Gambling means that we take risky actions for the desired result. What is the desired outcome for our health? It is not having someone change your diaper for the last five or ten years of your life. It is about living life to the fullest – doing things when you want to – no restrictions.
This morning, I was listening to Kenny Rogers sing his 1978 song, The Gambler. It was written by a 23-year-old songwriter named David Schlitz a couple of years before. The lyrics are as much about life as they are about gambling. Health is the most significant risk factor we face daily – especially living in a pandemic world.
We may remain six feet from others, wash our hands a dozen times a day, wear a mask, and more. That is to protect your body from the outside invaders. However, it does not stop other invaders from making a home in your body. The soap, shampoo, hand sanitizer, and more have toxins. Over time, they can create health problems.
However, the most significant risks we take relate to the lyrics and our dietary choices. If we are going to play the game of life, we need to play it right. So, how do we know when to hold them and when to fold them – know when to walk away and when to run?
I write and publish daily – as best I can. I research the human body at the cellular level, chemically speaking, looking for cause and effect relationships. You are successful when you treat the cause of a problem. Otherwise, you are always treating symptoms. Our medical profession is based more on corrective actions than preventive ones. Medical solutions are typically aligned with treating symptoms.
What are common symptoms of old age – the visible ones? Aging skin, thicker glasses, difficulty hearing, using a cane or walker, etc. We do not live sixty or seventy years and suddenly need a walker to get around. Bone density and muscle strength are things we never worried about in our earlier lives but become limiting factors in just a few decades.
According to the song, The Gambler, the secret to surviving is knowing what to throw away and what to keep. I provide awareness and education in my writings. Unless you are interested in a career in nutrition, our schools teach none of it. Our medical professionals know little of the nutritional needs and the interactions within our bodies.
For example, you want strong bones; you must have calcium. Unfortunately, drinking milk does not do the job. It might provide calcium as a source, but unless you have a body with adequate amounts of magnesium, the calcium from the milk you drank ends up in the toilet. Magnesium makes calcium more bioavailable for absorption.
Once the calcium passes from the stomach into the duodenum, it cannot enter the bloodstream unless you have enough vitamin D3. Many, if not most of us, do not have adequate amounts of that vitamin. The calcium bypasses the bloodstream and ends up in the toilet. When calcium enters the bloodstream, it can go to your bones when you have adequate amounts of vitamin K2. If not, the calcium goes to your heart valves and arteries to form plaques – another issue for aging!
When my wife was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer, her oncologist wanted her to take more calcium because he was concerned about her bone density with the drugs she was taking. I mentioned, matter-of-factly, that eating more foods with calcium or taking supplements would not improve her bone density.
In addition to his certifications in oncology, he has a specialty in blood diseases. We had a very short discussion in which my tact could have been a bit more controlled when I told him that calcium does not automatically go to the bones. It needs other chemicals and vitamins to get there. So even getting calcium into the bloodstream did not guarantee that it would go to the bones. Once it is in the bones, it may not stay there unless you track your pH – another article.
We did not converse during the subsequent two visits. My wife would always defer to having me listen and respond to his recommendations. I heard but did not respond because of the tension in the room. Time healed old wounds, and we were back on friendlier terms within a year.
When were you taught that you need more magnesium, more vitamin D3, and more vitamin K2 to have strong, healthy bones? Probably never. Do you know natural sources of magnesium or vitamin K2? Probably not – for most of us. Vitamin D3 is the sunshine vitamin, and we do everything in our power not to have extra sunlight hit our skin – long-sleeves, hats, indoors mostly, sunblock, and more.
So, according to the song, the best that we can hope for is to die in our sleep. In this case, the ‘best’ means there is no walker in the room and no extra packages of diapers in the drawer next to the bed. We want to surprise everyone that dying in our sleep was unexpected and that it was an excellent way to go!
Assisted living, hospice, drugs, limited visitors (especially during pandemics), etc., do not make our final weeks, days, and hours a great and fun time. On the other hand, there are tons and mountains of information available to nearly every one of us via Google and YouTube. So if you want to know something about Alzheimer’s disease you might find the relationship between fisetin and Alzheimer’s – you can look it up or wait for my next article on it. A hint – consider adding more strawberries to your daily diet. Oh, by the way, I have a book on Alzheimer’s coming out shortly based on over 40 articles I have written on that subject.
I strongly recommend that you go to your doctor armed with information about what can help you overcome whatever health problem you have. Sometimes, prescription medicines are mandatory; however, are there natural remedies that will work as well. Most prescription medicines were developed from natural sources.
I will be going to my cardiologist early next year. I mentioned that I had a plan to remove plaque from a blocked artery in my heart. He had never heard about our bodies’ ability (or any protocol) to remove plaque naturally. I told him that I had many references and would provide them to him on my next visit. He was genuinely interested.
As we look at our later lives today, we should not be counting our current health (our money on the table) as what will be in the future. Instead, we will become fully aware of it (hopefully not painfully) when the dealing is done on our death bed.
So, here is an ace you can keep. You are in control of your health. It is wrapped in many factors you can control – even those with a hereditary predisposition. Epigenetics controls many aspects of the genetic markers– the ability to turn on or off the genetic switches that may affect our lives.
Stress, toxins, inflammation, radiation, diet, and even expectations control our health. Each of those is in your control. However, it is not the stress that affects your health – it is holding on to it. Toxins are identified by reading labels and understanding the ingredients and what happens when you allow toxins on or into your body.
Radiation is not much of a factor unless you sit in a room with lots of electric wiring for hours at a time. How many pieces of electrical equipment are turned on in your environment? How close are they to you? How long do you remain nearby?
Inflammation is easily known by getting a simple blood test (no doctor needs to approve it in advance) called the c-reactive protein (CRP). The test will tell you the level of inflammation in your body – not the location. The closer to zero, the better off you are. Chronic, low-level cellular inflammation is the genesis of over 95% of all diseases.
Diet – what more can be said? You are what you eat. You need over 30 nutrients daily to be in optimal health. I strongly recommend the Wahls Protocol regimen to obtain those 30+ nutrients. My wife went on Dr. Terry Wahls’ protocol after months of chemotherapy and just before radiation therapy. I have written numerable articles attesting to months of chemo-fog being removed within a couple of days and having no effects from radiation therapy.
Knowing when to hold the right cards early in life will give you an advantage, a huge advantage, later in life!
Live Longer & Enjoy Life! – Red O’Laughlin – RedOLaughlin.com
Red – Thanks for this enlightening and encouraging article – tied to and reinforced by Kenny’s iconic lyrics. I for one need to look at the combination of vitamins needed and to revisit the Wahls Protocol. Y’all have a safe and blessed New Year!! Hiett