Evolution has been kind to us

The human body is extremely forgiving.

It forgives us of the abuse. It forgives when we have a few too many drinks on a crazy night. It forgives when we overeat in the name of fun, and it forgives when we load our system with four times more refined sugar than what our body was built to withstand. It forgives us every single time, and manages to fix itself every time.

Thanks to evolution and medical science, we are gifted with better survival and immune mechanisms to help us live a long life.

But, we mess it up in our early years. We tell ourselves that it is too soon for something to happen, and we take our age for granted.

I’m no saint. I’ve abused my body, calling myself a ‘foodie’. There used to be a time when I used to overeat just to feel better. I thought eating was better than smoking or drinking. But, I was wrong. By overeating, I was equally abusing my body and creating damage that is equivalent to smoking or drinking. To temporarily fix my mind, I took the route that would permanently damage my body.

A lot of us do this. We think food is the easiest way to feel better. And since it is ‘just food’, friends and family often don’t say much. If left unchecked, overeating could affect us very early in life. From 2001 to 2017, there is a 45.1% increase in type I diabetes and 95.3% increase in type II diabetes among young adults in the US. The trend won’t take much time to catch up in India.

But, like I said before, our body is extremely forgiving. The moment we course correct, our body starts fixing itself and becomes healthy again. The key is to be in control of what we eat and how we take care of ourselves. We humans have come this far because of our ability to course correct. This is one more hurdle in a long road ahead of us.