Pursuit of health has no express train: Pursuit of health starts with lifestyle

Author: Tian Benchun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: Timeless wisdom, highlighting modern characteristics, integrating various aspects of life, encompassing material, spiritual, and humanistic dimensions of life. Introducing the efforts of the Western world, and the eternal truths: "Not enjoying blessings is foolish, and suffering is a blessing" – the call of seasoned experts. Cultivating a healthy lifestyle – the "right path to a healthy life." Health-promoting factors that can be controlled by individual will, without requiring financial expenditure, represent a long-term effort to improve health and live a life in harmony with health. Only persistence holds value. A true health manual, beneficial to read from cover to cover. "Health"; "Health is gold"; "Better to have everything but illness, than nothing but illness" – at some point, people began to recognize the paramount importance of health. Who among those living in this world would willingly endure the torment of illness? Who doesn’t wish to possess a healthy body to fully enjoy life? Yet, hope is hope, and desire is desire. When it comes to following scientific guidance for health every day, especially when it requires "voluntarily seeking hardship" as a "sacrifice," many find it difficult to put into practice. Many are unwilling to give up the opportunity to "enjoy life." As the monk Jigong sang, "Everyone says immortals are good, but they can’t forget fame and status; Everyone says immortals are good, but they can’t forget wealth and profit." It is truly said, "Everyone says health is good, but they can’t give up their rich and fatty diets; Everyone says health is good, but they refuse to exercise or run." On one hand, they wish to be healthy and live to a hundred, yet on the other, they want to avoid "hardship" and "exertion," while still "enjoying" and indulging in rich foods and drinks. They come and go amidst smoke, wine fills the air. If this continues for 10 years, 20 years, health will leave them in this "blessing." Since the late 1970s, when China began implementing economic reforms and an open-door policy, its economy has developed rapidly, with a continuously rising gross national product and significant improvements in people’s lives. Many have moved from poverty to subsistence, while others have transitioned from subsistence to affluence. Amidst these profound changes, lifestyles have also undergone significant transformations. Due to reforms, opening up, and foreign exchanges, coupled with the influence of media, Western culture and lifestyles have increasingly impacted the Chinese people. Unhealthy Western fast-food chains like McDonald’s and KFC, high in calories and low in fiber, have dominated urban fast-food industries, attracting many children and young people. Disco halls with loud noises are also popular among the youth. Sugary drinks and stimulant-containing beverages like Coca-Cola and coffee are reshaping China’s beverage habits. Especially concerning young people, uncontrolled lifestyles are affecting them. On our media, advertisements, videos, films, and other related information frequently appear, shaping our perceptions and lifestyles. Thus, while we embrace the good aspects of the West, unhealthy and unhealthy elements are also influencing us. Some communication scholars refer to lifestyle diseases as the "third communicable disease," spread through media, excluding diseases transmitted by microorganisms and vectors. Statistics show that 45% of contemporary human diseases and 60% of deaths are related to lifestyle; in China’s top 10 causes of death, unhealthy behaviors and lifestyles account for 44.7% of pathogenic factors. These statistics and data fully demonstrate that the health of the Chinese people is facing a serious threat from unhealthy lifestyles. However, what is frightening is that most people lack awareness of the health-harming factors in daily life and do not understand the relationship between lifestyle and health. In their minds, the concept of "healthy lifestyle" has yet to take root. What is even worse is that many people are treating health-harming factors as sources of enjoyment in their daily lives, and their health is gradually deteriorating without their realization. This is one of the reasons we wrote this book. Additionally, with rising living standards, more people are beginning to pay attention to their health and have the financial means to pursue it, hoping to enjoy a healthy life. However, due to cultural, historical, and commercial economic factors, many do not know how to pursue health correctly, and many of their good intentions are misguided, even exploited by cults and superstitions. The profound lessons from many incidents in recent years highlight the urgent need for scientific and correct guidance in people’s pursuit of health. It is crucial and urgent to widely promote health education and scientific knowledge dissemination, providing people with scientific health guidance and combating pseudoscience, cults, ignorance, and superstition. – This is the second reason we are eager to write this book. In fact, in the public’s pursuit of health, attention should be focused on, economically effective, simple and practical changes in unhealthy behaviors and the adoption of a healthy lifestyle. As long as we pay attention to learning, cultivating, and establishing a healthy lifestyle in our daily lives, we can effectively reduce the risk of suffering from various diseases. For example, it can lower the incidence of chronic diseases by 70%–80% and significantly reduce the occurrence of certain infectious diseases. We can avoid many diseases altogether or delay their onset. There is no mystery here, nor is specialized knowledge required. Therefore, everyone should understand that cultivating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the fundamental method and principle for pursuing health. We must share these basic life principles with people, handing them the golden key to health. This is the third reason we wrote this book. To this end, we compiled this book. We hope it can serve as a guide to readers’ healthy lives and the golden key to opening the door to health. Let us shout loudly: "To be healthy, start with your lifestyle!" Let us live healthily and enjoy a healthy life.