I have heard many people say during an illness that they
wished they had taken better care of themselves. They didn’t realize the value of good health till they lost it.
Isn’t that how it goes? We often don’t realize how valuable something (or
someone) is till we lose them.
Your health is one the most valuable assets you can have, for if you don’t have your health, life can be
very hard to live through. All the money and things in the world cannot compare
to your health.
How can you expect to enjoy life if you are sick? If you have
ever lost your health then you know what I mean. You would pay any price to get
it back.
On the other side of the coin I hear people say that buying good,
quality supplements is too expensive. I understand where they are coming from.
I used to feel the same way, but I found that buying good, quality supplements
and taking care of your health is far cheaper
than dealing with an illness later.
Can I Afford To Buy Vitamins?
This is a question that many people often ask themselves.
With the tough economy, scarce jobs and higher prices on everything, some
people find it hard to justify
spending money on vitamins and other health supplements.
So what’s more expensive, supplements or poor health?
Let’s look at the cost of poor health first.
In a study done by the Mayo
Clinic, The True Cost of Poor Health¹, health
care costs over $2 trillion dollars a
year with U.S. employers shouldering most of this burden. The cost for each
employee’s health care costs the company approximately $8,800! And this cost is
just rising.
These mounting expenditures are eroding the profit margin of
companies and jeopardizing an already fragile job market. No wonder companies
have a hard time staying in business!
There’s more than just the cost of health care added to
employees and their employers, there’s the cost of lost productivity due to missed days. The costs of lowered
productivity and absenteeism are registered in the billions of dollars every
year! And this doesn’t even include the amount of days parents have to take off
to care for their sick children!
OK, that’s what it costs companies when employees call in
sick, but what is the cost to individuals and families every time they have to
stay home from work, go to the doctor, buy prescriptions, etc when they and
their children are sick?
I believe that cost cannot be accurately calculated. I
shudder to think of the amount of lost
wages that people lose when they miss work when they or their children are
sick. Times are hard enough as it is without having a short paycheck.
The increase in people developing heart disease, strokes, cancer,
diabetes and more is startling and downright scary. And when facing a
potentially life threatening illness,
the cost of treatment even with insurance will bankrupt most people.
What is causing these
people to miss so much work and is there anything that can be done about it?
Many people just lead hectic
lives and put their health on the back burner. They all know they need to
improve their diet, exercise more and stress less, but they can’t seem to ever
get around to doing all that.
They run like hamsters in a wheel, always running, but
rarely getting anywhere except to a doctor’s exam room when their bodies start to give out. Then they wonder how
they got there, how their health failed them and what they could have done
differently.
It is then that they end up on strict diets, potent
medicines and now have high health care costs they never had before. Then and
only then do they reprioritize the important things in life, like taking care
of oneself. It is then they realize all of it may have been prevented if they only took care of
themselves.
Many of these health problems are related to obesity and the
sedentary lifestyle we have. Our Standard
American Diet (S.A.D.) is “sad” indeed and is a leading contributor to the
many preventable diseases plaguing Americans. Time Magazine wrote an article in their Health Issue² that proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle can prevent
many major diseases 60-90% of the
time. This includes preventing heart disease, cancer, diabetes and many more
illnesses!
Imagine the amount of
money that can be saved in health care costs alone!
If you or someone you know has ever been seriously ill, then
you know how much money it costs in the long run. The medical bills not covered by insurance – the copay’s,
deductibles, medicine and other out of
pocket costs all add up fast when you are ill and need medical attention.
We all know that good health is priceless and if lost, we
will pay almost any price to get it back. The saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is an old saying,
but so very, very true. It rings truer in today’s world than it ever did.
It’s no secret that health care facilities, doctors,
insurance companies and employers are stressing prevention to help keep people
healthy longer and to keep health care costs down.
Many companies have wellness programs in place to help
their employees kick bad habits, exercise more and choose to lead a healthier
lifestyle. The reason they are implementing these wellness programs is more
than just caring about their employees, they are trying to lower their
healthcare costs!
Experts in
medicine, biochemistry and nutrition all believe nutritional supplementation
positively affects overall health. A recent landmark study of people who took a wide range of high quality
nutritional supplements for 20 years or more showed dramatic benefits compared
to those who just took a multivitamin or no supplement at all. This significant
study showed they had better health and had a significant reduced rate of heart
disease, stroke, diabetes and more.
So when someone tells me they can’t afford to buy high
quality vitamins, I have to ask, “So
what is more expensive, sickness or prevention?”
Also, when it comes to supplements, you truly get what you pay for. Shortchanging your health by buying
cheaply made vitamins with little to no research is money wasted. Your health
is not something to bargain with.
One thing I have learned when justifying the cost is
breaking it down into a daily cost. Our Multi, the Vita-Lea
only costs about 38¢ a day. Our Vitalizer, which is
the absolute best program out there providing the most concentrated form of essential
nutrients only costs a little over $2.50 a day. Many people spend more than
that each and every day on coffee, vending machine snacks and fast food!
I used to have to take medicine for a health condition I am now
able to control with a healthier
lifestyle. Exercising, trying to cut back on the “bad stuff” like too much
sugar and fat, and adding high quality supplements has allowed me to get off
all medication and best of all, I feel better! Unlike medicine that
has side effects, I have side benefits
from supplementing my diet – weight loss, more energy, less pain and clearer
thinking!
For less than $3.00 a
day, you can help prevent many of the major diseases plaguing us and leading a
more fulfilling life because you will have the energy and good health to enjoy
it!
So the question to ask isn’t, “Can I afford to buy vitamins?”
it’s, “Can I afford not to?”
Best Wishes for Good Health,
Julie
For more information on our Vitalizer you can
check them out here: Shaklee Vitalizer
And Shaklee
is offering a FREE membership with every purchase of Vitalizer
saving you up to 25% off retail!
Always Safe, Always
Works, Always Green - See why we work when others don’t
* These statements have not been
evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended
to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
¹The Cost of Poor Health by The Mayo
Clinic 2008
²Time Magazine’s Health Issue June 2009
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