The Health Challenge

When my aunts and mother were my age the only health concern they had was pregnancy. In fact, they are (roughly) thirty years older than I am, and they have fewer pills to take each morning than my cousins and I do.
As I sat at a reunion of sorts with my friends from college – some married, some with children, most single – we started talking about the one thing we all have in common: our poor health. We complained about doctors, swapped website addresses that dealt with alternative therapies, and offered suggestions that might, if not cure one another’s ailments, at least alleviate some of the inconvenience. I would like to say that this was one of those conversations where I paused for a moment, turned off the sound of the outside voices and thought to myself, when did I get so old that we talk about doctors in hope and disgust the way we used to talk about boyfriends? “I think he’s the one! My whole life is going to change,” and “He doesn’t listen to me. He thinks it’s all in my head.”
The sad truth is, we’ve been having these conversations since we were nursing our boxed wine and cheap beer hangovers with cold pizza and SpongeBob SquarePants. I can’t help but wonder, is it just that there is more awareness of health issues, better detection and diagnosis now, or is it more than that?
“Our mothers were told not to breastfeed us.”
“Our water is polluted and the air we breathe is full of carcinogens.”
“It’s the chemicals in our food.”
“It’s the chemicals we put on our face and body, trying to stay young on the outside while it makes our insides age faster.”
“It’s our collective karma polluted by a deep disconnection from the earth.”
That last suggestion resulted in a mini-bagel fight, proving that we weren’t aging as fast as we felt. It’s then that I had my pause moment as I pulled my plate off the table to avoid my omelet accidentally getting contaminated. What if I tried to improve it? What if I did my best to somehow fix all the variables that may weaken my immune system?
I can’t go back in time to show my mother the breastfeeding pamphlets that bombard every woman within child-bearing age now, but I could swap out the slew of vitamins I take each day for a well-formulated fruit/veg smoothie. Not to mention perhaps adding some organic produce to my packed lunches. I have a water filter, but it might be worth it to look into an air purifier as well. (A few of my friends were eager to give me their recommendations). I’m already buying organic whenever I can afford it, although apparently there is a hierarchy to the level of importance regarding organic fruit and veg that I need to look up. I think the hardest thing, at least at first, will actually be my makeup and anti-aging ‘magic potions’. I’ve already vetted them for gluten-containing ingredients – forced to say a sad goodbye to my favorite department store glosses & lipsticks. Now I have to go back and eliminate parabens and pegs. At least I know what gluten is; no one could explain what a peg was.
As for the disconnection suggestion, despite the food fight or maybe because of it, I think it may just be the most important one to improve on. After all, why did we react so forcefully if it didn’t hit such a chord?
There is a lot of research and there are many changes ahead of me if I undertake this challenge. But as I learned with boyfriends and doctors, only you change your life, not someone else. And like my group of friends, anything I learn, good or bad, I will share.