A healthy lifestyle involves so much more than just the food that we eat. Forks Over Knives physicians Dr Alona Pulde and Dr Matthew Lederman share their nine pillars for a happier, healthier life
1 Focus on self
When you suppress your feelings and needs to stay attached and in (artificial) harmony with others, you signal to your body that your authentic self is dangerous to share; this triggers the physiological state of threat or high alert. When this happens, we stimulate pro-inflammatory responses, which in turn supports chronic disease. In addition, you validate the behaviour that continues suppressing and repressing, so that you enter an ongoing downward cycle.
2 Think nutrition
When your body ingests toxins or poisons, it perceives threat and deploys a host of inflammatory cellular reactions to fight off and eliminate those toxins. If the food we consume is not recognised by the body as our natural fuel, then it will be seen as a toxin or poison, triggering the physiological state of threat or high alert.
When we consume food that doesn’t weigh us down with salt, fat, sugar and cholesterol after each meal, our bodies feel nourished, strong and revitalised. When we can eat delicious, natural, health-promoting food until satisfied, we feel energised afterwards.
3 Stay active
When your body doesn’t move, it assumes that there must be some threat that is preventing you from being active. Our natural state is to be mobile, so when sedentary, your body will trigger a threat response to try to reverse whatever is preventing our natural level of activity. When this happens, we stimulate pro-inflammatory responses, which in turn supports chronic disease.
Once we restore activity in our life, our body will turn off the physiological state of threat or high alert and shift us back to a state of safety.
4 Don’t forget to play!
Playing, or ‘being’, is about making space to be present without the sense of having to do or accomplish something. You cannot play and be anxious at the same time. When we play, we are essentially telling our body that all is safe.
The creation and holding of space ‘to be’ instead of ‘doing’ is the key, along with trusting that what will naturally come out of that space will be more wonderful than something you could ‘force’. Play doesn’t just feel good; it signals to the body that at least in this moment, life is wonderful.
5 Sleep well
Humans are the only animal on this planet that deliberately interferes with, and restricts, sleep. As far as your body is concerned, the only reason you wouldn’t sleep is if it isn’t safe to do
