[Editor’s note: The following article was first published in The Final Call newspaper, Vol. 10, No. 17, from August 19, 1991, as the third installation of a special five-part series on health penned by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Below is the conclusion of the third installment.]
Walking: Complete exercise
When a boxer is in training, one of the first steps toward conditioning him is to raise his metabolism so that he can reduce the fat content in his body. This is done in athletes by running and other forms of exercise.
However, Master Fard Muhammad, The Great Mahdi and Teacher of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, said that the best and most complete exercise is walking.
Some of you may say, “I am only eating one meal a day, but I am still gaining weight. Why?” Because, as we get older, if we are doing less physical work, our metabolism changes and we become sedentary, meaning we are less active.
Consequently, we begin to gain weight. However, the moment we begin to exercise, we raise our metabolism, allowing our bodies to start burning the fat.
However, many of our young people do not engage in physical exercise, so you are young in years but old in your body. You cannot run too far, you cannot walk too fast, you cannot lift too much weight.
Scientists are learning that even the very elderly would not lose the power of their muscles if they just took a 2-pound weight and did a few curls with it. Your muscles will continue to work for you if you will continue to work for them.
My dear brothers and sisters, when you get up in the morning, do some exercise. You say, “Well, I have to go to work. I have things to do. I don’t have any time.” You must take time for yourself or you will take time from yourself.
I am usually up every morning between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. I say my prayers, read my Holy Qur’an and Bible, and study my Lessons. Shortly after 5 a.m., I am ready to do my exercises. I have stopped taking all telephone calls during the hours that I have set aside for myself.
See fat as an opposer
Two months ago, I had a little stomach (much too big for me!—smile). But it is not there anymore and by the Help of Allah, it is never, ever going to be there again.
I am challenging all of you who are overweight to get that fat off of you. Anytime you see an ounce of fat that shouldn’t be there, I want you to see that excess fat as an opposer, an adversary, a devil, an enemy of God’s Gift of Life to us.
I would desire that each one of us take a reading of our bodies and if you have unwanted fat on your sides, arms, back, then you have work to do. Let us go to work on the problem intelligently. Do not attempt to do it all in one day! Do a little at a time, enough to work up a little sweat, raise the metabolism and begin to burn the fat away.
You may say, “I am fat because I have a thyroid problem.” A thyroid problem is a reasonable excuse for being overweight, but even that we can overcome. Work from this day forward to get the fat off of you and I guarantee you that you will feel better about yourself.
You will have a healthier outlook, you will relieve yourself of much of the stress and hypertension that you are carrying and, of course, you will look a lot better. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that our beautiful appearance, especially in our women, is enhanced or detracted from by what we eat and how we live.
Tomorrow, when it is time to make your regular visit to a fast food place, I want you to resist and say, “Not today!” Get an apple, orange, some grapes, or any fruit. Fruit is the best food to eat. Eat fresh fruit and the proper vegetables.
Red Meat = Death
Stay away from red meat. It is death for us. When you get red meat down into the stomach, the stomach produces powerful acids to digest it.
If you want to see what meat is doing to your stomach, take one hand and rub it against the other hand for approximately five minutes—you will rub your skin off, because skin against skin produces friction which in turn produces heat that will burn the skin away.
This is what heavy, coarse meat will do when you put it into your stomach. Flesh against flesh and you wear away your stomach. Your body is the House of God. Keep it healthy, strong and firm.
Jesus came as a Healer. There is the Power to Heal in his words and his way of life and he gave every Disciple the same power that Allah (God) gave him. That is wonderful; and that is not yesterday, it is today.
You can overcome any disease or illness that you have. I am not telling you to stay away from doctors; see a doctor if it is necessary, but do not put your complete trust in a doctor.
Put your complete trust in Allah (God) and no matter what the doctor says about how long you have to live, never accept it as truth and then adopt an attitude that “it’s over,” because the scriptures teach that where there is life, there is hope.
If you adopt the right attitude towards health and disease, then we can overcome every ill and become whole. There is no sickness that Allah (God) cannot heal.
Jesus met a woman and she said, “If I could just touch the hem of his garment, I would be made whole.” She did not reach his garment, but Jesus looked at the woman and said, “Woman, thy faith has made thee whole.”
I repeat, this beautiful body is the Living House of the Living God. Go and make up your mind and never put an ounce of garbage in this House of the Living God ever gain. Away with the cigarettes, alcohol, grease, grime and filthy food. When you look at the fat on yourself, you are looking at Satan robbing you of Life. Get rid of it intelligently.
I recommend that every one of you get the books by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, How To Eat To Live, Books 1 and 2, follow the guidance you find in them, and make sure you begin to get some exercise. Remember, the best exercise is walking.
In our neighborhoods, with so much crime and violence, I would advise the walkers to meet with your neighbors and walk in pairs and in groups. One day, with the help of Allah (God), the Fruit of Islam (men of the Nation of Islam) will be sufficiently strong to guarantee the return of peace and security to our neighborhood.
Thank you for reading these words. May you learn, by the Grace of Allah (God), how to live.
