29.3.11

Of Apples and Other Daily Prescriptions for Perfect Health

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Of course a fool lives by aphorism alone. If this one was written by a true believer or the Fruit Grower's Association, I do not know, but Chiquita Banana has trademarked the line that bananas are quite possibly nature's perfect food.
Houston mail carrier Jeff McKissack was motivated only on his faith in the orange. He built a monument to the fruit.  (McKissack died two days shy of his 78th birthday.)


So many singular keys to perfect health have been declared, an entire blog could be devoted to the subject.


The patron saint of practical advice, Benjamin Franklin, would have us believe that the secret to good health, wealth and wisdom is a sufficiently early bedtime.


A past yoga teacher talked of her yogi's belief that one should perform a daily inversion, even if no other exercise is done. It is very important to turn the organs of the body upside down at least once a day.
Many yoga practicioners believe the sun salutation, Surya Namaskara, a short and simple range of poses, is the healthiest habit (even if you don't get up before sunrise, Mr. Franklin).

The great Cheng Man Ching, who brought Tai Chi to New York City and the West, declared that the cat stance was the most important exercise of the day. Considering the bio-structural inferiority of the human knee and ankle (indeed, Cheng Man Ching was also of the opinion that Americans' ankles were their most troubled joint), balancing on one leg at a time for a couple minutes everyday would seem well-advised.

Robert Chesebrough invented and ate a teaspoon of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly everyday and lived to be 96. [Schwager, E.. "From Petroleum Jelly to Riches". Drug News & Perspectives 11 (2): p. 127.]


My friend, the late H. Richard Crane, when asked how he managed to stay so sharp well into his nineties, answered that one needs hobbies.
My Granny also lived into her nineties, and had neither hobbies nor a single medical issue. She often declared that she looked forward to passing away one day, that she would then be reunited with her husband, my grandfather, in the afterlife.