The Concise Guide to Executive Health in 2020

We recently produced a guide in two parts for executive health as we move into a new decade.

However, we know a lot of executives are busy so we thought it would be worth highlighting the points raised in a concise read too.

1) You will need to supplement your diet:

When it comes to getting the nutrients you need food should always come first. However, over the course of over 20 years of testing, we know that you are going to need some help when it comes to getting all the nutrients you need. Why? In simple terms stress reduces the ability of your digestive tract to get the best out of our food.

2) Good oral health is the new gym:

It’s become clear to us and other scientists, that gum disease prevention and looking after your oral health has benefits to all areas if your physical well being.

3) Sitting is the new smoking:

Prolonged sitting reduces the blood flow around the brain, which reduces your ability to concentrate and be creative. Not only is this detrimental to business productivity, but there are also longer-term damaging effects on our brain health.

4) Colleagues, friends and family influence our health more than anything else:

A culture of wellness should be not be limited to a corporate ethos or ideal. Our health is impacted by who we surround ourselves with and our health is not determined so much by our own decisions, but by what our friends, family and colleagues decide.

5) Look after your bacteria and they will look after you:

The next two decades of medical science is going to be dominated by microbes. You are no longer you; you are you and the bacteria you carry. Bacteria want a good host, as a good host lets them be healthy which in turn keeps you healthy. Feed them well, keep stress under control, exercise and sleep well and you give the bacteria their best chance.

6) Nature reduces stress:

We probably all knew this anyway but it has now been proved scientifically that being in a natural environment for 20-30 minutes each day has demonstrable benefits on our physical health.

7) Start testing your brain health and women should take particular note:

As we age as a population, globally, dementia and Alzheimers (its most common form) will become a global problem. Two-thirds of new diagnoses are women so for female executives who are perimenopausal or menopausal this could be a real concern. The fluctuating and lowered levels of Oestrogen can have large effects on brain performance

8) “Inflammaging”:

The rate at which we age is also characterised by chronic, low-grade inflammation and has been given the term Inflammaging. By using genetic testing to measure inflammatory risk along with occasional biomarker testing to determine whether a state of inflammaging is occurring at a particular point in time we are able to build up a very personalised picture and deal with it appropriately.

9) Find daily sanctuary:

Stress is actually good for the body in small amounts but we all know that too much stress is bad for our health. Finding sanctuary in music, exercise or mindfulness is proven to help our health.

10) Work with a Functional Medicine Practitioner:

You may not be aware that there is a revolution occurring in health care and it’s called Functional Medicine. Functional Medicine was seen as one of the Top 10 trends in Silicon Valley in 2019.

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