What’s Your Health Worth?

[00:00:02] What you want, when you want it, where you want it. This is The MESH.

[00:00:12] Hi everyone, this is Dr. Matt and you're listening to Take Back Your Health, where we talk about all things health and ways to help you be the best version of you.

[00:00:23] What's going on everybody? This is Dr. Matt and today I want to talk about what is your health worth? What does it cost you, I should say?

[00:00:32] Your health is the most valuable thing that you own, so you have to invest as much as possible, otherwise you're going to have a life full of problems.

[00:00:42] Nobody can take care of you like yourself. You can never invest enough in your health and it'll ever be a consequence.

[00:00:54] Most people don't invest enough, that's why they end up in the situations that they do.

[00:00:58] But health is a commitment, it's not a convenience. That's the big thing I want to say.

[00:01:04] Your health is a commitment, just like any other thing. It's not always a convenience.

[00:01:11] Because a convenience is not always a path forward. Nothing worth having comes easy.

[00:01:18] We live in this, as I call it, convenience culture right now, where everybody wants it now, they want it yesterday, they want it last week.

[00:01:28] But they're not willing to do the work to get where they need to be because it's not convenient for them.

[00:01:34] You know, when I tell my patients that the issue that they have has been going on for 30 years, it's not going to get taken care of in one visit.

[00:01:42] You know, it's going to take several visits to get you where you need to be because we're making progress toward that specific goal.

[00:01:51] But you're not going to be able to get there overnight.

[00:01:53] You know, unfortunately, I would love to do the Harry Potter whatever and unlock everything and fix everything in one way.

[00:02:01] That would be great.

[00:02:03] But that's not how it is, obviously.

[00:02:05] You should know that.

[00:02:07] But nothing worth having comes easy.

[00:02:10] And that's kind of what I try to tell my patients.

[00:02:12] But just like when you're trying to lose weight or you're trying to get into shape, you know, you understand you can't go to the gym one time or you can't eat a salad one time and expect to get anything accomplished.

[00:02:25] You might feel better that day, but it's not going to last.

[00:02:29] You have to do it consistently.

[00:02:31] It's a lifestyle choice in order to see the results.

[00:02:34] But most people would rather take a pill to lose weight or drink a protein shake or whatever every day instead of actually eating nutritious food, drinking water, things like that to lose weight.

[00:02:48] It's not that's not the way to do it.

[00:02:50] There is no easy way out, I should say.

[00:02:53] But your health is an investment.

[00:02:55] You only have one body.

[00:02:58] You have to maintain it.

[00:03:00] And you only and you have to make it a priority.

[00:03:03] That's just it.

[00:03:03] Since your health is an investment, you have to make it a priority.

[00:03:07] It's not something that's just going to happen to you.

[00:03:10] But that's the thing.

[00:03:12] If something is very important to you, you will make it a priority to do so.

[00:03:17] It's just unfortunate that a lot of our health is not important to us as we think it is because the way we treat our bodies or such.

[00:03:26] Whether that's worrying all the time or building up your stress level or just not even drinking enough water throughout the day.

[00:03:34] Either way, that is damaging to our systems.

[00:03:37] And then the ultimate result is our bodies start to shut down because we're treating them in such a poor way.

[00:03:43] And then we wonder why we're having these problems.

[00:03:45] Where did this come from?

[00:03:46] I didn't have this yesterday.

[00:03:47] Why do I have this today?

[00:03:49] Well, your body reaches a certain point to where it can't process information anymore and things start to happen.

[00:03:56] But now, to give you an example, you know, if we didn't save for retirement, what would happen?

[00:04:01] We won't retire.

[00:04:03] If we don't maintain our cars, what happens to them?

[00:04:06] They break down, obviously.

[00:04:08] If we don't take care of ourselves, then what happens?

[00:04:11] We end up out of work or we end up at the doctor's office.

[00:04:14] Or worse, the hospital, emergency room, things like that.

[00:04:16] But, you know, that didn't come out of the blue.

[00:04:18] You know, people wake up feeling sick.

