Lifestyle Modification and “Golden Mean”

Lifestyle Modification and “Golden Mean”

Lifestyle modification, or “生活方式調整”, has been almost the
essential part in the treatment plan for most illnesses, especially the
heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

I have recently attended a Continuing Medical Education seminar,
and again noticed the repeated emphasis of this recommendation.

It basically says if you eat too much, you need to cut down,;
if you don’t exercise, you need to get up and move around,;
if you don’t sleep enough, you need more hours of sleep, or vice
versa. Too much sugar or fat is bad for you, and avoiding too much
stress is what you need.

Bad habits are the basic causes of poor health, and a healthy lifestyle
is one of both moderation and balance. Just as pointed out in the
Doctrine of the Golden Mean by Aristotle, living a lifestyle of
moderation and balance has made sense, and it makes you healthy.
In every situation the extremes of both excess and deficiency are
absolutely not good, actually harmful. More is not necessarily better
when it comes to our health.

In Chinese philosophy “中庸之道” by Confucius, it means
「不偏為之中,不易謂之庸」.「中」是「折中」，"無過無不及也"。
「庸」是「平常」。 And therefore "中庸 " is “折中與平常”.
The ideal lifestyle is “不偏不倚 不急不徐”, or "中庸".

"中庸之道", 調整生活型態 and 調整飲食習慣, are the best advices for
the prevention of ailment, and the important part in managing
various illnesses as well.

Yeh Tze