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Q: Overall Health Decline While in China.
Before coming to China I was VERY healthy. I practically never got ill.
Now that I'm in China, I've noticed that I get ill MUCH more often. Has anyone else had a similar occurance? How do you deal with it?
10 years 4 days ago in Health & Safety - Nanjing
It's the food you eat here. Most of it is not as clean or fresh as we get back home. Moreover, the sudden diet change may cause upsets in your body system. I don't know how long you've been here and which city you are in. Given the poor quality of food and air quality your body really takes a beating.
I was offered a position in Hebei which paid more than what I get here in Chongqing but I declined the offer because I don't think I want to breath that polluted air there. I am glad I made that decision. Having more money with lousy health isn't my idea of having a life. So if you are in one of those polluted cities I suggest you find a better city.
Different food, bad air etc would play a part for sure but how is your lifestyle compared to when you were at home?
A lot of guys I know here have a lot more free time so become heavy drinkers, eat convenient street food most days rather than cooking at home and the 3 or 4 cigarettes a day they smoked at home becomes a pack and a half. ( not suggesting that you are doing this)
It does have an impact on the body.
In which city are you staying ? Air pollution does not help. Also, if you eat outside, food is quite fat and salty beyond reason. On that chapter, I miss Vietnam dearly, the food was healthier and the vegetables tasted better :( The main problems for me is my throat, it often feels a bit raspy. It gets infected easily in winter.
andy74rc:
I also tend to have more often throat problems.
Speaking of Vietnam, I had the best fruit of my life there.
MyChina01:
Hi, Doc, I will probably move to Vietnam next year, to Ho Chi Min city. Not that I'm unhappy in China, I love China, and if the woman I met had not been from Vietnam, I'd probably stay here. But this is that once-in-a-lifetime kind of girl, if you know what I mean. Any advice you can give me for living in Vietnam? Any specific schools I should avoid?
Thanks,
Mike
DrMonkey:
I don't know *anything* about English teaching schools in Vietnam... It's harder to fool Vietnamese on English school qualities, because much more people there are fluent in English. The Viets are *very* crafty people, with all the good sides and bad sides of it. HCMC is bursting with life, Chinese cities are dead in comparison. But it is kinda crowded to the max. It's not exactly super-duper clean, except after the afternoon monsoon rainfall. Awesome beaches not too far.
To add what Louis writes.
How the body works 101.
All the vital vitamins are absorbed through the later stage of the digestive system, aka the colon. If you eat poor quality food there is a tendency of the food rushing past this part of the digestive system, aka doing the Cairo Quick-Step, having Delhi Belly or Beijing Bottom.
There is really not much you can do, if you stomach and digestive system is not happy, you'll not get the vitamins you need to fight off other ailments.
Correlate this with the fact that people happily sneeze without covering their mouth, wash hands before whipping out their pecker but not after, the smog in the air is generally compromises your bodys defences etc.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, is not just an old saying. You probably eat a lot less raw veggies than compared to back home, thus you are getting less vitamins and healthy nutrition, and the fibers in the greens are broken down by the cooking process making your body get less effect from them.
Stack up on fruit, it is a good source of vitamins and fluids and despite apples and other fruits being generally sprayed with pesticides, there is nothing a Chinese apple farmer can do do fuck up the insides of a fruit (here we ignore traces of fertilizer)
It's worst the first year, hang in there (or out there depending on where your crapper is located)
Hmm...
I don't smoke or drink. I don't eat street food, and cook my food half of the time. However, I eat extremely healthy at home and can't find anywhere near the quality of food that I am used to.
Scandinavian:
you need to explore. some of the farmers markets can have hidden gems, e.g. during the last weeks, a local farmers market, one farmers wife have been selling small freshly dug up potatoes, yum yum yum yum yum. But some of the greens we've gotten recently have been questionable. We mainly buy meat in Jusco/AEON, it's fresh and not much more expensive than the markets.
also explore the foods, maybe you're cooking like you did back home, so you are forcing yourself to shop similar groceries. but try to substitute the vegetables you eat now with something different, can have positive effects.
