Content Library Articles Do We Need a Health Revolution?

Do We Need a Health Revolution?

April 4, 2013

It might be hard to imagine but being healthy in today’s world is a revolutionary act. In so many ways, our health has been taken from us. That’s why I am so passionate about getting people to stand up together for health. And that’s why I want you to join me and many brilliant health revolutionaries in “A Healthy Revolution: The Virtual Conference.”

We need a healthy revolution now more than ever. I am working on a project to help an obese family in South Carolina get their health back. What is clear to me is that they are oppressed—and not in some metaphorical way. They are prisoners of the social conditions under which they live: long aisles of soda and processed foods, avenues of fast food chains, schools with only deep fryers and microwaves, and incessant deceptive and persuasive food marketing. They grew up in families in which cooking meant heating up a can of mushy green beans and making hamburger helper.

We have outsourced our cooking to corporations and factories where food is “processed” not prepared, where the simple, ancient knowledge of how to feed and care for ourselves is fading from family memory. One obese boy we visited was so proud of his “healthy” lunch, which consisted of “whole wheat” bread made mostly of processed white flour; processed peanut butter with high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, and salt; Cheez-Its (because he said they are healthier than chips even though they are made with white flour); and a diet Mountain Dew!

We are raising a generation of Americans—maybe it’s the second generation—who don’t know their way around a kitchen or how to prepare a meal from scratch. That is why I have invited everyone to join me in an Eat-In tomorrow, April 7. It’s like one of those sit-ins from the 1960s where people protested injustice, but instead of protesting, I want everyone to celebrate—to be a revolutionary by cooking!

What is clear to me is that the single most revolutionary thing we can do is cook. Cook real food. Cook with family and friends. It’s a disarmingly simple idea. But think about it. If we all chose real, whole food, if we all, in effect, boycotted the 10 or so food corporations that “process” the food we collectively buy for $1 trillion a year, then we would have more impact than any policy, government, or organization can have on changing literally everything that’s wrong with our food system, our health, our environment, and even the federal debt!

If we eat real food and get it local when we can, organic when we can, and grass fed or sustainably raised when we can; when we do it on a budget, which is possible; and when we prepare that food ourselves in our kitchens from scratch, everything changes. We get healthy automatically. We shift our agricultural system away from reliance on factory farms that produce large mono crops of corn, soy, and wheat. We move instead to sustainable, restorative systems of food production that are decentralized and local. We stop dumping chemicals and pesticides into our environment, restoring rivers, estuaries, and oceans damaged by the runoff from factory farms. We reverse climate change by ending the heavy use of oil for food production and transport and by reducing the methane produced by feedlot cows, which is 50 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide or CO₂. And by getting a healthy population, we get a budget surplus and stop mortgaging our future to China to pay for federally funded healthcare programs.

And we rebuild and restore our communities. We enrich our families and protect our kids from drugs, bad grades, anorexia, and obesity simply by eating with them at home.

Not a bad deal for cooking a simple meal at home. That is the power of our fork! And our daily choices. And there are so many other ways we can take back our health—physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. All of this and more you will learn in this extraordinary mind-opening conference. And it’s free!

If you are ready to be part of a movement intent on creating a healthier, happier world, then there are two things I invite you to do:

1. Join the Eat-In tomorrow, April 7. For one day, we will all eat only real, whole, fresh food. And if you don’t know what to make, don’t worry! When you join the global Eat-In, I will provide you with a complete toolkit for the day. Imagine for a moment the power of the fork to change the world. By joining the Eat-In, you will receive:
   1. Access to my live video feed of my own Eat-In
   2. Join my Twitter chat at 4:00 p.m. (EST)
   3. A complete meal plan and shopping guide
   4. A Guide to Mindful Eating
   5. Prizes throughout the day – Signed copies of The Blood Sugar Solution and The Blood Sugar Solution Cookbook
   6. Join me for the first-ever “A Healthy Revolution: The Virtual Conference.” I’m so honored to be one of the 15-plus featured experts in this groundbreaking digital event that will support you and fellow participants in living truly healthy lives—even in the face of societal norms that make being unhealthy and stressed out a whole lot easier.

Hosted by the award-winning Experience Life editorial team and co-presented by RevolutionaryAct.com and en*theos, this FREE five-night event (April 15-19, 2013) will feature yours truly, as well as other well-respected health and wellness experts, including Crazy Sexy Life maven Kris Carr, fitness inspiration Rachel Cosgrove, the amazing Byron Katie, the brilliant Harvard professor and expert on metabolism and obesity Dr. David Ludwig, and MANY more. I’m thrilled to be joining these folks in sharing our cutting-edge perspectives on health, fitness, nutrition, and optimal living.

Intrigued? Check out the full expert lineup and sign up for your free ticket here. The en*theos team will then send you email reminders with instructions and the full schedule the week prior to the event so you won’t miss a thing.

Not able to make the virtual conference? While “A Healthy Revolution: The Virtual Conference” will be streaming live for free April 15-19, the full library of interviews will be available for purchase once the conference is complete at http://www.entheos.com/HealthyRevolution/Dr-Mark-Hyman.

I sincerely hope you’ll register for “A Healthy Revolution: The Virtual Conference” and listen in to my interview on Friday, April 19 at 9 p.m. (EST)/8 p.m. (CST), as well as those of the other experts (check out the full broadcast schedule at www.entheos.com/HealthyRevolution/Play).

We all have the power to change so much by making simple choices that create health rather than disease. And the ripples go out far beyond what we can imagine. So, join me and become a health revolutionary.

Please leave your thoughts by adding a comment below—but remember, we can’t offer personal medical advice online, so be sure to limit your comments to those about taking back our health!

To your good health!

Mark Hyman, MD