[00:04:21] They wake up having these problems.

[00:04:23] Well, they think that those happened overnight, but they didn't.

[00:04:27] It's not something they did yesterday.

[00:04:28] It's something they've been doing the past 30 years.

[00:04:31] Their body just couldn't take it anymore.

[00:04:32] And they ignore the symptoms.

[00:04:34] They ignore the signs that your body gives you.

[00:04:37] And that's where you get into those situations.

[00:04:39] You know, a problem with talking about your health cost and things like that.

[00:04:43] You know, I have people that tell me, oh, I can't afford to come to the chiropractor.

[00:04:47] Or I can't afford to come in there once a month or twice a month or something like that to get adjusted.

[00:04:52] I can't afford to go get a massage.

[00:04:54] I can't afford to go see my mental health therapist.

[00:04:57] You know, yada, yada, yada.

[00:04:59] You know, and yet they make time to run to Starbucks every morning.

[00:05:02] They make time to go to the beach every other weekend.

[00:05:05] They make time to get their pedicures, their hair appointments, all things like that.

[00:05:10] Now, I'm not necessarily saying that those are bad things.

[00:05:12] They definitely help a lot with mental health.

[00:05:17] They're not physically helping you, I should say.

[00:05:22] Physically is where a lot of health really stems from.

[00:05:26] You physically feel better and be healthier.

[00:05:30] But mentally, yes, those things do help with mental health.

[00:05:33] But physically, there's not.

[00:05:34] And there are different types of health.

[00:05:36] Like I say, emotional health, spiritual health, mental health, physical health, all that stuff.

[00:05:40] Emotional things.

[00:05:42] But your physical health is ultimately the only health that keeps you going and keeps you functioning.

[00:05:49] Now, yes, they all kind of tie together.

[00:05:51] But your physical health, what keeps your heart beating, your lungs breathing, that is the most important health that we have to maintain.

[00:05:59] Now, I do understand, you know, sometimes finances are tight.

[00:06:02] Schedules are hectic.

[00:06:03] We can't always control that situation.

[00:06:05] But your health ultimately has to be your first priority.

[00:06:10] Because, like I say, you're the only person that's going to take care of you.

[00:06:13] And you can't get upset when somebody else looks out for you or doesn't look out for you, I should say.

[00:06:19] You can't get upset when somebody else doesn't help you because they're not required to.

[00:06:24] It's your responsibility for your own body to make your choices the way they do.

[00:06:29] And obviously, I'm preaching to the choir as well.

[00:06:31] I do things.

[00:06:32] I'm not always the healthiest person.

[00:06:34] I'll admit that.

[00:06:36] But like I say, health is not cheap.

[00:06:38] Health is expensive.

[00:06:40] If you invest every day, little by little, in your health, it will be cheaper in the long run versus letting it get out of hand and then something happen.

[00:06:52] Like I say, for example, you know, most people can't afford hospital bills.

[00:06:56] I mean, and most people can't afford to miss work.

[00:07:00] They can't afford to miss a paycheck.

[00:07:01] You know, most of America lives paycheck to paycheck.

[00:07:03] So if something happens to you that takes you out of work or worse, puts you in the hospital, that's a drastic income damaging to a household.

[00:07:13] And most people can't afford that.

[00:07:15] But like I say, that event didn't always just happen overnight.

[00:07:20] And I'll just give you some stats here talking about the cost of health care and whatnot.

[00:07:25] You know, the average hospital bill is about $2,500 nowadays.

[00:07:29] Now, I looked all these up on the Internet.

[00:07:31] You can look it up just to clarify my facts if you want.

[00:07:34] But the average hospital bill right now per day, I should say, is about $2,500.

[00:07:41] The average doctor visit is between $75 to $100, maybe $300 or so for a specialist.

[00:07:47] If you go see like a gastroenterologist or oncologist, things like that, probably more.

[00:07:52] But the average ER visit is about $1,200.

[00:07:56] And if you had an ambulance ride there, you're looking at probably another $2,000 added to that.

