Written by Ana Nieto. Edited by Ivo Tomasini
Would you like to live to be 100 years old with superior quality of life?  That’s my goal. That’s my life, it’s what I do.

I haven’t been great at practicing good health my entire life. I have my down moments, but macro-health is definitely something I strive for, and not because I absolutely must live a long time or that I’m afraid of dying. There’s just something about the 100 year bench mark that is alluring. The idea of accomplishing 3 digits in a life-time pushes me toward a deeper, spiritual enlightenment based in the wonderful world of natural healing and all of its endless benefits. Happiness is health.
I always listen very carefully when someone tells me about a health issue they are experiencing and I love when I’m able to give them advice, such as refer them to someone I trust that is an expert in treating their problem(s). The more I think about it the more excited I get about creating systems that will do just that: connect a patient with a specialist – someone that appreciates the big picture of a person’s personal profile, from his/her physiological history to the root cause of the problem.

A new kind of “health system” does not have to be called “health insurance” – as this already connotes a bureaucratic dilemma attached to power hungry interests. A new system would have to build into its core some fundamental principals in order to protect it from the ravages of the profit-only-driven models. Localized communities would have to be involved, individual members or investors would have to play a significant role by allowing their real-time opinions to be taken into consideration. The prevention of wide-spread contamination of any system is largely gained by eliminating the top-down-only approach to management, and replacing it with a bottoms-up method that integrates nuances based on the ideas brought forth by its main shareholders. No organization is ever free of corruption, but it’s definitely much more protected when honesty, quality, and transparency are integrated into it’s mission.

I believe the World Health Organization (although I disagree with some of their conventional protocols for dealing with disease) rightly defined health in its broader sense in 1946 as: “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. That’s the kind of new health initiative many people want today, unfortunately the insurance industry is mostly dominated by mega-monopolies aided by governments that are concerned only with treatment after-the-fact (i.e. money, not health).

Therefore, it is the word “prevention” which should supplant the misguided word “insurance” in a new health system. How we think about anything is paramount to how we behave. If most of the American population that is currently paying for health insurance or is on a government program is mostly thinking about health after a problem arises, then how are they behaving? No wonder our grocery stores and restaurants are glutted with overly processed, chemically loaded, cancer inducing junk foods. It’s of no surprise why we barely fit in a good amount of exercise into our daily schedules. If however, we were thinking more along the lines of prevention, then perhaps, our behavior would force companies to provide healthy choices across the economic spectrum. Yet more importantly, it would give individuals the impetus to take health matters into their own hands. Governments would be next, as they legislate based on where the money is going.

I’m happy to say that our team at Turtle Shell Health is constantly taking small steps towards the goal of fomenting ideas and the inspiration to replace a failed top-down paradigm with a new alternative that cherishes the natural health potential in all of us.