Importance of Physical Health in Life
by Ron Kurtus (revised 17 February 2000)
A major part of your life is your physical health. Good physical health can contribute to leading a satisfying and successful life. Factors involved in having satisfying physical health are that you should be physically active, be nutritional frugal, and minimize medical invasiveness.
Questions you may have include:
- What is the value of activity?
- Why worry about what I eat?
- What does "medical invasiveness" mean?
This lesson will answer those questions.
Be physically active
The expression goes "use it or lose it." If you do not use your muscles, lungs and heart as much as they were intended to be used, they will atrophy.
Exercise can provide many benefits such as keeping your system working properly, keeping your weight at a healthy level, giving you more energy and endurance, allowing you to bounce back quicker from injury or disease, and generally maintaining your health.
Your activity must be regular. You cannot expect to make up for a weeks of inactivity with a spurt of exercise on one Saturday.
Be nutritional frugal
Excess of anything is not healthy. You should be frugal in what you eat. Studies show that animals and people who eat less live longer. But of course, that does not mean eating so little that you become anorexic.
Also try to only eat healthy foods. Eating junk foods or those high in animal fat is not a nutritional sound diet. Remember what Benjamin Franklin wrote in his Poor Richard's Almanac: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." That is good advice that can be extended to other nutritional foods.
Minimize medical invasiveness
Be careful when you see a doctor. Remember that medicine is a business and sometimes doctors prescribe what is convenient to them instead of the patient..
Avoid drugs and operations unless absolutely necessary. Often they can do more harm than good. In general, use caution when being medically treated.
Summary
Three principles to follow that will improve your chances for a healthy life are to be physically active, be nutritional frugal, and minimize medical invasiveness.
Live life with gusto
Resources and references
The following resources provide information on this subject.
Websites
Books
(Notice: The School for Champions may earn commissions from book purchases)
Top-rated books on Success in Life
The 22 Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness by Greg Anderson, Harper Collins Books, 1996 ($12.00). Provides an excellent blueprint for the principles to follow to lead a good life.
Minding the Body, Mending the Mind by Joan Borysenko, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publications, 1993 ($12.76). Explains the mind's ability to use deep relaxation to promote physical healing, eliminate stress or stress-related illnesses, and surmount pain.
Students and researchers
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importance_of_physical_health.htm
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Importance of Physical Health in Life