We are beginning to see the cracks forming in modern lifestyle and healthcare. The office-working, the fast-food-eating, the sunscreen-dousing, screen-obsessed folks that have risen from the ashes of the old world are beginning to falter. We, as a world are growing sicker and weaker.
Many of us have forgotten the ways of our ancestors, the taste of grandma’s cooking, the touch of grass beneath our feet, or the feeling of waking without immediately picking up our phones.
This lifestyle cannot be sustained forever. Here, at Health by the Hearth Nutrition, we aim to reinstate the ancient ways, replicate ancestral wisdom within our day-to-day lives, and teach old skills to the new.
Now is the time to start caring for yourself and your family the right way; the time to begin rebuilding your body and mind to be strong and resilient, and non-reliant on western healthcare, ‘Big Pharma’ and all the hurdles this modern lifestyle will inevitably throw at you.
In this post, I have compiled some ancestral health tips that are easy to implement so that you can enjoy a healthier and more sustainable way of living.
1) Walk barefoot more often
Walking barefoot is perhaps one of the most instantly gratifying ways we can improve our bodily health whilst mimicking the way our Ancestors lived.
Yes, our ancestors wore shoes, but these were vastly different from the restrictive, rigid structures that encase our feet today. As with everything in the modern day, the ground we walk on is no longer suitable for us. Many of us are stuck indoors all day long, stepping from concrete pavements to tiled flooring at work, and then onto wooden floorboards when we get home: rigid, flat, even. Considering our feet are built with arches and curves, the act of pounding them against a uniform wooden floor for at least ten hours of the day is painful to think about. If you have not lost the arch in your foot, then it is probably overarched, and both have their negatives.
Physiotherapists, Osteopaths, and Podiatrists have never been so widely sought for shoulder, lumbar, knee, and hip issues. The posture of the general public is probably the worst it has ever been, and much of this can be attributed to the positioning of the feet. Poor posture can lead to general body pain, headaches, difficulty with breathing, depression, and fatigue.
We also absorb lots of electrons and minerals from the soil and earth, through our feet. Think of grounding as a transfer of energy, from mother earth to your body. This is said to reduce inflammation within the body as well as help to regulate the nervous system.
If you are able to make it outside once a day, make sure to give your feet a rest by letting them feel the ground. The curves of the earth are meant for us.
Additionally, you can purchase minimalist shoes, which are designed to be more malleable for your heel strike. My favorite company is Barefoot Shoes | Minimalist Footwear | Vivobarefoot UK | UK .
2) Maximise sunlight and daylight exposure
The first light of the day should come from the Sun, not from your phone. Sadly, the first thing many of us sense upon waking up is the bleating of an alarm and the flash of intense blue light.
Daylight and sunlight are the keys to setting your interior rhythm. The Sun is a clock in itself, so is essential in setting your internal body clock. In the morning, you require more blue light to ultimately wake up. This comes from the sun anyhow, and ultimately sends signals to your brain, which encourage wakefulness. On the other hand, red light, such as that from a sunset, triggers melatonin release, a winding-down chemical, which induces restfulness, in simple terms.
Throughout the day, we want to expose ourselves to as much daylight as possible, in order to properly synthesise Vitamin D, raise serotonin levels and leave behind the zombie-like behaviour that results from being stuck indoors, with artificial blue light, central heating, and stagnant air.
Northern European countries experience less daylight than their southern counterparts, who generally live life outdoors more so than we do, and since we are not blessed with as much bright sunlight, many are not compelled to take a trip outside. Still, daylight is daylight, and is still valuable to us whether the sky is cloudy or clear. It is important to remember that we will benefit from just twenty minutes in the open air.
Our ancestors, whether from northern or southern Europe, still experienced more daylight than you do today, which is why the ‘winter blues’ are such a prominent issue in the 21st century. This along with Seasonal Depression could be remedied by increasing the amount of time spent outdoors each day.
