Why Are We So Sick and Tired?

Human beings are rational creatures. We have a strong survival instinct that, along with our reasoning and communication capabilities, has established us as the dominant species. So why is America, with its vast pool of resources an opportunities, the sickest richest nation on the planet?

Are we so far removed from our evolutionary roots that we no longer have the urge to survive?

I believe that our survival rationale as human beings is stronger than ever—and that it is being attacked with more fervor than ever before, but also more secretly and silently. There is a reason we so resist following dietary rules and developing “lifestyles.” There is a reason we self-sabotage our relationships while rising to the top of the career chain. There is a reason antidepressants are the number one prescribed drug for adults ages 20 to 59.

There is a reason over one million Americans die each year of heart disease and cancer combined—so-called silent killers whose signs we continuously ignore. There is a reason we are dying of chronic preventable disease. There is a reason 8 million Americans have an eating disorder, which has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.

We are not unaware of the reasons. We fight against them every day in a battle for survival. Given a lack of viable options, we will choose the lesser of two or three or a hundred evils to get us through the day, the week, the illness, the divorce. And we don’t even realize it. We say, “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I…? I have no self-discipline. I have no willpower. I must be crazy.”

We have forgotten how to listen to ourselves. And yet our bodies and minds keep making decisions for us, day after day, keeping us alive.

Food therapy, my interpretation of the health coaching training I received at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, addresses this disconnect. It addresses the reasons in our lives that we are not in communication with our bodies, even though they are shouting at us. It addresses the reasons we do things we know are bad for us, or don’t do things we know are good for us. It’s not because we’re ignorant, weak, or pathetic. It’s because we’re constantly given conflicting information. It because we’re told we not only can do it alone, but we’re supposed to do it alone. It’s because we do not know how to listen, and we’ve forgotten what it’s like to be listened to.

Sound vague. It’s not. It’s concrete, simple, and very, very individual. But not independent. Want to know more?