Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means
Dr. Casey Means pulls no punches. With degrees like hers (Stanford, Stanford, and more Stanford) and a razor-sharp wit, it’s hard to imagine many people standing toe to toe with her. Her book, Good Energy, explores hosts of common-sense health advice, but it’s equally provocative.
Out of the gate, Means asserts her mother’s death of pancreatic cancer was preventable. She continues throughout the book teaching readers why, and what each of us can do to reduce our chance of dying prematurely from preventable disease.
Metabolic Health
The root cause of most diseases is poor metabolic health. According to Means, 93% of the American population is metabolically dysfunctional. Two of the main drivers are poor diet and our sedentary lifestyles. Her recommendations follow those on the vanguard of preventive health: eat natural food, exercise and move, and get 8 hours of sleep per night. What separates her analysis is her explanation of why these things matter.
According to Means, if our cells are not healthy, neither is the rest of us. Mitochondria, ATP, and all the rest of high school biology are explained in understandable ways throughout. She makes the connection between the food we eat and our cells, and then she proves the link between cellular health and metabolic health.
Means’ conclusion is that our cells dictate our health, so make them happy.
Unprocessed Food
Means simplifies the debate over food by prescribing a simple plan: eat unprocessed or minimally processed food. Unprocessed food is natural food as God made it – almonds, spinach, or an apple. Minimally processes food is almond butter from simply raw almonds – it’s been minimally altered, but there are no additives or preservatives (so leave out the salt, oils, and any unrecognizable ingredients).
Processed food has additives, preservatives, dyes, an assortment of words in the ingredient list no human can pronounce, and often cuts out valuable parts of natural plants that spoil so the food will have a long shelf life. This type of “food” isn’t real food at all, it’s a mesh of non-sense crammed into a well marketed package, and these “foods” are horrible for our bodies.
In light of this understanding, Means believes fasting, paleo, keto, Mediterranean, and all the other diets work so long as you ditch the ultra-processed food. The concern is that ultra-processed food is contaminated by ingredients that create disfunction in the body such as added sugar, additives, preservatives, and artificial ingredients.
The pushback is that eating “healthy” costs more, takes more time to prepare, and doesn’t taste as good as many ultra-processed foods. The last of these claims is categorically false – healthy food prepared correctly is much more enjoyable than ultra-processed food. The first of these claims is true, and something Means addresses.
As to the high price of healthy eating, Means argues that we can pay a little more now for healthy food or we can pay much more later for medical care.
She also promotes the idea that there are natural alternatives to medicine such as trying the keto diet to cure type 2 diabetes, PCOS, and erectile dysfunction. Eating healthy can also reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. Add in good sleep and regular exercise, and your risk for many diseases decreases dramatically. These remedies will cost a little more money today, but they will save much more in health costs and suffering down he road.
Provocative Claims
Means is not always hitting her mark. When science is the subject, she nails it. In the real world, however, she sometimes lacks perspective.
For one thing, she makes the connection between the food industry, pharma, and medicine. Her claim is that the food industry is bolstered by big pharma and big medicine, so that American become sick, requiring medical intervention. There is certainly a link between marketing food, pharmaceuticals, insurance, and medicine that makes these folks seem devilish. However, she is not able to prove causation. Moreover, the book assumes the worst in people instead of recognizing our current health crisis is a product of bad decisions, not evil ones.
The other shortcoming in Means’ analysis is her impracticable assumptions about the way life works. For example, she supposes time for two-hour meal preps and perfectly operating farm to table options. She clearly does not have kids, and has never tried shopping in a small town. She also assumes readers could just start walking to work or working out twice a day.
Big Takeaways
Means gives readers much to consider – how understanding your metabolic health can help reduce illness and promote good energy.
If you can’t read the book, here are the most important things to remember:
- Exercise daily.
- Improve your sleep.
- Eat natural or minimally processed food.
Doing these things will improve everything about your life.
Reading the book is highly recommended. The primary reason to read Dr. Means’ book is because it not only explains health and your body, but it also gives actionable steps. She has recipes, a week-by-week program to improve health, and a check list everyone should review for from time to time.
Purchase the book here. For more reviews visit our Booklist.