Fit, Lean and Peaceful

Part III of "How to be well during the last ten years of our life" (Read Part I and Part II)

By Jack Krayenhoff, M.D.

On TV we are told that most Canadians are sick during the last ten years of their life, and the health care plan has the statistics to prove it.

But it has not got to be that way. In the previous two issues we saw that being FIT and LEAN go a long way to keep us out of the doctor's office. But there is a third factor, at least as important as those two, and that is: PEACEFUL. Fit, lean and peaceful.

So let's talk about 'peaceful'. R.A. Hummer of the Population Research Centre, University of Texas at Austin, Texas, came up with the following statistic, based on data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey: in 2006 it wanted to see if church going was related to health, and they found this: people over twenty who did not go to church at all could expect to live to age 75.3. Those who went to church less than once a week lived on average to age 79.7; those who went once a week to 81.9, and those who went more than once a week to 82.9 - that is 7.6 years longer than non-church goers. So there is definitely something healthy about going to church. Part of that is due to the social network a church provides, Hummer suggested, another part is due to a healthier life style. But it seems likely that it also has to do with faith. Why should anyone go to church more than once a week in the first place? Obvious: because his faith is really important to him.

In my general practice I learned that peace of mind is a vital ingredient of good health. People came to see me because they had some physical complaint they wanted me to fix - say, a headache. My first job then was to make a diagnosis: was it migraine? Sinusitis? Brain injury? Brain tumor? Aneurysm? Encephalitis? Often that would entail lab tests, X-rays, CT scan and what not. And what would be the outcome of it all? In maybe 25% of cases a physical cause would be discovered, which could be treated with medication, surgery or whatever. But what about the other 75% for which no such physical cause could be found? Well, often the patient himself knew the cause: a wayward teenage son driving his parents crazy, an impossible boss, strains in the marriage, resentment about a humiliation. Nowadays we call it 'stress', formerly 'anxiety state', but it all is a matter of inner turmoil, the absence of peace.

'Peace'. Is there anything more valuable, more precious than peace? Jews wish it on one another when they say "Shalom!" The Arabs do the same with "Salam!" The best promise Jesus made to his followers was "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you". He had that inner peace which no people or circumstances could shake because he had peace with God.

Other than through faith, what can we do to get some inner peace? To get some immediate relief from emotional turmoil, medications can be lifesavers, but they are not the answer over the long run. However, just as a tense and malfunctioning body will upset us in our psyche, so a relaxed and healthy body will calm down our emotions. For that reason, regular and vigorous exercise benefits us emotionally. Many people find that Yoga or Tai Chi help. Others benefit from meditation and relaxation techniques.

But what about those regular church-goers? Could it be they live longer because their faith has brought them that basic peace, deep in their hearts; that peace with God that spreads out through the rest of their being and makes them, well, more peaceful people?

They are ordinary folk, with their share of difficult teenagers and impossible bosses and marital stresses too, but that peace at their core - well, it calms the storms of life and settles the emotional waves more quickly. That's what keeps them healthier - not 'sick for the last ten years of their lives'. It is available to us all, it is free, it has no undesirable side-effects. Talk to Jesus about it - he is the one who offers it. He is still around, and he is as good as his word.