Every month of July, the National Nutrition Council leads the whole nation in celebrating Nutrition Month. In pursuance to this initiative, the Department of Education also undertakes significant efforts in the conduct of activities for the month-long celebration.
It is undeniably sad to note that majority of the people today are in a poor state of health and what makes it worse is that they don’t care to make an effort of changing their course of life.
A couple of weeks ago my mother had to be confined in the hospital for management of her fluctuating blood pressure. We had to wait for several minutes before a room is available. Other patients had to wait in the emergency room until a room can be made available for them. This is not the first time that we experienced the hospital to be full of people needing medical attention. This is an indication that more and more people are becoming unwell.
Diseases they say can either be inherited or acquired. Though some certain ailments may be genetically inherited, a person’s lifestyle has an immense effect in permitting or preventing these diseases to manifest later in life.
We are what we eat. Our body is made up of cells and new cells form from the food we eat. The advocacy now is nutrition in the cellular level. Cell nutrition is vital because the condition of these millions of cells in our body determines our state of health. When there is a decline in health, this will result to the emergence of deteriorating physical condition. With the abundance of food choices these days, it is quite a challenge to choose those that are beneficial to our wellbeing over the ones which are detrimental to our health. Nutritionist Ann Wigmore once said: “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison”.
It takes great determination to take the first small step and believe that this will bring even greater achievements someday. Diet doesn’t mean eating less, it is more of eating right. Eat right and be physically active then you’re closer to your goal of living a healthy life.
Sitting behind a desk for several hours can make someone feel lethargic. It could bring about a feeling of sluggishness. Exercise helps much in weight management but it has more benefits than that. Exercising boosts energy levels. When we exercise, our body responds by increasing serotonin in the brain which leads to enhanced mental clarity. Furthermore, exercising is an activity which serves as a relaxing distraction after several stressful hours at work. It also helps uplift our mood and keeps misery at bay.
Nutrition month may come only once a year but after everything is said and done, being healthy still boils down to having a holistic view of the matter. It is not a “once-a-year” thing but something to be transformed into a lifestyle. A healthy outside starts from the inside and there is no better time than now to start living healthy. It may not be easy at the start but it will all be worth it. To borrow A. J. Materi’s words, “So many people spend their health gaining wealth, and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health”.
LORNA BETHEL RAE M. LAPECIROS
Administrative Assistant III