These days, with so much information coming out on any health topic, it can be hard to know what to believe.Sometimes the advice comes from a media outlet so you may take it with a grain of salt. Other times it comes from more official guidelines so you pay a little more attention to it. Or it has been something we’ve heard so often we just assume it must be true. You’d be surprised how often it’s not.
Fortunately, despite all of us in our practice having more standard hobbies and interests, we all share a passion for health research and finding out the real truth. Each week we bounce ideas back and forward with each other and swap podcast suggestions. When you average listening to 3 a day like I do, you quickly accumulate a fair amount of data on any topic!
To make things a little easier for you, this email will include some initial conventional thoughts on health topics or advice and we will follow this with our counter-thoughts on why we may not completely agree with the conventional view. We will post more in the coming weeks. We’ll attach some podcasts with each idea if you are curious to explore more how we formed that view.
If you have any questions on any of these feel free to email us back. We’d love to hear from you. If you feel you would benefit from more substantial guidance, come see us for an appointment.
Conventional View
- Eat less, move more, if you want to lose weight.
Our View
- We believe this model may work for some, but it is hard to sustain for most people. If it’s working for you and you enjoy it, great! Carry on! If it isn’t, maybe it’s time to try a different tactic. Our view is it would be much better to choose foods that make you eat less. One such tactic would be to target foods with a higher protein %. Refined carbs and fats are super easy to overeat, and you become hungry again quite soon after. Mainly as they often have insufficient protein and minerals, so you overeat the foods trying to get there.
Concerning ‘moving more,’ we align with this in general terms but maybe not much for weight loss. It’s a much smaller lever than nutrition is. You also want to make sure you have targeted the correct form of exercise. We aren’t a big fan of endless cardio in our practice. The reasons for this are explained below.
Conventional View
- Daily cardiovascular activity is the best form of exercise.
Our View
- Cardiovascular activity can be a great addition to any exercise program. The problem is, it is usually done at the expense of regular resistance training. In our practice, we think muscle is the organ of longevity, and training should emphasise this. Resistance training is way better at this than cardiovascular activity is. Marathon running will get you better at marathon running, but overall other markers for health are often worsened. Have a listen to the podcast attached for more information on this. Shorter bouts of exercise with higher intensity promotes much better health. If you enjoy the longer distances, please be mindful of overtraining and consider shifting your focus onto alternating with resistance training.
Conventional View
- Stretch regularly for better flexibility.
Our View
- Nope, once again, resistance training is better here too.
We hope this convinces you that having a decent resistance training program, matched with a higher protein diet is essential for health. If you are struggling with where to start on either topic we would love to work with you.
Next time;
- Seed oils are heart healthy
- Eat grains, nuts and seeds
- Take your multivitamin daily
Resources:Podcast - Excellent chat with Sal di Stefano on his new book the Resistance Training Revolution. He also has a great recent chat with Dr Paul Saladino- https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/171-how-to-lose-fat- smash-weight-loss-plateaus- age/id1379050662?i= 1000523145943 Podcast - The wonderful Dr Gabrielle Lyon on muscle being the organ of longevity and her experiences working as a geriatrician. https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/12-muscle-the-organ- of-longevity-with-dr- gabrielle-lyon/id1381257272?i= 1000416177627
Conventional Physiotherapy and Our Approach
Posted By Jamie Page
21/06/2021