When I walk into a hotel room, guests often tell me why they fell ill.
They also blame themselves. In both cases
they’re usually wrong.
You don’t get sick because:
1. Your “resistance” is low. You got that cold because another person gave
it to you. If it’s your fifth cold of
the year, this is a sign of what we in the medical profession call bad
luck. It’s not a defect in your immune
system. People with poor resistance
suffer terrible diseases. There is no
immune defect that gives victims too many minor infections.
2. Your diet is missing something. Americans suffer plenty of nutrition-related
ailments, but most result from too much rather than too little of some
element. Examples are obesity, high
blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and tooth decay.
3. You don’t get enough (sleep, exercise, water,
leisure). Researchers have proved beyond
a doubt that lack of sleep makes you sleepy.
Subjects kept awake for days become very drowsy. They don’t get sick. Exercise improves your sense of well-being
and strengthens muscle and bone, and it probably slows osteoporosis. Vigorous, long-term activity may protect
against coronary artery disease and prolong life. Among younger people, sloth is not
responsible for any disease. Drinking x
glasses of water a day is a harmless folk remedy. Doctors often suggest it to
prevent bladder infections, but that’s common sense (i.e. it sounds good, but
there’s no evidence that it works).
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