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1-Page Summary of The 4 Pillar Plan

Overview

We know that there are many things in life we need to change, but it’s hard to do so because of time constraints. There just aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything you want to do.

However, this isn’t true. As Rangan Chatterjee explains in his book The Four-Hour Body, we’ve been taught to compartmentalize our health and diet instead of seeing them as a whole.

As it turns out, you can attain a healthier body and mind by following Chatterjee’s progressive approach to medicine. He believes that there are four basic pillars to improving your health: relaxing, eating well, moving around, and sleeping better. These are things that most people already know about but don’t necessarily do every day. However, if everyone followed these simple steps we’d all be much healthier!

The author will tell you what sugar does to your taste buds, how to calm yourself down with breathing exercises, and why too much exercise is bad for you.

Big Idea #1: Maintaining a healthy body isn’t just about treating symptoms of illness, it’s about a progressive approach to managing your lifestyle.

If you woke up with a rash on your arm, what would you do? You’d probably go to the doctor and he or she would prescribe something for it. However, this may not be the best way to handle things because there could be more going on than just that one symptom.

It’s the same with mental illnesses. If you go to a doctor with symptoms of depression, he’ll probably prescribe antidepressants and tell you that your brain is imbalanced. However, according to the author, there are many causes for depression including poor diet and stress, which can be treated by getting more exercise or eating better.

The author believes doctors should stop focusing on symptoms and start looking at the body as a whole. Doctors should also take into account how all parts of the body work together to maintain health. He calls this progressive medicine.

If you have a rash, it might be due to an overly reactive immune system. This could be caused by stress or food intolerance or abnormal bacteria in the gut. It’s important to take your health seriously and make changes in your lifestyle if you want to get better.

The author mentions four pillars that are essential to good health: relaxation, diet, movement and sleep. He encourages his patients to adjust their lifestyles in one or more of those areas so they can feel better physically and mentally.

So what are these 4 pillars? Let’s go more into detail in the next section.

Big Idea #2: Relaxation keeps you healthy, so take 15 minutes for it every day.

Admit it, you don’t take enough time to relax. Most people underestimate the importance of relaxing and fail to do so regularly. In fact, relaxing is essential for your health because not doing so can cause serious damage. Humans are still basically the same as hunter-gatherers who walked around in forests and grasslands eons ago; we’re not designed for modern life with its stressful work environments or crowded cities.

Whenever our ancestors encountered predators, their instinctual fight-or-flight response kicked in. We still have that response but our lifestyles are completely different. This means that we’re essentially always under threat from the “danger” of modern life.

When we’re stressed, our body produces cortisol. This is the body’s way of dealing with stress. But in today’s world, where stress is always present, we produce too much cortisol.

Cortisol is a hormone that helps your body respond to stress. It increases the heart rate, widens air passageways and makes muscles contract. However, this isn’t good if you’re not running away from a saber-toothed tiger because it’s no way to live your everyday life.