Age shouldn't be ignored!

Over the last several generations we have gone through several developmental stages as people in civilized societies or countries. For the most developed countries, these developmental stages can be categorized or metaphorically labeled with terms such as, the "Ages", the "Industrial Age", the "Information Age", and, arguably the next stage or "Age" would be that of the "Technological Age." Whether or not we have actually left the information age and entered the technology age remains to be seen. One thing is clear, however, and that is you can never completely dismiss old, developmental ages when new ages begin.

To advance as a civilized society upon a solid foundation from one age to the next, the transition must be seamless, so as to incorporate lessons previously learned. If not, life has a funny way of repeating those lessons over and over again, until such time those lessons are learned. Whether the lessons to be learned apply to an individual or an entire society, the consequences for continuous failure to learn those lessons, or out-right ignoring them all together, can become quite severe. But what about something far more important than the new ages we enter? What about our health?

For most people, their health is probably one of the most enigmatic, misunderstood and easily ignored aspects of their lives.
To simply define health is not enough.

Health:

1 a : the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; especially : freedom from physical disease or pain

b : the general condition of the body

We enter each new age with hopefully a firm grasp on the lessons presented by previous ages. For most people in developed countries, we spend our health, seeking or building our wealth. And, in the latter stages of our lives, we spend our wealth, trying to regain our health. For "third world" countries, the people have neither health nor wealth to spend which fosters large scale hopelessness and despair.

For those concerned about their health and, those not so concerned, one thing is abundantly clear. Outside of food and drug safety and family genetics, YOU are the only person responsible for your health. Health IS cumulative and what you do today, directly effects not only how well you will live today but, also how well you will live years from now.
When people go to the doctor for medical advice and care, most fail to realize that the doctor is only treating symptoms of what ails you and is not curing you. The truth of the matter is, that most ailments which are not due to family genetics, ARE due to a culmination of neglect on the part of the individual. Further still, most do not even realize that they are neglecting their health and that neglect, is the root cause of their ailment or disease. Most people neglect their own health due largely in part, to their lack of knowledge on this particular subject. Just like man-made laws, ignorance of natural laws (proper nutrition) is no excuse.

Ignorance of man-made laws can cost you big with hefty monetary fines and even jail. Ignorance with natural laws like proper nutrition and exercise when it comes to your health, can also cost you big. Major diseases and even death can and does occur when you neglect your health for too long. Let me simplify the explanation without being to simplistic.

Our bodies are naturally waging a continuous battle on the cellular level. That battle has two primary combatants, Free Radicals and Antioxidants. Free radicals, however complex, are nothing more than an unstable molecule. These molecules are unstable, because they have what are called "unpaired" electrons. These unstable molecules have one goal,...to become stable again. They attempt to do this by bumping into healthy cells which DO have "paired" electrons on the molecular level, whereby they steal the healthy cell's electron, causing the healthy cell to now become unstable. This process happens over and over again (billions of molecules) causing a chain reaction or what we know as the "domino effect". What is really taking place is the oxidation of your cells, a scary process that occurs naturally within the human body. We also have a natural defense against this process in the form of Antioxidants.

Antioxidants are how we combat the oxidation of our cells. The way this happens is that Antioxidants have an abundance of electrons whose sole purpose is to disrupt the chain reaction caused by free radicals. Antioxidants freely give up their electrons stabilizing the free radicals, breaking the cycle. The problems occur, however, when their are not enough antioxidants to combat the numbers of free radicals that develop. This is because free radicals can and are produced from many outside sources with the biggest sources being: the sun, chemicals, pollution, and cigarettes (1 cigarette produces approximately 10 Billion free radicals).

When we consider that our bodies do not produce most antioxidants naturally, we are then left with having to rely on our primary source of antioxidants coming from the foods we eat. If we neglect to eat proper amounts of proper nutrition on a daily basis, we lose ground in the fight against the havoc (commonly referred to as the ravages of aging), that free radicals inflict upon our healthy cells. If proper nutrition is neglected with any degree of regularity, the damage inflicted can and does cause abnormal cell reproduction and can lead to damage to our structural DNA. As this damage continues to occur, over time, we develop ailments and diseases usually attributed to aging. The sad truth is that most of what are considered to be "age" related diseases and ailments ARE due to what we do or do not put into our bodies and ARE preventable. What we put into our bodies, whether inhaled, ingested or that which permeates the epidermis (skin), does directly effect our health.

So, to make a long column even longer, you as an individual really do have control over your health. You can reverse a lot of what ails you. Proper nutrition and exercise are the cornerstones to longevity. Increase, the amount of fruits and vegetables you consume. The more colorful the better. Increase your physical activity. Take up walking if sustained exercise is physically difficult for you. And, supplement your regimen with a quality vitamin and mineral supplement. Consistently giving your body all it needs to fight the ravages of aging will pay dividends down the road. You will live better, longer.