Are you struggling with weight loss? Do you want to look and feel better? Are you struggling to get motivated to make changes?
If this is you, I’m here to tell you that it can be extremely difficult to make diet and lifestyle changes and you are not alone!
Did you know only about 6% of diseases are actually due to genetic causes? This means 94% of the time we can prevent ourselves from getting the same diseases that run in our family.
How is that possible you ask?
By something called epigenetics. The science of epigenetics has found that the expression of certain genes can be turned on and off. This means if your mother and grandmother have a thyroid disorder and you do too, you may be able to turn that gene off.
How do we turn off the gene expression of things we don’t want?
The only real way we know of doing that is by changing our lifestyle. One major way of turning off the disease genes is by changing our diet. I talk about dietary changes a lot and you can look through my other blog posts to see what ideal diets can be but in honor of Thanksgiving, I want to talk more about another way of turning off the disease genes:
COMMUNITY!
This may be even more significant in impacting your health than the food you consume.
In the book, The Blue Zones, Dan Buettner researched 5 places in the world where people live to 100 years old and are living healthy without medication or disability.
The Blue Zones:
· Italian island of Sardinia
· Okinawa, Japan
· Loma Linda, California
· Costa Rica’s isolated Nicoya Peninsula
· Ikaria – an isolated Greek island
Some of these communities are vegan. Some of these communities eat meat. All of them are physically active but not necessarily doing CrossFit or OrangeTheory regularly (I love both of those but just making a point). Some of these communities consume alcohol and others don’t.
So then, what is the commonality between these communities?
They feel a sense of community!
Many of us are surrounded by people but still feel alone.
Research has found that those living in isolation are more likely to suffer from viral infections and inflammation leading to a number of different chronic diseases. On top of the negative impacts of isolation on physical health, feeling alone can lead to a decline in one’s mental health as well.
This means that having a sense of community can enhance our immune system, our mental health, and our overall health.
However, it’s all about quality over quantity.
If the community we surround ourselves with is eating processed foods, judgmental, high-strung, and inactive – we are more likely to be that way as well. However, if the community we surround ourselves with is drinking green juices, physically active, meditates regularly, and lives with compassion – that is more likely to be our life!
Many people struggle with optimizing their health due to a lack of community. This is why I’m offering a group Holistic Fat Loss Program so we can work together as a community to achieve great health! This will be a 12 week program that will start the second week of January 5th, 2020. If you are interested in being a part of this program, please complete this survey.
This Thanksgiving, remember to give thanks to the community that supports you, nourish those relationships, and this same community will continue to support you to help you thrive!
This Thanksgiving, I am incredibly grateful for YOU!
Thank you so much for being a part of my community. Thank you for your support as I continue my lifelong journey of healing and empowering others. And thank you for making your health a priority because when you make your health a priority, you are not only changing your life but the lives around you and the ones that come after you!
Happy Thanksgiving! Wishing you all Mahan (Great) Health this holiday season!
If you’d like to learn other ways to improve your quality of life, schedule a complimentary consult with me to see if we can work together to help you achieve great health!
