I can’t help but think sometimes about our responsibility to be healthy. The cost of not—to society as well as one’s personal finances—is tremendous. Indeed, many health issues are beyond our control, but many are well with our control.
Teaching a pathophysiology and exercise, it quickly became apparent that two lifestyle changes can have significant impact on one’s health—exercise and don’t smoke (stop, if a smoker). Simple.
Exercise boosts the immune system. It strengthens the heart and cardiorespiratory system. It maintains and can add muscle mass (heavy lifting should be a component of our exercise, if not daily physical activities). Exercise, most importantly, maintains a healthy body composition.
Health professionals often misrepresent the relevance of body mass index (BMI; body weight in kilograms divided by the height in meters squared—units: kg/m2), but it is a starting point. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2 is considered “overfat”, and ³30 kg/m2 is obese; however, these numbers can be misleading. A muscular athlete can easily have a BMI greater than 25 and be quite lean (much more muscle than fat). So, these numbers are useless for judging one’s health risks—without the context of body composition. Simply losing weight, then, may not benefit one’s health. For some gaining weight (i.e., muscle mass) may be warranted. For others—probably most of us—maintaining weight, or recompositioning—may be most ideal.
The science is quite clear: for longevity, exercise regularly (on top of simply being physically active), maintain a lean body composition, eat a balanced/healthy diet, consume alcohol in moderation or not at all, and don’t smoke!
There is much discussion regarding health care as a human right. I believe adequate medical care should be accessible to all. With this, however, comes responsibility. As Forrest Gump said: “It happens”, but we should make every effort to minimize the risks and cost of health. It is much more economical and socially beneficial for us to care for our health on the front-end. When it comes to health, the “unexpected” should be truly unexpected.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!