Art of Medicine PA                                                                                                    

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The Strength of Good Nutrition

Eduardo J. Balbona, M.D.

Which is stronger?

A board of oak or a single acorn?

A granite stone or your little finger?

Once in the ground, the board will decay while the acorn grows into a strong new oak tree.  The wind and rain will grind the stone to dust, yet your hands and body can grow stronger each day.

The difference is LIFE.

Life is the most powerful force on the planet.  Life creates you anew from your diet and your habits.  Each day you gradually create the person you will be tomorrow and years from now. All the atoms in your body are exchanged every few months.  Your body is not simply a collection of static pieces but rather the constant flow of life moments that act on every atom, molecule and every body part.  The momentum of life springs from the information within every cell in your body, within every strand of DNA. The raw materials of your health lie in the choices you make each day the foods you eat, your level of exercise and the effects of your good as well as your bad habits.

What you eat matters.

Poor nutrition is a risk factor for heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, stroke, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, respiratory problems as well as cancers of the breast, colon and prostate. The body mass index (BMI) is simply a measure of the ratio of your weight relative to your height that is useful in gauging your weight status.  The American Cancer Society conducted a 14-year study of one million adults and found that being overweight (a body mass index of 25 or higher) is associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease as well as cancer.