Too much Comfort is DANGEROUS!

As I think about it, the world is quite poetic, full of interesting parallels.

On one hand, we have creative product designers and innovators focused on making our lives easier while on the other hand, we have scientists and researchers on the hunt for solutions to the medical ailments haunting us; the medical ailments caused due to us no longer being humans but mere couch potatoes!! enjoying and loathing after the new products created by smart designers and innovators.

Yes, they are smart indeed because they create products whose reckless usage results in ultimately us becoming the products.

The problem is we let ourselves become the product.

The problem is not with the technology, innovations or the luxuries.

The problem is we don’t address the problem itself,

THE PROBLEM OF LIFESTYLE DISEASES.

A.K.A PROBLEM OF TOO MUCH COMFORT.

.Human body is wondrous. Even when you are sitting still and reading this right now, there are six muscles in your eyes that are on the move, nerve impulses are being detected and sent in less than nanoseconds to your brain where complicated neural activity is taking place, enabling you to interpret letters, words, and sentences. The capillaries in your heart are extracting vital oxygen and so on and on...

All this in a fraction of a second!

Socrates stated, “It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”

Even though, now we appreciate the capabilities of the inner machineries of our bodies most of us still fail to recognize that not only inside but as a whole, the human body is designed to move.

Failing to recognize and fulfill this can result in obesity, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, muscle wasting and arthritis, colon cancer, balance and coordination problems, etc.

Many recent research studies have revealed that being sedentary and sitting too much will shorten one’s lifespan, diminish the quality of life and contribute to the development of several chronic diseases. It was observed by NASA that the astronauts returning from space show patterns of symptoms that collectively resemble those seen in older persons. Studies investigating this found that strictly bed-bound volunteers showed the same changes like that of the astronauts. Surely they couldn’t be ageing faster merely by lying in bed!

The researchers concluded that astronauts do not grow older in space. The lack of gravity causes a rapid progression of the kinds of changes in their bodies that we on earth associate with age. But these changes don't come about from merely piling up years of life-these are actually a direct consequence of the sedentary lifestyles we tend to adopt as we get older.

This is why we need to change our lifestyle and realize that comfort zones are nothing but danger zones.

So next time after work, plan time to play! Go for a walk, ride, or swim; spend some time at the gym; throw the ball with your child or dog. Take the stairs instead of the lift. Don’t sit for long, be on the move always to keep the lifestyle diseases at bay.

By sophiya mathew