On Health

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On Health

Americans go merrily along thinking like Americans, acting like

Americans, doing all the things Americans do. They are

American. They follow the American lifestyle. They think

nothing about it. They live on processed, packaged or canned

foods that they purchase in the supermarket and eat out at

restaurants or fast food places half of the time. Everywhere

they go, they go by automobile. It is a convenient and easy

life. Oh, how great it is! Yet two thirds of Americans are

overweight and one third are obese. About ninety percent

either have high blood pressure or will get it sooner or later.

Americans don't really think of their lifestyle as a source of

problems but they need to. There is some folly in the American

lifestyle. Can you guess what it is?

If you will observe the creatures, big and small, that live on

this planet you will observe something: Whether they be

mammals, birds, reptiles, fish or insects they are all actively

walking, running, flying or swimming in their continual quest

for food. Nature intended that they be active. Their bodies

were designed for activity and movement. And nature intended

man to be active. And, especially, it intended that he walk.

And that he walk a lot. It is important to his good health to

walk. It is just that simple. Exercise is important. There

is a modern invention that has been harmful to America. It has

done great harm to America's health. Can you guess what it is?

Few people would ever guess. They would say, "How could such a

great invention be bad for you?" What is it? The automobile.

It is central to the American way of life. You use it to go to

work, to go to the supermarket, to go wherever you need to go.

Everything revolves around it. It is an absolute essential.

You can't do anything without it. Right? Well, humanity got

along without it for thousands and thousands of years -- up

until about a hundred years ago. And the vast majority of the

people of the earth still manage to get along without it. The

fact is it is just contrary to man's health and well-being to

sit all day in air-conditioned offices, hardly moving, and to

be carried everywhere he goes by some mechanical contrivance.

Nature didn't intend this. His body was not designed for it.

It is an important contributor to America's sad state of

health.

There is another big problem with the American lifestyle. It

is all the convenience foods -- processed, packaged, canned,

etc. -- which contain just much too much sodium, sugar, fat,

calories and other things that are just not healthy. And another

problem: American's ever increasing habit of eating out all

the time. It is just not good. America's eating habits are

just not healthy ones. And it all reveals itself in their ever

increasing waistline and high blood pressure. And in a whole

lot of diseases that stem from these things.

There are a number of health related practices that I have

followed for years (since the mid 1970's):

1. I walk a lot. I always have walked a lot -- since I was a

boy. I am a walker. Everyone in my neighborhood knows me

because they have seen me walking. People that I don't know

often wave to me from their cars because they think they know

me. Strangers on the street stop me and ask, "How far do you

walk a day?" I tell them, "Five miles." Actually, lately I

have been walking about eight miles a day. I have been walking

five miles in the morning and then another three miles with my

wife in the evening. When I walk I often carry a backpack. If

there is something I wish to buy somewhere I get it on my walk

and bring it home in my backpack. That way I don't make

unnecessary trips with the car.

2. I keep my weight down at a healthy level. Since my mid

20's I have had to battle to keep my weight down. It just

naturally tends to increase. It is an ongoing and continuing

struggle. But I do keep it down. I am six feet tall and weigh

140 pounds and that is light. I want it that way. I prefer to

fight the battle at a low weight level than at a high one. I

weigh myself every day. If my weight goes up I take immediate

measures to bring it back down. I make my evening meal "salad

only" and make sure to cut out any snacking that I may have

been doing between meals. It is all trial and error and if

that doesn't bring it down I cut out more things until it does

come down. It always comes down. And I have been doing that

for years. There are many things I just love but never eat. I

haven't had a piece of chocolate cake for years. And it is not

because I don't love cake. I just know I can't eat it and keep

my weight down. It is just easier to avoid the cake than to

lose two or three pounds.

3. I watch my diet. My wife and I are very diet conscious.

We never fry and avoid all fatty or greasy foods. That includes

deep-fried foods like dounuts, Kentucky fried chicken, and french

fries. Not because we don't love them. We love them. But we don't

eat them. We have oatmeal with banana, raisins and skim milk for

breakfast; yogurt, air popped popcorn and a sandwich for lunch; a main

dish and salad for the evening meal. We eat a lot of rice, beans,

potatoes, fruit, and vegetables. We stay away from red meats,

consume a lot of yogurt (make our own) and eat a lot of salads.

We don't eat junk food and don't drink sodas. We don't eat

pies or cake and never have deserts after meals. For beverage we

drink water only. In addition, we follow a strict low sodium

diet. That means we minimize our consumption of preprocessed,

canned and packaged foods (almost all contain much too much

sodium). We almost never eat out at restaurants or fast

food places.

4. I sleep on a hard surface (actually, the floor). Sleeping

on a hard surface is much healthier for your back, I think,

than sleeping on a mattress. I got the idea on reading that the

ancient Spartans slept on planks as part of their discipline.

I thought it was a good idea.

5. I do fifteen minutes of back exercises every day (exercises

for strengthening back and abdomen -- and, also, stretching

exercises) as well as thirty pushups. Many ancient Greeks and

Romans kept their body in condition with daily exercises. I

think it is a good idea.

6. I take vitamins (a multiple vitamin, vitamin E and vitamin

C) and a quarter of an aspirin every day.

Every day in my daily prayer I request God to please watch over

the health of my wife and myself. However, I have always felt

that before I can make that request, it is incumbent upon me to

be doing everything I can myself to take care of my health. I

cannot ask God to help me on something if I am not doing all I

can to help myself.

Aug 2004

The great Greek physician, Hippocrates (around 460-380 B.C.), took

a holistic view towards health with many of his writings focusing on

the general health of the individual as opposed to individual

illnesses. He viewed the doctor's role as one of assisting the

body in healing itself and believed prevention was better

than cure. And he believed the best way to good health was moderate

diet and regular exercise and believed that the best exercise

was walking.

Very simply, walking will do something for you that nothing else

will do. It is the best medicine. It invigorates both body and

mind. There is no substitute for it.

There are other life practices that I have followed for many years.

I stopped going to movies in the late 1960's. They were abandoning

the old standards of decency and becomming more and more immoral.

I stopped watching television in the mid 70's for the same

reason. The content was changing rapidly, becoming more and more

unwholesome, decadent; more and more inconsistent with my Christian

outlook and values. I watched the news and some selected programs

until the mid 1980's and then stopped watching it completely. I

haven't watched it at all for many years and am not even tempted

to watch it. I do just fine without it. It is morally corrupting.

I take spiritual health as seriously as I do physical health.

For the last couple of years my wife and I have been having

vegetable-fruit smoothies for breakfast. My wife makes them by

blending 10 or 12 fruits and vegetables with a couple of cups of

yogurt in a blender. She uses apples, oranges, bananas, spinach,

broccoli, sweet potatoes, radishes and other things. I think they

are a good idea. They taste good and give you all the important

nutrients in a natural way.

added May 2014

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