Oh no! We Have Become Our Fathers. Part 1

My friend and I get the opportunity to see each other a few times a year. I met him for lunch the other day. After we ordered, he asked about the status of my colon. I replied, "Not bad. I had a colonoscopy last week." I asked him how his hemorrhoid was doing. He said, "It's OK," and added something about a new infrared procedure to reduce the hemorrhoid.

We looked at each other and began to laugh. What in the world has happened to us? It doesn't seem very long ago that our conversations centered on girls and sports. Now they are about the state of our health and medical procedures. We are getting older -- not yet old, but older. And that's how it begins -- we are hit with the realization that the aging process is affecting us. We have turned into our fathers. Oh, no!

When our bodies are young, we can get away with poor eating, exercise and sleeping habits. A back or neck strain usually goes away in a few days, and we are as good as new. As we approach our 30's, we often feel pretty good but may have added some weight to our frames. We may not worry too much about that, as we are sure that, just as we always have before, we can lose the extra five or ten pounds in a couple of weeks. But life can get in the way of eating correctly and exercising, and we give up and live with the extra weight. As we get into our 40's, we might experience knee pain or some other minor pain that normally would have resolved in a few weeks all on its own. A month later, we are surprised to realize that the pain is still there.

What's going on with our bodies? We are aging, or, as I like to say, ripening like a fine wine. As we get older, we lose the ability to recuperate as quickly as we did when we were younger. This change to our health occurs on a cellular or physiological level. The cost of not taking care of our health as we age can be monetary in the form of more visits to the doctor and other health facilities, medicines, and lost days of work. But the highest cost is in the loss of our most precious gift, time -- time to do what we want to do and to live life as we want to live it.

So what can we do to thwart this aging process? We must change our lifestyle. We must consider the way we eat, sleep, exercise, and manage stress. But where do we begin?

We must begin with life sustenance -- nutrition. Food is our fuel. Let's say you own a luxury vehicle. Your owner's manual specifies premium gasoline, but you always buy the cheapest gasoline available. Your car begins to have problems. You saved money initially, but now it will cost you more to repair the vehicle than it would have if you had taken care of it properly to begin with. Of course, if the car completely breaks down due to your poor maintenance, you can just get a new car. But if we continue to fuel our bodies with poor nutrition and we break down, we can't just get a new body.

Unlike a car, we have many, many choices when it comes to fuel. Our diet is an important factor of the aging process. It gives us our energy and it determines our weight. Everyone is looking for the "miracle diet." So what diet is best? There isn't any "best" diet!

Dr. Michael J. Kaye has been a practicing Chiropractor over the last 18 years. He holds a post-graduate degree in Rehabilitation. His practice focuses on treatment for the chronic and post-surgical patient. He has published articles on post-surgical knee rehabilitation; and chronic myofascial pain syndrome. He has developed a web site www.frompaintopersonalgain.com devoted to health, wealth and happiness. His coaching site is www.coachinggps.com Contact the author, Michael Kaye , at mijokye@comcast.net.