Headlines in the Tucson Daily Star…If you missed it, let me recap. After ten years and $25 billion spent on research for alternative health and medical therapies to cure and retard the effects of chronic disease, aging, and an assortment of other maladies, it was found that nothing works!!!! Echinacea, ginkgo, saw palmetto, glucosamine chondroitin, black cohosh, shark cartilage, enrgy forces, aroma therapy….the list goes on and on. OK, there are critics, research design flaws, testimonials, case studies that all shout back…yes these methods work. But the bottom line is there is no clinical data that supports the majority of the touted benefits of herbals and alternative medicine.
Now let me tell you what does work and is overwhelmingly supported in the literature….EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE or PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. Did you get that? There is nothing more effective in preventing, managing and treating chronic disease and retarding the effects of aging as EXERCISE AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY!!!! It doesn’t matter what you call it. It’s time to stop trying to find a pill, drink, herb, food, physical or electrical stimulus, or whatever the latest fad is and face the facts. It’s not rocket science. Get off the couch, off your butt, and out the door for some good wholesome physical activity. Disease rates would be reduced, health care costs managed, and quality of life significantly improved if people would accept responsibility for their well being and get active. Well, I feel much better now and think I’ll head out for a swim.
