Come on America: eat those fruits and vegetables and take a daily walk.
I am shocked to learn from the latest research published in the June issue of the American Journal of Medicine that more people would prefer to “pop a pill” than to eat healthy and exercise for their diabetes, blood pressure, heart disease and other health problems. It is always scary when you go to a doctor’s office, the physician walks in the room with his prescription pad in their hand. Got a pain – pop this pill. To improve your health there is no pill that is as potent and as powerful as eating healthy and exercise walking every day!
We hear, or read, everyday that living a healthy lifestyle by eating right and exercising is appropriate for every age group. However, over the past two decades exercise rates have dropped, fruit and vegetable intake has also fallen, and obesity rates have increased. People are just plain tired of hearing the advice of “experts” saying eat this food or that food; exercise this way or exercise that way and so forth. It is easier to pop a pill then create your own individual nutritional and exercise program.
My grandparents were successful Indiana farmers. I would spend a lot of time at their farm during the summer months. I learned so much about healthy living. My grandma had a large vegetable garden that daily she would go pick her vegetables and always fed her family only fresh vegetables. They had several apple trees and she would send us grandkids out to pick the apples up off the ground for her to make applesauce, apple pies, apple cobblers and they were yummy good. Every day we would go to the “hen house” to gather freshly laid eggs. Of course, we then walked way down to the big barn to milk the cows daily. My grandma would strain the milk and make her own butter-no processed milk, no skim milk, no fat-free milk just plain milk that the cows personally provided. While we were on the farm, we must of walked a “million” miles a day. There was no television in their house and we would fall into a feather bed around 8:00 pm and as soon as the sun woke us up in the morning we were outside walking around the farm. Those were great days for a kid to experience and I think about them often as I heat up my microwave meal.
Apparently Americans are not eating their fruits and veggies. My homeowners association will not allow us to grow a garden on our property. One year I thought I could grow some tomatoes among my flowers and no one would notice. Someone did notice and I got a letter from the HOA saying “get rid of your tomato plants”.
People are exercising less. We are on busy schedules, exposed to constant stress and we sit in front of our computers with the rest of our time. People use two excuses for not exercising: 1) I’m too tired and 2) I don’t have the time. For a while it was noted that the Baby Boomers were taking care of themselves by exercising and eating healthy and are getting weary.
Some experts in the medical profession after reading the report are giving Americans a grade of C- in a healthy lifestyle. Come on America: eat those fruits and vegetables and take a daily walk. These simple steps will improve your health to the point that you may able to limit some of the pills you are popping to make you feel healthy.
