This week we have a reader question to answer. I love those! The question is–

Are the Amish healthier than most? It seems like they would be …

That’s a really great question. My sense of things after visiting Amish communities for 10 years is YES. After all, they’re out in the sunshine, they’re not tied to a computer, and they eat more naturally.  Their life is simpler, and so it must be better. Right? I decided I better do a little research.

Erik over at Amish America had a blog post about this very thing. Erik has a lot of contacts in the Amish world, and I trust his opinions. If you read his post here, you’ll see that his answer to the question is a resounding “Maybe, sometimes, in a way.” Ha! I can completely relate to that answer.

Erik also quotes a Time Magazine article that claims the Amish stay healthy even in their old age. This makes sense to me. If you’ve read much Amish fiction, you know that as the Amish age they usually move to a Dawdi Haus, a smaller house on their child’s property. They’re still involved with the family, they’re still helping around the house, and they’re eating good, regular meals. Those things all have to help someone who is elderly.

When I’ve talked to the Amish about this there were a few things that stood out:

• Diabetes and heart disease are as prevalent in Amish communities as Englisch. This is largely due to their high carb diet.
• Allergies are almost non-existent. I’ve read several pieces on this, and doctors don’t know if it’s because there’s no carpet and drapes in the home, if the children simply develop better resistance to allergies because they’re outside more, or if it’s something else.
• One of the strangest things I came across is that there is very little if any incidence of autism among the Amish. Again, doctors aren’t sure why. Is it the lack of technology? Or something genetic?

I think we all know that being outside and stressing less would be good for our health. We see the Amish do it, and we wonder if we could. The answer is yes, but it’s harder to do so in the Englisch world. It’s hard to turn off the news and go outside.

So what about you? Do you think the Amish are healthier? Leave me a comment below and you’ll be entered to win a box of books. They’ll be “back copies” which means books that have been previously released (earlier in the year or even in previous years). I’ll sign them generically, and if it’s something you already have you can gift it to a friend or library. Our winners from the last blog were Alice Boor, PJ Kappe, and Cori Dahmen.  Ladies, you should have received an email from me–so check your email! If it’s not there, send me an email through the Contact button at the top of this page. And if anyone else has a Reader Question, send it to me via the Contact button, and I’d be happy to try and answer it.

Blessings,

VC

Announcements for this week

• I wanted to reach out to my KindleUnlimited friends, so I’m going to rotate a series in and out of that program. For the next 3 months, Coyote’s Revenge and Roswell’s Secret will only be available through KindleUnlimited, or you may purchase them from Amazon. On October 17th, I’ll pull them out and put another series there. Hopefully we can reach more readers this way and keep everyone happy. If you read on other platforms, no worries. CR and RS will be available Wide again on October 17th.
• I’m participating in several cross promotions this month. There’s a fun Women Solving Crimes, that includes my cozy Dead Wrong (on sale for $2.99 through 7-26-20). There’s also a Beat the Summer Heat promo that includes Security Breach, my latest collection of 4 cyber novellas. And lastly a Get ’em While They’re Hot promotion that also includes Security Breach.
• My entire Bishop series will go on sale in ebook format (all vendors), on 7-28 and continue for about a month. Each book will be priced $1.99, so check that out!