Health and Wellness Are Within Your Grasp

Health and wellness are an integral part of life. Without them life can be miserable. But with them you can experience life to its fullness. Good health enables you to live--not merely exist.

Unfortunately our modern society encourages poor health. How? By making poor nutritional foods inexpensive and ubiquitous, saturating the media--magazines, newspapers, radio and television, theaters, and billboards--with fast and snack food advertisements, and, because of hectic work schedules and leisurely activities such as video games, the web, and 24/7 television, making a daily exercise routine all but impossible.

This is where commitment comes in. With commitment comes discipline. Discipline will so structure your life that no matter what your schedule is, you will squeeze exercise into it somewhere. Exercise is an important part of health and wellness.

Discipline will also allow you to train your eating habits. You will make sound nutritional choices. This will entail an increase in your intake of fruits and vegetables, eating 100 percent whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat bread, etc.), and an avoidance of, or at the very least, a sharp reduction in, refined products.

Hippocrates, known as the father of modern medicine, made the following statement: 'Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food.' This statement is the foundation of healthy eating, and alternative medicine. The foods which constitute the standard American diet (SAD) lack the ability to supply essential nutrients, let alone be medicine for a sick body.

Whole foods such as wheat and other grains, and fruits are processed to such a degree that dietary nutrients and fiber are removed. Examples are white rice, white bread, and fruit drinks and juices. These processed products are inadequate to supply the human body with the nutrients it needs just to sustain itself. Even though the majority of Americans are eating more than enough calories, they are empty calories.

People are literally starving themselves to the point that the body is highly susceptible to attack by disease. Their immune systems are undernourished and not capable of fighting chronic illnesses.

By following a natural whole foods diet, and incorporating an exercise program, you will nourish and strengthen your body. Instead of consuming calorie dense foods you will be consuming nutrient dense foods. You will put yourself on the road to strength, vigor, and vitality--no matter what your age. When that happens, you will have grasped health and wellness.

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