How our health was stolen from us

Our ancestors weren’t anywhere near as obsessed with their health as we are today, most people were healthy by nature, rates of cancer, obesity, mental health issues were all far lower than they are today. This is because health wasn’t something to be pursued, as it is in the modern age, but something that came from living aligned with nature.

The industrial revolution and subsequent world wars changed peoples health for the worse, the shift from local to global was already taking place. In short the health of the people was being stolen from them, in order to be resold back. So how did this come about and how can you reclaim your health? 

Pharmaceuticals vs natural medicine 

One huge way that we outsourced our health is through pharmaceutical drugs, promising health without all the lifestyle and diet that comes along with it. The shortcut, if you will, to health and a way of managing symptoms without addressing the root cause.

Rather than addressing the source of constant headaches or diabetes, in the modern day we are sold drugs that mask these completely and falsely allow someone to believe that they have regained their health. 

Natural medicine has largely been forgotten in modern society, many look down on it and discourage others to look into natural ways of healing themselves, while simultaneously recommending an industry that is driven by profit. 

Learning more about herbal medicine, how to use food as your medicine and understanding the root cause approach to health will help you truly heal and reclaim what is for most, now outsourced to pharmaceutical companies. There is no profit to be made in a healthy person but lots in a sick one, that is a the core idea of health being stolen and then resold back in an incomplete way. 

Optimisation vs living a healthy lifestyle 

Returning to our ancestors, we would notice they didn’t have gym memberships but most of them were stronger and more in-shape than most people today who have a gym membership, why was this?

Their lifestyle required movement. Lifting, walking, carrying, growing food, raising animals, all meant movement was taken care of. They didn’t need a gym membership or an Apple Watch telling them to get up and do their “steps”

The world of optimisation has taken off enormously, many now want to optimise their routine, know the figures, see the data. Forgetting that we aren’t meant to over analyse our health, we will have off days, nature isn’t like a spreadsheet of data where everything is binary. 

What truly matters is that we are living as close to nature as possible, no amount of wearable technology, synthetic supplements or biohacking will compare to what a day in nature, eating whole foods and being away from devices will do for you. 

We don’t need to spend loads of money to improve our health either, a lot of the things you can do to help your health are totally free, think grounding, walking, sea swimming, putting your phone away, being outside more, getting your heart rate up.  Less optimisation and more returning to nature.

Mass production vs local farming 

The food we eat is a core part of our health, you simply cannot have good health without good food. All food used to be organic, there was no alternative, until artificial pesticides and fertilisers came along and suddenly this way of making food was coined “conventional” farming.

The lie went as follows “to produce more food we need to maximise yield and use artificial pesticides and fertilisers to do this” however by introducing these into our food along with the harmful ingredients added to processed foods, the health of the people was slowly stolen away. 

Our bodies need a certain amount of nutrients, if we don’t get them we stay hungrier for longer, meaning we eat more food than if we were getting nutrient dense food that actually satiates us. This is the problem of the modern diet, most people are eating nutrient sparse foods and are continually hungry. 

To compensate for this, we got sold on synthetic supplements to replace what was missing, they added synthetic vitamins to grains and fortified the milk. The nutrients were already there when nature was left to do its thing but we tried to maximise production and ended up with more of a product that lacks all the nutrients we need.

Mass production also concentrates profits into a handful of companies, who in turn neglect those supplying the food, farmers. Local organic farming on the other hand is what we always had, always thrived upon. When we return to supporting local farmers we don’t just put money back in their pocket we improve our health too.

Scaremongering vs understanding both sides of the coin

Making an informed decision means understanding the arguments for and against the thing in question. Unfortunately most are now attacked if they suggest something outside of what is accepted as the norm.

Even addressing the harmful ingredients within ultra processed foods is now seen as misinformation and fear mongering when in actual fact it’s giving people the information they need to fully understand what they are putting in their body. If something is supposedly good for you, does it have any downsides or side effects?

Again returning to as close to nature as possible is how we reclaim our health without trying to buy it back in synthetic supplements, wearable technology or biohacking tools. 

Summary 

The health and fitness industry is largely unhealthy, the push for optimisation and biohacking your way to better health isn’t the answer. 

Understanding how many things which were once normal such as growing your own food, raising your own animals or at least knowing those who did, having movement as a normal part of life, were all things that helped us stay healthy without us even thinking about it. A return to nature is what we need more than ever, not another multivitamin or greens powder.