1.Can an Oreo eaten with pleasure be healthier than broccoli eaten with disgust (stress)?
2.How much does stress and lifestyle play into our health?
3.Can we actually have too much of a good thing in the same way that having too much of bad things have adverse affects on our health?
Okay, lets start here and I am sure more questions will pop as up as we are talking. We all know that Oreos are not a health food. They are, however super delicious, especially their creamy filling. I personally like the filling more than the cookie, I definitely fall into that camp. If you know me, you will know that I do not like chocolate, I am that guy. But I LOVE Oreo. I do not think they are made of chocolate, just yummy, crack-like goodness. So can an Oreos be healthy? If I eat one Oreo is that bad for me? Will that have detrimental effects on my health? I would have to say no. I think that me loving Oreos the way I do, and with the pleasure that I get from Oreos, I cannot think that one Oreo will do me harm. Much in the same way, what if I do not like broccoli? (I do, but let’s say for conversation sake that I do not.) Does one piece of broccoli will do me good. Will I get health benefits from one piece of broccoli? I doubt it. I think we can all agree that broccoli is more healthy than Oreos, so why will one piece of broccoli not make me healthier and conversely one Oreo will not do me harm, and may actually be healthy? I think this is because of lifestyle (stress).
Stress plays a large factor in our health. Someone said that health is 80% diet, 10% lifestyle (stress, sleep) and 10% exercise. Now I think that may be a little off (especially if you ask a trainer), but I think we can get a general idea. If stress plays as important (or close) of a role as exercise, then even if you were eating perfectly and working out like you should, you still cannot hit optimal health. And I think we all know that deep down. So how does that relate to broccoli and Oreos? If our goal is 90% health, then you have a 10% room for error in your food category, but only a 1% room for error in your stress category. So what does this mean? My thinking, as long as you are living a happy, exercise filled life you can afford an Oreo, as long as you are not having any stress about it. Once you start to stress about the Oreo and its adverse effects on you, then you probably should not be eating it.
Now, this is not a license to eat Oreos all day as long as you are happy about it. After all, too much of a good thing is still too much. Take water for example. Water is absolutely essential to a healthy lifestyle. You need water, and while you can surely dehydrate, you also can over hydrate. I saw this a lot in basic training. It was summer in Fort Sill, Oklahoma - pretty much the arm pit of the US. While there were a lot of Soldiers dehydrating, there were just as many over hydrating and that is just as bad. Too many “happy Oreos” are just as bad too much sleep, too much exercise, too much water.
So go out, live stress free and have a cookie. In fact, if you ordered food this week, we made cookies! And these are not as bad for you as Oreos!
-Caleb
