Recently I heard of a casual acquaintance who went to an impoverished African country as part of a mission group. Their aim was to give medical aid to sick children. As is usual when Americans travel to such places, she was astonished by living conditions, particularly the quality of their food sold in open marketplaces with no access to refrigeration.
However, it’s not cholera or dysentery that is killing their people. It’s AIDS and malaria.
An African man asked one of the Americans what our most common diseases are.
“I suppose they’re heart disease and diabetes,” said the American.
“What’s the cause?” asked the African.
“We don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables,” replied the American.
“You mean you can’t get fruit and vegetables in your country?” asked the African.
I don’t know what the American replied, but when I heard the story, I gasped. It makes what we do to ourselves even more tragic. The African man couldn’t fathom anyone having access to prevention and not using it.
Not all heart disease and diabetes can be prevented, but we all know most of it can. It’s an ironic luxury we enjoy – this ability to choose to kill ourselves when we are surrounded by an abundant supply of prevention. It’s like an African country refusing vaccines that would cure their epidemics.
It makes our excuses – too much trouble, too expensive, too many “bad” foods available – seem rather feeble, doesn’t it?
Talk to me. What was your initial reaction to the story? Do you think it’s really that simple, that all we need to do is eat our vegetables?
I really do think it’s that simple, maybe with the addition of moving around more, which I’m also sure that African would find amazing. It reminds me of the first time I thought about smoking in the abstract (would that be the proper term?). The idea of taking plant matter, setting it on fire, and inhaling the smoke…. crazy! Americans who have access to mounds and mounds of a tremendous variety of vegetables… and they reach for the chips and artificial soda. Crazy!
I just talked to the wife of a man who has prostate cancer, and is improving through an experimental program involving food. I didn’t have time for the whole story, but it sure appeals to me.
I think I’m going to go have an omelet with onions, garlic and peppers…
Cheryl, your site on my “following” list has an icon beside it instead of the normal puffed up “B.” How did you do that? I love this icon idea. Also, I went on your recommendation to Windows Live Writer, but found when I wanted to publish my words, it would ONLY go to my Windows Live blog. Do you have a different “writer” than I do?
I’m glad you mentioned movement as well. The African man would not comprehend how we “suffer” with sedentariness. [Yes, I looked it up.] Life is so easy for us, with fast food – and nutritional food – at our fingertips, we have to go out of our way to burn more calories than we consume.
Re: Smoking. One time I was sitting at a campfire, trying to avoid the smoke that inevitably blows your way, no matter where you move. I remember thinking, “And people take smoke into their lungs on purpose?” We were blessed that smoking was foreign to us and therefore we could look at it objectively.
That puffed up “B” is what they call a favicon. I suspect it’s the favicon for all “Blogger” blogs. Since this blog is not a tie-in in to blogspot.com, I was able to create my own favicon. I learned how to do that by googling “favicon,” creating a favicon from my header (a free service), then following instructions to insert it into my website. Then, surprise, surprise, it worked!
I haven’t used Windows Live Writer to submit comments, only to write posts. I’m able to use it for all four of the blogs I’m maintaining right now, using the same window. To add a blog, I just click on the down arrow beside my blog’s name and “Add blog account.” It’s very user friendly. Writing, editing and viewing the preview is much faster than the way I used to do it, which was to compose in Word then transfer the information into WordPress (the software I use to create the blog). Hope that helps.
On eating more veggies and fruits…I decided sometime ago to forget the cost….fruits/veggies were a must in our diet and cheaper than a Dr.! I finally convinced Bob of the same….BUY IT ANYWAY! ha
When I wrote a blog entitled “Fruit, Glorious Fruit,” I did some research on how relatively inexpensive fruit is if you count the nutritional value of it. I also included a chart that compared cherries — which are usually expensive — to ice cream bars (on sale). Of course, fruit may not be as satisfying or as filling — and that’s usually what we’re looking for. I’d like to get to the point where my body is satisfied with less. I think you’ve done that very well in the last few years.