Health — Protecting Our Wellness!
By: Pamela Glynn
Tags: Health Foods, Healthy Eating, Healthy, Health, Healthy Lifestyle

“As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”

That’s so true, isn’t it? Not, of course, just about sowing crops and harvesting them, but also in respect of actions and re-actions, sins and their consequences.

We do things and the things we’ve done bring results. These are not always the results we expected, or hoped for, but that’s just the way life is.

I’m not a nutritionist, but I’m very interested in how we fuel our bodies and how we reap consequences from the foods and drinks we choose for that fueling.

Have you ever stood in a supermarket till queue and noticed how the goods in other customers’ trolleys appear to have a direct bearing on the shape and stature of the trolley pushers?

It’s often impossible NOT to notice! And I’m aware, obviously, that the contents of my trolley say plenty about me.

Taking this a step further, I was concerned to read recently about a possible link between certain types of antidepressant and dementia. Claims were made that they increase the risk of dementia threefold in the over-60s.

However, Dr Max (the ‘Mind Doctor’ in the Daily Mail) stated reassuringly in his feature last Saturday:

‘I took a closer look at the multi-national study of more than 70,000 patients and was shocked to discover that its findings didn’t support the claims being made. What it actually found was an association between taking antidepressants and dementia. But it’s likely this is because depression can be an early indicator of dementia or that depression itself is involved in triggering dementia. There are many issues with this class of drugs, but it’s wrong to scare patients like this.’

Then there are the antibiotics that some GPs seem to dish out willy-nilly like Smarties. What effects altogether do these drugs have on our bodies long-term? It’s already being said, in some instances, they’re so over-prescribed that in future when we really need them to deal with serious infection they’ll have no power left to protect us.

Antidepressants, antibiotics and a whole host of other drugs are given to us by doctors in whom we place our trust. So what about the trust we place in ourselves and in our day-to-day nutritional decisions?

When we reach for a drink, alcoholic or otherwise, do we consider its likely effect on our body? Likewise, if we reach for a cigarette, or cannabis — or the cocaine that at least one British MP has now admitted taking.

We eat, we drink and we form nutritional habits — habits that can be good, bad or somewhere inbetween.

We hear about ‘five-a-day’ and on some level know that 5 items of fruit or vegetables daily is good for our health. But do we actually observe that rule — and do we pay enough attention to protecting our long-term wellness?

Do we listen to our instinct before reaching for another iced doughnut, or white bread, or frothy drink, or portion of chips — or caramel milkshake? Or do we just plough happily on, forgetting that our bodies often have a battle attempting to digest some of the rubbish we casually take in?

Yes, I reckon our hard-worked digestive systems are often strained beyond their limits!

That said, we all want to enjoy ourselves and our food and drink. It’s just that if we take that enjoyment to extremes and indulge ourselves to excess, never (or seldom) considering the possible consequences, then who should we blame if the end result of all our excesses is poor health?

I believe that simply by paying attention to the food and drink we choose we can be healthier both short and long-term.

On a personal level I chose, over 20 years ago, a particular aloe vera drink that I’m convinced helps maintain my wellness on a daily basis. I’ve been drinking it daily ever since my daughter first introduced me to it. Here it is:’

Whisper this next bit, as I don’t want to tell the whole world, but I’m now in my 79th year and am — sadly - the only person I know of my generation who is on no medication of any kind. I just drink my daily 60 mls of Forever Aloe Vera Gel — and thrive!

Not for nothing has it been described by a distinguished doctor as “A wonderful drink for good health!”

You may or may not wish to follow me down the aloe vera route. Whatever route to good health you choose, I wish you wellness.

As ye sow, so shall ye reap …