How the desire to be healthy spoils our lives

Says the founder, curator of Edem Resort Medical & Spa Olga Filatova, a psychotherapist, an active member of the British Association of Anti-Age Medicine.

Not so long ago I read about one interesting study conducted by Nielsen. It was attended by 30 thousand consumers from 60 countries. According to the data, 32% of millennials (those born in the late 1980s and early 1990s) are willing to pay more for “healthy products” compared to 21% of baby boomers (born in the late 1940s and early 1950s x). For younger consumers who were born after 2000, the trend is even brighter: their rate reaches 41%. All studies confirm that the standard for today's youth is to stay in shape by any effort. It turned out that millennials visit the gym more often than representatives of any other generation.

I think this pursuit of a healthy lifestyle affects mental health. The American Psychological Association has repeatedly said that millennials are more susceptible to stress than any other of the current generations. Now there are facts that even surprised me: in the UK, specialists at the large insurance company Aviva, when working on the Health Check UK report, came to the conclusion that more than 25% of people aged 18 to 24 years old suffer from an increased level of anxiety. For respondents aged 35 to 44, this indicator was 23%, and for those over 65, 11%. Moreover, according to the charity organizations Anxiety UK and YouthNet, the number of young people aged 16 to 25 who are searching on the Internet for getting rid of anxiety is constantly growing.

Why am I doing this? Rational nutrition and physical activity really have a beneficial effect on the state of health, this is an indisputable fact. But if a person thinks that he cannot meet all the requirements that make up a healthy lifestyle, then the problems have begun. Just following a diet is no longer enough, you must definitely keep some magic antioxidants and quinoa in the closet, go to Pilates or the gym, drink matcha tea and have a gluten-free toast with avocado slices. And during breaks - flipping through social networks, where every second post is an advertisement for a new-fangled keto or paleo diet. And if suddenly the bar broke and ate - guilt and neurosis covers at the same moment. The more often you look at instagram, the more clearly the question arises: why is the ideal still far away? So you have to try harder. And there’s a feeling of guilt

Deep in the subconscious, we understand that representatives of previous generations drank, smoked and ate everything, and our contemporaries have to repent for every bun. A healthy lifestyle has turned into one of the mania of the 21st century, into a form of conspicuous consumption. Under constant pressure, we feel lagging behind if we cannot afford the latest blenders and sports gadgets. We listen to endless tips from healthy lifestyle bloggers, sign up for expensive fitness classes and spend money on related products, whether it’s an ecological top, a designer bottle of water or a berry smoothie after a workout.

I love sports and natural healthy nutrition, but I believe that the pursuit of them should not bring to life obsession, continuous rules and restrictions, depriving of joy, peace and freedom of choice. After all, even if you turn such a useful and necessary measure as a periodic detox program, interval fasting, or a therapeutic diet into your diet, then soon you will not be able to avoid health problems, and your health will begin to crumble in parts.

It must be understood that perfect health is unattainable, as, incidentally, everything else is “perfect” in this world. The most valuable thing that everyone needs to cultivate in themselves is a sense of balance and an intuitive sense of what is needed at this stage. Therefore, the future lies with personalized medicine and a professional approach to healing, which allow you to recover with the help of individually designed therapy.

Paradoxical as it may sound, the desire to be healthy may well be the result of constant anxiety and insecurity in the future. People constantly think that they are barely able to control their own lives: geopolitics and wars, the financial crisis, relations with other people, the balance between work and leisure, information intoxication. HLS is one of the few aspects that does not depend on anyone but ourselves.

Often for those who are not very successful in career and business, success in fitness and diet becomes a real outlet: thousands of likes, blind faith in healthy lifestyle - and a growing field of misinformation. 

Let's be honest: a fanatically healthy lifestyle can lead to stress. Plus it's wildly boring. From my point of view, too many young people have come to extreme perfectionism in nutrition, instead of striving for a reasonable balance both in nutritional status and in life in general. If you want to eat it, eat it, but be happy at the same time.