Good health means all around health. You can’t be fat and healthy. Fat compromises health. If you don’t want to believe that, there are a lot of fat reducing pills out there that you can go buy now. Or go watch a diet and exercise video.

Mr. Low Body Fat did not buy fat the hype, promises or miracle cures in pills. Nor did he buy other malarchy.

Mr. Low Body Fat AKA English professor Muata Kamdibe took the high road to weight loss. He watched what he ate and he walked an hour a day to start. Read the rest of this entry »

You are right to be concerned about the negative effects of stress on health. You hear it all the time from friends and family “I’m so stressed out.” Thats because there are a lot of stress causes in todays fast paced world - there’s job stress, family stress, world stress and the stress that comes from plain old existential anxiety - that life is hard and that we and our loved ones ain’t gonna be here forever.

That’s a lot of stress. Too much stress in fact. The trouble is all this stress can wreak havoc on our bodies and negatively impact our health. You can’t beat stress. Life is stressful and there will always be challenging times. But what happens when the peaceful times in between get shorter and shorter? What are the real effects of stress on the body?

One of the major symptoms of stress is anxiety. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in America. According to research conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health, they are the number one mental health problem among American women while for men anxiety comes second after alcohol and drug abuse. For adults over 65, the most common mental health issue they face is anxiety. The grand total of all affected is over 19 million people in America!

So how does stress affect health?

The sad fact is that the effects of stress on the body can be harmful to our health. Prolonged stress does impact negatively on our bodies. Stress accounts for, either directly or indirectly, up to 80 percent of all illnesses. Some of the adverse health effects of stress are; elevated blood pressure and higher likelihood of stroke. Chronic stress can interfere with the body’s immune system, making individuals more prone to catching illnesses, allergic reactions, autoimmune, cardiovascular diseases and even cancer.

Not only does stress effect our health directly, but when we are under stress, we also tend to respond with more unhealthy behaviors such as drinking, eating poorly, smoking, working harder and foregoing sleep. It can all add up to an unhealthy cocktail mix.

Ok. So now that you are feeling even more stressed - here’s the good news. There is relief from stress. Though stress will always be in our lives, we can learn to react differently to life’s stress and adopt a system of stress management, that can reduce the negative effects that stress causes on our lives. The thing to do is to learn how to react in more healthy ways to the stress that life throws us. We can learn new ways of coping with stress, whether its stress in the workplace or at home. We can adopt mechanisms and healthier behaviors that introduce stress reduction into our lives.

It definitely is possible to eliminate the negative health aspects of stress and anxiety from your life! Let’s go on the journey to learning these healthier ways of coping with stress and incorporating and embracing stress reducing techniques and stress relief into our lives and routines.

If you are looking for a health tonic - a fast and quick remedy to rid yourself of your stress, pain, illness and other health problems, then keep looking. There is no magic pill for health. Oh we want one, a wonder drug that will cure us of all that ails us - and people try to sell us these pills that promise to cure our illnesses, but for the most part heath does not come in a bottle.

But that doesn’t mean there is no answer for good health. The fact is that good health is the result of many factors. It’s the result of a lifestyle that allows our minds and bodies to do what they are meant to do…and not get in their way.

Some think of it as a balancing act. Others as a healthy lifestyle. It doesn’t matter what you call it but the fundamentals of health and wellness are pretty basic. The amount of care, attention and gentleness you put in can be attributable to the health you enjoy. This is not always the case, but think of a plant. Give it room to grow, exposure to the sun, some water and it thrives. Forget to feed it, put it in the shade, and it starts to look a bit gimpy.

There are many ways to restore health and balance to ones life. The trick is to find the ones that work for you or you will feel like you have sentenced yourself to a life of penance and drudgery. Now that definitely won’t feel good - and you know what - it will just be a matter of time before you rebel and revert back to unhealthy patterns.

The trick is to be nice to yourself…just like a small plant that we will nurture and grow - we have to gently nurture our health. We can’t be mean to ourselves and yell and beat ourselves into good health.

Gentle health - it’s the tonic way.

So - breathe deep. And trust. You are all ready on the path to good health.