Article Date: Jun 26, 2010

Recently I was doing a presentation for local corporations employees on nutrition. I asked the group to raise their hands if they took multivitamins. Generally, in Boulder Colorado when asking this question to a group at least three quarters of the room raises their hands.   In this particular corporation, about five people out of 30 raised their hands. Clearly demonstrating why this corporation was having someone come and speak to their employees about health and wellness. Quite surprised, that as a group so few took a multivitamin I asked why and one of the people responded that they are expensive. This shocked me even more.  While there  is certainly a range of different quality multivitamins any person can get the average low end brand for $40 a bottle at any grocery store.    My concern in teaching this group about health and wellness was not multi vitamins and their benefit but rather employees attitudes towards health and wellbeing.   

Our culture’s thought process on health has been degraded for years into a crisis care thought process. The general concept being that we allow our health to degrade and only put attention and funds towards it when there is a crisis or illness. And then at that point, we take action to return our body to the state it was just before he had the crisis or illness. Additionally at this point, once the damage has been done we expect someone else, generally an insurance company, to pay for putting us back together.  This is the lowest way we can possibly interact with our health, our greatest asset. 

After all you know that the person that commented about the high cost of a generic multivitamin probably spends much more money on things like cable TV, cell phones, cigarettes, Starbucks, pizza and other areas that they could reroute there funds to a simple thing that would really equate to “health insurance.”   I shared with the group that one of our family members had worked his whole life raising several kids and grandkids only to find himself, shortly after retirement,  living in a long-term care facility for approximately $5,000 a month. He worked his whole life at the sacrifice of his own well-being and rarely took proactive steps to keep themselves healthy and well because this was not something he was taught. I asked the group, would you rather spend a few dollars a day on your health during your life to ensure a great quality of life or spend what will most surely be $10,000 a month by the time the people in their 30s and 40s now are at a retirement age because they fail to invest in the health during the life. 

Understand, when it comes to your health and well-being, you either spend the resources now or you spend them later. If you put energy and money towards your health while you’re healthy the amounts are generally small, the activities and products enjoyable,  with results you have the opportunity to enjoy. If you put the energy and money toward your health later the cost is generally large, the activities and products not enjoyable, and the resulting process something you don’t enjoy. The choice is always yours.   Remember that healthy people make healthy choices and that after all, if you don’t have your health, you have….

“Chiropractic is health insurance, premiums small, and dividends large.” B J Palmer, DC