Universal Wellness Program (UWP)

Introduction

The Universal Wellness Program is a health protocol designed to reduce or eliminate the conditions that produce IIPC Syndrome (Interrelated Illness Phases and Cycles Syndrome). In summary, IIPC is a constellation of widely common lifestyle and nutrition related health conditions and outcomes that result in illness and death to millions of people. IIPC generally goes undiagnosed and untreated, and is characterized as “premature death resulting from obesity related illnesses.”

Benefits and Features

The UWP offers the following benefits and features:

Clinical Data Driven. The UWP is data driven, meaning that health condition data is gathered and that data paints a picture of where you’re at physiologically. The trends seen in the data indicate how well your current wellness plan is working and where it needs to be changed. This is done in daily, weekly, and monthly intervals. Clinical lab work is also utilized.
Creative Commons Copyright. The training materials and resources for many wellness programs are protected by copyright and this limits their free use. However, with the Universal Wellness Program, all materials are available for use under a creative commons copyright license.
Economically Accessible. Unlike other health programs that have high costs for care, treatment, medications, food plans, or supplements, this program is economically accessibly to everyone. Just as the goal of Universal Design is to provide universal access to all, this plan is designed to be affordable.
Holistic. Some wellness programs are simply diets based on calorie counting and exercise. The UWP is a holistic approach that quantifies many factors of wellness such as sleep, hydration, food types, and how certain foods make you feel. Do you get tired and sleepy after eating some foods, yet other meals energize you and help you think clearly? Rather than looking at calories alone, consider the overall impact of certain foods on your wellbeing. It’s this kind of thinking that creates an overall holistically guided awareness.
Open Source. Rather than employing secretive and patented proprietary systems, we use an open source approach to knowledge sharing.
Outcomes Based Approach. We all want certain outcomes, but that often doesn’t translate to ongoing practices throughout a given day. An outcomes based approach is designed to create a clearly defined trajectory toward reaching measurable goals, and implementing the practices required to achieve that end.
Scaleable. You can determine the amount of time and money available to invest in the system so it fits your budget. For example, more advanced implementations will include additional test equipment. A greater investment of time can be put into exercise, reading, and data driving improvements.
Universal Design. The system is based on Universal Design principles and dynamically adapts to each person’s unique needs. So, in this way, it is a “one size fits all” solution that perfectly conforms to be optimally efficient for each individual.

Continuous Improvement

The philosophy of continuos improvement is central to this wellness program.

The overall program is continually assessed and improved over time.

Additionally, each participant is encouraged to customize and adapt the application of the program to increase the beneficial results of it. In this way, the efficiency of the program is optimized for each individual.

Essential Elements

The essential elements of the program are as follows:

Data Tracking. It’s essential to track data throughout the day, week, and month. This is generally done with a touch screen data entry system, but paper and pen could also be used. Data tracked may depend on the individual, but generally would include measurable factors such as blood glucose levels, temperature, blood pressure, percent body fat, weight, blood oxygen levels.
Data Analysis. Look for trends and patterns in how your body responds to certain foods, activities, and conditions. The purpose for the data tracking is to begin to see how results and outcomes can be achieved when implementing certain activities or food choices.
Improving. You’ll develop your own personal approaches based on your body’s unique responses to the choices you’re making. It’s as simple as trying something out. Seeing how effective it is at producing the data results you want. Then changing accordingly. This process requires having a large set of data and being able to observe trends. For example, let’s say additional exercise every day is supposed to reduce your blood pressure and help bring down your blood glucose level. Measure your current vitals for a few days, then begin to increase your daily exercise time and/or intensity. If you see beneficial results, increase more. The same is true when introducing foods or beverages into your diet.
Exercise. It’s essential to stay active. Many of today’s illnesses are a result of increasingly sedentary lifestyles at home and in the workplace. Consider walking while one the phone or checking emails.
Nutrition. Find out where you are at with regard to overall wellness. This is best done with comprehensive blood lab work. With attention to your own physiological condition, implement nutrition choices that will improve your health.
Sleep. Having a sufficient quantity of quality sleep is essential to wellbeing. If you find you’re sleepy or foggy headed during the day, you may have disrupted sleep. Check to be sure your sleep environment is optimal. You may also want to consider visiting a sleep clinic if you have unexplained tiredness during the day. Sleep clinics can assess the quality of sleep, and identify hinderances such as sleep apnea.

Technology

Blood Oxygen. A blood oxygen meter can be purchased from a typical drug store for about $40. These help measure the amount of oxygen in your blood. If your blood oxygen is low, it’s an indication you may need to exercise more, breathe deeply, or if you wake up suddenly at night and have low blood oxygen it may be that you have sleep apnea (restricted breathing while sleeping). Athletes measure blood oxygen to see how their body is performing while working out.
Blood Pressure. A typical blood pressure meter can be purchased at the drug store for about $40. High blood pressure can be an indication of stress or inadequate exercise.
Blood Glucose. Portable test meters for blood sugar testing are available for $20 or less at most drug stores. If you get the store brand kit, the cost of the replacement test strips will be about half that of the name brand test strips. High blood sugar in a normal person can be an indication of poor food choices. In someone who has slight or severe insulin resistance, it’s important to exercise and eat certain foods that help keep your blood sugar low.
Exercise Analysis. A device like the FitBit can help track your exercise and activity during the day.
Sleep Analysis. A device like the FitBit can help analyze how much sleep you get and what quality is it. Excessively disrupted sleep can be an indication of dietary issues or sleep apnea.

Wellbeing Tracking

The process of tracking wellbeing is similar to measuring other vitals, such as blood pressure. However, wellbeing is a self assessment of how you “feel” at a given time. Wellbeing tracking is very important because it’s an indication of how things like sleep, hydration, and exercise are impacting your overall wellbeing. Giving yourself a ‘grade’ from 1 to 10 (with 10 being great) it’s possible to measure energy level, emotions, clarity of thinking, etc. While these are somewhat subjective, it’s possible to be precise enough over time to see patters. Keep in mind that these are, of course, relative. When you’re considering your level of strength, for example, you’ll likely be considering how it compares to your ‘normal’ level of strength. If you’re progressing, then your ‘normal’ level will be increasing over time. These are the areas to measure:

Alertness. Are you feeling sleepy and drowsy or very awake. Rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being super alert and awake).
Clarity. Independent from how sleepy you might feel (or not), is your mind and thinking process very clear? Rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being very clear).
Creativity. You may be able to think clearly and perform routine ‘mindless’ tasks, but how is your creativity and ability to think up new ideas or new ways of doing things? Rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being very creative).
Energy. How is your relative strength, stamina, and endurance? Are you feeling weak or strong? Rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest).
Memory. Are you having trouble remembering little details? How is your short-term and long-term memory serving you? Rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being the best).

Why is it important to regularly measure the above areas? Because food choices and lifestyle activities can have a great impact on these. By identifying which food choices and lifestyle activities are having a positive impact and which are having a negative impact it’s possible to make improvements.

Diseases of Royalty

In ancient times we’re told that Kings and Queens along with the members of their royal courts would gorge themselves on buffets of meats and rich foods. They developed unique illnesses not found among peasants. While poverty certainly isn’t something to be glorified or romanticized, it’s true that the more austere diets of vegetables and grains result in better health. Indeed, numerous studies show that being slightly hungry results in greater wellness than a state of being slightly full all the time. With this in mind, it’s clear that a diet for optimal wellness need not be exceedingly costly. By eliminating the expensive (and often rich) foods from one’s diet, it’s possible to have better health and more wealth.