Life expectancy in the United States decreased 1.5 years in 2020. This marks the first time in over 100 years a decline in life expectancy has occurred. There is no denying we are getting sicker, fatter and older before our years despite advancements and innovation of elements intended to protect our health and support a thriving life.
Along with a decline in longevity, there is an increase of diseases including cancers, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. There is also an increase in food allergens, thyroid disorders, blood pressure, cholesterol and other disorders that result in people needing to take life long prescription medications. Piled on top of all this is a significant increase in mental health illnesses including depression, anxiety and trauma.
These statistics are less than flattering and can make you wonder what exactly is going on in our health system. Where are these problems stemming from that are now impacting our longevity and the health of our children? Why are the advancements in medicine and health care not working to make us healthy and mitigate some of these problems?
What does this all mean for your own health?
There are many things we can blame when it comes to the bad news about our health. There’s certainly a large amount of stress in our lives, we are highly sedentary, don’t sleep well, lack enough water and eat processed and fake foods including the most recent “beyond meat” products. Take your pick on what you see as the primary evil of us getting older and sicker before our time. Why in fact the quality of our life in our senior years are in fact spent waiting to die rather than living our best years in golden bliss.
Between the medications and diets, the health care crisis we see is easily understood. The human body is unable to function as it was designed under the weight of what we are putting in and on it. Our bodies are failing us because we are not giving them what they need to repair and support health needs. We are attempting to make them better by using artificial elements and instead it is resulting in a worsening condition of our health that has now leaked into our very own longevity.
I believe the reason our health in the U.S. is in such dire straits is due to the lack of nutrition and real education about diet. We have been led astray by food manufacturers seeking to sell for profit that have introduced chemicals in the form of preservatives and convenience under the guise they are healthy for us. We have been further ted astray to believing things like fat are bad for us.
My response to this is why is it that a food from nature itself, such as eggs or milk, can be called bad for our health but things like potato chips, enriched cereals and diet soda never put on that list? Are we really supposed to believe an egg is worse than chips? Or cookies are better than a piece of fruit? Yet, that is exactly what has happened in our society. Some foods, usually those that are naturally derived and sourced are put on some health hazard list while we gravitate towards fake milk and meat products and bagged processed foods.
Most obese people are actually starving for nutrients. Many people on blood pressure and heart problem medications is the result of lack of movement. We live in this lala land idea that we can take a pill and still eat whatever we want that comes in a bag.
Shouldn’t we be questioning where the food from nature has gone and working to bring it back?
With less than 7% of U.S. adults having a healthy metabolic function shouldn’t we be addressing diet? As is in teaching people to eat real food from nature that is nutritionally sound and not some altered version of reality in convenient portion sized bags? Why are we continuing to promote a supposedly heart healthy diet based on low-fat artificial food that has been proven not to be the appropriate answer for improving heart and cardiovascular conditions? Why are we blocking our bodies very ability to heal through the use of medications that do nothing to actually improve health?
It’s quite disturbing when you realize just how much this has eked into our very life day-to-day. What is all means for your own health is you have to be your own best advocate and a savvy consumer who knows how to navigate the grocery store and health care system to get what you need for your own health.
If you really want your odds in health be improve read this
Despite the horror of our health on a society level there are specific things each of us can do to change our own odds. Even our inherited genetic disposition can be improved to support a healthy vitality.
It comes down to very simple things that change dramatically our own health story and what it represents to be healthy, manage illness and mitigate health risks.
The answer is return to our nature and here’s what that looks like:
Break up with diet industry thinking. This includes 100 calorie packaged snacks, heart healthy labeling and enriched manufactured foods.
Eat raw veggies and fruits that are organically labeled and grown
Include healthy fats such as coconut oil, real butter and raw milk
Obtain good quality meats that are also organic and contain minimal processing
Move your body with regularity and love daily. This is not hard core gym workouts but rather standing up more, taking 1000 steps after meals and stretching.
Drink good quality water that minimizes fluoride and public water added chemicals
Reduce and if possible eliminate plastic in your life in as many areas as possible
Reduce and if possible eliminate all other sources of toxins including memory foam, detergents, cleaners, beauty products, soaps and etc.
Get outside and soak up some sun
Actively address stress levels in your life
Improve your sleep
None of the things on this short list are hard. All of them invite us to reconnect with nature, feel like ourselves and thrive in our health. Most importantly, all of these things reduce our risk in health problems and help us change the odds of a declining society that is suffering under piles of weight, medications and the increasing cost of healthcare that is not making us better.
I recommend getting realistic about what it means to be healthy and seeing it as more than a number on the scale but rather understanding it stems from your whole being. By aligning heart, mind and body needs in your plan to health you see what building health is multi-layered and deeper than simply numbers from your latest metabolic panel. It is where we reconnect with joy, find contentment in our life and experience real health in all aspects of our being. If you feel good, you look good. If you treat your health with love, it loves you back.
It is not longer a matter of simply losing some weight. Our health risks are higher than they have ever been as a result of escalating factors in our health care and food industries. If there is one things we can give our children for a brighter future it is health and the knowledge to be able to take care of their own health. In doing so, we can reverse the downward spiral of longevity and life expectancy and thrive in health as we were designed.
To work with me, book a consultation for your health needs at dragonspitapothecary.com