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Health Watch Less Is More: Choices for Healthy Living
Please indulge me for a moment by wading through these few quotes. “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow”—The Christian Bible, New Testament, Galatians 6:7 “You must pay, at last, your own debt. If you are wise, you will dread a prosperity that only loads you with more.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson, from “Compensation”. “Every living system requires an infusion of energy to simply survive, if not thrive” —Thea Hagepanos, right about now Now you’re asking yourself, “Isn’t this the article by the pharmacist?” Yep, that’s me. I thought I’d make good on my last column’s hint about pursuing the question of why the population of the USA is NOT as healthy as the populations of many other countries. My bias is to blame at LEAST a portion of it on how we treat ourselves, and EACH OTHER individually and as a society. We move too fast, hesitate to look inward for answers and gobble too quickly. American ‘productivity’ is up because more Americans are spending more time at work... which means less time with family, friends and self. Our capitalist system is inextricably bound to our democracy. In fact, we confuse the two quite often. The free market way we’re doing things has left forty-three million Americans without any form of health insurance. As a nation we spend almost TWICE as much ($4500 per person, and that’s EVERY citizen!) as the second highest spending nation on the planet (Switzerland at $2500 per citizen). Great Britain spends about $1000 per citizen. Great Britain and Switzerland provide universal health care. We don’t. If all of our citizens were TWICE as healthy as the Swiss, that might justify the cost. But in fact, of the twenty-five most industrialized nations, we rank somewhere around twenty-third in parameters of ‘healthiness’ (the average of ratings for longevity, infant mortality, etc.). That’s pretty sad. I believe other factors feed our declining health as well. While we are on the way to public policy changes which will adequately address the needs of all (ya’ll had BETTER be voting in November!), let’s talk about the stuff you can do in your own lives, skulls and souls to improve your health! Go vegetarian, vegan as much as you possibly can! Relying far less on animal protein will go a long way toward reducing weight, cholesterol, diabetes, blood pressure and heart problems. It’ll also keep you out of the pharmacy. Don’t worry about me, because there are plenty of folks out there who won’t be doing this! Focus on maintaining a healthy weight and activity level. A July, 2006 article in The Archives of General Psychiatry found a twenty percent elevated risk of depression in obese patients as compared to people of normal weight. Whether the depression causes the obesity or obesity sets many people up for developing depression hasn’t been clearly established. Treat your body like it’s the most precious gift. The gift you get in return may be contentment! Grow your soul in the direction that supports and nourishes it daily. In this arena, I tend to agree with my conservative Christian family and friends. We may worship differently, but prayer and contemplative time in spiritual community with others can bring a level of peace and strength to one’s daily activities. What’s ten seconds out of your day? How about thirty seconds? If you think it’s a very short time, remember it can take that little time to turn what could be an abrupt, curt interaction with a stranger (or friend!) into a casual, calm and supportive give-and-take. Affirmation and loving kindness may take only a few extra seconds, but it can color the rest of another person’s day, lowering the blood pressure and soothing the spirit. Pass it on! How ironic that the very things that can improve the quality and length of our lives sound so simple! By now, you know that my bias is for going as “low-tech” for the answer to your problems as you can. If it’s a choice between the lovastatin for you cholesterol and eating more veggies, fruit and grain...go with the nutritional change. There are no drug interactions, it’s cheaper and you get to say that you did it yourself. Now, THAT is power!!
Be well, Thea |
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Carolina Civic Voice Fall 2006 Vol. 6, No 3 |