When I ask my patients for their definition of good health, most of them say something along the lines of “not being in any pain.” But pain and symptoms, or the absence of them, are not true measurements of health. In fact, sometimes symptoms are a good thing. For instance, if your body gets an infection, the healthy bodily response is to get a fever. The fever may make you feel like you’re unhealthy, but actually it just means that your body is fighting the infection, as it is supposed to do. In the same way, if you ingest something harmful and get food poisoning, for example, your body should respond by vomiting. This is its way of protecting you. And on the other side of the coin, if you have a heart attack one day and had no symptoms the day before, that hardly means that you were healthy the day before. It simply means you didn’t have any symptoms. Because of this, it’s important to remember that just because you’re not in pain doesn’t mean that you’re functioning at the optimum level of health.
The World Health Organization’s definition of health, which I
happen to personally agree with, is “a state of complete physical, mental and
social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”[1]
In the third installment of this blog series, I will address the importance of
exercise and proper nutrition in the journey to reaching your best health.
When it comes to strength and endurance, the phrase “Use it
or lose it” truly is accurate. If you do not exercise your body, it will
inevitably get weaker and, therefore, less healthy. You should do at least 40
minutes of moderate exercise per day. Taking a brisk walk is an excellent form
of exercise, because the human body is designed to walk for long distances,
just as our ancestors once did. Though running may work up more of a sweat than
walking, too much cardio actually breaks down muscle and slows the metabolism
(which is the last thing you want to do!). Weight-bearing exercises with
resistance, on the other hand, build up lean muscle and continue to burn
calories even once you finish your workout.
Proper nutrition is another huge component of good health,
and I can’t stress its importance enough. First, don’t think that you can
possibly overdose on vegetables. Vegetables have the nutrients we need in our
diets, and even higher-calories vegetables have such high nutrient levels per
calorie that they are all beneficial. In contrast, think about drinking a can
of Coke, which has 139 calories, and ask yourself how many nutrients you’d find
in that same can. In terms of nutrients per calorie, vegetables can’t be beat. Fruits
are a close second, but you should eat them mainly in the morning hours, and
definitely not within 4 hours of your bedtime. This is important because you
want to be able to burn off the sugars that are found in fruit before going to
sleep.
Health practitioners the world over constantly tell people
how much water they should be drinking, and I’ll do the same thing. If you’re
thirsty, you are already dehydrated. You should never feel the need to drink water, but in order to
achieve this level of satisfaction, you must constantly be drinking it. For
every 2 pounds you weigh, you should drink 1 ounce of water per day. For
instance, if you’re 130 pounds, you should be drinking 65 ounces of water every
day. That’s almost 2 liters. Do the math for your own weight and see if you’re
getting anywhere close to the amount of water you should be. My guess is that
you aren’t, because most people aren’t. Start carrying a reusable water bottle
with you everywhere you go, drinking it throughout the day and refilling it as
many times as possible. As I said, you shouldn’t ever feel thirsty.
Another important nutritional guideline to follow is to have
some protein with every meal, preferably plant-based rather than animal-based.
For support of this statement, I highly recommend picking up a copy of The China Study, a book written on a
30-year study conducted by the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, Cornell
University, and the University of Oxford.[2]
The study “concluded that countries with a high consumption of animal-based
foods…were more likely to have had higher death rates from ‘Western’ diseases”
(such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, and breast, prostate, and bowel
cancers) “while the opposite was true for countries that ate more plant foods…”[3]
It’s an excellent, interesting book that will challenge your thinking. Even if
you disagree with some of the claims the authors make, it is certainly a good
way to start thinking about your nutrition in a new way.
In your diet, try to avoid transfatty acids, enriched flours
(all nutrients, vitamins, and minerals are blended out of these and some are
thrown back in again; buy whole wheat or stone ground wheat flours instead),
hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and any food item with sugar as
one of its first three ingredients. If food is sold in a box, it is likely full
of processed, reconstituted carbohydrates. Stay away from these! Instead, focus
on whole, natural foods, and as many organic foods as possible. “Organic” may
be the gold standard, but even they can still be processed, so be sure to check
labels and see how “organic” a product really is.
Lastly, make sure to get plenty of Omega-3 fatty acids in
your diet (from foods like fish, or through good-quality, GMP-certified
supplements, which should be sold in glass, amber bottles). Approximately 2.5
grams per day is adequate for maintenance purposes, but I also recommend taking
a large dose of Omega-3 supplements instead of an anti-inflammatory like Advil
or Tylenol. Omega-3s activate your body’s natural
anti-inflammatories, and letting your body do things the natural way is
always better!
Our brains are 50% Omega-3 fatty acids, so when you start
taking supplements or including more food sources with these acids in your
diet, you should notice that you’re able to think more clearly. Interestingly,
when man first learned to fish, the human brain tripled in size. While your
brain won’t get any larger by taking these supplements or eating more fish, the
synapses in your brain should actually begin to quicken.
To sum up, take about 40 minutes each day to exercise, even
if it’s just a brisk walk around your neighborhood. And the next time you’re in
a supermarket shopping for groceries, remember the tips I’ve provided here and
try to implement them into your—and your family’s—diet. If you do, you will be
one step closer to embodying the true definition
of good health.
[1] Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted
by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22 June, 1946; signed on
22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World
Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948.
[2]
“The China Study” Wikipedia page <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_China_Study>
[3]
Id.
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