Never Be Sick Again (30 page)

8
T
HE
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HYSICAL
P
ATHWAY

“Many of the things we call biomarkers of aging might
actually be biomarkers of inactivity.”

William Evans, Ph.D.
The Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging

Y
ou've heard the advice before: If you want to stay physically fit and healthy, get plenty of exercise and sleep, and stay away from drugs, tobacco and alcohol. You may have heard it so often, in fact, that you no longer are paying attention. Also because this advice is common—the kind of thing “your mother told you”—you may think that you know all that you really need to know.

Think again! There is more to the story. Without understanding how everyday choices affect your health at the cellular level, you may not recognize the risks to avoid, nor the benefits you can reap. For example, missing too much sleep may create more than dark circles; it may cause brain damage. Breathing the right way may help you feel better and live longer. Exercising your eyes, in simple ways, may help you to avoid needing eyeglasses, or to discard eyeglasses you already wear. Using hairdryers, electric razors, cellphones and other electrical appliances may increase your risk for cancer, as does exposure to medical X rays. Simple choices can make the difference—turn on the dishwasher only when you plan to leave the kitchen.

• Much of the disability in our elderly population attributed to aging actually is the result of decades of inactivity.

• A study reported in the October 1999 issue of
Lancet
found that after one week of only a few hours sleep per night, hormone levels change and the body even has trouble metabolizing carbohydrates.

• A study reported in the February 2001 issue of
Occupational Medicine
showed that factory workers, chronically exposed to loud noise, suffered calcium and magnesium losses.

• Medical X rays may be the leading cause of cancer.

If you do not support your body's needs for sleep and exercise and protect yourself from physical harm—everything from noise to microwaves to X rays—you cannot be healthy. Also you cannot be overweight and healthy; you cannot be exhausted and well. Terms like “overweight” and “exhausted” are definitions of ill health and, in the long-term, invitations to disaster.

Think of all the people you know: those who wear their age well and those who “break down.” Think of all the cars on the streets: beautifully maintained classic cars as well as rusty old “clunkers.” If you want long-lasting health, you must maintain your body properly and “drive” it with care.

Maintaining yourself on the physical pathway is not only about preventive maintenance but also about protecting your body from the physical damage that results from physical events (accidents, sport injuries), the environment (noise, sunburn, electromagnetic radiation) and medical treatments (X rays, drugs, surgery).

Given the lifestyles of many Americans who spend most of their days sitting or driving, who have hectic schedules and interrupted sleep and whose days may be bombarded by unrecognized environmental assaults, the time has come to be serious about preventing wear and tear.

The Joy of Movement

Throughout human evolution, our biological ancestors were very active, engaging in hours of vigorous physical activity every day. They walked or ran everywhere they went, and they needed to work hard, physically, to meet their basic needs. Because of this evolutionary history, human bodies require physical activity for good health. Historically, healthy populations such as the Hunzas and the Vilcabambas met those biological needs by default. They lived their entire lives in mountainous farming communities where they had vigorous exercise through regular daily activities. As you recall, older Hunza men—often well into their hundreds—worked in the fields and participated in strenuous folk dancing.
Exercise is
like an essential nutrient; without it, your body malfunctions.

Unlike our hunter-gatherer ancestors, most of us now engage in little physical activity. The Industrial Revolution radically changed human existence. Machines and technology perform work formerly done by hand. No longer do we hunt or farm; our work is done sitting at a desk or standing behind a counter, and we meet our daily needs with a quick trip to a store. Even our recreation is sedentary: We read books, play video games, and watch movies and television (the average American watches three hours a day). We seldom walk or run; instead, we use automobiles, trains, taxis and buses.

Sixty percent of our adult population is sedentary, and one out of four people engages in absolutely no exercise whatsoever. Lack of activity contributes to our epidemic of physical problems such as low-back pain and spine problems, fatigue, arthritis, osteoporosis, obesity and a host of chronic diseases. Almost everyone has the nagging sense that they “should” exercise, but few understand why exercise is so important.

Exercise is good because (like anything else that is “good
for you”), it promotes the health of cells.
Exercise prevents both of the two causes of disease—deficiency and toxicity— by promoting efficient nutrient delivery to cells and stimulating the lymphatic system (the body's sewage system), vital for removing toxins from cells.

Exercise is great for body and mind; it slows the effects of aging, reduces pain and helps to improve mood, clarity of mind, balance, coordination and spatial awareness—not to mention the confidence boost that comes from “getting physical.” The body has almost seven hundred different muscles; without physical activity, these muscles quickly waste away and lose their strength. When certain muscles are weak, others will compensate to do the work, which can cause painful physical damage to the body with long-term wear and tear. What happens then? Canes, walkers and pain medications are the frequently prescribed treatments, but the problem is inactivity. A study reported in the
Journal of the American
Medical Association
in 1996 found that physically inactive people are up to twice as likely to die prematurely as those who are physically fit.

