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Health, Vitality, and Courage
Laurent Grenier
Article body: During the dark years that followed my diving
accident, I deviated from my wholesome eating habits. This
deviation was partly due to my limited control over my diet,
as I lived in a hospital or a group home. It was also due to
my reduced health-consciousness. Largely disgusted with
life, I was proportionally hedonistic and suicidal. I sought
consolation in gustatory pleasure at the risk of undermining
my health. To be more precise, I often overindulged my
fondness for fatty and savory foods or sweet ones, with the
result that I gained weight and lost my edge - that is, part
of my vitality. This loss was ominous. It took a wealth of
vitality to accept and overcome the difficulty of attaining
happiness. The more I was devitalized and consequently weak,
the more I was likely to be daunted by this difficulty.
Devitalization was the worst form of impoverishment. In a
state of weakness, it was tempting to deny that happiness
was possible or worth the effort and choose the easy option:
idleness and carelessness or death. I never gave in to this
morbid temptation, but my overindulgence in fatty and savory
foods or sweet ones caused my vitality to lessen and my
depression to worsen, thereby reinforcing my hedonistic and
suicidal tendencies. I had entered a vicious circle, or
rather a downward spiral that led to hell.
Fortunately, before it was too late, I became disgusted with
my way of life, as opposed to life itself. I was less a
victim of circumstances than a fool who brought about his
own misery, on account of his negative attitude and
self-destructive behavior. I began my uphill journey to
wisdom and health.
Health is the basis for every human achievement, even when
it is poor, in which case it provides a lot less vitality
and longevity than when it is good. I pledged to do
everything possible to be healthy to maximize my potential
to live and love.
In fact, health is not just a matter of vitality and
longevity; it is also a matter of sanity. A sound mind is a
complement to a sound body. Furthermore, the one is
dependent on the other. This dependence had dawned on me
with dazzling clarity a few months after I had moved into my
apartment and improved my diet. By then I had studied many
health books. They had helped me define and meet my
nutritional requirements much more wisely.
My body needed a balanced and moderate amount of
carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, minerals, and vitamins to
function well. Correlatively, the foods containing these
nutrients had to be properly chewed to aid digestion and
absorption (this did not apply to fiber: a type of
carbohydrate that the body can neither digest nor absorb).
Proper chewing reduces foods to mush and proportionally
increases the effect of the digestive juices on them or the
availability of the nutrients that are ready for absorption.
I thoroughly performed this simple chore, at the center of
life.
To start with, carbohydrates are simple or complex sugars
that I generally obtained from fruit, honey, milk products,
beets, rutabagas, potatoes, legumes (beans, lentils, or
peas), nuts, seeds, whole grains, and the bread, cereal, or
pasta made from these grains. Simple sugars and digestible
complex sugars serve as an energy source and participate in
the synthesis of DNA and RNA molecules: the genetic
information and the genetic messengers that enable the
organism to regenerate and reproduce. Indigestible complex
sugars, better known as dietary fiber, are capable of
promoting the elimination of waste through the intestine.
Refined foods are depleted of this fiber, without which
constipation is a predictable outcome that bodes ill. Except
on festive occasions, I resolutely avoided them.
Lipids include two main subdivisions: saturated,
monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated fats (with a phosphoric
component in some of them - i.e., in phospholipids versus
triglycerides that are pure fats) and cholesterol, which is
a singular fatty compound. Like simple sugars and digestible
complex sugars, saturated fats and monounsaturated fats
serve as an energy source. In addition, they contribute to
the integrity of the body tissues. Polyunsaturated fats and
cholesterol also contribute to this integrity and are used
for a variety of vital functions involving the
cardiovascular, digestive, endocrine, and immune systems.
A distinctive feature of polyunsaturated fats is their
instability. When exposed to heat, light, or air, such as in
processing, intense cooking, or prolonged everyday use, they
can suffer damage and become harmful. In view of this fact,
I was careful to eat the foods that contained them - for
example, walnuts and seeds, and the oil extracted from
either - in their most natural (unprocessed and if possible
uncooked) form and fresh (unspoiled) state. When cooking was
necessary, as in the case of fish or tofu, which numbered
among these foods, I resorted to steaming or baking in
preference to frying and proceeded with caution, while
avoiding the pitfall of undercooking. I applied the same
basic principles to the foods that contained monounsaturated
fats, like peanuts, almonds, olives, and avocado, and the
oil extracted from any of them, though these fats are less
unstable than their polyunsaturated counterparts. As for
cholesterol, found exclusively in animal products, and
saturated fats, found mostly in land animal products, they
have a reputation for causing arterial blockage and organ
dysfunction if consumed without restraint. I limited my
intake of them by following a largely vegetarian diet where
animal flesh was the exception, not the rule. Actually, I
exercised restraint in my consumption of polyunsaturated
fats and monounsaturated fats as well. The opposite, like
any lack of moderation, is a health hazard.
