LOL, Arnold.
I think the message would be don't smoke and don't eat artery-clogging foods. But I think the article points to a fine distinction between people who are fit and people who are healthy. While it's probably somewhat accurate to say that healthy people tend to be fit, it is another thing entirely to say that fit people are all healthy. Health seems to relate to the quality of system function at the cellular level, freedom from disease and trauma, and exercise and a diet that promotes healthy attrubutes. Fitness refers to the ability to do physical work. Jim Fixx was definitely fit, but he was not healthy. Heart disease remains a high killer for almost everyone. And until they come up with those nano-tech robots that eat the plaque out of your arteries for you, it will probably remain so. You can control your lifestyle, your fitness, and your diet, but a lot of that is genetic and not (yet) controllable. You can improve the odds with health, but its not a sure thing even then.
Most people know how to improve fitness: do exercise (resistance & cardio)
How to be healthy seems a more complex subject. It's about what you ingest, how you think, your emotions, your breathing, the toxins in your environement, a whole plethora of stuff. Prepackaged foods seem loaded with fructose these days that predispose us to diabetes and obesity--the food companies don't put it in there to hurt us, they do it to preserve the food longer, but their intent makes no difference on its impact. Helath isn't about your muscles--its about everything, inside-out.
People know they shouldn't smoke, take non-prescribed drugs, eat tons of sugar, starch and fat, but they do it anyway. I can't tell you how disturbing it is for me to see guys here at the local military base sitting outside the gym after exercising hard and smoking. That seems so counter-intuitive to health that I can't believe they do it. But I understand it is a powerful addiction. You'd think a military force that wants the healthiest force on earth would put a stop to it, but they seem unable to. Supposed infringment onf "rights" of somesuch. From what I can see, it's still at epidemic addiction levels in the military, even after all these years.
My ex just dropped from a massive heart attack and died last May at age 50--she died so fast the crononer said she never knew what hit her; no warning signs at all beforehand. She wasn't a smoker, but she had had gastric bypass some time back. She had a massive heart disease that no one detected until her autopsy. She hadn't taken good care of herself over the years and it caught up with her.
On the other claw, you can do everything right and still die. In fact, you will die, no matter what you do. The only issue is how healthy you will be until you do and how long you have. I don't think we have much choice in the latter; when your time is up, it is up. But int he former--how healthy you will be until you do--I think we have some control.
I think all we can do is the best we know how until medical science advances to the point where we can use nanotechnology or gene therapy to extend our lives--and that will induce new problems we don't have yet. The only sure way not to ever die is not to ever be born.
As I get older I get more interested in health and not just fitness. So I try to learn how to do more healthy things. But heart disease runs in my family. I cannot control my cholesterol or my BP anymore with just exercise (believe me, I have tried...very hard). At some point, genetics catch up and then you need "other" (medical) help. We aren't designed to live forever. I think we can all be more healthy and I think fitness is a part of maintaining that health, or at least the ability to remain mobile and functional. But a lot of people have confused the two.
In the end you can live wrong, not exercise, and die early. Or luck out somehow and live long anyway. You can eat right, exercise, avoid unhealthy choices, and have the potential to live longer with less pain. Or you can do everything right and still get hit by a bus tomorrow.
All we can really do is the best we know how. And what we know seems to change from decade to decade.
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Topic: When Fit people Get Heart Attacks (Read 1051 times)