Chapter 6 M
EXERCISE

 

Food has a great significance for healing. If we eat harmful food for many years, is does no good to our body and can at some stage cause diseases. On the other hand, if the diet is replaced early enough with a healthier one, it can reduce the problems and even heal some diseases. Many may have experienced this.

   Another important factor is exercise, since mere diet does not always guarantee good health: we also need a suitable amount of exercise and need to reserve time for it. It is good to note that everyday routines can amount to a lot of exercise during one year. If we, for example, walk up stairs every day for 2 minutes instead of taking the lift, it adds up to over 12 hours of exercise per year, which is already quite a lot. If we walk, for example, 700 meters back and forth once a week instead of taking the car, it also adds up to 12 hours of exercise per year.

   Exercise is important for better health. The benefits appear especially in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, because exercising improves the condition of these body parts. Exercise is also useful for people who try to lose weight. They can reach their objective easier with the help of exercise. Let's look at these both separately:

 

Effect on the heart and circulation. A good idea of the significance of exercise versus immobility is given by a study made in Gothenburg. Swedish men were put into their beds to perfect rest for five days. When the muscle power of the heart was measured both after and before the study, it was observed that the pumping ability of the heart decreased by as much as 26 per cent during the five-day rest. This indicates that if we do not move at all, activity of the heart will decrease.

   On the other hand, if we move even a little regularly (it has been presented that even ½ - 1 hours of daily exercise would be sufficient; this can include chores like vacuuming, carrying the shopping bags, clearing snow of the roads, chopping wood and such), it immediately decreases the risk of heart diseases and increases the amount of good HDL cholesterol, which prevents veins from calcifying. Research has indicated that the amount of good HDL cholesterol increased already after about 2.5 hours weekly walks.

   The next example also indicates the usefulness of walking on the heart. People in the example ate fatty food, but when they walked enough, they were still in good condition in spite of their diet:

 

(...) Mann was interested in these people, because they ate enormous amounts of fat, but had hardly any heart diseases.

   Mann got a permission to make autopsies after members of the tribe died. The cause of death wasn't a heart disease, but Mann in any case examined their hearts and observed that their heart veins were in as bad condition as those of modern Americans.

   He observed something else as well. The arteries in the hearts of the Masai tribesmen were twice as big as those of the Americans because these people walked tens of kilometers a day. Walking kept the veins in good condition. The Masai people were in good condition in spite of their fatty diet. (5)

 

Effect on weight. Exercise is beneficial also for those who are trying to lose weight, because all exercise consumes energy and fat. All activities that consume energy more than we can get from food, automatically lead to losing weight. A general rule is that if we get about 500 kilocalories (kcal; for example one grill flank portion has 350 kcal, and a donut 290 kcal) less energy per day than we consume, we will loose about half a kilo a week. Correspondingly, if the energy deficit is a little smaller, losing weight is also little slower.

   This is can be well illustrated by the next quote. It indicates how slight changes in diet and increase of exercise can easily cause you to lose several kilograms. Already after one year the change is noticeable:

 

- Walking is the best. It is the easiest, nicest and cheapest, although it takes time. Walking consumes six kilocalories a minute, 360 kilocalories an hour, if we walk quite briskly; something like six kilometers an hour. If you could walk an hour per day and eat 140 kilocalories less than you normally do, you would use up 500 kilocalories more than before. Seven times five hundred is three thousand five hundred. That amounts to half a kilo of fat. After a week, you will weigh half a kilo less. This time next year, you will have lost all of your extra twenty kilos. It may feel like a long time in the future, but think about what you did this time last year, and you'll notice that it is just like yesterday! When you begin to see the results, time will pass quickly.

  (...) It is true. You can make it sound so easy; yes, there must be some truth in it, Donna thought. (6)

 

THE HEALTH OF THE TEETH

 

The food we eat also has an impact on the condition and health of our teeth. Most teeth diseases do not come by accident: they are usually caused by the food we eat and bad tooth hygiene. If we pay a little attention to both of these, we can avoid unnecessary problems with our teeth. Important and noticeable points are for instance the following:

 

Sugar. First of all, ordinary sugar that is rife in lemonades (up to 45–60 pieces in 1.5l bottle; many juices also have a lot of sugar, but they are easy to dilute with water), sweets, and pastries makes them dangerous for the teeth. Neither do they contain important nutrients, only calories; it is the largest cause of cavity formation in the teeth. It is easy for the bacteria to form glutinous ingredients from sugar, which then attach to the surface of the teeth and form plaque. Other ingredients are not that big of a danger, with the exception of sour ingredients, found in, for example, soft drinks, sport drinks, and juices. For example, protein and fats do not damage the teeth at all. In the same way, eating food containing fiber is useful, because it keeps the teeth and gums in good condition.

 

The importance of brushing our teeth can surely not be exaggerated. If we brush our teeth regularly at least two times a day, plaque cannot form on the teeth. It is certainly wise to brush them immediately after eating food that contains sugar to prevent acid attacks. Chewing gums containing xylitol can also be good after meals.

 

The time between meals. One cornerstone against cavity formation is to keep the times between sugary meals long enough. Whether it is a question of the children's sweet day, munching pastries or soft drinks containing sugar, it is good to eat them with the main meal and not too often. If we eat them constantly throughout the day, it is extremely bad for the teeth and bacteria can easier destroy our teeth. Instead, if the times between meals are kept long enough, there is no danger of this.