1. Exercise, Nutrition and Health

Staying healthy is one of the keys of happiness. When you are healthy, you not only feel good but you are able to do all things you want to do. As the saying goes, health is wealth! A rich man will not be happy if he is sick all the time and cannot enjoy his wealth but a poor and healthy man can count his blessings and do whatever he wants to do. So, what exactly is health? Health is the level of functional and metabolic efficiency of an organism at both the micro(cellular) and macro(social) level. In the medical field, health is commonly defined as an one's ability to efficiently respond to challenges (stressors) and effectively restore and sustain a "state of balance," known as homeostasis. Generally, health is the condition of one's body and mind.

Nowadays, as more and more people are getting health conscious, there is a great demand for health products and supplements. Just read the newspapers or watch television commercials and you will definitely see some promotions on such products! However, you do not have to eat health supplements to stay healthy. By simply having a balance and nutritious diet, you can stay healthy. Nutrition is very important to the body. There are seven main class of nutrients that the body needs which are namely carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, mineral, fibre and water. Lacking certain nutrients in your diet will cause malnutrition. For example, deficiency of vitamin C causes scurvy. Carbohydrate and fat provide us with energy whilst vitamins and minerals are important to maintain the physiological processes in our body. We need to eat every of the class of nutrients in the correct proportions as too much or less may lead to health complications. According to the food piramid by the World Health Organization, the food we should eat the most are sources carbohydrates followed by vegetable and fruits, meat and dairy products and lastly fatty and sugary food like chocolate and sweets. We should also drink 1.5 litres of water a day or 7 to 8 glasses of water to keep our body properly hydrated. However, how much water a person should drink also depends on how much our body loses water in our daily activities.

Bread and rice are good sources of carbohydrates, fish and meat contain protein and minerals which are important for growth and vegetables and fruits contain vitamins and fibre. Furthermore, it is better to eat white meat like chicken and fish than red meat such as mutton and beef. Eating various colours of food is also a fun way to eat a healthy meal. For example, red tomatoes are rich in vitamin A while green broccoli is a good source for vitamin C. The way you cook the food also influences your health. Undeniably, steamed or boiled food such as steamed chicken and boiled egg is heathier than deep fried chicken and scramble eggs. Why? Simply because they contain less oil or cholesterol which may lead to cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, we should not eat too much fast food because the way they usually contain high levels of cholesterol and fat. Apart from that, reducing salt intake is also very important as consuming too much salt and 'ajinomoto' will cause high blood pressure and kidney problems. As the saying goes, you are what you eat! Therefore, healthy eating is to stay healthy.

Recently, our government has decided that all fast food advertisements on television must be banned during prime hours to make sure that children are not negatively inffluenced by such advertisements. The move means that fast food companies will not be able to sponsor children’s television programmes. Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said that the cabinet approved this after considering the ill effects of such advertisements on children below 12. Chua said the cabinet had also agreed on new compulsory regulations requiring information on the contents of fast food, such as calories, protein, fat and sugar, to be printed on the wrapping or box. Chua said the measures were important as Malaysians were getting unhealthy. He said 30 per cent of the population suffered from hypertension while nine per cent had diabetes. He said 500 out of every one million Malaysians were undergoing dialysis, making this the highest ratio among countries.

Apart from nutrition, physical exercise is also pivotal to keep our body fit and strong. Our body is engineered by God to work and therefore we should not be complacent in using it. Generally, we can divide exercises into three categories which are flexibility exercises such as stretching improves the range of motion of muscles and joints, aerobic exercises such as jogging, cycling and walking which increases cardiovascular endurance and lastly anaerobic exercises like weight lifting and sprinting which increases short-term muscle strength. So, why is exercise so important? The benefits of exercise is tremendous! Exercise is very important in mantaining physical fitness and contributes to maintaining a healthy weight, building and mantaining bone density, muscle strength, joint mobility, promoting psychological well-being and strengthens the immune system. Exercise is also known to prevent serious and life-threatening chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, insomnia, heart disease and depression. Both aerobic and anaerobic has been known to increase the mechanical efficiency of the heart via organ hypertrophy. In other words, exercise increases the efficiency of the blood circulation so that oxygen can be delivered efficiently to all the organs and cells in the body. Therefore, someone who exercises regularly at least up to 20 minutes three times a week will not tire easily. Moreover, exercise also increases one's threshold for pain. It also has been shown that exercise can improve cognitive functioning via the improvement of the hippocampus-dependent spatial learning. Studies has proved that those who exercise regularly will be less prone to mental diseases such as dementia when they reach old age. As the saying goes, a healthy mind comes from a healthy body!

To stay healthy is to have a healthy lifestyle. Apart from exercise and a nutritious diet, we must also avoid unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking alcohol and taking drugs. For example, scientific studies have shown that smoking causes lung cancer, throat and mouth cancer, heart disease, emphysema, impotence, reduced memory and etc. In the United States, some 500,000 deaths per year are attributed to smoking and a recent study estimated that as much as 1/3 of China's male population will suffer shortened life spans due to smoking. Meanwhile, drug addicts are prone to diseases such as Aquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome(AIDS) and hepatitis B.

Besides that, stress management is also important to mantain a healthy mind. According to Richard Lazarus, stress can be divided into eustress and distress. Where stress enhances function such as strength training, it may be considered eustress. Persistent stress that is not resolved distress may lead to anxiety or depression. Stress can be divided into three stages which are alarm, resistance and exhaustion. The first stage, alarm, is when the body identifies the stress and respond to it by producing adrenaline to fight the stress. If the stressor continue to persist, the body will try the resist the stress and attempt some means to coping with stress. At stage three, all the resources are depleted and the body is finally exhausted and unable to cope with the stress. If stage three is extended, then it would lead to long term damage such as peptic ulcer, insomnia and etc. Therefore, it is important that a person should try to manage stress at stage one before it becomes chronic. For example, stress can be reduced by doing something you like, exercising, listening to music or just sharing your problems with a counsellor or a close friend.

In short, a healthy body and mind can be achieved by living a healthy lifestyle; eating healthy, exercising regularly, managing stress, avoiding drugs, cigarettes and alcohol. Health is very important because if a person is healthy, he or she can do anything. As wise people say, "If you lose money, you lose nothing. If you lose health, you lose everything."