Health and Nutrition

Fourteen years ago I gained a few pounds and ever since I’ve been on a quest to lose that weight, very unsuccessfully I might add. So unsuccessful was this quest that I actually gained an extra few stones instead of losing the few pounds that I initially gained. (For my American friends 14 pounds equals 1 stone) I’ve been on every diet known to man/woman, you name it, and I’ve tried it. Every fad going under the sun at some point has had a friend called Ammo.  

My problem has been that initially success of these diets has not resulted in sustained long term weight loss. (When I say long term, I mean past the initial first few months).

Then last September I thought I’d cracked it when I stumbled upon Gary Taubes’ book “Why we get Fat”. In the book he totally debunks the myth that to lose weight all you need to do is diet and exercise. Although the book did more to further my knowledge on the reasons why I wasn’t losing any weight, there were still unanswered questions.

Losing weight is one thing, but does it mean you’re healthier?

Are thin people any healthier than their overweight counterparts?

My overall goal over the past few years has been to lose weight, but of late I’m not sure that really matters, what I really want is perfect health, if there is such a thing. (This latter quest has led me to some very interesting research and over the next few blogs I’d like to share that with you.)

Trawling the net for answers is quite a difficult task, especially when you only have a very vague idea of what it is you’re actually looking for. However the upside is that you do get to find out interesting information that somehow is all connected but at the time you just don’t know how.

One of the most important discoveries I’ve made is that overall health has more to do with nutrition and less to do chance.

In their book “Naked Calories” by Jayson & Mira Carlton; go to great lengths to explain the relationship between micronutrients and real health. The book goes on to pose an interesting question; could obesity be the result of malnutrition? (I’d never thought of anyone in the developed world as been affected by malnutrition.) Also could this malnutrition be the cause of some of the most debilitating diseases that are so common in today’s society. Diseases like Alzheimer’s, Cancer, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, and Arthritis to name but a few. Mira herself suffered from Osteoporosis and had the bone density of an 80 year old woman. Thankfully she was able to reverse this with good nutrition as well as additional vitamins and minerals.

Could this be true?

Is overall health as simple as eating the right micronutrients?  

What are the right micronutrients?

These are some of the questions that I’ll try to answer over the next few blogs. But I must warn you, I am no Doctor, I am no nutritionist, and I am no health guru. I’m just a simple shopkeeper who is looking to improve his own health and in so doing has come across information that is sadly lacking in the general domain. To be honest I was totally ignorant of all this until I started to seek answers for myself, and I’ve only just barely started to scratch the surface.

So if you’re interested then please look out for my next few blogs and I’ll try my best to write in words the information that is swirling around in my head.

Ammo