Laws Of Healthy Living

A medical expert treating a patient in Port Harcourt Photo: Prince Obinna Dele

As with every other
law(s) guiding life’s principles, the laws of health are those that if not strictly adhered to would not only result to ill health but even death.
The ‘Natural Remedies Encyclopedia’, Sixth Edition, listed eight laws of health which include: the Air you breath, the sunlight on your body, the power of Abstemiousness, the rest your body needs, the exercise you obtain, the food you eat, the water that cleanses and your trust in God. Let’s have a look at each of these laws.
The air you breathe: Millions of people suffer from a wide variety of ailments that are partly caused by an insufficient supply of oxygen. The problem is that most people do not breathe correctly and this continually weakens their health, their happiness and their hold on life itself.
Without air man dies. Air is the most vital element for man and animals. One may live for weeks without food or for days without water, but deprived of air, he will perish within minutes. According to a health educator, Dr. Fiberesima Iyaye, “in order to have good blood, we must breathe well. Full deep inspirations of pure air which fill the lungs with oxygen, purify the blood. They impart to it a bright colour and send it a life giving current event to every part of the body”.
A good respiration soothes the nerves. It stimulates the appetite, renders digestion more perfect and induces sound refreshing sleep. If an insufficient supply of oxygen is received, the blood moves sluggishly. The waste poisonous matter which should be thrown off in the exhalations from the lungs is retained and the blood becomes impure. Not only the lungs but the stomach, liver and brain are affected. The stain becomes sallow, digestion is retarded, the heart is depressed, the brain clouded, the thoughts are confused. Infact, the whole system becomes depressed and inactive, and peculiarly susceptible to disease.
“Even though the present security, social and economic states of the society may not encourage us to adhere to this rule, it should be noted that it is of the highest consequence to your life, health and happiness, that you keep fresh air in every room in your home and especially in your sleeping rooms. If you are not able to have your windows open in very cold weather, then leave a door open into another room where a widow is open. By day and night always keep a current of air flowing through the house. You do not want to sit or sleep in a draft but some air circulating throughout your home, a lot in the summer and less in winter is a necessity to good health.
The sunlight on your body: There are millions of red corpuscles constantly flowing through very small blood vessels throughout every part of the 3,000 square inches of the skin. There are also tiny oil glands just beneath the skin which biochemists call sterols. As sunshine strikes them, substances within them called ergosterols are irradiated and transformed into vitamin D which when carried to all parts of the body enables it to have strong bones, teeth and nails.
Every living thing in our world is dependent upon the sun. Without sunshine, nothing could live. Sunlight is composed of energy wavelengths of various types.
Adequate sunlight on the body will lower respiratory rate and cause breathing to be slower, deeper and even easier. Sunlight increases the capacity of the blood to carry more oxygen and take it to the body tissues. It dramatically lowers high blood pressure, decreases blood cholesterol, lowers excessively high blood sugars and increases white blood cells.
Even a single exposure to the ultraviolent light in sunlight will greatly increase the oxygen content of the body and this effect will continue for several days. The natural remedies encyclopedic also revealed that sunlight destroys harmful bacteria implying that it is used to treat bacterial infections.
Sunlight on the body both calms the nerves and increases adrenalin. This relaxation is not merely mental, it is physical also. Both gastric and duodenal ulcer patients have been found to improve under the beneficial effects of sunshine.
Thus, as against the fear of darkening of the skin, especially by the women folks, it has proven necessary that the body and living apartments be exposed to sunlight for a healthy living.
The rest your body needs: As one reads through any material on health remedies, the mention of rest is hardly mentioned apart from inject this and swallow that. Yet, rest is one of the most basic healers known to mankind. When you become sick, what is the first thing that you do? You lie down.
Can you imagine a hospital where all the patients only go to bed at night? No, they are lying flat in bed most of the day as well as all through the night because the restorative power of rest is a key to the success of all other remedial agencies. But just now, you are not ill. Do you need rest when you are well? To a startling degree, it is the lack of adequate rest while you are well that causes you to become sick.
For the simple principle, one does not always have to sleep in order to rest. Just a change of pace-doing something different can bring rest to the mind and body. Apart from lying down, the body can be trained to relax.
The “go, get attitude” so common to western civilisation leads many to nervous breakdowns. As objectionable a word in their diction, they simply do not take time to rest. The reason so many people have breakdowns is that they try to surpass and have the supremacy. So they go at high speed, without adequate rest, until the body madrinery breaks under the load.
No muscle works continually. After some work there is some rest. Even the heart, the hardest-working muscle in your body rest after each beat. The lungs rest at the end of each breath. And it works for a lifetime, with only one tenth of second rest stops and so, whatever one does to deprive it of that rest will eventually cause a serious trouble.
Amid the hurry and rush of life, our bodies and minds need rest. Even metals can become tired. They lose their vitality from repeated shocks and strains and become exhausted and breakdown under the load.
And we all need sleep good sound sleep every night. Work and rest during the day and when evening comes, try and get the sleep and of course, in the natural way. During the sleeping hours, the body is repaired and invigorated for another day of work. So, be regular in obtaining your sleep, and moreso, on a definite schedule every night.
To be continued in next edition.

Lady Godknows Ogbulu