Ten Health Aphorisms for October. All cultures have aphorisms—short, pithy nuggets of wisdom that are easily remembered and passed on to the next generation. In my health research and writing, I’ve been on the lookout for health aphorisms and even written a few of my own. My hope is to gather a collection that captures the essence of redox health in a way that connects and reinforces the core concepts. You’ll likely recognize a few of these:
- Stress causes disease. Redox imbalance is why. Resilience prevents both.
- The average person thinks stress is a rough day at work. To a cell, stress is anything that requires an adaptive response. Odds are, your definition of stress is too narrow.
- Chronic disease has many causes involving multiple systems. The idea that you would treat, let alone cure that disease with a single therapy is, well, silly.
- Our bodies cure cancer on a daily basis. If I get cancer, my question will be ‘why not this time?’
- Magnesium deficiency is involved in every facet of cardiovascular disease. Stress depletes magnesium levels. Connect the dots.
- Your body is designed to handle and even benefit from normal levels of oxidant (ROS/RNS) production.
- Your body is NOT designed to handle chronic stress.
- Brief, low-level stressors cause useful adaptations that improve resilience to future stress.
- Chronic, excessive stress degrades resilience, leading to symptoms and disease.
- Resilience can be lost, recovered, and bolstered. Cultivate a robust collection of resilience habits.
Bonus aphorism: You can’t outrun a bad diet!
