We have access to more health and medical information than ever before.
We spend more money on diets, gyms, personal trainers, medical practitioners, and quick-fixes than ever before.
YET we have the highest rates of Obesity, Cancer, Depression and Infertility than ever before!
Have you ever stopped to question WHY that is ???
Information can be vastly different from knowledge. Even just a little bit of stupid can wipe out hundreds of years of truth. It’s no coincidence we’re getting sicker – we are being spoon-fed the wrong information by those we look to for help!
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine,
but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame,
in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease”
-Thomas Edison
If your nutritionist/dietician/medical doctor/naturopath/relevant health care practitioner qualifies under ANY of the following, then PLEASE – for your own sake – smile politely, thank them for wasting your time…and get the HELL out of their office!
1.You’ve been recommended a Low Fat Diet/ Soy Foods/ Cholesterol Lowering Margarine/ Man-made vegetable oils
Being advised to eat new-fangled foods in the promise of good health, should signal alarm bells. These are the very things that make us fat and sick! Believing we can outdo Mother Nature and trying to re-invent the wheel is both costly and dangerous. Processed foods (or non-foods) have been fiddled with, fortified and are lacking in the many nutrients we so desperately need. (In fact, eating the packet they came in is probably more nutritious!) Regular consumption can have devastating effects – on our hormones, internal organs, metabolism, brains and fertility. So if you don’t want to be a lab rat – don’t eat them!
2 .You’ve been given a one-size-fits-all nutrition plan
Following something blindly, does nothing in teaching us how to create true health. Distributing a cookie-cutter program (and implying it works for everyone) just doesn’t make sense. It’s just not worth the paper it was printed on! Sure, we all have the same internal organs, but our ability to tolerate and digest foods, absorb nutrients and burn energy is competely individual. Just like our fingerprints, and just like the rest of us!
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” -chinese proverb
3.You’ve been told to count calories (but not food quality).
Your current state of health is a reflection of the food choices you make on a daily basis. The quality of your food is everything. Turning Mealtime into Mathtime will NOT make you healthy. But it WILL keep you hungry. Physically and emotionally. (Think food cravings, yo-yo dieting, disordered eating, weight gain, nutrient deficiencies, altered brain chemistry, gut and digestive problems. Yeah, pretty sexy huh?!)
4.You’re encouraged to blame OLD foods for NEW diseases.
Over the past century, our food culture has gone through such a drastic transformation, we’ve lost sight of what constitutes a normal diet. The good old foods that nourished our ancestors and their children have been FRAMED. And they continue to be crucified – by the masses who parrot the information – and by the food corporations that make a profit. Butter, Meat and Real Milk have been made out to be the bad guys – yet they’ve been around for centuries! So exactly how does this add up? You do the math.
5.Your symptoms are being addressed, but not the cause.
We human beings are far more complex than figures and calculations on a page! Yet sadly the medical system has evolved into treating symptoms and numbers, not people (and yes diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol are all SYMPTOMS). Whilst for some, medicines may be necessary, the road to wellness does not stop here! Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. As long as we focus on just putting out the smoke, the fire will continue to burn!
6.You’ve haven’t been assessed.
If you’re not assessing – you’re guessing! If the foundational principles of your life are not being addressed, it’s going to be difficult to pinpoint the real issues. Kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack. The culmination of your thoughts, lifestyle habits, digestion, nutrition, hydration, posture, movement and breathing all directly impact your health – because they are your health! None of them work independently of each other.
7.You haven’t been encouraged to actively participate
Good health care should help guide us toward a life of optimal health. But in our search for it, our perception has become skewed. We don’t even know what true health means anymore! (Let alone what it feels like!) Instead of recognising it as Freedom- independance from disease, discomfort and outside assistance – we’ve become complacent, lazy and ignorant. We’ve come to rely on Doctors to fix us, to babysit us and to prescribe us band-aid solutions. But do you want to know a secret? Do you want to know the truth??? Doctors can’t heal you! Only you can do that! If you’re not taking responsibility – actively participating in your health (and being encouraged to do so) – then you’re missing out the most crucial piece of the puzzle!
8.Your expert is an “expert” based purely on social status.
We have people taking dietary advice from GP’s (who study 5 days of nutrition at medical school), Dieticians endorsing processed foods (with government “health tick” approval) and genetically blessed/surgically enhanced celebrities promising you the body of your dreams (and the lifestyle to match). So this is where common sense and critical thinking take a nose-dive. (And perhaps your bank balance too). But don’t be sold on the hype – dont let your criteria for expertise be blurred by the stars in your eyes! If you’re obtaining advice based solely on social status ( whether it be Reality Stars, Media Medical Doctors or number of Diplomas on the wall) then it may be time for a re-think. Whilst degrees and qualifications CAN (and should!) be relevant, and TV stardom is entertaining, the advice means squat if it’s pure, regurgitated garbage.
So when will the madness end?
Honestly? It probably won’t. There will always be plenty of people (that don’t know their ass from their elbow) willing to sell you on the promise of good health. And plenty of people that will fall for it. But that doesn’t mean that YOU have to! Just remember some basic guidelines - Hear everyone, but believe no one. Not even if it was me that said it. Question, investigate and use your own good judgement. Be your own healer, and reclaim the drivers seat! By putting yourself back in charge, you can ensure you have the best players on your team. Your good health depends on it!
This post is a part of Real Food Wednesdays. Please visit and check out the other posts in this series.
