1. Statistic that caught my attention this week…
While in the gym, I saw, but could not hear, a news story stating that there is an increase in maternal mortality. Later, when I looked, I was unable to find that exact story, but came across the data and felt it important to share. Here is a quote from an article on healthaffairs.org… “Over the past two decades, the US maternal mortality rate has doubled, making the US the only developed nation in the world with an increasing maternal mortality rate.” Two things to note about that last line… (1.) The number of women dying due to complications during or from childbirth are increasing; (2.) Our country is the ONLY developed nation where this is happening. Think about this… we utilize more technology, do more testing, implement more procedures, and basically interfere with the natural process of having babies. At first, that sounds great, as it SHOULD make our country the safest place in the world to have a baby. But it isn’t! As these numbers continue to increase, the medical way of thinking will be to do MORE testing, use MORE technology, and interfere MORE. This is ridiculous! As with most healthcare issues we are struggling with, getting back to basics will lead us to better and safer outcomes. We have to respect the natural processes that have been in place as long as humans have existed… including real food, regular movement, fresher and cleaner water and air, stronger sense of community, and less chronic stress. The startling maternal mortality data is one example of how medicalizing the heck out of something DOES NOT lead to better outcomes. Here is a simple chart comparing our numbers to other countries. Not only are we roughly three times as bad as the next closest country, but note that our numbers are going up, while their numbers are declining. Oh… and 3-5 pregnancy-related deaths in this country ARE PREVENTABLE!
Deaths per 100,000 live births
| Country | MMR (deaths per 100,000 live births) |
| United States | 26.4 |
| U.K | 9.2 |
| Portugal | 9 |
| Germany | 9 |
| France | 7.8 |
| Canada | 7.3 |
| Netherlands | 6.7 |
| Spain | 5.6 |
| Australia | 5.5 |
| Ireland | 4.7 |
| Sweden | 4.4 |
| Italy | 4.2 |
| Denmark | 4.2 |
2. Product I use…
People are regularly asking me what they should be drinking. My answer is simple… WATER! Humans drink water. Many people do not get enough water, and to my surprise, some do not like water. One way to make water taste better, and to help encourage more consumption of it, is to add True Lemon to it. These are packets you can carry with you and are very easy to use. True Lemon is crystallized lemon. I personally like lime in my water better than lemon, so I use the True Lime. They are unsweetened, have zero sugar, zero calories, are non-GMO, and do not have artificial sweeteners, colors, preservatives, sodium, or gluten. And I just found out they have orange as well, along with some other flavors, but I have not looked into, or tried, those. You can find them in Heinen’s or get them on Amazon. Go to www.truelemon.com if you want to learn more or see what other products they have.
3. A key to success…
There are many so-called “keys” to success, and many factors have to be present for success to occur, but it is critical to know that true success in anything (health improvement, weight loss, building wealth, building relationships, etc.) occurs with small changes over time. Most people forget the time part. There is an equation in Darren Hardy’s book, The Compound Effect, that looks like this…
Small Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE.
And James Clear points out in his book, Atomic Habits, that…
1% improvement each day over one year leads to 37% improvement.
I have to remind myself that the things I do on a daily basis, while often small and not measurable, are the very things that will lead to, and result in, big successes. Make sure you are doing the small things… and make sure you are doing them consistently… OVER TIME… to get the results you are striving for in life.
