By Dirk SmithEvery few weeks, if not days there is always an article floating around social media and the internet. Often titled “top health hacks” or some variation of the sort. Now with the increasing cost of health care and lack of access for it, it’s easy for us to click on the link and hope to discover the little tricks and secrets we can use to be healthy and prevent disease.
Everything from onions in the socks, rubbing banana peels on our faces, essential oils, PH balanced water, lemon-honey-ginger-water, doing that little finger exercise program that the old lady on PBS in her wind breaker use to have, Kegels. There was even a weird one that had you drinking Olive Oil straight from the bottle in between meals. Even to some of the more mainstream things like “Reverse Osmosis Filtered Water” to sitting on an exercise ball at work and yes… even standing desks. There is no short of whacky and outright weird things people will do all in the name of better health. They’re not all necessarily bad either, but while it is easy to think that you can cure cancer with PH balanced water or onions on your face. People often will turn right around and fill their body with junk food while sitting on the couch and negating any supposed “benefit” that their cheap health hacks might have.
Going back to the old school, it all comes down to healthy eating habits and exercise. I am sure you’re rolling your eyes right now because that’s what everybody says, but it requires work and doesn’t always include cookies. Your body has the infrastructure and ability to fight almost any kind of disease it comes across, from the flu to cancer, Parkinson’s and depression. Eating junk food and living a sedentary lifestyle, that infrastructure starts to degrade and slows down, lessening the body’s ability to prevent and fight disease, making you more prone to infection.
The body lives by a rule, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Everything from muscle strength, brain cells, blood cells and even muscle, bones, and yes… you’re immune system too. When you exercise, you are creating minor stress on the body that acts as a “rehearsal” in that your body breaks down in many ways to rebuild itself bigger, stronger and faster. It gets rid of the old and brings in the new. This is a “rehearsal” in the way that when something tries to infect the body, such as a virus, bacteria and even cancer. The body is better prepared to fight it off, destroy it and dispose of it. In addition whatever damage might be done the body can help rebuild it. This is the same concept that makes vaccines effective. With vaccines, you introduce a dead virus into your body and it activates the immune system to create anti-bodies to fight and kill it. The vaccine acts as a “rehearsal” for the body so that if a live version of the vaccine virus attempts to infect you, the body is ready to fight it off. Through healthy eating habits and daily exercise/ physical activity, you are building your body’s infrastructure to be more strong, resilient and better prepared to combat disease. This is the best health hack you can give yourself because you’re filling your gas tank with premium fuel and not cooking grease. The so called “health hacks” might be effective, but if you don’t give your body every opportunity to do what it does best, the “health hack” ultimately achieves nothing. Are you a goal-oriented individual looking for some extra guidance in your training? If you have an event coming up or are looking for new ideas to get fit check out Online Coaching with Stonewall Fitness.
