As cold and flu season is upon us, many people are wondering what they can do to keep themselves healthy and avoid getting sick. This is particularly important to those of you who are business owners, as you are one of the most important assets to your business. Advice is everywhere regarding what we should or shouldn’t be doing to keep ourselves healthy, but the truth is, the way you treat your body every day may have the biggest impact on whether or not you actually get sick. We are exposed to germs and disease every day of our lives, but the determining factor of whether we get sick or not depends on the type of environment we’re creating in our bodies. An acorn thrown on the ground will not result in the growth of an oak tree unless the soil and weather conditions are just perfect. This same principle applies to the germs and disease your body is exposed to each day. Is your body an environment where disease can flourish, or where it simply cannot take root?
On a daily basis, we encounter one of three main types of stress: mental, chemical, and physical. Each of these, in their own way, cause stress on the body, which in turn can result in a weakened immune system. If these are the things that wear us down and make us susceptible to illness, the best way to combat this can be boiled down to this: move well, eat well, think well.
1. Move Well
Physical stress is most often thought of as strain put on the body through physical activity or outside factors. But what is important to recognize is that physical stress can also be a lack of the movement that your body requires. Your body has a genetic requirement for movement and just as the body needs certain nutrients to survive, it also needs physical movement. Moving every day not only reduces physical stress, but it also reduces mental stress!
2. Eat Well
The food we eat each day is the fuel that gets us through life. In order to function at an optimal level, the body requires the type of nutrition it was intended to have. Chemical stress can be looked at as not enough of the good stuff, or too much of the bad stuff. Eating the right diet can ensure that you’re indeed getting enough of the good stuff. Choose to eat the foods that were intended by nature; fruits, vegetables, protein, and whole grains. The processed and “fast” foods that are so pervasive in our culture today are comprised more of chemicals than actual whole food nutrients. Take the time to make food a priority. As Hippocrates, the father of medicine, stated, “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.”
3. Think Well
The way you mentally approach the world can actually affect your overall health. Mental stress is just as much a threat to the body as chemical stress, as it causes a stress response in the body that can change your chemistry. Make sure you are taking time each day to do something you enjoy, or surround yourself with people that make you happy. Take time to laugh. Make sure that you are feeding your soul the same way you should feed your body.
Take charge of your health this cold and flu season! Create an environment of optimal health and your body, in return, will take care of you.
Yours in Health,
Breanna Tivy, D.C.
