CHAPTER SEVEN: The Path to Better Health and a Longer Life
“You have to exercise, or at some
point you’ll just break down.”
- Barack Obama
Every year since the year 1900, with the development and marketing of
cigarettes, the internal combustion engine-powered automobiles, the building
elevator, and the availability of fat loaded feedlot livestock, cardiovascular
disease has been the number one cause of death in the United States. The
only exception was the year 1918, when the Spanish Influenza pandemic killed
600,000 Americans. Before the year 1900, heart attacks were virtually
unknown in the United States.
A recent study by the RAND Corporation concluded that the sedentary lifestyle
of the so‑called “couch potato” causes serious medical problems, including a
higher risk of heart attacks and a lower chance of surviving one. This
also adds up to serious medical costs to society in the form of increased
health insurance payments, sick leave pay, disability insurance, and losses in
job productivity.
“When it comes to health and
well-being, regular exercise is about as close to a magic potion as you can get.”
- Tich Nhat Hanh
Up until the present time many physicians have often prescribed cholesterol
lowering drugs to cardiac patients who have blocked blood vessels. These
drugs do reduce blockages and do reverse the course of heart disease in some
patients. However, these wonder drugs are very costly and can cause some
rather severe side effects. Now, a study reported in the Journal of the
American Medical Association, involving 48 patients, found that people with
heart disease who eat a low-fat vegetarian diet, exercise regularly, practice
daily stress reduction and/or meditate, while also avoiding smoking can
significantly reduce blockages in their arteries without the use of drugs and
thus avoid both balloon angioplasty and bypass surgery.
Another study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association gave
new evidence that physically fit people live longer with fewer medical
problems. This does not mean that people need to exercise as if they were
a competitive bodybuilder or an Olympic gold medal aspirant to achieve a
longer, healthier life. A daily brisk walk of 30‑to‑60 minutes could
result in lower death rates. Medical school researchers at Brown
University have estimated that if every sedentary, but ambulatory person in the
United States was to walk one hour a day, this alone would result in a 20
billion dollar reduction in the 50 billion dollar annual national costs of
heart disease. Daily exercise programs
to prevent obesity caused diseases is a more conservative
and easier on American taxpayers option than treating obesity
causes diseases with expensive drugs, surgeries, and nursing home care.
“Obesity is a mental state, a disease brought on by boredom and
disappointment.”
- Cyril Connolly, 1903 - 1974
For too many American citizens, food is the most available, most promoted, most
misused, and most dangerous tranquilizer. Many cases of obesity are
caused by underlying psychological problems, including low self-esteem. People
often overeat just to feel better while ignoring the problems that made them
emotionally depressed in the first place.
“Imprisoned in every fat man a thin one is wildly signaling to be let out.”
- Cyril Connolly, 1903 – 1974
According to Dr. Paul Dudley White, Cardiologist, “A vigorous five mile hikes
will do more for an unhappy, but, otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine
and psychology in the world.” Another famous physician, Hippocrates (460‑360
B C), known as the famous Greek father of medicine, prescribed walking to his
patients with emotional problems. He said “Walking is man’s and woman’s
best medicine.” In both Hellenistic Greece and Imperial Rome, learned
individuals said that walking helped clear the mind to help people solve their
problems.
“I found that with depression, one of
the most important things you can realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not
the first to go through it, you’re not gonna be the last to go through it.”
- Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
This is echoed in our time by Keith W. Johnsgard, professor emeritus at San
Jose State University in California who states that at least a dozen
respectable experimental studies have shown that exercise works as well as
psychotherapy. Most patients who use exercise experience improvement in
their condition in three to five weeks. Consequently, if you feel blue
and depressed, don’t pig out at McDonalds! Instead, you and your doctor
need to develop your own fitness program that includes regular walking,
custom-made for your current physical shape and future health goals.
“Exercise equals endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.”
- Anonymous
According to the Reebok Information Bureau, people who regularly exercise have
fewer episodes of depression than those who are sedentary. This is
because exercise activates brain cells releasing dopamine, a chemical that
helps regulate physical movement and emotion. Too little dopamine in the
brain results in depression, says Dr. Dwight German.
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