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The 2021 Census highlighted that in Australia, over 8 million people reported having a long-term health condition.
Over three quarters (78.6%) of Australians had at least one long-term health condition in 2020-21 according to the National Health Survey, while nearly half have had at least one chronic condition (46.6% or 11.6 million).
In the US, only 12% of people have metabolic health.
Unstress Health believes we need to individually and collectively, take control of our own health and wellbeing if we want real change.
Stress lowers immune function and drives chronic inflammation, the 2 key drivers in every chronic disease – mental and physical.
To have good health, we first must understand stress by identifying ALL stressors in our lives and work towards minimising them as best as possible.
At Unstress Health we have developed a step-by-step model that focuses on assessing and identifying contributing factors to stress, followed by a foundational approach to building health through the pillars of health.
By changing individual health, we can change collective health and ultimately live a life less stressed.
Below is a summary of the health topics we cover – the pillars of health.
Stress is often triggered by the external environment. Modern life is stressful and that stress is affecting health.
In order to solve a problem, it first helps to know what that problem actually is. It is time to examine how we live as a society and make systemic changes that actually nurtures each individual rather than isolate, disregard and diminish them.
Stress is so much more than being overwhelmed by meeting a deadline at work (although this can obviously be stressful).
We define stress as a combination of emotional, environmental, nutritional, postural and dental factors, some of which are obvious and others many people give little thought to.
Being able to identify these stressors, allows you to focus on minimising them where possible. This is a great starting point to reducing stress and is the key to building physical, mental and emotional resilience.
The most important part of the day. It’s the foundation for any wellness journey. A consistently good night’s sleep is a function of quantity, getting enough sleep, and quality (which means breathing well while asleep).
Getting both rights improves every health measure, physical, mental and emotional. Getting it wrong could shorten life.
The vast majority (90%) of people need 7-9 hours of sleep. People who sleep for only a few hours usually acknowledge they aren’t getting enough sleep. The most interesting are the people who consistently sleep 6 hours and who share many things in common with people who are sleep deprived.
Poor sleep affects memory with the chance of getting dementia increasing; insulin resistance increases predisposing to prediabetes, diabetes and obesity; the hormone responsible for fat metabolism, leptin is reduced, and the hormone responsible for hunger, ghrelin increases so poor sleepers tend to eat more, increasing weight gain; sex hormones production is reduced affecting sex life; the immune system is compromised; thyroid hormone, which helps regulate metabolism is affected; chronic inflammation increases.
Quality is about breathing well while asleep. Snoring indicates a restricted airway, but there is another condition called obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), which means breathing either stop or is restricted frequently throughout the night. In severe cases, it can be life-threatening.
A consistently good night’s sleep is the body’s built-in, life-support system. It makes sense to optimise it.
Breathing is something people give little thought to but there is a big difference between just breathing and breathing well. Breathing quality affects sleep quality, body chemistry and posture.
Breathing through the nose is ideal, warming, humidifying and filtering the air; nasal breathing also improves head posture; breathing at 8-12 breaths per minute helps regulate body chemistry affecting every system in the body, physical and mental; using the diaphragm utilises greater lung capacity and reduces strain on neck and shoulder muscles.
It would not be a surprise to anyone that what we eat impacts our health. The focus should be on nutrient-dense foods.
It’s a huge health topic but in short eat; whole, fresh, diverse and free of sugar and artificial chemicals; have vegetables of many colours as the foundation; incorporate ethically-raised pasture-fed animal products and healthy fats; drink filtered water; have healthy salt; minimise carbohydrate and sugar intake to keep insulin levels low; and explore the power of intermittent fasting, acknowledging that scarcity was always part of our human journey.
Incorporating functional movements and weight-bearing exercise into daily life and standing while working; walking as a sustainable, safe, sociable and empowering activity for life.
Moving regularly impacts positively impacts every health indicator and treatment outcome. It’s surprising how little movement is needed to do to make a big difference.
It is not always possible to change events or people around us we can change our attitude toward them, and that can make a big difference, with the power of thoughts impacting how genes are expressed, and respond to the stresses of life.
According to a 75- year study by the Harvard School of Public Health, a relationship is the best predictor of longevity, health and wellness, so value and nurture them. Expressing gratitude is accessible and positive, for both the provider and the recipient. From practicing mindfulness to exploring mediation, the power of the mind is profound.
The key is to build resilience, while identifying and minimising the stresses of modern life, to fulfil potential and be the best you can be.
The pillars of health do not work independently from one another. For example, an individual may experience poor sleep due to dysfunctional breathing, which resulted in a knock on effect of poor food choices, avoid physical activity and then unable to deal with the work stress of a typical day.
Any outcome, with a negative impact to health, may be the result of any of the stressors; perhaps it was environmental stress (e.g. mould in a bedroom) a cause for the dysfunctional breathing. All pillars are interconnected. Approaching health in this holistic way allows for us to truly reach our health potential.
The Unstress Health Pathway has been developed to help you on each of these pillars above. It provides a step-by-step practical approach for incorporating changes across the Pillars of Health above.
You can follow this approach through an Unstress Health Membership, which provides access to simple, practical and results-driven solutions for understanding stress & improving health.
Unstress Health members have access to the Pillars of Health Deep Dive programs, Q&A Sessions with the Unstress Advisory Panel and exclusive access to premium health resources via the Unstress Health Digital Library. You will also become a member of the Unstress Health Community, with access to the best health minds on a journey to transforming collective health!
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Unstress Health acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands in which we live and work, whose culture is the oldest living culture in human history. We recognise their continued cultural and spiritual connection to the land, sky and waterways that surround us. We continue to learn and be curious about what it means to be a caretaker of this country and an ally to its people. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and future.
