Savage Living: Improving Health Through Salutogenesis By Recreating Our Ancestral Environment
There are many different opinions in natural health and in health in general. Most of the approaches to gaining or regaining health involve paying a lot of money for complicated machines, programs, therapies, supplements, exercises, potions, or elixirs that supposedly will bestow health upon the individual.
For thousands of years, humans were able to maintain their health without any of these means. Barring infection, trauma, poisoning, or starvation, animals in their natural environment very rarely get chronic disease- and humans are no different. Humans have used their brain to remove themselves from their environment for greater comfort. This is a good thing, but our health in terms of chronic disease has suffered. This is because our environment was what maintained our health naturally. These new contraptions aimed at improving our health either only help temporarily or they are a substitute for something that our ancestors could do or had to do on a regular basis just to survive.
There are so many health guides, but this guide is much different.
1. This guide is salutogenic. Instead of focusing on the “bad things” that cause disease so that we can remove them (pathogenesis), this guide focuses on the good things that should be pursued so that you can grow health.
2. This guide attempts to give free options wherever possible. Since our ancestors maintained health for free, we should be able to as well.
3. This guide attempts to give options to anyone- regardless of physical ability. Some people are already too sick to pursue the options our ancestors would have had to engage in, so the guide will offer options that are more physically accessible. Although these options may cost money or more time.
4. This guide is comprehensive. It is not a deep dive into any one topic like a book aimed at ‘Diet’ or ‘Exercise’. This guide will cover a wide variety of topics so that the individual can make action steps towards better health in every aspect of their life or whichever aspects they choose to pursue.
5. This guide is action-oriented. My biggest pet peeve with health books is that many spend about 90% of their content convincing you with research that they are right. Then, in a couple of pages, they teach you what to do. Usually, when I purchase a book, I am already sold on the concept. I just want to know what to do! This guide spends much less time on research (there is still a good amount), and much more time telling you what to do and how to do it.
It is important to learn about what things can cause disease. It is equally important to learn what activities can cause health to grow. Learn how to grow your own health through the re-creation of your ancestral environment- the environment your genes were made to thrive in!