SUGAR and SALT

Not long ago I overheard a young man who was all worried that he might have contracted AIDS from a one-night-stand with an attractive but libertine young woman. He could not wait to be "tested" to see if he was "negative." If he were negative, his expectation was to continue sowing his wild oats. This is fuzzy logic. It may sound ridiculous to us but think about how most of us think about disease. We eat all the sugar, carbs, and salt we want until we go to the doctor and he/she tells us that we are PRE-hypertensive (high blood pressure) or PRE-diabetic (high blood sugar) and then we go about our merry way doing the same old things until one day we go back and we have "crossed the line" and we are now really Hypertensive or Type-2 Diabetic. Once that line is crossed a cure is far more difficult than before. If you go to the doctor and pre-hyperension is diagnosed, it is up to you to make some changes that will bring those numbers down. You are supposed to have a blood pressure of 120/80 or less. If it is above this, then go out any buy yourself a home blood pressure tester (Sphygmomanometer) and take your pressure often. They are cheap and effective. Keep track of your diet and stress and your "numbers." Watch your salt intake because salt makes your blood pressure higher IF you are prone to hypertension. Decrease your food intake because any level of obesity leads to hypertension. Don't let the doctor put you on medication and think that is all you need. These medications are not without their risks and side effects. Your pressure may be dangerously high and medicine MIGHT be the correct thing BUT if you think you can just continue eating, smoking, not exercising, and being stressed out and the medicine will take care of it, then you are headed for a fall.

The same goes for PRE-diabetes that is also related to the same poor lifestyle choices... no exercise, obesity, and too many carbs and sugars in your diet. There is a meter for this too, but it is less common in ordinary households. It is a simple device that involves a tiny drop of blood from a small "stick" of a finger or elsewhere. It instantly tells you how much sugar is circulating in your bloodstream. You do this first thing in the morning "fasting" before you eat or drink anything. Normal Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS) is around 80. If it is above this, up to 120 you may be PRE-diabetic. Above that... you may need to be medicated and that's when the side effects begin. You can get this meter at your local pharmacy. Buy the little one that is easy to use and needs almost no blood. Consider the Freestyle Lite.

Being diabetic, or hypertensive makes you VERY much more likely to have a heart attack, stroke, neurological problems with your legs, or have Erectile Dysfunction. Of course there's a pill for that too but treating the symptom is not treating or preventing the disease. You want to prevent these sort of things. Your health, like your finances, are ultimately your responsibility. No one has greater "skin in the game" that you. Your doctor only cares when you are sitting in the exam room. Your spouse cares until something important comes up like picking the kids up at school. Speaking of kids... you do want to see them graduate from school (s) and get married some time in the future, don't you?