The true definition of good health
In 1948, the World Health Organization defined good health as; “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
This definition of health is as true today as it was in 1948. Although the WHO may have changed its definition since then, the state of health for many today is dismal. Diseases like cancer, diabetes, arthritis and heart disease are increasing rapidly all over the world and no one seems to have any idea how to cure the disease other than treating it with drugs and surgery.
Ask anyone on the street and you are likely to get the answer that health to them means the absence of pain and disease. Many say that they are healthy even though they take a pharmacy of drugs and medicines to feel that way.
As the years passed, more people adopted the Western-style diet, a diet of highly refined foods loaded with sodium, sugar, fat and chemical additives. Highly stressed lifestyles combined with bad habits like smoking and contaminants in food, air and water ensure that quality of life is severely compromised. There is little use living longer if those extra years are filled with pain and disease.
Today’s diseases are the result of poor lifestyle choices. Apart from the fact that most diets are high in fat, most products on supermarket shelves are severely depleted of the essential vitamins and minerals that were abundant in the diets of those who lived a hundred years ago. Food today is mass produced and comes from farms whose soils have been sterilized and stripped of minerals. Food is made to look good and have a long shelf life, but it is not produced to promote health.
The current medical establishment projects the idea that disease is a part of life and inevitable. The older you get, the sicker you will be and the more you will need medical intervention. But the truth is that a healthy body does not get sick. A body with a strong immune system has many checks and balances that ensure good health is maintained. Even today you will find centenarians who do not need crutches to get around or languish in a nursery waiting for the bliss of death to take them away. Health is not all due to hereditary factors.
Those centenarians don’t have special health genes that help them live that long. What they do have is what is missing from the lives of most people today. Those healthy old men are active. They eat fresh fruits and vegetables, foods high in fiber and low in simple carbohydrates. They get fresh air and don’t smoke or drink to excess. You will likely find them living in their own homes and getting around without walkers or canes.
Maintaining good health has to start with the belief that it is possible to become and stay healthy by making good lifestyle choices. Unfortunately, few people have the incentive to make those changes. A stressed and rushed lifestyle does not allow many to stop and take inventory of themselves and goals for future wellness.
With all that we have discovered about how the body works and its ability to heal itself, there is no excuse why anyone should continue to live an unhealthy lifestyle that shortens quality of life. The true definition of good health is making a complete lifestyle change through eating a good diet, exercising regularly, living relatively stress-free, getting enough sleep, and ditching cigarettes and drugs. Doing so would reduce the epidemics of modern diseases of today and restore the balance and enjoyment that life should be.