Lack of exercise actually may be a greater health risk than
smoking.
People who exercise regularly and also smoke typically live longer and healthier lives than people who do not smoke but also do not exercise. Consider what happens to bedridden people—bodies that do not move or exercise at all. Their cells become increasingly more deficient and toxic, wasting away daily. Unused muscles lose 10 to 15 percent of their strength per week and half their strength in just three to five weeks. Meanwhile, the bones and joints become weak, brittle and susceptible to fracture or breakage.

Exercise for Your Mind's Sake

Exercise is important for mental function, helping to engage and clear the mind. Lack of exercise makes a person more susceptible to mental illness. Exercise is an excellent stress-management technique. Older people who exercise are 3.5 times less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those who lead sedentary lives. Engage in some kind of physical activity every day. Letting days or weeks go by without any exercise has a negative impact on the health of your brain cells as well as all your other cells. The known benefits of exercise include the following:

• Releases brain chemicals that alleviate feelings of anxiety, depression and mental stress.

• Enhances the immune system (by increasing natural killer-cell activity) and improves the body's ability to fight infections.

• Slows the onset of aging effects, such as slowed nerve impulses and bone demineralization (including osteoporosis).

• Reduces the risk of developing Type II diabetes by about 25 percent and decreases insulin resistance.

• Helps lower blood pressure. Regular exercise can lower blood pressure by ten points or more.

• Helps prevent cardiovascular disease by blocking the buildup of plaque in the arteries.

• Dissolves blood clots and reduces the risk of stroke.

• Reduces cancer risk; just four hours of exercise per week lowers a woman's risk of breast cancer by almost 60 percent.

• Tones and conditions the entire body and helps prevent obesity.

Diet Fads and Facts

Dieting to lose weight is a recurring theme in American life. New diet plans are announced repeatedly. Weight-reducing products flood the market, often promoted by famous or ordinary people with “remarkable” stories. For lasting results in any weight-loss program, however, exercise is essential. Decreasing calories (dieting) as a weight-loss method can actually cause the body to slow its metabolic rate to conserve energy. By starving, one has less energy and burns less fat, and the unwanted pounds are likely to stay right where they are. Regular exercise changes how your body produces energy (like stoking a fire or heating up a furnace), increasing one's ability to burn stored fat and lose weight.

America has a serious obesity epidemic that worsens yearly and begins at younger and younger ages. Consider our children, who are spending more time with computers, television and video games, and less time at physical play. From 1960 to 2000, obesity among U.S. children aged six to ten years increased 54 percent. Parents, do not kid yourselves: Few children outgrow weight problems.
Eighty percent of obese children
and adolescents become obese adults.
These high obesity levels in children already are contributing to widespread diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. These conditions frequently are associated with obesity and used to be rare in children.

The only way to stop this cycle is to start with the kids! At least adults can understand that bodies are made of cells that must be maintained. Young children do not, yet they suffer the repercussions. Adults need to instruct children. We only hurt them when we allow them to develop sedentary and unhealthy lifestyles—when we allow them to sit in front of electronic screens as a way of life, rarely exercising or seeing the light of day.

Gain—Without the Pain

In general, everybody needs some kind of physical movement every day. Establishing and adhering to a routine may be difficult. Realistically, how do you fit a workout into an already busy life? By doing what you like to do. If you do not like a particular type of exercise (and you do it more for the “medicine” than for the enjoyment), you are far less likely to continue it. Experiment until you discover the activity or routine that is right for you, one that genuinely engages you.

A vigorous and challenging exercise routine is ideal, but most importantly, establish a routine that you can practice consistently. Occasional, erratic workouts provide little benefit. Furthermore, intense physical activity with an out-of-shape body increases risk of injury. If you do not exercise every day, absolutely avoid long periods of time (a week or more) of being sedentary;
living a sedentary lifestyle is the
same as inviting disease and injury into your body.

Establishing a healthy exercise routine requires evaluating your body's comfort level and limits. Exercises should be challenging, but not painful. Pain is a warning. Mild discomfort is normal, but once the body is warmed up, pain should go away. If not, perhaps the exercise is too intense, or perhaps more thorough stretching and warmup are needed.

How much exercise do we need? In 1995, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine surveyed existing evidence. Both organizations recommend that every American get a minimum of thirty minutes of physical activity every day. Within reason, the more intense the exercise, the greater the health benefits. For example, men burning two thousand to three thousand calories per week in their exercise program are 46 percent less likely to experience a stroke than men who burn less than one thousand.

An Exercise Plan That Really Works

Three basic parts of a healthy exercise routine for everyone should include:

•
Aerobic
exercise. It gets the body warmed up, the heart pumping and the blood circulating. Aerobics include jogging, speed walking, bicycling and fitness classes. Aerobic exercise burns fat and calories, maintains fitness in the heart and lungs, helps circulate the lymph (thus getting rid of toxins) and helps increase the oxygen supplied to bodily tissues (cancer thrives in low-oxygen, unexercised tissues). Because it helps prevent both cancer and heart disease, the two biggest killers in America, aerobic exercise is probably the most important type of exercise.