Healthy Living Myths Busted by Timothy Caulfield

The Cure for Everything by Timothy Caulfield is written for those who are tired of the weight loss and fitness mumbo jumbo that floats around the internet and who are eager to know the science behind healthy. As a woman who grew up in image overload years of the 1990s and ’00s, I have experienced the body pressure that is placed on us all. I’ve tried cleanses, detoxes, cutting down carbs, the beer diet (OK, I made this one up while I was a waitress), and once read a book on juicing that turned out to really be about colon cleansing and enemas. I didn’t follow through on the home enemas, just so you know. Caulfield’s book, on the other hand, is realistic, honest, and lifestyle sustainable.

The premise for The Cure for Everything  is to clear up the mixed messages about health in our society and  factually cuts through the B.S.  In his opening remarks, he quotes Mark Twain, “Get the facts so you can distort them as you please.” He doesn’t rip on the methods of others but presents the facts so one can decide for themselves. It got personal when his words called me out on my own ‘little lies’ that I would tell myself when results weren’t coming. Feeling and being healthy is actually quite simple, but in my mind it requires dedication, courage, patience, and kindness towards yourself.

The first ‘little lie’ that Caulfield shot down was the “Muscle weighs more than fat” myth. Others have said it to me and I’ve said it to myself. The truth is that exercising increases the appetite. Your body wants to compensate for the calories burned and you will inadvertently eat more and end up staying the same weight or even gain. In reality, exercising is not an effective way to lose weight, so we all might as well quit stressing ourselves out and focus on the benefits that exercise actually brings, which is a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, breast cancer, colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis. Not to mention the benefits to your sex drive, your psyche, and emotional well-being.

His chapter on diet is simple but enlightening. How can healthy eating be easy with all the suggestions being thrown around in the media? Caulfield breaks it down into  5 simple steps and explains why. The steps are clear and actually remarkably similar to how my super healthy 89 year old Grandma lives. These two rules that stood out to me the most:

Eat small portion sizes, no junk food, and make sure 50% of what goes in your mouth is a real fruit or vegetable.

Be conscious of all the twisting forces in our culture (and within us) that pull us away from a pattern of healthy eating.

Then he discusses the world of genetic testing, which I didn’t know much about. Now I know enough not to bother with it.

In Remedies, Caulfield outlines the medical facts about naturopathy, homeopathy, chiropractic, and acupuncture practices. What I enjoyed most about this chapter is that he uses Canadian statistics that I’ve seen in everyday life in regards to why people are starting to prefer alternative medicine than traditional. He doesn’t disparage those methods at all but does give facts that empower the reader to make their own decision on various alternative medicines.

So what changes have I made since reading The Cure for Everything?

First, I’ve started using the Canada Food Guide to try to increase my nutrition levels and monitor portion sizes. Caulfield discusses in the controversies with the Canada Food Guide and details that it was appropriately transparent and informed with professional recommendations. It still works but monitoring portion sizes is key. I’m two weeks in, feeling great so far, and starting to see small changes.

My overall healthy living plan includes:

1. Eating more veggies and follow serving size.
2. Being mindful of my sugar and significantly lower my intake. Snacks are becoming veggies.
3. Counting beer as a wheat serving. I really love bread so I hope this will help lower intake of both.
4.Exercise 4 times a week. I’ve always struggled with this so I’m curling twice a week and planning to snowshoe the other two days.

And that’s it. I’ve come to terms that there are no ‘get fit fast’ routines or diets. It’s a process that needs to be maintained for a lifetime especially if I want to follow in my Grandma’s healthy footsteps.