Health
Picture #1: You wouldn’t do this...No, Of course you wouldn’t pour water into the gas tank of such a lovely, expensive car. That would be ridiculous, crazy. But what about the priceless machine called the human body? It will only take so much punishment, you know. Scientists have been sounding ominous warnings about cholesterol levels, the use of tobacco and alcohol, nervous tension, and obesity. Why press your luck? The hospitals and mental institutions are already packed with people who have ignored the rules of the human body. Why insist upon joining them? Somebody cares how you treat your body machine (somebody bigger than you and I). More may be involved here than you have dared to imagine.
Lieutenant James Cook opened a small black box containing his instructions from the British Admiral and read them in silence. “Hmm! Rather tall order, I’d say!” he said at last.
“You are to take three astronomers from the Royal Society to Tahiti in order to view the passage of Venus between the earth and the sun, which is to take place June 3, 1769. While there, you are to make friends of the natives and draw maps and descriptions of the islands.”
“That part should be easy,” commented Cook, who had recently surveyed the St. Lawrence and mapped Newfoundland.
“After the scientists are finished in Tahiti, you are to open the set of sealed instruction in the black box. All the time you are gone you are to look after your crew’s health and keep your ship safe.”
“That’s going to be the hard part,” Cook shook his head. Besides 11 passengers, he had been given a crew of 83; twice the number needed to sail a ship the size of the Endeavour. In those days it was expected that more than half the crew would die of scurvy or other perils of the voyage.
“There will be strict health rules on this ship!” Cook told the assembled crew. “The ship must be kept spotlessly clean and well aired. Everyone is to drink lots of water. You are to eat fresh fruits or vegetables every day. You will be issued a daily dose of lemon juice to prevent scurvy. We have a goat on board to supply us with fresh milk daily.”
As a result of Cook’s health rules, 56 of the 95 returned home safely. Their three-year journey took them around the world; they explored Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia. Compare that with Magellan’s voyage. He started with five ships and 277 men. Only one ship, with 18 men, returned to Spain. The ratio of survival was six men out of a hundred. On Cook’s voyage 60 out of a hundred survived, ten times as high a ratio.
Open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” God wants us all to be healthy and happy. That’s why He gives us health rules.
When we break those rules we will surely suffer.
Picture #2: There are 8 basic laws of health. I remember them by the acronym NEWSTART.
N: Nutrition is very important. In Genesis 1:29; and 2:16, God gave Adam and Eve every herb and tree that yielded seed. He added herbs of the field in Genesis 3:18. The diet God gave people in the beginning was fruit, grains, nuts and vegetables.
After the flood God told Noah in Genesis 9:2-4, he could eat every moving thing that lives but to not eat the blood. Some people argue that God gave Noah permission to eat things like snakes and cockroaches. But in Genesis 7:2 it shows us that Noah knew the difference between clean and unclean animals.
In Leviticus 11:1-12, God states what animals we can eat and not eat because the children of Israel forgot what animals were clean and unclean.
Picture #3: Turn to Leviticus 11:3, “Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud that you may eat.”
Picture #4: Go to verse 9, “These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers that you may eat.”
Go to Leviticus 11:13-19; it lists the birds we can’t eat. Picture #5: This is a slide that shows what birds you can eat.
Picture #6: Go to verse 21, “Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth.”
In verse 29 and 30, it tells us not to eat the things that creep on the ground. For example lizards, mice and geckos.
Picture #7: I’m so glad God doesn’t want us to eat lizards, pigs and buzzards. The reason he forbids them is because they eat dead animals. The animals that God allows us to eat are vegetarians. You can get trichinosis worm and other gross stuff from eating bacon. I choose not to have worms living in my muscles and joints.
E: Picture #8: Exercise is important too. When you exercise the blood flows through your body quickly cleansing it from impurities and lubricating your joints. You can reverse the disease processes of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, osteoporosis (bone loss), colon cancer and diabetes with regular exercise. A combination of good nutrition and moderate exercise can help you lose weight or keep you at a healthy weight.
Have you ever felt depressed? Exercise may be the cure. It helps increase the hormone serotonin which is necessary for balanced mental health. There is some proof that exercise decreases how we react to stress, therefore improving our mood also.
