The Five Pillars of Health

The Five Pillars

Every doctor has his or her own conception of what constitutes good health. As I have
discussed, my concept is a dynamic one in which we become more healthy as our body
systems function at a higher level. The Anti-Inflammation Lifestyle (AIL) promotes health
by improving function at the cellular level. Lowering inflammation enables the cells of our
bodies to work more efficiently and improves circulation which improves the ability of cells to
obtain adequate nutrition and effectively clear toxins and waste. A healthy diet and proper
supplementation together form two of the five pillars which comprise the AIL, the other three
being: exercise, stress management, and restorative sleep. Like the legs of a stool, each
of the five pillars plays a role in supporting the AIL, upon which optimal function and health
ultimately rest.

“How important is it really to exercise? I eat well, I take supplements, I am not overweight, and
my stress levels are low. My wife and I even walk on weekends. So aren’t I healthy? Do I
really need to do exercise every day?”

I am asked some version of this question on almost a daily basis in my practice. Some people
just hate to exercise. Others are averse to swallowing pills, making it difficult for them to take
important supplements. Still others have difficulty breaking unhealthy food cravings. In the
end the question seems always to be, “Can’t good health be achieved by using four of the five
pillars? Or three?”

Just as the concept of health itself is a relative one (higher or lower levels of function
correspond to better or worse health across a wide Continuum), so should each of the pillars
be considered fluid. It is not so much a question of whether one’s diet is good or bad, whether
one exercises or not, whether one takes all the right supplements or none of them, etc. Rather
it is a question of making effort to move in the right direction along the Continuum of health, and
to do so we must try to move at least to some degree in the right direction along the continuum
of each of the five pillars. The Anti-Inflammation Lifestyle means eating progressively better
over time, taking the right supplements, doing one’s best to create a routine of regular exercise,
not allowing stressful life situations to go unaddressed for too long, and creating healthy sleep/
wake cycles with adequate rest. Can a person be healthy and not eat healthily? Can a person
be healthy without exercising? Without sufficient rest? Without managing their stress levels?
Without taking supplements? Well, four good legs on a stool are a lot better than three, but they
are less strong and stable than five.

Of the Five Pillars of good health, cardiovascular exercise stands in the center, bearing more of
the burden of support than any of the others.

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