It’s a known fact that following a nutritious diet plan, as well as a consistent exercise program, helps promote living a more fit, active and healthy lifestyle. Making sure that you follow a diet that is rich in both vitamins and minerals will help keep your immune system strong and healthy. Exercising on a regular basis will strengthen both your muscles and your heart. And being more fit and active will make you feel better about yourself, both externally and internally. But can living an active and healthy lifestyle prevent you from getting sick? Many people will argue and say that it can. While others will suggest that your genetics and environmental surroundings impact health issues that many of us suffer from today. Some hardcore fitness enthusiasts believe that consistent exercise and clean eating can prevent diseases such as cancer, diabetes and coronary artery disease, just to name a few. And then there are those people who believe that no matter how healthy and fit a person is, they can’t out train or outrun underlying health issues and diseases that they are susceptible to, due to their family health history or their work/social environment.

So what’s my take on this subject? Can following a clean diet really prevent cancer? Can exercising daily really cure diabetes? Can being fit and active guarantee that you will live a long and pleasurable life?

As always, my opinion on the matter is more complex then most. I really don’t have a definitive answer, nor do I have any medical claims or scientific data that support my theory on diet and exercise and how they both relate to preventing and relieving certain diseases and health issues. My thoughts and opinions are formed primarily through my own experience while working with the general population, as well as through the personal relationships that I have built with my friends, family members and clients, who have shared their own health stories with me over the years.

I figured I would keep this week’s blog as simple as possible and construct a list of what I do not believe and what I do believe, that consistent training and clean eating can prevent, solve, cure and conquer, so that my thoughts are on paper for you to see, critique, agree and/or disagree with.

What I Believe Consistent Exercise and a Healthy Diet Cannot Do:

1 – Cure Cancer
2 – Cure Asthma
3 – Prevent Getting Hit By a Bus
4 – Prevent an Injury or Death Caused By a Natural Disaster
5 – Prevent a Heart Attack or Even Certain Heart Diseases

What I Believe Consistent Exercise and a Healthy Diet Can Do:

1 – Prevent Certain Types of Cancers
2 – Prevent the Severity of Arthritis, Tendonitis and Bursitis
3 – Cure the Severity of Arthritis, Tendonitis and Bursitis
4 – Cure Chronic Back Pain
5 – Cure Depression
6 – Prevent Obesity
7 – Live Longer
8 – Prevent Serious Injuries Caused By Weaker Muscles Giving Out
9 – Increase Recovery Rate Caused By a Serious Injury, Operation or Surgery
10 – INCREASE YOUR ODDS OF GETTING SICK AND GIVE YOU A BETTER FIGHTING CHANCE FOR IF YOU DO EVER HAPPEN TO GET SICK*********

I consider myself to be a realist. Yes I believe it’s important to have a positive outlook on life and always hope for the best. However at no given point in time have I ever considered exercise or a clean diet as an alternative remedy to proven treatments and medication for curing a deadly disease that has been properly diagnosed. I do however believe that by maintaining an active and fit lifestyle, the odds of surviving a deadly disease or at least improvement of quality of life definitely become better. For this reason, one could say, that even though I don’t necessarily believe that working out on a regular basis and watching what you eat will prevent a person from becoming ill, I certainly believe that it can help. As I mentioned above, a diet that’s rich in vitamins and minerals will help strengthen the immune system and a consistent training program will help strengthen the heart and the muscles. I believe that the stronger a person is, both physically, internally and mentally, the better chance he or she gives themselves for survival.

With that said, perhaps in reality, I’m a bit of a realist and an idealist. I’ve witnessed first hand, people transform their health and lives for the better, through diet and exercise. I’ve worked with people who have been diagnosed with chronic arthritis and whom after months of consistent training now experience very minimal to no pain in their joints and muscles. I’ve trained people who have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, and through strategic nutritional planning, now rarely if ever, experience an insulin crash or a feeling of faint caused by their pancreas being unable to produce enough insulin or being unable to use the insulin that it it does produce efficiently. I’ve worked with dozens of people who have suffered from both too high and/or too low blood pressure, yet, after a few short weeks of following a proper diet and regular exercise routine, their levels begin to regulate.

So can a workout a day really keep the doctor away? Probably not completely, however I strongly believe that a person will be making less trips to the doctor’s office and calling in sick to work less often, if they provide their bodies with the necessary tools needed to survive, or at least give them a fighting chance to survive. And in my opinion, two of the most important tools that are needed are and alway will be diet and exercise.

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit