Fran Drescher: ‘Too often people deny what their body is trying to tell them’

Fran Drescher has a new interview in Verywell Health’s digital magazine. Just to get the shallow out of the way, she looks really good. I don’t love the cover shot, but the article shots are amazing. As the name suggests, the interview discussed health and since Fran is 65, they discussed living well as you age. Fran said the secret to her success is management: managing her stress, managing her mind and managing those pings and whispers her body gives her. She said too often we ignore when our body tells us something wrong, and that’s where serious issues arise.

As someone who’s been in the entertainment industry for nearly 50 years, Fran Drescher isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

In a new interview for Verywell Health’s digital cover story, The Nanny star, 65, opened up about approaching aging head-on and how she’s learned to take care of herself the older she gets in order to keep up with her busy career.

Drescher explained that she’s specifically focused on keeping track of how much stress she allows in her life, which her immune system “responds poorly” to.

“Part of aging well is learning how to manage your stress. You can’t stew in it,” the actress said. “It’s important to recognize that stress affects many things relating to your health.”

“I have to be mindful and say, ‘I can’t get this stressed, or I’ll get sick,'” Drescher added. “When I’m noticing stress, I will force myself to lie down and decompress. Or, I’ll take a walk in the fresh air and appreciate the trees.”

Drescher emphasizes the importance of “optimal health” as she gets older, and staying in tune with her body so she can make the necessary changes when more problems — other than stress — arise.

“Aging well, for me, is about being at an optimal health. Honoring your body. I always say that, honor your body. Listen to it. Don’t be in denial or dismissive of its very subtle whispers…it’s more subtle, but it is talking to you constantly, and it does have its own consciousness. And you have to plug into that,” she explained. “That takes a certain kind of discipline to listen to your body. Too often people deny what their body is trying to tell them.”

[From People]

Remember that Fran is a cancer survivor. At first they’d misdiagnosed her. But Fran knew something was wrong so she kept going until she finally got the right diagnosis. So she knows of what she speaks here. I’d agree that people ignore or deny what their body’s telling them. Many don’t have the luxury of taking the time to deal or heal so ignoring is more convenient. But more often than not, that little whatever *is* telling you something. And it’s okay to check it out. Maybe it’s nothing but you might not be qualified to diagnose that. I wrote my migraines as normal. Normal: managing some degree of head/neck pain every day, for three years. Finally, a weeklong migraine landed me in the hospital and my doctor’s first question was, “Every day? For three years?!”

But, like I said, we can’t always take the time to care for ourselves the way we want or to destress the way Fran suggests. So do what you can. Take advantage of your mandated breaks at work. Don’t work through lunch or bring work home with you. And make sure you know who you’re voting for and that they support things like cost effective coverage for both physical and mental health.

I cannot tell you how obsessed I am with this Blu Mediterraneo Collection Fran’s wearing in the shoot:


Photo credit: Instagram and Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency and Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon

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19 Responses to “Fran Drescher: ‘Too often people deny what their body is trying to tell them’”

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  1. Orangeowl says:

    She does look amazing. And I like her advice. My mom has Alzheimers and in retrospect I can see it was a slow descent into it as she neglected her health for years – terrible insomnia being the main issue she didn’t address. My doctor told me that two of the best defenses against dementia are good sleep and regular exercise. A good Rx for aging well that we should all try to follow.

  2. Mcmmom says:

    I agree with her 100%. My father, who was a bit of a hypochondriac when I was growing up, ignored his eye issues when he was older. It turns out he has glaucoma, which is preventable but irreversible, and now he’s lost vision in one eye.

    And while I agree with Hecate that not everyone has the time (or, as important, the means) for preventative care, there are a lot of people who buy into the culture of “busyness” and refuse to take the time to care for themselves. If you do not find the time to rest, your body will force you to find the time to recover.

  3. Lala11_7 says:

    I know…that at 55…the reasons I am dealing with the SAME devastating autoimmune issues that my Mama dealt with at 75….is because of stress…

    • Regina Falangie says:

      Stress is a killer. I cannot recommend this documentary highly enough. “Heal” on Amazon prime. There’s also a companion book by the same name. It’s incredible and life changing, if you can change your mindset, you can change just about anything.

      https://www.healdocumentary.com/

  4. Lynn says:

    What ever came of her anti-vaccine mandate comments?

