The Forgotten Path to Health and Happiness
by Vin Miller
Are you overweight, tired, anxious, depressed or irritable? Do you have allergies, digestive issues, or aches and pains? If you’re like most people, then the answer is probably yes. Instead of focusing on what causes these problems, most people turn to quick fix remedies that may temporary relieve symptoms, but allow the problem to persist and potentially develop into disease.
Many of us are eating unhealthy diets, are consistently exposing ourselves to excessive stress, and are disregarding the need for rest. This leads to the physical and mental symptoms of poor health that burden so many people on a regular basis and is also why we have such a high prevalence of diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and autoimmune disease. Instead of acting on this obvious correlation between lifestyle and poor health, we’ve accepted the consequences as a normal part of aging and continue to compromise our health and our lives with unhealthy habits.
What’s the Root Cause of Your Problems?
Most people who are overweight, tired, anxious, depressed, irritable, in pain or are suffering from any other common health complaint are always in search of a quick fix and are short changing themselves as a result. Through years of focusing on temporary relief only, their problems are likely to worsen and require more invasive and dangerous forms of management.
Caffeine and other stimulants are an excellent example of this shortsighted mentality. While they may increase your energy and make you more alert, they do absolutely nothing to address the cause of your fatigue. Furthermore, regular use of stimulants makes the problem worse by forcing your body to handle demands that it doesn’t have the capacity for. If you did have the capacity, you’d have plenty of energy and wouldn’t need an artificial energy boost.
Using diet pills, extreme calorie restriction or excessive exercise to lose weight is another good example. While these methods may bring results, they’ll likely cause health problems in the process. Is it worth it to lose weight if it makes you tired, moody and more susceptible to disease?
Addressing issues such as obesity, fatigue and depression through an approach that emphasizes excellent health is much more effective, and most importantly, is conducive to a long and healthy life.
Why We Have So Many Problems Today
The frightening incidence of obesity, mood disorders, chronic fatigue and life threatening diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and autoimmune disease is not nearly as mysterious as you may think. Based on the fact that many of these problems barely even existed just a century ago, the dramatic changes we’ve made to our lifestyles since then have had a tremendously negative impact on our health.
In comparison to how we lived just 100 years ago, we’re eating much more processed food, dealing with much more stress, getting much less sleep, and are exposing ourselves to hundreds, if not thousands, of dangerous chemicals that didn’t even exist back then. Because modern society encourages and promotes these bad habits, many of us have never experienced the vibrancy and satisfaction of optimal health and are left with the unpleasant symptoms of poor health instead.
The people who understand the errors of our modern ways and are motivated to do something about it are rewarded with a much better quality of life. They’re not overweight, tired or moody and are much more likely to be active, mentally sharp and full of energy in their old age. In contrast, their peers will likely be living with the discomfort and limitation of disease.
A Simple Solution
The resilience of the human body is nothing short of amazing, especially considering the amount of consistent abuse it can withstand. However, there’s no question that consistent abuse will compromise the quality of your life and is very likely to eventually lead to serious problems.
Part of what makes the human body so resilient is it’s ability to repair and recover, but the more we abuse it, the less capable it is of carrying out these functions. In contrast, a healthy lifestyle promotes optimal repair and recovery, and in turn, promotes optimal function in general. This means more energy, better moods, less pain, fewer allergies and less chance of illness and disease. In other words, if you treat your body with the tremendous respect that it deserves, you’ll be rewarded with the potential for your life to be a much more satisfying and fulfilling experience.
Regardless of what your specific goals are, any attempt to improve your quality of your life through better physical or mental well being should always start with a healthy lifestyle. To learn more about how you can implement a healthy lifestyle and resolve many of the problems discussed in this article, I highly recommend that you sign up for my free e-course: 7 Simple Steps to a Leaner, Happier and Healthier You!
This post is part of Fight Back Fridays.
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Thanks for submitting this to today’s Fight Back Friday carnival. What truly amazes me is how many misconceptions there are about exactly WHAT a healthy lifestyle is.
Cheers,
KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)
Great read! The solution to all this is awareness. Once people begin to realize all the propaganda we have been fed they will have no choice but to be OUTRAGED. I’m hoping the world wakes up sooner rather than later.
Nice picture btw
Thanks for the comments guys!
Kristen – Yes, it’s very sad how simple the concepts of healthy living are but how few people are aware of them. It made me pretty upset when I discovered this and helping others realize it is one of my primary motivations for this blog.
