Column: James On Health, Medicine & Exercise
[Opinion column written by Hafid James]
Despite all the advances [and profits] in detection, medicine, services, and gimmicks our health as a society is still deteriorating. I believe this stems from how we continue to look for health in all the wrong places. How can we fix what we don’t know? How can we find the destination we’re looking for if we are continuously given wrong directions?
Health in medicine
Most metabolic syndrome medications don’t search for or heal the etiology. They “manage” the symptoms. People take diuretics for hypertension to remove excess sodium from the body, but most diuretics I’ve seen prescribed are not potassium-sparing. Now, you are flushing out one of the most important nutrients in the body: potassium. Thinking hypertension is just a high salt problem, you aren’t seeing the full picture. It is more so an imbalance of sodium to potassium. We should have a 2:1 ratio of potassium to sodium, but due to ultra-processed foods [not the sea salt we put on food] and lack of whole foods, it’s more like 1:10 potassium to sodium. One of potassium’s amazing benefits is that it can act as a sodium pump, helping flush out excess sodium. But now you are flushing out everything, including the nutrients that can help heal your body. We compound this problem by still preaching fear and not understanding. So many in the medical field still preach “Don’t use salt.” but fail to educate [mainly due to nutrition not being a focus unless they go out and seek that knowledge] to be mindful of ultra-processed foods, preservatives and how often you dine out because ingredients used can contain high amounts of sodium your body doesn’t taste as if it was would salt [1]. Or how you can get potassium from sources other than a banana or a sports drink [2]. You can replace hypertension with most lifestyle illnesses. We preach fear over understanding and medication over prevention. There is no wonder why we are seeing an increased prevalence of polypharmacy in adults for lifestyle conditions. They never treated the cause…the lifestyle.
These drugs can help extend your life, and that is what the doctors are trying to do, but how many lives must be lost or settled for existing and not thriving because we settled for “managing” symptoms with drugs and not educating ourselves on lifestyle habits?
Health in looks
Reinforced by many exogenous sources, coupled with one’s level of self-love, many think that reducing their weight or waist by any means necessary would make them healthier [or happier]. I have met numerous clients desperate to lose weight. They would’ve paid to see me 4/5 times a week, done two hours of training, or taken whatever fat burner to get their weight off. Would they have seen short-term changes, possible, but would these lead to long-term improvements to their physical and mental health? I’ve yet to have seen it [3]. In my opinion, using a waist trainer to distort your torso will not improve your health. Wearing a sweat belt to temporarily reduce your water weight will not improve your health. Overtraining or under-eating will not improve your health. These are not popular opinions, but that is mainly because a lot of money is being made off you thinking otherwise. Many of us have been shocked by a stroke or an illness of someone who “looked healthy.” I view obesity the same way I view hypertension, diabetes, etc. It’s a symptom of a deeper problem, a potential byproduct of your current lifestyle. Individuals’ symptoms might differ in condition or time of detection, but for the vast majority of people I have interacted with, the problem was the same: the lifestyle. Not being overweight but having high unseen visceral fat, an inflamed body, and an imbalance in nutrients or hormones doesn’t make you healthier, you just have different symptoms.
Health in exercise
Movement is medicine and can offer numerous benefits. Like medicine, while it can have benefits alone, it works best when part of a healthy lifestyle. We have more gyms, trainers, and cardio machines than ever before. Yet lifestyle illnesses are still growing and seen in younger ages. Ask yourself why this hasn’t translated into a healthier society. I believe the deterioration of our health correlates with the proliferation of ultra-processed foods, reduction in whole foods, and environmental factors. We all know the saying you can’t outwork a bad diet, yet we are still trying to prove, “Oh yes I can!” Exercise should be eustress, but I promise you you’ll get even better results by thinking about what you’re doing outside the gym.
Why is this?
We have already stated some reasons: Lack of or miseducation, profits, and how we define health. Also, ease. It’s easier to pop a pill than make lifestyle changes. To be angry at the GP who prescribed the medicine than you understanding sacrifice, it can’t always be about instant gratification. To pay someone to tell you what to do in the gym vs you taking accountability for your actions outside the gym. I know it’s tough. Food noise is a real thing, mental health is a real thing, and corporations putting ingredients in their food so it becomes more addictive is a real thing. People lying and taking advantage of your desperation to be healthier happens daily. This is why I believe in health education and not speaking from dogma, for profit, or out of fear. I believe health should be first and foremost about your quality of life. If we do the things to help improve our quality of life, prevention of meds increases, endurance and physical performances improve, and losing weight and building muscles become more effective and sustainable.
If by now you are asking yourself “So what does health actually mean?” congratulations you have taken your first step in the right direction. Stay tuned.
Be Happy. Be Healthy.
- Salt vs. Sodium: www.instagram.com/p/C_x72qhRaX9/
- Potassium whole food vs sports drinks: www.youtube.com/shorts/TacRfeKiEJo
- Why I don’t do “Biggest Loser” type competitions: https://bernews.com/2020/07/column-dont-biggest-loser-competitions/.
- Hafid James
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