What is Good Health, Part 2Written by Loring A. Windblad
Copyright 2004 by http://www.organicgreens.us and Loring Windblad. This article may be freely copied and used on other web sites only if it is copied complete with all links and text intact and unchanged except for minor improvements such as misspellings and typos. The meaning and definition of “good health” has changed through ages. Perhaps best method of “knowing your health status” is being acutely aware of your own body, its functions and functional abberrations. So what am I talking about here? I’m referring particularly to • how you feel • how often you have a bowel movement • how often you urinate • how often you feel bloated or gassy after eating • what foods trigger your bloated or gassy feeling • what hurts • is that hurt “chronic” or “new” Light-headedness could be a symptom of high blood pressure. Pain in a new and unexpected place could be a sign of a bruise, muscle strain, unknown injury, or an unknown infection of some kind. Shingles or easy bruising could be a sign of a lack of vitamin C in your diet. Many other little things about you and your body could be early indications of injury or disease. So….how aware are you of what your body is telling you every day? My body type is literally grossly obese. I know I am “at risk” for many illnesses and for many injuries simply because of my body type. I am about 100 lbs overweight and it began when I was 25 years old. I’m now nearing 70. I would probably be a lot healthier if I were to lose 50 to 75 pounds. I know this, yet I continue not to heed it. My blood chemistry is “normal” – I have no major blood chemistry problems. My blood pressure is generally 135 / 75-80. I have a 54-inch waist yet I can bend over and touch my knuckles on floor in front of my toes. I can still do 50 situps in under two minutes. I regularly walk 2 miles a day minimum and about 5-6 miles when I play a round of golf – and I walk for golf, rather than ride in a cart. So I try to take pretty good care of myself. Over years I have learned a few things about my own body and health, how I react to certain foods and food supplements. This does not say anything about how you will react to these things….only that you need to be aware of what your body is doing and what your body is telling you about why it is doing those things. For example, I love salads, especially green salads. And they give me loads of gas and bloating. I know this, so I try to eat a small salad at least once a day. It’s only when I get carried away and have a large salad, or second helping, that I get bloated and gassy.
| | What is Good Health, Part 1Written by Loring A. Windblad
Copyright 2004 by http://www.organicgreens.us and Loring Windblad. This article may be freely copied and used on other web sites only if it is copied complete with all links and text intact and unchanged except for minor improvements such as misspellings and typos. There is no universally agreed definition of health. Its meaning has changed through ages and in different cultures. The term derives from Anglo-Saxon word "haelth," meaning safe, sound or whole. In medieval times "haelthing" meant "sharing a few drinks with one's friends," having previously meant "hello" and "holiness." In recent decades, health has been taken to mean "the absence of disease." The term "disease" generally refers to a diagnosable physical abnormality while "illness" means personal experience of sickness, or perceived suffering due to a disease. Changing views of health Since mid-1900s, medical practice has been dominated by a biomedical model that focuses more on curing than preventing illness, dividing diseases into categories -- for example, targetting a "cirrhotic liver" or "ischemic heart" for treatment. This method tends to separate physical from psychological or emotional problems, which are sometimes dismissed as "all in head," not meriting medical attention. However, views of health are undergoing radical changes. The absence-of-disease concept is being supplanted by an image of "wellbeing for body, spirit and mind." The emerging biopsychosocial model regards mind and body as an intertwined unit and suggests that people be treated as whole persons, taking into account economic, social and psychological factors. In 1948, World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as a "state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, encompassing ability to achieve full potential, deal with crises and meet environmental challenges." In other words, health -- or wellness, to use a trendy term -- is capacity to undertake physical effort, to live within one's own potential and carry out tasks with vigour and alertness, leaving enough energy for unforeseen emergencies. The more recent Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion goes further, suggesting as fundamentals for health: "peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable ecosystem, sustainable resources, social justice and equity." For example, people can't easily stay healthy if they're starving, if air is polluted or during wartime. Today's key buzz words are “disease prevention” and “health promotion”, rather than trying to “treat symptoms of illnesses” (as is practiced by most madical practitioners nowadays) that are largely preventable. Unfortunately, despite lip service, prevention is often a hard sell as it takes both personal and community action. Yet studies show that even a few words of advice from health professionals can often help to prevent disease by motivating people to modify their lifestyle. Many of us are "worried well" Although North Americans have an increasing life expectancy, many worry unduly about health. As U.S. physician Dr. Arthur Barsky writes in his book Worried Sick: "Our sense of physical wellbeing has not kept pace with improvements in our collective health status...there is a pervasive atmosphere of dis-ease." Many feel constantly "out of sorts" -- with vague undiagnosable ailments -- worriedly scrutinizing everyday actions for their health effects. For example, foods may be dubbed "good" (life-prolonging) or "bad" (health-harming) -- instead of being regarded as enjoyable nourishment. Many are confused, even stressed, by trying to keep up with latest medical pronouncements -- eat margarine instead of butter (or not); drink red wine (one glass or two?); take antioxidants, vitamin E (or don't); shun coffee, drink decaff (or what?).
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