Week 1 Post 2

 As America has continued to develop, the health care system has strayed farther and farther away from traditional lifestyle medicine which addresses the causes of illness and reverses the problem, and into a dangerous new system of treating symptoms and neglecting the roots. Part of this stems from the health industries desire for profit but also the development of the standard American Diet. America and the world have become robots with whom measure success by amount of hours spent being productive, but this has had catastrophic effects on public health. Humans require four elements to maintain good health: not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, physical activity, and getting enough sleep. This can further be broken down to eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and Whole Foods, regularly exercising, avoiding smoking or being around smoke and alcohol, and having a consistent sleep schedule. Amidst these changes, it will be the role of the American citizen to break the system and be accountable for their wellness and take back their quality of life. The following statistics accurately represent the crisis that America is experiencing amidst the chronic illness pandemic: half of every US adults has a chronic illness, 70% of all American deaths are due to chronic illness, 1/3 of US adults experience hypertension or high blood sugar. These are only some of the many frightening statistics. Chronic illness are oftentimes preventable or reversible; however, the health care system has shifted focus away from dietary and lifestyle changes which can mitigate a persons risk or eliminate their suffering and shifted to for-profit treatment methods. This is referred to as "the best kept secret in medicine". The American population could have a higher life expectancy, better quality of life, and be dramatically more financially stable if efforts were focused on reducing the impact of the chronic illness pandemic. 

Regular citizens can take their health into their own hands by adopting various lifestyle changes in order to prevent not only typical chronic illness, but mental health concerns as well. The American citizen has been conditioned into eating excessive amounts of sugar and processed foods, running on little to no sleep,  enjoying little to no "me time", and filtering their life around screens. From an evolutionary perspective, humans are supposed to sleep when its dark out, eat when its light out, and spend minimal time during the day actually working. Looking back to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, fundamental truths about a healthy lifestyle for humans is displayed. Hunter-gatherers arose with the sun. When they woke up, they felt refreshed. The first step of their day would be to sit around a fire and eat breakfast before going to collect food and supplies for the rest of the day. This involved an abundant amount of waiting and patience. Furthermore, work was not a huge part of the day. They ate dinner and reflected on their days with community and went to bed. When America industrialized, the human body did not have any time to evolve to be prepared for the lifestyle changes that it brought. This is why depression, obesity, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, heart attack, and stroke has become such a massive issue in our society. People can take simple steps to mitigate their risk of even mental illness. There are simple steps to mitigate the risk of mental illness or even reverse a persons symptoms completely. In order to do this, a human should take steps to get as close to the life of a hunter gatherer as possible. Reduce screen time as much as possible and stay off screens 90 minutes before bed. Eat primarily Whole Foods and eliminate sugar consumption. Spend twenty minutes each morning outside, regardless of the weather. Drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Spend at least 15 minutes a day in complete stillness with an empty mind. These are simple steps a human can take to reduce their cortisol and keep their body in balance; therefore, drastically reducing their risk of mental and chronic illness.