Ever since I began my journey to lead people to better health I have found myself asking a common question along the way. What exactly is health? Depending on who you ask, what you see on television or which book you consult you are more than likely going to find a different answer.
Americans often judge health by how they look and/or how they feel. Many people mistakenly view the slim figure of a photo shopped cover model and think that she is healthy. They may subconsciously link thin-ness to health, but being thin is no guarantee of health. Furthering the problem is the nearby magazine headline offering within its pages the latest fad diet. A quick fix, weight loss scheme which often starves the body of needed nutrition in the pursuit of thinness. It is both a social problem and health problem when our ideals are being set by unrealistic images perfected by computer enhancements.
Since becoming a chiropractor, I often ask people if they perceive themselves as healthy. Most often they will respond, “Yes!” I usually then ask “What makes you think that?” The reply is almost always an overwhelming, “Well, I feel fine.” The problem with such an evaluation is that their measure of health is based merely on how they feel at that particular moment. Just because you FEEL fine, doesn’t mean you’re healthy. Take for example heart disease, the second leading cause of death in the United States. Heart disease takes years to develop before you FEEL anything. In fact, the first symptom, a heart attack, can be your last. Cancer too can be painless, often found too late to cure. Diabetes as well can be symptomless, yet causing irreversible damage to your body’s tissues. Even subluxation, the misalignments in your spine, can be silently causing damage to your spine. Permanent damage to your spine and nerve system can be done before you ever feel anything. How you feel is clearly not an accurate way to gauge your health.
Please don’t be fooled by looking thin, “feeling good” or being symptom free. The only way to ensure true health and optimal function is to take control of your life through proper lifestyle choices. Don’t wait for New Year’s resolutions in 2013, start NOW! Remember,it takes years to build yourself sick.
In Health,
Dr. Nate
P.S. If you’re wondering what you’ll find when you look it up… The World Health Organization describes health as “A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.