Creating Wellness Blog

Part 2

Our purpose is to educate as many people as possible about the truth of human health so we may make better decisions that will lead to a happier and healthier life.

     We are certainly not, as a species, as sick as we are today in the US because of the fact that we are living longer.  We left off in part 1 stating the concept that we are diagnosing chronic disease in younger and younger populations.  We also stated that those of us who live most like our hunter gatherer ancestors, in diet and activity, are the healthiest among us.  This is difficult for most to grasp, after all didn't our ancestors die much earlier, are we not living longer than anytime in human history and therefore are we not healthier.  The answer to these questions should be explored and looked at in perspective, and it is from here that we should decide what are the important facts to us. 

Our hunter gatherer ancestors had an average llife span of about 40 years.  An American living at the turn of the 20th century in owntown NYC had a lifespan of about 37 years.  This leads us to believe that in the 10's of thousands of years before the 20th century there was no improvement in the human lifespan until the arrival of the 20th century and modern medicine where the average western lifespan is close to 80 years old.  This seems to be conventional wisdom but has proven to be completely false.  Our hunter gatherer ancestors had a very high mortality rate at early ages because of the danger associated with the lifestyle, the likelihood of injuries that would prevent someone from contributing to the physical needs of the community, and the difficulty of raising infants and children in wild environments.  So if you have a hundred people and 50 live to 80 years old and 50 die before he age of 2 the average age of the population will be 41 years.  It is dangerous to hunt a wildbeast with a club.

Leading researchers in the field of public health, like Columbia University professor and Laurie Garrett have written

1. Nutrition. This relates to the chemical stresses we have in our life. Chemical stresses can come from the presence of food in our diet that should not be there and the absence of food in our diet that should be there.

• The presence of refined carbohydrates, sugar, alcohol and dairy products serve to produce a chronic state of metabolic acidity which leads to an optimal environment for the overgrowth of microforms (bacteria, yeast, fungus molds).

• Immunonutrition is a field of study that looks at the role of diet in immune function. It is believed that 70% of our daily immune function is related to the Gut Associated Lymph Tissue (GALT). This tissue is present throughout our gastrointestinal system and is dependent on a family of healthy bacteria we call probiotics that we have evolved to live symbiotically with over the past 5 million years of our evolution. This family of bacteria is usually found in healthy soil, it gets into our system by ingesting fresh locally grown organic vegetables. Non organic vegetables grow in soil devoid of (healthy) bacteria and therefore leaves us deficient. How food is delivered to our table has so dramatically changed over the past 50-100 years it is unlikely that any of us living in the U.S. is ingesting sufficient amounts of healthy bacteria that would leave our immune systems able to fight disease and other inflammatory processes.
  

• If you are sufficiently colonized with healthy bacteria from the beginning to the end of the GI tract, there just simply will be less room for the bad "bugs" to set up camp. "The friendly bacteria can block the colonisation by dangerous bugs of the airways of ventilated patients, the Swedish study concluded."

• In addition to the family of healthy bacteria called probiotics we need to give those bacteria the proper environment to thrive. That means we have to feed the bacteria water soluble fiber also known as fruits and vegetables. A diet lacking in fruits and vegetables and excessive in refined carbohydrates, grains in general (non soluble fiber), sugar, dairy and alcohol will prevent an environment for the healthy bacteria to thrive. Fruits and vegetables are usually referred to as pre-biotics. This is why fiber (water soluble only, non-soluble fiber is the fiber found in grains, which is not esential to human health)
  
• The role of healthy bacteria in our GI tract, in addition to immune function, is responsible for enzyme activity for the breakdown of fat and protein as well as the production of many of our B vitamins. In short it is certainly possible to live for a long time not being overtly sick without pre and pro-biotics but it is impossible to express optimal health without them and optimal health is what it takes to survive a pandemic.
  
• Probiotic bacteria and humans also require omega 3 fat. Usually found in wild caught fish, game meat and fish oil supplements which make it a lot easier to get sufficient quantities since wild caught fish is expensive and likely to contain too much mercury and most of us here in NYC do not hunt for food with any regularity. Unfortunately industrialised factory based meat products are deficient in omega 3 and toxic with omega 6 fat.
  
• Immune cells called phagocytes require Vitamin C to function. Unfortunately Vitamin C and Glucose (sugar) have almost identical chemical structures. When Glucose is abundant in the blood stream it unfairly competes with Vitamin C for a spot on the phagocyte. If glucose takes up the space it renders the phagocyte ineffective. You see you do not have to load up on Vitamin C, you have to reduce the refined carbohydrates and sugar intake for a healthy immune system. It is no secret that downing a can of Coca Cola will depress your immune system for 3 hours.
  

• Lymph circulation (how our immune cells travel ) is dependent on physical activity.

• "Recent demonstration of exercise-induced changes in the activity of macrophages, natural killer cells, lymphokine activated killer cells, neutrophils, and regulating cytokines suggest that immunomodulation may contribute to the protective value of exercise"
• Subtle increases in physical activity like the minimum federal recommendations of brisk walking 5 days per week will have a strong impact on the immune system.

