Prevention Is The Key To Health

Ben Franklin said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A Chinese proverb states that inferior doctors cure the disease, mediocre doctors treat the impending disease and superior doctors prevent the disease. And Hippocrates is said to have advised that before you heal someone, ask him if he's willing to give up the things that make him sick.  Are you sensing a common theme here …..

Today, we spend a great deal more time on trying to fix what is perceived as broken instead of just doing the obvious, don't break stuff to begin with. That’s what the bits of wisdom above mean. It’s a lot easier to prevent illness than it is to cure illness.

Don’t smoke and you pretty much don’t have to worry about curing lung cancer.

You want to be fit, it's actually really simple for the vast majority of us. Don’t eat too much and move. You want to get a little more granular, don’t eat a lot of heavily processed food and do some resistance training. If you're inspired, you can add specific nutrients like healthy oils and good sources of protein and specific exercise routines.  Stop eating stuff you know is bad for your health and, amazingly, you start to feel better. Who knew …  You don’t need to be told that alcohol, fried foods and sugar are causing you problems. You know this in your bones.

This same idea is true for skin care. The single most effective thing you can do to keep your skin looking youthful is to avoid excessive sun overexposure. This is not controversial at all. In fact, it's probably the least disputed thing in all of medicine. This should not be confused with avoiding the sun however.  Being outside, enjoying nature, walking, running, biking, surfing or whatever it is that you like to do is great, even necessary, for your physical and mental health.  burnd’s message is simple: get out as much as possible and be smart about it - wear a hat and use some sunscreen.