The foundational task of  any medical school is to prepare future health professionals for the purpose of diagnosing and curing illnesses, helping  a   sick person be well.

But wellness is not just the absence of disease. It is a mental and physical optimum state of being that we all should strive to achieve.
Unlike machines, our bodies are in a continuous  state of self renewal and balance. As examples;  in a few hours the entire lining of our stomach is new. In four to six weeks all our skin cells are completely replaced. Approximately every three months we generate new skeleton.
The  atoms from which every molecule in our cells is made, are like migrating birds, they do not sit still in the same place for long. Our DNA atoms  are entirely  replaced in a year.

There is always a" critical balance" between the dismantling and rebuilding. When this balance is disrupted, the body balance can be tipped in either direction which is not desirable. Too much rebuilding may cause cancer, not enough may accelerate aging or osteoporosis.

The example of the pH is very demonstrative. A pH level in the blood is highly regulated  to be between 7.35 and 7.4. If it shifts up or down it affects every chemical reaction inside each cell.  The body is akin to a river; it is never in a static state.

Nothing in the universe is idle and so is the body.  Just like we cannot step in the same river twice, it is not the same river, we cannot step  in the same body twice, it is not the same body.

To maintain the illusion of sameness of  our  outer public appearance, we go through daily under the radar routine steps; like showering, brushing our teeth, shaving, putting on make up, without which people will flee us like pest.

When my diastolic blood pressure did not go down like the rest of all my clinical parameters,  I knew I had to explore the world of nutrition. And exploring I did and still do.

I started reading about nutrition, one book at the time and progressively altered my eating habits. Soon I discovered the many perplexing contradictions between the experts. That explains the  continuous shifting of the  governmental recommended  food pyramid.

In my household the first things we dropped were the easy ones, like the fried  food, the  saturated fat, the hamburgers, the French fries, and all the obvious bad ones. Unlike many Americans, for us cooking is a daily routine. Eating out is a Sunday  deal. Our unhappy children were not enthused by the changes and were looking forward for the weekends so they could order what they missed at home. This trend led to more and more vegetables and green stuff while my work out regimen remained the same.
After six months  I paid another visit to my cardiologist for my third stress test.

To my utter surprise my diastolic blood pressure moved down into the high seventies  for the first time in almost three years. That convinced me, without any crenel of doubt,  that no matter how fit I became my heart had  to overcome some resistance from by now less hardened  arteries. That despite my genetic predisposition I have some control over my genes expressions.  That my arteries  were still not flexible enough to absorb the sudden  burst  of the blood from the left ventricle. I began to tolerate  more and more crossing my legs before  the numbness and discomfort  were  felt.   
More info next posting.





  

 It is an understatement  to say that humans are habit forming creatures.
If anyone of us were to log down every act or thought on a daily basis for just a week; we would find, surprisingly, that all of it is nothing but repetitious. No real new thought or action. Most of us, realizing it or not, are going on autopilot. " Most, if not all the time." " Same old same old" as they say.  Yet everyone of us has the cognitive ability to formulate  new thought processes, learn new languages and come with an awe inspiring cancer cure, if put in the right state of mind and the right environment.

From our brain's perspective anything we keep repeating  becomes encoded indelibly and relegated to parts of the brain that deals with  automatic activities.  The more we repeat anything,  an act or a thought, our brain cells, that we call neurons, get organized and create a pathway. Initially the pathway is weak, easily reversible, but after a while it becomes hard wired and structured. At that point  it is relegated to the lower parts of the brain (cerebellum and brain stem) that deal with the automated functions. We no longer have to think about every minute detail of the desired activity. In an absent minded manner once we get in our car in the morning we find ourselves parking our cars in our assigned spot at work. The same could be said of  just like standing, walking or speaking.

Once I became a runner I discovered  a new world.   A new world that deals with many things; running shoes, clothing, nutrition, electrolytes, and tips on how to maximize our efforts. We get exposed to running organizations, training programs, books and manuals and so on.
During one of those days I happened to meet and befriended Michael Smith, an astronaut living along the water front road in the  Timber Cove subdivision. I knew him socially  and his wife  was a client  of mine.
Having a running mate makes it  easier  to keep training. It helps to take our minds off of the running and the spirit of competitiveness infuses both of us to be better, and above all it soothes the passing time.
Over time our relationship strengthened and he invited me to witness the Challenger launch out of Cap Canaveral in Florida. I was unable to make it  because the launch kept being postponed due to the  weather. So along with a disbelieving heartbroken nation, we  witnessed  on January 28, 1986 the destruction of the  Challenger. This was a national tragic event and  I lost a dear friend and  my running mate.
After a year of improving my fitness and my running skills, I decided to check my progress by going back to my cardiologist to have another full physical with stress test.
The results were very good. My weight and waist went down, as well as my heart rate and systolic  blood pressure. The only unchanged factor was my diastolic blood pressure, it was still hovering around mid eighty.
It was a disappointment to say the least.
I decided that I needed to do more running. Yet I knew without a running mate this was not going to be easy.
One day while I was running in Houston at Memorial Park I saw a sign inviting runners to train for the Houston marathon. I stopped to enquire about it since I didn't  know what a marathon was. Promptly I joined " The Runners High Club"  and before long I finished my first marathon in four hours and ten minutes. Crossing the finish line was an exhilarating unimaginable fulfilling feeling. Like many first timers,  the immediate thought process is I am going to do better next time.
Having accomplished that lofty goal I thought for sure my diastolic blood pressure would now be in the seventies or even in the sixties.
Back to the cardiologist. Except now I thought of changing my doctor.  Maybe the problem resides  with my cardiologist or his equipment. So I sought another heart doctor friend.
Again all of my results had drastically improved with the exception of the diastolic blood pressure which by now was in the low eighties.
That is when I started questioning my nutrition.
An exploration of the world of nutrition began and have not stopped since then.
In my next blog I will explore that world and share my continuous quest.