• managing stress by staying organized, financial planning such as setting up an emergency fund, spending time daily in quiet solitude (meditation, prayer), expressing gratitude for what we have, reflecting on your day and planning your next, time management (spending quality time with family friends and community) etc..

Part 1

A historical point of view: It is estimated that the human genome as it exists today is anywhere from 40,000 to 70,000 years old. That means that our genes are essentially unchanged for that amount of time. This makes sense since we know the evolutionary process takes 100's of thousands of years. Lets assume the lower number for the purpose of this discussion. This would mean that for the first 32,000 years we humans lived as hunter gatherers, nomadic people who hunted and gathered their food while living in community with a relatively small tribe. This also means that we evolved as we are today in an environment where our choices for food, obligatory physical activity, and family/community life was very different than it is today. Our genes were selected based on that lifestyle. We are fortunate enough to have accumulated a lot of information about the hunter gatherer lifestyle by studying remaining tribes around the globe for decades as well as the archeological record.

Between 6 and 8 thousand years ago we began to settle into permanent communities because of our ability to farm grains, livestock, and other forms of food. We no longer needed to walk miles per day during our lifetime. What is interesting is that all forms of edible grains, (rice, wheat and corn) are relatively new. For most of human existance we did not have access to grains as a food source. The human diet was limited to fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries, wild game, fish and water. This is the diet that was required for our survival based on our genetic selection.

The nomadic hunter gatherer lifestyle of constant movement was also the physical requirement our genome was selected for. Living in community with the help of the extended tribe was also a social requirement for survival. We depended on the elders for their wisdom and their help teaching the children while the adult generation hunted and gathered and reared the young. It is estimated that the average hunter gatherer society spent about 20 hours per week working for shelter, hunting and gathering and the rest of the time talking, and traveling (by the way the most common topic of conversation is food.)

It would be safe to say that the over the past 8 thousand years our environment has dramatically changed. The most drastic change has occurred during the past 200 years since the beginning of the industrial revolution. The speed of change rapidly accelerated again during the past 50 years with the information age and the chemical age. My grandfather was born on a small island in the Aegean sea in 1890 and he passed away in the late 1980's shortly before he hit 100 years old. During his lifetime humans went from moving 10-15 miles per hour by horse and buggy to flying through the stratosphere past multiple time zones at 30,000 feet and able to communicate with virtually anyone on the planet instantaneously including the 3rd world with virtual certainty as well as the ability to accomplish more tasks in one day than even our parents would of dreamed of a couple of decades ago.

The human body has never been required to sit 40-50 hours per week in order to feed our family and survive (computers, service industries etc..) If our genetic requirement for physical activity is daily walking 10-12 miles, repetitive bending lifting and twisting when gathering, exposure to sunshine, and rapid sprinting in order hunt.  What is the consequence of our existing physical requirements for survival which seems like the opposite of what it has been for at least 32,000 years.

We are exposed to chemicals in our food products, the air we breathe, and grooming products that our genes have never been exposed to. We have altered the balance of our diet to include an abundance of food that our genes have "never seen" before and we have a chronic deficiency of food that satisfy our genetic requirements for fiber, nutrients and fat content. What is the consequence of a lifetime of consuming a diet that does not come close to resembling that which we are genetically adapted to.

We have altered the way we live in community, placing the burden of child rearing on strangers and spending excessive hours per week separated from "our community" while working. We live in cities virtually on top of each other but with a lack of the closeness we associate with tribe, community and family. There is a great deal of distrust of our neighbors adding to the acute stress we experience on a daily basis. What is the consequence of living our emotional, spiritual, and community life so drastically different from our genetic adaptations. My recent blog post on the Rosetto effect details the 20th century manifestation of this as it is related to human health.

It is this dramatic rapid change that our genome could not possibly adapt to. The exposure to chronic physical, chemical, and mental / emotional stress literally means the disconnect our modern lifestyle has with our genetic requirements for the expression of health and wellness. This disconnect results in the production of a stress response that is usually chronic (years and decades) and results in many forms of chronic disease as well as a life lived below your potential with reduced energy and fullfillment.

The chronic diseases are what make up 75-90% of the medical expenditure of the U.S. they include but are not limited to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, obesity, asthma, allergies, eczema, headaches, back pain, neck pain, osteoporosis, depression, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, and many more.

It is a fact that our genetic ancestors did not experience these illnesses with any statistical significance. If you feel that it is because we are living longer you are making the mistake that most people make.  There is now more than enough evidence to suggest that many of the above mentioned diseases are being diagnosed earlier and earlier, some of these diseases are now pandemic in children. We are able to now show that American children have the arteries of 40 year a old and the onset of type 2 or what used to be called adult onset diabetes is now common place in adolescence.

  It’s no fish story that those who include seafood as a staple in their diet benefit from the ingestion of high levels of omega-3 fatty acids — known to reduce the risks for heart-related diseases, age-related cognitive decline, abnormal brain development and functioning, even obesity and mood disorders. Now, new studies have shown that it is the oil from fatty fish (salmon, herring, sardines and mackerel) that may offer the most health benefits. 

