3 "Healthy" Things Making You Sick

Is your “healthy” lifestyle actually making you more sick?

Over the last 20 years, I’ve untangled thousands of individuals from the health paradigm.

In my journey through traditional healthcare, having 5 orthopedic surgeries before the age of 22, forming dependencies on medications and coping strategies for depression, and working with people at my clinic, I’ve discovered numerous limitations to the health paradigm.

Suppose you do follow the “healthy” model of living. In that case, there’s a good chance you’ll be on some type of medication, dependent on some technique or modality, needing a glass of wine or meditation to mitigate your stress, and are most likely battling salt and sweet cravings daily.

Does any of that sound familiar?

These are all signs that it’s time for a completely new paradigm: the Vitality Paradigm.

What Does “Health” Really Mean?

When you Google the definition of “health,” you will see it as “the state of being free from illness or injury.”

(Translation: You are alive and surviving.)

This approach sounds very much like an overprotective parent just waiting for something to go wrong. They have an arsenal of modalities ready at a moment’s notice. The difference between a parent and the health care system, however, is the astronomical amount of money required to fix things when they go wrong:

In 2022, the annual premiums for health coverage for a family of four averaged over $21,000!

Vitality, on the other hand, is defined as “exuberant physical strength or mental vigor” and “the capacity for the continuation of a meaningful and purposeful existence.”

Uh, yeah… sign me up for that!

In today’s newsletter, I’ll expose the foundational flaws of the healthcare paradigm that I’ve discovered over the last 20 years. I’ve experienced them firsthand from working with people in physical rehabilitation, nutrition, and personal development.

I will also introduce you to the Vitality Paradigm—a paradigm that has helped thousands of individuals avoid unnecessary surgeries, break their dependency on medications and other modalities, and empower them to live a more meaningful and purposeful life.

The three areas I will discuss are fitness & rehabilitation, nutrition & systemic care, and mindset and stress management.

Health Paradigm Problem #1: We Aren’t the Walking Dead

One of the major flaws in the traditional fitness and physical rehabilitation model is how anatomy is taught.

Whether certified as a personal trainer, a chiropractor, an orthopedic surgeon, or a physical therapist, you were taught cadaveric anatomy. Cadaveric anatomy is the study of the anatomy of a human cadaver. Every anatomy and physiology book will explain each muscle in the body by naming the origin and insertion of the muscle and will then name its function.

Take the hamstring muscle as an example:

It will say that the hamstrings originate on the ischial tuberosity (butt bone) and insert on the tibia (lower leg) somewhere (depending on which of the three major hamstring muscles you look at). It will also say that its primary function is to “flex the knee”.

So what’s the problem?

It’s that we’re assessing the function of the muscular system by studying a dead person. And since they’re dead, they’re not moving and interacting with our three-dimensional environment.

We then take the data we collect from studying a cadaver and create fitness and rehabilitation programs for people who are very much alive and engaging in a three-dimensional environment.

This is why your lower back pain never seems to go away

Having worked with thousands of individuals over the last 20 years, the most common issue I’ve seen in using cadaveric anatomy is how low back pain is treated.

According to this health paradigm, to have a “healthy” lower back, you need to have a “strong core” and “flexible hamstrings.” So the canned program for a healthy back is to do isolated exercises to strengthen the abdominals and low back muscles.

People are prescribed crunches, planks, cobras, supermans, back extensions, and various “dead bug” exercises to strengthen their core. Followed up with a variety of hamstring stretches, having them try to touch their toes in a variety of positions. After that, they’re taught to bend over or squat while keeping their spines rigid and straight—making sure not to flex the spine. The wall sit is one of the more popular versions.

All this does is create an artificial brace around an area for short-term relief of pain. It’s similar to duct-taping something that’s falling apart. It works for a little while but is not a good long-term solution (especially when it’s your body we’re talking about!).

Chopping the body up and addressing each part in isolation creates a ton of dysfunction throughout the system.

Vitality Paradigm Solution #1: Move Instead of Exercising

We had a saying at my clinic in Southern California:

“Exercise is optional, movement is mandatory.”

So much of the exercise paradigm is rooted in cadaveric anatomy. It has people focused on working on different muscle groups in isolation. Now, there is a place for this, but it should not be the general recommendation.

When you understand how the body was designed to move, you will see that it follows certain laws and principles:

1. The body is three-dimensional and uses all three planes of motion at all times to move most efficiently

2. Muscles load by lengthening before shortening.

3. The body always tries to share the load throughout the muscle system. It would never choose to isolate any muscle or region and get it to scream. It would also never choose to freeze one region of the body while other regions are moving—like bending over and keeping the spine straight.

