It’s no news that there has been an epidemic of poor health in industrialized societies over the past 100 years. Since the peak of the industrial revolution we have seen a steady incline in chronic disease.
The three most common ways for a human to perish in our society include heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
These are known as ‘diseases of civilization’ and together cause 75% of all deaths in Western nations. 45% of adults in the United States have a chronic disease.
The largest factor in developing one of these diseases is misinformation. So few of us actually understand why and how we are getting sick that we cannot hope to make this world a better place unless we know what truly makes us healthy.
Here are 5 things to understand about health and illness.
Our genes are programmed for health
It is toxicity and/or deficiency affecting the expression of our genes that causes us to get sick. It is not in your genetic programming to become sick.
Toxicity is when there is something of excess in our system that is harming us and a deficiency is an under-supply in essential substrate for healthy functioning.
A toxicity can come from micro doses of something highly toxic to humans, such as arsenic or lead, or from extended exposure over time to something less immediately harmful such as sedentary living.
The same principle holds true for essential substrates for life. If we do not have enough oxygen we will die in a matter of minutes, but we can survive longer while still not getting enough nutrients from food. Common nutritional deficiencies for modern humans include vitamin D, Vitamin K, and Omega 3 fatty acids.
Our environment interacts with our genes, producing specific responses to each stimuli. Physical inactivity and toxins affect your genes, creating an adaptive response (such as elevated blood sugar, insulin, and blood pressure). These responses are necessary for immediate survival but will turn into chronic disease if sustained for many years.
Our bodies have an innate and perfectly functioning intelligence. It isn’t programmed to mess up and for you to experience sickness and an unncesssarily early death.
Related reading on how we can affect our genes
Our genes are the same as our Paleolithic ancestors
Scientists have shown that our genome hasn’t changed in over 40,00 years. No this doesn’t mean we all have to suddenly go on the Paleo diet, even that has been widely misunderstood.
We can make observations about health by comparing our environment, behaviours, and health to historical and modern hunter gatherer peoples.
Our Paleolithic ancestors did not have the diseases which plague us today
The diseases of civilization (heart disease, cancer, and diabetes) are incredibly rare amongst people living a traditional human lifestyle.
The only difference between modern humans and our ancestors is our lifestyle
We have the same genetic toolbox as our ancestors, but we are plagued by chronic illness.
What’s different between us and them?
Our lifestyle. We sit more, eat more, and spend less time connecting with our bodies and with one another.
Modern illness is due to environment, not genetics. Eat Well!
We can see direct and obvious connections between a change in our lifestyle and our health.
We do not need more drugs and surgeries to heal ourselves from the diseases of civilization.
We were born to be healthy and to live long and happy lives. We are genetically programmed for health. It is the way we think, eat, and move that will determine whether or not we have it.
The best thing we can do for the health of our society is to become awake to the truth of our innate physical intelligence and to the effects of our lifestyle decisions.
We don’t need more drugs and surgeries, we need more movement, laughter, and healthy foods.
source and courtesy: collective-evolution.com