How to Combat Physical Degeneration Influenced By Modern Society

As modern society has grown, our struggles have drastically decreased. Food is easy to access, heaters keep us warm and comfortable, specialized workers provide all the services we don’t know how to do, media keeps us entertained, and technology and transportation provide convenience. On the surface this might sound good, but all this luxury and comfort is weakening our species. 

Our health is suffering. Obesity, diabetes, cancer, diseases, and many other health problems are skyrocketing due to the insane amounts of sugar, vegetable oils, and processed junk food the average person consumes. (1, 2, 3, 4)

Our bodies are degenerating. Bone density and athleticism have drastically decreased leading to increased joint problems, decreased muscle mass, decreased cardiovascular health, and decreased mobility. (5) Overall our bodies are weaker than ever before and if we continue on this path, they will only get worse.

In order to combat this, to refuse the path of degeneracy, you must choose the path of struggle. This path is not easy, but it will make you far stronger both physically and mentally. 

Ways to Combat Physical Degeneration:

1) Eat An Ancestral Diet-

Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cavities, Alzheimer’s, and many cancers were not concerns of our hunter gather ancestors, yet they are insanely common in the modern world.

• In America “almost 30% of the adult population is obese and 70% is overweight and/or obese.” (6)
• In 2018, approximately 10.5% of Americans had diabetes, thats 34.2 million people. (2)
• Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in the US, killing about 647,000 Americans each year. (1, 4)
• “91% of Americans over 20 years old have had cavities at some point in their lives, with 27% of Americans over 20 having untreated cavities.” (7)
• It is estimated that 5.8 million people currently have Alzheimer’s disease in the US. (4)
• Cancer is the #2 killer of Americans, taking about 600,000 American lives each year (4)

How come our hunter gather ancestors rarely had these health problems, that affect a majority of the population today?

Primarily because of their Diet!

Our hunter gather ancestors ate real foods: meat, animal products, and some veggies. There food was fresh coming from wild healthy animals, pastoral animals with access to wide lands and fresh grass, and some veggies grown in healthy nutrient rich soil. As humans settled down in agricultural based towns, diets became more and more reliant on grains. People began to eat more and more plants as meat took the back burner. As civilization grew into what it is today, sugar, vegetable oils, refined carbohydrates, and processed junk food have come to make up a large portion of the average persons diet. 

The health issues began “when populations around the globe started turning to agriculture around 10,000 years ago, regardless of their locations and type of crops, a similar trend occurred: The height and health of the people declined, ” their lifespan decreased, their brain size shrunk, they got more infectious diseases, and they had more cavities (8).

Health has continued to decline as civilization has grown and diets have become high in sugar, vegetable oils, refined carbohydrates, and processed junk food. These modern foods (if you can even call them that) are making people fatter and sicker than they have ever been. Sugar and excessive carb consumption is causing insulin resistance, type 2 Diabetes, and obesity. Sugar and vegetable oil consumption is clogging our arteries leading to heart disease, strokes, and heart attacks. (3) And while filling up on processed junk food, people are not getting the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, collagen, and other nutrients they need to be healthy. 

So how can you properly fuel your body and avoid the health problems a majority of people face today?

Eat like our hunter gather ancestors:

2) Fast-

In our current society, food is rarely further than an arms reach away. With our pantries and grocery stores fully stocked, feelings of hunger are quickly and easily quenched. No more fasting until you have a successful hunt, hunger is a thing of the past.

On the surface this might sound good. We have more time and energy to focus on things other than acquiring food. However this convenience comes with many sacrifices. We miss out on all the health benefits of fasting (by fasting I mean abstaining from food for 16 hours or more)

Health Benefits of Fasting:

• Promotes Fat Burning
• Retain Muscle and Improve Body Composition
• Mental Sharpness
• Increase in Energy
• Cellular Regeneration and Anti-aging
• Reduced Risk of Diabetes
• Reduced Inflammation
• Improve Memory
• Increase Stem Cell Production
• Decrease Tumor and Cancer Growth
• Increased Cell Resistance to Stress

(9, 10)

For more details on each one of these benefits, check out my post on fasting.

By incorporating daily intermittent fasting (eating in an 8 hour window and then fasting for 16 hours) and occasional (like once a month) prolonged fasting (fasting for 24 plus hours), you can reap the health benefits listed above. You can also strengthen your will power since refraining from eating is not an easy task.

