Healthy Confusion?
I am a resident of New York State, but if someone were to ask which state I live in, I would reply that I live in a “state of mental confusion.”
Mental confusion may sometimes be healthy, if it leads to questioning, enquiry and growth of wisdom. Perhaps that is why one of the wisest men, a sage from China was named Confused, Confuse Us or something similar, I am not sure. Talking about health, nowadays I am deluged with so much information about health matters that I do not know what to believe and what to dismiss, so I am totally contra-fused, excuse me, confused.
Our parents told us to play outside and breathe deeply; inhale a lot of oxygen, which was supposed to be good for health. Now however, when I go to the supermarket, almost every package label proudly proclaims that the food is high in anti-oxidants. Won’t an anti-oxidant reduce the oxygen in my blood and be toxic? I find this very contradictory and contra-fusing, sorry, confusing.
Also, when we were children, anyone who looked well nourished was referred to as healthy, while anyone who was slightly built was told to go and put some meat on their bones. This too has changed completely, anyone who does not look starved is told to reduce their weight. Similarly, we are constantly admonished to eat less fatty foods, since they contain cholesterol- but then we are told that some cholesterols are good while others are bad for us.
Ditto for sunlight; I used to think that exposing my skin to sunlight was very healthy- it helped synthesize Vitamin D and promoted healthy bones. Now, however it seems that sunlight has UV radiation which causes skin cancer and I am urged to protect myself with a sun blocker like SPF 15 or something similar. In a similar vein, we are often told not to use certain aerosols so as to preserve the ozone layer but when the ozone level is high we are told not to walk outside. So is ozone healthy for us or unhealthy?
Similarly, I used to believe that alcohol would ruin my liver, scramble my brain and lead to an early demise. However, I am now told that drinking alcohol daily, especially wine, prevents heart attacks. This had me confused for a while until I realized that if you die young from cirrhosis of the liver, you cannot die from a heart attack.
Enough of this unhealthy confusion, I think I will take a walk and clear my head, but wait- I better check the ozone levels, the air quality and the UV index, put on my orange reflectors and a nose mask before I step out of the house.
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Tags: China, Food, Healthcare, Wine