Enhancing your body shape is not just for weight control but also for health management. An ideal body shape makes you not only more self-confident by creating a better body image, but also healthier. Therefore, it is important to keep your body in shape.
If your body shape is like that of an apple—that is, with extra weight in the midsection—you may have a higher risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke. The explanation is that in a beer belly, your abdominal fat is more easily converted into cholesterol, and hence ultimately affecting your heart health, leading to other related health issues.
If your body shape is like that of a pear—that is with extra weight around the hips instead of in the midsection—you may be less at risk for heart disease.
Look at yourself in the mirror, and you may not like what you see. But your physical appearance is secondary to your physical health. Loose-fitting clothes can mask the body shape but not the symptoms of heart disease.
In Chinese medicine, your heart is the “emperor” of your whole being, and the health of your entire system depends upon the normal functioning of your heart. Your heart is the “residence” of your mind, spirit, and personality. According to Chinese philosophy, heaven and earth merge to make a human being, and the place where they merge is in the heart, which is the center of the human body, and hence the importance of heart health. If you are healthy, your heart is healthy. A healthy heart means your blood pressure is normal without the need to take medications to control your blood pressure.
The heart pumps blood to different body organs and tissues, and thereby transporting oxygen and nutrients to the whole body. If there is a circulation issue, all the organ systems in the body will be deprived of the nourishment supplied by the blood. Heart health has a dramatic effect on everything else in the body. For example, brain health is essentially heart health; what is good for the heart is also good for the brain. Heart health is not only physical health, but also brain and mental health.
Disturbances in the heart affect the whole body. The movement of blood throughout the body (circulation) is managed by multiple organs, which in turn interact with one another. A failure in any one part of this system can result in pathology that may adversely affect heart health.
How To Prevent Or Even Reverse Heart Disease: Get tips from a former heart surgeon to learn how to prevent heart disease and protect your heart without drugs or surgeries.
Stephen Lau
Copyright © by Stephen Lau
