Continued theme from last Sunday…

There are so many people out there sharing their ideas on health and wellness. Here are some of those ideas I’ve jotted down over the last year or so that I think are important to share…

FYI: These are my paraphrasings of interviews or writings these people have shared on the Internet, in person or interview.

Don’t compare yourself to others. You are different. It doesn’t matter if something worked for someone else.
Diane Sanfilippo, Holistic nutrition practitioner, Balanced Bites

You need to solve your own problem(s). You might have to work through it a bit but that’s OK. Don’t wait for perfection. Don’t expect perfection. You SHOULD fail. That’s OK and necessary. You should just strive to make shifts in your life. Change your relationship with failure. Use failure to make yourself healthier.
Dean Dwyer, Health and lifestyle coach, Being Primal

The best way to allow the body to heal is stay away from information overload. Pick an approach, have faith in the process and see the process through. Don’t obsess over it- if it doesn’t work reevaluate and try again.
Chris Kresser, Health practitioner and researcher, Chriskresser.com

Blood markers are good for predicting on a population level but are not transferrable to the individual. There are just too many variables to take the American average and expect it to be true for each individual.
Chris Masterjohn, Lipid researcher, The Daily Lipid and Mother Nature Obeyed,

More power is going into the hands of less people. Big business is controlling everything and pushing out traditional ways of health. Once natural, we are now a “chemical” people.
Randy Roach, former bodybuilder and researcher, randyroach.ca

Vegetables are good for us not because of the antioxidants they contain but because their plant compounds and toxins create are a stress for us when we eat them. This stressor makes us create more antioxidants that we then use to fight general oxidation. Vegetables help via hormesis: they are exercise for our antioxidant production systems. But hormetic effects follow a U curve. Too much may be bad. Running and radiation are examples. It is better to avoid the bad things in life than superoptimize the things that are already good. However, without adequate sleep none of the dietary things mean that much.
Dr. Kurt Harris, Radiologist, Archevore

Bodyweight “set points” respond to our environment and behavior. In essence, our body is just trying to survive. Fat is a survival mechanism, such as a protective layer from cold. But it also comes on from abuse. Any stress activates fat programs. Diets in particular enhance this program. A stress you can’t run away from causes leptin resistance.
John Gabriel, Obesity researcher, The Gabriel Method

We don’t have myths any more. Myths give us messages. They teach us the stories of life. School teaches us information. Myths come from every culture but they have timeless themes. The inflection is to the culture. We need to focus more on messages and less on information.
Joseph Campbell, Mythology researcher, Joseph Campbell Foundation

Our genes expect us to play. Play majorly contributes to creating a healthy, happy, strong, lean and well functioning human. Play is zen. Life is about enjoyment and fun. Be here now. Play keeps you in the moment. Remember, it’s about movement… not calories burned. Play let’s you discover your limits.
Mark Sisson, Health researcher, Mark’s Daily Apple

Don’t be afraid to change. The body is always seeking balance. The body does what it can to defend against or react to presented stimuli. What you have been avoiding (carbs, meat) may be what cures you. Just don’t overcorrect. Keep in mind the body is very complex. Carbs are not always the problem. Sometimes eating carbs will help the body get better at dealing with glucose. SAID: Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. Palatability and food reward is a big problem. The enemy is the food as a whole. Bad foods are designed for addiction. These overstimulating foods are the problem. Don’t restrict your food intake if you eat natural foods. You won’t have to worry about overeating because humans don’t overeat normal foods.
Matt Stone, Health researcher, 180 Degree Health

Thanks for reading, have a great day!