It’s All So Confusing

What food should I eat, should I be a vegan or should I do the paleo diet? Should I exercise a lot or should it be short but intense interval training? Should I use wax or un-waxed dental floss?

I was at a meeting in Florida called CareerFusion, which is for those who are involved in the dental field but want to expand on their skill sets. It is the best dental meeting I have ever been to in 31 years of being a licensed dentist. NO ego’s, just a joining of a unique blend of caregivers, motivational speakers and supportive manufacturers who work to increase one’s knowledge base and help the participants to go where they want to go.

This year they showed us a couple of TED talks. I find TED talks to be packed with reasonable information and these talks lived up to the bill. The one I want to discuss was given by Barry Schwartz and it was called the Paradox of Choice, which is the title of his book. I found it to be a very interesting talk.

Basically what Mr. Schwartz was saying is that one of the tenants of democratic societies is the plethora of choices we have. He points out how many types of toothpaste there is on the market ( I bet you a lot of them are the same but just repackaged….but what the hell do I know) He even goes on to say how a physician gives you two treatment options and the risks and benefits and lets you make the call, no longer the physicians choice. At the same time with all the choices we have we are always second guessing ourselves and that may in turn reduce our level of satisfaction with life.

To add to my confusion there are no longer standards in place for honesty or integrity. Amgen, the big drug manufacturer found that in 2012 they could reproduce just six of 53 “landmark” studies in cancer research. Bayer found the same issues a year later with 67 important papers (they had a slightly higher success rate at 25%) Just look at today’s media, is there such a thing as honest reporting, everyone has a slant for whatever ideology they want to follow. Who are we to believe?
In certain aspects of our life choices don’t affect us in the long run…what movie do I watch, which entrée do I order at the fancy restaurant (we want the best one…right?) But when it comes to life style changes to improve health, when it comes to major decisions, wouldn’t we feel much better if we had all the facts and they were accurate.

It is all so confusing isn’t it? Let me tell you what works for me. Number one I have learned to pause before I make a major decision. Just take a little more time to figure it out. I also try not to change too much at once, if I try too much and don’t get it all done I might feel like I have failed (that little trait of perfectionism coming into play). And I try to see how my body feels with the changes I make to make sure I am on a path that works for me.

My goal in life is to try and help where I can, and if something I write about helps just one person handle their own affairs better than I have succeeded.

To a healthier life!

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