Have you seen a recent television commercial in the American south-east by a company that I won’t name (but rhymes with “Boo Cross, Boo Shield”)? A retired police officer, lovely older woman, describes how she made a promise to herself:

“When I retire, I’m going to start taking better care of myself”.

Think about that for a minute… are healthy habits something we can really ‘put off’ for decades and still expect to magically attain good health at some point? Will our Health wait until we decide we have the time, and or the will, to do the things we needed to be doing all along? Yet, how many of us live by this philosophy? Or, how many of us treat our health and wellness like a commodity we can schedule?

How much real control do we have over what we ‘Want‘?

True choice means an equal ability to pick one of any options possible, not just available. Reality usually limits the number of options available to us, sometimes, by default, directing us towards one that may not be in our own self interest. Ever gone to the grocery store for a particular brand item, only to discover they didn’t have it? Now, you must either choose another uncertain, possibly inferior, brand… submit to the inconvenience of traveling to another store… or go without what you wanted.

Consumer Culture. Consumer and marketing forces in our Western world condition us what to want, and when to want it. This includes our expectations of illness and disease.

Our Health care system is really a ‘disease care‘ system because profit is made from treating diseases, not curing patients. The problem occurs when the messages, all to often, come from those who prioritize profit over people.

So, What’s the Answer?

Better Choices. We must relearn to follow the basic rules of nature. Nature always seeks perfect balance. That balance may not be what we think we ‘want’. That balance may not occur ‘when’ we think we want it. But nature always finds a way.

Today’s Paradigm: Many of us get into trouble when we ignore our body’s warning signs (gaining weight, increased cholesterol or blood pressure, digestive problems, etc). Too often we seek an immediate, Magic disappearance of the offending symptom in the short term. Over the long term, We expect we’ll be able to rely on modern medicine in the future to simply ‘fix’ whatever problems we create for ourselves by not being responsible for our choices now.

Advertisements are not knowledge. All the marketing hype in the world may promise immediate “relief” and future “solutions”, but the truth is: we must listen to, and prioritize, our own bodies, over the plethora of messages we are bombarded with every day about how to ‘take care of ourselves’.

The Body heals itself. Nature designed the body to use all it’s resources to heal itself. Drugs may affect how we feel, but will never, ever, “heal” us… only the human body can do that. It is up to each of us to give our bodies what they require At the Cellular Level.

Do we need to become molecular biologists? I don’t know about you, but I have neither the energy, nor the time, to duplicate all the education and dedication of professionals accomplished in that difficult field. I’d rather rely on their peer-reviewed, published findings. After all, THEY’RE the Experts!

Listen to Your body. I’ve spent the last 2 decades refocusing my limited energy and effort on choices I have direct control over: What goes IN my body, ON my body, and AROUND my body. If I have unexplained headaches, I look into what chemicals may be on the products I’m bringing into my home. If a medication gives me unwanted side effects, I seek an alternative. If a lotion or cream irritates my skin, I don’t buy that product anymore.

Make Small Changes. A good example: When I was hungry all the time, I learned about some physical factors that can affect hunger:

  • False Full… Eating high-carb, low Nutrition, Junk ‘Food-like’ products filled me up, only after I’d eaten too much too quickly, and then I was hungry again in an hour or two.
  • Protein (from the Greek “protos” or “proteios” meaning ‘First’ or Primary). I learned that protein, specifically plant-sourced protein, helps the body feel full without adding excess fat, calories, or toxins that may come from animal proteins. I discovered, by tracking my meals, that despite all the hamburgers, hotdogs, tacos, and other meat/dairy products I was consuming, I was in fact, NOT getting enough protein, and certainly not the right kind of protein. Switching from mainly animal-based, to mainly plant-based has helped me lose excess weight and reduce the stress-load on my digestive system. My body thanks me for this choice change in a number of ways.
  • Fiber. I learned that fiber helps the body feel full AND increases the effectiveness of our gut motility to maximize nutrient absorption and help eliminate toxins from the body. So, I’ve found a pure fiber source (that doesn’t affect the flavor of food) I can add to recipes. It helps me get the full value of the food I’m eating without feeling like I’m changing anything.
  • Delayed Full. I learned that receptors in the stomach take about 1/2 an hour to send signals to the brain that it has expanded, effectively telling the brain “I’m getting full”… that’s why it makes sense for me to drink a big glass of water 1/2 hour before I begin eating to start that process early. By filling the stomach with water (which hydrates as well), I’m less likely to eat -fast- and more likely to eat -less-.

Be Your Own Health Advocate. These are just a very few examples of how we can redirect our energies towards building Health, instead of Treating Disease. I leave the treatment of, and diagnosis of, disease to the Disease-care industry. My responsibility is to do everything I can to maximize my own best health and avoid going into that disease-care system whenever possible, for as long as possible.

When we KNOW better, we DO better.

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