It takes a conscious effort to love and care for yourself. It takes deliberate work to know what is good for your body and to choose foods and drinks that will keep you fit and healthy for years to come. This also means becoming knowledgeable about the many risk factors (cigarettes, fatty foods, drugs, excessive use of alcohol and salts) and minimizing or eliminating them from your life. The Four Pillars-referring to vitamins, minerals, herbs and phytonutrients-is written to empower you with nutritional knowledge and help you make appropriate choices, whether it's buying groceries or looking at a menu in a restaurant. The food and drink recipes have been created to simplify your choices and ensure proper and complete nourishment. Historically, spices and herbs have been used for enhancing flavor and aroma. As you will find in this book, these can have tremendous nutritional and health benefits as well.