Are You "Bankrupting" Your Health?

Recently on "The View" television program, co-host Meredith Viera said that her LDL levels (the so-called "bad cholesterol") had suddenly risen. On the show, she spoke with a doctor about dietary changes to help lower her LDL levels.

Though Ms. Viera spoke of an unhealthy diet - red meat, alcohol, and high-saturated-fat peanut butter were mentioned - her basic complaint was, "Why has my cholesterol risen all of a sudden? I've always eaten this way."

Most of us are like Ms. Viera, in that we tend to believe our health should be a "constant." As long as we don't make any changes in our lifestyle, we expect that our health should not change.

But the evidence shows us that health is not a constant. Instead, it is more like a bank account. And healthy lifestyle choices are like deposits into our health account; unhealthy choices are withdrawals.

** Health-Rich or Health-Poor, Which Are You?

At birth, we are born with a certain amount of health in the bank. But we're not all "created equal." Through genetics, environment, or possibly fate, some of us are born health-rich, some health-poor. This inequality in inherited health may not be fair, but it is a fact of life.

We all know extreme cases. We know of babies born sickly, for whom health is a struggle from the start. These are the inherited-health-poor. We also hear of 100+ year-olds who smoke, drink, and eat whatever they want, and have never exercised a day in their lives. These are the inherited-health-rich.

Most of us fall between these extremes. On average, we have between 30 and 50 years of inherited health. During our childhood, teens, and 20s, we often eat what we want, and exercise or not as we please. But if we keep this pattern up through our 30s, 40s, and 50s, then like Ms. Viera, we will "all of a sudden" have a problem.

Well, it's not all of a sudden - it's gradual. Over time, we've spent our inherited health account little by little, until we wake up one day with "insufficient funds." And if we don't change our ways, our overdrawn account may soon be closed for good!

** Pump Up Your Account With Health Deposits

So what can we do about it? Starting today, you can begin making deposits into a "health savings plan." Here's how:

1. Eating Habits

We kill ourselves with what's on our forks and knives more than any other single way! Eating habits don't have to be restrictive. Just start with one basic principle: "Eat foods high in nutrition and low in saturated fat, refined ingredients, and empty calories." You'll have many tasty food choices to enjoy in this one guideline.

2. Exercise Habits

Find an exercise that is enjoyable, motivating, and lets you work up a sweat safely. Or better yet, find several, so you have some variety and won't get easily bored. Be forewarned: some popular exercises, even those recommended by experts, actually withdraw as much from your health account as they deposit. You'll want to find an exercise that lets you save more than you spend.

3. Breathing Habits

We tend to forget the critical role breathing plays in "fueling" our body and our health. But don't! Breathe fresh, clean air as often as possible, and don't just fill your upper chest. Learn how to breathe fully, using your lungs as they were designed, like bellows. This is the way you breathed as a baby, so it may take some "unlearning" to get back to natural breathing.

4. Emotional Habits

Research shows that stress and stress-related illness are serious drains on our health accounts. Find de-stressing hobbies and exercises. (Watching TV, playing computer games, and surfing the Web don't count!) As a matter of fact, practices like Tai Chi and Qigong combine exercise, stress-relief techniques, and breath training. It's a great time-saver; it covers three of these health-account areas at one time.

So start today! At the table, choose salmon over sirloin, greens over grease, and fruit juice over junk food. Take an exercise class, get a Tai Chi video, or just shut off your computer and go for a walk. Breathe and relax. It's like putting money in the bank!