Health in Our Hands
This popular saying among medical professionals — “health is in our hands” — which doctors often use to reassure patients, is in essence absolutely true. And here’s why.
Article Contents
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Our health is in our hands
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The planet’s centenarians
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Nutrition and longevity
If we set aside congenital (hereditary) diseases, all other ailments we acquire ourselves. Therefore, indeed, health is in our hands. For example, many diseases we “pick up” in the course of our lives: diseases of the liver, kidneys, pancreas, gastrointestinal tract, and so on.
Our Health in Our Hands
Greetings! We cultivate diseases with great love, as if we were furnishing a new apartment — here we can add gastritis and stomach ulcers, over there cholecystitis, gallstones, and kidney problems will “decorate” the place. But to achieve this, we need to eat fatty, sour, salty foods, and for dessert — something sweet, in abundance! And we wash it all down with beer or vodka.
Naturally, after such “diet therapy,” some organs will quickly be “furnished” with diseases.
As for the cardiovascular system — there’s no need to elaborate — we simply abuse it: constantly creating problems for ourselves and then suffering from them.
In general, it seems that suffering is our national hobby. Some suffer from love, others from:
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disappointment
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wealth
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poverty
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illness
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everything at once
Imagine what happens to our poor heart during this time — sometimes it stops, sometimes it races. The blood vessels literally tremble — they constrict severely from fear, and from joy — they expand excessively. As a result — constant pain, nervous spasms, fainting, strokes, heart attacks.
And who is to blame for all this? Of course, mostly we ourselves, not the “hard times” — which, incidentally, have never been easy.
So what should we do?
We must change our attitude toward life: stop getting nervous about every little thing. Always remember the wise saying: “Everything passes — this too shall pass.” Therefore, our health is in our hands.
The Planet’s Centenarians
Perhaps this is exactly how all centenarians view life’s ups and downs — and there are quite a few of them on Earth. For example, an Ossetian woman, Tanse Abziv, lived 180 years, an Albanian named Khudiv lived 152 years. In 1998, a South Asian resident, Bir Narayan Chudkhali, died at the age of 141.
At the beginning of the 21st century, a Bulgarian long-lived grandmother, Bina Charodzhieva, was known to be 120 years old. Moreover, her blood pressure at that time was 120/80, her vision was good, and her cardiogram excellent. In fact, in Bulgaria’s Smolyan district — the “cradle of longevity” — about 1,000 centenarians were recorded, each approaching the century mark.
This list could go on endlessly. In every country, in every region, there are “patriarchs” who have reached 100 years. Most are people who earn their daily bread through physical labor — farming or animal husbandry.
One Bulgarian centenarian, Hristo Angelov (106 years old), when asked what allowed him to reach such an age, replied: “All my life I never had a watch on my wrist or a boss over my head.”
Nutrition plays a significant role in the lives of centenarians. Usually, they have a proper regimen: they do not overeat and consume the simplest foods — milk, bread, potatoes, beans. Milk (both sour and fresh) is the main staple. They eat meat once or twice a week, choosing:
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lamb
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mutton
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beef
Less often — poultry, and never pork. They eat more than a kilogram of bread a day, 2–3 eggs a week, and many wild fruits and vegetables. Vinegar, salt, and sugar are consumed in small quantities. They mainly use vegetable oils (sunflower and olive), but also consume animal fats (butter, mutton fat).
As we see, the lifestyle of centenarians is simple and natural. And each of us also has a chance to live 180 years. Too much? Well, then at least 120–140, in good health and with a sound mind.
Do you think this is impossible for you personally?
Nonsense! Gerontologists hold a different opinion. At a medical congress in Basel, 100 doctors concluded that signs of aging at age 80 are premature and that we should live no less than 140 years.
Nutrition and Longevity
Domestic dietitians have approached the problem of longevity more concretely, from a purely practical perspective. After numerous experiments, a theory was developed stating that we age — mentally and physically — because of changes occurring in the connective tissue of our bodies. These changes slow the tissue’s ability to absorb nutrients.
This means that a person dies not from old age, but from starvation, even though they consume a considerable amount of food 3–4 times a day.
Dr. Tom Spiles, a leading nutrition expert, confirmed this in practice. He treated prematurely aged women and men, invalids considered hopelessly ill. The treatment consisted of “nutrition therapy,” where patients were given food containing proteins, natural vitamins, and mineral salts. Special attention was paid to onions, cabbage, apples, as well as tea and dry red wine. These foods contain the most flavonoids — substances that best restore the body and extend life.
The results exceeded all expectations: elderly patients literally transformed — their youthful energy and health returned. So, health is in our hands.
Therefore, we all truly have a chance to reach old age in good health and with a clear mind. Especially if we learn to distinguish healthy food from unhealthy, avoid eating indiscriminately, develop the habit of exercising to avoid carrying tens of kilograms of excess weight, and not become regular visitors to clinics and patients of multiple doctors.
This means we must all adopt the principles of a healthy lifestyle. This will help us eliminate stress, prevent nervous breakdowns, and teach us to enjoy every moment of life — whatever it may be, it is still beautiful. Such a view of the world will help us maintain strong health for many years.
And if illness, due to extraordinary reasons, still overcomes us, then most likely the recipes of folk medicine found on the pages of the Ukrainian Folk Medicine project will help you overcome all ailments. Health is in our hands!
