Leadership in Action - Canada English - 202209

Your body has an incredible ability to adapt.

Why are you able to step out into cold weather without your body temperature immediately dropping? It’s thanks to a self-regulating process called homeostasis, which allows your systems to work together to keep your body functioning normally. If critical markers like blood oxygen levels, body temperature, or blood sugar levels begin to rise or fall too far, multiple systems cooperate to bring them back to normal. Your body’s ability to maintain homeostasis allows you to adapt to cold or hot weather, injury, contaminated food, and many more adverse conditions—and survive! Your skin plays a huge role in your wellness. Your skin is your body’s largest organ— and your defensive shell. It allows you to feel an incredible range of sensations and is constantly regenerating itself to stay healthy and strong. Did you know that your skin is your primary defense against outside irritants? It works with your cardiovascular, nervous, and immune systems to regulate body temperature. It serves as a warning system for internal distress. Its appearance reflects your health on the inside. Want your skin to look good and function at its best? Give your body proper nutrition even as you give your skin nourishment

Your cardiovascular system Your heart beats around 100,000 times a day, and each beat is absolutely essential to your good health. That’s because your cardiovascular system is the supply line of your body! Your blood carries the oxygen and nutrients that your cells, tissues, and organs depend on—and it carries away carbon dioxide and waste to be expelled from your body. How it connects with your other systems • Works with your respiratory system to supply vital oxygen throughout your body • Works with your digestive system to transport nutrients from the food you eat • Works with your immune system to keep a supply of immune cells always available • Helps regulate your body temperature by expanding blood vessels to slow blood flow and cool you down and by contracting them to speed up blood flow and warm you up What it needs to function at its peak • Nutrition to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels • Nutrition to help with energy metabolism in your body • Nutrition to help maintain normal blood glucose levels

Your digestive system Your digestive tract would be about 30 feet long if stretched out! Moving food and waste along with a motion called peristalsis, your digestive system breaks down the foods you eat into the nutrients your body needs for energy, growth, and cell repair, delivers those nutrients into your bloodstream, and carries toxins and waste out of your body. How it connects with your other systems • Works with your cardiovascular system to move nutrients from your intestines into your bloodstream • Your gut microbiome, consisting of trillions of microorganisms, is closely connected to many other systems— including your brain and nerves • Known as your “second brain,” your gut helps regulate your digestive process, immune system function, hormone production, emotions, and more What it needs to function at its peak • Fiber to absorb excess water, to sweep • Beneficial probiotics to help your gut microbiome maintain its healthy balance • Enzymes to help it break down foods into amino acids, fatty acids, and simple sugars your body can use out toxins and waste, and to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels

from the outside.

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