Achieving optimal mental and physical wellness requires a holistic approach that focuses on reducing cellular stress, restoring both physiological strength and psychological vigor, and improving how we feel, look, and perform in every aspect of life.
Being “out” of balance is a type of stress, specifically a state of cellular stress that leads to dysfunction and eventually to disease.
As such, my idea of balance is very precise and very focused on the concept of maintaining biochemical balance between myriad hormones, enzymes, neurotransmitters, and signaling molecules that course through our blood and brain and all parts of our body on a second-by-second basis.
These molecules are responsible for one of my favorite sayings that, “biochemistry drives behaviors” which describes how our feelings of energy (or fatigue), or happiness (or depression), or mental clarity (or brain fog), or even feelings of success and achievement (or failure and defeat) are driven in large part by positive or negative changes in our underlying biochemistry.
By focusing on this delicate balance, you can:
Let’s dive in!
Achieving True Wellness
Achieving true wellness requires a comprehensive and holistic approach that focuses on reducing cellular stress, restoring both physiological strength and psychological vigor, and improving how we feel, look, and perform across all aspects of life.
Understanding Cellular Stress and Biochemical Imbalance
Being "out" of balance is a form of stress, specifically a state of cellular stress that can lead to dysfunction and eventually to disease.
The list of stressors that cause biochemical imbalance and cellular stress is extensive, and chances are good that you’re exposed to many of them on a daily basis.
My Approach to Balance: A Blend of East and West
As a lifestyle expert trained in the Western scientific disciplines of exercise physiology and nutritional biochemistry – as well as being a student of the Eastern concepts of Qi from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Prana from Indian (Ayurvedic) medicine, my idea of “balance” is quite a bit different than the standard definition.
How Biochemistry Drives Behavior
For many of my colleagues, and especially among writers of popular health books, the idea of balance refers to an inexact and imprecise concept of eating better and exercising more – which is not very helpful for readers who are trying to improve themselves.
Instead, my idea of balance is very precise and very focused on the concept of maintaining biochemical balance between myriad hormones, enzymes, neurotransmitters, and signaling molecules that course through our blood and brain and all parts of our body on a second-by-second basis.
These molecules are responsible for one of my favorite sayings that, “biochemistry drives behaviors” which describes how our feelings of energy (or fatigue), or happiness (or depression), or mental clarity (or brain fog), or even feelings of success and achievement (or failure and defeat) are driven in large part by positive or negative changes in our underlying biochemistry.
Look:
I have a complete mental wellness course that dives deep into positively changing your biochemistry that you can get for free here: https://doctalbott.com/free-mental-health-and-wellness-training/
Let’s dive deeper:
The Dynamic Nature of the Human Body
The body is a dynamic, ever-changing, always-adapting collection of intricate structures and systems.
Sometimes it works perfectly on its own—your lungs fill and empty, your heart beats, and your eyes blink—all without you having to remember to “work” them.
When the Body Breaks Down: The Importance of Repair
But sometimes your body breaks down. In most circumstances, the damage is only temporary, because your internal repair mechanisms jump into action to fix the damage and get you back to full function.
Sometimes, however, the damage persists. You accumulate little bits of damage and dings and creaks over the years, until you find yourself waking up one morning with physical ailments, such as an aching knee, a stiff back, or a generalized pain through your entire body.
The Psychological Impact of Biochemical Imbalance
Sometimes the ailments are more “psychological” in nature, such as depression, fatigue, brain fog, lack of motivation, or outright burnout.
Sometimes, those little changes in metabolism and cellular function mean that we wake up on the morning of our twentieth high school reunion and somehow we’ve gained twenty (or more) pounds of belly fat and more wrinkles than we can count.
The Biochemical Roots of Health Issues
Whether physical or mental, all these ailments have their roots in problems with the biochemistry of your body.
Specifically, I’m referring to the biochemical activity among hormones, enzymes, blood-sugar levels, brain signals, and the other internal interactions that take place below the surface of your skin that you are hardly aware of—until something goes wrong.
The Impact of Biochemical Imbalance
When the balance between hormones, such as cortisol and testosterone; or between neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and norepinephrine; or between enzymes, such as catalase and glutathione peroxidase, is disrupted, you can be left feeling “blah” and exhausted.
This feeling of exhaustion is caused in large part by internal biochemical imbalances, and I’ve been invited on numerous national television broadcasts to explain why so many millions of people are more likely to feel tired, stressed, and depressed and less likely to feel energetic, relaxed, and happy.
Natural Therapies for Biochemical Balance
In the type of lifestyle research that I do, we use natural therapies (nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management, herbal supplements, and others) to reestablish biochemical balance to improve psychological vigor.
The Concept of Vigor: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science
I’ve written entire books about restoring vigor (The Secret of Vigor: How to Overcome Burnout, Restore Metabolic Balance, and Reclaim Your Natural Energy), which is defined as a combination of physical energy, mental acuity, and emotional well-being – and the opposite of what we know as “burnout”.
The Role of Vigor in Traditional Medicine
Our modern scientific concept of vigor is somewhat comparable to the ancient descriptions of vitality and wellness from traditional medicine systems around the world.
Nearly every ancient culture has typically held a common belief that true health stems from a strong “life force” in the body.
Ancient Concepts of Life Force
Other names for this life force, or vigor, include:
Restoring Life Force Through Natural Therapies
Practitioners of traditional medicine might have restored “life force” in their patients by improving their nutrition or administering herbal medicines.
