I was discussing a couple of new health-related books with a doctor friend of mine this morning, and we both agreed that its very important to keep in the forefront of your mind, when reading any health/diet book, particularly one with a strong POV, that it is just one voice at the table. If we were to agree with every author who voices a strong opinion on what we should/shouldn’t do for our health, we’d go round the bend. My doctor friend has been teaching in the field of natural health and physical therapy for 30 years. Every year, he reads hundreds of peer-reviewed articles, journals and mainstream books, and he said said it gets only more confusing as the years go by.
Most of us are so hungry for information and are now bombarded almost daily with e-mail blasts, tweets, and newspaper articles about a new approach to health and wellness. Some are selling supplements are some are just selling books, but either way, it’s important to entertain the opposing argument. Especially with all the scaremongering blasts we get, which are the kind that make good news and scare us enough to actually open them – I mean whose going to ignore a subject line saying “The 10 foods guaranteed to give you cancer”? The problem is that if we were to believe everything that all of these “doctors” are telling us, we’d be reduced to a diet of a few leafy greens and a lettuce leaf.
I’ve read it all in the last few years: no gluten, no grains, no dairy, no fruit, no fish, no meat, no tofu and so the list goes on. We’ve become a fear-based culture, where we turn to professionals and experts to tell us what to eat and how to behave. Granted, if you’re unfortunate enough to have been diagnosed with a disease, or if you have a diagnosed allergy, it’s a different deal, then of course, you’ll need to follow the advice of trusted healthcare pro’s, but I’m talking about folks who are relatively healthy.
I’m lucky to have been raised by parents who tried to instill as much common sense in me as possible. My dad was a scientist had a very strong opinion about one thing in particular: Never believe one person’s point of view, until you’ve heard and fully understood the opposing argument. I’ve sent dozens of books to him over the years, warning him that the evidence, studies, research etc is so comprehensive and compelling, that I dare him to disagree with the author’s stance. He always finds some kind of hole somewhere and sends me realms of opposing studies and research.
As a result, I try to maintain a relatively open-minded and balanced approach by keeping the following in mind.
1. There’s never a one-size-fits-all. You only have to look at different Tradtional cultures across the globe. Many of the healthiest cultures subsisted on food that we would consider horribly unhealthy (oils, dairy, wheat, meat etc), but it suited their region, climate, lifestyle and culture – keeping them strong and healthy. It’s often useful to look at our ancestor’s diets. My ancestors were Vikings, who subsisted on a diet of mostly oily fish, a little meat and potatoes – all of which makes sense if you live in a freezing Northern Climate. Some cultures, like those in rural areas of China, have evolved to subsist on a very simple vegetarian diet – so naturally when they started eating meat, they got sick b/c their digestive systems hadn’t evolved to cope with this kind of protein. Always useful to look back and consider what your particular culture has eaten for hundreds for years.
2. It’s important to look at empirical evidence. If you have tried a certain lifestyle for a prolonged period of time (for example, becoming vegan,) and you felt 100% better than you’ve ever felt in your life, then that might be the perfect fit for you. I’ve known some people who became vegan and felt fantastic, and others who took a turn for the worse. Rather than listen to an “expert” , learn to trust yourself and go with your own very personal experience. Another friend of mine used to takes handfuls of supplements everyday and then tried taking none. She realized that there wasn’t much difference in the way she felt from taking them or not taking them, so stopped spending her money on all those pills that weren’t necessarily making her feel any better.
3. Everything in moderation: Unless you are sick and your doctor has prescribed a specific diet to meet your health concerns, my motto has always been to allow myself everything in moderation. I think the problems occur when we become extreme and thus eat or do too much of one thing. Variety is the key and it’s frankly commonsense that by eating a huge variety of foods, we are exposed to a larger variety of nutrients. Moderation is so very important too. Sometimes we think we can eat a bunch of stuff because it’s “healthy”, however, gluten-free, sugar-free, fat-free and pretty much everything-free food, is still food, and one way or another you’ll be imbalanced if you eat too much of it.
4.Your intention? It’s important to be very clear on what you really intend for yourself. If you want to lose weight and only lose weight, then you’re probably going to run into problems, because imbalances will occur. If, however, you would just like to be as healthy as you can possibly be, then you allow your common sense to come into play. A well-balanced diet with a lot of variety, a ton of enjoyable exercise and a love of what you do in your day-to-day life would probably be the key.
5. Beware the quick fix: If any book, program or diet offers you a quick fix, beware! Book editors love putting numbers in book titles, such as “Lose 3o lbs in 30 Days”. It sounds good, but never works long term. Also beware of unrealistic promises in book titles, such as “Never Be Sick Again” or “The Cure to…”. Most healthy changes require a slow and deliberate change of our entire lifestyle. For it to work, its got to be a holistic change, where you start making small, positive changes in every area of your life.
6. Beware of “healthy” foods: Whatever the current buzzword is in health, drives the marketing engine. A few years ago it was all about “low-carb” food, now it’s all about gluten-free. But be careful, I visited a website that sells only gluten-free food, and I would consider 90% of what was on sale, junk food! Fat-free and sugar-free foods are for the most part not whole foods and labels should be read very carefully. Faux-meat products which cater to vegetarians can be the worst – watch out as they often contain highly processed and not very healthy ingredients such as TVP, and Soy Protein Isolate.
Finally, as much as we can practice preventative healthcare, by making positive lifestyle changes, and I strongly suggest that each and everyone does – we can’t guarantee that we won’t get sick. One of my greatest friends back in the UK was a super healthy vegan for her entire life, never drank, smoked, or did anything remotely unhealthy – and she sadly got a rare cancer a few years back and passed away. Conversely, many of my mom and dad’s friends (the “it hasn’t killed us yet” brigade), eat pretty much whatever they want (meat, dairy, sweets etc), don’t exercise much and are healthy and happy well into their 80’s. I will say that food that the latter bunch eats, is for the most part, real/whole food – this was a generation who were not raised on the kinds of fake, processed foods that we are fed today.
So that’s my rant for now – my voice at the table, which in summation says that when you hear a strong point of view about anything regarding your health, know that it’s just one of many voices at the table – try to give the others a bit of your time too.
Some of my favorite authors, who I think take a balanced and holistic approach to health include: Dr. Christiana Northrup, Michael Pollen, Dr. John Douillard, Dr.Deepak Chopra and Dr. Andrew Weil.
Hello Sophia
I read many of your articles and watch your videos. Can you answer me one question that bothers me day and night. My son has ADHD and doctors are prescribing medications after medications since he is getting side effects with them. Can you please suggest me if there is any alternative solution. Thank you so much.