What is Health?
How do you define health? Is it a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being? Is it merely the absence of disease or infirmity? Or is health a resource for everyday life, rather than the objective of living, a positive concept emphasizing social and personal help and physical capabilities? Good health is more complicated to define than bad health (which can be equated with the presence of disease) because it must convey a concept more positive than the mere absence of illness. There is a variable area between health and disease. Health is a complex, multidimensional concept. Many factors, including medical care, social circumstances, and behavioral choices shape each individual’s health. Health is, ultimately, poorly defined and difficult to measure, despite impressive efforts by epidemiologists, vital statisticians, social scientists, and political economists.Care
While it is true to say that health care is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness, and the preservation of mental and physical well-being, through the services offered by the medical, nursing, and allied health professions, health-related behavior is influenced by our values, which are determined by upbringing, by example, by experience, by the company one keeps, by the persuasive power of advertising (often a force of behavior that can harm health), and by effective health education. Healthy individuals can mobilize all their physical, mental, and spiritual resources to improve their chances of survival, live happy and fulfilling lives, and benefit their dependents and society. Achieving health, and remaining healthy, is an active process. Natural health is based on prevention and keeping our bodies and minds in good shape. Health lies in balancing these aspects within the body through diet, exercise, and regulation of emotions. The last of these is too often ignored when health advice is dispensed but can have a pronounced effect on physical well-being.
Diet
Every day, or so it seems, new research shows that some aspect of lifestyle – physical activity, diet, alcohol consumption, and so on – affects health and longevity. Physical fitness is good bodily health and results from regular exercise, proper diet and nutrition, and proper rest for physical recovery. When exercising, it becomes even more critical to have a good diet to ensure that the body has the correct ratio of macronutrients while providing ample micronutrients to aid the body in the recovery process following strenuous exercise. The field of nutrition also studies foods and dietary supplements that improve performance, promote health, and cure or prevent disease, such as fibrous foods that reducing the risk of colon cancer or supplements with vitamin C to strengthen teeth and gums and improve the immune system.
If you’re trying to lose weight by “dieting”, don’t call it a diet; first of all – successful dieters don’t call what they do a “diet”. A healthy diet and regular physical activity are critical for maintaining a healthy weight. Even literate, well-educated people sometimes have misguided views about what makes or keeps them healthy, often believing that regular daily exercise, regular bowel movements, or a specific dietary regime will suffice to preserve their good health. Despite the ever-changing, ever-conflicting opinions of medical experts on what is good for us, one aspect of what we eat and drink has remained constantly agreed upon by all: a balanced diet.
A balanced diet comprises a mixture of nutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and vitamins). Proper nutrition is just as, if not more, important to health as exercise. If you’re concerned about being overweight, you don’t need to add the extra stress of “dieting”. There is no “low-fat this” or “low-carb that”; just healthful eating of smaller portions, with weight loss being a pleasing side effect. Improve health by eating real food in moderation. (For many reasons, not everyone has easy access or incentives to eat a balanced diet. Nevertheless, those who eat a well-balanced diet are healthier than those who do not.)
