Sane Survivalism

Survivalists have a tendency to focus on the least likely but most dramatic methods of death: global thermonuclear war, bioterrorism, meteor attack, socialist world takeover. You know, the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI). The last thing survivalists talk about avoiding are the things most likely to kill them, before and after shit hits the fan. Yet when lurking in various survivalist communities, I’m shocked at how many are overweight, drink, and smoke, and how little they talk about avoiding common deaths. Why? If you really care about your survival, the first and most effective thing you can do to ensure it is to just be healthy. That also reduces your risk for a lot of other nasty diseases.

Heart Disease

The leading cause of death in the United States and the world is heart disease, and it’s painfully simple to avoid. Eating healthy, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding smoke and alcohol cut out most of the risk. You can also screen for high blood pressure and cholesterol to get early warning and deal with the problem if it already exists (and it might). Everything you can do to prevent heart disease can benefit you know and down the road.

Biking instead of driving that big SUV not only reduces pollution (and thus saves your lungs, the earth, and it’s resources) but gives you a safe and reliable mode of transportation in case of an emergency. By taking longer and less traveled routes to get to your destination, you can also reduce your risk of death on the road. And if you’re the type asking “well what if…”, bikes would be safest in case of a nuclear attack – you’d die if close enough either way, but you don’t risk being crushed, exploding, or having your vehicle suddenly stop working thanks to EMP.

Eat fish high in omega-3, avoid saturated and trans fat, and have a balanced diet. Pretty simple.

Even trace amounts of cigarette smoke can harm you, as nicotine causes the heart to work harder – hell, just about everything in cigarettes can contribute to heart disease. Dehydration can also thicken your blood and make your heart work harder.

Measure your BMI and your waist circumference (there are plenty of guides on both). A BMI above 25 if you’re not muscular, and/or a waist circumference of 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women means you’re risking heart disease.

Dehydration

Dehydration isn’t exactly on anyone’s list of top ten killers, but it’s shocking how little water people drink. For a while I only drank soda and coffee, and my family still does. The water fountains are always untouched, and in my experience there’s a fair amount of people who just don’t drink enough water. That’s unhealthy. Dehydration, as mentioned above, can contribute to heart disease by causing your heart to have to work harder. Not having it can be one of the quickest ways to die. You need a gallon a day, more if you’re in the cold, eating a lot, or exerting yourself. If the shit hits the fan and you’re already dehydrated, you may as well count yourself out. You need water to think clearly and act swiftly.

Cancer

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States and only two types account for 3.7% of deaths in the world. Like heart disease, simply eating healthier, exercising, and abstaining from smoking and alcohol can reduce a lot of the risk. There’s also, of course, some external factors that can increase your risk of cancer.

Air pollution, cell phones, sunlight, diseases, consumer products and a lot more can all cause cancer. That means “survivalists” who are happy with corporations polluting their air should perhaps think twice. So use cell phones less, be an aware buyer, and push for tighter environmental and health restrictions.

Food and water stored over long periods of time in certain plastics, especially in the sun or heat, can cause cancer. Consider storage that doesn’t involve plastic wherever you can. In the U.S. and other developed countries, 10% of cancer is caused by infectious diseases like human papilloma virus (which causes cervical cancer), mononucleosis, hepatitis B and C, HIV, herpes-8. These are common, easily transmitted diseases that can be just as easily prevented to avoid both cancer as well as other serious health risks.

Far more information can be found at the American Cancer Society’s website.

Worrying

It’s likely that you, like me and a lot of people out there, got into survivalism by fretting over nuclear attacks or something like that. It’s what keeps a lot of survivalist boards going, where people talk more about how they think the world will end than actually surviving.

This kind of constant worry isn’t good for us. It can cause heart attacks, high blood pressure, ulcers, stomach problems, breathing problems and more. To put it simply, worrying excessively over possible end-world scenarios lessens your chances of survival. It makes you more likely to panic in a real survival situation, and can affect your thinking and cause others to panic, only making situations worse. We’ll get more into how much survivalists worry and why excessive panic isn’t needed in our next post, but it’s obvious that indulging that gnawing fear instead of acting calmly on it is the last thing a survivalist should do. First, focus on your health and take some simple precautions and make some lifestyle changes that will improve your chances here and now, as well as after a possible disaster. Then talk about the end of the world.

Sources

1. 1. Deaths and Mortality, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
   2. 15 Most Common Causes of Death in the World, HowStuffWorks.
   3. Heart disease prevention, Mayo Clinic.
   4. Prevention: What You Can Do, CDC.
   5. Chronic Worry, Canadian Mental Health Association.
   6. National Geographic Complete Survival Manual, Michael S. Sweeney.
   7. Cancer Prevention, The American Cancer Society.
   8. Environmental Carcinogens, The American Cancer Society.
   9. Research suggests cancer link to plastic packaging, Food Production Daily.