Health is the greatest gain in life: a timeless parable

The wife invited three elderly men into the house. But they said, "We won't come in together." One of the men pointed to two others beside him and said, "His name is Wealth, his name is Success, and my name is Health. Now go back and discuss it with your husband, and see which of us you would like to come in." The wife told her husband this. The husband said, "Let Wealth come in, then we can have a house full of gold!" The wife replied, "It would be better to invite Success in!" However, their six-year-old daughter suggested, "Wouldn't it be better to invite Health in? That way, our whole family will be healthy, and we can enjoy life happily!" The couple nodded, "We'll listen to our daughter."

So the wife went out to invite Health to come in as a guest. As Health got up and walked toward her house, the other two followed closely behind. The wife asked Wealth and Success in surprise, "I only invited Health, why did you two come along too?" The two old men replied, "Because of Health, we exist. So wherever Health goes, we go. If you hadn't invited him in, either of us would have disappeared very quickly."

This is an old story, but it teaches us a timeless truth: losing health is losing everything, while having health is having everything; health is the greatest gain in life. Men who work tirelessly in the workplace must remember this: health is the foundation of life. Only with a solid foundation can we pursue honor, money, and status. If we lose this foundation, everything else is futile.

What constitutes a healthy man? Broad shoulders, a rock-hard abdomen, a sharp mind, and of course, a strong libido. However, to achieve this perfect state, it must be built on a foundation of a scientific diet, ensuring that every bite of food has an effect.

"Food and sex are human nature." Clearly, eating is a major part of life's pleasures. However, many working men often don't pay much attention to their diet. When work is stressful, they either order takeout or fast food, or eat haphazardly at street stalls; some even neglect eating altogether. When work is less stressful, they'll call up their friends and go to restaurants for a feast of chicken, duck, fish, and fresh seafood. Actually, these eating habits are undesirable. For health, these "pillars of the family" need to pay attention to a scientific diet. So, what constitutes a scientific diet? In short: eat everything, but in moderation.

Why eat everything? Because a person needs a variety of nutrients, and no single food can meet all of the body's needs. Therefore, a diverse diet is essential for mutual supplementation. But why should we eat in moderation? It's simple: the feeling of fullness is somewhat delayed. That is, by the time our brain signals that we are "full," we have already overeaten.

Mr. Wang, who works in sales at an appliance manufacturer, is in his prime, but he has already been diagnosed with coronary heart disease and diabetes.

Once, he went to the hospital and asked the doctor what he should eat. The doctor asked him what he liked to eat, and he said he liked to eat Dongpo pork knuckle and braised pork belly.

"That won't do. Dongpo pork knuckle and braised pork belly are both made with animal fat."

"What about the pig liver?"

"That won't work either, pork liver has too much cholesterol."

"Look, I can't eat this, I can't eat that. My blood sugar has been high lately, so I don't even dare to eat bananas, peaches, or watermelons. What's the point of me living?"

The doctor said, "It's not that you can't eat it at all, it's that you shouldn't eat it every day."

In fact, our bodies have a very strong compensatory and regulatory capacity. If you are healthy and have no illnesses, you can eat anything and your nutrition will be balanced. But you must know when to stop and not let yourself get fat. If you have been diagnosed with fatty liver, coronary heart disease, diabetes, etc., you need to be extra careful, especially with foods high in cholesterol, but you can still eat anything.

A young academician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, very wealthy, lived in a villa and drove a nice car, but he always felt dizzy and weak. A hospital checkup revealed he had nutritional anemia. When asked what he ate, he said that because he was under a lot of stress, his wife always tried to cook delicious meals for him, but he didn't exercise enough, and as a result, he gained over 30 pounds in six months. A hospital checkup showed high cholesterol, and the doctor prescribed a list of more than 20 foods to strictly control; his blood sugar was also high, so another list was given, this time for more than 30 foods to strictly control. He thought, "Then I'll just stop eating them." Soon, his cholesterol and blood sugar decreased, but he was now completely weak. The doctor said, "Of course! If you don't eat fifty or sixty kinds of food, how can you not be anemic and malnourished? I told you to control them, but I didn't say you had to completely eliminate them."