Scientist have proven that you may increase your lifespan by 2-3 years with regular exercise. That doesn’t seem like all that much, but if someone could create a magic pill to cure all cancers it would only increase our longevity by 1-2 years.
As you can see, the benefits of exercise are numerous. In recent studies they have found that moderate exercise is just as good as strenuous exercise and less hard on your body. “No pain, no gain is an out dated motto” so have no fear, get out there and start doing your favorite exercise 3-5 times per week.
W: Water is one of the most important nutrients in the human body. We can only last, at the most, three days without water. Water helps to maintain a normal body temperature, metabolizes fat, and is essential for carrying waste materials out of the body. Your body needs water in order to function because it is 85% water.
Let’s talk about your brain. Your brain runs on electrical impulses. Guess how the electricity gets around? It travels through the water in your brain.
Water is not only good for us on the inside, but it is also good for us on the outside. By washing the outside of your body you wash away dirt and germs.
Do you want your brain to work better and your body to look cleaner? The key is to drink 6 to 8 cups of water every day and take a shower or bath regularly.
S: Sunshine is a vital ingredient in our daily lives. When you go outside in the sunshine the ultraviolet light converts cholesterol in the skin to vitamin D. If we expose six square inches of our skin to direct sunlight for one hour per day, we will obtain our daily requirement for vitamin D.
Almost all of the food we eat depends upon sunlight to grow. In fact, the energy our bodies receive from the food we eat is, sunlight that the plant has stored. It’s like the experiment you probably did in elementary school. Place a plant in sunlight and it thrives, place a plant in a dark closet and it is colorless, limp and would eventually die.
Ultraviolet light is useful in treating many different diseases. It also prevents many diseases by helping the body maintain its defense against disease, stabilizing blood sugar, decreasing blood pressure and heart rate, increasing muscular endurance, keeping skin smooth and protected, and removing poisonous chemicals from the bloodstream faster. And yes, it increases the serotonin in your brain, which makes you happier and gives you a greater sense of well-being. As you can see there are many benefits in getting a little sun on your skin.
But like with all good things, moderation is the key. The main concern is sun burn. Do you want to look like this? (picture # 9) Overexposure to the sun creates wrinkles, moles and the biggest concern is skin cancer. Skin cancer kills 6,500 to 7,500 people every year. Also overheating can lead to heat exhaustion or sunstroke. The key to prevention is to avoid sunburn and overexposure. A helpful motto to remember when sunbathing is "Not too much-as often as possible."
T: Temperance is the moderate use of those things that are good, while abstaining from those things that are harmful. This requires self-control which is a gift from God that comes to us when we become friends with Jesus. Temperance is required in order to build a lifestyle that is in balance physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. Once we have the power of God working in us, we can practice moderation in those things that are good. We will avoid extremes-the “over/unders.”
Overeating leads to stomach aches and/or obesity. Undereating leads to malnutrition or starvation. Overwork leads to exhaustion or injury. Under work leads to atrophy (wasting away) and weakness. Over-rest leads to weakness and laziness. Under-rest breeds mental confusion and exhaustion.
Turn to Proverbs 23:31-33; “Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will utter perverse things.”
Turn to 1 Corinthians 3:16,17; “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” Alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and drugs, as commonly used, do no good whatsoever and have been proven to trigger many harmful side effects. They also play a role in violent behavior, car accidents and fires. They not only are a big waste of money, they shorten your life. One of the best ways to postpone your funeral is to never use or quit using drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
Here is Dawn’s story-->Does anyone know what it’s like to be in intensive care for a week due to drug overdose? To be a candidate for a liver transplant at the age of 16 due to drug use? To stare down the barrel of a gun night after night but not having the guts to pull the trigger....due to drug use. Well I do. I’ve been in the hospital wishing to die, killed my liver for my drugs, and lived through those endless nights. I lived in Hell three years because of my addiction. Snorted thousands of dollars away. Why? Because my best friend told me it would help.
My name is Dawn and I’m an alcoholic and drug addict. My drug of choice was cocaine, although I would do whatever was available. I began drinking alcohol when I was 14. It appeared to give me a new confidence, but, I assure you, that was a deception. I became sexually promiscuous and my reputation in high school was ruined. Drug use followed.
