TODAY’S scientific data based on all accumulated information from the time man first roamed the earth to the latest current research studies show that the two main basic factors within our control that determine our health and longevity are diet and exercise.
Others are accidents, smoking, substance abuse, including alcohol excess, affecting a smaller segment of society.
Our genetic make up is another, but something science cannot yet alter with practicality for general application at the present.
For the past century, most especially the latter half, and more so with the advent of information technology and social media, the awareness and consciousness about health have dramatically peaked.
Weight and premature death
In one of our recent columns, we discussed how our weight impacts our health and longevity. Here are excerpts from that article:
“A clinical study of 3.9 million adults in 189 countries, published in the medical journal, Lancet, revealed that our risk for illness (like hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and cancer) and premature death are impacted by our weight. Overweight and obese individuals have the highest risk. Obesity is actually second to smoking as a cause of premature deaths.
“The World Health Organization reported that worldwide there are about 1.3 million who are overweight and about 600 million are obese. The prevalence of obesity in North America is 31 percent and in Europe, 20 percent.
“In the Philippines, the incidence of obesity is rising and so with diabetes. We have one of the highest numbers of diabetics, if not the top, in Asia, most blaming it on our culture of eating a lot of white rice and bread, carbohydrates in general, including soft drinks. In 2008, one out of every five (20 percent) Filipinos had diabetes. Ten years before this, it was only 3.9 percent, a jump of over 5 times. Extrapolated, the actual incidence today might be around 22.4 million, and diabetes is among the top causes of mortality, with more than 20,000 deaths annually.”
Exercise and weight
Regular exercise (from swimming, bicycling, leisurely or brisk walking, etc.) together with proper dieting greatly helps in maintaining, or achieving, a desired weight. Animals, which we are, were meant to be active and not vegetative.
Even simple brisk walking or tai-bo (Chinese version of shadow boxing), performed for half an hour daily has a significant positive effect on our cardiovascular, physical, and metabolic health. The value of exercise also includes improvement in sex performance and in lowering the risk for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
The diet controversy
The more than half a century old diet controversy pitted meat diet versus vegetarian diet and a more centrist diet. Over the years, we have seen the introduction of Atkin’s Diet, South Beach Diet, Mediterranean Diet, to name a couple. Some of these have been modified over the years. All aiming not only to help maintain normal weight but to provide the best nutrition to the body for better health and longer productive life.
Today, the low-cholesterol versus low-carbohydrate diets battle is on. High cholesterol and fat gained infamy as the major causes of hardening of the artery, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and Alzheimer’s. Then there were studies that revealed that even people with low cholesterol and fat also fell victims to these cardiovascular illnesses, and that not everybody with high cholesterol and fats developed any of these CV diseases either.
Clinical studies then showed that people with high triglycerides (caused mainly by daily high carbohydrate intake) have higher risk for those cardiovascular conditions mentioned above and for type 2 diabetes.
Rice, especially the white variety, like white refined sugar, bread, cakes, ice cream, and sweats in general, are all known culprits in raising the triglyceride levels. One of the worst are soft drinks, cola or uncola, regular or sugar-free, and even caffeine-free, which are very toxic, especially to children, where they increase the risk for the development of metabolic syndrome.
Low-carb diet is in
The current evidence-based data show that low carbohydrate diet is the most prudent and effective regimen for health and longevity, together with proteins from lean meats, a lot of vegetables (multi-color veggies), some fruits and nuts daily. More protein and less carbs, lowers the body triglycerides and increases muscle mass. Low carb diet also benefits those with type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Eliminating or severely cutting down on rice, bread, sweets in general, except for cardio-protective antioxidant chocolate (especially the dark variety) has been shown, not only to be rapidly effective in weight reduction, but also in maintaining good blood chemistries and over-all health.
A healthy lifestyle must also include abstinence from tobacco, disciplined alcohol intake, and stress management with regular vacation and R&Rs.
Dieting starts in the womb and in the crib
As we have suggested in our book of healthy lifestyle and disease prevention at the cellular (DNA) level, entitled Let’s Stop “Killing” Our Children (www.philipSchua.com), dieting as we know it today should start in the womb and in the crib, not when the child is in high school. A healthy pregnancy is the sacred responsibility of all mothers and mothers-to-be.
All this is for the protection of the DNA of the infant, in order for the baby to be saved from (and not acquire in adulthood) the so-called “normal, expected diseases of adulthood and old age, like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, Alzheimer’s, etc.,” which most of us today have.
Yes, it is possible for future generations NOT to develop these diseases, when their DNA were (are) protected from the damages from physical inactivity, a bad diet with a lot of sugars (carbohydrates) from infancy, exposure to chemical toxins in water, air, other environment pollution, and poisons like illegal drugs, smoking carcinogenic cigarettes, and alcohol abuse.
While the suggestion that RICE AND BREAD ARE OUT sounds too drastic and not practical, it is easier than one might think. This is already widely practiced by well-informed health-conscious people with wisdom, discipline, and determination.
More and more people around the world, where rice and bread are part of their staple foods, are now severely reducing or many even eliminating these two items from their diet for disease prevention, health, and longevity. And they are succeeding.
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