Why Motion is Lotion
Yes, yes, we all know that exercise is good for us, but why? Exercise is essential for cartilage health! What is cartilage and why do you
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Cheezies or kale which one is healthier? Well…it depends, which one brings balance to your life?
Cheezies or kale, which one is healthier?
Well…it depends, which one brings balance to your life?
Are you a disciplined exerciser, juicer, worker, disciplined in every aspect of your life and you so crave that bag of cheezies, but walk past them wondering why you feel so empty despite doing everything “right”? Please, grab those cheezies and savour every chunk without a drop of guilt! But, if your dietary staples are agent orange (a.k.a cheezies), coke and mars bars, then may I suggest you pick some kale along your journey.
The word homeostasis comes from two Greek words: “Homeo” = constant, and “stasis” = stable. If we look at our bodies from the cellular perspective we realize that, most of our internal activity is about keeping our body functioning within a narrow, healthy, range. It’s about maintaining homeostasis, maintaining balance. We accomplish this by a mind-boggling amount of feedback loops and sensors that maintain homeostasis despite an ever-changing environment.
Glucose levels rise too high after a meal, insulin is released to scoop up the extra glucose and store it as fat. Glucose levels fall too low and glucagon is released to convert that fat back into glucose. We stand up and gravity pulls the blood into the lower part of our bodies. Immediately, pressure sensors in our neck detect the drop in blood pressure and tells the heart to beat harder and faster to normalize pressure.
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Our internal systems are remarkably adept at maintaining balance, but external factors can overwhelm us and our methods of coping. Our environment and lifestyle choices can slowly wear down our feedback loops and our checks and balances. Initially these imbalances give us subtle messages that something is not quite right, insomnia, irritability, heartburn/indigestion, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome. Left unchecked, the proverbial straw breaks the back of our feedback loops and a cataclysmic event ensues, heart attack, stroke, etc.
Lack of balance, lack of homeostasis eventually leads to disease. Nothing in nature escapes this basic principle. Too much water, too little water, the tree dies. Birds, insects, fungus, bacteria, viruses we all die if our environment does not allow us to maintain the balance we need to survive. We all thrive if that balance fits our individual unique needs.
Thankfully this balance is not a tightrope, our body’s feedback loops give us some room to meander off the path. But if we stray too long, push it too far, our internal checks and balances become overwhelmed.
And thankfully, we all, to some degree, know the basics in maintaining balance. We know that veggies and exercise are good for us and too much alcohol is bad for us. We know that too much stress and too little sleep is bad for us and that having friends and a job we love is good for us, because it makes us feel good.
We inherently get the broad concepts of a balanced life, but, to fine tune how much stress, how much alcohol, how much food meets our own unique requirements, we need to observe and listen. Our bodies are constantly sending us messages that we are not balanced, that we are not at ease. We are becoming dis-eased. If we want to find the balance that is right for us, we need to Learn to Listen.
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