Last year was stressful and unforgettable to say the least, but 2021 is all about getting connected again and the by-product of connection and wellbeing is a youth and vitality that will help you in both love and life. Wellness expert, lifestyle coach and bestselling author ANDI LEW , who has maintained her youthful looks at age 48, explains the physical and mental aspects of agelessness…
We all want to stay “forever young” and the world of Botox and fillers has become the “norm”, but being really youthful starts from within. Let me show you what’s possible because, personally, I’m proof.
Let’s begin with understanding the two models of health care. Wellness is about prevention and quality of life. The medical model, which is allopathy, is about cure and early detection. They’re two very different things when it comes to health languages. Health care is about maintaining the health you already have, but with wellness, there’s no ceiling as to how well you can be. Now, let’s look at the notion that ageing well is the by-product of being well. How does one stay well in a modern world? We have much better sanitation and medicines yet we are consuming more toxins or being surrounded by toxic stressors more than ever before.
You will discover why I have managed to slow ageing naturally, despite the setbacks I’ve had with various physical and mental health challenges. Good health isn’t just luck or genes. We all have a genetic predisposition to certain illnesses, but these genes only get expressed in the right or “wrong” environment. What works for some doesn’t work for others and there’s no “one size fits all” approach or formula when it comes to health.
The growing demand for natural health alternatives is being confused with the western medical model that treats and prescribes drugs. Both are different and both work, but for different reasons. Let’s look at labels and language. It is not “alternative” healthcare because what is it an alternative to? We really do need both and therefore I’d like to suggest it be referred to as “complimentary”. All toxicities, however, disconnect brain to body and impact our overall health since toxins affect the nervous system and our gut health which is the second brain. It then, in turn, affects our hormones.
It’s safe to say I’m a fan of natural health modalities and only using medicine for emergency care. There’s a myriad of non-invasive and natural ways to heal and stay well and the wellness revolution is in full swing. There’s a place for western medicine and one could never deny how far it has come in times of emergency. However, when we use drugs and medication on a regular basis we can compromise our overall wellness or wellbeing. This toxic load and multitude of side effects get you on a drug merry-go-round, but the long-term goals you need to have is not to rely on medication to be well.
In 1903 Thomas Edison said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine; rather he will educate his patients in the care of the human frame – in diet and in the prevention of disease.” What the inventor referred to as a “doctor of the future” is so profound and even more so today. The pendulum has swung for so long towards surgery and drugs, and now it is inevitably swinging just as hard the other way – towards wellness. In response to this tidal wave of social awareness toward vitality and self-determination, the business culture has made changes that would have been unthinkable in the past.
Weight-loss is a multibillion-dollar industry, with gyms, diets, personal fitness trainers, books, videos and online programs, exercise and nutrition podcasts or streaming shows. Nutritional companies and food manufacturers are going plant-based, vegan, organic, SLS and paraben free, gluten free, NO additives, refined sugar free, FODMAP friendly and preservative free. And international fast food chains have added “healthy” options on their menus in a bid to keep up with our demands.
Proliferating “lifestyle” businesses and magazines promote quality of life while workplace occupational health and safety officers are being appointed within companies to monitor conditions of employment. Organisations have invested in yoga or meditation rooms for their employees as the link between health and productivity becomes common knowledge. Employers offer wellness perks to their staff with company-sponsored massages, treatments or seminars. Caffeine alternatives like matcha, turmeric, cacao and beetroot lattes are now on the menu.
Since the year 2000 we have moved away from milk and as we started consuming dairy alternatives, like soy, it continued into a myriad of other healthier options. Now we are becoming more mindful with our eating choices and consuming less meat or no animal products as we care for the environment, look after our health or make a heart choice. The demand for wellness and prevention is so great that even pharmaceutical companies are selling vitamins and supplements or promoting wellness and mindfulness.
Chiropractors are getting amazing results for conditions other than just headaches or back pain. Our appetite for organics is growing and, with interest in the quality of soil, we are looking towards biodynamic and regenerative farming. In “well care” I have known some no longer use the word “patient” as it refers to “one who suffers”. Changing this label has changed the whole perspective on sickness versus wellness.
