Musings, Part II: It is a question of freedom

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• In 2007, the U.S. ranked 27th and 26th out of 33 countries (within its peer group in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) for life expectancy at birth for females and males, respectively.

• In 2008, individuals in the U.S. reported on average 3.6 physically unhealthy days and 3.4 mentally unhealthy days for each past 30 days.

• Nearly 6 in 10 adult Americans take prescription drugs, because the easy fix is the preference.

Since the easy fix is the way to go, people disregard exercise and healthy eating habits. In fact, when advised on what to eat and how to exercise, many balk, ”I would rather have a happy short life, than a miserable long one”. 

Does it sound familiar? Is this your reasoning?

The logic, however, is flawed. If you do not adhere to a healthy lifestyle and you are not blessed with exceptional genes to resist common chronic diseases, then your life is likely to be short and MISERABLE, or long and MISERABLE. Either way, you will loose your freedom.

Let me elaborate on the misery and the lost FREEDOM. 





Once you are sick, you will depend upon the mercy of everyone else – doctors, other healthcare professionals, the insurance system, the social workers, the relatives, etc. Would you like to be dependent upon so many people and institutions? Do you want to be vulnerable, anxious, helpless, powerless, confused, and even humiliated?  Do you want to be chained to your bed, an oxygen tank, or an invalid chair? Do you want to endure daily injections and medical procedures? Do you want your everyday schedule to be dictated by the workhours of others?

If the answer is NO, then take action. 

The first step is to become informed. Did you know that the U.S. medical doctors take annual credits in continuing medical education? This is how doctors  maintain their competencies and further their knowledge. Under ideal circumstances, all of us should take similar annual credits, but in healthy lifestyle. If we do so, we should get a discounted health care coverage. If we go a step further and adopt healthy habits, we should get a further discount. 

Until we get to live in such a health-conscious Utopia, it would be useful to have access to a one-stop, evidence-based, comprehensive website with curated information on healthy lifestyle. Currently, such site does not exist, but there are a few good websites with information that is a bit fragmented and specialized. One objective of this blog is to gather information from and about such websites, and increase awareness about healthy lifestyle.  Why? Because knowledge is power. 

Actionable
Do not allow yourself to become vulnerable, increase your health IQ and take action. Musings - part III will discuss the actions we can take.