HEALTH TO THE MARKET

We have health to the market nowadays. This means health has become a market product. Health is sold, as cars or coffee are too. This is nothing bad, because it delivers an exchange in which every part wins: a good health allows us having a normal life and mixing with other people and, beyond this, economy and research are stimulated.

But there are some things that invite us to think:

-  Alimentary or vitaminic complements should not replace a balanced diet. If there is no disease, we can find all the nutrients we need and on its exact quantity in varied and balanced diet. This goes to Omega-3, Omega-6 and vitaminic supplements.

-  What you are given for free, it is really not. The meaning of you being given some product for free, means the product is you. From there, you are included to a customer pool in which you are offered more products... for which you will have to pay. This goes to dental and auditive check-ups or the personalized diet studies.

-  To go running on the streets or the woods, you just need sportswear and water. Other things may help, but they are not necessary. This goes to the speedometer gadgets, the armbands for smartphones and the online T-shirts that transmit your cardiac rythm to your social networks (but... Why?).

-  ¿Should we drink 2 liters of water a day? Actually, we should CONSUME 2 liters of water per day. But with a balanced diet, we already have half of this water needed. This goes to the 2-liter bottles that have the amount we... would need if we lived without food.

-  Sunbathing during the hours in which the sun irradiates the strongest, stimulates our melanine (after burning our skin). You can sunbath when the sun is lower, in the morning or in the afternoon. This goes to those sunscreens that tell you “don’t worry to expose to the sun even it is harmful. We protect you”. We can trust in this protection, but you don’t need to expose.

These are only some examples of how sometimes they can create a problem to us in order, then, to offer “their” solution. We don’t need to perform at 100% all the time, far from spending our money in things that will help us performing at 120%. Life is not perfect, and neither we are. Sometimes we fail, whether we like it or not, and it’s easier if we give ourselves permission to do so.

Community health begins to improve when infectious diseases are erradicated, basic hygiene habits are introduced, and healthcare facilities as well as the promotion of a healthy lifestyle are guaranteed. Keeping this lifestyle is really helpful, but overcharging ourselves with all these products that replace it, doesn’t add that much to our health.