Recently a lot of people have asked me about taking their first steps to a healthier lifestyle while living in China, so I thought it appropriate to write about the basic elements of good health.

To be healthy there are four main areas to address; healthy body, healthy mind, healthy soul and most importantly a good balance of them all. As the saying goes a healthy body = healthy mind and vice versa, the key of course is to have all of these important things in a harmony with each other.

HEALTHY BODY

Having a healthy body is a combination of many things, however the most important are good diet and good exercise.

GOOD DIET

The diet needs to be a balanced diet… for us foreigners unfortunately it means eating much less rice and breads than the locals. A good diet is going to be different to all as we all have different genetics, and again we all have different body types, which use the food we eat differently.

Asians have been eating rice for thousands of years thus when they eat they stay lean… its not the rice making them lean but it’s the fact that their bodies are used to it. For myself if I eat rice everyday I put on fat quiet quickly, again because of my genetics and my ancestors thousands of years ago did not consume rice…. especially white rice!

For us foreigners, I would suggest a good balanced diet consist of:

PLENTY OF WATER - Drink plenty of water as it is by the most important to our bodies. The body is made of over 75% water, thus without it we die. The water you choose to drink should be filtered and high alkalinity, most of the water that comes from the tap, even if it is boiled as the restaurants do here will have a negative PH level also known as Acid. If we consume or live in a high acidic environment our bodies will eventually become ill.

GREEN VEGETABLES - Plenty of vegetables everyday especially green leafy vegetables. You have probably heard the term super green foods before. Green vegetables not only contain vitamins and minerals but they have phytonutrients that help protect our bodies from developing cancers and other degenerative diseases. Green’s also contain chlorophyll, which is natures’ perfect cleaner for the inside of the body.

FRUIT - Eat fruit regularly. Fruit contains many natural occurring vitamins and antioxidants, which are great for our immune system; fruit also is naturally high in fiber keeping our toilet visits regular and healthy. One thing with fruit however if you are trying to lose fat don’t eat too much of it, or do not consume at night, as fruit contains a lot of sugar and that sugar if not used will be converted quickly into glucose and later into fat.

GOOD FATS - Remember your good fats. I am sure many of you have heard the term good fats, such as Omega 3,6 and 9. These are vital fatty acids not just for good health of the body but also for the mind. Having a diet rich in Omega 3 will help your brain work far better and has been shown to help offset Alzheimer's disease. Deep-sea fish is a good source of Omega 3

LEAN MEAT - Eat lean meat. For good health our bodies need meat as meat contains the building blocks of protein, which in turn will give us the healthy body, having said that too much meat is not healthy at all. The best meat of course is fish, fish is far less acidic and easier for our bodies to digest, and it also contains many other natural health benefits. Red meat in small amounts is healthy, however I would suggest for good health no more than two servings per week.

BALANCED LIFE

No one is healthy all of the time! Here I am talking about health and what to do to stay healthy, so I am sure all of you are going to be surprised when I say I do drink sometimes and also like to party!

Ying and Yang. Life needs to be balanced. If we are too focused on our health and forget about living life, then health becomes a burden holding us back from loving life. I don’t recommend drinking, partying or even eating pizza every day, what I am saying is, if there are times like a close friend’s birthday or even a New Years Eve party, enjoy it, LIVE IT UP! Eat drink, and do what you like. But when the next day comes, balance that out by leading the healthy lifestyle again.

SUPPLEMENTATION

You have probably heard the phrase. “You Are What You Eat”, well its not actually true! It shouldn’t be you are what you eat. Often what you eat your body cannot use. The true phrase for good health is actually “You Are What Your Body Can Assimilate.” That is, you are what your body can digest.

Many Vitamins and supplements on the market in the west and China are not in a form that can be digested thus you are wasting your money and most importantly your health will not improve from taking cheap ineffective supplements.

Centrum the worlds most sold multivitamin is a perfect example. On an independent study done in the US of all multivitamins on the market they did a test checking on antioxidant value, bioavailability, strength and formula. Each category was given a score out of 100 and then divided by 4 to give its value in a percentage value. Centrum daily multivitamin was given a 2.5% value thus making it nearly useless to take.

If you do use multivitamins and natural products make sure its high quality and can be digested.

In summary: If you do believe in “You Are What You Eat” make sure you eat and consume something that the body can use.

EXERCISE

Exercise is not only good for health, but is a great way that our bodies will produce natural endorphins. How many have pushed weights before? Or even ridden a bike very fast, how do you feel? Well except tired… you probably feel great afterwards, even relaxed.

In Arnold Schwarzenegger first ever documentary/film Pumping Iron made in 1977 he told the reporter about exercise that:

“It's as satisfying to me as, uh, [climaxing] is, you know?”

This is a real quote that continues on fairly graphically, so we won’t re-produce it, but you get the idea: Arnold really likes to exercise.

Summary

In life, it's not the destination that is important, but the journey itself, so it is never too late to start. By adopting some of these simply tips you are one step closer to the health that you and your body truly deserve!

“Health is like money, we never have a true idea of its value until we lose it.” ~Josh Billings

If you would like any more information about staying healthy whilst living in China, feel free to contact Drew Campbell and the World Health Store (WHS) team.

Drew Campbell is CEO of World Health Store and has over 10 of years experience in natural health working in such companies as General Nutrition Centre (GNC).

For more information about living healthy in China, please contact the WHS. info@worldhealthstore.com.cn or visit www.worldhealthstore.com.cn