{"id":5947,"date":"2025-09-02T14:00:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T19:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/?p=5947"},"modified":"2025-09-12T06:32:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T11:32:02","slug":"good-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/good-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>With the MAHA movement, perhaps we should be asking: What defines good health? It\u2019s easy to assume we all have the same definition of health. But is that true?<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"675\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/dictionary-675x450.jpg\" alt=\"closeup of dictionary page with the definition of dictionary\" class=\"wp-image-5948\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/dictionary-675x450.jpg 675w, https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/dictionary-338x225.jpg 338w, https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/dictionary-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/dictionary-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/dictionary-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/dictionary-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The top 3 definitions of the word<strong> health<\/strong> according to <em>The American Heritage<\/em><em>\u00ae Dictionary<\/em> are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>health&nbsp;<\/strong>\/h\u0115lth\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>noun<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The overall condition of an organism at a given time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Soundness, especially of body or mind; freedom from disease or abnormality.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A condition of optimal well-being.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Merriam-Webster defines it as follows:<\/em><strong><em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/noun\">noun<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/health?pronunciation&amp;lang=en_us&amp;dir=h&amp;file=health01\">\u02c8helth&nbsp;<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;<em>also<\/em> \u02c8heltth<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>1a:&nbsp;<\/strong>the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit<em>especially<\/em>:freedom from physical disease or pain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>1b:&nbsp;<\/strong>the general condition of the body<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2a:&nbsp;<\/strong>a condition in which someone or something is thriving or doing well:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/well-being\"><strong>well-being<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2b:&nbsp;<\/strong>general condition or state<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Medical Dictionaries recognize health as a range of potential within an environment: \u201ca&nbsp;relative&nbsp;state&nbsp;in&nbsp;which&nbsp;one&nbsp;is&nbsp;able&nbsp;to&nbsp;function&nbsp;well&nbsp;physically,&nbsp;mentally,&nbsp;socially, and spiritually in order to express the full range of one\u2019s unique potentialities within the environment in which one is living.\u201d<sup>1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While all are similar, there are some notable differences. American Heritage does not mention the spirit, only the body and mind. Merriam-Webster mentions the spirit, but emphasizes physical disease and pain. Of the three, the medical dictionary is the only one to mention potential and environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why does defining health or good health matter?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To Establish The State We Wish to Achieve<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keeping it simple, if you don\u2019t know what it is, you can\u2019t recognize when you have it.While that\u2019s stating the obvious, we spend lots of time, energy, and money trying to achieve good health. If we don\u2019t define what it is, not only may we fail to recognize it when we achieve it, we can\u2019t devise a reasonable plan to get to the state we strive for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To Create Reachable Goals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Health, good health, and optimum health are not the same for everyone. I don\u2019t have the same health potential as someone with a different genetic makeup, history of illness, background of injury, exposure to environments, and reliance on medication. That\u2019s why the medical dictionary uses words like unique potentialities and environment. Understanding what\u2019s realistic for me is key to developing appropriate and achievable goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To Make Sure My Health Choices Reflect My Priorities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I may not have the same priorities as my physician. This can mean I request an alternative route to get to the same goal. My doctor might prefer I take a certain medication that will get a result quicker. I may prefer a lengthier path that leads to the root cause of my issue. As a team, we can devise a treatment plan in line with my priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other priorities may extend beyond my personal health in order to protect vulnerable family members, those with disabilities, and the elderly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To Balance Time Spent On Each Component Of Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If I spend too much time working out, I may not have time to prepare food that most benefits me. If I only focus on physical health, I may neglect social connections, creative projects, or practices that contribute to a positive state of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To Get Results<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without any clear definition, goal, or plan, there\u2019s no way to measure results. Even if our health plan is mostly about the process, we won\u2019t know whether we\u2019re on track unless we\u2019ve outlined that process &amp; where we hope it to take us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s no better time than now to define good health, determine our priorities, and develop a plan to meet our health goals. This will make the path more clear as information becomes murkier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>1<\/sup> https:\/\/medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com\/health<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/STC_ad_22_OL-9.png\" alt=\"ad\" class=\"wp-image-4951\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/STC_ad_22_OL-9.png 600w, https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/STC_ad_22_OL-9-350x175.png 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the MAHA movement, perhaps we should be asking: What defines good health? It\u2019s easy to assume we all have the same definition of health. But is that true? The top 3 definitions of the word health according to The American Heritage\u00ae Dictionary are: health&nbsp;\/h\u0115lth\/ noun Merriam-Webster defines it as follows: health noun\u02c8helth&nbsp;&nbsp;also \u02c8heltth Medical &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/good-health\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Good Health&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3893,206,2725,3470,219,3791],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5947"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5947"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5956,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5947\/revisions\/5956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}