Not applying that last principle is one of the biggest causes of injury. Isolating and overloading muscles and joints in artificial, unnatural ways is exactly how they get injured.

Here’s why your “back problem” probably has nothing to do with your back

With the vitality paradigm, the approach to lower back pain looks beyond the symptoms and explores why the lower back is in pain. It starts with a question:

“Why is the back being asked to do something it wasn’t designed to do?”

That question makes us consider if the back is doing more than it’s designed to. If so, then maybe a region close by isn’t doing its job.

When you look at the anatomy of the lumbar spine (low back), you will see that it comprises five vertebral bodies and the sacrum. You will also notice that the sacrum sits inside the pelvis, which forms the sacroiliac joint (SI joint). If you continue to explore the region, you will notice that the pelvis meets up with the two femur bones, making two powerful hip joints.

Interestingly, the two most powerful joints in the body sit directly underneath the lower back… there is probably a reason for this.

Of the thousands of individuals I’ve worked with over the years, I have rarely seen a back problem that was a “back” problem. The only exceptions are severe pathology and/or degeneration. And I mean severe because I have rehabbed hundreds of people who have degeneration and “damaged” spines.

The key to rehabilitating low back pain, then, is getting the hips back online.

The hip joints are ball and socket joints, which means they are designed to rotate. The lumbar spine, on the other hand, is not very good at rotating. It does much better with front-to-back and side-to-side motions. Most herniated discs, disc degeneration, facet syndromes, and bulging discs are due to an abnormal rotational compressive force moving through the lumbar spine because the hips are not doing their job.

Now, this is all just one example of how the Vitality Paradigm can get to the actual root of your pain and discomfort. But if you do happen to be suffering from low back pain, check out this video I recorded on the subject. I go over the key hip stretches and movements that will rehabilitate most low back problems.

Health Paradigm Problem #2: Zero Octane Fuel Doesn’t Cut It

If you pick up any health magazine in the supermarket, there’s a good chance you’ll see a salad on the cover.

Why has salad become the symbol of “health?” What does a salad really do for us nutritionally?

The answer is… not much.

The reason it’s become a “healthy” option is that it’s low in calories. The same goes for eating lots of vegetables.

Yes, there are some vitamins and minerals in vegetables, but when you look at the caloric value of salads and vegetables, they are deficient. An entire bag of lettuce is 15 calories. An entire cup of mixed vegetables is about 80 calories! Some people will let these 95 calories make up an entire meal!

All those vegetables might make you “full,” but you will be left unsatisfied.

This is where everyone goes wrong with calories

Let's start by defining what a calorie is: a unit of energy.

I think of it like the octane in the gasoline I put into my car. The more octane, the more energy potential. But because there’s an obesity epidemic in America due to the poor quality of food that so many people overeat, we have made low-caloric foods healthy.

This is a MAJOR overcorrection. We have made the purpose of eating to satisfy the numbers on a scale or a blood test. This is not the purpose of eating!

Due to this approach, we have become not only afraid of calories, but also of foods that have real sugar, salt, and fats in them.

How can foods with no sugar, salt, or fat be the healthiest choices?!

It’s no wonder why everyone is fighting insane salt and sugar cravings until they end up bingeing pretzels and cookies while hiding in the pantry closet.

Sugar, salt, and fat are essential substances our bodies need to run optimally. Without sugar and salt, we would die. It’s time to operate from a different perspective.

Vitality Paradigm Solution #2: Eat to Supply the Body with Optimal Fuel & Resources

When you begin to look at the goal of food as a way to increase our vitality, the landscape changes:

Now, the focus is on what foods provide the body with the optimal fuel and raw materials for the body to grow, develop, and repair itself.

No surprises: the answer to this question is REAL FOOD.

Foods that humans have been eating since the beginning of time. Foods that are saturated with sugar, salts, fats, and proteins. Foods with substance that fill you up and leave you satisfied. Foods that are alive!

What’s a good indication that your food is alive? When it dies and goes bad. If it can sit on yourself for an eternity, I wouldn’t call that food.

The foods that my family (my wife Eve and my two children, Emma (10) and Christian (15)) have been primarily eating for the last 20 years include the following:

• Fruits

• Raw dairy

• Tubers (underground vegetables)

• Muscle meats

• Organ meats

• Homemade broths

• Butter

• Coconut oil

• Occasional sourdough bread and rice

I have recommended this type of eating to clients for the last twenty years and have been amazed at how much more vitality, energy, and resiliency it has created for them. Not to mention, eliminating digestive issues, achy joints, and many other symptoms.

