We occasionally hear of people who exercise every day, who have impeccable diets, who deal with stress well, and have lives they are happy with, who still end up suffering a stroke, or a heart-attack, or cancer.
These stories are difficult. Not only does it seem unfair, but the stories can make us think, “So what? Why exercise? Why try to eat well? It clearly didn’t work for that person.”
The argument is tempting, but it misses a bigger and much more important part of the story.
- Lifestyle changes actually do help. There is a mountain of evidence to support that a healthy lifestyle can dramatically reduce your risk factors for countless conditions. The outliers–the stories of the avid health fan who drops dead–tend to get attention precisely because they’re unusual.
- Lifestyle changes help with severity and recovery. These same people who have invested in their health? When they do have a problem it’s less severe. They die less often. They have less serious complications, and they heal faster then their less-healthy peers. A 50-year old man who exercised, ate well, and didn’t smoke, may still have a heart attack. But his lifestyle has built a stronger heart with a network of extra vessels that can be used as a “backup plan” if a blockage occurs.
The body is a complicated machine. Like any machine, it can still break down even when it’s properly maintained. But that’s no reason to give up on taking care of it.
Being healthy is not just about “not getting sick”. It’s also about the ability to heal and adapt. Ask the 50-year old who survived the heart attack. He’ll tell you the maintenance is well worth it.