A New Way of Living : Part 3 - Health Advantages

To read Part 1, click here.

To read Part 2, click here.

This post discusses an organic way of life. If you're interested in learning more about natural diets and healthy living, visit my friend's blog, Healthy 411.

Organic & Natural Advantages

Eco-friendly products have been all the rage for several decades, stemming from environmental rumors like global warming, disintegration of the ozone layer, talk of nonrenewable energy resources, and more. I don’t know if any of these are false or true, nor do I want to take the time to find out. Growing my own garden and cooking everything from close to raw form is just plain healthier. Large corporations like fast food restaurants and frozen meal providers stuff their foods with chemicals and preservatives. No, I haven’t researched this myself, but this is a basic, commonsense business strategy. The longer the food lasts, the more opportunity it has to get sold. A burger patty can be crammed with preservatives and frozen, to be reheated and eaten weeks later in a restaurant. Because this society demands everything to be available to everyone on a whim, produce from a local grocery store could have been ripe long ago, but it was genetically modified to last longer between picking and selling. After thinking about it, I realize that most of the things we buy in grocery stores are grown somewhere far away, and have been modified to survive the long delivery process. Businesses that sell to grocery stores also want their product to be the best tasting product, so of course they stuff their foods with sugar and chemicals to make it the sweetest, or the best. They don’t use natural sweeteners, they use chemicals like fructose, because it’s cheaper. With applied thinking skills, we can conclude that most of what you buy in today’s store is probably modified by unhealthy and unnatural methods, and is overall unhealthy to eat.

To avoid this, I want to buy as much food as possible through local producers and small businesses. The closer to raw form the product is, the less chance it will be contaminated with unnatural modifications, and the smaller the company, the less ability to genetically modify plants and alter them. In optimal conditions, seeds, bulk products, and the rest would be bought through local farmers, small businesses, and organic farms. This includes meats, chickens, steaks, pork, and wheat, corn, and products that would be unrealistic to grow on a small farm. I would also be using natural pesticides and fertilizers as much as I can, to keep the harvest pure. 

Being eco-friendly involves recycling, which I will be doing anyway. Fertilizer is more expensive than animal manure, and less natural. Wasting things that can be expensive is not in the budget, so I’ll be reusing items anyway. Using natural products for hobbies, as well, will cut down on the costs of buying pre-made products, and these natural items have a large attraction from Americans who feel guilty about ruining their environment. Organic foods are typically more expensive in stores because many Americans will pay extra for a clean conscience.

Growing foods organically and recycling for myself is more selfish than philanthropic. I’m not an environmentalist, nor am I very passionate about organics, but doing what I can will help lighten the stress on budget, and the stress on my own body. I will probably be healthier, have more energy, and will be overall happier by sticking to organic growing as much as possible. Its not about helping the environment, or being an organic snob, it’s about avoiding the middleman who can make things more convenient through sacrificing the value of their products.

Doctors Versus Herbs

Through avoiding excess spending, you have to think about medical expenses and health. There will be some things you will have to bite the bullet on and just pay a doctor, like a heart failure, or an extreme symptom. By growing herbs and learning natural remedies, I will be able to self-treat the first- and second-aid issues. This includes many things, from bug and snakes bites, to the flu. There are plenty of herbal and natural treatments that may work better than pharmaceuticals, and will be less expensive. This will allow me to avoid trips to the doctor unless in an emergency.

I am not one of those people who are against doctors and modern medicine, nor am I an all-natural, herbal enthusiast. I merely believe that it depends on the situation. If something is severe, I’ll definitely call a doctor right away. Keeping in mind that medicine is expensive, and can be taxing on my body, with unnatural side effects. Treating simple issues with my own remedies will save me a large amount of money in doctor bills. Herbal cures may be extremely beneficial to my health and my budget.

Natural Fitness

The modern-day American population believes that being skinny is a good thing, and I partially agree. Being healthy, eating a good, balanced diet, getting plenty of exercise, and using herbal and organic methods are all ways to become healthy. As a teenager now, I have extra weight that isn’t over-the-top, but still should be improved. I don’t want to lose weight because I want to be skinny, because that is far from the best motivation. Starving myself, forcing a diet plan, making myself get up early in the morning and run a mile or two before it gets hot will all help me become a lighter person, but that is the absolute wrong motivation. Today, many things are opposed to our weight loss, such as television, computers, office work, and occupations that require sitting still, such as going to school. We sacrifice the ability to stay healthy by devoting an enormous amount of time to being quiet and still. As a society, we are unhealthy, and many people will try to fix this issue by attempting a diet plan, or joining a gym, but this will always be a fight against ourselves. We want to watch TV, and play computer games, and we like to be lazy. We’ll always be more attracted to the sweeter foods, the more processed, more convenient foods. We will always be fighting with our conscience about eating something, or not eating something, or going out for a run every day, or playing computer games. This is not the best way to live, by far!

The most natural way to get exercise is by doing something! Getting outside, in the sun, working hard. Letting your body naturally lose weight. Instead of fighting to get healthy, just work with the body to get it in shape. I’ll be able to get plenty of much-needed exercise by maintaining the property daily. To make this lifestyle work, the only decision I know that will be hard for me is deciding to get out of bed and begin each day. Once the day has been started, I’ll be able to push through and get most of everything done. By getting down into the garden to pull weeds and ripe fruit, by collecting the eggs and milk, cooking everything I eat, and shopping with more effort, I’ll be getting a large amount of exercise. I won’t need to do laps around a pool, or run a few miles each day, because I’ll have a naturally healthy and active lifestyle.

As far as diets go, by controlling the amount of processed, sugar-filled products I buy, I also control what I eat. I’ll be eating healthy, natural, organic foods, with plenty of nutrients. Planning will allow me to have a balanced diet, and to cook the things that I like and will eat. I may have to force myself to eat some things, like tomatoes, that I don’t normally like. Small changes in my preference will allow me to eat balanced and nutritiously. This lifestyle will provide the fitness that I would otherwise get by devoting a large amount of time to truly unproductive activities, like running on a treadmill. Instead of searching for a way to lose weight, I would be able to not worry about this aspect of life. I can just do what needs to be done, and through that, I’ll be able to stay healthier.