The mantra of ‘too much sun will cause cancer’ has been instilled into many of us from a young age, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. The Sun is a tool for healing, an energy source which you can utilise to improve just about every aspect of your life, from your physical appearance, vitamin intake, to your mood and energy. You can burn if you are irresponsible, have excess oxidation within the body, and consume a lot of toxins and chemicals, but ultimately it is foolish to believe the sun, which surrounds you for over twelve hours of the day, invigorates you, provides you with a heat source, and most importantly, has served our ancestors for thousands of years without issue, should now be something of a health concern.
Here at Health by the Hearth, we don’t wear sunscreen.
3) Cook with animal fats
Choosing the right fats and oils to cook in may seem like an irrelevant part of your daily habits. Its been the same for the last fifty years: choose sunflower oil, or vegetable oil to avoid Heart disease, scare away obesity, and avoid certain death.
But what are the studies behind these conclusions? What is wrong with good old-fashioned butter or a lump of tallow? Well, nothing, as it happens. Since modern diseases have only grown in scale, it seems the studies conducted by Ancel Keys in the 1950s, demonising saturated fats from Animal products, would not be as accurate as they initially appeared. Sadly, Western nutrition has followed these conclusions blindly for too long.
The decline in public health can be attributed to many things in the modern world, however I would argue rather strongly that both Seed Oils and Sugar take the top two spots.
The culprit behind most gut problems, skin conditions, tiredness, and aching joints – issues that normal adults should not be suffering from – are generally the result of inflammation. Polyunsaturated Fats, are unstable, making them liquid at room temperature, but also very reactive, especially when heated. The issue is, most store-bought Polyunsaturated Fats we use to cook, have already been processed to the point that you could run them in your car as fuel. I don’t know about you, but that sounds quite toxic to me. The lengthy process of extracting oil from seed seems trivial, especially when you could simply churn some butter up from a bottle of milk, increasing the nutrient density and satiety of your meal, without all the nasty chemicals. At boiling point, seed oils begin to release free radicals, or ‘pro-oxidants’. These attack the mitochondria, causing damage to our cells. With poor amounts of antioxidants, oxidation cannot be inhibited.
Our Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio should be 1:1 . Unfortunately, the sheer amount of Omega-6 in our diet is wreaking havoc on a global scale since most people consume these ‘healthy fats’ abundantly, with inadequate Omega-3 levels.
Animal fats, then, are a great alternative. Stable when heated, unprocessed, undeodorized, and guaranteed not to cause inflammation. The best part, however…most of these fats are superfoods: Tallow, butter, and ghee. I can’t think of more mineral and vitamin-abundant, hormone-regulating, gut-nourishing foods.
4) Cold-water swimming
This is my favourite tip on the list, simply because it’s an activity that makes me feel so alive and I think it will definitely benefit you, too: exposing your body to cold water, preferably natural water sources like lakes or the ocean. Not only is this a fantastic method for training endurance, temperature tolerance, and better breathing but it also comes with so many unexpected benefits:
Improves immune system function
This benefit arises from the body reacting to a sudden temperature drop, which can actually activate the immune system, encouraging it to start producing more white blood cells and kick out those nasty pro-oxidants and free radicals. Enjoy the benefits of illness and disease protection.
Improves circulation
The shock of cold water will inevitably raise the heart rate, sending more blood around the body. Circulation is then more efficient since blood is moving more quickly around the body and in larger amounts, improving numbness, and joint pain and lessening toxic load.
Improves mental clarity
Brain Fog is a buzzword in the modern health sphere, and unfortunately, that is due to its rampancy among the public, young and old. There are many factors relating to the occurrence of brain fog. Diet, toxin load, stress, illness, posture, compromised gut, etc. And sometimes it can not be pinned down to just one of those things, but many or even all.
Cold water swimming/submersion can shock the body out of its current state, by increasing and deepening our breath, allowing more oxygen into the body, including the brain. Blood flow to your brain is increased, and the Vagus nerve is relaxed, hopefully allowing the brain to feel calmer as well.
This is a physically and mentally stimulating activity, forcing a visceral reaction from the body, and also from the mind. Since the body is trying extra hard to get back to its normal temperature, everything is overactive.
