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If you are anything like me, your gastrointestinal system is starting to shudder - too much turkey, too much ham, too much Christmas pudd - just too much of everything! It sure didn’t help when I ate trifle for Boxing Day breakfast – delicious though 😊
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying some quiet time before the New Year celebrations begin. I love this time of year for plenty of uninterrupted reading. I have a novel on the go – the final in the seven sisters series “Atlas – the story of Pa Salt,” the author, Lucinda Riley, died as she was writing the novel and it has been finished by her son, Harry Whittaker. Every time I pick the book up it’s a reminder that life is fragile, often too short and we need to live every moment because we don’t know what’s around the corner.
I also have a non-fiction book on the go, “Outlive – The Science and Art of Longevity,” by Peter Attia, MD. In this book, he differentiates between “life-span” and “health-span” (how long we live free from chronic disease) and describes the dangers and preventability of “The Four Horsemen” – cardiovascular disease, cancer, cognitive diseases (such as dementia) and metabolic diseases (such as Type 2 diabetes).
What I like about Peter Attia’s work is that as a medical doctor he recognises that lifestyle and diet play a huge role in climbing out of chronic disease state or preventing the disease in the first place and questions the path modern medicine has taken us, where we look too quickly for simple solutions.
For example, 60% of Americans do not get enough physical exercise, yet starting from zero and getting to 90 minutes a week will result in a 15% reduction in all-cause mortality – including a reduction of death rates from “The Four Horsemen” – I doubt there are any pharmaceutical companies which would come close to that result for chronic disease results.
And to complete the book recommendation share, I asked Darcy what he is reading this Christmas, his answer may not excite you (it certainly didn’t excite me) – he is reading “The Principles of Pharmacology” by David Golan, Ehrin Armstrong and April Armstrong – well it’s on it’s 4th edition so maybe Darcy wins? Each to their own, I guess.
We would love to hear from you about your holiday reading or podcast recommendations – and clearly, nothing is off the table in terms of what we might find interesting. On of my “older” family members has recommended I listen to the podcast “Million Dollar Lover,” a true story about an 80 year old wealthy woman who partners up with a 57 year old homeless man, much to the horror of her family!
“At 80, Carolyn thought her days of love and romance were behind her: then she met Dave….” I can’t wait to start on this!
As we move into 2024 and get through the phase of eating trifle for breakfast – I encourage you to get back into eating food rich in prebiotic fibre for gut health and general health. Remember to try and aim for 30 species of fruit and vegetables a week, to get the variety of prebiotic fibres needed for good gut microbial diversity and also to give you a broad array of plant compounds and vitamins (read more here and here). I recommend the book “Fiber Fuelled,” by Will Bulsiewicz, if you would like to read more on this front.
Happy reading and listening and have a happy New Year and we will see you for our next blog in 2024!
Cheers, Anna and Darcy.
If you would like to discuss any of this further, please contact Darcy or Anna (who you can contact at +64 27 599 2255 or +64 27 4861418 respectively) or via info@zesttwellness.com.