…And the Best Part Is, It’s Free!

How would you like it if someone handed you a magic potion for good health? A secret investment scheme that would help you to be able to pay for your health care without worrying about the cost of prescription drugs? What if I were a late-night QVC host selling a product that could prevent many of the conditions that we no accept as a “normal” part of aging? Would you buy it?

Most people would – it sounds pretty good. How much would you be willing to pay? Four easy payments of $39.95? Or maybe $99.95? Maybe you already pay $40 a bottle for the “magic” acai berry juice that’s supposed to be good for anything that ails you.

What if I offered to give it to you for free? The only catch is that it’s like an investment. You have to put something in every day while you’re young in order to reap the rewards when you’re older. Still interesed? (If a peek at our finances is any indication, you may be running away by now!)

Well, here it is…
“The potential impact of healthy diet, when you combine it with not smoking and regular physical activity, is enormous. For example, our studies have shown that we could prevent about 82 percent of heart attacks, about 70 percent of strokes, over 90 percent of type 2 diabetes, and over 70 percent of colon cancer, with the right dietary choices as part of a health lifestyle. The best drugs can reduce heart attacks by about 20 or 30 percent, yet we put almost all of our resources into promoting drugs rather than healthy lifestyle and nutrition.”
The author of this comment, Dr. Walter Willett, is professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, a professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, and the author of Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating. You can find the full text of Dr. Willett’s comments here.

Anybody still out there? Are you still interested? All you have to do is eat right, exercise, and avoid smoking. How hard can that be? Sure, it’s harder than taking a pill, but it’s cheaper than the funny-tasting juice at $40 a bottle and has a better track record.

People will ask, why worry? I can do what I want to do now, and medical science will fix me later. But I ask, what’s your quality of life like when you’re testing your blood sugar 10 times a day? Or sleeping with a CPAP machine at night? Or maybe recovering from open-heart surgery? Did you know that keeping your weight and cholesterol in check can eliminate much of the need for Viagra? It’s all about the circulation, guys!

Think of all the money you’ll save! Think of all the fun you can have in your life knowing that your health is good, your heart is strong and you don’t need to pack your prescriptions when you go out of town!

Don’t tell me about all the endurance athletes you’ve read about who drop dead in a race, or the football players who collapse in practice. I’m not talking about athletics that push your body beyond it’s limits. I’m talking about “see your doctor first and get a gym membership” athletics. Run a 5K athletics or maybe a half-marathon if you’re in really good shape. Lift some weights, ladies! Eat less sugar and salt, put down the remote and the cheeseburger and get outside. Stop watching reality TV and live a reality life.

Change your life, live your life – all the way to the end.