The blogosphere is loaded with people either venting, ranting or trying to sell you something. There are a few that are trying to make a difference in people's lives. There are political and news blogs but I have yet to read one of those that isn't trying to divide or make someone else wrong to prove they are right. The television plays in my gym, 20 feet from my desk, and I see so many fast food, junk food and pharmaceutical advertisements that I feel I cannot keep up. We have become so involved in watching what we eat, trying to manage our health and cut calories out of our food that we have strayed VERY far from what it means to be healthy and eat real, wholesome food.
We call going to the doctor "Healthcare" when it is really just Sick Care, further blurring the lines of what we know as healthy. Health is the body's natural ability to heal itself. You read that correctly: We have a natural ability to heal ourselves. At this point in our human development we are struggling to create an environment in our bodies that is conducive to creating healing. Those with a compromised immune system have trouble healing from even scratches and bruises. Many on long term medications have nearly irreversible physical conditions caused by medications intended to cure something else. Whole food side effects are healthy bowels, stronger bones and general feeling of well being.
We view food as something to stress over rather than a means of making our bodies feel great. We are flooded with images of fast or junk food as being cheap, delicious or satisfying when they are actually low in nutrition and high in salt, sugar and/or fat. That inexpensive hamburger or taco will cost you more by making you buy a heartburn prescription. The caffeine in the diet soda may wake you up in the short term but the fake sugar will cause you to feel sluggish and crave sugary food as your insulin level spikes and then crashes. This will send you looking for real calories as your body is smart and wants real food after just being tricked into thinking it consumed food when it in fact did not.
In short: We are fighting an uphill battle to stay healthy. We have taken the big picture out of how we view health. Eating real food is only slightly more work in the beginning until you learn to be self sustaining and cook whole food for yourself. The following are some ways we create an unhealthy environment in our own bodies:
Environmental toxins from ever present car exhaust, Air pollution from manufacturing and pesticide use
Internal stress from alarming news reports, money stress and terror threats
Lack of daily activity
Poor association with food as nourishment
The wrong idea that we "do not have time" or money for healthy food
Poor or misguided information regarding nutrition, exercise and food
A few answers:
Seek information from reputable sources like the following
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/healthy_living/default.aspx
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/adult-health/basics/staying-healthy/HLV-20049421
Eat food not foodlike products, no one ever got fat from eating spinach, tomatoes and collards.
Limit sugar intake
Get more sleep and less caffeine.
Turn off your TV an hour before bed
Get help from a professional- Nutritionist, coach or trainer
Be balanced in food, exercise and social interaction
I am here. There is someone close to you who will help. There is someone close to you who needs your help to make it happen. We are all in this together.
Be healthier.
Andy
