Allyson Felix, Olympic Records, Pre-eclampsia & Plant-based Fat

Hi Byte Wellness Family,

During the 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympics, Allyson Felix (one of the most famous female track runners) made history. After winning her 11th Olympic medal, she became the most decorated woman Olympian in track and field’s history. That 11th medal also made her the most decorated American Olympian in track and field history.

[Picture of Olympic runner, Allyson Felix, holding her daughter. From instagram.com/allysonfelix]

Sheesh!

To hear her tell it, the most important part of Allyson’s experience isn’t the victories…it’s the journey. On her instagram page, a day before the Olympics started, she posted a series of pictures and videos documenting her experience with pre-eclampsia and the premature delivery of her daughter, Kamryn, in 2018.

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On Instagram, Allyson Felix wrote:

“Tomorrow, I step into the Olympic Stadium to compete in my 5th Olympic Games. It might sound cliche, but getting to that starting line is an incredible victory for me. I’ve experienced the hardest years of my life in this journey and by God’s grace I’m here.

With a heart full of gratitude I’m taking space to remember all it took to get here.

So when you see me on the track I hope you understand my fight. As an athlete who was told I was too old, as a woman who was told to know my place, as a mother who wasn’t sure I would live to raise my daughter. I hope you see that for me, it’s about so much more than what the clock says.”

Her vulnerability in sharing her and her daughter’s health stories reminds us that our health is EVERYTHING. No matter how caught up we get in our professional and social lives, we can’t forget that our health is the cornerstone of our life. Our health status governs what we’re able do in the world, who we can do it with, and how we feel while we’re doing it.

Let’s be clear. We don’t have full control over every aspect of our health. There’s no guarantee that healthy eating and exercise will protect us from cancer just like being a world-class athlete didn’t protect Allyson Felix (or Serena Williams) from pregnancy complications.

But, building healthy habits can lower our risk of developing most chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and many cancers.

Doing the hard work of shifting toward a healthy lifestyle and maintaining it also builds our resilience, improving our chances of bouncing back from devastating and unexpected illnesses.

This conversation harkens back to the lesson Simone Biles taught us a couple weeks ago. What’s more important, our health and wellness or our productivity. And, do we even have to choose?

Think about how you approach your wellness goals. Are you working toward your wellness goals like being healthy is your main priority…like a your full-time job?

Or do you treat the task of building healthy habits like it’s more of a hobby?

Here’s what it might look like when health is one of your jobs:

• You put thought into where and how to find nutritious food at home AND when you’re out of the house.

• You prepare to be active throughout the day (planning to walk instead of driving where possible and taking the stairs instead of elevator where able).

• You seek help (possibly professional) in managing your stress levels

This is a perfect bridge to the rest of the healthy fats discussion we’re having in the Daily Wellness Text Chat this month.

We eat 3 types of fat:

• Trans-saturated Fat (Avoid!)

• Saturated Fat (Eat in limited quantities- no more than 7% of daily calories, according to the American Heart Association)

• Unsaturated Fat (Heart-healthy in moderation)

And, the fat we eat comes from 3 different sources: plants, animals (meat, dairy), and highly-processed foods (factory foods). It’s that simple.

Whole plants like seeds, nuts, avocados and algae are an excellent option for nutritious fats because they are the primary source of the heart-healthy unsaturated fat. And, they generally don’t give us much cholesterol-raising saturated fat. Fatty fish like salmon are also a rich source of unsaturated fat (which they get from eating algae).

In fact, the PREDIMED study found that eating good fat is better for us than eating almost no fat.

The researchers found that compared to eating a low-fat diet, eating a diet rich in plant-based unsaturated fats could lowered the risk of heart disease by 30% in the tens of thousands of adults in the study.

Animals and Factory Foods are a different story. Those are the main sources of cholesterol-raising saturated fat and heart attack-causing trans-saturated fat.

So, back to our earlier question inspired by Allyson Felix. Do you treat being healthy like it’s your full-time job? I mean, really?

Studies show that you can prolong your life by choosing unsaturated fat from plant sources rather than prioritizing the saturated fat in animal products or avoiding fat all together.

So, what are you doing right now to make it possible for you to replace animal fat with plant-based fat every week, every day, every meal?

Let me know what you’re doing. Our whole community can benefit from you sharing what works for you.

Meanwhile…

Happy Healthy Living,

Dr. Wuse