There is one caveat, though: depending on their current level of health, people will tolerate certain foods better than others—especially in the beginning.

Eve and I have worked with many people who had food sensitivities to some of the ones mentioned above, which turned out to be an issue with their gut health. Once their gut was healed, these foods were easily tolerated.

Health Paradigm Problem #3: “You Have to Work on Yourself”

I’ve taken a deep dive into the personal development space over the last ten years, and the phrase “I need to work on myself more” is by far the most commonly heard.

It seems like everyone is working on themselves. This has become the “healthy” thing to do.

But after practicing and teaching some of the most common personal development and mindset techniques to hundreds of people over the years, I started to realize something:

There is no end to “working on yourself,” and you never really get anywhere. It’s like being a hamster in a wheel.

When you begin to engage in some of these practices and frameworks, it can be helpful—just like an Advil is helpful when you have a headache. But over time, it’s not only less effective but more Advil is needed to get the same effect.

So, which practices and frameworks am I referring to? Here are two that I’ve found to create the most problems for people:

1. The goal of embodying love, joy, peace, freedom, or other “positive” emotions

2. Stress is the enemy, and you want to mitigate or eliminate it as fast as possible

The reason why these two objectives will have you working on yourself forever is that it goes against our biology.

These frameworks have us at war with ourselves, in a war we cannot win. The only way to accomplish these two goals is to disconnect from your biological processes and communication systems, resulting in complete dissociation from oneself.

These people are walking around, always saying everything is wonderful, “never get upset,” and spewing toxic positivity all over people. They also usually talk in a higher tone, signaling that there is some type of spirituality or morality associated with their way of being.

I have not only worked with these people behind the scenes, but I was also one of them.

I can tell you there is a tremendous amount of pain, suffering, anguish, and self-loathing behind all of it. Although you can disconnect from these communication systems, they don’t disappear.

Vitality Paradigm Solution #3 - Align Your Mindset with Your Biology

A fundamental assumption I make when engaging with the body and its systems is this:

The body has a good reason for doing what it's doing.

I also assume that our body and its systems have our best interests in mind. When you come from this perspective, you can now look at its communications as an ally, not an adversary.

Take emotions, for example. When you feel overwhelmed, sad, angry, frustrated, or any other “negative emotion,” let’s assume it’s a communication to help you.

• Overwhelm can be communicating that you are trying to do too many things simultaneously.

• Sadness can be communicating that there is something in your life that is important to you and that you should make it a priority in your life.

• Anger and frustration can communicate that you must better align your expectations with certain people or things.

These are all precious communications that, when you learn how to integrate them, you can leverage to not only grow but to find fulfillment in the things that are most meaningful and important to you.

Which brings me to the second important point:

I do not believe anybody wants to live a life of happiness and joy exclusively.

This is not to say that people don’t want to be happy, but it isn’t the ultimate outcome they’re after.

Anyone I have worked with over the last 20 years has always wanted to live a meaningful and purposeful life. They always had things they deeply cared about and were trying to fulfill. Whether it was caring for their family, impacting the world, or fulfilling a lifelong dream.

When aligned with purpose and meaning, fulfillment, freedom, and love are the byproducts. Feeling “negative emotions” or stress indicates that you’re off-target with what’s most important to you.

Emotions are a navigation system that tells you when you are on track and when you need to make a calibration. Silencing emotions and not integrating them would be like your GPS telling you to make a left turn, acknowledging it told you that, and continuing to go straight anyway. Emotions and stress responses are no different.

The “Health” Paradigm Goes Way Deeper Than You’d Think

Pursuing “health” has only made my wife and I miserable.

That’s why, instead, I’ve been developing, implementing, and teaching Vitality Principles for the last twenty years. I follow these principles myself, and I feel better today in my forties than I ever did in my twenties.

That’s why it’s my life’s mission to share this paradigm and perspective with as many people as I can.

In fact, I spent over a week writing a free, 5-day email course that can tell you all about it. It helps explain all the ways “healthy” living has been working against us—and what we can do to start living a life of vitality, instead.

If you liked what you read today, I highly suggest you check it out. Just click the link below and sign up using the same email address you received this article with:

If everything I’ve told you today resonates with you, my final ask would be that you please share this email course with your friends, family, and colleagues so we can start to liberate people from the limitations of the health paradigm.

Yours in Vitality,

Matt