It appears the western world has decided that simply not having symptoms just isn’t good enough anymore. We have collectively created a worldwide wellness revolution through our demand for true health. So, if you are tired of the drug merry-go-round with all its side effects and would love to have youth and vitality without intervention – this is for you.
THE SECRET: PREVENTION IS THE CURE
There is a revolution taking place and you are part of it. Can you imagine if one day you are walking along a beautiful mountainous landscape, which hugs a river bed, and you are taking in the serenity and magnitude of beauty but a vision of panic at the foot of the river disturbed you? You witness an exasperated man who’s kneeling near the water, scooping up dead fish and rescuing them by throwing them back into the water. You’re standing there watching in awe and panic because there’s that many dying and they’re flowing down the stream.
The man looks up at you, after feeling your presence, and says, “Don’t just stand there! Get help! I need help! Can’t you see I’m saving lives here and you should be down here helping me?!” As much as you know that he is right and a surge of cortisol (the hormone designed to make you move fast and take action as a stress response) rushes through your body, you also immediately hear your inner self questioning why so many fish are dying in the first place. You don’t take the man’s anger and frustration personally because he is well intentioned. He indeed is saving lives. You decide, however, to make your way to the top of the river and discover just why these fish are falling ill in the first place. This is ADDRESSING THE CAUSE, NOT JUST THE SYMPTOMS.
However, the natural health profession has been challenged within the Western world just as much as it has been supported. Whilst both approaches are needed, the bottom of the river is where the emergency care lies. The top is where disease began and you have a body designed to heal when you give it the right environment.
Now, let’s look at the example of a Self-Healing Power – #Fever. When you get a cold, or a virus such as measles or chicken pox, there is often an accompanying fever but did you ever stop to wonder why? One of the immune system’s most effective weapons against illness is temperature. The viral cell wall is a very strong, defensive barrier which is highly resistant to your immune system – so the body has developed a brilliant strategy to overcome this sneaky invader.
Your normal body temperature is an ideal environment for illness, so raising your temperature with a fever is a beautifully orchestrated mechanism by which the body breaks down the wall and gains access to the virus itself, making it easy for the white blood cells to destroy it. We are exposed to and have trillions of viruses every day. Are they friends and not so much foe? It is an accepted belief that a fever is “bad” rather than part of a natural healing process, so modern medicine strives to reduce fevers, in direct opposition to the body’s natural intelligence. A change in core temperature is neither degenerative nor a sickness – it’s an intelligent adaptation to a threat and reducing fever with medication in this instance is working against that innate intelligence.
Working with the body to heal means you’re not only giving it an optimal chance to rest, recover, recuperate and build strength so you can become more resilient and adaptive. It also means the toxins you won’t be putting in your body now save the health of your gut and nervous system. These two brains need to stay working in optimal function to create regeneration and optimal function.
So what exactly is interference to your nervous system? An alteration of the bones, muscles and nerves of the spine causing compression, tension, irritation and damage to the central nerve system. This disturbance of the central nerve (the conductor) causes the organs and muscles of the body to malfunction and to heal poorly. Chiropractic doctors have a term for the distortions and misalignments that cause this interference – subluxation. The derivation of the word hints at the profound philosophy of chiropractic; sub is Latin for “under” or “less than”, while lux is “light” or “life”. So subluxation means a condition of the body devoid of life force – light, love and life forces and what runs us. You know this from when people talk about “a great awakening” and they “see the light”. It can also be referred to as “truth”. Nonetheless, it is a pure energy force running us all.
Having subluxation means your lifeline (spinal cord) is interfered with and damaged by a misaligned bony structure. As a result, the nerves branching off of that lifeline and your spinal cord, which is an extension of your brain, aren’t giving or receiving clear messages to the rest of your body. If you imagine a part of your spinal cord being choked and your body’s electrical messages being blocked, it’s easy to see how an area of the body can have less “life” in it.
