The op cost of health

All week at work it has been "health week" with a whole host of activities planned. Luckily, I have been out of the office for most of it. Tomorrow though I will actually be there and we are heading to a sports institute to get in some exercise. With so many employees, there was a sign up sheet to register for activities and while I wasn't more than an hour after the release of the sheet, all that was pretty much left was kettle bell and pilates classes.

I really wanted to try archery, as even though I have never tried, I imagine myself being really good at it. So yeah, pilates class. I actually like pilates a lot but I haven't done any for about 10 years so I am not so looking forward to it.

Staying healthy is important however and I know this well enough since pretty much, my entire family is unhealthy and suffers in some way that effects normal life. My daughter has her allergies and seizures, my wife had her gall bladder removed as a teen and has to take medication or she gets attacks and I have a host of issues that are tied to getting chronic colitis as a teen and now get TNFa treatment.

My wife needs a medication otherwise she gets terrible abdominal pains if she eats the wrong thing at the wrong time and unfortunately, there is no medication available in Finland at this time and it has been out of stock for 4 months already. The last time this happened was two years ago and that was for ten months. The problem is that there is limited production and Finland won't pay more for it so end up last on the list in the EU. It sucks as not only do we have to carry everything for our daughter to eat, we pretty much can't eat anywhere ourselves as it is likely going to result in an attack.

The local pharmacy tonight was also out of Vivomixx, which is a very high quality (and especially expensive) macrobiotic product suggested by an allergy specialist we give to our daughter in the hope that she won't have the types of stomach issues her parents have. The science indicates that gut flora has a massive effect on health and affects everything from physical ailments to moods as they send signals and interact with body functions at a high degree.

While taking macrobiotics later in life can help, supposedly there is a baseline foundation that is created early in life and we are trying to ensure our daughter's is healthy. My wife and I don't take it ourselves as it is far too expensive, but we have been sprinkling it on our daughters cooled morning and evening meals for over two years now and I think that other than the allergic reactions, her stomach is doing relatively well.

Now, I don't know how much effect this is going to have on her in later life but I do know how much having a bad stomach since 16 has had on me to the point I was close to death at 18. While unlikely to die soon from it, it still impacts on my life however with the infusion I get every 2 months or so, it is much better than it was.

If gut flora affects hormones and moods, it means that it can have massive effects on how we see the world and our attitudes toward experience. What if a person is in a bad mood all the time, or is continually negative no matter what happens, or is less willing to participate or craves things that have a detrimental affect? What if a lot of our societal ills were because of our diets?

We do know that poor nutrition can have massive effects on the body and especially on early development, and we do know that good nutrition has advantages. How much detriment and advantage is perhaps impossible to tell though because there is also going to be variation in people and selection bias in statistical information.

What I do know is that the cost of medical care is an enormous drain on our monthly finances and over time it is going to be the kind of amounts that buy dream houses, while we live in an old apartment. My advice is to everyone everywhere is, look after yourself the best you can because when you feel good, you perform better.

On that note, time for bed as I have some kettle bells o swing and some Pilate-ing to do tomorrow.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]