lmj50

Yes you can change your lifestyle, but unfortunately this does not help in all circumstances. So some people have no alternative and have to "pop pills"
For example I had thyroid cancer and had my thyroid, para thyroid and some lymph glands removed. Consequently I will have to take certain medication for the rest of my life. Many are "preventative" and the side effects can me quite harsh at times. However the alternative is far worse!

Domino

as I said, in moderation. using a potate peeler to take 6-8 slivers off the cheese and the apple + 2 pieces of bread. not a large meal but the stomach has shrunk to accept that as the norm.
all my fried foods are fried in EV Olive Oil, have been for the last 20 years after I found it tasted better than grape oil. here in Spain the bacon is not processed (see previous threads) but straight from the butcher, the eggs are fresh and also cooked in EVOO, usually on 4 per week.

we have a melon each week, which lasts 3-4 days, very very little processed foods, cakes etc. the only salt is that on low salt crisps, nothing is added to our food except the EVOO or the occasional frito. we enjoy the different tastes on the plate.
I don't like milky tea/coffee so we get thru less than 1litre a week.

as to the cholestrol level - no idea, doctor hasnt checked it in the past 12m, last BP showed 25% lower than in the UK.
I know BP is checked by the Farmacy for €1, does the cholestrol have to be done by the doctor or Farmacy ? ?

missile

Sounds like you are living healthier lifestyle - one of the benefits of living in Spain.

You can get cholesterol checked by the doctor at the Farmacia, or buy a DIY kit.

sujee

When I first came out to live here in March, I was taking BP meds which made me feel ill. I stopped taking them and intended to get my BP checked but events took over. I also eat more healthily here and have dropped at least 1 stone and never felt so well. My cholesterol is always low and always has been.
In UK I was self medicating headaches almost every day. I brought out a pack of anadin to last me a week, I finished it in August so I think I can say I am not as stressed as I was.

So far neither of us have even been to see the local doctor although I should get my Thyroid levels checked soon.

OH has sciatica and was taking meds 4 times a day in UK while here he sometimes forgets as the pain seems to have reduced significantly.

I am a firm believer in not taking medication if the body is functioning without as doctors seem only too happy to prescribe pills to keep the patient happy but often the side effects are worse than the condition.

Lynn R

You've done very well to lose 2 stone and still be able to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast.

I'm a great believer in exercise not only for keeping the weight down but also to stay generally healthy. I don't have any scales and almost never get weighed, but I did drop a dress size within 6 months after coming to Spain and it has stayed that way. I don't have a car (one of the biggest reasons why a lot of people don't get the exercise they need, IMO) and have lots more time to exercise now I'm not working.

I'm sure eating practically no ready prepared meals and snatching whatever's most convenient to eat at odd times of day when you can get a few minutes' break from work has a lot to do with it as well, as you say.

I will probably drop dead at the gym one day having said all that, but there are plenty of worse ways to go!

angiescarr

It's probably precisely because he's eating bacon and eggs for breakfast that he's dropping the weight! When I have a Bacon and egg brekky regularly I lose weight too! Problem is I go off it quite easily. Have to force myself when I fancy choccy cereal more I'm afraid lack of self discipline is my problem.
I agree about natural and nutritional medicines wherever possible (not 'fads' but old tried and tested nutritional medicines and herbal remedies). There are some illnesses which do require daily medication though. And there are some faddy so-called nutritional supplements which can be as bad as drugs with side effects.
I too suffer a lot less with migraines and headaches in general when I eat more healthily. In England I used to have a migraine on average once a week. Now I don't really get them. Bad headaches about once a month. But I'm still working and eating rubbish occasionally. And that's heavily implicated.

BTW anyone here suffer from something called 'Pompholyx'? No -one seems to know what causes it. (Just a skin condition for those going straight to Google! )

Domino

that some people are finding there is no (or reduced) need for their meds is interesting, especially the BP/Hypertension ones.

understand that it is generally believed that living at higher altitudes reduces this problem, especially when compared with living in many places in the UK, which are at or just above sea level. Many of us are living at least a couple of hundred metres ASL, although in my case it is about 750m, and looking down on the Vega de Granada.

the problem in self medication is, unless you have the equipment to check there is a continuing improvement, you may be killing yourself.

but many people seem to feel better, fitter - so what is it ? Just the height, or the reduction in pressures that we had in the UK ??.

Domino

as he said, it is a "planned" dietary thing.
the BH works so we only have small breakfasts in the morning i.e. toast and coffee or the cheese and apple, small lunch i.e. sandwich, but larger evening meals.
weekends we have the cooked breakfasts (2 lonchas of pancetta, 2 eggs and sometimes a couple of slices of tomato, with a slice of bread) but then don't usually have anything for the evening meal.

In the uk, especially when working, it was stuffing out of boredom, continually downing the machine coffee.
Now it is a more planned day/week so far as food goes, along with the exercise of walking up the hill to get to the supermarket or fruteria.

not that this would work for everyone, just works for us.

BTW regular headaches can be a hypertension indicator, but then there are many things on that list


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Lynn R

There might be something in the living at altitude thing, but I think the last one you mentioned is the really important one. Of course that only works if you come to Spain to retire, if you start a business and have to work long hours or have worries if things aren't going well, or have a job and lose it, then you'll have just as much stress as in the UK, maybe more.

When you're able to give up work you have more time to take some exercise even if it's walking to the shops and back, and to cook from scratch.

I wonder if people who spend their retirement in the UK often get fitter and healthier when they stop work as well, or not?