3) Weight Lift and Do Physical Training-

Our bodies are very adaptive to the environment. When placed under stress, they will adapt in ways to better deal with the stressor. Take lifting weights for example. Regularly lifting weights sends signals to our bodies that we need to lift heavy things in our daily lives. These signals tell our bodies to convert fat cells into muscle, bone, and nerve cells through a process called transdifferentiation. (3)

In the absence of stresses like exercise, your body prioritizes energy (fat) storage and can turn nerve, bone, and muscle cells into fat cells. Neglecting physical training leads to muscle loss, fat gain, decrease mobility, decreased cardiovascular health, and decreased bone density. (3)

With the comforts of modern society, physical exertion has become entirely optional. Walking for miles and running after animals to hunt is not necessary when you can buy food from the grocery store or restaurants. Chopping firewood is not necessary when you can press a button for instant heat. Building shelters is not necessary when you can pay for a prebuilt home.

However, for our hunter gather ancestors, physical exertion was a necessary daily activity and they were stronger because of it. According to Live Science, a resent study found that human bone joint density was high throughout human evolution until it drastically decreased when shifting to a more sedentary and agricultural lifestyle. “Throughout our skeleton, our joints are about three-quarters to one-half as dense as those of our early human ancestors and those of other modern primate species.” (5)

So how can we regain bone density and build strong muscles?

Through Physical Training!

Weight lifting, running, calisthenics, gymnastics, martial arts, and various other forms of physical training can help to strength our bodies. Weight lifting is particularly effective for increasing bone density. Live an active life, stress your muscles, and you will be stronger because of it.

4) Increase Unstructured Physical Activity-

Long ago, people were active throughout the day. They hunted, foraged, built homes and weapons, chopped wood, cooked, collected water, and were generally very active throughout the day. In modern times, office jobs, cars, and television has lead the average person to sit for more than half of their walking hours.

Excessive sitting is harming our health. It has been linked to decreased life expectancy, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and increased body fat. Studies found that sitting for 6 or more hours a day raised one’s chances of death in the next 15 years by 40% compared to someone who sits less than 3 hours a day, regardless if they exercised or not. (12) People with sitting jobs have twice the rate of cardio vascular disease as people with standing jobs. This is probably partially due to the 20% decrease in HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol that helps clear your arteries and prevent heart disease) that occurs after 2 hours of sitting.(12) Obesity is also far more common in those with sedentary lifestyles. This is because sitting hardly burns any calories and remaining sedentary for long periods of time significantly decreases levels of lipoprotein lipase (the enzyme responsible for converting stored body fat into energy). (12) Thus you burn hardly any fat while sitting.

How unstructured activity can benefit you:

Increasing non-exercise activity will increase the number of calories you burn, helping you to burn fat and maintain a healthy weight. It will also get your blood flowing, decrease risk of cardiovascular disease, increase your lifespan, and keep you mobile.

Ways to increase unstructured physical activity:

• garden
• bike or walk instead of driving
• go on hikes
• clean your house
• chop firewood
• stretch
• buy stuff from the store instead of online
• play with your kids
• do yard work
• get an activity tracker and set a daily step goal
• if sitting for long periods of time, set a timer to get up and move every 30 minutes
• do active things with friends (like hikes and walks) instead of sedentary activities
• take up an active hobby like archery, knife/ax throwing, rock climbing, or woodworking

5) Expose Yourself to the Cold-

Along time ago, when winter came around, humans had to deal with the cold. There were no heaters. There were fires, but people couldn’t huddle around the fire all day, they had work to do. Hunting, foraging, chopping wood, training, gathering water, and other daily tasks were necessities that were done in the cold. People’s frequent exposure to the cold lead them to adapt and better endure the cold. 

But how does that work?

When exposed to the cold, your body converts white fat into brown fat. 

White Fat- is the main type of fat. It stores energy in large fat droplets under the skin (subcutaneous) and around your internal organs (visceral fat). (13) A little bit of white fat is necessary for cushioning, hormone secretion, and energy storage. But too much leads to a slew of health problems such as obesity, metabolic disfunction, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. 

Brown Fat- stores energy in smaller fat droplets and is packed with iron-rich mitochondria, which cause the brown color. Brown fat generates heat without shivering but by burning white fat. (13)

With frequent exposure to the cold, your brown fat increases helping you stay warm and get leaner by burning up white fat. But thats not all cold exposure does for your health. 

