The other day I was travelling in a train and my co-passenger asked me -“ what is your recipe for good health ?” I did tell him ,that I walk daily, do yoga and play badminton ,whenever I get an opportunity.

However, when I reflected on the same, a bit more, I realised that apart from a regular habit of physical exercise, the two most critical contributors to good health are, good food and good sleep.

If I say good food, I do not mean any nutritionist prescribed diet but healthy food, which our forefathers had ,and recommended to us. It could be green leafy vegetables, fruits, a lot of fluids and egg, fish or meat ,once in a way ,if you are a non vegetarian.

We may be connoisseurs of food and may also have a good appetite. It may be a good idea to have home cooked food and indulge ourselves occasionally, when on travel and not the other way around. What we eat is under our control and we cannot blame anyone else for the same.

According to Ayurveda and even allopathy, the root cause of most human disorders, is due to the indigestion of the food we eat ,every day. If we are able to plan and manage what we eat, then our health can be managed by ourselves.

A simple indicator to our physical health could be our weight. If our weight is within a range – Our height in cms minus 100 ( plus or minus 5 kgs), then we are in control of our weight . For eg if my height is 165 cms. Then my weight should be within the range of 65 to 70 kgs. This is just a thumb rule for good health and not certified by any medical practitioner.

The second key contributor to good health is our sleep. An average human being requires at least 7 to 8 hours of sound sleep. Do we manage to sleep 8 hours every day. Most of us blame our work and life schedules for lack of sleep. But, if we dig deeper, we find it is more because of our habits like binge watching of serials, movies and TV and the ubiquitous mobile phone which leads to lack of sleep. This is very much under our control.

If we develop healthy food habits and ensure a sound sleep every day, then only a daily routine of exercise of our choice ,could enable us to be healthy ,right through our life.

Exercise could mean a walk, jog, playing a game of our choice like badminton, football etc or gym or yoga or dance or anything, which we would enjoy doing ,and not consider it as a necessary evil which somebody has to remind us, to do it. The moment ,it is boring and drains your energy to do it, it may not become a habit.

So, healthy food, sound sleep and a regular exercise will almost guarantee good health. Apart from these three critical factors, the only thing we need to control is our attitude to life and living. Are we happy or sad ,every day of our lives. Do we crib or are we grateful ,for all that we have in life ? So ,our mental health ,is equally responsible for our happiness and this leads to good health.

So the mantra for good health is healthy food, sound sleep, regular exercise routine and being happy and grateful in life.

Let’s try from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

17th July 2024