The best investment a person can ever make during their lifetime is investing in their own health. It is also said that the best gift you can give those who you love is your own good health.
Enduring good health comes from anticipating disease. Most disease can be anticipated such that it may never happen or, if it does take hold, it will quickly pass and the consequences minimised.
Keeping 20 years ahead of disease is the key to a long, enjoyable and productive life.
Do not rely on medical testing, including screening, drugs and surgery to save your life because it won't. Testing, including screening, like mammograms and colonoscopies, are far, far too late from the perspective of maintaining excellent health over a lifetime. By the time the disease has taken hold and finally detectable you risk becoming a disempowered widget lying passively on the conveyor belt of modern allopathic medicine.
'As some of the foundational beliefs of allopathic medicine are being imposed upon the masses, it's becoming easier to perceive how western medicine has been, since its inception, leveraged for disempowerment, dependency, and ultimately, control. It’s been clear from the start that our so-called “health care” has never truly been about health. In fact, the very system that generates the illness, provides the “treatment” that generates more illness requiring more treatment. And you, the patient, are helpless to heal yourself without a medical authority.' A quote from Kelly Brogan, MD.
I agree with Dr Brogan as far as modern medicine applies to chronic ill health and ageing-related disease. It is an unmitigated disaster, chasing symptoms and almost completely incapable of dealing with the root causes of ill-health. On the other hand, when it comes to modern emergency medicine, I have nothing but praise!
How to be proactive about your health in an environment that breeds fear and disempowerment
Begin your journey by thinking about what is most likely to get you
Did you know that there are four main killers in the developed world:
Circulatory Diseases: such as heart attack, stroke and dementia.
Cancers
Respiratory Diseases: such as bronchitis, emphysema and pneumonia.
External Causes: such as suicide, accidents and homicide.
What you will realise about these is they are all largely preventable. When you look at the top three, what is good for preventing one is good for the others. For example, the diet that is heart-healthy is equally good for reducing cancer risk, dementia and lung diseases. Stopping smoking reduces the risk of contracting all three - and of dying from burning the house down while inside!
Few people die from old age. While getting old may be a factor leading to a person's demise, malnutrition and medication side-effects are the main contributors. Nutritional neglect and resorting too quickly to medications to shore up declining health means that most people become frail well before their time. Their ability to ward off illness, including resistance to infection, becomes severely compromised. This eventually becomes life-threatening and ultimately, fatal.
Death by medicine
One little known fact that seldom gets airtime is death by medicine. When the doctor is unavailable, such as during a national strike by medics, deaths tend to go down.
“The number of funerals we have performed has fallen drastically,” said Hananya Shahor, the veteran director of Jerusalem's Kehilat Yerushalayim burial society. “This month, there were only 93 funerals compared with 153 in May 1999, 133 in the same month in 1998, and 139 in May 1997,” he said. The society handles 55% of all deaths in the Jerusalem metropolitan area. Last April, there were only 130 deaths compared with 150 or more in previous Aprils.
In my opinion, we could reduce morbidity and premature death by circulatory, cancer and respiratory diseases by a massive 80% by investing in simple, low-cost nutritional and lifestyle interventions and by doing so from an early age.
Keeping in good health by investing in nutrition and lifestyle means fewer visits to the doctor and little or no need for medication (both are significant health risks).
Screening programmes such as colonoscopies, prostate checks and mammograms have little relevance for true disease prevention because they are looking for the disease once it is present. That's far too late.
Take a basic health stocktake, then act!
Readers know that I am a fan of the Interclinical Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis. I credit this test for the restoration of my own health at a time when everything seemed to be rapidly heading South. It works consistently for people across the board. It removes most of the guessing about what to be eating and what supplements to be taking. It often indicates the root causes of chronic illness such as thyroid and rheumatic diseases. These are conditions, that are said to be incurable and can only be managed. In many cases, this is not true.
Restoring and maintaining great health is a never-ending task
A young person in poor health will usually respond quickly to a nutrient-based intervention. This is because they have a more responsive metabolism and the disease is less embedded as compared to an older person who has spent decades digging themselves into a deep hole. The only proviso to this is young people are often inconsistent and less patient than older people who generally understand that restoring good health is neither easy nor quick.
The pursuit and maintaining of good health are forever changing. Changes in diet, the Seasons, exercise, exposure to toxins, infection, injuries, ageing, having babies, hormone changes and medication all influence our ever-changing nutrient needs throughout life. This is why regular stocktakes are necessary by way of hair tissue testing. I recommend that it is repeated six months after the first, one year after the second then every one to two years or when there has been a significant change in health and energy. If you are a serious athlete, such as training for the Olympics, then I recommend the testing is repeated between seasons or after a significant block of training.
The most important take-home message
Keep at least twenty years ahead of any disease
Let's face it, the fact is that we are all going to get sick and we are all going to die. Even the rich and the famous die. We all get old and we all die. Set your goal to live to at least 100 years and to do so in great health. When the end finally comes, your goal is for it to be quick and painless, preferably dying peacefully in your sleep.
The chart to the right best illustrates what I'm saying. By investing early in your health the rate of decline in health is very slow indeed. Not only is life extended, but, more importantly, the quality of life is improved, sometimes way beyond any expectations!
A final few points to make:
If the health professional you are about to consult appears to be less healthy than you, turn around and get out of that room!
While it is ideal to begin investing in one's health while young and vigorous, it is never too late. I only began to figure things out from my mid-50's. Up until then, I was doing so many wrong things. Some of the best results are seen in people who are well into retirement and making a late investment. It just comes down to having the determination. persistence and the right testing to guide all of that energy!