Everything should not be centered on medication

Hi!👋

I have a brother of the same stature as me—very slim—and we were the unique ones among the children of our parents. Sometimes we got accused of being sick, which was said to be the reason why we were not adding weight. But I knew that the situation of our household was responsible, because our body systems were not aligning with the nature of the kind of food we ate and the kind of work we did. When it comes to regular feeding, we were doing that. We didn’t lack food at home because we owned farms from which we got foodstuffs.

One particular holiday, my brother travelled to Port Harcourt to spend the holiday at an uncle’s house who lived in the city with his family. Do you know that my brother spent just three weeks there, and when he returned, his cheeks and all the hidden flesh folded out? He was looking so fresh and robust that I got mocked badly because, according to my siblings, I was the only one left with that kind of slim stature, as my brother had left me behind. It was all a joke, but we knew that what contributed to his weight gain was a change of environment, feeding pattern, and also a reduction in stressful work. My brother confirmed that they don’t eat the way we do in the city. They have a good food timetable, such as taking tea, bread, or pap with enough milk in the morning, eating something different in the afternoon, and having another type of food entirely for dinner. Meanwhile, our home was filled with strong and carbohydrate-heavy food all through, coupled with hard farm work. My other siblings' bodies were very okay with the lifestyle, while I and my immediate younger brother were struggling with the lifestyle, but we didn’t know this until my brother travelled to the city and returned.

Guess what? After he returned, it took him just a few months before his body system fell back to normal. It sounds funny, but it’s true. We didn’t actually notice it much until he fell sick, got admitted to the hospital, and along the process, his body returned to usual. Lol.

That experience made me realize that most of our health challenges are as a result of our lifestyle, which comprises the kind of food we eat, the water we drink, the work we do, and many other factors.

Everything is not—and should not be—about medication. Whenever I see people taking medicines to help them add weight, I laugh, because the truth remains that if they can change their environment or adjust their lifestyle, weight will surely be added, though it may not be that explosive.

I was listening to a health programme one day, and the discussion was about how most of us have completely sold out to eating carbohydrate-heavy foods and neglecting protein-rich ones, all because we say we don’t have money. The guest on the programme highlighted some common and cheap foods one can eat to gain protein. Most times, the things we are passing through are as a result of illiteracy. If we can know the right lifestyle to live, most of the dependency on medication will be reduced.

Thanks for reading.

This is my entry to Week 174, Edition 03 of the Weekly Featured contest in Hive Learners Community

Image used is mine