OK, I know "Health Care Begins At Home" sounds like a cliche, but there is a depth to this simple statement that goes beyond the words and sometime the simplest advice is often the most overlooked. So I'd like to pause for a moment and look at the implications of this seemingly simple statement.

An Ounce of Prevention

Benjamin Franklin. One of America's forefathers, is credited with observing that "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!" generally meaning that it is better to make an effort to avoid problems in the first place, rather than trying to fix them once they happen.

In regard to healthcare, this can be applied in several important areas. Firstly, one's diet. I'm not talking about the kind of diet where you eat a little salad every day to try to shed excess pounds, but rather dieting in reference to overall eating practices and habits.

An Apple A Day

Eating the right foods at the right times can go a long way towards keeping you healthy, wealthy and wise. I'm sure this comes as no surprise, but with the obesity problems at epidemic levels you would think people would pay more attention to this. Obviously, many of us don't and while a great deal of research points to the conclusion that being a little overweight is actually healthier than being underweight or being "average weight for my height" going beyond that is quite unhealthy.

Eating right begins at home, and if you are a parent and responsible for the eating practices of your family it would be quite wise to learn as much as you can about what proper nutrition is all about. There is tons of information available either online or at your local library and while ignorance may be bliss, it comes with a price.

Walk A Mile In His Shoes

While I've heard it quipped "before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his shoes. Then when you do criticize that person, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes" there is a more practical side to walking a mile in any shoes. Now, before you take off and start walking your mile, do heed this warning... I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. So check with your doctor before starting any kind of exercise program or activity.

Getting proper exercise also begins at home, unless your office is big enough to run laps in it is generally advisable to have some type of regular physical activity. The recommended dose is generally a half hour a day and that has always worked well for me.

The Wobbly Stool

The final area I'd like to touch on is related to diet, but distinct enough to warrant its own paragraph. This is the area of nutritional supplements. Nutritional supplements have become the third leg of the health care stool and for good reason. It seems to me that lately some foods are losing their power and don't have the same quality of vitamins that they used to.

Perhaps the soil is losing its ability to provide what our fruits and vegetables need to grow healthy, or perhaps the oxygen levels in the air is somehow diminished... or maybe it's just due to all this global warming that everyone is talking about. The bottom line is that some type of nutritional supplement or multivitamin is necessary to help our bodies get the most out of the foods we eat and the exercise we take.

Bringing It All Back Home

All in all, attention to these three areas can go a long way towards achieving the level of health needed to thrive and survive. Are you paying attention to them?


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