Evolutionary Champagne

When I’m feeling particularly stressed – or fatigued by an unending series of of unprecedented events – I have to remind myself about how the fact that life is still filled with wonders – and that things are still going incredibly well. You ancestors are out there somewhere and applauding enthusiastically for the kinds of evolutionary champagne problems you’re dealing with.

Here’s an example of something that seems alarming at first glance but is actually kind of beautiful:

You will periodically come across alarming headlines about the increasing rate of diseases of lifestyle. This the kind of thing that gets people talking about making (North) America healthy again. And while there’s no question that our health environment has real issues in need of redress, this isn’t the five-alarm fire it might seem to be at first glance.

In reality, the primary factors driving this upward trend are decreases in both infant mortality and communicable diseases. This is good. Great, actually.

Assuming we don’t continue to lose ground on public health (🤞), we still have the option to go to work on that first graph. We won’t live forever but the aspiration is to stretch out your quality of life over the maximum percentage of your lifespan. Staying in motion is one of the most powerful drivers for this. I recently wrote up profiles of some wonderful Canadians for The Globe and Mail on the subject.

Don't listen to reactionary nutritionists, personal trainers, chiropractors, or anyone else because they're getting things wrong on an epic level. Even MDs are not immune (ha!) to completely missing the point when it comes to the big picture of health. Public health is the most powerful force for reducing all-cause mortality, not supplements or the ingredients in Kraft Dinner. It's the base of the pyramid. If you want to dance on the pointy end, that's cool – but don't forget to advocate for keeping the foundation stable.