Other Benefits of Cold Exposure:

• improves cardiovascular circulation
• improves lymphatic circulation
• boosts metabolism, lowers blood sugar, and can help with weight management
• reduces inflammation and pain
• improves immune response
• improves mental focus
• boosts your mood
• improves mental resilience

(13, 14, 15, 16)

How to Incorporate Cold Exposure into Your Life:

• Take cold showers (start easy with 30 seconds and work your way up to a couple of minutes)
• Jump in cold lakes, rivers, oceans, waterfalls, baths, etc.
• Ditch the heater and jacket, embrace being a little cold.
• Sit outside in the cold in the morning while focusing on your breath for a few minutes
• Keep your house, office, and car at a cooler temperature throughout the day. 

While it won’t be comfortable, cold exposure will help you regain some of the lost strength of our ancestors, all the while making you a healthier and tougher person. 

6) Walk Barefoot-

Modern shoes are fucking up our feet! They push your toes together with a narrow toe box, lead you to unnaturally walk heal first because of the raised heal, and they don’t allow your feet to build tough calluses because of the thick sole. They also detach us from our environment.

When walking barefoot, you can feel the texture and temperature of the earth. You are more careful with each step. You begin to notice what types of rocks are smooth and which are rough. You notice which plants are soft and which are prickly. You become more aware of the surrounding environment.

Walking barefoot also forces you to walk more naturally. You end up walking lighter on your feet and ball first. This in turn puts less pressure on your joints decreasing your chances of joint pain and injury.

When you want to wear shoes, choose minimalist shoes. That is shoes with a thin sole, a wide toe box, and no heal (AKA zero drop shoes). Like moccasins or these trail running shoes I wear:

7) Fix Posture-

Our posture adapts to our lifestyle. If you spend a lot of time hunched over a keyboard or slouched in a chair your body will adapt to these positions. Your chest muscles will shorten and become tight, while your back muscles will become stretched and weak. This “poor posture” restricts your shoulder joint and does not allow for full range of motion. This can lead to shoulder injuries, especially for weight lifters and athletes.

On the other hand, if you regularly keep your body in the “good posture,” shown in the diagram above, your chest muscles will loosen, your back muscle will tighten and grow stronger, your shoulder mobility will improve, shoulder pain will likely go away, and you will appear taller and more confident.

Changing to a more optimal and natural posture (“Good Posture”), can vary in difficulty depending on where you are starting from. I have found it very beneficial to including posture correcting exercises into my routine. Things like chest stretches, trap strengthening movements, and shoulder mobility exercises. I recommend these two videos if you want to learn more about posture correcting exercises: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-7ZWPCWv0U and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsmeXwHu6W0

8) Fix Tongue Posture-

Correct tongue posture (AKA mewing (a term coined by Dr Mike Mew)) is something most people don’t know about, yet it can do wonders for your health, teeth alignment, and facial attractiveness. Correct tongue posture can help spread and straighten teeth, strengthen your tongue and jaw muscles, improve sleep apnea, and improve your facial structure (creates a strong jawline, hollow checks, and decreases neck fat). (19, 20)

Mewing makes people look more attractive and their is a strong correlation between health and attractiveness. Just think of someone who eats well, exercises, and is strong and lean vs. someone who eats crap, never exercises, and is overweight. Not too hard to picture, the healthier one is almost always more attractive and there is a biological reason for this. We find healthier people more attractive because mating with healthy people increases the chances of our children being healthy and surviving. My point is that health and beauty go hand in hand. Mewing makes people both more attractive and healthier.

Now how do you mew?

“Proper tongue positioning is where the tongue rests at the top of the mouth, sitting about 1/2 inch behind the front teeth. Your entire tongue (including the back) should be pressing against the roof of the mouth, your lips should be sealed and your teeth should rest slightly apart” (19). Your tongue will block your airway so you must breath through your nose when mewing. If you want to learn to mew, I suggest watching some youtube videos. That really helped me and I think it’s the easiest way to learn. Here’s a good video to start with. Dr. Mike Mew’s youtube channel is another good resource. He has videos on tongue posture, tongue chewing, proper swallowing techniques, and more.

9) Spend Time in Nature-

Forests, great plains, mountains, deserts, and beaches are our original homes. Man was born immersed in nature and it’s not until recently that many people have become detached from it. Spending more time in cities, offices, homes, and buildings than in the great outdoors. While spending time in nature often makes us feel better, there is actually evidence that it improves our health.

Spending time outside increases our mental health. It causes the release of serotonin (a neurotransmitter that makes us happy) and lowers stress levels by decreasing cortisol and adrenaline (stress hormones). It also gives us a break from our busy daily lives and the stimulus of the modern world. This in turn helps calm the mind and bring clarity and focus. (21)

Time outside also means more sunlight exposure which means more Vitamin D. Vitamin D is an important nutrient that over 40% of Americans are deficient in. It increases the absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus; promotes normal immune function, bone growth and development; and reduces the risk for some cancers. (22, 23)

Time in nature has also been shown to decrease blood pressure and reduce the risk of asthma, allergies, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, while boosting injury recovery, reducing symptoms of ADHD, and increasing life expectancy. (21)

So make sure to get outside often. Your mind and body will thank you for it.

