What does it mean to be in good health? I’m reminded of my grandmother, Adeline, and her focus on a healthy diet and exercise. I still have her old blue hardcover copy of Adele Davis’s Let’s Get Well, and I refer to it once in a while to see what vitamin is good for what ailment. As a pharmacist, of course I believe in using prescription drugs, but as Adeline’s granddaughter, I also believe in prevention of disease with a healthy diet and lifestyle. That said, I’m not a huge proponent of herbal medicines or vitamins. I think that if you eat a balanced diet, you should be getting what you need as far as vitamins. We all need to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. I was surprised to learn from a friend that Weight Watchers allows unlimited fruits and vegetables—with the thought that people aren’t becoming overweight by eating just those types of foods. And on the subject of herbals, caution is warranted—just because they are natural does not mean they are safe. There is wide variation in how they are manufactured and their potency. So although in theory they are good for various ailments (such as St. John’s Wort for depression), they can have many drug interactions (St. John’s Wort is notorious for these) and they can be toxic. If you take any of these, make sure to share that information with your doctor, especially if you take any other prescription or OTC meds.
Anyway, back to my grandmother. We probably ate dinner at her house 3-4 times a week when I was growing up. The meals were always cooked from scratch, and we didn’t eat at restaurants much. She didn’t like us to have hot dogs or any kind of preserved meats, because they contained nitrites and preservatives that were unhealthy. She made vegetable salads with gelatin, the plain unflavored gelatin from the health food store—not Jello. Dessert to her was a homemade banana bread with golden raisins and walnuts, and it was made with wheat flour. There weren’t usually things like Oreo cookies or any kind of store-bought desserts. We also made our own salad dressings. I’m not complaining about any of this! She was a good cook and we learned to cook and to eat healthfully. My mom was strict about our diets too. She didn’t keep pop in the house, or chips of any kind, and we didn’t have sugary cereals (my children have grown up with all of those items in the house, although they also know how to cook and eat healthfully). We had wheat bread, not Wonder bread. I’m so thankful now that I learned these habits as a child, because I know that even when you want to make a positive change, it can be really difficult—our eating habits are so ingrained in us that they are hard to change. As far as exercise, my grandmother used to say that people wouldn’t need health clubs (before they were called “the gym”) if they would just do yard work. There is some truth to that. She did a hard day’s work even into her 60s, in between bouts of cancer. I’m sure that even at age 65, she could do a harder day’s physical work than I could have. Its ironic that she died young, at 68, from cancer. The one who was so health conscious had a 10-year battle with cancer. Its also ironic that my other grandparents both smoked from the time they were in their teens, and drank every day, and yet both lived into their 80s, and in their own home, until just days before they died. Go figure. Good protoplasm, I guess. Now I bake my own bread every week, and try to get more fruits and vegetables and less carbs into my family’s diet. I walk every day at work with a friend, and I’m trying to increase my activity. I’ve never really liked exercise for exercise’s sake, and I always hated gym class in school (with a passion). I wasn’t an athlete but now I wish I had been. So in the name of good health, I think I’ll eat some salad, and contemplate learning indoor rock climbing, and I’ll dream about how cool it might be to row crew. To our good health!
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