A Rallying Cry for Wellness Influencers

Re-posted from http://www.metaboliceffect.com/a-rallying-cry-for-wellness-influencers

Over the last year I met and became pretty tight with Jonathan Bailor. You may have seen us here at Metabolic Effect recommend his book The Smarter Science of Slim. Jonathan and I get together on occasion and talk shop about research, clinical practice and the state of the health and fitness industry.

One of the things that has always confused both of us is the sometimes ridiculous nature of the health and fitness industry. There is often so much bickering back and forth. “Fat is the cause of disease!” “No, its not its carbohydrates!!” “Meat will kill you!” “My science is better than your science!” “My health guru said that’s not true, so your an idiot!” And on it goes.

Atkins, Paleo, Vegan, Vegetarian, Primal, Fasting etc. The arguments, confusion and frustration rage on and on. It is becoming a bit tiresome. If you realize humans crave certainty above all else, you can understand a little about this behavior. If you do something different, it can challenge what another person thinks they know and that often leads to the ridiculous side of human behavior and the desire to form teams and attack.

At Metabolic Effect the only team we are on is yours. And Jonathan feels the same way. Ultimately there is far more to agree on than there is to bicker about. Here is a message from Jonathan. I hope you will read and take it to heart.

—Jade Teta

The worldwide rate of obesity has more than doubled since 1980. There are now about as many overweight people alive as there were *total* people alive a century ago. The rate of diabetes and pre-diabetes has increased 100,000% in one century. More than 40 million children under the age of five are overweight.

This is ridiculous. And this is what we’re up against.

We’re not in a battle against one another. Nobody working to help others eat more real food is our adversary. We’re here to save lives, not to be right. It is a waste of our valuable time to argue with anyone who agrees that starvation is counterproductive.

So what may we be best served spending our time on? Three suggestions:

1. Celebrating our similarities rather than demonizing our differences.
2. Ignoring those who tear others down so we may maximize our time spent helping individuals who are calorie counting their way into and early grave.
3. Serving the 99% who remain trapped by mainstream calorie mythology rather than focusing on the 1% who have already been freed by real food.

And if we must go negative, let us focus our efforts on those who remain nameless and faceless; those corporations hell-bent on stuffing children with processed sweets, refined starches, and industrial fats, while working to convince adults that starvation is healthy. Those who profit off of others pain are the adversary; not those who genuinely seek to improve health and wellness—albeit through slightly different means.

Together we can turn the tides against the worst health crisis the modern world has ever seen. And we must. It is literally a matter of life and death.