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The Difficulty In Finding Good Information In The Health And Wellness Industry

The Challenges That Exist

By Cody Dakota Wooten, C.B.C.Published 23 days ago 8 min read
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Help Change The World by Voting for Mr. Health and Fitness 2024! Read to the End to see How this Impacts The World!

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If you have been following my work lately, I've been talking a lot about Health and Fitness.

Now, I firmly Know that to become a better Leader, you "must" also work on improving your Health.

Period.

The largest Business Problem in today's world is Burnout, which 80% of Employees are experiencing.

It Prevents Innovation, Significantly Decreases Productivity, Decimates Emotional Intelligence, Diminishes Problem Solving, and Blocks Flow States among other Problems.

If you want to overcome Burnout, you must Improve many factors in your Physiology as they directly interact with our Psychology.

I've also discussed how Psychology and Neuroscience are not enough, on their own, for Leaders to Succeed.

If they were, we wouldn't be seeing 80% of Leadership Development Programs completely Fail, with only "Limited Success" the rest of the time from the "Many" programs that "Neuroscience" and "Psychologically" Backed.

This is a small part of the Reason I no longer do "Leadership Development" with my Clients.

Now, I know what you may be thinking when you hear this.

"Great, I'll just go to the store and pick up books on how to Improve my Physiology!"

Good luck.

Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE going to the bookstore as books "tend" to have significantly better information than what you find online.

In fact, I went to the bookstore today!

My Goal was to pick up a specific book that I enjoy to aid in my Running Training and see if I could find other books that could be of use.

When I got there, of course, the book I wanted wasn't there, but I decided to go through and see what else I could find.

There were probably 100 books that I looked through on Running.

Some of them were Memoirs.

Others were based on the Science of Running.

At the end of it, do you know how many I felt were robust in Quality and have enough Scientifically to buy?

Only One.

Why is that?

Well, there are a lot of Great Coaches, Athletes, and Doctors who write these books.

Many have Earned a spot on the shelves due to their Accomplishments, and many have done Incredible things.

But there are some of the Challenges I see with many of the Books around Health, Wellness, and Fitness.

The first Challenge I frequently see is the Quality of the Science being discussed.

Unfortunately, there is a LOT of "Junk" Scientific Research.

It is estimated that 80-90% of Research is Funded by a very select few Companies that Pay to get "Specific" Results.

Now, generally, these Research papers don't "Lie" and there's some Scientific Rigor.

However, the Problem that occurs is that the "Research" is Designed to get a Specific Result to "Sound Good".

For instance, say you were a Researcher who worked for a Junk Food Company and were being paid to Create Research where the Junk Food helped someone lose weight.

In the design of the Experiment, you might then have a "Control" Group who ate a standard 2000 calories per day, changing nothing in their diet.

In the "Experiment" Group, you might have 1 meal replaced with just the Junk Food you are Researching.

The Results show that the Control Group maintained their weight, while the "Experimental" Group Lost 10 lbs in 4 weeks.

Congratulations!

As a Researcher, you just "Proved" that the Junk Food you're Testing can help people "Lose Weight"!

But when you look into the Experiment more closely, you also discover that the "Experiment" Group only ate 1500 calories per day during the Experiment.

Was it the Junk Food that helped people lose weight, or the reduced calories?

Sadly, studies like this "actually" exist as "Proof" that certain foods (like Junk Foods) and diets "Work", including diets we tend to see as "Healthy" like Vegan or Vegetarian Diets.

I'm not saying that these diets don't have Benefits, especially in comparison to the "Standard American Diet" or "Modern American Diet"...

But it makes you question if some Diets are Truly "Good" or if they are simply "Less Bad".

This ties into another Challenge I see - Conflicts of Interest and Agendas.

"Many" Books written by Athletes, Coaches, and Doctors come with Significant Conflicts of Interest.

This is True with Who is Writing it, Who is "Sponsoring" it, and what "Science" is being used.

Often, there is a Conflict with multiple aspects here, especially when it comes to Doctors.

These Conflicts often lead to using Science in what I would describe as "Shady" ways.

I have seen some "Science" where the claims being made were "Theoretical", but the "Practical" showed something Completely Different.

There is another issue where, sometimes when someone becomes "Known" for something, they get "Caught" in that.

Sometimes these individuals later in life discover problems with what they "discovered" earlier in life, but are now "known" for it.

If they admit the problems, then it could mean destroying their career as they've built it.

It's a hard place to be - Destroy and "Attempt" to Rebuild your Reputation from Scratch, or Continue the Course.

Some people "Continue" for the sake of Survival, despite knowing the Truth of their Platform.

Then there is another Challenge around Science, and that exists in the Depth of "Science".

Many good-hearted people don't "really" know how to Read Science.

They then learn some interesting things, take it as the "Truth", and sometimes even find Research to "Validate" that "Truth".

But when you look at the Research that is referenced...

Sometimes it leaves a lot to be Desired.

There are different types of Research, and they have significantly different "Worths".

