ABSTRACT
Are you healthy? How would you even know if you are healthy? There are many components to what it means to be healthy as this section of the book will demonstrate. We are surrounded by prescriptions of what to eat, what to drink, how much exercise to get, what type of activity is best of us, and more. The best way to sift and winnow through all this information is to look for what the research suggests. Health is a complex blend of biological, social, and cultural factors and your mental and physical health can go hand in hand. One of the best examples is the experience of stress which involves multiple factors, and understanding why we get stressed provides us with key tips to cope with stress that are shared in this section. You will learn some biological secrets to understanding health, and some key findings from stress research. The section also gives you some answers to why you may not be able to change the health behaviors that you want to. We review some of the most important psychological theories that can help you increase your intentions to add healthy behaviors and stay aware from some unhealthy ones. The section closes by combining the different ways you can optimize your physical health.
