Welcome to the CompleT Tier.

You hold the power to choose your level of healthy.

Summarizing the most important habits from each individual Tier, the CompleT Tier provides a simple approach to improving your health.

Start at the bottom of the Tier and incorporate as often as possible.

Continue moving upwards to further improve your health.

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Level 1: Increase Fibers

Americans as a whole do not consume enough fiber. Increasing the amount of foods with fibers you eat at each meal is the first step toward improving your health.

Why is fiber good?

First, most foods with fiber are fruits and vegetables that are packed with nutrients that support optimal health.

Second, eating more foods with fiber will help crowd out other more processed foods.

Fiber can help you feel more full which will decrease the amount of food you can or want to eat.

Lastly, your gut is filled with bacteria that love to eat foods with fiber. By feeding them what they want, these bacteria in turn support a healthy gut, a healthy immune system, and a healthy mind. A brief background video on gut bacteria can be found here.

What should I do?

• Eat more whole fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, lentils, and beans
• Make healthy switches:
  • Wheat flour to buckwheat flour
  • Fried chips to carrots/celery with hummus or salsa
  • Instant oatmeal to regular oats
  • Iceberg lettuce to spinach, kale or mixed greens
• Lightly cook vegetables, they should not be too mushy
• Incorporate a salad before or after most meals
• Avoid food juicers—they waste all the good fiber!

Level 2: Eat your calories

Eat your calories is another way of saying don’t drink your calories through juice, soda, alcohol, etc. Instead eat foods that contain some fiber that force you to spend some time chewing.

Why should I eat my calories?

It is much easier and quicker to drink than it is to eat but our bodies are best adapted to take in calories slowly. When you consume drinks with no fiber or fat (both slow absorption), you flood your intestines with calories and sugars that cannot be processed fast enough. This causes spikes in blood sugar and insulin, which can cause crashes later and a feeling of even more hunger. Additionally, most drinks contain more sugar than what is recommended with little-to-no nutritional content.

What should I do?

• Avoid sugary drinks. Diet drinks are not the answer either. Instead try sparkling water with a squirt of lemon or lime for flavor.
• If you normally juice your fruits and veggies, instead blend them up. At least you’ll still get some fiber.
• If you do drink calories, take your time. Slowly sip the beverage to give your body a chance to keep up with the flood of calories.

Level 3: Sweat

30 minutes of physical is a good marker to ensure a minimum amount of activity in a day but in the absence of a clock, sweating is a simple indicator of healthy exertion.

Why should I break a sweat?

Sweating during physical activity is a sign that your body is exerting effort and beginning to heat up. As your core temperature rises, your body is forced to relieve the heat and protect the heat-sensitive workings inside. Sweating is one method to cool off, but on a more cellular level, exercise also increases protective cellular proteins, called heat shock proteins, which help stabilize vital actions in your cells when temperatures rise. Thus by heating up and sweating, you are forcing your body to adapt and strengthen its protective machinery.

What should I do?

• Sweat by physical exercise, not a sauna
• Drink water with a little salt and sugar to replenish the lost electrolytes

Level 4: Sleep

With over a quarter of Americans not getting enough sleep, I’m surprised more people aren’t grumpy. Then again, maybe they are.

Why is 7-8 hours of sleep per night needed?

Sufficient sleep is a necessity, not just a luxury for the weekend. Lack of sleep is associated with multiple chronic diseases , including obesity and depression. Most people know the great feeling of a full night’s sleep, but few may realize what sleep is actually doing for your brain. During sleep, the brain strengthens memoriesformed throughout the day and links previous memories, improving problem solving.

Additionally, unlike other major organs that have a lymphatic system to clean and drain cellular debris, the brain doesn’t have such plumbing. Instead, it relies on sleep as a opportunity to clear away toxic debris, like the protein amyloid, which is implicated in Alzheimer’s Disease.

What should I do?

• Start a relaxation process an hour before you’d like to fall asleep.
• Limit electronic and LED screens before bed. If you must look at electronics, use apps to reduce the blue wavelengths: Try f.lux  for your computer andTwilight for you Android phones.
• Avoid caffeine and stimulants before bed; this include chocolate and green tea.
• Avoid large meals a few hours before bed.
• If you need to get back onto a routine sleep schedule, the use of melatonin supplements may help.
• For more, check out Harvard’s Tips.

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