There are times when I can’t decide if I should be amused or shocked by what people say when it comes to taking control of their health. In some cases, I have to wonder if someone is trying to be humorous, but then I look at how they live their life, and I realize, they are serious.
Many people act as if they are helpless victims of circumstances when it comes to their health. Rather than take responsibility for the choices they make, they bury their head in the sand when it comes to the truth of their lifestyle choices.
When diagnosed with a disease that likely could have been prevented 
through better food choices, they prefer to pray for their problem to go away. The fact is, faith without works is dead.
What this simply means is, you can pray AND you must do the foot work.
Recently, a gentleman I have known for some time, responded to a Facebook post I made about the numbers on COVID.
Here is my original post.
What if every time numbers for COVID were given, all other types of causes of death could be included too? Such as …
About 647,000 Americans die from heart disease each year—that’s 1 in every 4 deaths
Stroke kills about 140,000 Americans each year
According to the CDC, 79,535 deaths occur each year due to diabetes. Type II is reversible and preventable in the majority of cases. Type II is not the same as Type 1.
According to the National Institutes of Health, obesity and overweight together are the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States, close behind tobacco use (3). An estimated 300,000 deaths per year are due to the obesity epidemic
And with this, just like being given information on how to minimize our risk with COVID, we would be given information on how to minimize the risk of other killers such as heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, diabetes, etc.
Every time I hear the numbers for COVID my thoughts go to, how does that compare to other conditions? And how much are other conditions preventable, or at least such that the risks could be dramatically reduced with a change in lifestyle choices.
Granted, there are some things that are not preventable, but much is.
This is not at all to minimize the seriousness of COVID, but it is meant to raise awareness about what we can do to minimize our risks with other conditions.
We can minimize our risk of so many diseases and illnesses by the choices we make. I think about my own choices that minimized my risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke and obesity.
Is it always easy to simply live the healthiest lifestyle possible? No, it is not. Is it worth it? That’s a personal answer that each person much decide for themselves.
I’ve watched many of my friends make healthy choices and as a result, they have minimized their risks. Not only do they eat according to what they know is healthy for them, they exercise in a way that fits their lifestyle. And they willingly share their insights with anyone who asks what to do. They do so without judgement, criticism or resistance.
Let’s be careful not to get sucked into the media hype of the numbers. Let’s look at the truth of what we can do to live the healthiest, most vibrant lives possible.
May we also realize not everyone is living in an area that has a lot of healthy food choices. Many people live in literal food deserts. This needs to change to give people more opportunity to live and eat in a way that is fully healthy.
To your health, vibrancy and life. Live fully.
End of post…
The gentleman mentioned above responded with…
What’s the point of saying that COVID isn’t important because more people die from something else like heart disease? There’s not too much we as a society can do to control heart disease because it is mainly because of bad diet and lack of exercise, and we aren’t going to be able to get people to change their eating and exercise habits.
However, COVID is more important for two reasons — 1) There are steps that we can take to slow down the spread of the disease (mainly social distancing, masks, and hand washing.) and 2) There are still a lot of things unknown about COVID.
COVID matters because we can do something about it.
Not too many kids die from Sudden Infant Death, either, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to stop it.
His response is reflective of how much people choose to ignore the reality that we do, in fact, have more control over our health than we care to admit.
I did respond to him with the following…
I’m not sure where you got that it was said COVID is not important. Actually, in my post I mentioned this is NOT to invalidate but to get more information.
The fact is, and it is documented, the underlying conditions create more complication. There is a direct link to underlying causes and complication and to ignore this important fact can be deadly.
http://plantbasedeatingforhealth.com/are-you-increasing…/
And yes, there is a lot we can do about heart disease. If people choose not to do anything about that, so be it, but it’s not for lack of information.
You mentioned “COVID is more important for two reasons — 1) There are steps that we can take to slow down the spread of the disease (mainly social distancing, masks, and hand washing.) and 2) There are still a lot of things unknown about COVID.”
Truth be told, there are steps one can take to slow down, and even reverse, many diseases including heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, high blood pressure, etc.
And again, I don’t see that anyone who responded to the initial post indicated that COVID doesn’t matter. But to pretend we don’t have more control over the situation than simply wearing masks, social distancing and washing our hands, is burying our head in the sand.
What we eat (including animal based products) contributes to poor health. Poor health creates underlying causes. Underlying causes create complications.
But sadly, a great many people would rather deal with the problem by taking a pill or cutting something out with surgery rather than get to the root of the problem.
You say, “There’s not too much we as a society can do to control heart disease because it is mainly because of bad diet and lack of exercise, and we aren’t going to be able to get people to change their eating and exercise habits.”
There’s a lot we can do and it begins with each of us making better choices to have a better quality of life.
What You Eat is Essential
If people continue their lifestyle choices that created health challenges they are now dealing with, nothing will change. However, if they choose to make healthier choices from this point forward, they will likely minimize their risk for complications.
Sure, there are always exceptions to the rule, but to base behavior on the minority of cases where a person who did not fit the criteria of most people dealing with complication, is to cut the quality of your life substantially.
There is more than enough evidence and information that indicates our lifestyle choices play a huge role in our health. What choices are you making?
Recommended Reading
All three are packed with facts, figures and solutions. What you do with this information is up to you. The fact is, your life depends on it.