    • Tanguerita says:

      She keeps peddling thie same ignorant horrible shit on her tik-tok. I don’t care what she looks like, she is an irresponsible pos

  5. Emmi says:

    I love her as an actress and what she says here is very sensible if not doable for everybody. However, she’s dabbled in some pseudoscience stuff over the years, it’s why I stopped following her. It’s not great hearing these things from a cancer survivor with a platform.

    • Coco says:

      Yes I used to really like her too until she stared going after other actors/actress who has cancer or brca 1 gene on social media for not doing thing her way on. I didn’t know she was a anti-vac but it definitely fits.

    • Valerie says:

      I feel the same way. I loved her on The Nanny, but oh man, did her social media feed ever enlighten me… in a bad way. It’s a shame. Same thing happened with Kirstie Alley years ago. I really liked her, until I started following her on Twitter. This was early years too, when it was still new and way before Trump had even considered politics. Her online behaviour soured me on her as a person.

  6. Case says:

    She’s been pushing for sets to relax vaccine mandates the entire pandemic, so I’m not especially interested in what she has to say about health and wellness.

  7. Kate says:

    I’ve been paying more attention to my body ever since throwing my back out earlier this year (well, and also dealing with migraines for years). It sounds obvious but wasn’t for me that even just when I’m sitting at my desk working or staring at my laptop for a while – noticing my neck or shoulders or back starting to feel pain or tension building between my eyes AND THEN TAKING A BREAK. I’d historically just push through and end up with a big headache or soreness in my shoulders but just walking around the office/house or laying flat on your back for 5 minutes and breathing really does reset.

  8. Cat says:

    “[Your body] does have its own consciousness.” Yeah: me. My consciousness is haunting this meat suit.

    Sorry, I appreciate her overall message here, but this bit made me laugh.

  9. QuiteContrary says:

    I love her.
    And she is right about stress. I have several autoimmune issues and stress makes them worse. I signed up for a meditation class offered by the local hospital — and then proceeded to miss the classes because of work. Sigh …

    Sorry to hear, Hecate, that you deal with migraines. I found a modified version of the “Heal Your Headache” diet, from a Hopkins doc, to be helpful.

  10. Ameerah M says:

    Fran is also anti-vaxx and anti-vaccine mandate on film sets. Lost all respect for her when I found that out.

  11. tealily says:

    I’ve been trying to figure out how to better handle stress. It’s easier said than done. I’ve said quit all of my volunteer responsibilities and stepped way back and work, but there are some situations in life that you just can’t remove yourself from. I’m definitely having physical symptoms related to stress, but when I’ve talked to my doctor about them he just says he’s “not worried” about them. It makes me feel like I’m a hypchondriac, but I really just think I need more rest. I’d love to hear folks’ suggestions for managing unavoidable stress.

    • Valerie says:

      I still feel a lot of daily stress from OCD, but one thing that has saved me is getting into the habit of asking myself if this will matter in an hour, a day, or a week from now. Is this truly urgent or am I making too much of it? If it’s something that needs to be addressed, I try to slow down and come up with a solution or two and then get it done. But if I’m getting upset about something that, come tomorrow, will be a distant memory, I remind myself that it’s not a big deal and tell myself to just chill out a bit. It takes some practice.

      Getting enough sleep helps a lot. Never underestimate the importance of a good night’s sleep. I’m a night owl by nature, but even I’ve come around to the idea of getting ready for bed as early as possible, so even if I want to stay up a bit, at least I’m in bedtime mode.

    • BeanieBean says:

      I’ve found being conscious of my breathing for a few minutes is helpful. I’ve had the good fortune to be able to take some mindfulness based stress reduction classes through work & just taking a few minutes to check in to breathe, notice how your body feels & consciously relax every muscle, is really helpful to me. I’ve also been paying more attention to my blood pressure (I take medication) & have found when it’s running slightly high my anxiety goes up. So controlling one helps me control the other.
      Also, if it’s an option, find another doctor. You don’t want one who’s dismissive of your concerns.