[00:08:01] And that's just for doctor visits and hospital visits.

[00:08:05] If you were to look at prescription medication costs, you know, the annual cost of prescription medication per person is about $1,400 a year.

[00:08:13] About a little over $100 out of pocket for adults.

[00:08:16] And 65 years and up, our seniors, my gosh, they're taking even more.

[00:08:20] It's about $450 out of pocket for that.

[00:08:23] And yet chiropractic care is about $50 to $60 a visit.

[00:08:27] So you tell me what's more affordable.

[00:08:30] You know, like I say, I have patients that tell me they can't come in here once a month, twice a month, whatever, for wellness preventative care.

[00:08:38] But I don't think they can afford a hospital bill either.

[00:08:41] So like I say, what does your health really cost you?

[00:08:44] But we all can strive daily to make better and healthier choices to affect our health for the long run.

[00:08:52] Poor health happens the same way good health happens.

[00:08:55] One day at a time.

[00:08:57] One decision at a time.

[00:08:59] Each decision you make, whether a good choice or a bad choice, that will add up.

[00:09:04] It takes you either forward or backward.

[00:09:07] Now the pharmaceutical companies, they don't want you to be healthy.

[00:09:11] They want you to be sick because that's how they make their money.

[00:09:14] They make money off of all the medications and all the chemicals that you're taking.

[00:09:19] And they're giving you that make you think that you're healthy, but you're not.

[00:09:23] And even some of the doctors are making money because they're getting a kickback for all the prescriptions that they're prescribing.

[00:09:30] So whenever they prescribe you a medication, they're getting money off of that or the vaccines that they're giving you, things like that.

[00:09:39] So you got it made when you have the cure, but you're selling the disease is what I usually I've heard what I say.

[00:09:46] But yeah, the pharmaceutical companies, you know, they don't want you to get better because if you get better, you won't need to take their chemicals.

[00:09:51] And then they're not going to make any money.

[00:09:54] And honestly, in my in my opinion, I believe they probably never will cure cancer.

[00:09:59] And I think the reason for that is because cancer makes too much money every year.

[00:10:05] But the cure for cancer is relatively simple, in my opinion, just to take care of yourself.

[00:10:10] Now, I know that's kind of hard to think that way.

[00:10:15] But if you eat more natural, you do more holistic things, you avoid chemicals, you're know what you're putting in your body.

[00:10:23] It's that simple.

[00:10:24] Now, yes, obviously, you can't avoid genetics and things like that, because, you know, you know, all my grandparents had cancer, heart disease, things like that.

[00:10:32] But they lived a very unhealthy life, you know, eating, drinking soda, smoking every day, eating fatty processed chemicals, foods, all that kind of stuff.

[00:10:42] You know, that's where that comes from.

[00:10:44] But you don't have to do that.

[00:10:47] You have the ability to make better choices.

[00:10:51] People that make poor life choices, poor health choices, things like that, they're going to reap the consequences.

[00:10:58] Maybe not right now, but later down the road.

[00:11:01] You know, that's what my family did.

[00:11:03] But but you don't have to be in that line.

[00:11:07] You can break that chain.

[00:11:08] I tell patients you can be the person to break that family.

[00:11:14] Genetical train, I should say, of of all these things.

[00:11:17] But then again, America nowadays makes it hard for you to be healthy.

[00:11:21] It's hard to be healthy in this country nowadays because we don't know where our food is coming from.

[00:11:27] We don't know where what they're putting in the foods.

[00:11:30] You know, you look at the back of a cereal box and it's got a list of 50 different ingredients that you can't pronounce half of them.

[00:11:37] Well, that is the reason people are sick because they're they don't know what they're eating.

[00:11:43] And, you know, a lot of the a lot of the diseases that we have today didn't exist several years ago because several of the chemicals that were exposed to didn't exist either.

[00:11:56] You know, a company would rather put chemicals and toxins into a product to make it cheaper to make, but make more money off of it.

[00:12:07] Then think about what it's going to do long term when it comes down to it.