All of this can be expressed in three simple, logical steps. 1) Your body is capable of self-healing and regulating, which is why a cut on the finger heals without any conscious action on your part. 2) Nothing so complex could happen at random, so something must be controlling this healing and regulation – your nervous system, comprising of the brain and spinal cord do this. 3) Something has to protect this delicate system – the skull and spine are designed for this. So, when a subluxation stress affects the spine it interferes with the nervous system inside it, which then interferes with the natural self-healing and regulating capacity of the body.
THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF CHIROPRACTIC
The body is designed to self-heal and self-regulate. 1) The healing and regulating messages begin and travel along the vital nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerve networks). 2) The spine and skull are designed to protect the delicate central nervous system. 3) Therefore, if the spine and skull interfere with the nervous system, the healing and regulating capacity of the body is reduced – that is, having a sub-optimal state of physiological function.
Vertebral subluxation, or nervous system interference, causes more than just reduced health – it may damage the nervous system coordinating the harmonious interaction of your trillions of cells which – when they work together – express your mind, body, spirit, emotions, strength, endurance, perceptions and character. So are they important? Yes! Do they affect your life? Absolutely! Do you have a subluxation? The only way to know is to be examined by your chiropractic doctor, because they are the only professionals trained to detect and correct vertebral subluxations. So how do they happen? Subluxations are caused by different stressors – physical, chemical, emotional and even environmental.
FIND YOUR WELLNESS CHIROPRACTOR
How do we age? Each of us is made up of about 100 trillion cells and these are constantly replacing themselves with new ones. The process works like making a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy… and just like photocopies where each subsequent copy loses resolution – the DNA in the new cells isn’t quite as good as the original. Our body works tirelessly to fix this but eventually the quality of the new cells being produced starts to decrease – we know this process as ageing.
What exactly is DNA? It’s the building block containing the genetic instructions for the development and function of living things. All known cellular life and some viruses contain DNA. The main role of DNA is long-term storage of information. It’s often compared to a blueprint since it contains the instructions to construct other components of the cell, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments carrying genetic information are called genes but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the expression of genetic information.
How does chiropractic fit in? New research shows that chiropractic care boosts important chemicals in the DNA repair process to levels higher than those in non-chiropractic people. The research also shows that no matter how old or young the person is – whether male or female or whether they take vitamin supplements or not – after two or more years of chiropractic care their DNA repair improved. What does this mean for you? Many diseases have a genetic component. Cancer, for example, occurs when cell division goes wrong. By more effectively reducing and repairing the mistakes that happen in cell division, chiropractic might help reduce stress on your body with clearer communication.
NUTRITION IS KEY
We all know diet is important – but assimilation of nutrition is crucial. A healthy body looks different on every person – you might be fit or lean, but it does not necessarily mean you’re well. Additionally, it’s not just what we eat but how well our body is able to assimilate this nutrition. Just having great food is not enough – remember, wellness is a holistic approach to health and you must look at your nutrition in the same way, too. There is not a “one size fits all” approach or formula to how we practice health – there are so many factors to consider.
As a certified food, lifestyle and wellness coach, I’m not prescriptive with my training and even though I studied nutrition with an elective in superfoods, I prefer you figure out what works best for you – because, as clichéd as it sounds, you know what is best for you. However, there are so many confident, complex and even contradictory “diets” these days that many of us have become confused or given up. The grapefruit diet, protein diet, Israeli army diet, Paleo diet, carbohydrate diet, water fasting, vegetarianism, veganism, FODMAP, gluten-free, no sugar, dairy-free and countless more.
My tip? Keep it simple. Eat as close to nature and organic where possible. Modern foods are so full of hormones and pesticides that the nutritional and mineral content is questionable. It is the vitamin and mineral content that we need in order to feel full or satisfied. This is called “satiation”. The micro-nutrition in food is what we need for food to not act as medicine – it is when the food actually is medicine.
We will only feel satiated, or satisfied, when our brains have been fed with enough nutrition. Nutrition is the nutritional content, not the calories or portion. That part of the brain responsible for switching off the hunger mechanism when you are satiated nutritionally will only switch off when it has enough micro-nutrition, when it has been fed with whole fresh foods that may have vitamins and minerals like iron, folate, magnesium, vitamin C and zinc.
