THE HEALTHY NEWS > Fill Your Life with CELEBRATIONS
CELEBRATIONS! They mark the high points of your life-birth-days, graduation, marriage, anniversaries, and holidays. Especial occasions are marked with delicious food, entertainment, and gifts. But why wait? Fill every day with gifts and CELEBRATIONS that are always available to you. What about the gift of health - the eyesight, the ability to breathe in air, the circulation of the blood, the digestion of food? What about the millions of unseen chemical and physical interactions that can malfunction? You can enjoy maximum benefits from a gift when you acknowledge it with thanks and appreciate it in your life. The acronym CELEBRATIONS can help you remember the gifts of health that support vitality, energy, and abundant life, and guard against malfunction.
CHOICE - the cradle of our destiny.
- How do you choose? Choices could be good or bad. To practice healthy habits or not is a choice. Drs Belloc and Breslow introduced seven health practices for health and longevity: 7-8 hours of sleep per day; eating good breakfast daily; regular meals, no snacking frequently; moderate or no use of alcohol; no smoking; weight in healthy range; regular physical exercise. People following 6 to 7 found to live 11.5 years compared to those following three and below. Those who didn't follow good health practices aged some 20 to 30 older than those who follow the good health habits. The choice for a healthier life is at your fingertips. Make your choice today. Celebrate the freedom of healthy choices.
EXERCISE - the elixir of your energy.
- Exercise is the best predictor of longevity. On the average, every hour you exercise increases your life span by two hours. Exercise reduces heart disease risk by about 50% (Jama 1989). Active women dropped heart attack risk by 54$ in nurses health study (NEJM 99). Highly active women age 50 + had 67% less breast cancer (CEBP, 2001). Exercise is protective against heart disease, osteoporosis, obesity, cancer, stress, and diabetes. Thirty minutes of continuous aerobic exercise is recommended or two 15 minute sessions. Celebrate with this stimulating gift and improve your life expectancy.
LIQUID - the lubricant of our functionality.
- Water is indispensable to optimal health- 70% of total body weight is water. Every cell requires water to perform its functions. Gray matter of the brain is 85% water; blood is 83% water; muscles are 75% water; hard bone marrow is 20-25% water. Sufficient water risk of kidney and gallstone formation is reduced; blood viscosity is lower thus lower blood pressure and the risk of stroke. Adequate water intake plus other healthy habits can prevent a variety of diseases. Think of a smooth body function by habitual drink of 6 to 8 glasses of water daily upon waking up, during between meals and before bedtime. Life cannot exist without water. Celebrate your day with invigorating splash of cool luxuriant gift of water.
ENVIRONMENT - the empowerment of our community.
- As a health-conscious people we take care of our environment - our atmosphere, climate, sunshine, water, soil and vegetation. Pollutants abound - tobacco smoke, automobile emission, industrial waste, smoke from burning grassland, old oil, open dump garbage, sewage pumped into rivers and oceans. Health and survival depends upon pleasant environment. The community attitude toward pollution begins with you. Celebrate the gift of a life-giving environment and do all you can to restore and protect it.
BELIEF - the basis of our spirituality.
- Belief or faith in a religious setting has significant benefits that exceed the placebo effect. Spirituality profoundly improves the quality of life. Individuals with strong religious faith have higher level of life satisfaction, greater personal happiness and fewer negative psychosocial consequences of traumatic life events. Amazingly, nonbelievers in the community gain health benefits when they have higher numbers of adherents to faith that emphasize implicit obedience to God and His standard of conduct. Belief in a loving God is a very positive and powerful health-promoting state of mind. Remember this, religious kids have less problems with alcohol and tobacco and other drugs than do nonreligious peers. Celebrate belief - the gift that sustains.
REST - the restorer of our resiliency.
- Fatigue plagues society today. It ranks among the 10 most common reasons for doctor's visit in the US. Sleep is important for the restoration of physical, mental and emotional functions of a person. Irregularity in rising and going to bed, shift work, travel across time zones, and weekend changes in sleep, militate against good sleep pattern. A rested person will accomplish more in less time and do it better, more efficiently and safely.
- Fatigue has Spiritual consequences: 1) Increases susceptibility to temptation (COL 346). 2) Lack of spiritual vigilance (Luke 12:38-40), 3) Diminishes spiritual insights into God's word (Isaiah 6:9-10). Celebrate the refreshing gift of rest.
AIR - the activator of our vitality.
