A machine properly maintained and used for what it was built will last. However, if the same machine is not well cared for and is used for other purposes than intended, the lifespan will be significantly reduced and littered with problems. It is no wonder then that the human body, created for activity and in need of proper nutrition, would be compromised in health if one or both were neglected. Proper nutrition has been addressed in this feature in the past, but what about exercise?
Exercise increases heart and respiratory rate which, in turn, increases blood flow and oxygen to the cells. Waste material is more efficiently removed leaving room for nutrients to flood the cells instead. Since the body is made entirely of cells, this improves health overall.
There are many specific benefits of exercise, one of which is the decrease in disease. Exercise increases the number of white blood cells (WBC’s) and their activity level in the body. The WBC’s are responsible for finding and destroying harmful agents in the body such as bacteria and viruses that we come in contact with on a daily basis. Elevated activity levels = elevated immunity.
Stimulating colon function has become quite a lucrative business, raking in billions in sales each year. There are three very simple, natural ways that colon issues can be prevented for the vast majority of those who suffer—increasing the intake of dietary fiber, drinking adequate amounts of water each day, and getting daily exercise. Exercise stimulates the digestive function and helps with regularity.
One health problem facing people all around the world is obesity. This is a risk factor in so many of the diseases that plague the human body. Enter exercise—it burns calories, boosts the metabolism, and decreases the appetite, all of which help maintain a healthy weight and thus decreases the risk of life-threatening disease.
These are only a few of a myriad of benefits brought to the body through consistent exercise. God made the human body very efficient and precise, but we are responsible for the well-being of the incredible machine entrusted to us to accomplish His work. “Many act as if health and disease were things entirely independent of their conduct, and entirely outside their control. They do not reason from cause to effect, and submit to feebleness and disease as a necessity. … If those who are sick would exercise their muscles daily, women as well as men, in outdoor work, using brain, bone, and muscle proportionately, weakness and languor would disappear. Health would take the place of disease, and strength the place of feebleness.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 19, 230.