1. Making Choices About Your Health: How To Decide What’s Right For You
I have a friend who is trying to get a bit healthier. She isn’t a client but we chat from time to time about what she could do to get a little healthier. I’d suggested trying to get more protein in her diet, particularly her breakfast. She struggled because she isn’t that big on meat and is lactose intolerant. Eventually she settled on eggs. Then a few days later she Whatsapped me ‘Eggs cause cancer! WTF’. We went through why this doesn’t seem to be the case, the source she found and why this might not be the most reputable, and that she could carry on eating eggs without worry. But it got me thinking
How do you know who is telling the truth?
Everyone has an agenda to some extent - particularly those making money. Even I have an agenda - while I want people to get healthier and live longer, I also want to make a living from my coaching.
Working out what’s true, who can you believe, etc is a mine field! I struggle and I have a background looking at academic literature and have completed massive amounts of health and fitness education. For the average Joe it can be almost impossible!
As a general guide, I came up with these three rules. They aren’t fool proof but can hopefully help people get a better idea of what can be believed.
What did our ancestors do? The human race has survived for thousands of years. A lot of the shit we did was stupid, but in the most, we lived healthy lives. If our ancestors ate it, it is probably quite good for you. They ate meat, vegetables, potatoes. They moved every day. They woke up early. They didn’t eat Poptarts and sit on a sofa all day, falling into bed at 3am after watching two series of Sopranos back to back (even though it is so fucking good!).
Who said and and how could they benefit? There’s a famous documentary pushing the benefits of a vegan life. However, it omits any benefits of a mixed diet or any potentially caused by a vegan diet. Could this be because it was financed by plant based companies and was directed by the owner of a pea protein supplement company? Where possible, look at sources and the background of who is giving advice. Then try to find another source or research piece and compare.
How do you feel about it? If the idea of eating animal products revolts you - fair enough, you probably shouldn’t consume them. However, if you notice your energy levels are better when you eat beer or you sleep far better when you stop drinking coffee at lunch time, do that. We are all individuals and react to things differently. Likewise, many studies are very narrow or only look at a specific demographic - the high majority of medical studies historically have been conducted on men and now, even though it is law to include women in medical studies, as of 2019 the percentage of women participating in medical studies was still only 40%. While research and evidence and important and helpful, they do not negate the experience of the individual.
While this isn’t a flawless methodology, the main thing I would encourage people to just pause and consider everything you hear. Unfortunately, the high majority of research conducted is either carried out or funded by groups with an alternative agenda.
So don’t take everything at face value and try to think critically about the media and information you consume - even in something you would hope would be in everyone’s best interests such as health and nutrition.