By Folake Anina
I really do not know what is happening. Something is changing and we all must not ignore it. I don’t know if it is something in the air or something in our diet. Either way, some people had better taking a serious look into it or everyone would be done for.

I agree that sicknesses and disease are universal, but have you noticed how more and more people, very young people are getting diagnosed with cancer, aids, fibroids, diabetes and all sorts of terrible diseases.  You hear all kinds of strange names for strange diseases that were never heard of, organs malfunctioning, or packing up all together. It is scary.

There have been people falling into comas or just blacking out and before you know what is happening, they find out there is something in the brain, or something burst in the brain, and they have to undergo surgery. There have been many incidences of people ..very young people just getting paralyzed on one side, and ..terrible terrible things going on.

It is all so strange, and no one seems to be taking it seriously. Something is wrong somewhere. The truth is that no one seems to think it could ever come their way until it hits them. Someone said the whole air is polluted, water is polluted.

Infact many people have their own boreholes, and most of the water has so much iron in it, and all these things are bad for ones health. How do we then check for the iron content of our water. No one cares.

Have you noticed how there are different types of vegetable oil in town coming in from everywhere, and you really do not know what you are consuming.  All kinds of stuff called butter in the supermarkets.

What I would suggest is that you should really be conscious of what you eat and exercise. Every one should not be ignorant. You do not need all that cholesterol in your system. You must research and know the foods that are high in cholesterol and avoid them. Gone are the days when wealth was measured by how much food was available for you to consume.

You could fry six eggs and think you were enjoying life. Not any more. You do that in public these days people look at you like you are crazy. We must all train and structure ourselves to watch what we eat, eat less  and exercise. Diet and exercise must be a way of life, so get you own routine. Most Nigerians are so spoil they do not engage in any kind of walking.

Those who have a driver would have the driver drop them at the entrance of where they are going. Now that “okadas’ are all over the place, too many people, instead of taking advantage of the moment and walking, they jump on the ‘okada’ to take them all the way. We all need to get used to exercise. There is no way round it. I sincerely believe that everyone adopt exercise as a way of life. It must be in your routine as sure as you have other things on it.

The time as come when we must all learn to cut down on our carbohydrates and sugar. I know some people who can drink at least eight bottles of soft drinks in one day. That would just be too much sugar in the system for one day. Sugar has nothing positive that it does in your body. There is nothing like old faithful water.

Just when I thought I got it right, last week, I met this lady. Everyone knows how fit she was. She was one of those ladies who ‘gymned up” everyday. She was very particular about what she ate. Everything has to be organic, and over the years she had developed the habit of not eating after 7pm. She never ate a full meal more than once a day, and sometimes, she might just have a light second at some point during the day.

Believe me, she looked great. Suddenly she found out that she had fibroids. She couldn’t explain it. Not too long she started having some serious headaches. Then she wasn’t feeling well most of the time. Then she wold black out now and again.

The headaches continued to increase, and she thought she had migraine headaches. Someone suggested that she do a cat scan, and guess what, they found out that she had a tumor. The   tumor was almost the size of a pineapple, and she had to undergo brain surgery.

This really confused me. I then concluded that everyone must do their best. Diet and exercise you definitely cannot compromise, but I will suggest that you just don’t stop there. You must add a little prayer to whatever you are doing.

We all must get serious with diet exercise and prayer. One  cannot work so hard so that you can have peace in the latter part of ones life jsu to realize that that future would never come.

Get healthy, pump some action into the system and stay healthy. Life is so short, you cannot be careless. It is hard I know but over time, with plenty of practice, it becomes part of you. Now is the time to start. Don’t postpone  it. Best of luck