Why Are We So Sick?

“Eat to live” or “Live to eat”? That is the question.

A few nights ago I had dinner with friends. As we talked, the conversation turned to health and sickness, as well as what can be done, if anything, to prevent getting ill and old, especially as we are now in middle age going from 40s and 50s and higher. An age when one suddenly realizes one’s mortality and begins to feel the aches and pains that only old people would complain about before: overweight, raised cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, heart attacks, diabetes sinus problems, allergies, arthritis, cancer, to mention only a few of the many current health problems that are troubling so many of us.

What happened to the young immortals who could not care less, especially about health and prevention? Life is about living and enjoying after all, and not about counting calories, watching every mouthful and being careful. That’s not life. That’s a life sentence. Live now and worry later was the motto.

So there we were enjoying our dinner and the question that interested us the most is “why, with so much information available to us nowadays, is the general population sicker than ever before?”

Twenty or so years ago, you would be considered a Health Nut or health obsessed, if you just as much as mentioned organic food, holistic health and prevention or yoga. People’s eyes would glaze over. This is still a common reaction even today. And the topic would be changed to some other more interesting subject.

Just take a look at any magazine or newspaper stand anywhere in the world today, filled with numerous publications devoted solely to the subject of health and prevention. Health articles and newspapers and magazines are featured constantly. TV, cable and radio programs give health advice featuring health and slimming makeovers that are taking over from fashion makeovers while internet information is available to anyone interested to find out more.

And yet obesity and diabetes is on the rise. So are heart kidney, liver, pancreas and colon problems, high blood pressure, degenerative and auto immune diseases like arthritis, cancer, allergies, skin problems, weakened immunity, depression, etc. The list goes on. How can this be explained? What do we make out of this apparent dichotomy?

Plenty of well documented information on one side and yet the continuous rise of sickness and obesity among the general population on the other. Is it just plain ignorance, a blatant disregard for what are now well known facts about creating and maintaining health?

Obviously, there is no simple reason or answer to this question as it is quite complex. Each person may have their own reason, while others are shared by many. Here are just a few:

• Confusion created by too much information available. People in the end just give up as it becomes too complicated.
• Time: Specifically, the belief that there is not enough time and feeling too tired to do anything but flop in front of the TV with a TV dinner. And to tell the truth, just can’t be bothered, not interested. Thank you very much. I am happy the way I am.
• Diets Don’t Work: Weight problems – “I’ve tried all the diets they’re just too painful and work only for a while if at all. I just don’t have the willpower.”
• Expense: Organic food too expensive if you can get it. I have no time to cook or prepare food.
• Taste: The belief that “healthy food doesn’t taste good. It’s boring. One needs animal protein to be healthy. Vegetarian food is for rabbits. People need meat to have energy. I have tried to be a vegetarian and it just wasn’t for me”, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Humans are creatures of habit. Once a habit is formed it stays. To change it takes an effort. We are used to doing things in a certain way, eating certain foods and to change it is not so easy for us or even downright impossible.

The first step for any change to occur is to want to change and to find out where our priorities lie. What is important for us in our life. If health is the important issue, then we are interested to find out more about it. The next step is to implement it into our life to walk the talk.

Anything new takes a while to become a part of us. Learning to drive for example, was not achieved in one day. We had to learn and practice before it became an automatic habit. I remember my first driving lesson when I thought that I will never learned to drive. Of course, driving is now an automatic habit for me. Any learning is a process that becomes a part of our life, once practiced enough.

I believe that information is very important and most people have enough ability to discern what is right and what’s not. Whether they decide to follow it is a different story. Once we understand the main principles of good health and prevention of sickness, then we just need to put it into practice. Our life will have to change to accommodate the new practices.

Good health has to be earned and only those willing to do what is necessary will be able to enjoy a healthy and balanced life.

It’s like having a bank account. We have to put money in, not only take money out, in order to prevent getting overdrawn or bankrupt. The same principle goes for everything in life including our health.

It is principally our own responsibility to keep our body in good working condition. It is up to us to decide what we value the most. What we believe in and what we hold as important for us will be what creates our life and guides our actions. Every day we get a new chance to start all over again.

It does not have to mean a drastic change, to change a job or move to a new place or country even though sometimes it may be necessary to do just that. We can start with small changes, but it’s important to stick with them.

If we want a healthy functioning body that will serve us well until the end, it is our responsibility to take care of it, to know what it needs, what is harmful and to aim for healthy balance.

In the end, it is quite simple.

All our body requires is nourishment that comes from at least 50% live food and will supply the body’s needs. Live food means fresh food that is uncooked with all the nutrients and enzymes intact. Pure water for hydration as our body is 75% water and we need oxygen. These are the most important and basic elements for a physical survival and renewal.

The state of our health is a reflection of our actions and of our beliefs. What we do and think will be the eventual result in our physique and our well being. Whether we just want to live to eat or eat to live is our choice.

One of the greatest misconceptions is that healthy food is boring. We are guided by our taste buds, though the results of this taste are all around us to see –– taste so often being food poisoned by refined salt, refined sugar or sugar substitutes like aspartame.

It takes willingness, time and effort to change from an old way of eating and living to a way that supports our health and body, while helping to prevent illnesses and premature aging.

The connection between food, health or sickness is well accepted and documented by now, especially in the case of refined sugar, salt, aspartame, trans fats and denatured commercial food, all of which lack vital enzymes, vitamins and minerals.

Healthy, live nutrition gives vitality, peace of mind and a physical body that functions in an optimum way rather than just surviving. This is a way that is open to everyone. All that is needed is to want it enough to make it a part of everyday life. The reward will be a healthy, balanced and disease free body.

Isn’t that what is most important in life?