Martine, 44, works for Statistics Canada. She is married with two children, Samantha, 13, and Gordon, 11. Both play high-level soccer, which means that both she and her husband Graham are kept extremely busy ferrying them both to practice sessions and games. This combined with a demanding job and shouldering much of the homework, as her husband works late, means Martine has little time for exercise, socializing or pursuing her hobby of painting.
Her full life has also meant that her diet has suffered since she has little time in the mornings except to grab her cup of coffee from Tim Hortons and a bagel. Lunches are often a quick sandwich and while suppers often consist of some form of processed protein and frozen vegetables. By the time supper is finished and cleared away, Martine is usually exhausted and usually collapses in front of the TV with a glass of wine, which can often turn into 2 or 3. She manages to get to bed by about 11:30 most nights but usually takes about an hour before she goes to sleep. She sleeps well but getting up for a workday has become increasingly hard as she does not feel rested.
Her energy picks up after her coffee but after lunch she is usually tired. Over the last year she has put on nearly 20 lbs, has started to suffer from seasonal allergies and has been catching colds on a regular basis.
On a recent visit to her doctor, Martine was horrified to find out that she had high blood pressure and cholesterol; her fasting blood sugar indicated that she was pre diabetic, and she had blood markers for autoimmune hypothyroidism (Hashimoto’s).
Like thousands in Canada today, the demands of career and family life have meant that Martine has taken her good health for granted and she has now become part of the alarmingly growing statistics of sick Canadians:
- In 2008/09, almost 8 million Canadians (6.8 per cent) were living with diabetes.
- Almost 16,000 Canadians die each year as a result of a heart attack.
- 6 million Canadians (1 in 5) suffer from high blood pressure, representing 19 per cent of the population.
- Obesity among Canadians tripled between 1985 and 2011 and it is estimated that about 21 per cent will be clinically obese by 2019.
- Approximately, 2 million Canadians are affected by an autoimmune disease.
Until she started having children, Martine had always been extremely fit and full of energy and life. With this disturbing news she looked and felt 54, not 44, and was determined to get back her health but how?
To understand how Martine can take back her health, we need to understand the fundamental reason why her health is failing—mismatch!
Our bodies have not adapted to the diet and lifestyle we have in the modern world today. When animals are taken out of their natural habitat and caged in a zoo, they become less healthy and they have a shorter life span. Zoologists have recognized this for sometime and as such have tried to recreate the animals diet and environment as much as possible. Our bodies are still much adapted to the diet and environment we lived in as hunter-gatherers and like animals that have been caged in a zoo, our bodies are caged by our modern diet and lifestyle.
To help Martine get back her health, like in the zoos, she needs to recreate, as much as possible, that ancient diet and lifestyle.
Here is a brief outline of the 9 steps Martine needs to take in order to get back her healthier self:
- Just eat real food—if it comes in a packet or a tin, don’t eat it!
- Avoid toxic foods including flour, industrial seed oils and sugar.
- Think about the quality of the food and drink you consume.
- Get better sleep.
- Manage your stress.
- Get moving!
- Start enjoying yourself more!
- Get back into nature.
- Spend more time with the people you like and love!
If you can relate to Martine and some or all of her health issues then start to think about the above steps and about how you can begin to integrate them into your life.
Finally, I hope you found this information useful. More importantly, I hope you do something with them.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.