Confusion in longevity advise
Everything is supposed to make you feel better, and when it doesn’t it’s confusing and frustrating. There are so many rules to follow that are spoken as if to apply to everyone. That’s how the health and longevity advise is sold. As one size fits all solutions. Without every taking into account the vast differences in people lives. Both present and past.
We hear about all these studies that test one input on one group of people that determines that’s the input we all need to be incorporating into our lives. I’m not talking about the broad strokes advise like eat whole foods and exercise daily. I’m talking about the shit they get into the weeds about. Like get outside first thing to view morning sun to reset your circadian rhythm and get better sleep at night. Like daily intermittent fasting for 12 - 16 hours. Like not eating 2-3 hours before going to bed.
I even heard a physician on a podcast say that if you don’t poop within 45 minutes of waking up then you need to be taking a magnesium supplement. I’m listening thinking what the fuck are you saying? 45 minutes is a very specific amount of time, and I think there could be many reasons why someone doesn’t poop within 45 minutes of waking up. I know I don’t poop at the same time every day. It varies greatly. It depends on what time I went to bed. What I ate the day before. What I have going on that morning (am I running out of the house at 5 am?).
And that’s true of all this advise. It would be nice, but what else do you have going on in your life? Does this advise actually help or just remind me of one more thing I’m supposed to be doing but not doin?
We hear these very specific pieces of advice without any caveat as to why it might not be for you. And of course they couldn’t because there would be too many reasons. But that’s the point. Peoples lives are diverse and complex. People come from a wide array of different ancestral and genetic background that greatly influences what works for them and what doesn’t. And we just add stress to people’s lives by naming 100 things everyone should be doing, when in reality the only things we should be focusing on to improve peoples live are nutritious foods and exercise. I bet that gets us 90 percent of the way there.
But we can’t even agree on what foods to eat. We throw everyone into a tailspin with all the different diet claims. Keto people blasting no carbs and high fat. Carnivore people advising only meat, no veggies, no berries. Vegans and vegetarians advising the complete opposite. You got South Beach and Atkins people promoting low carb to sell their processed and packaged snacks. It’s such a complicated world that it’s no wonder most people don’t follow any of the advice. Where would they start?
There are too many rules, too many routines, and too many strategies, and we don’t know what is going to work for us. I think it all makes it impossible. I think it leads to a lot of discouragement from even starting. I think we are at a point where the information and advice has become so saturated and abundant, that it’s impossible to follow and parse out what actually matters and what doesn’t.
I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time thinking because something worked for someone else it should work for me, and when it didn’t, I was frustrated as to why. Sometimes I was even able to convince myself that it was working when I actually didn’t feel a thing. A big part of what I see as success for me is realizing that none of them individually work for me, that’s it’s a way of life. That I feel my best when I have less rules, and enjoy more. Knowing that a proper diet and daily exercise probably gets you 90% of the way there.
I guess what I’m trying to say is when processed food makes up over 50 percent of the U.S. diet, over 40 million people are food insecure, and 75 percent of people don’t get the daily recommended amount of exercise, than does any of the other advise really matter? What percentage of the population is all this advise actually impacting? And what is the incremental value? Millions of people listen to this advise. Most people don’t follow it. What would the impact be if we focused on the actual problem? Sedentary lives filled with shit food.