If you feel healthy, energetic and have vibrant metabolic health keep doing what you’re doing, it’s working. If not, let’s dig a little deeper.
When it comes to our health there is no shortage of supplements, medications, longevity gurus and overpaid “medical experts” to offer you advice. Again, if you’re happy with your team, journey on.
Looking at the statistics, only 7% of Adults have good metabolic health, 98 Million Adults have pre-diabetes (1 in 3), 38 Million Adults have full-blown diabetes. According to Grok (who is a fabulously better tool than Google) the data on current overweight, obesity, mental health and musculoskeletal issues in the US are shocking.
Grok on overweight and obese
As of the most recent data, approximately 74% of U.S. adults (bold mine) are either overweight or obese. This breaks down to about 42% of adults classified as obese (BMI ≥ 30) and an additional 32% considered overweight (BMI 25–29.9).
Grok on mental health issues
As of 2022, approximately 23.1% of U.S. adults—about 59.3 million people (bold mine) experienced some form of mental illness, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). This includes conditions like anxiety, depression, and other diagnosable disorders, which could reasonably align with “poor mental health.”
Grok on Musculoskeletal issues
Based on the most comprehensive and recent data available, approximately 126.6 million U.S. adults suffer from musculoskeletal issues. (bold mine) This figure comes from the United States Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI), which estimated in 2016 that about one in two adults—roughly 126.6 million—were affected by musculoskeletal conditions in 2012, based on National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data from 2013–2015. These conditions include arthritis, back and neck pain, osteoporosis, and injuries affecting bones, joints, and muscles.
OK, that’s very depressing. If you spend any time in a public space, you can see the truth in those statistics pass by you regularly. I travel frequently for work from coast to coast and sadly experience the impact of this reality.
So, what can you do? Here’s 5 simple steps to ponder.
Step 1~Question Everything
After a lifetime in the health and wellness industry I feel compelled to say, if you want to be healthy first step is question everything. Science journalist Gary Taubes initial foray into the nutrition space was a piece called, What If It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie? This was written in 2002 and it most certainly changed our household’s thinking on what a “healthy” diet is. More on my background story on that here. Taubes monumental work Good Calories Bad Calories was a turning point in the discussion of is a calorie a calorie, short answer No, longer answer read the book.
Step 2~Build Your Team
The current sick care system is not designed to keep you healthy. Find your tribe, a coach and any combination of individuals who can support you in the change process. If you think the folks who got us in this mess will get you out of it, maybe time for a rethink. Tap into why you want to be healthy, reading and absorbing new thinking and get focused on improving your metabolic health.
Step 3~Let Go of the Fear Propaganda
For the last 50 years the message has been fear red meat, fear the sun, fear of saturated fat, all you need to do is eat less and move more. Again, look around this advice is not working. Even going back to the 1960’s and I know for some of you that’s the dark ages, no one told us what to eat and or what was “healthy.” The first dietary guidelines came out in 1977 and prior to that we did pretty well on our own.
Here’s a few resources to help unlearn some of the previous myths. On various health topics such as heart disease, saturated fat, LDL, nutrition, internal medicine and more, see Dr. Philip Ovadia, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, Dr. Nadir Ali, Dr. Zoe Harcombe, Dr. Paul Mason, Dr. David Diamond, Dr. Ken Berry, Dr. Tro Kalayjian, Professor Tim Noakes, Amber L. O’Hearn, Amy Berger, Chris Kresser, Nina Teicholz, Dr. Michael Eades, Dr. Brian Lenzkes, Dr. Jeff Volek, Dr. Stephen Phinney, Dr. Uffe Ravnskov, Dr. Robert Cywes and in the realm of metabolic psychiatry Dr. Georgia Ede and Dr. Christopher Palmer. I’m sure I’ve missed many others but that should keep you busy.
Step 4~Apply the Basics
Keep it simple, try to cook as much of your own REAL FOOD. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Buy what suits your pocketbook. The lower the sugar and carbohydrate content the better, IMHO. If you have the space for a freezer, support your local farmer and buy a cow, pig or other fresh meat to fill your deep freeze. See post Get Strong.
Get sunshine, be smart don’t stare and don’t burn. Develop a morning and possibly evening routine of getting outside, Andrew Huberman has some practical guidelines here. This is the cheapest and biggest bang for your buck. If your geographic area is tough look into some kind of light therapy.
Lift heavy weights. Muscular strength and even grip strength are key indicators of longevity, start doing some form of resistance training today. Bands, free weights, machines and or ole school body weight resistance. Two or three times a week, doesn’t need to be long, you can do a darn good workout in 20 minutes. See post Muscle Matters, Fitness Puzzle Pieces and Resistance Training 101.
Move as much as possible during the day. Sitting back-to-back hours isn’t good for anyone, whether you work in an office and or just binge watch Netflix. Changing your position and posture often during the day is a big win. Download (for free) various white papers I wrote here for Ovadia Heart Health, one in particular on Sedentary Behavior.
If old like me, keep working! Using your brain and staying active is another key to longevity besides muscular strength, See post Keep Working and Learning and Good Buddies: Metabolic Health and Brain Health.
Speaking of metabolic health given only 7% of adults are metabolically fit, get going on improving yours now. Dr. Philip Ovadia has an inexpensive course on the 7 Principles of Metabolic Health, which is a great launching pad, then find yourself a metabolic coach.
Finally, whatever spiritually lights your fire, do more of it. Spend more time in nature to restore, reboot and let go. Be active with friends and family who support your choices, let go of those who do not.
Invest in your health every day, no one is going to do it for you.
