In basketball coaching, there is an axiom "forget about offense, its all about the defense" since good offense is generated by good defense. In "Karate Kid", Pat Morita was teaching that everything in karate was generated from systematicly good defense, learned by repetition (ie "brush on, brush off").

I have a feeling that in health, the "defense" is exercise, or perhaps an "active lifestyle", since if that is achieved, everything else falls into place (sleep, diet, stress, etc). I also have a feeling that "enough exercise" is perhaps double the recommended 3 hrs per week, but another viewpoint is to "keep busy doing relevant things". My ancestors were farmers, never went to a gym, but were active and healthy. The words "chores" and "not being spoiled" came up a lot. I believe an "active lifestyle" is immersing yourself in life to the point where no job is too big or small, burning calories w/o knowing it, hitting the pillow tired but satisfied each night. Makes it easy to achieve devotional relationships (a big health thing right there...) Then everything takes care of itself? Nuanced yes but I think we all know in our hearts to be true?

In health writing, things like "chores" and "devotional relationships" don't come up much, since they don't come in pill form, yet somehow they need to be mentioned? I know, you're a Biochemist and not really your domain, but then this stuff must have some sort of positive chemical effect on our bodies?