When I was a kid back in the early ’90s, there was a woman in our neighborhood whom we would often see jogging or riding her bike. She was incredibly fit. And I distinctly remember my mom commenting that she was “such a health nut.” People who chose salads over cheeseburgers and people who said no to dessert also earned the “health nut” designation.
At the time, I didn’t question this label. The vast majority of adults I encountered on a daily basis, whether in real life or on television, didn’t exercise regularly and ate loads of junk food. Fast food and sugar were ubiquitous – and delicious to my young palate. And running wasn’t fun; it was painful, hard work. So devoting yourself to fitness and nutrition seemed genuinely crazy.
A Truly Crazy Way to Eat
The American diet of processed foods, sugary everything, lots of meat, and few vegetables is well known to cause or contribute to a variety of health problems: obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, stroke, and cancer,1 as well as Alzheimer’s disease.2 It’s also associated with anxiety and depression.3
For these reasons, nutrition experts have given the western diet two names with telling acronyms:
- The Standard American Diet, or S.A.D., both because it’s a sad way to eat and because poor nutrition can lead to depression.3
- The Modern American Diet, or M.A.D., both because it’s crazy to eat this way and because poor brain health can lead to anger problems.4
It’s Crazy Not to Move Your Body
Being sedentary is similarly harmful, contributing to the same physical and mental problems as the American diet.5,6
As John Ratey points out in his book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, our bodies are designed to be in motion. Our foraging ancestors had to move and exercise in order to survive.7 The world we’ve made for ourselves now demands far less movement, so we have to choose to exercise if we want to stay healthy.
Normal Isn’t Necessarily Sane
A friend recently pointed out to me that referring to people as “health nuts” is similar to the way environmentalists are called “tree huggers” to make them seem irrational – as though it were crazy to protect our environment. What’s actually crazy is ignoring the fact that our environment is the foundation of our global economy. Destroying that foundation in order to grow the economy as quickly as possible is true madness.
What’s “normal” to do isn’t necessarily the right thing to do.
Many modern people start and end their day with their smartphone. They’re addicted to stimulation, intolerant of boredom, and unpracticed at deep work. But the fact that this behavior is presently normal doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. It certainly wasn’t normal 30 years ago, and hopefully, as people come to understand why you shouldn’t use your phone in bed, it will cease to be normal.
Being addicted to Netflix, video games, social media, and the news is widespread, but it’s not healthy. Drinking and driving remains commonplace, but it’s incredibly dangerous and immoral.
Most people today don’t meditate, so meditating every day seems a little crazy. But 100 years ago, most people didn’t brush their teeth.8 As knowledge of the benefits of mindfulness becomes more mainstream, meditation may become far more common.
A few generations ago, smoking was ubiquitous. Now, because we all know how harmful it is, it’s rare. And when non-smokers see a person lighting up, they often think, “That’s crazy. Don’t they know they’re killing themselves?”
Choose for Yourself
Don’t automatically believe the narrative of the day. Think carefully about what’s really true and virtuous, and exercise your power of choice.
You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing. Sometimes, it’s good to be “weird.” And you can make a difference if you lead by example.
And remember, being a health nut isn’t crazy at all.
1 Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Examination of Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols. Wartella EA, Lichtenstein AH, Boon CS, editors. “Overview of Health and Diet in America.” Front-of-Package Nutrition Rating Systems and Symbols: Phase I Report. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2010.
2 Pacholko A, G, Wotton C, A, Bekar L, K: “Poor Diet, Stress, and Inactivity Converge to Form a “Perfect Storm” That Drives Alzheimer’s Disease Pathogenesis.” Neurodegener Dis 2019;19:60-77. doi: 10.1159/000503451
3 Firth, Joseph et al. “The Effects of Dietary Improvement on Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.” Psychosomatic medicine vol. 81,3 (2019): 265-280. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000673
4 Roberts, Michelle. “Experts Say Food May Contribute To Anger, Violent Behavior.” CBS Boston. March 15, 2013.
5 “Physical inactivity a leading cause of disease and disability, warns WHO.” April 4, 2002.
6 Steenbarger, Brett. “The Psychological Dangers Of A Sedentary Life.” Forbes. March 29, 2019.
7 Ratey, John J., M.D. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. Little, Brown & Company, 2008.