How would you be rated? Fairly or unfairly used?
Health & Fitness By KEMI ILORI
Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Diana Ross just left Nigeria a few weeks ago. Millions of us saw her strolling up and down the stage as she belted out her famous songs. A close personal friend of mine called me from Maiduguri and told me he watched the This Day Awards and enjoyed her performance.

Most of the ladies who watched would have envied her figure, a grandmother several times over, and the fact that she looked very fit. The men would have probably been drooling, despite her age. I believe we can safely say that she appears fairly used. As we grow through life, how well we look after ourselves, determines how good and healthy we are at any time t. Almost a decade ago, a recently divorced man with five children had approached a friend of mine for serious relationship and eventual marriage.

My friend was aghast. This was a man who perpetually kept late nights, drank, womanized, etc. She turned him down, saying that he was unfairly used. He went away very angry and indignant at the description which he considered and insult to his person. It would have been nice if he had taken a look at his lifestyle, i.e. had a bit of introspection. That is what we are trying to look at today. Your lifestyle pattern, helps to determine how you may turn out over the years. Lifestyle has to be adjusted continually for improved fitness. The first point of introspection should be your genes.

Genes: It is sad that we do not keep records here. Most of us who are lucky to have known our parents in adulthood, may be able to know the kind of peculiar health challenges they encountered as they aged. Only a very tiny minority know anything about their grandparents or generations before them. It is very important to know if your ancestors were, Diabetic, Hypertensive, Had any heart conditions, Developed Alzheimer’s or any other such mental conditions

Had cancers or any tumours
Glucoma (intra – ocular pressure)
And a host of other conditions too numerous to mention. What does this information do for you? It helps you to know the types of genes you might have inherited. This knowledge in turn helps you to adopt lifestyle patterns that reduce your susceptibility. My father had been on antihypertensives since his early forties (these days, a lot of people are hypertensive in their twenties). Being aware of this, I learnt very early to love the foods that are good for me and make it less possible for me to express those genes (i.e. if I had inherited them). I am a fruit freak. Fruits and vegetables are high in potassium which lowers blood pressure.

I do not consume any unnecessary sodium in my diet. This coupled with a lot of other things has helped me to have lovely blood pressure, even in pregnancy. It has been well documented that identical twins with identical genes end up expressing their genes differently, depending on their lifestyle. One with a healthy lifestyle would avoid all the possible pitfalls that come with the genes they inherited and reap the benefits of the good ones.

Bad Lifestyle Habits: Certain habits accelerate human depreciation. The two most known ones are smoking and heavy drinking. These habits wear out all your organs because they generate a lot of toxins and free radicals in the system. Grey hair, wrinkles and all other signs of aging come on more quickly. A lot of people try to stop smoking after a while, but not everyone is successful. It is one habit that youngsters should be discouraged from taking up, this is because they are a hazard to people around them as well. If you are a smoker, I bet you that if you were not a smoker, you would look a lot younger than you do now. The worse thing is that the depreciation is both internal and external. Heavy drinking makes people serious tokunbo! It is one of the hallmarks of unfair usage. Heavy drinkers nearly always look very hagard.

Knowledge about good health, diet, etc: It never ceases to amaze me how complacent some people are about health issues. Some people are able to grasp the most intricate details about the stock market, high tech equipment, etc; but when it come to issues that affect number one (themselves), they couldn’t be bothered.

The right information helps you to make good decision, the same goes for good health. When making food choices, you will be able to enjoy yourself without going overboard. You will know a lot of trade secrets and not be a victim of glib advertisement. I learn everyday! I watched a program on television in London which showed how chicken nuggets are made from mechanically reclaimed meat, fats and some innards. I was glad to note that some children were interviewed after the clip was shown. They all rejected chicken nuggets and preferred to eat proper chicken (chicken nuggets are now at our door steps and I’m sure they will be seen as psychadelic oyinbo food!).

Personal hygiene: Good personal hygiene plays a very important role in helping to maintain us and keep us looking good well into old age. There is less susceptibility to accumulate germs that cause big problems later, e.g. brushing of the teeth and flossing reduces dental caries and helps you to keep your teeth for a long time.

Exercise: Exercise is to the body, what it is like to service your car regularly. It helps to tone our body and clear away toxins. It relieves stress and keeps us fit. Everyone must strive to include an exercise regime into their lifestyle. It does not have to be something concerted or exotic. Walking is one of the most effective forms of exercise. Everyone can afford it, you do not need any special equipment, you do not need to pay to use anyone’s facilities.

There are clever ways to create avenues for walking. An example is walking to the church or mosque instead of driving. Office workers who sit for long hours suffer a special form of depreciation in the form of ergonometric stress. This affects the body posture. Walking regularly can help to correct it. There are also a lot of other good exercises like swimming.
How would you rate yourself with regards to these individual points? Are you on top of your game, i.e. feeling and looking good? It might be time to have a bit of introspection. May you not be described as unfairly used!