Health and Wealth

There is a direct correlation between health and wealth, and to many people it is discipline. If we look after our health and fitness from early in life, it becomes a habit, and staying well and eating the right diet, also helps save money later in life.

In, The Lancet, a medical journal, there’s an interesting article on managing the pursuit of health and wealth. In it, they talk about how trade has bought us a whole new range of healthy foods and how health issues are always on the agenda (Fidler, Drager, and Lee, 2009). In fact, it has never been cheaper to eat healthy whole food, as long as we are prepared to make it ourselves.

The Right Diet for Health and Wealth

Eating a plant-based diet and cutting down on meat not only keeps you healthy but saves money on the food bill. In the last 20 years, once ‘out of season’ fresh fruit and vegetables are now in season and easily obtained all year round, this includes, thanks to our trading partners, the following.
• Grapes
• Cherries
• All Berries
• Kiwifruit
• Figs
• nuts

The same with vegetables:
• Avocados
• Artichokes
• Tomatoes
• Lettuce

Many whole foods are needed for vegetarian cooking, like chickpeas and other plant-based foods that are easily obtainable and fresh.

A good nourishing diet impacts both your body and wallet. At home, you can feed a family of four for $250 a week, half of what you will spend in a restaurant. High-fat foods consumed in fast food outlets regularly, can affect cognition and make you sluggish.

The Rise of Obesity

According to Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Obesity levels in the USA are rising at alarming rates, and in 2017-2018 rates were at 42.4% of the population. Obesity leads to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and stroke and is a huge financial burden to the individual. The instance is higher in the following groups:

• Non -Hispanic Black adults had the highest rate of obesity at 49.6%
• Overall men and women with college degrees had a lower prevalence of obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention.

Many people now appear to gain weight very easily, and this can be attributed to diet and lack of exercise. Basically, your weight depends on the number of calories that you consume, and today’s foods mostly pre-prepared are laden with calories. If you don’t exercise much, you don’t burn calories and the weight starts to pile on. Once you gain around 10 Ks or more, it becomes increasingly hard to exercise and lose weight.

Obesity Plays a role in Health and Wealth

As obesity is linked to so many conditions mostly leading to early mortality, it is not advisable to remain on the obesity scale.

What Happens if We don’t Lose Weight and What are the Reasons?

If you have been overweight for most of your life it may be genetic. There are people who can’t lose weight even when they diet. Other people just love food so much that they don’t have the willpower to abstain from eating. Others have mobility limiting factors, which means that they are unable to exercise, like arthritis or other inflammatory conditions. However, this can be overcome, and there are people who will help you if you find yourself in that position. Staying overweight increases your risk of heart disease, blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.

Wealth

It is easier to conceptualize how obesity affects your health. Here is how it will affect your wealth summed up with one quote.

“Obese BMI of 30 or more had an average of 36% higher health costs than those in the normal BMI range, and this includes 105% prescription costs, and 39% primary health care costs. Obesity usually results in early retirement because of collateral health issues ensuring poverty from an inability to continue to work.” (Hammond and Levine, 2010)

Continue reading about the economic impact of obesity.

The Double Benefit of Biking or Cycling

Cycling is a great way to stay fit and lose some weight. It is also a sociable activity as you can ride in a group. Biking is an ideal cardio workout and is good for mental health. While riding your bike you will burn about 400 calories per hour, and if you ride out of town, you will see the countryside and breath some fresh air. this is a workout that is gentle on your knees, back, and hips.

To stay safe in the bustle of the city, it is best to ride on a bike track, or alternately buy an exercise bike and ride in front of the TV, this works well in freezing winter weather and allows multi-tasking, as you can watch the world news on TV at the same time.

Plan a 60-minute bike ride 3-5 days a week, starting with a warm-up and at the end a 5 minute warm down. Cycling raises your heart rate, and as well as burning calories it puts minimal stress on your joints.

Biking not only improves health but riding to work and back every day saves money on gas bills, and depending on distance, could save $500 per year or more.

Budget for Health and Wealth

To steadily save money, it is essential to stick to a budget. If you have the discipline to work out then you will likely be able to use the same discipline techniques with financial habits or vice versa.

Budget Tips

A good budgeting app is useful, as it will categorize and import your living expenses, a monthly budget will put you on the right track to saving and wealth.
Second tip. People forget to save any money, and although it is difficult at first, just a small saving like $10 a week is a help.
Things to include in your budget are:

Rent/Mortgage
Utilities
Student loans
Food
Transport
Gym/Wellness
Medical
Entertainment
Clothing and Hygiene

Once you have the budget right, you will be on the way to a wealthy future.

Meals are easier when you plan them a week ahead using lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and a few grains you can live sustainably for around $50 a week for meals.

Conclusion

Health and wealth are not that hard to attain, it is starting early that is important, as habits become ingrained. From reading health articles we know the importance of the right diet and lifestyle on our health, and the need to avoid lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes. It goes without saying that smoking is a health hazard and any alcohol should be consumed in recommended amounts. When you do the right things for your health then wealth tends to follow with less medical costs, less gas money spent, lowering eating out costs, and using discipline to stick to a budget.

Learn how debt affects a child’s health.

Explore getting financial help.

References

Dill, J. Bicycling for Transportation and Health: The Role of Infrastructure. J Public Health Pol 30, S95–S110 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2008.56

Fidler, D. P., Drager, N., & Lee, K. (2009, January 21). Managing the pursuit of health and wealth: The key challenges. The Lancet. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673608617754

Hammond RA, Levine R. The economic impact of obesity in the United States. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2010;3:285-295. Published 2010 Aug 30. doi:10.2147/DMSOTT.S7384

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington (grid.34477.33), UNITED STATES

Mint. (2019, August 19). How to budget for living on your own for the first time. MintLife Blog. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://mint.intuit.com/blog/how-to/how-make-budget-living-alone/