Health And Wellness From God's Perspective

We begin this article where we ended the previous one.  It is vitally important that we recognize that:

1. God wants us to be in good health on all levels: spirit, soul and body.

2. We may have been graciously and supernaturally protected in the past from bad dietary and lifestyle patterns.

3. Sinner and saints alike are dying prematurely by not living and eating wisely and intentionally.

4. We need to submit every area of our lives to God including everything related to our health and wellness.

The world in which we now live is not the world in which our parents and grandparents lived. The world has never had more than seven billion people before. The pressure to feed that many people, to provide their creature comforts, and the overall irresponsible way in which these and other demands have been addressed have had dire consequences. The environment is polluted, the soil is nutrient-depleted, and many plants are less nutrient-dense and genetically modified. Many animals raised for food consumption are inhumanely raised, fed unnaturally and are chemically contaminated.  Over 2700 different chemicals are intentionally added to food. We are also exposed to unintentional additives such as antibiotics fed to livestock. One can argue generally that we are less active, more divided, more secular and less mentally and physically healthy than we have ever been.  There has been an almost meteoric rise in chronic, non-communicable diseases due to over-indulgent diets and the consequent obesity. These diseases have been classified by some as Diseases of Affluence, and include hypertension, diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, other cardiovascular diseases, and cancer^[1] .

Roughly 3.5 trillion US dollars are spent on health care in the US annually.  About one third of that is spent on chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and dementia. There is a clear need for a different approach to health care. Thankfully, we can draw from the findings observed by National Geographic Researcher, Dan Buettner. He and his team studied areas in the world where people routinely live healthily past 100 years. He called these areas Blue Zones and found that they have certain things in common, namely:

• Eating low-calorie, largely plant-based diets with lots of water and no to moderate alcohol intake.
• Leading active lifestyles where movement is built into the fabric of how they live: gardening, walking or biking instead of driving, etc.
• Dealing appropriately with stress using empowering self-talk, meditation, regular church attendance, getting sufficient sleep, etc.
• Valuing family over individualism and harnessing the fear-busting, stress-relieving, wellness-promoting power of close-knit families and unified communities.

The Danish Twin Study established that only about 20% of how long the average person lives is determined by genes.  Barring catastrophic accidents, the other 80% is attributable to our diets and lifestyles.  If we adjust our daily routines and eating habits to be more natural and in line with how people in the blue zones live, we can easily add an extra 10 years to our lives ^[2].

Let me put this into context. On the one side, we have a Heavenly Father who desires us to be in good health, and would lead and guide us if we would seek His loving guidance. On that same side, we have the example of some who, knowingly or unknowingly, by following godly principles, live demonstrably long and healthy lives.  On the other side, we have a food industry that is driven by the demands of those who eat primarily for pleasure, technological advancements that continue to ignore existing and future damage to our home, the planet earth, and a medical industry that profits from people who have mostly self-inflicted chronic diseases. In the midst of it all, I assure you that it is still possible for there to be no feeble one amongst us!

It is against this backdrop that I would like us to explore various health and wellness topics in subsequent articles. It is my sincere desire that it will be eye-opening and transformative to you.

References

1. ^  Diseases of Affluence, Saturday March 28^th 2020

2. ^  Blue Zones, Sunday March 29^th 2020

Disclaimer

The contents of article are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This article does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.