Exercise and physical health. Exercise directly affects the circulation of the blood. Contrary to conventional medicine in the nineteenth century, exercise is vital to recovery from most diseases as well as to the prevention of disease. In 1872 Ellen White wrote that “no exercise ... can take the place of walking. By it the circulation of the blood is greatly involved.”MOL 327.5

Two years earlier she urged that “all who can possibly do so ought to walk in the open air every day, summer and winter.” Why? “The muscles and veins are enabled better to perform their work. There will be increased vitality, which is so necessary to health.” In 1905 she gave several reasons why “inactivity is a fruitful cause of disease“: (1) slow circulation of the blood; (2) impurities are not expelled through the skin; (3) lungs are not fed with fresh air; (4) a double burden rests on the excretory organs. ^{126Testimonies for the Church 3:78; 529; The Ministry of Healing, 238.}MOL 327.6

Exercise reduces risk of heart disease. ^{127G. E. Fraser, T. M. Strahan, J. Sabaté, W. L. Beesen, D. Kissinger, “Effects of Traditional Coronary Risk Factors as Rates of Incident Coronary Events in a Low Risk Population: The Adventist Health Study,” Circulation, 1992, 86:406-13.} Sedentary people have twice as much risk of heart disease and high blood pressure as physically active people. ^{128K. E. Powell, P. D. Thompson, C. J. Caspersen, and J. S. Kendrick, Annual Reviews of Public Health, 1987, 8:253-287. “Special Report: Inter-Society Commission for Heart Disease Resources,” Circulation, July, 1986, pp. 177A, 178A. Heart Disease and Stroke, 1993, 2:183-187. David Krtichevsky, “Diet and Nutrition,” Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 1991, pp. 328-333.} Even medium levels of physical activity in men protects against strokes. ^{129American Journal of Epidemiology, 1994, 140:608-620.} The relative risk of mortality for women ages 50-74 was one-third less in the most active quartile compared to the least active. ^{130American Heart Journal, 1994, 128:965-972.}MOL 327.7

Exercise may also reduce the risk of cancer of the colon, prostate, and breast, as well as diabetes. ^{131Epidemiology, 1995, 6:602-606.} After emphasizing that a person should be moderately active for 30 minutes or more on most days of the week, the American Cancer Society’s 1996 report noted that “physical activity can help protect against some cancers, either by balancing caloric intake with energy expenditures or by other mechanisms. An imbalance of caloric intake and output can lead to overweight, obesity, and increased risk for cancers at several sites: colon and rectum, prostate, endometrium, breast (among postmenopausal women), and kidney.” ^{132CA /1996, p. 330.}MOL 327.8

Exercise may boost the immune system. ^{133University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter, Oct. 1994.}MOL 328.1

Exercise and mental ability. Ellen White wrote that “physical inaction lessens not only mental but moral power.” ^{134Education, 209.} Exercise linked with the ability to think was noted in a study of twenty persons who exercised three times a week for six months. Conclusion: they were not only twenty percent fitter, they also were seventy percent better at making decisions than before beginning their exercise regimen. ^{135“Decision-making: A Boost for Thought,” American Health, Nov/Dec, 1983. Thirty people aged 65-72 were divided into three groups—walking, weight-training, and control (without specific exercise). At sixteen weeks, the walking group not only increased their aerobic capacity but also improved their cognitive function test scores. The other two groups showed no improvement.—Health After 50, Nov. 1995.}MOL 328.2

A walk after meals. Mrs. White clearly stated that we should not “engage in brain labor immediately after a meal.” Further, we should not consider this counsel “a matter of trifling importance.” “To engage in deep study or violent exercise immediately after eating, hinders the digestive process.... A short walk after a meal, with the head erect and the shoulders back, exercising moderately, is a great benefit.” ^{136Counsels on Health, 565, 566; Counsels on Diet and Foods, 103, 104.}MOL 328.3

In 1964 Gerhard Volkheimer, M. D., a cardiovascular researcher in Berlin, reported that he had found that “physical inactivity can lead to the accumulation of chyle (fat) in the thoracic duct. And any sudden movement can apparently propel enough chyle into the blood to produce a coronary embolism.” ^{137Medical World News, Sept. 24, 1964. For a review of the chief benefits of walking in maintaining health and preventing disease, see David C. Nieman, The Adventist Health Style (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1990), pp. 52-56.} Because of his research, Dr. Volkheimer strongly advised an after-meal walk to avoid the risk of a coronary attack.MOL 328.4

Adequate sleep. Mrs. White included a program of adequate sleep as part of her eight natural remedies. ^{138The Ministry of Healing, 127.} After linking mental vigor with physical health, she wrote: “Proper periods of sleep and rest and an abundance of physical exercise are essential to health of body and mind. To rob nature of her hours for rest and recuperation, by allowing one man to do the work of four, or of three, or even of two, will result in irreparable loss.” ^{139Testimonies for the Church 7:247.}MOL 328.5

In the Belloc-Breslow study it was noted that sleeping seven to eight hours nightly is one of the health factors that extends life by as much as eleven years. ^{140N. B. Belloc and L. Breslow, “Relationship of Physical Health Status and Health Practices,” Preventive Medicine, 1972, 1:409-421. Dr. Lester Breslow, dean of the School of Public Health, University of California at Los Angeles, led out in a study of 7,000 adult residents of Alameda County, California, in 1965. Dr. Breslow has continued to check his statistics and the results are always the same. (See “Persistence of Health Habits and Their Relationship to Mortality,” Preventive Medicine, 9:469-483 (1980). Breslow’s studies startled the scientific community with his conclusion that Americans could add eleven years to their lives by following seven commonsense health habits: (1) Don’t smoke; (2) Use little or no alcohol; (3) Start the day with a good breakfast; (4) Avoid eating between meals; (5) Sleep seven to eight hours each night; (6) Engage in frequent, regular exercise; (7) Maintain ideal weight and avoid overweight. The statistics further suggested that the health benefit is cumulative and that the absence of any one of the seven habits decreases life expectancy markedly.}MOL 328.6

Trust in God. Long before many had linked health with spiritual values, Mrs. White wrote: “Courage, hope, faith, sympathy, love, promote health and prolong life.” ^{141The Ministry of Healing, 241.} A strong correlation exists between the mind and the body in physical recovery, even in the program of reversing heart disease. ^{142See p. 331.} Mrs. White was equally clear about how spiritual values not only help in curing disease, but are perhaps “health’s greatest safeguard.” ^{143“A merry [rejoicing] heart doeth good like a medicine’ (Proverbs 17:22). Gratitude, rejoicing, benevolence, trust in God’s love and care—these are health’s greatest safeguard.” The Ministry of Healing, 281.}MOL 328.7

Literature is abundant that documents how faith and social support from family and friends encourage mental and spiritual well-being. ^{144“The Second 50 Years Promoting Health and Preventing Disease,” National Academy of Science, 1990; “The comparatively robust and substantial ‘main’ effects of divine relations ... suggest that whatever the mediating processes prove to be, they are as potent as virtually any that affect well-being.” Melvin Pollner, “Divine Relations, Social Relations, and Well Being,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 1989, vol. 30, p. 102.} People who attend church regularly have fewer illnesses than non-churchgoers. Non-religious Jews are twice as likely to have a coronary attack as synagogue-attending Jews. ^{145G. W. Comstock and K. B. Partridge, “Church Attendance and Health,” Journal of Chronic Diseases, 1972, vol. 25, pp. 665-672.}MOL 328.8

Humanity’s Original Diet

Cancer, a Virus