Conclusion

This was a long article so lets recap. 9 things you can do to combat physical degeneration influenced by modern society are:

1. Eat an ancestral diet
2. Fast
3. Weight lift and do physical training
4. Increase unstructured physical activity
5. Expose yourself to the cold
6. Walk barefoot
7. Fix posture
8. Fix tongue posture
9. Spend time in nature

Doing these things can help you regain some of the lost strength of our species. Through challenges and struggles one becomes both mentally and physically stronger.

 Works Cited

1. “Heart Disease Facts.” Center For Disease Control. Accessed 31 March 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm

2. “Statistics About Diabetes.” American Diabetes Association. Accessed 31 March 2020. https://www.diabetes.org/resources/statistics/statistics-about-diabetes

3. Shanahan, Catherine. Deep Nutrition. New York: Flat Iron Books. 2016. Print.

4. Tavella, Vincent J. “What are the leading causes of death in the US?” Medical News Today. 4 July 2019. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282929

5. Choi, Charles Q. “Bone Density Drop in Modern Humans Linked to Less Physical  Activity.” Live Science. 23 December 2014. https://www.livescience.com/49236-bone-density-human-evolution.html

6. “How Agriculture Ruined Your Health (and What to Do About It).” Mark’s Daily Apple. Accessed 29 March 2020. https://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-agriculture-ruined-your-health-and-what-to-do-about-it/

7. “How Common Are Cavities?” Riverstone Dental Care. 16 October 2017. https://www.riverstonedentalcare.com/blog/how-common-are-cavities/

8. “Dawn of agriculture took toll on health.” Science Daily. 18 June 2011. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110615094514.htm

9. Berg, Eric. “Amazing Benefits of Prolonged Fasting.” drberg.com. 18 October 2018. https://www.drberg.com/blog/amazing-benefits-of-prolonged-fasting

10. Gunnars, Kris. “10 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting.” Healthline. 16 August 2016. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting

11. “Conan – O Bárbaro (Conan – The Barbarian, 2011).” Cinema Sem Frescura. 15 September 2011. https://www.cinemasemfrescura.com.br/2011/09/conan-o-barbaro-conan-barbarian-2011.html

12. Denton, Mansal. “Why Sitting is Killing You.” Life Hack. Accessed 2 April 2020. https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/why-sitting-is-killing-you.html

13. Wiess, Danielle. “Understanding the Differences Between White and Brown Fat.” The Chopra Center. 9 February 2017. https://chopra.com/articles/understanding-the-differences-between-white-and-brown-fat

14. Heino, Katija. “Why Cold Plunging is Part of My Morning Routine (Benefits of Cold Therapy).” Savory Lotus. Accessed 31 March 2020. https://www.savorylotus.com/benefits-of-cold-therapy/

15. “How Brown Fat Can Help You Shed Pounds.” Super Bio. 4 October 2016. https://www.superbioprobiotic.com/blog/BOSVIEW/How-Brown-Fat-Can-Help-You-Shed-Pounds/

16. Marcin, Ashley. “Brown Fat: What You Should Know.” Healthline. 22 January 2018. https://www.healthline.com/health/brown-fat#1

17. “Best Parkour Shoe.” Tapp Brothers Online Parkour Academy. 10 January 2013.  https://learnmoreparkour.com/best-parkour-shoe/

18. “Make Good Posture a Priority.” Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi. Accessed 28 March 2020. https://www.bcbsms.com/be-healthy/news-articles/make-good-posture-a-priority

19. Mandanas, Owen. “Tongue Positioning: What It Is and How It Helps.” Owen Mandanas DDS. 16 January 2018. https://ladydentistanchorage.com/tongue-positioning-what-it-is-and-how-it-helps/

20. “Mewing: The Ultimate Guide.” Magnum Workshop. Accessed 28 March 2020. https://magnumworkshop.com/mewing-the-ultimate-guide/

21.”Immerse Yourself in a Forest for Better Health.” Department of Environmental Conservation. Accessed 3 April 2020. https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/90720.html

22. Legg, Timothy J. “What Are the Benefits of Sunlight?” Healthline. 25 May 2018. https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/benefits-sunlight

23. “The Benefits of Vitamin D.” Healthline. 13 November 2017. https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/benefits-vitamin-d