An apple a day keeps the doctor away.Has there ever been a more true idiom?
In the same way that the story of the tortoise and the hare is rarely given the significance that it deserves, I think An Apple a Day is just as overlooked.
Originally phrased: Eat an apple on going to bed, and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread (written record from 1866), the idea was a simple one that even people in the mid-1800’s understood. Eating healthy food gives us better health and means we will see the doctor less.
Does it hold up though?
A computer modeling research study in 2013 came to the conclusion that for people over 50, including an apple a day in the diet could have the same effect of lowering cardiac events as giving a statin to the same population; without the negative side effects of long term prescription meds and for about the same cost.
Coach. Why the fuck are you writing about this?
Because it’s important!
There is so much to unpack here.
There is wisdom from the pastYes. Medical advancements have been wonderous the last 100 years. No, bloodletting, smoke enemas, and ingesting mercury, were not good medicine from the past. They didn’t get it all right. In the same way that modern medicine also does not get it all correct.
An apple a day became popular because people inherently knew the truth; there is an undeniable correlation between a healthful diet of good food and the health of our body.
How the hell has this been forgotten?
We spend so much time arguing about access to healthy food and environmental issues surrounding real food [which are important things to discuss for sure, BUT make NO MISTAKE…there are JUST as many issues, if not more, with the ultra processed and mass produced food industries!!!] that somehow it has almost become a negative to talk about a healthy real food diet.
Fucking insane.
WHAT you eat WILL determine your health. Period. End of story.
An apple a day is basically our ancestors telling us to eat real food regularly to ensure we are as healthy as we possibly can.
Your Doctor’s Are Letting You DownAnd they have been for a very long time.
Nothing against doctor’s, I love them and think they deserve our respect. That doesn’t mean that they are god’s and can do no wrong.
And the medical community IS committing a wrong against us.
Pills, prescriptions, procedures, and outdated basic nutrition knowledge. More than 66% of people are on at least one prescription. Sound familiar? I don’t blame individual physicians for this; it is the way they are trained and they are forced to work within a system that gives no significance to nutrition and diet.
I mean, donut shops in hospitals? Ensure drinks for the ailing elderly? WTF.
An apple a day. Real, whole food. Consistently. Keeps the doctor away because your health will be better.
Why isn’t the medical community focused on healthy nutrition? (That is a topic requiring several books).
Medicine has its place but not above focusing on healthy diet as our frontline defense.
Daily Habits###### Sick of me talking about this yet?
The highest praise I give my clients is when they do things habitually. No matter how seemingly insignificant they may appear. Because if I can get people to actually DO the things regularly it will build a habit.
When I start most clients we spend the first couple of months doing this. One or two habits to do daily. When they have become routine then we add one more. I have a current client who for 6 weeks we have only focused on adding 10 minutes of exercise during her lunch. I prescribed nothing else. In that time she has begun doing regular workouts with her son and has changed many aspects of her diet, which has led to her kids also eating healthier…even through the Christma holidays! Now, two months later we are just starting to talk about nutrition.
What happened?
When we establish a healthy habit it starts to spread out to other parts of our lives without any effort from us. This is why IT IS SO IMPORTANT to start simply. AND. To think about think on a long timeline. A year. Two years. A lifetime.
Enrolling in a 6 or 8 week ‘program’ where you start exercising, revamp your diet, give up everything you really enjoy, and requires a total reorganization of your daily life WILL NEVER WORK. You are wasting your time.
An apple a day. Seems simple.
Try it.
Literally, start eating an apple a day as a way to better health. Watch what happens over the next 3-5 months. I bet it will surprise you.
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Humans have garnered a wealth of wisdom over thousands of years. We are fools to ignore it.
You have heard the phrase An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away since childhood. It is far more significant than you have probably ever realized. Take some time today to truly think about. Then go buy some apples!
If you want to keep the doctor away and give yourself the best shot at a healthy life this is the secret.
Real food. Simple habits. Done regularly.
It really is that simple.
-Coach Taylor