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Whether you are a woman seeking optimal women’s health or a man seeking optimal men’s health, do you actually know what you are seeking? In other words, what do the word and concept of “health” mean? It is a word that is commonly used, but most Americans are confused, and perhaps you are too, about health and its definition. And if you do not understand what “health” is, then more than likely you are confused about what choices you must make in order to make the right deposits to build up your health fitness account. Ask yourself this question: “Do you think that you are healthy?” If you feel “good” at this moment, chances are that you will answer “yes” to that question. If you feel “bad,” or if the doctor has told you that you have some disease, then likely you would answer “no” to this question. The truth is that most Americans think if they feel good, they are in fact healthy. In our culture, we are trained to think this way from the time we are very young, and it is reinforced a thousand fold by the drug companies and their commercials. Think about it a minute. You are told that if you do not feel well because of colds, flu, allergies, insomnia, depression, indigestion, constipation, heartburn, headaches, or aches and pains of any kind, then all you have to do is take a pill and all will be well, or rather, you will be well. These days even your sexual health can be fixed by a quick pill. No need to change the food you eat or anything else that might be causing the problem. The message is loud and so clear: Have discomfort, pain, or a problem? Just take a quick fix. You will feel better. Feeling good equals good health, and you are free to go about your life without any fuss or the inconvenience of changing any of your habits that may be causing the problem in the first place. Who cares if you have to take eight different drugs to feel well? Who cares about the short and long term health-compromising consequences of ignoring the condition and the negative side effects of the drugs themselves? As long as you have no pain or symptoms at the moment, you must be healthy—so you are taught and so you think. That is our collective, cultural attitude—feeling good equals health. The question is: Is this true? Just because you feel good, does that mean you are healthy?” According to the World Health Organization, health has little to do with how you feel and a lot to do with “the state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” According to Webster’s Dictionary, health has to do with how well the cells, organs, glands, and tissues function at any given time. Can you tell how well you and your body parts are functioning on the inside by how you feel at any given moment? Not necessarily. The truth is, often you can not tell for sure whether you are healthy or not. What’s an example of how you can feel perfectly fine, but you are, in fact, not healthy at all? Cancer. How many people are diagnosed with cancer, which could have been growing and spreading for ten years, or even longer, but they have no pain or warning signs at all? How many people get a clean bill of health from their well-intended doctors, who use the best diagnostic tests, and only weeks or months later, drop dead of a sudden heart attack; and their first symptom—death? How many people feel great one moment and are struck down by a paralyzing stroke the next? How many people have diabetes for many years before it is detected by themselves or by a doctor? The point is: Just because you feel “fine” does not mean that you are “fine” on the inside. Furthermore, just because you get a clean bill of health from the best doctor using the best tests, doesn’t mean that you are “fine” or working well on the inside. Take my friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She ate well, in her opinion. She exercised regularly. She had a positive, upbeat attitude. She had lots of energy. She worked full-time. She never felt better. She received had an annual physical, including a mammogram, every year for years. One year ago, her doctor even told her that her blood work showed that she was the healthiest person he had ever examined. And then, bam! After her last physical, she was told that she had breast cancer, and a very invasive kind. Although she felt great and previous tests looked great, she had cancer growing inside of her for many, many years before it was detectable. Her world was tipped upside down from a world filled with high activity, fun, and purpose, to one filled with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, pain, and fear. Her comment to me was, “I just never thought it would happen to me.” Nor does anyone else but statistics prove otherwise. And even if you are truly “fine” on the inside today, if you ignore and neglect your body and health day after day, you will not stay “fine” indefinitely. So if you can’t judge your health by how you feel at any given moment, by a yearly physical, or the most sophisticated tests, then how do you know if you are healthy or not? That’s the point. You really can’t tell how well your body is working on the inside. That is why you must work on your body, health, and fitness every day by feeding it with the best food and nutrition from whole, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, raw nuts, and whole legumes. Exercising it every day. Don’t smoke. Avoid drugs, chemicals, and toxins. Get adequate sleep and rest, and cultivate a positive attitude. Don’t most of us know what we should eat and do that will provide us with health insurance and assurance? The tricky part is putting your health knowledge into your daily life. However, the best gift in life—your life itself—is worth all of your efforts. And the best time to start on your own personal path to optimum health and fitness is right now. Just put one foot in front of the other and start taking those baby steps to the best you and the best life that you deserve. E-mail Dr. Leslie at Dr.Leslie@DrLeslieVanRomer.com |
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