It’s the end of a long day, but as I’m finishing up here, I’m thinking about camels.
“Why do we have such long thick eyelashes, mama?” asked the baby camel.
“To keep blowing sand out of our eyes”, replied his mother.
“Why do we have such big wide feet?” asked the baby.
“So we can walk easily through the desert.” she replied.
“Why do we have humps?” asked the baby.
“So we can travel long distances without food or water” replied the mother camel.
“Ok… so why do we live in a zoo then?” asked the baby camel.
Credit to my local parish priest for this one. It’s stuck in my mind.
There is sometimes a difference between what our biology is built for and the environment we live in.
Humans are built with bodies – hearts, lungs, bones – that need to move. Humans have brains that requires a certain amount of sleep. Humans have set nutritional requirements.
But our environment around us means many of us don’t move as much as we need to (sedentary jobs, having to commute), demands on our time that mean we don’t sleep as much as we should; We are surrounded by processed convenience foods that simply don’t provide us with the nutrients we actually need but do provide us with more energy than we require. We are surrounded by cultural cues and pressures to use excess amounts of things our biology definitely doesn’t need: alcohol, tobacco, screens.
Does it really matter? Yes: Around 80 percent of chronic disease, including type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease are potentially preventable by a combination of physical activity, healthy diet, adequate sleep, and reducing risks such as tobacco and alcohol.
The difference between humans and the camels in the story? We aren’t in the zoo — we can take control of some of those factors. It’s not easy, and I highly recommend families get expert help if needed from qualifed medical professionals if needed.
0 Comments