 During the course of a 10-year study conducted in Sweden, it was established that the consumption of fatty fish oils might inhibit a commonly found receptor for kidney cancers in women, the Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC), which triggers more than 80% of kidney cancers. Consistent long-term intake of fatty fish oil reduced the RCC risk by up to 74% in the Swedish women tracked for the report. At the same time, the intake of fatty fish oils triggered an increase in the level of serum vitamin D in these women. Low levels of vitamin D are believed to trigger the development and progression of RCC.

 You might say that fatty fish oil is phat,  even lean fish — although to a lesser extent — provide similar health benefits.

 Consuming fish oil or eating raw, baked or broiled fish — not fried — can also  protect your heart’s electrical system by decreasing the risk of fatal heart-rhythm disorders. Omega-3 fats have been found to benefit a healthy heart rhythm.

 In addition, according to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, fish oil consumption by the elderly prevented a decline in heart rate variability that was caused by same-day exposure to indoor airborne pollutants (which can trigger arrhythmia and sudden death.)

 This study also found that a diet including fish at least once a week has other significant health benefits for the elderly. These finds included a 60% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease as well as a 10% slower rate of annual age-related cognitive decline (and a 13% slower rate decline when fish was consumed more than once a week). In addition, seafood and by products decreased incidences of strokes because high levels of omega-3 fatty acids (especially DHA or docosahexaenoic acid) are crucial for normal brain functioning.

 There’s even more to this school of thought.  Several epidemiological studies find a correlation between omega-3 fatty acids intake and mood disorders like depression — which are affected by an omega-3 fatty acids deficit. In addition, people suffering from coronary artery disease may benefit from omega-3 fatty acids as well since there is an established link between the disease and depression.

An increased omega-3 intake, even through supplementation, may have therapeutic benefits.   Fishing for compliments about a reduce waistline?

 A study conducted by the University of South Australia noted that daily omega-3 fatty acids intake — when combined with exercise — can aid in weight loss because fatty acids increase blood flow to the muscles during exercise and thereby assist in fat burning.

I have just finished another enjoyable book by best selling author Malcolm Gladwell called Outliers, The Story Of Success. His writing style is unique and he has a wonderful ability to make connections in social patterns that most people do not ordinarily see. This is not your typical self help book. In this book the author attempts to study success as it relates to that which is not in our realm of control like social structure and history, the year or month you were born and circumstances that can only be explained by chance. In addition he details what the most successful in any field have in common; like extraordinarily hard work, amassing over 10,000 hours of devoting yourself to your craft.

What I found most interesting for the purposes of my profession and this blog was the discussion of the Roseto effect. Roseto, Pennsylvania is a town in PA, that had a rather homogeneous population of Italian immigrants from the same region in southern Italy. It was discovered, in the 1960's that this population suffered from heart disease in an unusually low rate when compared to the the rest of the U.S., and when compared to the rest of Pennsylvania, and when compared to the towns right next to them. The researchers ruled out any genetic gift, other immigrants from the same region that settled in other not so homogeneous communities in the U.S. did not fair as well. They ruled out any special southern Italian or Mediterranean healthy diet, the residents of Roseto actually stopped eating like their relatives in Italy, and began to cook with lard and have issues with obesity like the rest of the U.S. They did not wake up extra early to run 3 miles or go to the gym; they had the same blue collar labor professions as the rest of that region of Pennsylvania.

What the researchers discovered was they had a social framework that was very much like their hometown of Roseto, in southern Italy. They visited often with friends and extended family, they socialized by walking into each others homes and yards. Three generations of Rosetans lived under the same roof. "People are nourished by other people. The importance of social networks in health and longevity has been confirmed again by study of a close-knit Italian-American community in Roseto, Pennsylvania".

You see, the Rosetans were not able to import their olive oil, so they cooked with lard. They were smoking and drinking wine in the same numbers as the rest of the U.S. They did back breaking work in slate quarry's. And because of their healthy social relationships and networks they were dying of old age, not disease.

The Roseto effect has been known for years, this is not new science and the studies are valid. There has never been much use for this type of information in the primary practice of medicine. This study has been helpful in underscoring the mental/psychological control the nervous system has in contributing to general health and wellbeing. This of course is not an excuse to drink and smoke as long as you have healthy social relationships. As a matter of fact as the years passed and the Rosetans became less like homogenized Italians and more like Americans they began to suffer at the same rates that the rest of the American population does. The truth is that we are all under significantly more stress than the generations that came before us. How well we live is more important than how long we live. Technology can keep us alive longer but at what cost if we are suffering from chronic disease those extra years.

The reason this is included in Outliers, The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell is because of the importance of social structure and networks. The reason this story is included in this blog is because of the emphasis we give to our patients and clients regarding the 3 dimensional approach to health and wellness; Physical, bio-chemical and mental/psychological. Each is equally important not only for the sake of longevity but for quality of life today, tomorrow and into the distant future. I would also like to underscore the relevance this story has to the workplace where many of us create the majority of our social networks. We need to begin to look at our work environment more like a place that can nurture healthy relationships and promote states of mental function consistent with a greater sense of wellbeing.