Health-A Necessity Of Life
There is an old saying in English that health is wealth. Of course, this is clichéd and does not convey any real information. Practically, health is the state of being free from sickness or injury. But people use it in a more general sense to mean the soundness of mind and body. To be in a good state to pursue one’s goals. It is definitely important. Those who have health understand it and those who have lost it, in some form or other, understand it even better. Everyone knows the importance of health but how to maintain it is a difficult task.
A very important factor in maintaining health is exercise. In the rural areas, most people do get some of it. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said of urban people. Many well-to-do people in the cities lead a very sedentary lifestyle. They come out rarely and do little to no exercises. This is really bad. However much you try to get solutions for healthy life without exercise, the truth is that exercise is a must. Some aerobics and hard exercises would help a person remain healthy. If that is not possible, one must try to walk at least two kilometers every day.
After exercises, comes food. Food is a very important factor. First of all, food must be fine-tuned in relation to fat and nutrition. The amount of fat that one consumes must be pegged to the amount of exercise that he/she has. Eating fatty food without adequate exercises is a recipe for bad health. And this happens unbelievably often in cities. Moreover, taking sufficient amounts of various vitamins, proteins and minerals is very important. Insufficient nutritious food will lead to weakness.
Another evil is junk food and street food. They are tasty, but it often contains dirty water, trans fat, artificial coloring etc. People choose to ignore it, and those who work, staying far from home, don’t have other options. Still, one must try to eat home-made food and eat street-junk food rarely. This is an important rule.
Sleep is a necessary perquisite to soundness of health, though many people refuse to accept this. Children must get up to 9 hours especially for growth. Adults must also get at least 7 hours. Lack of sleep causes a variety of problems ranging from depression, immune system weakening to anxiety and loss of concentration. Sleep deprivation increases the risk of a variety of diseases like high blood pressure, blood sugar, obesity and heart diseases. On the other hand, sleep for a time interval significantly higher than 9 hours would significantly increase the danger of sudden death or stroke. Essentially most of the effects of sleeping too much or too little are quite similar, and both are ill-advised.
Environment is what surrounds us, the air, the water and the soil. There is no doubt that it plays an important role in health. Living in clean air is good and air pollution is harmful. Every year millions die due to domestic, automobile and industrial pollution. Living in pollution damages lungs, while drinking polluted or dirty water might be harmful to the liver.
Food adulteration deserves a few lines here as well. In most areas of India, up to 70 percent of milk in the market is adulterated. Much of it is not even adulterated, it is totally something other than milk, such as a mix of shampoo and oil with a little milk to avoid being suspected. Major TV channels and newspapers have published expose on major milk producers. Still, many milk consumers remain unaware of the danger. So, one must be beware of milk adulteration and check whether the milk he consumes is real and pure.
So please continue your research into everything mentioned here and try to maintain your health. No matter how old or clichéd, in the end it is true that health is wealth.
Author: Aniruddha Aloke, Mumbai, Second Prize Winner of International Essay Contest organized in February-2019