When we eat too many processed foods we need to realise they have been through a “process”. That’s why they’re called “processed foods”. During the process of starting out as a whole food source, and becoming processed, they’re stripped of their micro-nutrition and no longer have nutritional content to make you feel full or well. This is why whenever you eat “junk” or “fast” foods you can keep going on eating them. The part of the brain responsible for switching off the hunger mechanism never feels satiated.
LIMIT ALCOHOL
Alcohol has been a part of human culture since the earliest written records – and for good reason. In moderation it can aid digestion, act as a social lubricant and relieve stress, but in excess the health effects are disastrous. Over time, excessive alcohol consumption creates yet another chemical toxicity and permanently damages the brain and central nervous system, as well as the liver, heart, kidneys and stomach. It’s a simple statistical fact that heavy drinkers have shorter lives, and the life they have is much more prone to minor and major health problems.
Alcohol may accelerate normal ageing or cause premature ageing of the brain and its effects can make some medical problems difficult to diagnose. For example, alcohol causes changes in the heart and blood vessels, and this can dull pain that might otherwise give warning of an incipient heart attack. It can also cause forgetfulness and mental confusion which resembles Alzheimer’s Disease. By decreasing the amount of alcohol you consume, you will definitely turn back your biological clock.
If you decide to detoxify, begin by reducing the amount you drink in any one session and slowly increase the periods of time when you don’t consume alcohol at all. If you’re a wine lover you might like to explore the many organic varieties – these contain no preservatives and will be a healthier choice. When celebrating or socialising, try to alternate alcohol with other drinks so that you consume less. Try a sparkling mineral water with fresh lime, or a cranberry juice.
The lack of water in your body will make you feel tired, disoriented and grumpy, and if the dehydration continues it can cause allergies, asthma and chronic pain. In the long-term, insufficient water promotes a variety of degenerative diseases such as heart disease and arthritis, as well as heartburn, weight and obesity problems, chronic constipation, headaches and migraines, attention disorders, depression and hypertension. If the lack of water does all this, what do you think proper hydration can do?
Adults need 2.5 litres of water a day because water hydrates your body, which has a host of beneficial effects – it improves energy and concentration levels, reduces the frequency of headaches and migraines, assists in weight loss, flushes the kidneys and helps prevent the formation of kidney stones. It also detoxifies the body by facilitating the removal of cellular waste products and reduces blemishes and plumps out wrinkles, giving your skin a glowing, supple, youthful appearance. Indeed, pure simple water is one of the best anti-ageing agents available, and by far the cheapest.
RECHARGE
Have you realised your sleep isn’t as good or as long as it used to be? It’s not just about the fact we are reading emails, text messages, surfing online, etc… for more hours now. It’s not just about the extra time spent – it’s about the time of day we are choosing to spend it. We need to at least carefully choose the time of day in which we use our technology for the sake of sleep. Perhaps choose a number of days, or indeed nights, when you choose to not look at your computer or phone screens right before you go to sleep.
Some people find it really hard to stop something they love. What if I told you that you can still have wellness and better health, just by choosing to stop an unhealthy habit only for a period of time, particularly at night? Try to fall asleep at least a few times a week without technology – synchronisation of your hormones to the lunar cycle will not only help you sleep better and produce more melatonin (sleep hormone) but give your body a better chance or recharging and rejuvenating.
Andi Lew shares her secrets to slowing ageing and general wellbeing in her new book, Connected: A Paradigm Shift In How We View Health, available in book stores across Australia, $25.95rrp — ebook on kindle and www.andilew.com $15.95rrp
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vivacious and effervescent, our wellness expert Andi Lew’s radiant energy is often described as contagious. She’s been described in the media as “naturally up” and is often told she looks 15 years younger. And there’s a reason for it – what she teaches is wellness and it works!
For the full article grab the March 2021 issue of MAXIM Australia from newsagents and convenience locations. Subscribe here.
