Last month we talked about what being healthy really means (or more accurately, what it doesn’t mean). We learned that focusing on the mere relief of symptoms while ignoring the underlying cause of the problem is a misinformed approach which serves us poorly.
We also discovered that true optimal health and wellness exists far beyond the point at which diseases develop and symptoms occur.
Okay, Dr. Paul, smarty pants, know-it-all, how then do we achieve optimal wellness?!
Essentially, there are five fundamental areas which you need to address in order to be optimally healthy:
- Nutrition. This is an obvious one. It’s also an enormous topic which is too big to get into in this short article. Perhaps I can address certain aspects of good nutrition in a future column. I should say, at least, that the quality of our nutrition has declined alarmingly over the past 50 years especially.
- Exercise. Again, another obvious one, and a topic for another day. I can certainly tell you, though, to get at least get 30 minutes of vigorous exercise three times per week.
- Adequate rest and relaxation. This not includes quality sleep, but taking time to re-charge your batteries throughout the day, regular vacations, etc.
- A positive mental attitude. Once more, this is a very expansive area of discussion, but suffice it to say that no matter how well you eat, how regularly you exercise, or how much rest you get, you cannot be optimally well if you’re unhappy in your job, have family troubles, or are angry all the time. Of course, emotional stress is impossible to avoid. It can, however, be managed in an effective and positive way.
- Finally, Number 5. When I’m teaching my patients, and asking them to name these five components of optimal health, they usually get the first three (sometimes the first four) without too much trouble. But it’s this last one that stumps everyone, despite the fact that dealing with problems related to this final component is precisely the reason they’re coming to see me as a chiropractor.
So, what is this mysterious final element of optimal wellness…(drum role please!)…A nervous system which functions free of interference.
So, you may now be asking, what the heck does my nervous system have to do with my overall health? Well, guess what. You’ll have to come back next month to find out, same bat time, same bat channel (I’m really dating myself here!). I’ll see you in November.
Dr. Paul is the owner of Weber Chiropractic Clinic and Wellness Centre in Port Hope. He can be reached at 905-885-9306, or you may visit his website http://www.drpaulweber.com/.
