Optimizing Your Health Part 6
Hopefully at this point you are at least interested in the concept of your own health optimization. I also hope that you’re open to the fact that the influencers of your health, to some extent, are under your control. You must become very intentional and aware about your health and the type of information you’re providing your mind and body. You must be willing to change that information if it’s not the right information for you.
You should also realize why our modern lifestyles, in contrast to our ancestral lifestyles, are now taking our good health from us, creating disease, and shortening our lifespans and healthspans.
>
“We are going to have to restore our daily habits to those that will support our best health. That is the only way forward. ”
We simply changed the script and we don’t know exactly how to perform it anymore. Perhaps, with enough time, we will adapt. But that’s doubtful, given the regression we have seen in human health. If we want to see human potential evolve to a higher level, we are going to have to go back to the design of our body. We are going to have to honor that design. We are going to have to restore our daily habits to those that will support our best health. That is the only way forward.
There are foundational principles that are supportive of all human beings having their best chance at health, foundational truths that are not going to change. They were true 10,000 years ago, they’re true now, and they’ll be true generations from now. They must be honored for everyone. When honored, people will, at the very least, begin to experience a stabilization of their health—a homeostasis that’s able to support a stable state of health. I wrote about these principles in my book, Authentic Health, where I go into detail about each principle and how an individual can follow a simple action plan to restore these habits.
The purpose of this blog is not to describe these principles in detail, but I’m going to provide a very short description of them to get you acquainted with each.
Sleep
The first and most foundational principle of human health is our circadian rhythm function and getting adequate sleep. We’ve completely dishonored this, and it’s making us sick. Most of the patients we collect sleep cycle data from are not getting adequate, restorative sleep. This is impacting them greatly. You can deal with stress well, eat a healthy diet, exercise, and maintain a clean environment, but if you do not get enough sleep, you will still break down and become sick.
If you’re only at 80% on your other habits but you get high-quality, restorative sleep every night and maintain a stable circadian rhythm function, your body will still thrive. This principle must be honored.
Stress Mastery & Nutrition
Managing stress responses and our nutritional exposures are equal influencers of our health. You cannot eat food that is toxic to your system all the time and expect your body to thrive. It will not happen. It will do the best it can, but you will eventually become sick.
You also cannot overfeed and dishonor the principles of fasting and expect to experience your best health.
In addition, you must learn to control stress responses and minimize the influence of fear in your life. The modern marketplace sells fear. Fear makes us uncomfortable, anxious, and deactivates our higher mind. In this state, we’re far more vulnerable to addictions and purchasing goods and services that make us feel a little better in the moment but harm our health in the long term. Fear reduces our potential.
There are occasional reasons to be fearful, and there are reasons why we’re programmed to experience fear, but this has been abused in our time. You must become very intentional about your exposure to stress and how you manage it if you want to experience your best health.
Movement & Exercise
Another key habit is physical activity. Exercise and the right use of the human body is a foundational principle of health. You cannot experience your best health if you do not use your body according to its design and in a way that challenges it.
This can be overdone, and many people do not provide their bodies with proper rest and recovery, but physical activity is imperative. For more information, read my blog that describes the types of physical activity that promote our longest, healthiest lifespan.
Environmental Factors
We must be mindful of our environments. We need to, as much as possible, try and breathe clean air and drink clean, mineral-rich water. We must try to limit our exposure to industrialized chemicals and solvents. Our cleaning products, personal hygiene products, and all other compounds that we’re potentially exposed to in our environments should be, as much as possible, natural and not harmful to us. Currently that is not the case. We must clean up our environments if we’re going to thrive.
Sustainability
In addition, we must be focused on sustainability. We must think about our future generations. We must think about the quality of our soil, our care of the earth, and the importance of our water supplies. We also must think about the care of our fellow creatures. This is intrinsic to our good health; we all must do this.
There are other basic factors that influence our health, but these are the major ones. If an individual honors their need for restorative sleep, eats nutritious foods and avoids harmful ones, remains mindful of their stress responses, allows their mind and body periods of rest and recovery, uses their physical body in the way it was designed through exercise, is mindful about their environment, and avoids self-destructive behaviors such as smoking, excess alcohol intake, and drug abuse, then generally speaking, their body will return to good health.
>
“These are true principles of human health, and they work when they’re honored.”
If a person does just this, more than likely they’ll be amazed at how good they can feel, how quickly they begin to lose weight if they need to, how their energy and mood improves, and how their pain reduces, and diseases reverse. These are true principles of human health, and they work when they’re honored.
This applies to all of us. These principles come from the 99.7% of our genetics that are similar from one person to the next. This is the formula of our ancestry and is the path to good health in the present time. In the next post, I will go into the details of individualization and optimization.
I am on a mission to deliver personalized and compassionate healthcare. Want to ask me a question? I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to contact me.
