet and it’s good for you. If you can’t find organic food, look for biodynamic or sustainably grown food. Fish labeled wild caught is better for you than farmed fish.

7. Manage your stress: What does stress management have to do with nutrition? There are two modes of our autonomic nervous system: sympathetic and parasympathetic. The activities of the sympathetic nervous system can be reduced to these words: fight or flight response. Hunting a charging woolly mammoth, fleeing a flash flood, escaping danger, these are under the control of the sympathetic nervous system. Parasympathetic activity includes digestion. Today we react, we even overreact to almost everything in our environment and social sphere. In a constant state of physical, emotional or mental stress, our digestion suffers. To do? Exercise, practice deep breathing, meditation, get enough sleep, and eat slowly. These activities help to decrease the sympathetic and improve the parasympathetic response. Getting the most out of your food means having a well-functioning digestive system. Without good digestion, what enters your cells to fuel your body for all the activities that a busy entrepreneur does on a daily basis? Stress is unavoidable. Learning how to handle it is about options.

Give your health as much consideration as your business and you will be unstoppable.