Maintaining a healthy gut flora and following sound dietary principles are the best ways, I’ve found, to promote optimal health. The reason for this is because 80 percent of your immune system is located in your digestive system, and a robust, well-functioning immune system is your number one defense system against all disease.

Probiotics are good bacteria;  the essential inhabitants of your gut that help to control the yeast and bad bacteria that  also coexist in your gut. They’re also crucial for proper digestion of food and absorption of nutrients.

Active cultures are alive, and are therefore best kept refrigerated. There are literally dozens of different types of probiotics on the market and many of them simply do not work. I recommend Flora Source in my own office since it is a very effective, highly potent, multi-strain product.

It's best to take your probiotics ONCE per day after drinking 1 glass of  FILTERED water, or with some food. This reduces the acidity of your stomach and allows the powder to be more effective.

Lesson 2: You can use supplements to help relieve irregular bowel movements.

Bowel movements aren't necessarily the most pleasant things to think about, but it's healthy to have two to three bowel movements a day. Ideally, they should be effortless, odorless and not sink to the bottom of yourtoilet bowl.

• Flaxseeds: My first choice would be organic psyllium. You can also use freshly ground organic flaxseeds. You can take one to six tablespoons per day. Psyllium and flax have water-soluble fibers ), which are very effective at relieving constipation. Additionally, flax is a food and a source of beneficial omega-3 fats.

• Magnesium: This can be helpful to temporarily restore a healthy frequency of bowel movements. Start your dose at one 500 mg tablet or capsule twice a day. Malate is the preferred form, but glycinate and citrate also work quite nicely. You can increase this to four tablets twice a day (two grams) if necessary. You can go up to eight per day in divided doses for severe cases. Diarrhea is the only side effect of magnesium, and you can easily reduce the dose if this occurs.

It's important not to use magnesium on a long-term basis, as it will cause imbalances in the calcium/magnesium ratio in your body. If the magnesium does not work, you can use Aloe Vera capsules instead.

Lesson 3: Use vitamin E to maximize the benefits of fish oil and vitamin C to help with stress or the effects of heavy exercise.

You may want to consider taking vitamin E (400 units a day) as this will help protect the omega-3 oils from being oxidized once you consume them. You might want to also consider vitamin C, especially around times of heavy exercise or stress.

Please beware that not all vitamin E is equal. Many do not know that the term “vitamin E” actually refers to a family of at least eight fat-soluble antioxidant compounds, divided into two groups of molecules: tocopherols (which are considered the “true” vitamin E) and tocotrienols. Each of the tocopherol and tocotrienol subfamilies contains four different forms: Alpha-, Beta-, Gamma-, and Delta-. Each one of these subgroups has its own unique biological effects.

Ideally, vitamin E should be consumed in the broader family of mixed natural tocopherols and tocotrienols, (also referred to as full-spectrum vitamin E) to get the maximum benefits. Unfortunately, the vitamin E most often referred to and sold in most stores is a synthetic form of the vitamin, which really should NOT be used if you want to reap any of its health benefits.

You can tell what you’re buying by carefully reading the label. Natural vitamin E is always listed as the “d-“ form (d-alpha-tocopherol, d-beta-tocopherol, etc.). Synthetic vitamin E is listed as “dl-“ forms.

Your body can easily distinguish between natural and synthetic vitamins, and natural vitamin E is between two and three times as bioactive as the same amount of synthetic vitamin E.

If you are consuming one pound of vegetables for every 50 pounds of body weight, you will receive a large variety of antioxidants from the vegetables so it's not as important to take a vitamin E supplement.  If you are already taking our Whole Foods with minerals supplement, vitamin E is already included so there is no need to take an additional supplement.

You might want to also consider vitamin C, especially around times of heavy exercise or stress. When using vitamin C, it is important to remember that it is a water-soluble vitamin and ideally should be taken at least three times a day. If you are highly sensitive to vitamin C you may experience diarrhea. If that happens, simply lower your dosage.