I have often heard the statement :
There are people who get lifestyle diseases like Heart disease, Cancer, Diabetes or Stroke despite eating healthy. So why should I watch my diet? It’s better if I eat whatever I like & laze around & not exercise. This way, at least I’m enjoying my life. If I’m destined to get a disease, I anyway will.
Answer :
People who make statements like these , are basically those who want to evade the fact that they need to watch their health. Mainly because they don’t want to put in the effort that it takes and they may also not be aware of the consequences of neglecting their food and lifestyle habits.
My question to them is :
There are people who meet with an accident despite observing all the traffic rules. So does that mean we should stop observing traffic rules, break the signal ,not indicate while taking a turn or drive on the wrong side of the road ??? Will that cause less accidents or more ?
Recently I’ve been coming across a message about a celebrity having a chronic disease despite being super fit. And how that is caused by eating salads or foods that are generally assumed as not being tasty (or punishing or depressing)
Here is my take on it :
We have been gifted a body by nature. Nature has also provided us with nourishing foods and also given us the gift of common sense to understand that if we neglect our health by eating incorrectly or by avoiding activity, it will eventually (& inevitably) lead to disease.
It is our job to eat nourishing foods,
(whole foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, whole grains , legumes pulses, fish, chicken, eggs ) minimise eating food-like products/ processed and packaged foods. Remember, ALL foods can be made tasty by mixing the right ingredients in the right proprotion, even salads. If you don’t know how, doesn’t mean it’s not possible.
If we are ignorant then it’s our responsibility to develop awareness of how the foods we consume affect our body, mind, productivity, how active we feel and whether or not we will be independent in old age.
We also need to know that after doing all the right things for our health , we are drastically reducing the risk of developing lifestyle diseases. However , there are still other environmental factors like air pollution, inevitable stress factors, radiations, which influence us which we might not have direct control over so the possibility of disease exists for anyone, even if you are super fit.
Just like you wouldn’t break traffic rules to minimize the chances of accident, you need to do your best to minimize the risk of disease or old age dependency on others, by taking care of your health now.
Eat like your life depends in it. Because it does.
~ By Mukta Tolani