These natural therapies often “worked,” and patients felt better as a result. What these ancient healers did not fully appreciate was “how” their therapies were working to actually alter biochemical processes in the body.
Modern Approaches: The Shortcomings of Quick Fixes
In modern times, millions of people attempt to temporarily reduce fatigue with unbalanced energy drinks or other stimulants. However, that approach does not restore vigor and is actually more likely to create additional imbalances that further sap vigor in the long term.
The Biochemical Imbalance of Chronic Stress
Chronic stress—and the underlying biochemical imbalances that it leads to—undoubtedly plays a major role in many of today’s modern diseases, particularly depression, chronic fatigue, anxiety, fibromyalgia, and obesity.
The Statistics on Stress and Health
In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the World Health Organization:
The good news is that by naturally restoring biochemical balance, you can dramatically reduce feelings of stress, cut fatigue and depression, boost physical and mental energy, and significantly improve vigor.
Understanding the Impact of Chronic Stress
It may be hard to understand how something as simple as stress can cause so many problems—from depression to heart disease to weight gain.
But the fact is, your body’s response to everyday pressures—including deadlines, traffic, money concerns, family conflicts, irritating coworkers, and other worries—is actually a chronic stress response.
The Biochemical Cascade of Stress
And that response to chronic stress causes an immediate and profound change in a variety of hormones and related biochemicals in your body.
Further, those compounds are distributed throughout the entire body, where they influence the function of every organ and cell.
The Subtle Effects of Chronic Stress
Initially, the effects of chronic stress are subtle.
On the biochemical level, hormone levels change (e.g. increased cortisol and reduced testosterone); blood sugar levels fluctuate more dramatically (because cortisol interferes with insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar); cellular damage increases (caused by oxidation and inflammation set in motion by blood sugar fluctuations); and brain function is compromised (due to imbalances in neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine).
Early Signs of Biochemical Imbalance
Although you are hardly likely to detect such biochemical changes on a daily basis, what you might notice is that you experience a few extra pounds of weight, a slight reduction in energy levels, a modest drop in sex drive, or a bit of trouble with memory or mood.
Even then, you probably brush off these health signals as “normal” aspects of aging.
The Hidden Dangers of Stress: Early Warning Signs
However, these common symptoms are actually the earliest signs of depression, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, obesity, diabetes, impotence, dementia, heart disease, cancer, and many related conditions—and chronic cellular stress can trigger all of them.
Indeed, researchers are discovering that cellular stress may well be the key factor in the very process commonly recognized as “aging.”
Paying It Forward: The Ripple Effect of Vigor
I’ve learned through experience with thousands of people who have read my books, attended my lectures, and enrolled in my programs, that when people become that better version of themselves – that “best future you” – they often feel so good that they’re motivated to help someone else achieve the same – they pay it forward.
The "Magic" of Helping Others
I see it in action every day and all over the world – people helping other people to achieve what they’ve achieved.
Many people who witness this phenomenon describe it as “magical” – which it might be in terms of the life-changing benefits that it brings to people, but that “magic” is deeply rooted in the science of maintaining biochemical balance.
The Shortcomings of Popular Health Programs
Unfortunately, this is not at all what we see in most of the popular “self-help” and health-improvement programs these days.
In fact, most popular programs are the antithesis of balance because they focus on the complete exclusion of entire food groups (e.g. carbs or grains or meat or fat or gluten or whatever) – or the imperative that you “must” include one certain magical “superfood” that has miraculous medicinal properties.
What these misguided approaches fail to understand, is that such limited approaches deliver limited results (and limited benefits for you).
A Little Bit About My Personal Story
I hold an MS in Exercise Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from Rutgers.
I’m also a graduate of both the Entrepreneurial Masters Program (EMP) and the Advanced Certificate for Executives (ACE) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of teaching at the University of Utah in the Nutritional Sciences Department and working with elite athletes at the United States Olympic Training Centers, the US Ski & Snowboard Association, and the US Track & Field Association as part of the Performance Enhancement Team.
Currently, I maintain an active lifestyle research program where I focus on developing programs to restore balance, boost vigor, and help people become the best versions of themselves.
You can read more about myself, programs, and free wellness resources here : About Dr. Shawn
The Vision Behind Becoming Your ‘Best Future You’
If reading this blog post can give you some ideas and strategies for helping you to feel your best, then that’s a win.
But, I think our opportunity is much bigger than that.
The concept of becoming your “best future you” is about striving to be a better version of yourself—more energetic, more focused, and happier than you are now.
You might be interested in something like that because the best version of yourself might be more energetic or focused or happier than you are now (you’d feel better) – or you might have a complexion that is more youthful and radiant or a slim and toned physique (you’d look better) – or you might become leaner, stronger, and confident (you’d perform better).
In my book Best Future You: Harnessing Your Body’s Biochemistry to Achieve Balance in Body, Mind, and Spirit (which you can purchase here), the overall theme is to help you achieve your ultimate peak of health, vitality, and mental/physical performance, this book is really about how to achieve all that through balance.
My motivation:
None of my knowledge could have been possible without me being exposed over the years to a series of dedicated and inspiring coaches and mentors, as well as a natural curiosity about perfecting the coordination of body, mind, and spirit to help us achieve our best.
This is what I hope Best Future You can be for you – a virtual coach to guide your curiosity and help you become the best future version of yourself.