- We need air for life and good fresh air for health. Oxygen provides efficient cell function by permitting the metabolism of nutrients and the transfer of energy within the cells. Good quality clean air usually is found in abundance in natural outdoor environment, around evergreen trees, mountains and forests, rivers and ocean. Live plants encourage fresh air in the home environment. This removes carbon dioxide and freshen the air with oxygen. A full, deep inspiration of pure air, which fills the lungs with oxygen, purifies the blood. It imparts to the blood a bright color, and sends a life-giving current to every part of the body. A good respiration soothes the nerves; stimulates the appetite, promotes digestion perfectly, and induces sound, refreshing sleep (EGW). Celebrate in invigorating, refreshing, pure air.
TEMPERANCE - the temple of our purity.
- Temperance is defined as abstinence from things bad for us and moderation in things that are good. Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs are considered health hazards, therefore bad for the body. Alcohol is the leading cause of preventable mental retardation. Tobacco is another major preventable cause of disease and premature death. These should entirely be avoided. Food, exercise, sunlight are examples of good that should be taken into moderation. Temperance is exercising self-control and separating ourselves from evil through the power of the Holy Spirit. "God requires of us temperance in all things" (2T69). "It is impossible for an intemperate man to be a patient man. First temperance, then patience" (2T95). ".temperance alone is the foundation of all the graces that come from God, the foundation of all victories to be gained" (Temp.201). "Temperance precedes sanctification" (CG 396). Celebrate temperance the foundation of all graces that comes from God.
INTEGRITY - the incorruptibility of our honesty.
- "Integrity is the quality or state of being or sound moral principle, uprightness, honesty and sincerity," Webster. For the alcoholic, wife abuser, etc, it means facing the abuser in the mirror. Integrity breeds trustworthiness. The question is, Can I be trusted? Can your wife trust you with other women? Do you trust your wife with other men? That's where integrity is. Integrity is for doctors refusing to prescribe unproven Complementary Alternative Medicine despite patient's demand. Integrity is for church members refusing to sell medicinal herbs whose proposed benefits are often uneducated guesses. Study showed people of integrity with spouse, friends and social groups live longer and healthier. What does "I" stands for in your life? Living healthful lifestyle includes personal life of integrity. Celebrate integrity for your physical, social, mental and spiritual health.
OPTIMISM - the operant of our sanity.
- An optimist looks at the bright side of life. He faces problems honestly with positive focus on negative issues. The pessimist always sees the dark side of life. He rarely sees the positive solutions to life's problems. "Study showed pessimists have 19% increase in the risk of premature death" Mayo Clinic, Feb 2000. Study on 500 optimistic students amidst hardship, built better lives as teenagers, do better in school and 80% overcome their trouble in adulthood. "Optimism is related to stronger immunity system" (JPSP, June 1988). Optimistic people tend to live longer and enjoy better health. Celebrate optimism each day to preserve your sanity and life.
NUTRITION - the nourishment of our body.
- "Eat a wide variety of unrefined food; eat enough to maintain ideal weight" Mervyn Hardinge. Plant-based diet has been demonstrated to reduce the risks of coronary heart diseases (CHD). Consumption of nuts more than 5 time a week lower the risk of CHD by 50%. Eating beans 3 or more times a week will reduce colon cancer risk by one half. Cancer rates of the colon, breast, prostate, and uterus are lower in vegetarians than in non-vegetarians. Non-vegetarians (eating more than one meat serving/week) were 80% more likely to develop colon cancer than vegetarians (AJNC 1999). Hypertension among non-vegetarians is more than double that of the vegetarians. Plant-based diet can reduce the risk of stroke and diabetes type II (DLECD 2003). A healthy diet can increase life-span and quality of life. Celebrate each nutritious meal with thanksgiving.
SOCIAL SUPPORT AND SERVICE - the social side of our health.
- People who maintain close relationships and who serve others are healthier and happier. Adolescents who feel loved by parents are less likely to be emotionally distressed or use cigarettes, alcohol or marijuana. Adolescents who have close relationship with mothers are likely to delay sexual activity than their counterparts. Underprivileged pregnant women who receive social support and quality prenatal care improve physical and mental outcome of pregnancy, experience fewer difficulties during labor, delivered healthier and higher birth-weight babies.
- Students with caring teachers are less likely to engage in drug abuse, violence and sexual activity when they attend schools. Two vital factors that protect children from at-risk behavior are connectedness with God and connectedness with one another. Celebrate the social side of your life.
Invest in a healthy future for yourself and others by accepting the twelve gifts in CELEBRATIONS.
Indulge in these good things! Enjoy them!
Be thankful and enjoy better health and well-being!
