Why do people living in metro cities keep having small ailments every few weeks?Body aches, sinus, headaches, throat infections, a variety of stomach issues, joint pain, backache, skin allergy, fatigue. Even stuff like chronic sinus, stress-related disorders or Type 2 Diabetes.Familiar?

Leave the City Now

This is due to living in an air conditioned environment most of the day(and night). It deprives us of the natural temperature flux our bodies expect. Plus it circulates and recycles stale air lacking in beneficial negative ions found in abundance outdoors.Even those who go for a jog or walk in the morning end up clogging their lungs with polluted air.Metro air pollution from cars, industry, and high population density can irritate lungs and accumulate over decades as there is nowhere for the air to escape and there aren’t enough trees to filter the air.

1. Lack of fresh oxygen, no natural air

We talk of mental health nowadays because it is heavily promoted by the media, but even if we leave that current fad, the problem is still there. Any other points that I am missing here? What can we do about this? Not everyone can leave the city and go to the village!

The cover of Mental Health

A constant fear lurks due to all the crime around us, leading to stress that builds up over time. Everything is locked, and CCTV footage is crucial.

18. Fear of crime

Trees absorb body radiation, but if we live in concrete buildings all day we can't help it.

4. Lack of nature around us

Outside food, sugary drinks, snacks like Maggi etc. 98 percent of processed food has sugar, salt, refined flour, palm oil and other seed oils. These all are bad for the body.

5. Eating processed foods

Pasteurized, homogenized, chemicalized dairy consumed all the time. The most common thing we heard from the Doctor's mouth was IBS(irritable bowel syndrome), before heart attacks became fashionable.

6. Bad milk

7. Visiting candy stores disguised as coffee shops!

Sleeping late(while watching Netflix or Instagram Reels or being on Twitter/X). Getting up groggy in the morning. The circadian rhythm disruptions and early alarms leave us chronically sleep deprived.

10. Unnatural sleep patterns

Something that almost everyone does in north India and across the world.

11. Eating after sunset

The fast pace and pressure of big cities keep our fight-or-flight response engaged, leading to inflammation and burnout over time. Relaxation is then artificially inserted in the body using stuff like alcohol.

15. Constant Stress

The constant sirens, honking, and loud music subject us to draining sensory overload. We have to use heavy-duty noise-canceling headphones/earphones to handle that.Not many can afford it and they carry their own problems like radiation and a slow-fry of our brains. Not many can use it all the time too.

16. All that Noise

Constant proximity with wi-fi, 5G and bluetooth signals day and night.

3. EMF rays all around

Yes, it's a myth that a little alcohol is good for you.

12. Alcohol in any quantity

Too much dependence on artificial lighting in home/office/malls. And for all of the educated idiots out there, it’s not just about Vitamin D. That was something you learned in school, and keep repeating to sound intellectual. The sun has a whole lot of other benefits.

13. Lack of sunlight 

Also on the bad food list are pizzas, burgers and pasta. Most of us have it regularly.

8. Consuming a whole lot of bakery products like bread and pastries

Many cities have outdated water infrastructure, exposing us to more contaminants in tap water. RO water is acidic. The newer alkaline models are just trying too hard to fool us. The best water is the natural sweet water from underground, but no one told you that so you won’t believe it. Stick to plastic bottles of commercial water, with those microplastics going inside your stomach!

14. Bad water

As someone who has lived in major metros for 30 years, I think I can answer this question.These things are responsible:

Feels like our bodies are mildly under attack!

If we have 2 phones, one laptop, one iPad and also include the car dashboard screen, the total screen time exceeds 10 hours a day. If we add the LED TV screen, well, I don’t know.

9. Screen time is more than 5 hours a day

This goes for people living in high rises who only go out for work and partying/shopping. Rest all is taken care of by DoorDash.I have a special, personal problem with people living on floors so high that they can’t even take the stairs and the lift becomes their lifeline. I can’t sleep hundreds of feet away from the ground! It feels like I’m on a jet plane stuck in the sky. There is constant anxiety being at such a height inside a man-made structure. Blood pressure is not normal being away from the ground.

2. No grounding on earth for days or even weeks

There are too many people around us all the time, and it gives another level of uneasiness, even if we are stuck in our cars in a heavy traffic jam. Ironically in the crowds of cities, many feel disconnected and unrooted. This is because of the superficial and/or hostile people around us.

11. Eating after sunset

Similar ideas to 11. Eating after sunset

Eating after exercise

The Nightly Sunset Ritual

Britishers in India