home site overview wellbeing spiritual love success

The Wellness Lifestyle & Turning Back the Aging Clock

In this article by M1NT Health And Fitness Nutritionist Di McCauley asks: What is your vision for your health? Di guides you to developing the right attitude and and a "wellness mindset".

If you had any doubt that chronic disease is the biggest health care challenge facing society, a quick look at the statistics is likely to eliminate any uncertainty. Chronic disease accounts for 90% or more of all deaths in Australia & New Zealand, with the four biggest killers being cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease & diabetes & the majority of our population are overweight or obese. We are therefore aging faster than our chronological age (speeding up our biological clock!)with long term management of disease required and multiple overlapping states of dysfunction driven by numerous causative factors!

While our governments spends more than 75% of its healthcare dollars caring for people with chronic disease, less than 0.5% is spent to prevent these diseases from occurring.

Don't Let This Be You!

How do we solve this epidemic? Your answer is likely to be quite simple and yes we've heard it all before - eat better, exercise more, reduce stress & eliminate toxins - the foundation to this is that if we follow the laws of nature, disease cannot prosper. This simple preventative model is the key to the change in health care that is sorely needed now and into the future.

Nutritional Insurance for an Imperfect World

While a return to nature is the answer, which type of nature is the next question? I find that even my most well informed patients are often overwhelmed by the conflicting dietary and lifestyle advice available on how to stay well. Comfortingly however, there are many correct answers to the question.
Humans are remarkably adaptable omnivores, and have long been known to thrive on widely varying menus. Compare the Eskimos and the Solomon Islanders for example. While the Eskimos thrived on a diet of animal flesh at a daily intake of 377g protein, 59g carbohydrate & 162g fat, the Solomon Islanders traditionally subsisted on a diet containing 85% sweet potato. Despite their wildly varying diets, both populations demonstrated almost non-existent rates of ‘civilised diseases' such as cardiovascular disease & obesity.

What these lifestyles & those of many other traditional cultures have in common, however, is adherence to some key principles. Foods are chosen from fresh, local, seasonal produce. Lifestyles incorporate high amounts of physical exercise, well managed levels of stress, strong social & spiritual connections, with adequate rest, relaxation & recreation. In fact, when researchers of the ‘Blue Zones' book (I highly recommend this book!) examined the lifestyle of individuals in areas with the most long-lived population in modern times, they found it was these same principles which were preserved in the community.

Based on these findings, seven key principles have been identified as fundamental ingredients for healthy ageing, wellness & longevity. These principles make a refreshing change for most of my patients who are normally used to being encouraged to focus on disease risk reduction with the usual dietary advice, exercise and avoidance of smoking.

Our Fussy, Spoilt Genes

Our environment has a potent effect on a genetic level. Factors include;

• Increased reliance on agriculture rather than foraging
• The raising of farm animals on unnatural grain based diets
• The widespread use of systems for food transport have changed the local, seasonal & wild grown characteristics of our diet
• Increased population density, a work obsessed society, new technologies and many other ‘isations' (modernism, industrialisation, urbanisation & globalisation) have substantially altered many aspects of our lives, not the least our social & spiritual environment, and our stress & exercise levels.

The net effect of these changes on our somewhat ‘surprised' genes is to induce the expression of various stress responses, resulting in inflammation, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, cellular damage and eventual chronic disease. In the next generation these altered genes are passed onto our infants gene's. This phenomena provides a compelling explanation as to why such rapid deterioration has been seen in subsequent generations of traditional populations undergoing sudden westernisation.

So What's For Dinner?

A new wellness pyramid provides preventative measures for the above health issues & guidance to patients including simple dietary & lifestyle strategies to redress the imbalance between our gene's expectations and their often unfortunate reality.

The pyramid for most patients is a revelation! It turns the old carbohydrate cantered food pyramid on it head - this new pyramid rests the dietary foundation squarely on vegetables - a much more nutritious, well tolerated and evolutionary familiar form of carbohydrate. Protein rich foods are encouraged ateach meal or snack, providing significant benefits for blood glucose control, brain health, body composition & metabolism. Daily fruit intake is encouraged, and starchy, high glycaemic foods are limited to 1-2 small serves daily, reducing the risk of insulin-resistant chronic diseases. Healthy oils are also included as an essential par t of our diet to rectify our modern imbalance of fats.

Feedback from clients so far on this programme is overwhelmingly positive. Simple, easy to follow with lots of variety and without that feeling of dietary restriction. It provides essential ingredients for long term eating not short term dieting! Consistently reported side effects include improved energy, digestion, hormonal balance, cognition mood and general wellbeing.

A Wellness Mindset

Ask yourself these two questions;

 

• What is your vision for your health?
• If you had a magic wand, what 3 things would you change about your health?

 

I hope that your answers to these will give you some health goals to achieve which will really satisfy and inspire you to persue health rather than flee from disease.

Once you have the right attitude & a ‘wellness mindset' it is then about seeking the right recommendations! Having a wellness protocol that works is an important ingredient for healthy aging and turning back the aging clock!

Many thanks to Di McCauley of M1NT Health and Fitness.