While youth sometimes makes you feel as if you have all the time in the world, growing older forces you to contemplate certain aspects of your life.
Time seems to be infinite when you are young. I remember being a child and listening to my elders talking about healthy food substitutes and practices and thinking that it was so boring. Surely, I thought, there was more to living than the constant worry about how to navigate life in the healthiest way. I saw it as too demanding.
Fast forward to 2019; here I am quickly approaching my 30th birthday and being healthy is something I find great pleasure in. I try my best to not get paranoid about everything, but once you have started to adopt healthy habits for the most part it becomes difficult to fall back into a pattern. It might just be me, but my body can somehow tell.
Here is a small selection of healthy habits that I try to maintain on a daily basis:
Deodorant
I grew up using Dove. For me it was very effective. But it’s effective because it blocks your pores. Deodorants that aren’t natural usually contain high levels of aluminium-based ingredients that can increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s later in life by 60 percent. In addition to this, a 2009 study from the University of Reading, UK, found a correlation between “the increase in cancers of the outside upper quadrant of the breast with the increase in the use of chemical cosmetics, including antiperspirant” (Gillian Deacon, There’s Lead in Your Lipstick, 2011).
A natural deodorant doesn’t block your pores like an antiperspirant does, but it allows your body to work in its most natural way. It will not keep you completely dry, but it will minimize the smell. Sweat itself isn’t bad, it’s only if it’s mixed with bacteria, so ensure to wash thoroughly.
Household products
I love to detox my home. A lot of the chemicals that I use are currently extremely harsh, but I’ve been socialized to think bleach is best even if it feels as if you are suffocating while scrubbing your bathroom. It will be hard to take a natural approach for all my supplies but for the first time ever, I use gloves for everything.
Chemicals in food
It’s incredibly hard to think about where exactly your food is coming from all the time. Late last year, I started to tutor an Agricultural Scientist. She was learning Business English and it was probably one of my most eye-opening experiences. Commercial farming is more about money and less about nutrition. It caters for a fast turnover and very high yields and it is because of this that the amount of fertilizers/ chemicals found is probably at the highest levels. Therefore, I was told to only buy foods with ‘bio’ labels as they are forbidden from using certain chemicals. Where this is no option, I just try to make do with whatever is available. I try to ensure I have full knowledge of what is going into my body.
These may seem like small or petty things and for sure they are not the only solutions for a healthy life, nor do they guarantee a healthy life. Nevertheless, inculcating these habits must be better than just going with the flow as ageing is inevitable.
