I am about to upset many of you.

It is only right that I begin this with wishing all of you a very happy new year and all the good things this coming year has to offer. I have written in a while as you might have noticed even though there is much to write about. The year 2020 was eventful indeed and depending on where you live in the world you are probably wondering what good this new year may have to offer, but have hope, there is always a silver lining behind a dark cloud. Now that I have gotten the niceties out of the way, I would like to have a serious talk on an equally serious matter.

Have you been watching the news? Forgive me but ever so often I take a peek at what is going on in my neck of the woods and as with every one of you I’m sure, it is COVID-19. I genuinely try not to get too involved, but depending on who you talk to in my household they may disagree because I am always sure to see something that will upset me and today was no exception. I want to talk to you about health or more importantly, who gets to decide what is health and what does healthy look like.

From a hospital bed, a woman in her 40’s was being interviewed after contracting COVID and finding herself needing oxygen. The woman couldn’t comprehend why she was there, after all, she was healthy she said. It was at that point I got annoyed. Having worked in the field of natural health and wellness for the last 14 years, you gain a different perspective on health. For the hundreds of clients, I have worked with through the years, many if not all of them have classed health as the absence of disease, however, COVID-19 has knocked that theory out of the park.

The World Health Organisation has said, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Yet we have seen “health gurus”, fitness experts and numerous health magazines, telling us health has several looks but the worst of all their ideologies is you can be overweight and still be healthy. In 2012, The BBC released an article which stated, “People can be obese yet physically healthy and fit and at no greater risk of heart disease or cancer”. A very misleading statement and one which today is proving to be dangerous for the population given the current situation. The information they used to write the article came from a study partly funded by the Coca Cola Company. No sorry, we cannot be “fat and fit” or healthy if you prefer. Are you angry yet?

We cannot assume we are healthy just because we have not, to date, been diagnosed with a disease. Morbidities do not appear out of thin air but are years in the making. In fact, metabolic disorders are often at the root of it. What is a metabolic disorder you ask? Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. These conditions include increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels. Having just one of these conditions doesn’t mean you have metabolic syndrome. But it does mean you have a greater risk of serious disease (The Mayo Clinic). If we do not seriously start auditing our diets and rethinking our take on what exercise should look like, I am afraid we will not be prepared for the onslaught of viruses and diseases that are coming our way.

I don’t want to be too longwinded in this post but I hope you take what I have written seriously. Stop taking your health for granted and stop underestimating the extra weight you have been seeing on the scale. You, or let me say we, owe it to ourselves to take better care of these bodies we possess. Change your diet, your lifestyle, your sleeping habits and create new patterns of behaviour that encourage a stronger immune system so if you happen to contract COVID-19 you have the best chance of beating it by lessening its impact.

P.S. If you are in doubt about your health and general physical wellness and you would like to find out, you can book an appointment here to find out.