Icelanders live the Habits of Health

As a Health Coach, I teach and guide according to the Habits of Health. During my teaching visit to Iceland, I had the amazing opportunity to live among people for whom the Habits of Health is a way of life. I feel privileged to experience what America could be if only we lived a healthy lifestyle.

Here are ways in which my Icelandic friends live what we only dream:

• Pure foods: The meats, fish and vegetables are REAL. Most Americans have no idea what meat without hormone injections tastes like. Its a new taste and I like it.
• Milk and cheese are also pure products: Cheese is melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I typically drink soy milk because of the hormones, junk and cruelty that is American Dairy industry. In Iceland, milk is natural and frankly, safe to drink.
• Water - No need for bottled water in Iceland. The tap water is perfect. I venture to say that the water in Icelandic toilets is 100% superior to what comes out of American taps.
• Skyr - This healthy, protein rich, nonfat product is akin to yogurt but far above in taste, nutritional value and health benefits.
• Fast food is flatbread and salmon or Skyr mixed with fruits. There are Subways in gas stations and one Kentucky Fried Chicken. My Icelandic friends were relieved when I said that KFC bears no resemblance to southern fried chicken or even chicken. They tell me that it was a passing curiosity but not popular with Icelanders (who know what real food tastes like).
• Walking and biking - I enjoyed being among the students at University of Iceland who walk to and around this large campus. During summer months, hiking is popular and swimming pools abound in Reykjavik and are popular (yes, even in winter months).
• BMI - This body mass index is a measure of body size which impacts health. Look at the annual CDC charts for the "fat front" claiming all of America. We get fatter and lazier every year. Obesity is common; morbid obesity is increasing rapidly. By contrast, I walked around the University of Iceland campus where among 30,000 students I did not personally see more than 10 overweight students. The opposite would be true at most American universities.

 During my teaching experience at University of Iceland, I saw a living example of people who live the Habits of Health that my colleague, Dr Wayne Andersen teaches. I only hope that they reject American foods with a side order of metabolic syndrome and disease.