The Roots of The MAHA* Movement

5 True Ways to Be Healthy

Since the beginning of time, humans have been trying to figure out how to be healthy and live longer. Every era has had its natural healers (from indigenous people to witches), doctors of some sort, snake oil salesmen, explorers in search of the fountain of youth, and scientists who were trying to figure out the secrets to better health and beauty — the standards of which change like fashion and the way people dress. I grew up at ground zero of the modern health movement (since my grandfather and father were the editors of Organic Gardening and Prevention magazines). One of my earliest memories, in fact, was going to one of the very first Natural Product Expos in Washington, DC. I remember because the expo tables were at my eye height, and they had free samples of all sorts of things, the most memorable being Tiger Milk candy bars. My dad refused to let us eat candy, so my little brother and I were starving for it!

You can still see the contradictions of health play out at today’s Natural Product Expos. On one side of the expo halls are the greased and pumped bodybuilders with protein powders. On the other side are the small herbal hippie tables that emit the scent of Patchouli. In the middle are all the companies that have built giant empires in the organic, natural health, and diet space. Sprinkled throughout are the aggressive hucksters — both male and female, all trying to build the Next Big Brand so that they can activate their exit strategy by selling to giant companies and making millions. I am not judging. This is the way it has always been. The last time I was at a Natural Products Expo, it was the CBD craze. Jacked-up bros in cowboy hats were trying to sell the magic powers of CBD in everything from gummies to deodorant. Slim and well-groomed women were selling CBD beauty products. Again, I am not judging. Thanks to this rag-tag group of mismatched and often opposing forces, we now have a robust organic food industry, and we have learned a lot about what is healthy and what isn’t healthy. Fads come and go, but organic is not a fad, it’s a fact.

Businesses and magazines thrive on fads. Fads enable you to capitalize on the word “NEW” and give you something to write about and get people interested in. Remember “fat-free” and “lite” foods? Yeah, it's not healthy. Fat feeds the brain. Today, it’s the social media influencers who are attempting to drive sales to their products, using click bait and conspiracy theories to drive traffic and sales. Meanwhile, the health system in the US (and the Insurance business that feeds off it) is truly broken. The US consistently ranks last in positive outcomes (keeping people alive) and first in cost. But what REALLY makes people healthy? After witnessing this whole universe at ground zero for 62 years, I believe it comes down to these five things:

1. Movement - Our bodies need movement to thrive. I won’t even call it exercise because it can just be the movement of daily life. There is no one perfect movement for every single person or body. Find what gives you pleasure and do it. But also do the work around you with intention. Use your body and be grateful for it. Take care of it. Play with it!

2. Regenerative Organic - This central star of the health movement has been attacked from all sides. But the fact remains that food grown in healthy soil makes healthy food, and that makes healthy people and a healthy planet. It prevents toxins from destroying our water, our environment, and our bodies. If politicians had acted strongly on this SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN FACT earlier, like during the Obama years, things would be radically different and better than they are today. I always have said that organic is the one thing Democrats and Republicans can agree on — especially if they get sick or have children (the organic gateways). Sure, there are lots of resisters in the center, but there always will be and always have been. We can’t wait for everyone to agree or we will all be dead too soon. My personal philosophy is that if nature made it, then it’s good to eat — seasonally and in moderation.

3. Listen to your body - Every person is unique, and there is no one right way for everyone. Some people thrive on being vegan and vegetarian. Others do not. Some people can handle gluten. Others can not. Some people can enjoy dairy — whether it’s raw or pasteurized (heated to kill certain bacteria), but many others are lactose intolerant. What is important is that whatever you eat is grown in ways that are not harmful to the land. Your body will also tell you if something is wrong. Sometimes, doctors can fix it. Sometimes they can’t. Ultimately, it’s up to each and every one of us to try and get to the root of our pains and sicknesses and do the work to heal ourselves. Healing is an intensely personal journey.

4. Respect for Science and Medicine with the freedom to experiment - Thankfully, we no longer have to worry about dying from Tuberculosis, Cholera, Typhoid, Polio, and other tragic diseases that were mostly eradicated by a combination of sanitation and vaccines. Fortunately, even though maternal and infant mortality is high in the US, it is not nearly as high as it was even 100 years ago. Yes, we have high levels of diabetes, cancers, and other chronic diseases, but we have made progress. There is no truth to *Make America Healthy “Again” (MAHA) because we were never that healthier, our sicknesses were just different. Are there things we can do to make things better? ABSOLUTELY. But it requires a balance between respecting science and medicine and also respecting the freedom to experiment and find new ways to make things better. Science and medicine are fallible and sometimes wrong, but that’s often the best mechanism for attempting to make improvements that benefit the most people.

5. Love - The front lines of healing today are the places where people realize that trauma is a major factor in making people ill. Emotions play a major role in our health, and we have only just begun to scientifically attempt to understand why and how. Whether it’s obesity, addiction, mental illness, or other chronic diseases, childhood trauma plays a major role in why people attempt to self-soothe and numb themselves from inner pain or act out on their rage. We have to learn to love our children unconditionally and our bodies no matter what their size. Trust me, losing weight is not a ticket to happiness or health. But learning to be kind and loving to those around us, especially children, IS a ticket to happiness and health.

We also have to face our fear of Death. We all know people who did everything “right” — ate right, kept slim, and exercised but still died too young. My father, who spent his whole life trying to be healthy and denied us candy (!), ended up getting hit by a bus and dying at age 60. Why are we even here on this strange and beautiful planet? We may never know. But I do know that how we treat each other and love each other and the earth is the most healthy thing we can do while we are here. And honestly, that means listening to each other, even if we don’t like or agree with each other. (Which let’s be clear, doesn’t mean we have to be friends with those people!)

The truth is we do have work to do. Many of the doctors I am friends with vehemently convey to me that the whole healthcare system is broken beyond repair — from the hospitals to the insurance companies to the pharmaceutical business. Politicians of both sides should have had the courage to stand up against lobbyists ages ago. The same is true in the agricultural world — lobbyists have politicians (and conventional farmers, too) by the balls. When I wrote Organic Manifesto in 2010, I outlined how things in Washington needed to change drastically. I was excited to have Obama in office and see progress happen. But it didn’t. So here we are.

One of the things I have learned through my study of shamanism is that the universe starts out giving us hints (what I call the Trail of Magic). If we don’t listen or act on those hints, we get stronger messages and resistance to our actions (like when I tried to “save” the family business). And if we still don’t listen, we get a kick in the ass. My stroke, for example, was a kick in the ass I needed to make some important changes in my life.

Right now, it feels like the universe is giving the USA a major kick in the ass. It’s time we get our heads out of our own asses, get up off the couch from watching shit shows on TV, and start rebuilding the world we want to see from the ground up. The moral high road of both Christian nationalists, republicans, and democrats has been swept away in a flood like the roads of Western North Carolina. It’s all bullshit. A False PsyOp, as conspiracy theorists like to say.

My personal belief is that if we truly want to make America healthy, we need to focus on education, which is the number one way to raise the consciousness of humanity. But it starts with educating ourselves, sharing and teaching those around us, and getting involved wherever we are to help open people’s minds and hearts. That’s what I try to do here. I hope it helps in some small way.

PS. If you are still reading, I do believe that the Republicans and their tech overlords probably cheated to win this election. But it doesn’t even matter because we all enabled and allowed it to happen. As has often been said, if people show you who they are, believe them. The question now is who do we want to be going forward, and then we must believe in that and act accordingly. Do not be afraid. And do not obey in advance.