We have learned so much about sickness and disease. We not only know how each organ, tissue, and cell functions, but we know how it all works together. We understand how food gets broken down into proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, how they all get absorbed into the bloodstream, and how the body utilizes those nutrients to build muscle, blood cells, and brain tissue.
We have spent billions and billions of dollars on research, performed thousands and thousands of studies, and have the smartest people on the planet devoted to learning everything there is to know about how the human body works and how it functions. It would appear that with how much we have learned over all these years, we would have all the answers when it comes to health and healing.
Have you ever wondered, with all the time, money, and brains dedicated to healthcare, why we are so sick? Not only are we so sick, but we continue to get sicker and sicker. Chronic illness rates are exploding. An amazing sixty percent of American adults have at least one chronic condition, and forty-two percent have more than one. One in sixty-eight children has autism, one in nine has asthma, and one in six has a learning disability. What is going on? What makes things more confusing is that all of these rates have skyrocketed in just the past several decades.
The Tsimane people of Bolivia have the healthiest hearts in the world. The Piraha tribe along the Maici River in the Amazon have been called the happiest people on the planet. Do you think they know what protein is? Nope! Do they understand blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol numbers, or genetic sequencing? No way! Do they struggle with trying to figure out if they need a mattress that is thicker or thinner, firmer or softer, foam or air? Of course not. And do you think they have a Food Pyramid or a My Plate to teach the tribe how they’re supposed to eat? That would be ridiculous to them.
Why are these remote tribes able to live long, healthy, and happy lives without all the science and technology we have access to? A better question might be why, with all the scientific advancement and technological breakthroughs do we keep getting sicker, fatter, and more depressed?
The answer boils down to this… all living things have specific requirements to function fully and express optimal health. Humans are designed to eat, move, think, and interact with the environment in a particular way. These tribes eat, move, and think like wild humans. They probably would never put a gummy bear in their mouths because the artificial colors, ones they’ve never seen in nature, would scare them. They would probably watch someone sitting behind a desk all day and stare in a confused manner, wondering why they are stuck there, not moving for hours on end. And if they followed us around all day as we dropped kids off here, picked up dry cleaning there, and scurried from place to place, they would probably ask why we do all that stuff, as they would note the stress, anxiety, and rushed feeling Americans live with every day.
There are many remote tribes that exist without diabetes, obesity, depression, extremely low cancer rates, and all the other chronic illnesses that plague us. And they do so without science or technology. They live the way humans were genetically designed to live, allowing the body to express health and vitality.
I am all for science and research. And I know that advancement in science and technology has saved many lives and made life safer and easier for all of us. I’m not suggesting that we give up electricity, throw on a loin cloth, and move back into the woods, but am pointing out that the healthiest humans on the planet know nothing about science or technology.
Enjoy the luxuries of modern living, but remember to eat, move, think, and interact like the wild human that deep down you really are.