THE SEVEN NUMBERS THAT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE
2nd Edition: The Corporate Edition
T is for Training: It shows the amount of activity in your life as reflected in your level of fitness.
The T in our TROUBLE Assessment stands for Training. It is the measure of activity we do on a regular basis and the first of The Seven Numbers that will save your life. Training includes all forms of exercise as well as physical activity. Clearly, our bodies were made to move.
Over the past several decades, the overall amount of training of Americans has decreased dramatically. With the dawn of the industrial age of the twentieth century, major changes were well underway that would result in dramatic differences in the amount of daily activity people participated in.
R is for Roundness: It can be captured by your waist circumference or your Body Mass Index (BMI), a formula comparing your weight in relation to your height.
The R in our TROUBLE Assessment stands for Roundness. It is the measure of your weight in relation to your height—your Body Mass Index (BMI). Roundness is directly linked to Training. When our Training goes up, our Roundness goes down and with this decrease comes a decrease in our level of Oil, Unacceptable Sugar, Blood Pressure, and Exploding Plaque. Unfortunately, just the opposite seems to be taking place in America.
Roundness is on its way up. The acceleration of our portliness really hit full stride in the last ten years of the 20th century. In 1991, only four states had a population of 15 percent or more who were over 30 pounds overweight. By 1999, all but a few states had reached this mark in obesity. Indeed, we have a serious epidemic on our hands.
O is for Oil: It is a measure of the quantity and quality of the fats in your blood (triglycerides, LDL, HDL).
he O in our TROUBLE Assessment stands for Oil. It is the quantity and quality of fats we have in our body. While too much of the wrong fat can be deadly, not having enough of the right fat can also pose problems.
Oil plays a vital role in the human body. It surrounds every cell like an envelope, separating the inside from the outside. Oil is also the building block of our hormones—the internal messengers that tell our body how to function. Oil surrounds our nerve cells, allowing rapid communication from our head to our toes. Needless to say, trying to live life on a very lowfat (low-oil) diet is not sensible and could throw our whole system out of balance. We need healthy fat in our diet every day
U is for Unacceptable Sugar: It indicates the sugar levels in your blood.
The U in our TROUBLE Assessment stands for Unacceptable Sugar. The numbers connected with Unacceptable Sugar show you how well your body is dealing with your intake of carbohydrates. Our body definitely needs sugar for energy to function properly. But too much sugar is a recipe for disaster we want to avoid.
One of the most interesting and controversial issues in medicine today is the effect refined carbohydrates, such as table sugar, has on our bodies. In his book Sugar Blues, William Duffy got this controversy going with his proclamation that the introduction of sugar has led to the collapse of every great society from Egypt to the present day. While many medical experts viewed this as fringe sensationalism, the publication of the book Sugar Busters! by H. Leighton Steward, Morrison Bethea, MD, Samuel Andrews, MD, and Luis Balart, MD, rekindled the flame.
B is for Blood Pressure: It measures the pressure on the inside of your blood vessels.
The B in our TROUBLE Assessment stands for Blood Pressure. It is the measure of the force at which our blood flows through our arteries. Knowing this number is a major key to knowing if there is any TROUBLE lurking within.
Our blood vessels play a major role in keeping us functioning properly. They make up the transportation system of our body and consist of a series of pipes that carry oxygen, food, messages, and waste products to and from each cell. Every twenty-three seconds, five to six quarts of blood circulate from the heart to the tissues of the body and back. The oxygen, glucose and other nutrients carried in these channels are the lifeblood every cell needs to live. Without these nutrients, our cells would die in a matter of minutes.
L is for Lousy Habits: It identifies things in your life that hold you back from good health.
The L in our TROUBLE Assessment stands for Lousy Habits. A habit is a behaviour pattern developed by frequent repetition. It is closely connected with both the way we think and how we feel emotionally. Lousy Habits rob us of a quality life and in some cases, shorten our years. They compound the negative effects of unhealthy food choices, increased Roundness and a lack of Training in our lives.
There are countless Lousy Habits we can develop, ranging from taking drugs and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol to watching too much TV and not getting enough sleep. But there is one Lousy Habit I want to zero in on—one that has impacted the lives of almost all of us directly or indirectly. That is the Lousy Habit of smoking.
E is for Exploding Plaque: It exposes the fat buildup inside your arteries that leads to cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes), the #1 killer in the U.S. for both women and men
The E in our TROUBLE Assessment stands for Exploding Plaque. Throughout our journey, I have talked about plaque formation and the problems it brings. In this final section, we want to take a closer look at the reality of what happens to men and women when plaque builds up in the arteries and then ruptures without warning.
Conclusion
As we wrap things up, I want to address a question I get asked quite often: “Dr. Conard, is this food good or is it bad?” Unless you are eating toxins, I = believe there is no such thing as “good” or “bad” food. The context of what and how much you are eating is the key. Depending on where you are in life and what is going on inside your body, foods are either more or less likely to help you achieve health.
What keeps Healthy People well? Knowledge!
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