When I was growing up in America in the 1980’s there was a full-on war against fat, especially the saturated variety. This shaped my idea of what a healthy diet should be. I remember trimming even the most miniscule piece of fat off of the meat on my plate as a child.

It was only decades later that I discovered the organizations that waged this war against fat did so, primarily, to take the spotlight off of how toxic sugar was to the human body. There’s quite a bit of research that suggests the low fat diets of the 1980’s contributed significantly to the decline in mental and physical health of an entire generation. Many of these mainstream dietary recommendations still haven’t changed to this day despite evidence they're causing us harm. This mainstream diet created both the need and the normalization of a plethora of pharmaceutical drugs being prescribed for everything imaginable.

Since 2021, as I’ve made it a point to explore outside of the mainstream to educate myself about nutrition. My dietary philosophy has changed as a result. I’ve incorporated much more grass-fed beef and dairy products into my diet as well as olive oil, nuts, and avocados. There’s usually a pile of either sauerkraut or kimchi on my plate as well at least once a day. I’ve cut out nearly all of the bad fats (hydrogenated/seed oils), processed foods, GMO foods, refined carbohydrates and sweeteners (cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc.) I still drink caffeine, drink a glass of wine or beer every day, and occasionally eat things that aren’t the healthiest. I mean I’m not a monk for Godsake, I have to allow myself some wiggle room.

Since doing this I’ve noticed some drastic changes in my fifty-two year old body and mind. Muscle mass has increased, body fat has decreased, and I’ve noticed substantially sharper mental acuity and improved mood. Despite all of these positive changes in my body I’ve directly experienced, in the back of my mind, I was still worried that this new diet was harming me internally in some way. I guess those dietary “facts” drilled into our little brains during Saturday morning cartoon hour have an incredibly long shelf life.

"The wish for healing has always been half of health." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

I recently had my first physical since 2021 and was pretty taken aback by the results.

Each and every metric has improved since my last physical three years ago.

The improvement to my total cholesterol was the most dramatic, at a full thirty points lower. I feel better than I did twenty years ago.

The term “health is wealth” has always resonated deeply with me. This recent experience served as a reminder to me about how important it is for all of us to take responsibility for our own health and our own education. After all, the health of our minds, bodies, and spirits are inextricably intertwined and improving one of these things improves our entire life experience.

Unfortunately, we live in a society today where the governments of the world are fully married to incomprehensibly powerful corporations. So much so that, at this point, the two are indistinguishable. The powers that be are great at creating problems then selling us the solutions, which often aren't really solutions at all. It’s so important for everyone to commit this to memory.

As the old Arabian Proverb says, "He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.” If there's one thing we need more of in this world today it's a little hope.

Enjoy the day. Thank you for reading!

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