Health in the 21st Century

People of the 21st century are obsessed with looking good and (for the most part) being healthy. Gym membership, south beach diet, Atkins diet, diet pills, spa treatments, personal trainers, cosmetic surgery … the list goes on and on.
And yet a major contributor to bad health seems to be ever present in our every day life. From child to adult, we all seem to be riddled with stress.
Growing up the doctor’s simply recommended a good diet, adequate exercise, and a daily dose of vitamins and minerals. Nowadays, they tend to be more specific … and there is a specialist for everything.
• A Nutritionist or Dietician will recommend a specialized diet depending on your goals and needs. The most basic rule is; eat a well-balanced meal.
• Where adequate exercise used to just be a jog in the park, it is now defined into two categories, each with its own set of instructors (as needed):
o Aerobic – jogging, power-walking, swimming, martial arts, dancing, etc.
o Anaerobic – yoga, Pilates, etc.
• Multi-vitamins after breakfast used to be good enough to give us the energy boost we need to function at optimum levels up to the end of the day. Now it comes in so many forms --- vitamins and minerals derived from food, regular multi-vitamin and mineral supplements, herbal supplements
• Gaining weight used to mean just getting fat, now we here talks of mass-building with the assistance of a strict diet, weight training and body supplements or muscle boosters (like creatine).
• Losing weight used to mean just getting thin, now we here people talking about getting lean and trim and cutting the fat. This is assisted by strict diet, weight training, aerobic exercise, and diet pills.
There are also different types of diagnostic tests being done to validate and ensure good health. In TV crime shows what we hear of most often in DNA testing. Although this is often used in paternity testing DNA testing could also be used to find out early what inherent diseases a person may have and how to counteract them. Diabetes, cancer, asthma, high cholesterol … all these and more can be discovered through testing and addressed either by exercise and a good diet or supplemented by surgery. Others take alternative forms of healing such as acupressure, acupuncture, and homeopathic medicine.
The most relaxing way, I’ve found, of de-stressing is to go to a health (or day) spa. You can opt for the complete weekend package which includes controlled meals and exercise, but a lot of people go for the soothing massages and the aromatherapy. Imagine going to the spa at the end of a long day. You shower, and then you lie on a table and allow the attendant to run their magic fingers on you, while the scent of essential oils wafts towards you from the oil diffuser or the scented candles. In the background are the sound of the waves on the beach and the pleasant sound of chimes and harps.
Be the healthiest you can be in the 21st century! Be it through diet, exercise, or any form of healing or relaxation exercise. Be stress free and happy!!