It took 55 years and contracting
a chronic disease, but I've
finally learned to look after my health. The steps required to stay
well are pretty intuitive, and
it makes sense to invest effort and money keeping people well,
instead of treating them when they get sick. But you'd never know it
from reading most healthcare websites. While some might believe that's
deliberate (Big Pharma and a lot
of doctors would be out of business if we stopped getting sick) I think
the main problem is the blind spots that those in the healthcare
industry have, because they're too close to one
perspective to see the forest for the trees.
So here's my simple, obvious list of twelve ways to stay well:
- Don't manage your stress, reduce it: Live simpler. Get an easier
job close to home. Do less. Learn to say no. We are not by nature
well-endowed to handle chronic stress, so managing it is a losing battle. Get rid of the stresses that come from self-imposed demands and expectations.
- Keep the right company: Avoid or dis-associate yourself from people
who are vexatious and demanding. I appreciate that if you're a
caregiver for a needy child or senior that's impossible. But for the
rest of us, life is too short to put up with people who get pleasure
from others' unhappiness. Surround yourself with loving people. Be
physically affectionate. Don't spend too much time alone. And cherish the excellent company of young
children and animals.
- Exercise.
- Eat well: At least eat moderately, foods with variety and balance.
Better still, eat local foods, those that you know where they come from, and organic foods
(I know, sometimes you have to choose between local and organic). Even better, go
vegetarian or vegan, and free yourself from unnatural and addictive products.
- Drink lots of fresh, clean water: Remember, bottled water isn't necessarily better. Do your research on what you drink.
- Live in the right place: Probably not in the city or downwind or
downstream from it. And probably not a place where you have to spend
most of your life indoors or in your car. Visit and live in different places so you
know what you're missing. When you find a place that's peaceful,
unpolluted, natural, you'll know it's the right place. Discover it. Explore it. Make it where you belong. But avoid
spending too much time in the sun.
- Get rid of the toxins: The pesticides and herbicides and artificial
fertilizers in your yard. The poisonous, antibiotic cleaning substances
that you soak your body and clothes in. The carpets and upholstery and
paints and other 'home furnishings' that make the air in the average house unhealthier
than the average smoggy outdoors.
- Wash your hands often: Wash for at least fifteen seconds with
a natural soap and hot water. You wouldn't believe what the average
handshake, shopping cart, door handle or deck of playing cards can
transfer.
- Self-monitor, self-diagnose, and self-manage your health: Don't
rely on the experts. Every body is different, and health
professionals (including a lot of shady 'alternative' medicine
practitioners and snake-oil salesmen) can only guess what's really
right for, and wrong with, you. Take responsibility for your own
health.
- Avoid crowds: That sounds like silly advice, but it's true. Travel
as rarely and as short a distance as you must. Skip the malls and
the bars and other crowded, anonymous places. Bicycle. Stay away from doctors'
offices and hospitals unless you have no choice. Spend time with the
people you love in the place that you love.
- Take as few drugs and other unnatural substances as you can: More
on this tomorrow, when I reveal some astonishing data on the fatality
risks you run when you unnecessary 'preventative' drugs. Don't buy Big Pharma's "ask
your doctor if X is right for you" bullshit.
- Get lots of rest: Sleep in. Do calming things. Enjoy doing nothing but enjoying the passage of time and the beauty of the world.
I'm doing all these things, and I've never felt better, never been in
better physical condition and (according to my recent tests) never been in
more perfect health. Don't wait until you're 55. Stay well.
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