Recently a friend of mine lost his father to what was probably an entirely preventable illness. So I thought
I would use this as an opportunity to explain what I think is going on that has left my friend feeling so robbed this week.
Hopefully it will spur you into action if you’ve been taking shortcuts with your health in recent years, and
you have a sense that perhaps your own wake up call isn’t that far off…
You see, the way I feel about this is that our wonderful, exciting, modern day world, is silently at war. It is not the kind of war that involves guns, tanks, or missiles.
No, this war is nothing so blatantly theatrical.
And yet the enemy is certainly there – unseen, silent, and stalking the people we know.
Workmates, friends, and even members of our own family.
This enemy creeps up to our doorstep every day, right underneath our very noses, and we do so little to discourage it.
That enemy is ‘modern chronic disease’ and it is proving to be more deadly than any conventional ‘war’ has ever been.
I am not exaggerating. It is predicted that this silent war on our species will claim close to 400 million lives within the next decade -
all premature and preventable deaths from self inflicted ‘lifestyle’ diseases.
The main causes of this tragedy?
Our lazy, no exercise lifestyles, and the poor quality, highly processed, so called ‘food’ we shovel into our mouths every day.
Global health has been in steady decline since World War II, and has now reached the magnitude of an epidemic.
Millions of people are afflicted with totally preventable diseases. Killers like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and dozens of other conditions that are equally deadly.
It is unfortunate that the victims of this war have to endure painful, crippling illnesses that slowly suck
the life force from them while their families and friends can only stand by, helpless.
It is tempting to think that doctors and the medical establishment will be there to help us if disease should
strike. But the reality is that no doctor, drug, or surgical procedure can return a broken human body to
the way it should be – strong, lean, healthy, and well, regardless of age.
The most frustrating thing about this state of affairs is that these diseases do not just happen out of the
blue. They take years (even decades) to emerge, smoldering away hidden until they reach a point where
they can no longer be ignored.
Even when the problem can be diagnosed and managed with drugs and medical care, the victim is often left with
a much lowered quality of life for the remainder of their days.
If the idea that your health could suddenly deteriorate unnerves you a little, it should. It should unnerve you a LOT.
When we continue to violate basic health principals by adopting no-exercise lifestyles and consuming foods of
shocking low nutritional quality it should come as no surprise to us that it all ends in tears.
Even if we manage to avoid succumbing to some dreaded disease we still suffer every day.
Low energy, not feeling ‘well’, tired, listless, and apathetic, and no motivation to be active…
Many of us can barely make it through our day.
I find myself asking every day how it is that we could have allowed our standards to have slipped so low.
After all, we’re the human species. We’re intelligent, and terrifically clever, and yet we cannot even take
care of our own health and wellness?
What is missing here?
How can we have been so negligent of our health? To think that we are passing this situation on to future generations
is almost beyond comprehension.
So here we are today facing some truly sobering numbers.
Fifty percent of us have one of these chronic ‘lifestyle’ diseases.
Many more of us have multiple conditions, and two thirds of us are overweight.
It is not a pretty picture. So what can we do as a group, and as individuals, to reverse this situation?
Only two SIMPLE things are needed.
One is proper strength training exercise to keep the muscular system strong so that the body has the hormones
it needs to stay well and healthy.
The second thing we need to do is ditch as many of the processed ‘dead’ foods as possible so as to reduce
our intake of harmful chemicals, unhealthy sugars, and fats that stomp on our immune system.
Can this really be such a difficult thing to achieve?
Despite everything I have said, I’m actually still hopeful.
Afterall, we’re the species that put a man on the moon and devised video conferencing technologies that allow strangers
to communicate from opposite sides of the world.
We have devised medicines that have wiped out scourges, and we rejoice when an Einstein or Mozart emerges from obscurity
and shows us the world in a different light.
We are not a species without hope or aspiration. So to think that we will conquer the war on chronic diseases does
not seem all that fantastic to me. But it will take effort, from each one of us.
I will try to do my part, and I hope you do yours.
Think about what you can do tomorrow to clean up your diet just a little.
All it takes is incremental changes and we will get to where we need to be, and if you need any help
with how to go about it you can find that here:
To your long-lasting health,
Carolyn Hansen.
125 Bank Street
Whangarei, Northland 0110
New Zealand
