Unit Two Reflection

Health is the measure of the body's efficiency and overall well-being. Health can be categorized into five main pillars: nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, and social. Each of these five aspects play a major role in the body's well-being. Four important hormones that control and regulate homeostasis inside of the body are insulin, leptin, glucagon, and cortisol. These hormones work together to maintain healthy glucose levels inside of the body. The four keys to a health diet are adequacy, moderation, variety, and balance. This recommendation basically advises to get a little bit of everything, and not to eat too much of something. Also exercising plays a key role on health. The different types of physical activity are aerobic, muscle-strengthening, bone-strengthening, and flexibility. The amount of time that a person needs to work out for depends on the intensity of which they are performing. The more intense a person is, the less time they need to spend on a certain activity. Sleep is also a critical part of health. Sleep is a time for the body to rest and for the brain to recharge and sort out its thoughts from the day. The two stages of sleep are REM, which is when the body is paralyzed and the brain is very active, and non-REM, where the body is not paralyzed and eyes move more slowly. The next pillar of stress is defined as any event/demand that causes a predictable physiological response. The three main stages of stress are the alarm phase, resistance phase, and exhaustion phase. The alarm phase is the initial "fight or flight" phase where the body reacts to an immediate source of alarm. The resistance phase is more of a long term stress where the body begins to become more impaired. In the exhaustion phase the stress has continued for so long to the point where death can even occur. The social aspect of health focuses on all the benefits of how having a socially active life can lead to many health benefits such as an increased immunity to diseases.

I think that I am somewhat healthy. I wouldn't say I'm perfect, but I think I do think I am healthy overall. I just need to tweak a few things in my lifestyle. For example, in my nutrition analysis I lacked fiber and different vitamins. All I need to do to improve on this is eat more fruits and vegetables in my diet. Also, I want to exercise more often. As of now I am not playing any sports, so I need to run more often on my own. I'd say that I get enough sleep and that I am socially active as well. I would say I am about average on stress, but on the better end of the scale at Saratoga High School. The people at this school are way too stressed and don't get enough sleep. Also, many do not eat a healthy diet since some skip breakfast and eat pizza for lunch everyday. To counteract this school wide problem, teachers should try to communicate on test days or big project due dates. This allows students to not cram multiple subjects in their head the night before the test. It would also help in the sleep category since students would not have to stay up so late just to study. At school, the cafeteria should sell more nutritious foods for lunch instead of the pizza and cup-o-noodles. This would improve health overall around the school.

Some of the key understandings of this unit is what health is and how the 5 pillars of health effect that a person's overall health. Overall, I learned many new things during this unit. I learned the function of the four hormones that effect a person's overall health, and how not eating the right foods can completely destroy the healthy balance of them. From the nutrition section I learned that on average, a person should be drinking half their body weight in ounces of water. In the exercise pillar I learned that one can use the talk test to figure out the intensity of the activity they are doing. I also learned that if you ever feel drowsy during the day that means you have sleep debt. From one of the TED talk videos, I learned that stress is actually good for the body. It means that your body is preparing itself for something and pumping more blood so you are better prepared for it. Lastly, I learned how having a more social life can reduce some cancer developments. One thing that I still do not fully understand is the concept of dreaming. It confuses me on how dreaming occurs in the REM stage, where the body is paralyzed, yet often people twitch when they dream. This counteracts the idea that you don't move when you dream since people do actually move around. One thing that I can improve on next unit is applying what I have learned in this unit to better understand what I am learning next. One job that relates to this unit is the field of neuroscience. In this field, scientists examine the brain and how it functions with the rest of the body. This relates to what we covered this unit since stress and sleep have much to do with the brain. People in neuroscience study and try to understand more and more about the brain. One could look more into the study of concussions, which is very applicable in today's society with many different sports coming up with new rules to protect its athletes. For example, in youth soccer heading the ball has been made illegal to prevent brain trauma at a young age. When a person recovers from a concussion it is important for them not to be under too much stress, since they are prone to headaches. Also sleep is said to be important to recover from a concussion, unlike what the old idea of waking the person up at different times during the night. This shows how the concept of concussions is still unknown, so many take precautions when dealing with it. So much more can still be discovered about concussion and just the brain itself.

https://www.sfn.org/about/about-neuroscience