Most life threatening diseases are not due to random occurrences.
Instead they are the consequence of how we live our life. And that means the leading causes of disease and death are largely within our control.
Our health risk is modulated by the things that we do and don’t do every day — particularly in the area of being physically active, and consuming a healthy diet.
There is now abundant evidence that getting just four things right can reduce your disease risk by 80 percent.
4 Lifestyle factors that protect your health –
Physical activity (at least 3 1/2 hours of moderately intense activity per week
Nutritious diet — “clean” (unprocessed) foods
Healthy bodyweight — BMI lower than 30
Not smoking
Although only four things are listed — simply eating well and being physically active — sets you up for healthy weight, so you more than half way there. And not smoking is a “given” for anyone seeking health and fitness.
Blaming poor health on the aging process is an easy out, but it has been proven that “common chronic diseases” like diabetes and heart disease are really NOT part of the aging process. Instead they are 30-year-lifestyle problems that render the human body a disease magnet.
When we continue to violate basic health principals by (a) adopting no exercise lifestyles, (b) subjecting our bodies to shocking food quality, and (c) combining all this with busy stressful modern day today lives, something has to give.
Medical training does not teach one how to rebuild a weakened human body.
But proper exercise does!
Proper Exercise –
This is where proper exercise comes in as studies are showing that regular strength training exercise provides long-term immune protection, it causes adaptations that allow the body to withstand training stress and recover from it more efficiently.
In effect you are building a protective shield in the body against disease. The up-regulation of energy use and protein synthesis with a minimal stress hormone response shows how strength training improves more than just body composition, muscle force and mobility. It makes the body work better to repair tissue and fight off disease and stress.
This is where you get the massive reduction in disease risk — from this one simple lifestyle strategy amounting to 2–3 total hours each week dedicated to maintaining your physique.
This makes sense as the human body is a “use it or lose it” machine.
Muscles do far more than just make movement possible. There is now clear evidence that the muscles that make up to 50 percent of our body weight also play an important role in metabolic health and wellness. It is the loss of this precious muscle tissue, accompanied by an increase in body fat, that puts extra strain on all systems.
The increased body fat changes the balance of fats in the blood leading to heart attack and stroke and alters sugar metabolism, increasing the risk of obesity and diabetes.
Even if your body weight is normal these things can still be happening inside you and be completely unseen and not felt. So the stage can be set for disease without your knowledge.
Movement — or “work” as it should really be known — triggers chemical reactions that tell every single cell in every tissue, organ and system in the human body to repair, rebuild and renew itself. Without this stimulus there cannot be this renewal that keeps us healthy and we become very exposed to the risk of disease.
And don’t fool yourself into believeing you can get that sort of muscle stimulating activity from the normal tasks and activities of every day life, unless your job is manual labourer, which is not so common these days.
The truth is, the human body is tremendously efficient at converting body tissue into life-sustaining energy — so anything not being used weakens and withers. Unused muscles weaken and shrink and unloaded bones lose density, thickness and strength. Unused brain neurons die and nerves not being used degenerate. Unused joints and tendons lose strength and get damaged easier.
An unused heart becomes scrawny and weak and cannot pump effectively. Lung capacity diminishes, and the red blood cell count declines if oxygen demand is low.
All of this means that there is a high price to pay for not getting enough proper exercise. Physical inactivity adversely affects the function of the muscles, bones, brain, heart, blood vessels, liver, the immune system and every other organ and system in the human body.
Modern exercise programs containing strength training exercise can be performed easily in well under an hour. By using big multi joint exercises and cardio interval training strength and fitness can be improved in just a few weeks with the right program.
Please do not allow inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle to erode the health and mobility that you enjoy and want to keep for your whole lifespan.
Don’t take the risk, be proactive and stay strong and fit throughout your life to protect your future.
Proper Diet –
Proper diet is the partner to proper exercise. You cannot rebuild, repair and renew a weakened human body while continuing to fuel it with poor quality food.
Food is not just calories. Food is information. Every meal sends instructions to the cells, hormones, brain, muscles, immune system and digestive system. Good food tells the body to repair, balance and strengthen itself. Poor food tells the body to inflame, store fat, slow down and become less efficient.
This is why “clean” unprocessed food is so important. The human body was not designed to thrive on artificial ingredients, refined sugars, damaged fats and foods that have been stripped of their natural nutrients. These foods may satisfy hunger for the moment, but they do not provide the raw materials the body needs to build strong muscle, healthy bones, balanced hormones, clear blood vessels and a strong immune system.
A healthy diet should be built around real foods that the body recognizes and knows how to use. This means quality protein, fresh vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, nuts, seeds, beans, whole grains and plenty of water.
Protein is especially important when strength training is part of your lifestyle. Muscles cannot repair and rebuild without the amino acids that come from protein. When protein intake is too low, the body cannot properly recover from exercise, maintain lean muscle tissue or support a healthy metabolism.
Vegetables and fruits provide antioxidants, fiber, vitamins and minerals that help protect the body from inflammation and oxidative stress. These foods help keep the digestive system moving, support healthy blood sugar levels and provide the nutrients needed for energy production and cellular repair.
Healthy fats are also essential. The body needs them for the brain, hormones, joints, skin and cell membranes. The problem is not fat itself, but the wrong kinds of fat and too much processed food. Natural fats from foods like avocado, olive oil, nuts, seeds and fatty fish can support health when eaten in balance.
Refined sugar and highly processed carbohydrates are among the greatest problems in the modern diet. They create repeated spikes in blood sugar and insulin, which over time can lead to fat storage, low energy, inflammation, insulin resistance and diabetes.
When poor food quality is combined with inactivity, the body is pushed even further toward disease.
The muscles are not being used enough to pull sugar from the bloodstream, and the diet keeps adding more sugar and low quality calories than the body can properly handle. This is how lifestyle slowly becomes disease.
But the opposite is also true.
When proper exercise is combined with proper diet, the body becomes much more efficient. Muscles use nutrients better, blood sugar is regulated more effectively, body fat is reduced, energy improves and the immune system becomes stronger.
This does not mean a person has to eat perfectly all the time. It means the daily pattern matters. What you do most of the time becomes what your body has to work with. A body that is consistently nourished with real food has a much better chance of staying strong, lean, mobile and disease resistant.
Proper diet gives the body the building materials. Proper exercise gives the body the signal to use them.
Together they create the foundation for lasting health.
