Things that will kill you
Aside from grown ass men wearing full football strips when not playing football and people that park next to you in an empty car park, there are a few others that you might not be aware of chipping away at your years.
Loneliness
This one makes me want to run out and hug everyone, hug them so hard that they can feel my
imprint on their bodies for days to come.
Apparently loneliness can take 10 years off your life.
I cannot shake this thought.
It's so sad.
Reach out.
For yourself and for others.
Humans are not meant to exist alone.
(photo of worlds loneliest elephant - now rescued - hurrah)
Food allergies / intolerances
Tough one to generalise on, but one close to my heart ...**makes note for future blog post**
If you're allergic to peanuts I guess you already know, and take it pretty seriously.
The ones that sometimes get overlooked (also by doctors) is things like milk.
A dairy intolerance might show up:
on the skin as dry areas
as mucus - constant sniffing/feeling like your nose is stuffed up (also consider hay fever)
in the gut - it is not 'normal' to be running to the toilet and passing lose undigested food
(Other things can also produce similar symptoms).
If I had not identified my own milk 'allergy' it would have killed me eventually.*
A shoddy diet in general
I'm not absolutely certain that people really understand just how many conditions are related to over consumption of processed foods and not enough nutrient dense foods.
a good diet will improve ALL health outcomes.
stick with us to find out more and more about just how important this is **makes another note for future blog post**
Fear of fresh air
Get outside.
Nature is therapy.
We require it for mental and physical health.
And just to nail this point home - our main natural source of vitamin D is the sun.
- we are literally evolved to be healthy via exposure to the sun.
worth mentioning here that in the Northern hemisphere we struggle to get enough sun even when we do love the outdoors - and a supplement of 4000IU Vit D3 a day is recommended in Scotland (maybe in the summer with 20 mins full skin exposure to the sun we don't need it...ie. neked in the garden).
Your friends
This is a really tough one.
We love our friends.
But they might be killing us.
Whether through them validating your poor choices or by you being sucked in by theirs.
Think about it - if your friends are all into eating healthy foods and going on hikes versus your friends are into Netflix and nachos 6 nights of the week - it stands to reason that if you want to spend time together then their poor habits might drag you down, down, down.
Convenience
Humans will seek convenience over everything.
Park near the door.
Spend zero time prepping food.
Logging on MFP is too time consuming.
I cannot believe I actually have to CHOP this vegetable.
It makes us a bit meh.
See next point...
Lack of adversity
In short.
Modern day Western humans are soft.
And kind of pathetic.
Our resilience, both physical and mental, is like a flump.
That we no longer have to hide from cave bears and marauding enemy tribes has left us wanting.
On a daily basis we do not have to brave much more than the barista we don't like.
In turn this means we can actually become terrified of difficult things - our lives never expose us to them and we will avoid (with an intense and very real fear) awkward conversations, the outdoors, gyms, new groups of people, change.
Solution?
Purposely expose yourself to difficult things.
Hope that brightened you day
It is also worth noting that there are many many other things that can kill you...
You're welcome.
*My dairy allergy could possibly have been diagnosed as ulcerative colitis (I discussed it retrospectively with a doctor many years after I had figured out the problem myself). Speculatively it could have resulted in surgery and or eventual death - we cannot now say for sure as I no longer consume ANY cow milk products and have zero problems.
- I figured it out through elimination and a subsequent allergy test later confirmed it.