Three Pillars of Fitness and Health

1. Nutrition and Relationships

2. Exercise And Rest

3. Supplementation and Medicine (not necessarily medications)

Ok so that’s more of six pillars but three is easier to remember. The Rule of Three (more on this later). I do want to explore the inter-relationship of each pairing and the overall impact each of the three have on your overall health.

Let’s start with nutrition and relationships.

A large part of this site is dedicated to the cultivation, production, and consumption of quality food (ie farming). Farming practices are interconnected with human health and this is becoming more apparent over time. Every 10 pounds of fat has over 40,000 calories and each of us will probably consume over 70,000 pounds of food in our lifetimes. This input of food, a term I’m using quite loosely for most people, is probably the most important determinate of our health. Epidemiologist have identified regions of the world that live longer and are typically healthy. This regions eat good food. So what is good food?

I really enjoyed the book Fiber Fueled by Will Bulsiewicz and consider it a meta-analysis of sorts on the topic of food selection. The take-away point for me is that good food is an organic (more on this later) plant-based diet that obtains less than 15% of calories from meat based sources. Plant based! You mean vegan?

He is vegan but I’ve been counseling patients for the better part of a decade about eating plants. I can count on one hand the number of people that have completely eliminated meat from their diets (that were not all ready vegetarian). Meat is not the issue for most people. I raise and eat meat! The biggest issue facing humanity is low quality, high calorie “food”. Processed food that is high in carbohydrates and sugars is contributing to the metabolic syndrome pandemic. Modern chemicals like glyphosate and vegetable oils are simply pushing that pandemic over the edge.

So what is the best diet?

Blue zones, keto, vegan, paleo, plant based, carnivore, carnivore + Fruit, fiber fueled, whole 30, whole food, Adkins, Mediterranean: The list goes on and on. Very confusing… The biggest problem is that diet is what we eat not a labelled prescription for a weight loss plan.

That is why I recommend reading the book Fiber Fueled because it is probably the best review on the current state of nutrition. But, in addition to my 2 acre garden and 2 acre orchard I also raise cattle, pigs, and broiler chickens. Quality protein, raised on pasture, is also a foundation of my nutrition. A purely vegan diet with no supplementation is not healthy. That is why there is an ICD-10 code for vegan diet. Educate yourself and avoid the standard American diet of processed carbs/sugars.

Dietary Goals

·        Organic

·        Whole Food

·        Quality Protein

·        No processed foods and limit excess carbohydrate intake

·        Intermittent Fasting- this topic is fascinating

·        Limit “sugar” (like cookies/cake/etc), soft drinks

·        No alcohol (5 glasses of red wine a week OK if healthy liver)

80% of the grocery store is highly processed. You want food that has sunshine and water as the ingredients. Real food.

Need help changing your eating habits: Read/Listen to Atomic Habits by James Clear

Next Article: Exercise And Rest

Fitness Related Articles