Short or long life – your choice
There are some interesting solutions to some common ailments that are akin to 'potholes in the journey of life'.
BOOK REVIEW
(Extend Your Life by Katherine Wright) Into every person’s life must sometimes a book on health appear. I am no exception. A relative from overseas came a-visiting recently and he brought along a book entitled “Extend Your Life”.
The relative is at a stage of his life where he has everything to live for, so good health becomes top priority. As a matter of habit, I shun reading books on healthy lifestyle because most of the time, the author recommends a regimented lifestyle that leads to mostly sadness and misery for the weaker personalities.
As most of us well know, a healthy lifestyle usually means proper diet, discipline and daily exercises that would cramp most of our borderline decadent lifestyle.
One evening when there was no news of typhoons, earthquakes and suicide bombings, I turned to this book and began to read. A cursory glance at the cover reveals that it covers topics like nutrition, supplements, conventional and complementary medicine.
It sounded quite a wise move on my part to continue with chapter two after I have digested chapter one. The trouble with such books is that most of us weak mortals are too lazy to stick to any health regime that demands the cultivation of good habits.
With a resolve that was unbecoming on my part, I dove into the depths of “Extend Your Life” with a fervour that surprised me.
Very quickly I found out why we all age. It has to do with free radicals, antioxidants, our immune system, the physiology of our immune system and hormonal and genetic factors.
If all the above sounds a bit like learning thermonuclear physics, you are not far from the true path.
In some quiet moments, I began to realise that the human anatomy has all the necessary mechanisms to ensure a long and healthy life.
Ageing process
However, skeleton, joints and muscles are subjected to the dictates of the ageing process and there’s nothing we could do about the natural process.
But we can reduce the irritations and aches that come with the passages of life. Our brain, the five senses and the digestive system all contribute towards the much coveted process of “ageing gracefully”.
Alas, many human beings are careless with their lives and live to regret it in their twilight years.
Author Katherine Wright has generously offered some nuggets of information that we should accept and hopefully remember.
Wright talks about protein, carbohydrates, fats, fibre and all the necessary vitamins that will help us to proceed to the end of our natural life span without causing too much worry for our family members and other loved ones.
If you read this book slowly without any reservations, you will find yourself in the Aladdin’s cave of secrets that grants you the wish of a long and healthy life. Some of us take vitamin supplements daily without knowing much about what they do to our body.
This book helps the reader to understand fully the effects of the many vitamins on sale in pharmacies and supermarkets.
On the other end of vitamin spectrum are the super substances like carotenes, flavonoids, carnosine, CO-Enzyme Q10, phospholipids, alpha lipoic acid and a host of others.
These so-called “super substances” may give you that oomph that old timers need at some stage in their lives. But realistically, consuming drawers full of vitamins can be quite a strain on your wallet.
Faith an effective medicine
So each individual must decide for himself what he needs and what he can afford.
One of the chief recommendations in this book is exercise and lots of it. Regular exercise usually leads to fitness, stamina and endurance. You can achieve a respectable level of fitness if you are a regular at your local gym or if you believe in oriental systems, you may take up yoga, tai-chi or qigong.
Somewhere in the list of physical disciplines is meditation which some people find quite enjoyable and enlightening. It is said that those who are religious often have “safety nets” that make their aches and pains less of a burden.
Believe it or not, faith is allegedly one of the most effective medicines that cost practically nothing. Some who travel frequently on spiritual quests are of the opinion that the ultimate reward is perfect health.
The rest of us, the imperfect ones, are constantly trying to develop a youthful brain, positively thinking and managing various types of stresses.
“Extend Your Life” has some interesting solutions to some common ailments that are akin to “potholes in the journey of life”. How much we can avoid such potholes and how fast and smooth our journey will be is up to us.
One thing is for sure, we are not immortals. We will all expire eventually. The objective is to make our earthly existence as painless as possible and as enjoyable as the years can afford us.