[00:12:11] It's always a money game.

[00:12:12] Whatever is going to make that company the most money, they're going to do that.

[00:12:16] If they can put some chemicals or products, whatever in, I don't know, a can of tomatoes that can sit on a shelf for a year and still be good.

[00:12:27] That's probably something wrong.

[00:12:30] Like I say, you probably don't want to eat that because if it's got an expiration life for three years, I mean, when a normal tomato, if you get a real ripe tomato off of a off of a vine, it usually starts to go bad within two or three days.

[00:12:45] Because there's nothing in it, but they're adding all these chemicals and preservatives to extend the shelf life, which ultimately is just killing our bodies, killing our kidneys, liver, things like that.

[00:12:57] So that's why I tell patients, you know, you have to make the commitment today to be better than you were yesterday.

[00:13:04] Now, yes, it's a daily struggle to make better choices.

[00:13:07] It's not easy.

[00:13:08] But like I say, nothing worth having comes easy.

[00:13:11] So if you start small, you'll end big.

[00:13:15] Just make that one choice today to maybe drink a little bit more water or eat a little bit less sugar, eat a little bit less salt.

[00:13:23] Try to meditate more today than stress.

[00:13:26] Get another hour of sleep than stay up an hour later.

[00:13:30] You know, things like that.

[00:13:31] It's just those little choices every day.

[00:13:33] I guarantee you that you will not regret it if you just made those simple choices every day because you'll take that little step forward versus taking those two or three steps back if you do that.

[00:13:45] And you'll live better.

[00:13:46] You'll think better.

[00:13:47] And ultimately, you'll be better.

[00:13:49] But like I say, health is invaluable in my opinion.

[00:13:55] Your health can change just as quickly as it can come.

[00:13:58] You can wake up healthy one day, wake up sick the next day.

[00:14:01] But your main focus should be to listen to your body, to take priority over what it wants.

[00:14:08] Listen to it.

[00:14:09] Learn the symptoms.

[00:14:10] Don't ignore them.

[00:14:11] Don't push through them.

[00:14:12] Don't assume they'll go away.

[00:14:14] And they're there for a reason.

[00:14:15] Your body is very intelligent.

[00:14:17] It has its own system.

[00:14:18] It lets it know what it's doing.

[00:14:21] It's letting you know what's wrong with it.

[00:14:23] But most people don't want to deal with it right now.

[00:14:26] They don't want to think about it.

[00:14:28] They just hope it goes away.

[00:14:30] But ultimately, you have to take priority over your health.

[00:14:35] You are the decision maker for your body.

[00:14:37] You are the decision maker for your health.

[00:14:39] You have to make a priority for it.

[00:14:42] Because if you don't, you're going to be forced to do it later.

[00:14:46] I think the saying goes something like, make time for wellness or lose time to illness.

[00:14:54] That's usually what I hear.

[00:14:56] And it's true.

[00:14:57] If you don't start taking care of yourself now, if you don't make your health a priority,

[00:15:02] it's going to cause a lot of problems down the road.

[00:15:04] You're going to be out of work.

[00:15:06] You're going to be out of a job.

[00:15:07] You're going to be out of money.

[00:15:10] And, like I say, you have a choice every day to live better, to feel better.

[00:15:17] But you've got to do it.

[00:15:18] You've got to make it a priority.

[00:15:19] Because nobody else is going to do that but you.

[00:15:22] So I encourage you to just every day try to make a better decision.

[00:15:27] Drink an extra bottle of water.

[00:15:29] Get an extra hour of sleep.

[00:15:30] Something to just make yourself feel better.

[00:15:32] Because, like I say, I guarantee you will feel much better in the long run if you invest in yourself.

[00:15:39] If you'd like to learn more about something you just heard or are interested to see how chiropractic care can help you,

[00:15:44] you can visit our website to schedule an appointment at newdirectionschiropractic-nc.com.

[00:15:50] Be sure to follow our social media accounts for more tips and information on how to be a better you.

[00:15:54] Thanks for listening.

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