The key concept lies in considering the human body as a sophisticated machine designed to respond and adapt to its environment. These responses have been honed over millions of years of evolution to help humans survive and thrive in the varied environments in which people lived. Depending on the conditions experienced, the body activates different genetic processes to allow them to survive droughts, injuries, diseases, and other hardships.
Many health afflictions experienced in contemporary society are caused by genetic factors, things like high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, autoimmune disorders, etc. The proximate cause of these conditions can be treated. We have statins for high blood pressure, bypass operations to fix clogged arteries, Ritalin to calm hyperactive children, and aspirin to help with our headaches. The standard view would be to see the genetic factors predisposing people to these problems as some sort of defect that has to be corrected.
Using concepts of ancestral health, we can consider a different approach. Why do people's genes predispose them to these diseases? Why would our genetic code misbehave like this? The key is to realize that the body is doing the best it can to help us be healthy. The genes contain instructions that are meant to keep us healthy in a harsh world, and the body is doing the best it can with the information it has available. The problem is that the signals we send our body are different than what it was designed for, we eat different foods, have different activity patterns, different sleep patterns, and different toxins to fend off.
These signals can confuse the body. For example, many modern foods can trigger metabolic processes designed to help people survive starvation. This will cause the body to store fat, lower energy levels, and send a "hunger" signal to the brain in a quest to replenish much needed energy supplies. Normally, these processes should deactivate when food is plentiful, but if the signals are confused these processes will keep going as the person gains more and more weight. If the person goes on a standard "diet", the problem is only accentuated as the body thinks it is starving, even as they gain more and more weight. They are fighting a losing battle with their own body. Similar problems can cause many other chronic diseases.
The key to solving these problems is to send your body the correct signals, so that it will respond in an appropriate way. By looking through the lens of ancestral health, we can try to figure out how to send these signals. Everything we experience is sending information to our body, including the food we eat, when we eat it, our activity levels, sleep patterns, exposure to sunlight, stress etc. The video below does a good job of explaining this concept, focusing primarily on food.
