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| Don't Be A Zombie When It Comes To Your Health! |
When doctors tell patients about research that shows how bad aspartame is for you, the patients often nod their heads in agreement. People know that artificial sweeteners are horrible for their health. People will even say they find the research compelling and interesting. But what do they do next? They pop open a can of diet soda and drink themselves into a slow death.
I recently heard a story about a woman diagnosed with breast cancer. You would think this disease would challenge her to change her lifestyle, yet she continues to put more toxins in her body by drinking diet cola with aspartame. It’s as if we’ve become walking zombies. We’re all popping pills and chugging poison hoping that it’ll make us feel better, when the poison is the problem in the first place. What will it take to get through to people who are making bad choices? Would it make a difference if God himself parted the heavens and sent a message to his flocks about living a healthier lifestyle? Probably not.
The problem is that for so many bad choices, the consequences are too far in the future. Drinking soda today seems harmless, but in 5 or 10 years, you’ll pay the price for consuming that fizzy can of fake sugar. It would be easier if everyone had an instant reaction to what's bad for them, like nausea, diarrhea, or vomiting. That immediate feedback would tell us everything we need to know about what we’re putting into our bodies. But instead, we choose to die a slow death, incrementally adding to the buildup of poison in our systems until something goes horribly wrong.
We say we want the best for our kids, but so often we’re not willing to give up our junk food, sodas and fast paced way of life. The whole time we send mixed messages: Do what I say but not what I do.
- We tell our kids that soda is bad for them, but we drink it ourselves right in front of them, sending the message that “its okay for me to do it, but not for you.”
- We wonder why our kids are hyperactive when we finally do let them drink sugared sodas and fake juices filled with corn syrup.
- We feed them McDonalds because it’s faster to drive through instead of waiting in line at Subway for a sandwich with fresh vegetables on it.
- We open up a can of Chef Boyardee noodles filled with preservatives instead of cooking fresh, healthy pasta for our children.
- We reward our children’s successes with candy, cupcakes, and cookies, then wonder how they became addicted to junk food.
It’s so much easier to complain about what’s wrong with our kids and our lives than to do something meaningful to fix it. We blame our problems on bad genes. We make important decisions based on what’s convenient instead of what’s healthy. We label our children “special” and give them drugs to calm them down or wake them up. We depend on science and technology to fix everything. That’s how we’re turning into a horde of pill popping zombie junkies looking for some quick rush to relieve our pain. Guess what. The pain only goes away when you make hard choices. Let’s stop blaming the world and look inside ourselves for the solution.
The secret to a long healthy life isn’t a secret at all. It’s a series of simple healthy choices. Start making better decisions today, because you are NOT a zombie. You have a choice.
Go to Sarasota Physical Medicine's website for more information about a healthy lifestyle. Or call (941) 922-9312 for an appointment.
