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This article was written by ACHS Associate of Applied Science in Complementary Alternative Medicine student Chris Peoples for an assignment in his English 101 course. We are pleased to share it here on the blog.
The three major areas of health to look out for
In this blog, we will be speaking on what wellness is and and how it affects us. This research is about how to describe what wellness is. Wellness is about how one manages three things: the physical aspect, the chemical aspect (like medication and environment) and the effect of foods and herbs they eat.
1. Get active
Your physical activity is the first and most important aspect in determining your physical and mental health. Having bad health that's based on not being active will lead to the body being tense all the time. There a few things you can do like exercising. For example, try 30 minutes of exercise for seven days a week. A pure muscle strengthening endurance exercise can be useful for the body.
A person's physical appearance can also affect their mood and confidence. This shows that your physical body helps your mind. An article by Dr. Andy De Santis covers data from Statistics Canada on the top three men's health concerns such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and acid reflux. Also mentioned are prescription free approaches to addressing future health concerns, including portfolio diet for high cholesterol, potassium to counterbalance the effects of sodium and melatonin to alleviate acid reflux symptoms. [1]
Physical exercise helps boost your HDL ("good cholesterol") and eating bananas (supplies potassium) helps maintain healthy brain activity. An individual’s health and their “wellness” can be affected by many things, but I think that their levels of physical activity mostly impacts personal wellness. A simple thing to start is doing exercises. For example, try 30 minutes of exercise, seven days a week. Cross country running or some basketball are some good example of 30 minutes of exercise.
2. Chemicals that affect us
Scientists are observing with increasing alarm that some very common hormone-mimicking chemicals can have grotesque effects.
The chemicals we use have an impact on our body and mind. The chemistry that is made in the body affects our overall health. It is always best to visit a doctor to determine how chemicals act in your body—for example, your pH level, blood pressure, LDL, and mineral balance.
Always ask the doctor about medication and supplements. The chemical balance in your body has an overall impact on your physical and mental health. Since certain drugs and supplements affect your wellness, you should always read prescription warnings.
Specific medications can cause damage or aid your healthiness. Medications such as blood thinners can damage a vein to the brain and cause an aneurysm in the worst case, but on the other hand it can lower your cholesterol.
One study on Dehydroepiandrosterone in systemic lupus erythematosus states that Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is one of the most abundant hormones in the bloodstream and a strategy to slow aging. Topics discussed include DHEA acting as the starting material for the production of the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen. DHEA is influenced by genetics, diet, lifestyle, and visceral fat levels." [2]
As you have seen in the article, the chemical balance in the body can affect a lot of things which can affect your wellness. Since one has control over what medications they take, this is a way to impact one’s personal wellness. Ask a doctor about the side effects of drugs and ask what you can do to counter any adverse effects.
3. Food and Herbals you need to look out for
The last thing that can affect your health is food and herbs. Both food and herbs are a part of chemistry, but here we're talking about how it can affect the mental state. We can start with a straightforward thing, for example, diabetes. Specific food and herbs can aggravate it, which causes mental instability. Having an unstable mental state means you are both physically and spiritually out of balance and have lousy wellness.
The active constituent of some food and herbs can cause beneficial or harmful effects. An example is marijuana, which can affect mood. Particular food and herbs can target the missing components or help lower LDL and help affect mood. In one short article, the authors suggest that tropical fruit juice may help in reducing depression and stress.
The article concludes that supplementation "formulation F8 of tropical fruit juice mixture (5 ml/kg body weight/day) can protect the CA1 region of the hippocampus of rats from prominent tissue damage, shrinkage, and neuronal loss following Aβ infusion for 14 days, possibly via its antioxidant properties and the suppression of iNOS expression and CRH production." [3]
Thus, "the tropical fruit juice mixture (F8) has the potential to be developed as a neuroprotective agent in improving neuroinflammation and other neurodegenerative-related conditions." [3] As you can see, certain fruit juice has an affect on certain parts of your brain, which you want a good effect to not affect your health.
In terms of food, just exercise and maintain a balance. We all know there is a specific constitution in food that can affect us on a chemical level. In other words, watch what you eat, monitor your food ingredients, and never be afraid to ask a nutritionist for advice.
So, in other words, wellness consists of three things: being physically fit so that the body can perform well during the day to day activities; the caution and awareness of medication, drugs, environmental factors and supplements, and finally, the food and herbs we take. In other words, it's about being able to perform at 100% efficiently and more smoothly. Taking care of ourselves, both physically and mentally, is a critical factor to long life. In the end, your spiritual and physical wellbeing depends on your ( the individual's) action.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent disease. This article has not been reviewed by the FDA. Always consult with your primary care physician or naturopathic doctor before making any significant changes to your health and wellness routine.
References:
[1] De Santis, A. (2019, May 30). How to Prevent the Top 3 Men's Health Problems. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://www.alive.com/lifestyle/how-to-prevent-the-top-3-mens-health-problems/
[2] Sawalha, A., & Kovats, S. (2008, August). Dehydroepiandrosterone in systemic lupus erythematosus. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2701249/
[3] Ooi, T., Ahmad Munawar, M., Mohd Rosli, N., Abdul Malek, S., Rosli, H., Ibrahim, F., . . . Rajab, N. (2020, April 15). Neuroprotection of Tropical Fruit Juice Mixture via the Reduction of iNOS Expression and CRH Level in β-Amyloid-Induced Rats Model of Alzheimer's Disease. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7180421/
[4] Fredrickson, D. (2012, May 04). How Chemicals Affect Us: Scientists are observing with increasing alarm. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from http://beautyecology.com/blog/2012/05/how-chemicals-affect-us-scientists-are-observing-with-increasing-alarm?format=amp
[5] Pamela, A. (2020). A Guide To College Writing. (7th Ed). Pearson
[6] Squires, B. (Mar, 15. 2018). 3 Strategies to Become a More Proactive Wellness Coordinator. https://info.totalwellnesshealth.com/blog/author/becky-squier
[7] Corbin, C., La Masurier, G., & Lambdin, D. (n.d.). What Is Physical Activity? Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://us.humankinetics.com/blogs/excerpt/what-is-physical-activity
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