Authentic Dopamine release
Checking your phone to get that little hit of dopamine is not an authentic way of achieving dopamine levels.
Studies have shown that you can increase your Dopamine levels by over 200% by taking a blast from cold water. That is a substantial amount.
Our ancestors didn’t always have the luxury of hot water, or even the privilege of washing as frequently as we do. Cold water, however, sustained them well. Nomadic peoples, especially, used it to bathe, wash and invigorate themselves, while Warrior classes throughout a variety of historical societies, utilized the powers of both hot and cold water bathing/swimming, for battle and healing.
The crispness of cold water can be viewed as a preparation for battle, raising endorphins, removing fatigue, and preparing the body for activity, while hot water, namely from hot springs, is wound and soul-healing, relaxing, and a tool for resting. What’s more is that we absorb many minerals through spending time in natural sources of water, as opposed to soaking up tap water from the bathtub.
There are many mental health charities here in the UK which promote open-water swimming for health, namely for people suffering from depression, anxiety, and hormonal instability. And as long as you are swimming, or submerging yourself in cold water within a safe environment, and with others around you, there really are no downsides.
What’s more, if you struggle to tolerate the cold weather, this is an invaluable tip. But it is important to remember, building up a tolerance is far more profitable than diving in head first (no pun intended). Winter can be made more manageable, by exposing yourself to the cold in a controlled environment and working on your endurance, just as you would train heat tolerance with a sauna.
Try Cold-water swimming, hate me for the first few seconds, and then thank me later.
Note: If you struggle with chronic stress disorders, find it difficult to move your nervous system into the parasympathetic, or have other neurological issues, this may or may not be of benefit to you. Cold-water swimming/ submersion is a stressful environment for us to be in, but at the same time which for a healthy body is an excellent test and a great way to push your body’s capability, but may worsen someone who is constantly in the ‘fight or flight’ mode, so make sure you know your limits.
5) Eat Fresh (and only self-preserved foods)
Forget the ready meals and instant dishes, and the long lists of preservatives on the back of your tins. None of these are doing you any favours.
We are always discovering new ways to preserve our food, but the last hundred years have certainly been the biggest breakthrough, with the likes of refrigerators and freezers now taking up spaces in almost every home. And yet all we seem to do with these incredible inventions is fill them with junk.
When we buy fresh, the produce is usually low quality, exported from countries with a different climate, and when we do buy cupboard stock with longer expiry dates, they are filled to the brim with sugar, seed oils, and artificial flavourings.
Buying fresh and locally means that:
-Your food will have hopefully been grown more organically
-Your food will contain fewer additives and chemicals
-Your food will have grown in keeping with the seasons of your climate
-Your food will have come from a trustworthy source
Of course, these things aren’t always the case, but the chances are that choosing the Farmer’s market instead of the supermarket for your weekly shop will leave you with a much higher quality bag of groceries.
If you aim to follow a more ancestral manner of living, it is important to learn a few new basic skills in the kitchen, things that have been lost within a couple of generations, with the rise of technology and loss of homesteading. These skills all have to do with self-preservation, ensuring your produce sustains its nutrients, and lengthens its lifespan.
Preserving includes fermenting, canning, jarring, dehydrating, salting, and much more, with ingredients you’ve preferably grown or produced yourself, or obtained locally. These methods were generally used as a way of simply extending shelf life but sometimes ended up creating a more nutrient-dense food. Sauerkraut is a great example: leaving raw cabbage and salt to ferment for a few weeks and ending up with a probiotic superfood. These elders of ours…they sure were intelligent.
Learning and using the wisdom of our ancestors is something you will never lose, and in our unprecedented day and age and it has never been more profitable to learn how to sustain yourself.
There are many homesteading blogs that write extensively on the skill of preserving, using minimal processing. You can find these by searching ‘preserving foods’ on google.
Your leftover fruits? Bag them up and freeze them. Left over veggies? Jar them, ferment them, let them serve you throughout the winter. Leftover meat? Strip it, salt it, make some jerked meat. This is how we used to live. And how we will live again.