SUPERHEALTH WITH KYLE DREW
What Are "Normal" Health Habits?
by Kyle Drew

Happy Father's Day, Michigan!

This month, I’ve been writing a lot of articles about my own dad, (who, along with my mom, define what “hero” is for my siblings and myself). I’ll include him in this one, and in so doing, try to communicate how difficult it is sometimes to determine what “normal” is for people’s health habits.

Dad is an anomaly. He’s 87 years old, eats poorly, smokes a pipe and doesn’t take a single supplement. Like a lot of men in “The Greatest Generation,” my dad fought in the second World War, and then went back to work the day after returning home from several years of fighting. Complaining about things that are less-than-ideal makes no sense to him.

Despite his age and bad health habits, dad has always been the picture of strength and health. I can’t remember dad being sick. I can’t remember dad being unable to do something due to fatigue. I’ve never seen dad “stressed out.”

Dad was 48 when I was born. This means that when I wanted to go shag fly balls or go fishing and hunting, dad was nearly 60! He’d come home from work in the summertime – five years from “retirement” – only to find me waiting at the door with the ball gloves and bat, along with a little water to help cool us down from being in the 100-degree Oklahoma sun. Yet, despite his age, his pipe habit, his all-day labor and his paltry fried food diet, he’d simply put his briefcase down, grab a ball glove and head to the park with me. That’s my dad.

I’m different. I grew up sick. Headaches, psoriasis, upper respiratory infections, asthma, depression, high cholesterol – a lot of stuff. I know what it means to have no energy. I know what it means to feel physically and emotionally vulnerable. And while dad is nearly a half a century older than I am and does nothing to keep his waistline perfectly trim, I have to work hard to keep the “spare tire” at bay.

So, which of us is “normal” – dad or me?

Well, I have to work hard to keep symptoms at bay, so I’m normal in that respect. Dad, on the other hand, eats like most average Americans, yet has the physical prowess of an athlete. So, I have “normal” struggles, and dad has “normal” habits.

“Normal” is such a helpful, yet often misleading notion. In some ways, it helps to know that we’re not alone in our challenges. In other ways, saying that “we’re just normal” sometimes feels like an excuse to do what the herd does, even if they’re heading off the edge of a cliff.

I’ve found this to be particularly true of mainstream, conventional medicine. The medical industry has incredibly disparate ways of defining what’s “normal.” For example, I’ve been studying a lot about hormonal difficulties. There’s something called “adrenal fatigue” in which a person’s adrenal glands become so stressed that they cannot make an adequate amount of stress hormones. The result is that a person simply feels exposed to every mild stressor coming his/her way. No matter how insignificant the situation, the stress it creates is overwhelming.

The problem is that the laboratory tests don’t alert doctors to “adrenal fatigue.” If your levels stay within a certain range, you’re “normal.” But in reading about lab values, I’ve discovered that medical lab values tend to show normalcy until it gets to the level for which there’s an adequate drug to prescribe to you. In other words, if there’s no drug for “adrenal fatigue,” they’ll just say you’re “normal” up until you get to the point that you’re experiencing complete “adrenal failure.” Only then do they have a symptom-reducing intervention they can prescribe, (since they really don’t believe in dietary or exercise interventions).

So, it seems that medicine often neglects you until you’re in a critical care, emergency state.

On the other hand, they’ve found that giving out statin drugs can artificially lower people’s cholesterol, no matter how high or low it is. Years ago, “normal” cholesterol was SO much higher than it is today. Only five short years ago, a cholesterol of 200 was just fine. Now, if your cholesterol is 180, doctors are trained by the pharmaceutical industry to put you on a statin drug, (despite the observation that deaths from heart attacks don’t seem to be reduced by statins). But because this drug works so predictably – as do the side effects – they’re campaigning to have your doctor put you on a statin drug “as a preventative measure.”

Even the public, in general, has altered perceptions of “normal.” A group of 20-year-olds was shown a series of pictures of individuals of varying physical sizes. The group was asked to identify each person as being “Normal,” “Skinny,” “Fat,” “Obese” or “Other.” The results were eye-opening. The overwhelming majority of pictures showing clinically overweight people were labeled as “Normal” by the group. People of average weight were labeled as “Skinny.” Truly skinny people were labeled, “Other,” and were described as “anorexic” or “dangerously ill.”

So, in the eyes of 20-somethings, “Fat” is the new “Normal.”

I say this because our society needs a massive recalibration project regarding health. We need to rediscover what is a normal meal size; a normal amount of sweets to enjoy; a normal amount of exercise; a normal amount of sleep; a normal amount of stress; a normal amount of bodyweight; and a truly normal laboratory reading. We are wildly – stunningly – out of balance in virtually every way.

When I counsel with people about health habits, they’re oftentimes stunned by the massive changes they need to make just to get back to rational. I realize that everyone in your office may do what you do, and I realize that you may have had a sugar habit for a long time, but six colas a day isn’t a normal amount of sugar or acidifiers for a body to process. Fake food all day every day isn’t something the body can handle. Sitting for 12 hours a day isn’t normal for a body that was designed to move.

As summer arrives, re-think what your perceptions of normal are. In some ways, you may find yourself radically out of step with how your body was designed to function. Getting back to balance may seem foreign for a while. But until we recalibrate, re-tool, and re-discover what “normal” is, our energy, our weight, and our happiness will suffer – even if our taste buds feel as though they’re being satisfied endlessly.

Trained in both chemistry and public relations, Kyle Drew has spent his entire professional life either in the conventional or alternative health industries. Drew resigned from the pharmaceutical sales industry after witnessing how medical decisions are made. He has worked with Doug Kaufmann since 2005 and offers nutritional counseling through the Health Food Center in Oklahoma City where he hosts the radio show, SuperHealth.

Those interested in contacting Kyle Drew for his nutritional counseling services can reach him at 646-222-0615, or check out his new Web site at www.KyleDrew.com.

DISCLAIMER: The information provided here is intended for educational purposes only. It is not meant to either directly or indirectly diagnose, give medical advice or prescribe treatment. Please consult with your physician or other licensed health care professional for medical diagnosis and treatment.