Bud – Exactly! As I just mentioned to Kristen, I’m trying to help wake everyone up.
Hi Vin,
Isn’t funny how we all fall for the magic pill at times. There is a lot of companies out there that should feel shameful for some of the so called “healthy foods” that they pass of on us. It all about the mighty dollar. We all know this but we still fall prey to it from time to time.
The energy drink industry is worth a gazillion dollars. What most of these addicts don’t realize is that drinking them starts a roller coaster effect on the blood sugar. This exhausts the adrenal system and leaves you craving what? That’s right. Another energy drink. Go figure.
Michael Pollan stated best in his book “In Defense of Food” He says that if a product has to state it is healthy if probably isn’t. That vitamin fortified sugar laden cereal is not healthy for you. Those whole wheat lean pockets. Not good for you. Beware of health claims from anything that is not a whole food.
If you want to be healthy, the number one best thing you can do is educate yourself. This way you’ll understand what hype and what’s truth. Reading this blog is a great start. Read books from Pollan, Fallon, Weston Price, Julia Ross, among many. Take a nutrition course.
If you want to lose weight and gain energy stop dieting and start balancing your body chemistry. Do this and those unwanted pounds will fall off automatically and your only side effect will be an abundance of energy. How do you do this. Again educate yourself. It not rocket science. If you lack the time or the interest hire someone like Vin or someone else with a holistic approach. I find it amusing that there are people out there that are willing to pay for the latest miracle or miracle gadget but not for an actual nutritional therapist which will get to the root cause and educate at the same time.
I guess we all want the path of least resistance. It human nature. I find myself caught in the middle. Do yourself a favor and start your liberation today.
Thanks for the comment Don, it sounds like you know your stuff!
Yes, the food industry is a major power that is stealing many people’s health. The drug industry is even more ruthless. I’d like to go one step above what Pollan says and avoid pretty much any food that’s packaged. If it wasn’t here 10,000 years ago, we probably shouldn’t be eating it. It’s very hard to go wrong with natural whole foods.
I used to be a victim of the sports drink hype and drink a lot of it, but now I know better and stay away from them. You’re exactly right about what it does to blood sugar. I wrote an article about how sugary foods and beverages like sports drinks cause a blood sugar rollercoaster.
Those are all great authors you’ve mentioned. I haven’t read any of Michael Pollan’s books yet, but I have two of them on my bookshelf and can’t wait to get to them. I just wrote an article last week about Julia Ross’ Mood Cure and how food can resolve mood disorders. There’s an abundance of amazing information out there for anyone who’s willing to go after it!
Hey Vin! How have you been doing?
I just went on a 21-day raw vegan trial and it’s been quite amazing. I realized that a lot of cravings for processed and cooked food stems from emotional reasons (past memories and the like), rather than because of real hunger. Going on the trial made me deal with some emotional baggage and it was quite an uplifting experience. That ties back to what you wrote here on our health being tied to our happiness. All the processed food people are eating are more closely tied to emotions than people do realize. Keep up the great work at Natural Bias! You are doing really well!
Hi Celes! I’m doing great, thanks for asking!
It’s great to hear that you’ve embraced whole foods and are experiencing improvements. A lot of people have trouble staying well on a vegan diet, so you may want to pay close attention to how you feel if you continue with the diet. Hopefully you won’t be opposed to adding meat, or at least dairy, back to your diet if your body indicates that it’s necessary.
Yes, happiness is definitely related to health. It’s much harder to be happy when your healthy is biologically predisposing you to bad moods and limiting your physical capabilities.
One of the reasons why so many people can’t get away from processed foods is because they’re addictive. Sugar and refined carbohydrates can alter neurotransmitter levels, and in turn, affect our moods and make us crave more. I think when such an imbalance exists, we’re more likely to experience unpleasant moods and dwell on the negative emotions that you’re referring to.
Hey Vin, great to read your reply!
I was already a vegan before turning raw vegan actually, so meat and diary were already out of my diet. But I’m still open to having cooked food every now and then if I can’t get the foods while I’m out. Indeed, the negative emotions/moods were just as you said. People continue to indulge in those food because they feel bad if they don’t. On the surface it seems like those foods quell the negative emotions, when they’re really the causes. Kind of like having withdrawal symptoms from trying to curb an addiction – the first phase will be hard to overcome, but once done, the clarity comes thereafter.