Many of us struggle with weight and worry about the consequences of being too heavy. We are concerned about developing diabetes or high blood pressure. We worry about having a heart attack or a stroke. Even if we are determined to make progress, the information available is very confusing. There are hundreds of different diet and exercise recommendations. You should avoid fat. You should avoid carbs. Don’t eat sugar. Fat is not a problem. Adopt intermittent fasting. Eat a plant-based diet. Don’t drink alcohol. Alcohol is protective. High intensity exercise is important. Walk. Do resistance exercise with weights or bands. It is extremely confusing. If you try to do all of it, you may not live longer, but it will definitely seem longer.
And then there are the medication recommendations. This medication is the most important. That medication is the most important. Lose weight, exercise, and get off your medications. Use natural substances instead of medications. Depend on vitamins and minerals. Most of these diet, exercise, and medical recommendations don’t have proof that they provide better health at lower cost. It is very difficult to change our behavior. We should be able to count on advice that works.
The purpose of this site is to interfere with your life as little as possible while making the diet, exercise, and medication recommendations that have the most evidence to support them. We have taken it one step further to help you understand the epigenetic changes and molecular biology that make these recommendations more effective. The question is not which food, exercise, or medication is most beneficial. The real question is what combination of diet, exercise, and medications is proven to help us remain healthier longer and at lower cost?
The lifestyle part of that question goes back to human evolution. Humans have been farming for just 12,000 years. In evolutionary terms, that is a mere blink of an eye. Prior to that time, humans were hunter-gatherers. They hunted game and caught fish. They ate eggs. They gathered fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts. They were on the move. They could not store large amounts of food. They ate when food was available. They were physically active, and they ate whole real food with minimal processing.
Our bodies evolved to be active and use whole real food. That is the lifestyle key to better health at lower cost and it is not that hard. Eat whole real food: Lean meat, eggs, low fat dairy products, fruits, vegetables, bean, peas, and nuts. Walk 30 minutes three times a week. As we age, resistance exercises help us maintain stronger muscles and avoid frailty. The same metabolic pathways that help us deal with food scarcity, also help us to be healthier longer. Medications like lisinopril, losartan, spironolactone and eplerenone for high blood pressure impact that same biology. So do metformin and empagliflozin for diabetes along with statins for cholesterol. These medications are all antioxidants and anti-inflammatory. In combination, they provide much better clinical and financial outcomes for patients with cardiovascular and related diseases. It is important to continue them in small doses even when the target risk factor becomes normal. Don’t hesitate to ask questions in the comment section if this does not make sense to you. Keep it simple. You will be more successful.
Absolutely! Actually, our technology, the Systems Multifunction Computational Electrophysiology Digital Platform has documented the impact of foods and lifestyle on these ancient pathways! Absolutely!
Bill: I have found one sure way to eat healthier is to grow my own vegetrables, and in quantity. I eat tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, squash, corn and fruits from my garden/orchards throughout the summer and fall (and soon eggs), 2 or 3 times a day. This cuts way down on my carbohydrate intake, especially my intake of processed sugars. Everyone can do this, even those who have only a patio to grow from. I’ve found the availability of these natural and organically grown foods is a big spur to eating them on a daily basis!