Many people recognize that saturated fats are needed for energy, hormone production, cellular membranes and for organ padding. You may be surprised to learn that certain saturated fatty acids are also needed for important signaling and stabilization processes in the body.
Between the long hours, stressful jobs, barbecues, teenagers, traffic jams, political shenanigans ozone depletion, and 700 calorie sugar-laced Frappuchinos – it’s a wonder anybody lives to see fifty. The fact that some people do is akin to the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richard’s ability to still tour with the band at age 77.
Processed foods (foods no longer in their natural form – pretty much the only way you can eat grains) – have very little fiber and therefore a huge glycemic load. This means your stomach digests that food down to sugars that enter your blood stream very quickly. Not good. Not good at all – leads to insulin resistance which destroys your health.
Your body has innate nutritional needs that it requires for health and function. These are called essential nutrients. You cannot live on wood like termites. You cannot use sunlight for energy like plants. So, the basic physiology of your body determines what you need to consume for fuel and also for nutrition.
The typical modern diet and activity level creates regular occurrences of unhealthy blood sugar levels in your body. Blood sugar is a term used to describe the amount of the sugar glucose that is in currently in your blood. Glucose is the primary sugar, or carbohydrate, in your body.
After 6 million years of hunter-gatherer existence, humans can be observed sheltering in warm rooms, slouching on comfortable seats in front of glowing screens, being whisked effortlessly between floors aboard mechanical staircases. And it’s killing us.
The essential elements collect, combine, and interact to shape your life. The parts are inseparable. You cannot unmake a cake. The elements that make up a cake combine to create something that is no longer simply the sum of its parts. Your life is a mosaic of the choices that you make.
Rest comes in many forms – our daily sleep patterns, including nighttime sleep for most of us, as well as napping. Rest also includes morning rituals, meditation, breathing exercises, mealtimes and evening rituals. Rejuvenation patterns include our time-off, breaks and vacations (most people are severely ‘vacation deficient’).
The key to finding balance in your life is tied to the choices that you make in the daily management of your limited resources. If you ask ten people to describe what would constitute a ‘state of wellness’ in regards to the SPARK domain of their life, you’d probably get ten different answers.
Think of your well being as if it were a checking account or an investment portfolio. You will make deposits and withdrawals regularly with the decisions that you make every day in your lifestyle. Some lifestyle choices build wealth (health) and some choices build debt (sickness). Healthy lifestyle patterns make deposits into your health and well-being account.