Some Studies are "Overviews" that may be designed to find "Possible" Correlation, but that does not mean "Causation".

This becomes a dangerous area in many pieces of Science as you will find some Wild Claims.

In particular, you'll see headlines saying things like, "Researchers discover a link between X and Y!"

Usually, those headlines point to Correlation and not Causation.

But when you don't know or understand the Depth of Research, you don't know!

Then there is an issue with Short Term Results versus Long Term Results.

Many Books look at Research with amazing Short Term Results, but frequently those Results are not Sustainable in the Long Term.

What happens over 10 years or 20 years?

Most books don't ask those questions, and some blindly assume that the Results will be Maintained over time.

Sadly, I've seen some of the breakdowns of different diets or workouts, and the Content shows me that, in the Long Term, the Results will likely be Catastrophic.

Some people, especially Athletes, may feel that risk is worth it.

However, I am of the opinion that the current definitions of Health and Fitness are broken, and we need to pursue them differently.

If it is not Sustainable for the Entirety of our Lives and Beneficial throughout, then I do not Believe they should be considered the "Peak" of Health and Fitness.

"Maybe" some of them could be Good Solutions to "Immediate" Problems (ie certain unsustainable diets appear effective against Inoperable Cancer), but that is the domain those "Solutions" should stay in.

This then brings me to the Final Challenges.

When it comes to the Individuals who write books, there are a few other problems.

Those Individuals have often accomplished amazing things in their lives, there is no question about it.

However, sometimes there are Two Specific Challenges I see with the Individuals.

The first is some people who are Amazing at what they do... are not great at "Teaching" what they do.

Some people Struggle with finding the words to explain How they do what they do or Understand Why they know what they know.

They Know it... they just can't Explain it.

This becomes even more Problematic when they try to get a Ghostwriter to explain it for them, but the Ghostwriter doesn't understand it themselves.

The Ghostwriter may use great words, but miss what the Person is trying to explain.

The Person explaining it also doesn't know how to explain it, and is just thankful someone else can put some form of words to the Ideas, even if they aren't "correct".

It ends up being the blind leading the blind, and no one wins.

Then, there is another problem, especially in Memoirs that, in science, is called an N of 1.

Essentially, it is just "that" Individual's Experience.

Often, their Results are not Repeatable.

It isn't necessarily that they are not Truthful about their Success, rather they don't actually "know" what caused their Success.

They "Believe" they know why they Succeeded, but often there are deep subtleties they are completely unaware of.

This can become a Challenge because what they are saying is the Truth, just not the Truth that most people need to attain similar Results.

Often, people will blindly follow this advice, and Fail to get any Results because whatever the Advice was given wasn't what got the Results.

Unfortunately, there are significant levels of variables when it comes to Health and Fitness and it can be very difficult to narrow down the Specifics of where Results come from.

So, these are all the different things I look at when I try to understand any Subject.

There is a Reason so many people have such difficulty with Health and Fitness in their Lives - it's a Really Complex Field of Research.

Often, you must learn to read between the lines and see things from multiple angles to have Success.

It is also why I am able to Write so Consistently on these Subjects!

There is a lot to Understand!

My Advice is that if you want to become a significantly better Leader, find someone who can help you Understand the deep nuances of Burnout and will work with you to Navigate them along the way.

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Want to Change The World?

I am on a mission to show that when "We" work together, We "Can" Change The World!

There is currently a competition for Mr. Health and Fitness 2024 with a prize of $20,000.

Which is How "You" Help Change The World!

I have plans to use 100% of the Prize to support 3rd Party Verified Projects around the World that address the Most Critical Ecosystem Aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

At a minimum, my Goal is to accomplish:

  • 10,000 m2 of Habitats Protected for Critically Endangered Species
  • 56,000 Plastic Bottles Removed from Our Oceans
  • 500,000 m2 of Coral Reef Restoration
  • 1,000,000 Miles of Car Emissions Removed

However, I can "only" do this with "Your" Help!

Together, we can accomplish Incredible things in the World, and I want to show Everyone the Power of that!

I humbly ask you to join me, and Vote to Make the World Better!

This is what you can do:

If you are even considering helping, I truly appreciate you, and I know you have so much Potential to Change the World!

wellnessweight lossvintagesocial mediaself caresciencequotespsychologyproduct reviewpop cultureorganicmental healthlongevity magazinelistlifestyleindustryhumanityhow tohealthfitnessfeaturefact or fictiondiydietbodyathleticsagingadvice
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About the Creator

Cody Dakota Wooten, C.B.C.

Creator of the Multi-Award-Winning Category "Legendary Leadership" | Faith, Family, Freedom, Future | The Legendary Leadership Coach, Digital Writer (500+ Articles), & Speaker

https://www.TheLeadership.Guide

[email protected]

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  • Dharrsheena Raja Segarran23 days ago

    Omgggg, yessss, like we've discussed before, there are sooooo many rubbish researches! Also, instead of Ghostwriting, they could write it themselves and then have someone fix it.

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