What is Energy? Why is it important?

Energy is the fuel needed to sustain life. It is what we run on for survival. Much like a car needing gas in order to run, our bodies also attempt to fill our tanks daily in order to function in a healthy way.

Our bodies only have so much energy each day to accomplish our day to day activities. We also need energy for the demands put on our bodies. Some of these demands include: muscle movement, digestion, mental activities, emotional responses, proper function of organs, repairing & replacing cells, etc. The energy we have each day is used for these demands. Therefore, in order to remain healthy, there must be enough energy to meet all the physical, emotional, & mental demands of the body.

There are 7 components of health that give our bodies daily energy. These include: sleep, nutrition, water, physical activity, rest, sunshine, & personal hygiene. Each of these components add fuel to our gas tanks.

The mission of BodyBank is to combat stimulant addiction & substance abuse. Stimulants (sugar, salt, caffeine, nicotine, & red meat) force the body to provide “false” energy. Although a person may appear & feel good while using stimulants, their body is actually being depleted of nutrients just to combat the stimulant use. The cycle continues and illness soon follows if we don’t begin to fill our bodies with “true” energy from the 7 components of health.

Everything we do to our bodies will either energize us or cause our bodies stress. The strategy of BodyBank is to maximize the participation in the 7 components of health that provide “true” energy & minimize the participation in stress causing activities that “rob” energy.

7 Energy Components

• Sleep

• Water

• Physical Activity

• Food/Substance

• Rest/Mindfulness

• Sunshine

• Hygiene

Read How To: Track Your Energy to see how to measure each energy component.