What does it mean to be “healthy”?

Have you ever faced a health issue like sudden coughing, fever, stomachaches or headaches? Have you then sat down and asked Dr Google about all the symptoms your are experiencing to solve this health puzzle? And then, has Dr Google convinced you that you either have some form of cancer or you need to visit a certified doctor? Been there, done that. Although, like Dr Google, even certified doctors have been dissapointing in providing effective, sustainable solutions for health concerns.

Okay, then what does it take to be healthy? To answer that, we may ened to uncover what it means to be healthy. The World Health Organization (a.k.a. WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. This approach to understanding health is pivotal in the field of healthcare. The modern western medicine focus a lot more on treating health issues like stoamch aches or headaches by merely prescribing a pill and eradicting those issues from the body. Congratulations, in the eyes of western medicine, you are healthy again.

What goes unnoticed in the treatment is the root cause of those health issues. More often than not, the health issues we ask Dr Google or certified doctors are symptoms of underlying imbalances in the biology of our bodies. So, when we visit a doctor and get prescribed with medication, we are treating the symptoms and not the root cause of those symptoms. What does this do? It keeps us stuck in a loop of getting those symptoms again in the next few months or developing new symptoms of the same or different health issues. And now we are back to asking Dr Google about what is wrong with our bodies.

It is frustrtaing to be stuck in this loop. When WHO said health is not just the mere absence of disease but the overall wellbeing of our physical, mental AND social state, it was highlighting that one needs to approach a person’s health holistically. If we are free of any cold, flu, infection but feel constantly feel sad, depressed, lonely, isolated and have little to no social circle, we are not healthy. One day or another, these mental and social imbalances are going to manifest into physical illnesses.

Let us take the case of migranes, which affect 12% of the entire US population i.e., ~40 million people in the US according to the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention (AMPP) Study. A recent 2020 study found that there is a clear link between our gut and migraines where people with chronic migraines also tend to have underlying gut issues like constipation, diarrhea, acid reflux etc. If we deal with migraines from the modern western medicine lens, we might just get prescribed with an Advill (a painkiller) and be told to go home. But if our migraines were assessed as a symptom of an underlying health imbalance, specifically gut imbalance, we will be able to permanently cease its occurence in future as we are addressing the root cause i.e., the gut health issue. And more often than not, our gut health issues stem from poor lifestlye and diet, chornic stress, lack of sleep and adequate movement etc.

At the end, we might not even need an Advil to say bye to our migraines forever. We might just need to tweak our lifestyle habits like eating a nutritious diet, sleeping well, exercising regularly, in order to better the state of our gut, consequently removing any kind of migraine from our bodies.

Who can we trust then? How can we know if our health issue is the health issue to be treated or a symptom of an underlying issue which needs to be assesed further? Neither I, nor our doctors have an answer to this. All we can do is be aware, patient and trust our bodies. If you feel that taking an Advil has not solved your migrane for long term, then take a second opinion and reassess you medical diagnosis. More often than not it will be an underlying mental health issue or the lack of a healthy social life, all impacting our physical bodies in ways beyond the scope of our scientific research.

Anytime you feel stuck in the Dr Google – certified doctor – Dr Google loop, remember that all you may need to do is work on one aspect of your lifestyle, be it getting better sleep, or eating well, or laughing more. Reaching an optimal state of health is more easy and in our control than one might think it to be.

Here’s to living not only a disease free life, but a healthy physical, mental and social state of being.