What Are Your Ancestral Genes Telling You?

Ladies, do you know what percentage of living a hunter-gatherer lifestyle makes up your human history?

It’s 99 percent!

This is over tens of thousands of generations.

Only 10% of our human history has occurred over the past 200 years.

This dramatic shift in our environment over such a short period of time has caused disastrous changes in our daily routines and lifestyles.

It’s created a national decline in our health and wellness.

But we think our lifestyles are “normal”, right, because this is how our parents and to a lesser extend our grandparents lived.

But our modern-day lifestyles are far from normal.

THE MISMATCH

Your genetic code is hard-wired for a specific environment.

It’s the genetic code that your hunter-gatherer ancestors lived for 99 percent of your human history.

But over the past 200 years the environment has changed faster than your genes could evolve.

This has caused a mismatch between your ancestral genetic makeup and your environment.

This discrepancy between your ancestral genes and your modern-day environment has spurred an epidemic of chronic disease.

According to the CDC, six in 10 Americans have a chronic disease and four in 10 have more than one chronic disease.

Diseases like, Type II Diabetes, Heart Disease, Obesity, Alzheimer’s, Autoimmune, Disorders, and Cancer to name a few.

All of these chronic diseases share one common origin, rapid changes in our environment and lifestyles that do not align with our genetic makeup.

These lifestyles include poor diet, nutrient deficiencies, chronic stress, lack of sleep, lack of or the wrong type of exercise, toxins in our environment, and medications.

Research shows that these diseases were rare or virtually absent in hunter-gatherers and other non-westernized populations.

The bottom line is these diseases are preventable, avoidable, and some reversible!

THE ANCESTRAL WOMEN – ONE EXAMPLE

As a woman, you’ve evolved in a natural environment where physical activity was a necessity, not something you did for 30-minutes three times a week.

For example, compared to women in the modern world, ancestral women were more physically active as a means of survival and ritual.

The ancestral woman’s regular activities involved building and maintaining shelters, hunting for sources of food, creating meals and preserving food.

They foraged for and prepared raw sources to make tools, utensils, containers, clothing, jewelry and instruments.

Ancestral women regularly performed dances and rituals and were active caretakers in their tribe.

So, I’m not suggesting you start building a hut and making animal skin clothing. Though that could be fun.

My point? Ancestral women were extremely physically active, on a daily basis!

Times of inactivity were used to conserve energy.

Any conserved energy provided the survival advantage needed to protect against and fight off predators and threats from other tribes.

Our Paleolithic ancestor’s mortality rates were largely due to exposure to the elements, accidents, trauma, violence, warfare, untreated acute infectious disease and lack of medical care.

Research suggests than if they would have survived these things, their life spans could have been as much as 68-78 years old.

MODERN DAY WOMEN

Through the last 200 years, more sedentary lifestyles have developed on a daily basis.

The conveniences we enjoy and types of jobs we do in today’s modern world fail to provide women with regular physical activity like that of her female ancestors.

Instead, many women are mentally, physically and emotionally burnt out from long hours of managing busy careers, families and social schedules that don’t match their lifestyle vision or wellness needs.

Many women lack adequate physical exercise, sleep, nutrition, and basic enjoyment in activities that balance out their busy lifestyles.

These deficits put women in a chronic state of stress and exhaustion creating a barrier to optimal health and wellness.

Bottom line, these types of lifestyles make women prime candidates for developing chronic disease.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Everyone’s path to health and wellness is unique.

Understanding your ancestral genetic makeup can support you in developing your life’s vision and goals.

This will ensure that they align with optimum health and wellness and prevent chronic disease so you can live out your dreams.

Remember, there is a natural tendency is to conserve energy when you’re not engaged in your hectic life’s schedule. Even though you should get regular physical exercise and take better care of yourself, you often don’t. It’s your inherent means of survival talking to you.

Over to you…

How would your life be different if you made the lifestyle changes you desire?

How do you envision your health and wellness now and in the future?

Through coaching, I empower women to improve their self-care to prevent, reduce symptoms or, if possible, reverse chronic disease.

If you would like connect to find out more, contact me here.

In the meantime, check out the related articles below to support your health and wellness journey.

Wishing you Wellward!

Linda

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