Day 296: If Your Body Feels Like Shit, it's Probably Because That's What You've Put in it

It’s hell getting old. Or at least that’s what we’re taught to believe. The aches and pains, wrinkles and baldness, heart disease and cancers . . . it’s a rough road, but one that maybe we can avoid. I’ve felt like a member of the AARP for the last 20 years with my chronic headaches, arthritis in my hands, and a spine that is constantly surprising me with new ways to cause pain. I have single-handedly put at least three chiropractor’s kids through college over the years and I’m still not done. At the same time, I don't have any gray hairs and I think I look nearly ten years younger than the 37 I have logged. Old age doesn’t look like it used to. Want proof? Sophia Loren, Johnny Depp, Sally Field, and the amazingly gorgeous Diane Sawyer all look decades younger than their age tells us they should look.

So what’s the answer? Can we stop time or do we even need to? Our grandparents' generation and even some of our parents grew up on typically unhealthy diets. They worked hard, most at physical labor, and they ate hard. Gravy, white potatoes and bread, and so much meat and dairy. We didn’t have yoga then or working out for fitness. We had factories and farms and back-breaking jobs that served as a workout. Heart healthy omega oils and antioxidants were unheard of then, and it showed. They lived shorter lives, were chronically unhealthy and looked ancient by the time they hit 50.

It’s easy of course to look at the celeb crowd and cite money as the cause for their youthful looks. Money buys expensive anti-aging products, plastic surgery, and makeup artists. Money and frequent visits to the spa sound like a pretty great recipe for happiness to me, but that’s still just the outside and it doesn’t even begin to explain cultures without all the beauty enhancements and gym equipment and still live long, healthy lives. What’s their secret and how do we steal it?

Vietnam taught me a lot about the benefits of good nutrition and whole foods. I saw women there that were under five feet tall and over 70-years-old carrying huge loads of goods to the markets. They stood upright, without any signs of the osteoporosis that is decimating so many of the elderly here. They were trim, without the heart attack inducing abdominal fat or pants-splitting ass lard that so many of us carry around. These people ate vegetables, fried foods, and even the glycemic index enemy white rice. What they did not eat on a regular basis were sugar, chemically processed foods, and dairy.

Maybe the secret to eternal youth and good health isn’t about eating in moderation, but in eating whole, unprocessed foods, even fried foods, and keeping the body actively engaged. We don’t need to train two hours a day in the gym, just walk, take the stairs, or ride on your bike instead of in a car. Americans add flavor to food by adding fat. Cheese is the biggie, but if our food were more real, it would be more flavorful on its own and we wouldn’t need so much cheese, oil, or butter. It may be too late to save my back or crooked hands completely, but if clean eating will stave off more wrinkles, grays, and fat rolls then I’m on that bandwagon.

So often we take the easy path in this country. We all want freedom, but we don’t want to pay the bill. Let’s go to war, but don’t take my child’s life. Let’s buy bigger homes, but not worry about how we’ll pay for them. Let’s have universal healthcare, but don’t raise my taxes. Let’s be healthy and beautiful, but not do the work to get there. I have known people who were in excellent physical condition that still dropped dead of a heart attack or got a life-threatening disease and I know plenty of plastically beautiful people who stay slim eating processed bars and shakes and line-free with botox, but they’re not healthy. We need to stop being lazy and start taking responsibility for our own health. If you look like hell it’s most likely because that is what you’ve put your body through. You could also just be really ugly, but that’s not so much my point so we’ll skip that till the next blog.