Healthy Choices Create the Path to Longevity
by Guest Contributor Jamie G. Phillips, DC
It does seem, doesn’t it, that it doesn’t matter where we look nowadays, there are news stories and advertisements, alike, promoting the stupendous research on a plethora of natural supplements, not to mention the newest health claims of coffee and red wine that, indubitably, guarantee to reduce or prevent all causes of mortality? It would almost seem, in fact, that a quest for immortality has replaced our search for longevity!
To start with, let me make it super clear that I solidly believe that certain~particular things that we put into our bodies can be beneficial to our health. So, I’m definitely not opposed to taking supplements. Not only do I advocate them for my patients, but take them myself. Secondly, if confession is good for the soul, and red wine is good for the heart, then I’d like to take this opportunity to help both by stating for the record that I enjoy drinking a glass of red wine. The suggestion that it might have heart-healthy properties, well, that’s like icing on the cake, so to speak. And, lastly, as far as caffeine’s ability to genuinely reverse or prevent Alzheimer’s disease goes, I believe that if that were generally true, life would be far less frightening and far more enjoyable for many people and their families.
However, before taking ill-considered action, and indiscriminately adding another cup of coffee to your morning grind, another glass of red wine to your evening ritual, or an additional expenditure of your hard-earned cash on exotic herbs that promise to make you live forever, let’s rationally think about a couple of things.
For instance, let us consider the human condition. We are dynamic, biological beings, free to vigorously participate in life. We have not been restricted to a cage all our life, and we have not been bred to “unnaturally” incur the age-related afflictions that lab animals do, disease and debilitation that is then “eliminated” by resveratrol, caffeine, or some “amazing” supplement.
Essentially, our being dynamic and biological means that we are not “robots,” and that we are more than the sum total of our parts. We are each biologically unique in certain ways, that is, we respond differently to internal stimulating factors and external instigating influences. For example, though generally, smoking cigarettes is harmful, there is a small minority of people who appear to be able to smoke and live to be ninety years old without any obvious ill effects.
The outcomes upon which scientific research and testing are rely upon the isolation of a particular variable. That is the method that gives scientific study its legitimacy. However, because tests related to human health issues occur through this very method, and are most often done on lab animals, when it comes to human beings, the effects are very likely to be quite different. In fact, to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, what might benefit some of the people all of the time, most likely won’t work for all of the people all of the time (and sometimes won’t work at all!).
Everyday you make considerable choices that affect both your health and longevity. Decisions such as what you’ll eat and how much exercise and rest you’ll get will either be good for you, or not so good. Obviously, your unhealthy choices are not beneficial for your long-term health. And, even though you know, by the way your individual body responds to certain things, you may often ignore these important health messages.
Then you, like many others, may enthusiastically jump on the bandwagon of the latest report that announces that researchers have uncovered THE VERY THING that has the potency to reverse all of the excessive and unhealthy things you have been doing to your body on a routine basis! Talk about wishful thinking!
Your human body is an elegantly complex, homeostatic system. In other words, every operation is interdependent and sensitively balanced. When you choose an unhealthy lifestyle, your fastidiously-responsive system gets “off balance.” Sooner or later, the imbalances created by choosing unhealthily, result in diseases and a shortened lifespan.
If supplements help you to feel more energetic and healthy, then as a chiropractor who takes them as well, I say great, take them! If it feels like the thing to do, drink that additional cup of coffee as well. And, have a little more red wine if it honestly feels beneficial. But, keep in mind that the only legitimate way for anyone to avert or reverse age-related health problems is by choosing a consistently healthy lifestyle. You won’t get healthier by chance. There is no “lucky charm” when it comes to health and longevity.
Jamie Phillips, DC, a Santa Barbara Chiropractor, has been in private chiropractic practice for 24 years. She is also a consultant for Bloczone Marketing, a chiropractic marketing company specializing in chiropractic websites that attract new patients. She can be reached at (805) 882-1956.