So often, I find that I am reactive when it comes to my health. I try to live an overall healthy life, yet when a small niggle comes up I tend to ignore it and hope it goes away. For example, an upset stomach, aching lower back or up and down hormones – happens all the time, yet what do I do? React when it happens, as opposed to looking further into the root cause and trying to understand why it happens and preventing it from happening in future.
Technology is advancing, science is cutting edge and the answers are often out there. We just have to seize them. Yet I find that there is almost too much information – the question is, how do we sift through it all and tailor it to ourselves?
According to Dr David B. Agus in his book, The End of Illness (Simon & Schuster, 2012), we should get to know ourselves and our own physiology in order to be in control of our own health, rather than relying on doctors or generalised medicine. Dr Agus says, “I’m a big believer in what’s called personalized medicine, which refers to customizing your health care to your specific needs based on your physiology, genetics, value system, and unique conditions… It all begins with you. You have to know yourself in a manner that you’ve probably never done before.”
Dr Agus argues that we all live by general, sweeping guidelines that don’t necessarily fit with us personally. Aside from looking at our own genetic history and factoring in all of the personalised risks, Dr Agus argues that we should:
Keep to a schedule
I have written before about sticking to a schedule and creating routines in order to create healthier work days.
According to Dr Agus, “It’s difficult to conceive the significance that keeping a regular schedule can have on us physiologically and emotionally until we are robbed of that reliable regimen… There’s a reason you wake up at exactly the same time every morning even on days you wish to sleep in. There’s a reason your kids cry when you’re a half hour late serving them a meal. When you break the body’s natural rhythm, you’re no longer performing optimally – your state has been disrupted. To be healthy, you must respect and maintain that ideal, rhythmic state.”
Put simply, the body performs better when it is in a regular state of flow. If we continue to break daily patterns and give our body what it needs haphazardly, it is going to have an impact on our health over the long term.
So, what can we do? It’s simple: try to go to bed at the same time each night, and wake up at the same time each morning; eat meals at the same time each day; exercise regularly at similar times of the day and give ourselves regular breaks to relax at similar times. Keeping a regular schedule has the added benefit of removing the decision-making process, which in turn makes it easier to stick to healthy habit patterns.
Move throughout the day
There’s plenty of research out there that talks about why it’s a good idea to move throughout the day; not easy when you’re at a desk job. However, you can take regular breaks; factor in incidental exercise, such as walking to and from the bus stop, parking an extra street away, talking the stairs rather than the lift if possible, and taking hourly desk breaks to walk around the office and talk to people, rather than send another email.
Eat real food to absorb all the nutrients you need
Fresh is best – and the closer you can eat food to its natural state, the better. This means steering clear of overly-processed food where possible and sticking to fresh produce. Take raw food snacks to work, like celery and carrot sticks or fresh fruit, and cook your own food from scratch rather than eating packet mixes. There’s a million recipes out there, online and in cook books – get involved in the process and it can actually become a bit of a project. Cooking doesn’t need to be a chore.
Share your medical information with the world wherever possible
This is something that I need to work at – I rarely ever see the same doctor twice because it happens (thankfully) so infrequently! It’s a good idea to try to keep your own list of ailments that you and/or your immediate family has suffered in the past, because genetics has a big role to play in how your own health will pan out across your lifespan.
It’s best to find a doctor that you like and stick with them, because the better they know your individual physiology the more they will be able to tailor advice to fit with you. Never withhold information from your doctor as it could be the very piece of data that they need to advise you on the best course of action.
Do nothing
According to Dr Agus, “The body works in mysterious ways. Often, it can heal on its own when given the chance. In a world where we futilely try to force health on ourselves by taking supplemental vitamins and assuming we need pill A or elixir B, we could potentially do ourselves better once in a while if we did nothing at all.”
Of course you have to take expert advice and if you are really sick, medication can be the only option. If you feel that you may be able to recover without, give your body a chance and take natural supplements instead. I recently had a nasty flu and although the doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics, just in case, I elected to take vitamin C powder and eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables – and my body recovered on its own. It’s not for everyone, but rather than resort to medication immediately, in some circumstances the body can heal itself perfectly well over time.
If in doubt, always seek medical advice and listen to your own body, and how it has reacted in the past, rather than sticking to a one-size-fits-all approach.
How do you take control of your own health?
