When I went to the grocery store recently, I was struck by how often the phrase "Heart smart" was printed on food products. I'd seen TV advertisements on the subject. But the frequency of the words in the grocery store still surprised me. It reminded me just how deeply people relate health to food and exercise these days. Most don't even challenge this connection. "You are what you eat," they believe. End of discussion. Which connects with what a trainer supposedly said to a professional basketball team: "You can endorse any of those fast-food restaurants you want, but don't you eat in a single one of them."
But I wonder about all this. A balanced diet and reasonable exercise are probably good ideas, if you can manage them. Variety and balance are desirable in every department of life, and no one would choose to live on lard. But if you're forced by circumstances to eat only roots or bananas, are you doomed to health problems? Or if the normal routine of a selfless life includes minimal exercise, is poor health inevitable?
Popular culture would probably say yes. But do we have to be obsessed with, or live in fear of, our bodies? Are diet and exercise regiments actual laws of health? Or are they cultural convictions that are assumed to be laws?
