10 Tenets of Health and Disease Prevention — Core Potentials - Osteopathy, Energy Medicine, & Nutrition

I was reading Seffinger’s Foundations of Osteopathic Medicine while preparing for my 6th year thesis for the Canadian School of Osteopathy when I came across a list of area’s to address when helping someone regain health or prevent disease. I found this list fascinating because it perfectly illustrates the categories that are important to think about when striving to live a balanced and healthy life. I wanted to share these with you today. If you are working on improving your health in any way, these tenets are a great way to structure your health plan to ensure a comprehensive strategy. If you just want a guide to proper health, simply set a tiny goal in each of these categories and you will be well on your way to health.

1. Personal Safety

This must be number one on everyone’s list. If there is an area in your life that you do not feel safe, do not hesitate to reach out for help. There are many health professionals and/or support groups for whatever issue you are dealing with. Reach out to your nearby hospital or call your local non-emergency health number. In the Vancouver area, that number is 811. You will be directed to a registered nurse where you can ask about any health problem and get the help you need. If there is an immediate threat to your personal safety, then call 911 - the emergency line - and you will be attended to immediately.

2. Mental, Physical and Spiritual Balance

Think about little ways you can improve these areas in your life. These categories have had a lot of growth in the media over the last few years as we all experienced social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have had to come up with active strategies to fill these areas in our life, as they weren’t as available to us as before. I think finding a way to incorporate mental, physical and spiritual growth on a daily basis is a great way to maintain health and prevent disease. Start with defining for yourself what these categories mean for you - you will be surprised how this simple exercise can open your eyes to areas in your life where you could improve your health.

3. Sufficient Rest and Relaxation

Most articles on health and wellness focus on the importance of sleep or meditation when referring to rest and relaxation. For me, this created an attitude where I would schedule in my sleep or meditation during the day, check off my “rest” category, then carry on with my overwhelming to-do list packed with chores that there is no way that I could complete in one day. The number of times I have finished my day upset with myself because “I didn’t get enough done today” is ridiculous. Why am I striving to have a day jam-packed with chores?

“It is okay to rest without purpose.”

My husband has helped me realize this is a faulty way of thinking. “It is okay to rest without purpose,” he would tell me, “you do not need to justify your rest time.” This was one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received. I think I used to feel unjustified to spend any time in my day to just rest. I needed a reason to make it worth my time, so I wouldn’t beat myself up for wasting time. Sound familiar? I think our society has tricked us into a lifestyle of overwhelm, and it is time to fight back for our time. Get a hobby that is just for you. Try resting without sleeping or meditating. Claim back your time.

4. Proper Nutrition

Food is our fuel. Proper nutrition gives us energy, health, and vitality. It is so important to eat at a variety of whole foods, try new recipes, and take supplements where you’re lacking. I am sure you have heard the saying “you are what you eat.” This couldn’t be more true, especially when talking about health and disease prevention.

5. Regular Aerobic, Stretching, and Strengthening Exercises

Did you know that there are 3 major categories for physical wellness? I find most people are good at one category and lack in the other 2, with stretching being the most neglected category of them all. This is such a missed opportunity because all 3 categories are important for different areas of your physical wellness. Aerobics (or exercise that lifts your heart rate) provides you with heart and lung health, stretching provides you with mobility and adaptability, and strengthening provides you with bone and muscle health. Try to hit at least 5 minutes of each category everyday and watch your physical health improve dramatically.

6. Maintaining Rewarding Social Relationships

Did you know that a healthy social life has been shown increase longevity? You literally live longer if you have a rewarding social life. Find friends that lift you up and support you, and find ways to do the same for your friends. Your health will thank you for it ;)

7. Avoidance of Tobacco and other Abused Substances

This stuff makes you sick, period. I don’t think I need to elaborate as I am sure this doesn’t come as a shock. Form healthy habits instead of unhealthy coping mechanisms. If you find yourself constantly reaching for a smoke or other abused substance, think about what in your life you are trying to escape from. Most people know this stuff is bad, so if you feel like you can’t stop abusing it there is probably an underlying reason that is affecting your health.

I was reading an article that was talking about how non-alcoholic bars are starting to pop up all over, and that non-alcoholic cocktails are becoming increasingly popular. Fancy elixirs full of health-providing nutrients are replacing the alcoholic cocktail we crave at happy hour. Apparently it became customary to reach for a beer, or maybe one too many, during the COVID-19 pandemic and people want to stop. If this is you, look up non-alcoholic cocktails and you will be pleased with what you can find!

8. Eliminating or Modifying Abusive Personal, Interpersonal, Family, and Work-related Behaviour Patterns

So well said. This might fit under a “mental wellness” category, but I think that it is so important that it deserves its own category. It is so easy for us to behave a certain way around people because of fears out of our control, but if you do not address abusive behaviour patterns in your life they will eventually implode. A lot of disease manifests because of unresolved behaviour patterns in our lives. Lets nip it in the bud and address these issues before they get out of our control.

9. Avoidance of Environmental Radiation and Toxins

Breath fresh air, eat fresh food, and avoid environmental radiation and toxins as much as you can. When we are young it is easy for us to think we are invincible because our livers are young and able to take on the load of our environmental stressors, but these substances build up over time until they manifest into disease. Avoiding toxins and focusing on antioxidants (or anti-toxins) is a great way on keeping our overall allostatic load low so our bodies can adapt easier and stay healthy.

10. Emotional Wellness

This category wasn’t in the Foundations of Osteopathic Medicine, but I think it is an important category to include. Someone once told me that focusing on one category in your life, whether it is your family, health, education, social life, or career, isn’t going to make you “win at life”. It is important to focus on all the areas in your life and create balance. I think this is true, but with one exception. If you ace your emotional life, or you are living a life that brings you all the emotions that you want to have, I believe you in fact “win at life.” Take a moment and think about all the emotions you want to experience, then think about what you can do to help you experience these emotions regularly. If you ace this, you will be living a full and healthy life.

Warm hugs,

Britte