It seems some people are a little confused on how to live a healthy lifestyle. China (a good majority of it) is terrible for your health. Here are some things to ensure you don't let it get the better of you:
- don't smoke (China's air is horrible enough)
- exercise (strengthens lungs, immunity system and blood circulation)
- wash raw fruits and vegetables well (I mean VERY well, China carries a lot more unhealthy particles in the air and uses more chemicals)
- wash yourself daily but don't over-wash (if you over-wash, your body doesn't get a chance to take on the new pathogens and this can actually cause you to get sick repeatedly, once shower a day is enough)
- lay off the junk (China's processed food is even more "processesed" I am very sensitive to chemicals in foodstuffs and I can taste it, lay off it)
- cook at home (many vendors or restaurants use too much oil and most times it is used gutter oil, cook for yourself if possible)
- take up a healthy hobby (most expats get bored with the free time and turn to boozing and possibly drugs... and then horrible sleep habits)
- watch out for nutty women (they cause huge amounts of stress, don't date them cause your mental/physical health will suffer)
- let the small things go (again... China can be a very stressful place, just let those times someone pointed and shouted "LAO WAI" 1000 times go..., for your own sanity)
- choose a quiet place to live (China is already SUPER noisy and if you live in the city area.. you will get random fireworks, car horns, shouting ai yis and other junk... try to live in a quieter place or residential area.
- Don't get the stupid drip when sick (Chinese love to pump themselves up with penicillin for any little thing because it is fast, don't do it... let your body fight it with some subtle medication if necessary... and don't trust the doctors... use Google or ask a friend)
If you follow all of these points, you will be able to last long-term in China without going nuts or dying from poor health! Good luck!
Spiderboenz:
I'll take that under advisement. As it is, I already do all of those, except exercise (my legs are jacked up beyond belief from my time in the military) and live in a quiet place (next to a middleschool of all places) and dont have the money to just up and move at the present time. Those are good rules for living anywhere.
expatlife26:
Definitely don't get the stupid drip. That's one of the dumbest things you can do.
You don't know what the fuck they're putting in you, nor can you be sure of good sanitation. Half the time they're only giving you vitamins and saline solution...or penicillin for a non-bacterial infection (for which it does nothing, it's not magic it's an antibiotic)
People want it out of ignorance...they want to get something to feel like it was worth the money to see a doctor so they give them something completely useful.
andy74rc:
I can tick all the boxes but 2. That's why my sanity is having a hard time lately.
Basically just don't live like you're on vacation all the time, live like you would if you were back home. Don't eat at a restaurant for every single meal.
Also how many normal people over the age of 25 go out drinking several times a week in the west? It seems normal for expats here...like "hey lets meet at the bar tonight!" but that's not how healthy people live day-to-day, that's how you live when you're on holiday.
Plus it's more socially acceptable to smoke here than back home so it's easier to fall into that habit.
Also I agree with RobK, try and plan your life to minimize stress. If you are going to live around swarms of noisy people, they aren't going to be quiet just for you. One good tip I have for apartment hunting is choose the size apartment you want, then find a building where that is the smallest size available. So if you're looking for about 80m2 find a building where the smallest size is 80m2. That way there will be fewer total people to share elevators and common spaces with. The larger, nicer places are more likely to be owner occupied (the swarms will always choose the cheapest building in a neighborhood), and let the bigwigs with the big apartments pay the high management fees to subsidize nice common spaces for you. You'll pay a little more but it's worth it to live like a human being.
Any kind of illness indicates some sort of of imbalance in your the body.
What kind of illness are you getting?
DrMonkey:
What is the imbalance behind a sore throat and chest pain, when the air pollution is at minimum 200 PM2.5 for one week and I do my jogging ? Maybe too much ying ? Not enough yang ? My flat is not feng shui enough ?