Now for proteins. They are various macromolecules that
comprise a large number of amino acids (nitrogenous
molecules that occur in twenty-two different forms). In the
course of digestion, these macromolecules are broken down
into these molecular components, which act thereafter as raw
material or building blocks to produce new molecules or new
macromolecules (polypeptides, smaller than proteins, or
proteins) that suit our physiological needs in many areas:
the metabolism, the blood, the mucous membranes, the skin
and the tendons, the muscles, plus the endocrine, immune,
and nervous systems. These molecular components act so if
the body has enough carbohydrates and fats to satisfy its
energy requirements. Otherwise, they are stripped of their
nitrogenous part and mobilized into satisfying these
requirements. This constitutes a waste of precious amino
acids and a burden to the kidneys, in charge of eliminating
the free nitrogenous part after the liver has transformed it
into urea. As it happened, my main sources of protein -
namely, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and the bread, cereal,
or pasta made from these grains, together with milk products
and eggs - were also rich in carbohydrates or fats. Here the
fats that mattered were saturated or monounsaturated,
whereas the polyunsaturated ones were not a favorable means
of satisfying my energy requirements, given the many other
important roles they played.
Lastly, minerals and vitamins are a group of some thirty
substances that complement carbohydrates, lipids, and
proteins. A deficiency in one of them can hamper a bodily
function and jeopardize in so doing the health of an
individual. Collectively, as precursors or components of
useful agents, or as useful agents themselves, they assist
in numerous processes: vision, nerve impulses and
neurotransmission, muscle contraction, digestion and
absorption, regulation of blood sugar and of the metabolic
rate, respiration, energy production, regeneration and
reproduction, formation and maintenance of bones and teeth,
coagulation, protection against free radicals (noxious atoms
or molecules), and immunity. My usual sources of
carbohydrates, lipids, and protein already supplied me with
minerals and vitamins, all the more since they were
unrefined. Refining is a terrible refinement that depletes
fibers and nutrients in foods. Nevertheless, to make sure I
got enough minerals and vitamins, I rounded off these usual
sources with additional vegetables: carrots, radishes,
cauliflower, red cabbage, green vegetables, leafy or
non-leafy, garlic, and onions. I drank plenty of water to
boot, though not during or immediately after meals lest I
interfere with my digestion by flooding my stomach. Drinking
water typically contains a minute quantity of minerals. Much
more importantly, it has the ability to replenish the bodily
fluids and cleanse the system of undesirable substances.
The best thing about my improved diet was that in a few
months my state of mind had taken a turn for the better in a
big way. Never before had I thought so clearly and felt so
enterprising. I was brimming with vitality and soon became
immersed in the writing of my book on "vital efficiency." It
appeared I was a lot more capable of rationalizing and
embracing the challenge of leading a fulfilling life,
because I was a lot more alive. My energy level had risen
dramatically. I could sleep three hours, rest another two
hours, and go about my business for the remaining nineteen
hours. In conjunction with this rise, my morale was
unusually high. Circumstances alone could not account for
this boost. My relationship with my girlfriend (an extremely
kind and gentle, and rather pretty nurse) was in the
doldrums and on the brink of termination. My new apartment,
on the other hand, was a significant improvement; but what
changed for the better during the few months in question was
primarily the condition of my body, which impacted my state
of mind. I was vibrant with health, notwithstanding I still
experienced bladder problems that somewhat weakened me on
occasion. This health was both physical and mental. I had a
vigorous and joyous sense of purpose that kept me going and
especially writing.
In the effort to be healthy, a reasonable diet is not
everything. Fresh air and regular exercise ought to form
part of this effort. There are two types of exercise; both
require stretching, before and after, plus warmup and
cooldown periods, to avoid injuries. The first type of
exercise is anaerobic, not dependent on the intake of
oxygen. An example of anaerobic exercise is weightlifting.
Done frequently, in vigorous workouts, it strengthens
muscles and bones. The second and most beneficial type of
exercise is aerobic, dependent on the intake of oxygen. An
example of aerobic exercise is jogging. Done every day or a
few times a week, for at least fifteen minutes (enough to
markedly and sustainedly increase the activity of the
respiratory and cardiovascular systems, responsible for
delivering oxygen to the body tissues), it yields numerous
health benefits. Besides strengthening muscles and bones, it
raises endurance, improves the handling of stress, promotes
good mood, boosts the immune function, reduces the risk of
heart attack and stroke, and helps to prevent obesity
together with disorders like diabetes and hypertension that
often accompany this condition. In a nutshell, fresh air and
regular exercise are important aspects of a wholesome
lifestyle. They result in someone being stronger, feeling
better, and probably living longer.
Author bylines: Laurent Grenier's writing career spans over
twenty years. During this time he has broadened and deepened
his worldview, by dint of much reflection and study, and in
the end has crafted "A Reason for Living," his best work to
date.
Official web site: http://laurentgrenier.com/ARFL.html
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