If You Don't Respect Your Body Who Will?
I mentioned in a previous post that respect is essential in all relationships. Many of us don't think it applies to our bodies. In fact, since we have to live with our bodies, it's amazing how little respect we give them. Part of the reason is that we don't take stock of what our body does.
What is Health?
Too many people live life daily, waiting for a crisis to occur. Unfortunately, too much of what is done in the name of health is really just crisis treatment. Health, even as defined by the WHO, is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.
Notice what the definition says, "Not merely the absence of disease". Virtually all so-called health care is geared toward treating disease and symptoms. This is what gets us into trouble.
How Amazing Is Your Body?
To have the most tremendous respect for your body, you must recognize what a truly fantastic organism it is. Although it can be considered an incredible machine, it differs from a strictly mechanical device; it is a biological machine.
As dramatic as the advances have been, science today knows only a tiny percentage of all there is to know about chemical substances and their interactions. Science learns more about what the body has been doing for tens of thousands of years every year. Your body is a fantastic chemical factory.
The story of Covid and the vaccines demonstrates how science cannot know the totality of how substances introduced into the body will interact with the existing chemicals in the body. We also need to realize that when a doctor decides to give a person an injection, he cannot gauge the exact quantity necessary to make up for any deficiency of that substance. Look at the person next to you––family and friends––; they are as different on the inside as on the outside. So we must distinguish what is normal for one person from what is normal for another.
Normal Versus Average
It's essential to see how health professionals view the body.
Much of what is done to the body is an attempt to bring the body into a preconceived notion of what is normal. The reality is that most of these so-called "normal" figures are averages. The attempt is made to mould people to fit a national average. We have some prevalent examples.
We are told that the average blood pressure should be 120/80. The higher figure is called Systole, the lower Diastole. That average may be so for a 25-year-old male. Incidentally, they keep varying the averages. Some now consider 140/90 as normal. Some people go throughout their lives with a blood pressure of 100/60, which is normal for them, although it may not fall within the range of "average".
Regarding body temperature, we were told normal is 98.6 Fahrenheit or 37 Celsius. That was decided 200 years ago. Our temperature obviously fluctuates according to our needs. If you are fighting off a viral infection, it is normal for the body to raise its temperature. It could be 39 degrees which is a way the body has of destroying bacterial toxins––a pretty intelligent body.
The body is constantly changing and adapting to maintain itself in a state of homeostasis. Sometimes you need eight or more glasses of water; other times, you need less. Sometimes you may need nine hours of sleep. Other times only six. Some people––like myself––get by with five hours of sleep a night. We are all different.
So why and how are people disrespecting their bodies, and what can they do about it?
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