Health, your best friend.

Recently I found out a friend of mine passed away. I did not know he was ill, he probably did not even know he was ill either. He had just moved up north and seemed to have everything figured out. Life was great up there, business was even better. He had nothing but a bright future.

I mean from what I knew he was healthy. The only issue he mentioned to me was a couple of years ago his doctor suggested he lose some weight to lower his cholesterol. At our age, that is pretty darn good!

His passing has really affected me. Wow! Life is so precious we need to take care of ourselves and make our health our best friend. Sadly we rarely look at our health that way, or at all until there is a crisis. Then, if it is not too late, we react to the issue with drugs to manage the symptoms and our “health”.  At this point, we have said good-bye to good health and just started the process of masking it.

What allows us to be healthy? Genetics? Our diets?  Our physical activity? Our social economic status? Why do some people have no health issues while others are on a regime of drugs for health issues?

My family genetics dictate I will get age onset Diabetes, have cholesterol issues, heart issues and finally blood pressure problems – not to mention Depression which I have been battling for years. What am I doing to about all this?

The more I learn about the North American diet, the more I  learn about the health problems we currently face. My generation was not raised on the drive-through food kids today have as a staple. I was thirteen the first time I ever had McDonald’s – yet it is where I take my grandkids for a treat. What am I really doing to them? Ultimately setting them up for failure when it comes to their future health. My 3 year old grandson said to me as he ate his Happy Meal “I love this stuff!” Yikes!

The foods we eat today are not what they used to be. We expect everything supersized. For example, I bought an organic chicken at the market and when I got home I had to search to find the meat on the bird. We regularly shop at Costco where the chickens are fat and the chicken breasts are huge. How did the latter get to be the norm?

We have fresh fruits and vegetables available to us year round, which is fantastic…. Or is it? I bought a bag of apples at Walmart recently that were from Argentina. Argentina? What are their standards when producing fruits to be exported? What sort of chemicals have been used to grow their lovely apple that has flown over 5,000 miles to be in front of me?

There are so many other questions about the quality of these imported foods but the big question is, what are they really doing to our health?

With all our rich soil in the green belt of southern Ontario, how come we rely on other countries to import our fruits and vegetables? Why isn’t there more fresh (seasonal of course) fruits available to us? People say to buy local is more expensive but what is the true cost?
Statistics Canada has estimated there will be a 44% increase in the occurrence of Diabetes in Canadians from 2015-2025. Those are staggering numbers and I am not going anywhere near any of the other diet related health issues we are facing or touching upon cancer rates.

http://www.diabetes.ca/how-you-can-help/advocate/why-federal-leadership-is-essential/diabetes-statistics-in-canada

Drastic change in diet is hard but I urge you to do it, one step at a time. Read the ingredients to start. What are the top three ingredients of the food you are eating? If you can’t pronounce them, should you be eating them?

We also need to be so much more conscious of where what we are eating has come from. I suggest the distance in miles be a key factor in your food choices. As much as possible opt for locally grown. It is so much better for us and our local economy. I look for local shops or markets whenever I can.

The bottom line is, choose health – make health your best friend. One day at a time, one meal at a time. You are worth it!