I don’t know if I told you, but I consider myself pretty health-conscious . I try to eat right, exercise, and take some good quality supplements. But even I think there is plenty of confusing health information out there.
One day we’re told to eat more meat and carbs are bad, and another day, there’s a different fad. How do you keep it all straight? I don’t know. And I’m sure future generations will probably think we were all out of our minds, haha. So let’s look at some of those conflicting theories out there, as shared on Reddit .
This ‘Fat Acceptance’
“A part of ‘fat acceptance.’ While, of course, everyone deserves respect, regardless of size, the idea that being very overweight is a healthful lifestyle, is just wrong. Sure, most of the bodily harm of obesity won’t catch up to you, until later in life. But it WILL catch up to you. I’ve been overweight most of my life. While I’m generally healthy, my knees have paid the price, of supporting the extra poundage. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ll escape the bodily harm of long-term obesity.”
I definitely agree with that.
The ‘Hustle’ Culture
“The hustle culture. Not everything you do needs to make money. You should be able to have hobbies that stay just that: hobbies.”
I totally get what this person is saying. In today’s culture, you need to be constantly hustling and making more money. It’s not necessarily healthy.
Social Media
“I’m being super hypocritical, but we’re gonna look back on social media today the same way our parents looked back on the time they smoked and said ‘yeah, everybody smoked back then, it really wasn’t a big deal. Yeah, we knew it wasn’t good for you, but we still did it anyway. No, we didn’t think of it as some sort of addiction; we just did it because that’s what people did back then.'”
– u/ei283
True dat.
This Cooking Hazard
“Cooking things in plastic, eating and drinking things out of plastic.”
Yeah, that’s not good, alright. I stopped that a long time ago, and I would urge anybody to do the same. You don’t want plastic leaching into your food.
These Fitness Influencers
“The majority of fitness influencers have eating disordered habits and are sharing them with their ‘fans’ by acting like what they do is ‘healthy.’ My recovered [expletive] cries when I see fitness accounts glorifying actually unhealthy habits that they claim are healthy. people do NOT realize the damage of fitness/health social media. Those people aren’t professionals and bodies aren’t one size fits all.”
Totally right.
Vaping
“Vaping instead of smoking. You’re still filling your lungs with stuff that shouldn’t be there in the end. Looks like more research is coming out about the risks too. It’s not as bad as smoking, but it’s got its own issues. It’s fine if you’re using vapes and e-cigs to quit smoking, but it’s gone beyond that for quite some time now. Many people just exchanged one habit for the other.”
I definitely worry about people doing that.
These Distractions
“Constant notifications and other distractions.”
I actually try to limit all the notifications I get. I’ve taken them all off of my computer, and I limit the stuff that prompts me when on social media. I highly recommend you do that too.
These Supplements
“Supplements. What’s in them? They aren’t regulated, so anything could be! Many studies have found a lack of actual advertised product at best, a harmless filler such as sawdust commonly, and heavy metal and other toxin contamination such as lead and arsenic at worst. All for the cheap price of $$$$$ and your health. Is it possible that some could be helpful for specific things? Yup! But are most things on the shelf going to fit in that category? Absolutely not, no.”
I always research the company whose supplements I plan on taking.
Energy Drinks
“Energy drinks – I’ll be amazed if there aren’t some long-term effects of drinking can after can of Red Bull/Monster etc.”
I see people who are so addicted to those to get them through their day. It’s actually pretty sad when you think about it.
Diet Products
“Most ‘diet’ plans/snacks/products. Low in fat but high in sugar? Serving size of 1/4 of what is sold? Contains some mysterious fruit ‘scientifically shown’ to combat the laws of physics? A laxative in disguise? Most of these plans are just like get-rich-quick schemes. They are sold to provide a quick path to a healthier and better life. But diet isn’t a quick fix. It’s a slow combination of everyday habits. Diet culture is a toxic scam and their advertisements are sickening both for the lies commonly told and the mental health toll on the targeted audience. Hell, most of the ‘good choice’ food items at the grocery could be considered unhealthy processed garbage.”
This is so sad. Am I right?
This Physical Activity Culture
“The way we teach physical activity. We use sports as a competition and filter kids out, only supporting the best of the best financially and through school programs. But the reality is that team and club sports can keep people active and engaged in their communities for life. This is healthy. If we can foster low-level skill sports for everyone we will have healthier and happier communities. Except for maybe American football. That [expletive] will give you brain injuries.”
This is totally on point, no?
This Soda Obsession
“Soda. Humans aren’t supposed to even consume more than a fraction of the sugar in soda and everyone just smiles and drinks their liquid sugar.”
Truth be told, I hardly drink soda. I pretty much only have it once in a while or in a drink. That’s all.
This School System
“Children going to class and sitting in school all day 5 days a week for 12 years.”
“And raising your hand to go to the bathroom or holding in your pee all of the time so the teacher doesn’t get upset with you leaving class.
RELATED STORIES
This Oversharing
“The amount of our lives we share with strangers online thinking we’re anonymous.”
I’m not sure if the future generation will think this was bad, but they will be doing even more of that. I hope it isn’t the latter. What do you think?
Low Fat Products
“‘Low fat’ products which predominantly were filled with high fructose corn syrup (high sugar diets) and other things that lead to metabolic syndrome (partially hydrogenated oils). Some have recognized the dangers of this already but in 40 years maybe we’ll see people look back and go ‘they made all of this money at the expense of ordinary citizens’ health.'”
Oh, I hear you loud and clear.
Having Kids
“The way we look at having kids. You have a [expletive] job. Your spouse works as well so nobody will ever be home, when you are home you’ll both be tired and miserable from work, you and/or your spouse *clearly* have childhood issues to work out in therapy, you/your spouse or *both* have a genetic condition of some kind be it mental or physical, the food in the house is all pre-made/freeze-dried/frozen/junk, you live in an apartment/too small of a house, you’re a slave to massive debt for a useless degree/a car/etc, etc, etc…Go ahead and have kids, it’ll be great and their lives will be absolutely fine!”
I bet most people don’t even consider that.
This Work Culture
“40-hour work week with generally unfulfilling jobs. Source: I’m a clinical psychologist.”
Oh, yes. I’ve actually cut back on the amount of work I do because I was getting burned out. I’m making less money, but my body and mind are much happier now.
Juice Cleanses
“Any juice that ‘cleans your body,’ no your body does it itself.”
“Yeah turns out, just drinking water and letting your body work naturally is a pretty good ‘cleanse.'”
I couldn’t say that better myself if I tried.
So, what’s your take on these here, huh?
Do you agree with what other people said about all these health fads? I definitely see where they are coming from, that’s for sure. I’ve never dieted before in my life, and I certainly try to have a work and life balance.
It isn’t always easy, I admit. But we can all strive to better ourselves without relying on this bad advice.