Medicine or Healthy Diet?

There are many things that I hate, and one that irritates me most is the way people do their very best to ruin their own lives.

Take cigarettes, for starters. That's one of the most damaging thing you could ever do to your body, but people smoke. People are out of shape because of it, and people die because of it. It desensitize them to all these wonderful smells and tastes. It turns their teeth yellow, and gives them a wrinkly pucker mouth. It kills them slowly, and they pay a lot of money for that. The government put warnings on the packs, but smokers don't care. There is not a single thing about cigarettes that is even remotely good, but that's still a multi-billion-dollar industry.

But that's not all! Some want to stop smoking. Instead of mustering the resolve and believe in themselves, they turn to nicotine patches and other shit. They end up paying even more, when the only thing that's really needed is to actually stop smoking.

Another very good example is the way people eat. On average, people in north america don't have a good diet. It's too easy to eat fast food, and cheaper too! They have no notion about what the nutrition facts are, nor do they care.

Fat tastes so good because it's an evolutionary incentive to eat the stuff that gives twice as much energy as carbs or protein. Carbohydrates taste so good because it's also an evolutionary incentive to eat the stuff that is most needed in a diet in order to have energy. But the thing is, we live in a society in which food is available all the time. Instead of hunting for a few hours, we take the car to the grocery store and take 10 minutes to buy some food. The need for actual energy has greatly diminished, but our plates are bigger than ever.

Having an unhealthy diet is not the concern of this post. What totally bugs me is how people eat shit, and then go to the pharmacy to buy antacid and aspirin. They have no wish to take care of their health, but they go to the doctor. They have bowel-movement problems. They wake up groggy and dry-mouthed. They are more easily angered, depressed, and irritated. They start "magic diets" without first analyzing what's it's made of. They buy pills after pills after pills. But all that could be prevented by just eating better. All of these are also multi-billion-dollar industries. Why? Because people prefer to feel good for a few minutes while they eat.

Same thing for exercises. People like their sofa too much. Then they buy magic diet pills, or the latest "as seen on tv" exercise scam that's supposed to get rid of all these excess pounds easily, without panting or sweating. The people on tv are so fit! Of course they are. And guess what? Multi-billion-dollar industries.

Healthy diet, regular exercises, no stress, good sleep. That's all it takes. Sure, going 30 minutes to the gym, then eating a healthy meal is no fun compared to ordering a chicken breast and eating it while watching a movie. But a healthy lifestyle feels good, deep inside.

For those who care, the person who most changed my life was Jack Lalanne. It was his lifelong wish to teach people how to live better. His last book (published in 2009) was Live Young Forever - 12 steps to optimum health, fitness, and longevity. It's definitely a book worth reading.