At some point in time, in my forties, I started going to the doctor every six months for a check-up. It seemed like the right thing to do & it made me pay more attention to myself. Two of my siblings & my mother had diabetes, the others were not terribly healthy, who the fuck knows what genetic bullshit was waiting to be unleashed on me? So I went to the doctor, usually a nurse practitioner in Lexington, & they told me to lose weight & I made sure the stuff they could find out from my blood was within normal parameters.
What I discovered over the years is that I am a little anemic - it's one of the hazards of being vegan, although I eat a shit ton of beans & leafy vegetables. It's cool, I can dig it.
Living in Kentucky, with its seasons, caused me to have a vitamin D deficiency. I'm told this is on the rise. Even though I'm outside walking my dogs for almost two hours a day, my body doesn't seem to want to absorb it. I did grow considerably paler there.
So I take iron pills & vitamin D pills. Plus others. I think I double up on the vitamin Bs, since that's also a traditional vegan lack. Plus my wife makes me take glucosamine, even though I'm not sure the science is in on that. But I give it to my dogs, why shouldn't I take it too? Though it'd be better in something like a tofu chew. Mmm, tofu chew.
In case you're wondering if the guy about to do a show about health is in fact in good health. I mean, it's not like I'm in bad health. I could stand to lose a few pounds. I could exercise more, bring up the good cholesterol. I could cut back on the whiskey.
But I am paying attention! I suspect I will need to do more & more of this as I age.
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