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The discussion about how we feel during the pandemic has become increasingly relevant. They talk about isolation and what it does to us. One of the chapters in Deputy State Epidemiologist Anders Wallensten’s book deals with relationships and the role they play in health.
– We are a social species. We need human contact. At the very least, you should probably think about reaching out to others for some extra time, to help us get through this time in a good way, he says.
Anders Wallensten has been working on the book Hälsogåtan, which provides answers on how to live to feel better, for a couple of years. It was completed in the fall of 2019 and the idea was that it would have come out this spring. But instead, the corona pandemic came and turned life upside down, so they decided to postpone publication for six months.
– Illnesses and lifestyle problems are still there, so I think it’s a good time to let it go, he says.
A health seeker
Anders Wallensten says that he has always been interested in health issues and that he has been something of a seeker who is happy to try out new health trends that have emerged.
– I finally felt: what does it really matter? Do I make a turmeric smoothie?
He began to read and connect with evolutionary thinking and compared how we live today to how humans lived for generations long before us. To this he also added comparisons to the way people live in the “blue zones” around the world, known to people who grow unusually old there.
– There I think you can find a more universal principle, and that was the one that made me curious. And when I told people what I was doing, many were curious, so I thought that maybe there are more people who have these questions than I do.
Would you say that it is difficult to live healthy today?
– Yes, absolutely and the development that we have in many parts of the world with obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and the like indicates that there is a great problem, despite the fact that there are already very wise health messages from the authorities and others. There is a gap between the fact that we have information and how easy it is to live that way in practice.
Adapted to life in nature
Why is it difficult?
– I think it has to do with the fact that we are adapted to life in the wild, just like other animals, and for a long, long time we have been designed to be good at it. For example: if we see nutritious food, we should eat it and if it is so that we have the opportunity to avoid moving then it is smart to do so so as not to burn calories unnecessarily. These are two basic things.
The problem is that we live in a society where extremely nutrient-dense food is available everywhere, 24 hours a day, and there are escalators and electric scooters that allow us to save energy in everyday life. What we have with us from the time we lived as hunter-gatherers simply collides with the opportunities that modern society offers us.
As an assistant state epidemiologist, Anders Wallensten ended up at the center of events during the first phase of the pandemic. During the spring, he and state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell shared daily press conferences and other media assignments with each other.
Throughout the fall, Anders Wallensten has been more invisible and instead of meeting with the media, he has worked behind the scenes to delve into details and produce material.
– It’s exhausting to do so many interviews, so that way it has been calmer even though I had a lot to do, he says.
What was it like to finish in the middle of the storm like you did in the spring?
– It felt important to help when the tasks of the Public Health Agency became so central. Then it quickly caught the attention of all of us who appeared in the media and it was difficult to foresee that there would be such an approach. When you work for an authority, you are not directly used to that kind of media coverage. It was intense and a big change to be recognized on the street and so on.
Became #smittskyddsbae
Anders Wallensten was one of the most focused. He got his own hashtag on Twitter, #smittskyddsbae, and there was even a debate on GP’s culture page about whether or not it was reasonable to objectify the assistant state epidemiologist.
Was it a situation you enjoyed or was it more difficult?
– It was exhausting, absolutely. Since then everyone has been very nice. I have received very positive feedback, etc. It is still warm.
The stress, pressure and high demands of modern life run as a common thread throughout his book, where he runs through areas such as exercise, diet, relationships, sleep, and thoughts and how they affect our well-being.
– It is easy to forget that health is a whole. There is a lot of emphasis on diet and exercise, especially in the newspaper headlines. But the other pieces – how we feel mentally and how we sleep, how we feel in our relationships – also play an important role in the opportunities we have to live healthy.
No need to chase new paths
That you have to move, eat well, sleep well, nurture your relationships to feel good sounds pretty obvious?
– Yes, but it is what it holds. You don’t have to chase the new shortcuts. With this evolutionary approach, you can sit back and think: that I do these things well is the important thing, not that I get hooked on a new six-week course of something. The council is not revolutionary. Much is the knowledge that many of us already have. But I wonder how many of us actually live up to them to a sufficient degree.
Some who really live according to this model are the inhabitants of the blue zones that exist in some parts of the world, where people are aging unusually.
– They don’t eat a certain kind of berry or something like that – and that alone says it can’t be the solution. But the common denominator is that they eat varied and a little less than us, who move every day. They live a bit more rural, have a calmer pace and take care of each other. And not least that there is less stress.
Was working with this book an aha experience for you?
– I’ve been to different parts before, but my aha-feeling is that it’s not that difficult. If we only adapt our modern life to the needs of our body, we will have a better chance of coping well.
Facts: Here’s How You Can Live Healthier
This is Anders Wallensten’s advice for you who want to live a healthier life.
Keep in mind that health is more than just diet and exercise. Sleep and relationships also play a role.
Build habits that are healthy. For example: climbing stairs, eating varied, nurturing your relationships.
Think and reflect on life and what to be thankful for.
READ MORE: Let’s make romantic heroes of epidemiologists
READ MORE: Let Anders Wallensten avoid being #smittskyddsbae
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