Over the years I experimented with all sorts of illegal drugs, but one night at a party this doctor that I knew was there and he was injecting people with cocaine. I was afraid to try it, but he assured me that it was not addictive (of course I realize now that he was a junkie himself), and that it was perfectly safe if you didn’t use anyone else’s needle. Needless to say, I found my drug of choice. It made me forget about caring for anything or anyone but myself. It consumed my life. It tore my family and my friends apart. It took me away from my children. It sent me to the depths of hell, and I did things that I never would have dreamed possible. None of that made me stop.
Finally, I ended up overdosing. I flat lined. Clinically died. When I woke up three days later a doctor was standing over me. I had needle marks all over my arms, hands, wrist, legs, feet. Dried blood everywhere. Bruises everywhere. He looked down at me and said, "There is no medical reason that you should be alive today. You should be dead. If I were you, I would take this chance that God has offered you, and try to get help, because you are really still dead!"
I said, " I can’t do that, there is no one to watch my kids, I’m all they’ve got!"
And he replied, "They haven’t had you in a long time. And as far as someone to keep them, I can call the state of Louisiana to go pick them up, because you don’t deserve them."
Well, that’s what did it for me. That was my bottom. That doctor was absolutely right. I was disgusting. I immediately went into treatment, and that was over nine years ago. It has been difficult at times throughout the years, but I have lived my life drug and alcohol free. Now, I’m even nicotine free. I am now a functioning member of society, a good friend, and most importantly, I am a good mother to my children, and a role model that they can be proud of.
P.S. One more thing that drug and alcohol cost me - my life. I now have a fatal disease due to my intravenous drug use.
As you can see temperance isn’t always “moderation in all things”. It is sometimes saying “no” to things that are harmful to our bodies. I know that I don’t want to end up looking like this. (Picture #10.) Do you?for
A: Here is the short version: no air, no life. Actually there is more to it. Breathing in fresh air assists the whole body in many ways. Normal deep breathing aids digestion by massaging the abdominal organs. Deep breathing gets oxygen into the blood with each breath, allowing the heart to slow down a little. As you breath out nitrogen you get rid of some the impurities from your body.
If you are falling asleep in that boring English class, asked to be excused and run up and down the hall or better yet, outside. You will come back feeling refreshed and might even surprise your teacher on the next exam. Scientist did studies and found that rats learned twice as fast after getting fresh air everyday.
You can combine 20-30 minutes of fresh air with exercise and “hit two birds with one stone”. So if you want to keep living get some fresh air every day.
R: Picture yourself in a little red convertible, cruising down the highway to pick up your date. Sun’s shining, the top’s down, the breeze is ruffling your hair. Oh yeah, this is living!
The engine sputters and skips a beat. These are dependable cars; what could be going wrong? Then you glance at the gas gauge, and your hopes trickle away with the last of your fuel. Your zippy little sports car, with which you were going to truly impress your date, coughs its last and rolls to a silent stop on the expressway shoulder. You my friend, are fresh out of luck.
Hope you’ve got your walking shoes on.
Just as you can’t drive a car that’s out of gas, in the same way you can’t run your own life without “brain juice”. Yes, I’m talking about serotonin again. You can have the best car in the world, but without gas you aren’t going to go anywhere. You can have the strongest, the most beautiful body in the world, but without sufficient rest life is going to be ugly for you and those around you.
Lack of sleep lowers the brain’s serotonin level, therefore you dream less and dreams are necessary to the mental health. Among other things, they’re the way the brain processes the day’s events and problems. You will become increasingly lethargic, irritable, depressed, critical and withdrawn from people. Picture #11.
Studies have proven that sleep deprivation make it harder for us to handle stress, we concentrate poorly and make poor decisions. Drivers falling asleep cause 100,000 accidents and 1,500 deaths in the US every year.
During sleep the body renews tissues, forms new red blood cells and releases growth hormone. Interrupted sleep may stunt growth. Recent studies show that during sleep the brain processes all new information obtained during the day. Students who are sleep deprived can lose up to 30% of what they have studied 2 days earlier.
You want to be cheerful, happy, less stressed, and as tall as those basketball players make sure you get those zzz’s 8-10 hours per night.
T: Picture #12: Trusting in God is the most important law. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6:33, 34; “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” I have found that on the days that I place God first my day runs more smoothly, thus I finishing more projects. If we put God first and trust that He will help us to live healthfully; all these wonderful benefits from keeping the health laws and much much more will be added to you.
