Positive Health Online

Life as we know it, in the vehicle of a physical body, is terminal.
Somewhere between conception and ripe old age the
physical shell[1] of all[2] flesh returns to dust.

For our various reasons, most of us want to make the best of our relatively short life span, and one way of doing that is to not waste time where it's possible to reach goals more quickly and effectively. The common lament of old people is that they would have made more of life if they had have realized how quickly it passes. A shock to some 'younger than old' people is that life can suddenly present an unanticipated shorter term on earth!

The goal of maintaining health, or recovering it where it's been damaged for some reason, is to enable us to do what we want to do without hindrance. Living in the state of maximum efficiency, mentally and physically, facilitates the achievement of goals, satisfaction and pleasure and this is why health is important.

Like cars, minds and bodies are only useful as vehicles with purpose.

Most people do not ask the big-life questions of 'Who am I?', 'Where did I come from?' and 'Where am I going?' Nevertheless, even if by active choice one lives in ignorance of such considerations, health is a necessity to enjoy being a proverbial ostrich. Generally speaking, the goal of enjoying physical and mental health is a uniting desire for us all, regardless of background or foreground.[3] If such a universal desire brought results, then as a human group we would all be healthy. Reality is a very different situation and so, therefore, the desire to be healthy, alone, is not able to produce the desired results.

This might seem like philosophical meanderings, but it is where 'the rubber meets the road' for those unexpectedly facing negatively predicted outcomes in their lives or the lives of their loved ones. Many people share that they experienced mental and emotional growth, changed their priorities or appreciation of relationships during life crises, but had they not been forced to attend to their health during such times, they might have lost the vehicle of their body to both live life anew and share this with others.

The knowledge of how to keep healthy is therefore not some optional matter of interest for those who have nothing better to focus on, but an essential maintenance factor, enabling us all to make the best of life whilst still being given the opportunity to do so and, indeed, extend it where it might have been unnecessarily cut short.

'Not caring' and 'body worship' are two opposite ditches to avoid and both extremes are irrelevant to taking health seriously. The smart time to learn and practise anything in health is before you get warnings (symptoms) that you are neglecting something. Sadly, it is the human norm that crisis forces us to look at what's going on, why, and how to change things. Panic not only doesn't help, it hinders in all areas, so the first priority is refusal to panic.  Next is finding information and resources relevant to the problem, along with something which can be implemented straight away.

In health restoration, compound causes of sickness are individual, but there are generalities which can be applied before concentrating on individual cause and effect factors.  Dehydration, malnutrition and toxicity (the triangle of ill health) [4] are central to virtually all issues, and eliminating sources of toxicity is a relatively easy challenge to start straight away.

Understanding the in-out-balance aspect of energy metabolism highlights the importance of correct nutritional choices.

Cellular energy currency is adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP (triphosphate) to ADP (diphosphates) is the chemical energy transaction which releases energy for each cell to perform its essential work. ATP is produced from broken-down carbohydrates, fats and proteins (fuel) and is used in daily maintenance, activity, repair, growth and reproduction.

One aspect of malnutrition is insufficient usable fuel from food to produce ATP to meet the day's needs, resulting in an overall energy 'budget deficit', regardless of whether there is either (1) lack of food intake or (2) surplus food intake yielding unusable fuel.[5] This is one reason why malnutrition can be present in both skeletal and obese individuals. This fact should also prompt questioning of the calorie-counting concept and nutrition.

When there is insufficient cellular ATP to cover daily output activity, a deficit situation occurs and the adrenal glands are called upon as 'energy-currency backup' in a domino fashion. If not corrected, this domino situation leads to the adrenal glands calling upon the thyroid gland for support. This is the equivalent of financially living in the red, and robbing Peter to pay Paul.

A slippery slope leads to the day of reckoning which will come sooner or later if energy withdrawals continue to be larger than energy deposits. Although bankruptcy is mostly a financial term, it is also applicable to other areas of life such as health and morals. Symptoms of energy deficit are multiple, but commonly include fatigue, anxiety, anger, depression, lowered immunity, low blood sugar, low and high blood pressure, sleep problems, mood swings, living on 'zombie' mode, low coping capacity, aches and pains, stiff muscles especially neck, knees, shoulders and arms, digestive problems, skin problems and headaches.
 
Reversing what causes energy deficit is the only way to recovery and stopping the ingestion of toxic substances, such as mercury[6] from dental fillings, aluminium from cooking pans/foil and toxic foods and drinks must precede rehydration,  The introduction of nutritious foods and individually determined supplements and homeopathic/herbal remedies can be effective once toxic intake is stopped and rehydration is well under way.  Physical movement and effective lymphatic drainage are essential aspects of health and nutrition.[7]  Help is often necessary at this stage from those who have relevant knowledge, experience and expertise. Correction of energy-deficit living is a long term commitment. There are no quick fixes, but strategy can be maximized by targeting all three areas at once: detoxification, rehydration and nutrition.

A good head start can be achieved with immediate modification in food choices, with organic unprocessed whole foods, unprocessed essential fats and suitable organic protein.[8] Daily bioavailable (foodstate) [5] minerals and vitamins, especially the B-vitamin group and C, can be started immediately, along with food enzymes and probiotics. This will ease the load on the digestive system; however the measures above should not overload the eliminative capacity of liver and kidneys which, in turn, can be helped by taking gentle cleansing and supporting herbs like Milk Thistle, Cleavers, Nettle, Echinacea and Borage, which can be obtained from health shops as tinctures or tea bags.

The use of more specific herbs and homeopathic remedies should be advised by someone with expertise in remedy relevance and side effects. For example, strong detoxification and diuretic remedies could be prematurely taken if rehydration, liver/kidney function or lymphatic drainage are not yet adequate. Learning about suitable foods which provide fuel for ATP production is important.  Unintentional sabotage of recovery from energy deficit, with resulting discouragement, is not necessary in this time of abundant information.

Being forced to consider priorities can be a blessing if the right information and understanding is applied to the situation. Turning negatives into positives is not the sole domain of the photographic laboratory. It is a life art which can produce amazing personal growth and health benefits.

References:

1  Carcase (carcass) is traditionally applied to animal flesh and corpse to human flesh
2  Enoch and Elijah are two Biblical exceptions (Gen 5:24, 2 Kings 2:11).
3  Foreground refers to present race, gender, status, education, religion, culture, ability, location, category or other natural or unnatural current divisive human factor
4  V Bradshaw-Black, Nutritional Aspects of Adrenal Fatigue, Positive Health, Issue 156, 2009 (linked information to this column)
5  Not everything put into the mouth as 'food' is acceptable by the body as usable fuel. Unusable fuel would include things like toxic/hydrogenated fats, synthetic nutrient supplements, chemical food additives, petroleum bi-products etc. Toxins in food and drinks can bind to receptor sites and prevent or pervert normal metabolic exchanges.
6  Dental amalgam is a mixture of toxic metals mercury, silver, tin, copper and zinc.
7  V Bradshaw-Black, Transport of Nutrition from Mouth to Cell, Positive Health, Issue 126, 2006 (linked information to this column)
8  Protein from all animal sources is technically organic but the term organic refers to properly reared animals/birds/fish fed appropriate natural foods for its kind and not polluted with vaccines, hormones etc. In other words as near to natural and unpolluted as possible in this day and age. However some animals/birds/fish are unfit for human consumption e.g. pork, rabbit, ostrich, shellfish.