An overview of the Ancestral Health Conference – New Zealand, Wellington March 28th

Do you identify your weight or body size with being healthy and happy?

Last weekend I was down in Wellington for the Ancestral Health conference that is held twice a year around the New Zealand. The theme of the day was”Surviving the Urban Jungle”

Link to the abstracts of presentations here

The talks were all extremely engaging. One theme that came through in the talks was our relationship to our bodies.

As a culture we have become obsessed with a certain limited number of measures that we link to wellness or success.
For example – being a certain weight or look (“a woman can never be too thin” “strong is the new skinny”) or BMI dictates how we judge how well we are.

How we look (can you see your six-pack, or your hip-bones girls?) makes us feel worthwhile and successful. The weight on the scales sets up how we feel about ourself every day.

Yet these measures often have nothing to do with real success in the whole journey of life.
Anastasia (Dr Anastasia Boulais) talked us through the actual studies on BMI – where if you have a higher BMI – you are less likely to die in hospital for example.(Weight loss: the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow)
Kate talked about the fact that if you are female with body fat so low you can see your 6 pack – you may well suffer fertility problems, along with a highly stressed system, lack of periods, messed up hormones, excess stress hormones and osteoporosis. (Fertility vs famine – a delicate balance of survival)
Jamie Scott reminded us that if we look great but can’t survive the physical and mental challenges that come with a disaster like the Christchurch earthquake, our body is pretty much useless. (Survival of the fittest)

Here is one possible set of measures to judge your body by:

• Can you sprint away from danger? Climb a wall or run over rough terrain, carry or drag another person if needed?
• Do you have enough body fat to support healthy hormones and fertility?
• Do you have nutrition reserves to get you through a patch of physical stress like being sick or injured – muscle mass, fat reserves and nutrients like adequate vitamin, mineral and vitamin D stores?
• Does your lifestyle and diet (nutrient status, sleep, sun, movement, socialization) support a healthy mental outlook and maximise your brain’s ability to work and deal with stress?
• Do you tolerate the ups and downs in life well? Have you mental reserves to deal with unexpected stress?
• Do you feel at your physical and mental peak most of the time?
• Are your measures of stress and inflammation low?

How about throwing the scales away and start focussing on the measures that will make your body and mind maximally functional?

Perhaps you could start with the following daily checklist:

• Did you get 8 hours sleep last night?
• Did you eat a high nutrient diet yesterday – getting adequate protein, essential fats, fibre, polyphenols and micronutrients?
• Have you been out in the sun already today?
• Have you exposed your skin to the sun at regular intervals to get adequate vitamin D to build your immunity for winter coming up?
• Have you spent time doing what is important – doing something that forwards an important goal in you life? (not displaced by something urgent)
• Have you socialized – spent real-time in the company of real people?
• Have you done exercise that supports function – lifting weights, moving fast, practicing a physical skill?
• Have you spent time in touch with nature in the last day, like a walk in the park, or gardening?
• Have you allowed yourself down-time, or relaxation?
• Have you done a fun thing for you in the last day?

There may be other things you could add to your list – but perhaps you could start by ditching the scales and start focussing on having a maximally functional body and mind.

The next conference

I’m really excited by the next Ancestral Health Conference which has an international line-up of speakers and will be held on Labour Weekend down in beautiful Queenstown.

Mark it in your diary, and don’t miss this exciting event!

More here “Looking Back Moving Forward”