Think, Eat, Be Healthy

Why We Should All Care About Being Healthy

pointsettia chiles

Variety truly is the spice of life. Incorporate more variety into all aspects of your life for better health: diet, exercise, hobbies, etc…

Health matters

Life is short. Make it longer by staying as healthy as possible. Enjoy it more by avoiding chronic, disabling diseases caused by poor choices in diet and lifestyle. And it seems pretty certain that the most common problems associated with getting older, such as heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease(alcoholic or non-alcoholic), arthritis, COPD, etc…, are caused by the diet and lifestyle decisions that we make.

Where is life leading us? Where are we trying to lead life? Getting older is a constant adventure that we make up on the fly. We never really know what will happen next. We need healthy bodies and healthy minds to adapt to unexpected changes beyond our control. We need mental and physical strength to guide the things that are in our control.

Every person is different

I meet a lot of people. Every one is an individual with their own values and goals in life. Riding a faster bike race is very important to some of them. Having the most possible “fun” is very important to others. Most people have something else at the top of their priority list: work and career, family, travel and adventure, etc…

The one thing we all have in common is the wish to live long enough to achieve our goals and be able to enjoy the results. Living long enough to run a faster 10k race, to become a department manager or vice president or CEO, to see grandchildren grow up or to reach other personal goals is on the universal “to do” list. We all ask: what is the best way to live longer, stay healthy and enjoy the journey of aging?

Diet is the foundation of health

More and more evidence is pointing to a varied whole food diet as the healthiest way to eat. A diet including not too much of any one thing and more plants than animals is best for us and for the planet. Fresh food tastes better and is more nutritious than old food, so try to buy as much locally grown food as possible(it will probably costs less, too).

Avoid processed foods, also known as manufactured food-like products. If something has been altered enough that you can no longer tell what kind of plant or animal it used to be, it is probably not all that good for you. Don’t trust the government to keep you healthy: just because the FDA, the USDA or another government agency says a chemical or color or flavor is safe does not mean it won’t eventually kill you.

red onion, allium, garlic, tomato, sweet potato, artichoke, zuchini squash, yellow crookneck squash, turnip, eggplant, cucumber

A wide variety or whole foods, mostly plants, is the foundation of a healthy and nutritious diet.

A healthy whole food diet provides the nutrients and calories our bodies need. Diet keeps our gut bacteria healthy and our gut bacteria control most of our immune system, protecting us from harmful bacteria. Good dietary habits keep our hormones in balance, stabilizing our emotions and stifling autoimmune diseases.

Health is a lifestyle

Maintaining good health is a lifestyle, not just a diet. Our bodies need to move every day to keep everything working properly. Walk, swim, bike, garden, carry your own groceries, mow your own grass or paddle a canoe or kayak. Do something every day.

You don't have to be a competitive athlete to reap the health rewards of exercise. Just move more every day.

You don’t have to be a competitive athlete to reap the health rewards of exercise. Just move more every day.

I do not believe it is necessary. or even especially “healthy”, to run marathons. But a 20-30 minute walk around the neighborhood or local park several times each week will do everyone good. Nobody “needs” to be able to climb Mt. Everest, but everyone should be able to climb the stairs to the third floor of the library or museum instead of taking the elevator. There is no need to lift twice our body weight, but we do need to move wet clothes from the washer to the dryer or clothes line and move furniture around the house occasionally.

Get outdoors every day! This is important for our health. Sunshine on our skin and in our eyes has proven health benefits, physical and mental, that go way beyond production of vitamin-D. Overall physical health and mood are improved by time spent outside. Seeing and smelling grass and trees and wild animals makes us healthier. Science has not figured out why this happens yet, but we know it does happen. Take advantage of it.

knarled tree and sky

Spend some time outdoors every day and get some sun on your skin for better health and improved mood.

Keep your mind busy to stay mentally healthy. Read, watch movies, have conversations, find a hobby and fix things that break. Write or take photos or paint or find something else to challenge your brain to create new things. Make the effort to learn something new each day.

Put the pieces of the puzzle together

Being as healthy as possible in order to live as long and happily as possible is a challenging puzzle. Just start putting that puzzle together one piece at a time. Start with a healthy whole food diet as the foundation. Add a little more exercise and a little more time outside. Don’t be in too much of a hurry and don’t worry about being too strict. Just work on turning the healthy choices into habits and make sure the unhealthy choices don’t become habits.

Just as there is a synergy between the nutrients in different foods, so there is also a synergy between healthy habits. The sum of a good diet, time outside in nature and some daily exercise is much greater than any one or two of these habits in isolation.

And it all gets easier as things go along because you just keep feeling better, sleeping better and getting sick less often.