I want to share with you what I’ve learned on my journey. That journey includes being a doctor for 25 years, a father for 20 of those and a husband for somewhere in between the two. But the bit I want to tell you specifically about is the last 9 years.
At 40 my take on health was as per my medical training – “Ah I think you’ll find I’m the doctor, what exactly do you think you can tell me?”
But at 40 I was in a sea of aggressive denial – my reality was that I was overweight, unfit and stressed. Basically fairly unhealthy on most fronts. But basically like most of the 40 year olds around me.
Then something happened – I suddenly knew that I was going to die.
Not immediately or imminently - but one day. I really was going to die. This may seem obvious as a doctor but for me it was something I’d never really considered. I think it’s a proximity to that point that suddenly lets you see it.
Even though I’d been around people dying for years I somehow hadn’t worked out that one day it would be me. Not might possibly be me – would definitely be me lying there - stone cold dead.
More’s the point I’d been around sick people too. And what I knew was that as doctors we were really good at keeping not very well people alive and miserable for longer and we were getting better at it. It had passed me by that that could be me as well. And that really scared me. I’d neglected my health – I just charged on thinking that I was indestructible, immune to death or lingering disease.
But all of a sudden I became very fallible and vulnerable and acutely aware that this was it. It wasn’t a dressed rehearsal for another life that I had waiting for me, one I knew I could address with dedication and vigour when things quietened down a bit.
There’s a strange genius of realising that you’re going to die that’s ironically liberating. And it’s that every day is a day closer to that inevitable and inescapable point of nothingness, and that makes today a day you’re not going to get back and one that absolutely shouldn’t be wasted. Especially not wasted on being sick for years.
My plan was to work out what I needed to do to stay full on healthy for the absolute longest I could. I want my final act to be me screeching broadside into the parking space screaming that was one hell of a ride before dropping down dead. But how exactly was I going to achieve this.
I was a doctor – how difficult could it be? I was pretty sure that I knew the rules of health. I must have a firm idea of what to do and what not to do to stay in good shape.
I looked deep - I knew lots about all sorts of diseases, how they happened and usually what caused them. I knew not to smoke, to avoid asbestos, too much salt and sources of ionising radiation. But that was a long way from a practical solution to finding the elixir to absolute health.
I reluctantly came to the conclusion that doctors didn’t deal in health. Our currency was disease. That’s what we were good at - what to do when things go wrong. I was looking in the wrong place. If I did one, I couldn’t remember a health module at medical school. I was working on the assumption that because I knew about disease I knew about health too – Wrong. It appears that they’re not opposites.
I didn’t need a doctor, what I needed to do was avoid them. Taking that seat in the waiting room would mean that I’d failed – I was sick.
So I boycotted conventional medicine and went to the bookshelves – specifically the health and lifestyle section in my book shop. I read books, magazines, online articles whatever I could get hold of. I did all sorts of things recommended by all variety of people. Diets, exercise regimes, relaxation techniques, detoxes, purges.
Some of them worked for a bit some didn’t, some stuck some faded. Some made me feel good about things and myself some the opposite. What I realised was that it was bloody difficult. Difficult to work full time, be a father and husband and eat, exercise, practice self care and do the things that I was supposed to be doing to not get sick. I couldn’t do everything.
Most things relied on will power and will power it seems is a limited resource and most depleted when tired, stressed and grumpy with a long to do list. And in my experience also doomed to failure – I always gave up at some point.
I also found myself developing a growing resentment for the people who were offering up this advice based on at best a sketchy scientific footing and I know it sounds elitist – but people with limited experience and qualifications. Often they seemed more concentrated on looking healthy - specifically muscularly toned for the summer. But I kept reminding myself that this wasn’t medicine it was health and they weren’t the same.
But where was the middle-aged lifestyle plan designed to give me the best chance of staying healthy and disease free for as long as I can. One that showed me how to follow a lifestyle that promotes an environment in your body that actively stops me developing cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s – all things guaranteed to scupper my “hell of a ride” plan.
I come from a background of standard medical practice. What we do is based on a well tested system of clinical rigour. You have to prove that what you say is true by comparing it to not doing it, pretending that you’re doing it (the placebo effect) and always trying to eliminate that something else that might be causing the situation. That’s how drugs are tested theories proved – all of medicine rubber stamped.
Why don’t we look at health in the same way. They may not be the same thing but they can be measured with the same stick. Less hearsay and bogus science more authentic clinical validation.
I’d solved it – no one would needlessly be sick again. All it would take is me devoting what was left of my life to clinically investigating health rather than disease. Why had no one thought of this before? Well, it turns out they had, and for years (thousands if you look at eastern medicine whose entire basis is avoiding disease). It was just that for many reasons and like lots of torch bearers before them – they’re poorly funded and hence low profile and no one really listens to them.
And so for the next 8 years I’ve used my doctor eyes to look at this health research and how to best incorporate it into my life. During this time things have changed and a true clinical message based in real science has become more and more clear and what to do about it less ambiguous. And now seems to be on the verge of entering mainstream medicine.
As with most things when we embark on them knowing very little – I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Actually I was astounded by what and the extent of what I didn’t know.
In population terms the top killers in 1st world countries though they swap and jostle are ischaemic heart disease, stroke, dementia, and cancer in its various forms.
What is staggering is that the chances of developing these – and, in fact, the next 10 or so diseases on the list, if not completely avoidable can be dramatically altered by adopting diet and lifestyle changes.
What’s more there has also been a growing basis of evidence that these diseases can to some extent halt or even reverse in their progression.
But also what research showed and for me wasn’t such a surprise was that knowing this doesn’t guarantee that we do anything about it. It just means we’re better informed – so basically pointless.
What I’ve learned is that what wise people have always known. For both good and bad - we are what we do repeatedly. It turns out that good health is really just a habit – in fact it’s just a series of good habits strung together.
What we also know is the best way adopt these habits is to introduce them gently and progressively until they are part of who you are and you no longer have to think about them. By doing this the positive effects can be experienced which makes them easier to keep rather than rely on limited will power.
By having alternatives that promote health rather than sabotage it give us the best chance to stay healthy.
In looking at what keeps us healthy I’ve discovered things that I didn’t know I felt so strongly about and just by my habits have become allied with ecological and environmental issues that affect all of our lives and those of generations to come.
With the information we have now it seems that it’s going against my oath of a doctor to “do no harm” not to share it. Today more than at any other time in history information is power. What I want to help avoid is the anyone saying if only I knew I would have done something. Dying of “not knowing” is a proper tragedy.
What I’m proposing doing is showing what I do. How I cook, exercise and live – what my habits of health are that I’ve generated over the last years. And propose how they might be gently incorporated into a daily habit.
Not beach body beautiful though this may happen
I’ll try and be as candid as I can with information and where it’s come from but my basic caveat will be that it is to my eye and experience based in true science and tested with a clinical validity that I believe to be rigorous.
What you do with the information once you have it is absolutely up to you.
I’m a doctor but I’m not your doctor. If you have any ongoing health issues you should always seek advice before making any changes.