It is in Part three where everything is pulled together. This part of the book provides a compendium of common diseases, and the way in which each of the pillars can affect, or improve these conditions. Diseases like Heart disease and stroke, Cancer, Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Asthma, Chronic Fatigue, and Dementia, are all explored against the impact of stress and how reducing it can benefit the condition, the power of spirituality, exercise, nutrition, connectedness, and environment, making practical suggestions on how to change each of those things for better function within this condition.
For those who don’t have a disease, there are also chapters on healthy aging, mental health, healthy immunity, and genetics. The book explores things like which foods can help you develop a stronger immunity, how exercise can improve overall mental health, and how to improve our environment to ensure a longer, more enjoyable life. The book finishes with an eight-week course, that provides a means by which individuals, groups, or classes can improve each of the pillars in a staged, coordinated way. The course uses the tools of changing behaviour discussed in chapter two, including SMART goals, personal assessments, cost versus benefit analyses, and journal keeping, to put into practice the suggestions made in the book. Hassed suggests that you start with one pillar at a time and make small changes.
Overall, the need for this kind of educational program for the medical profession is becoming increasingly critical as the population continues to age. It’s obvious that the nature of our conditions are interlinked, and treating problems in isolation, or through the dispensing of a single pill, is not going to help improve our overall well-being. The Essence of Health is a really good, scientifically oriented book which provides practitioners with tools to improve their ability to help patients do more than just get better, and individuals with tools to help them take greater control of their health.
Article comments