We hear about a new superfood, a new-but-old dietary approach or some other way to achieve optimal health all the time. I’m not saying that these are bunk. I love myself some adaptogenic tea and acupressure facials. Here’s the thing – many people are missing out on the most basic health habits. Are you?
These are health practices Dr C Norman Shealy has been advocating for decades. He recently spoke about them at the 2018 Medical and Spiritual Intuitive workshop in San Diego.
Dr Shealy is a pioneer in so many ways. He is a neurosurgeon, a specialist in pain relief, inventor, and a holistic medical doctor. I have shared before his acupressure sequences that can boost hormonal balance and enhance healthy longevity.
“A wizard-genius-scientist-mystic-physician” is how Medical Intuitive Caroline Myss introduces him. She further credits meeting and working with Dr Shealy as pivotal to putting her on the path of what came to be known as medical intuition. You may know Caroline Myss from her amazing work in archetypes and sacred contracts.
The 5 Basic Health Habits
- Body Mass Index or BMI between 18 and 24
- No Smoking
- 5+ Daily Servings of Fruit or Vegetables
- Exercise 30 minutes a day, five days a week
- Sleep 7 to 8 hours
In Dr Shealy’s observation, most Americans do not follow these habits. Yet living conscientiously and observing just one of these habits decreases risk of disease.
Taking the Next Step
Now that you know what these five basic health habits are, will you be implementing them all? If not, what is the reason? Dr Shealy also feels baffled why not more people can make good on these habits. It is indeed interesting that the anti-aging industry is a multi-billion-dollar business and yet these free health habits are often overlooked, dismissed, or ignored.
If you feel overwhelmed, start with one. Maybe walk 15 minutes every day by taking the bus or stairs and a stroll after dinner. Cook one additional meal each week. Turn off your wifi and put away your phone an hour earlier in the evening. Then include more of these basic health habits. It gets easier especially when you start to feel more energized.
These five basic health habits are foundational. It’s a starting point and creates greater resilience to meet life’s challenges. Dr Shealy told author of Lyme Madness Lori Dennis, “If you have the world’s best health habits, you can tolerate a lot of negative stress…Only 2.7% of the world’s population practices essential lifestyle habits. Anything less than this, if you smoke, eat junk food, don’t exercise, you are a sitting duck.”1
If you have these basic health habits down packed, bring more bliss enhancers into your life. Have a strong social and support network, keep a positive attitude, release anger, guilty, anxiety, and depression, and spend 20 minutes minimum a day to develop your spirituality.
Living Well and Well Beyond 100
Did you know that our lifespan is easily beyond 100? Dr Shealy believes that our DNA at birth equips us to live 100 years. This is based on a 1% decrease per year in our telomeres. What are telomeres? They are the non-coding DNA at the end of our chromosomes that shorten with each cellular division. When the telomeres get too short cells stop replicating.
However, his work has led him to also know we can regrow our telomeres three to five percent a year. His own research using a current from a Tesla coil and copper, for example, has shown telomeres regenerating.
Research shared in The Telomere Effect also shows that these five basic health practices do make a difference in our telomeres and telomerase, the enzyme that replenishes the telomeres. We now know that they respond to our lifestyle choices.
It is not merely about extending the quantity of life, it is the quality of life as well that Dr Shealy promotes and helps people with. If you desire a resilient personality and resilient spirit, start with these five basic health habits.
1 The Vanguard of Holistic Medicine Shares His Views on Chronic Lyme by Lori Dennis, MA,RP [link]
