New Definition of Health by Dr. Bomi Joseph
A science-based perspective that measures health through responsiveness, adaptability, and evolution — not just the absence of disease.
By Dr. Bomi Joseph, Founder of Deep Health®
The Problem With “Health” as We Know It
Ask a doctor: “What is health?”
Most will quote the World Health Organization’s 1948 definition:
The 1948 Definition (WHO)
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” — WHO, 1948
Why It Fails
- It defines a static state, not a measurable capacity.
- It ignores responsiveness, adaptability, and recovery speed.
- It is not actionable for prevention or training.
Hospitals study disease, not health. Medical schools teach pathology, not physiology of resilience. There are no courses on how to measure health. That’s why even seasoned cardiac surgeons and neurosurgeons I’ve asked cannot answer basic questions about their own cardiovascular fitness, recovery or development mechanisms.
If we want a useful definition of health, we need to turn to biology and evolution—not committees.
Health as a Fortress Under Attack
The human body is a fortress. Every day, it is bombarded by dust, pollen, viruses, bacteria, and xenobiotics. Whether you stay healthy or get sick depends on how promptly and ferociously your body responds to invaders.
This responsiveness is measurable. In fact, my early experiments in the 1980s using rabbit albumin (a benign foreign protein) showed stark differences between healthy, average, and unhealthy people.
The Science of Response: What the Data Show
In 2002, Arthur A. Prieur of UCSF presented similar findings: when injected with a harmless foreign protein, immune systems responded very differently depending on health status.
- Healthy people: Responded in 3 days to just ~2,100 invaders.
- Average people: Responded in 5 days but only after ~530,000 invaders.
- Unhealthy people: Took 8–10 days, and needed ~230 million invaders before reacting.
This difference explains why healthy people rarely fall ill—they never allow invaders to multiply to dangerous levels. Unhealthy people, by contrast, are constantly on the back foot.
Evolutionary Logic: Why Speed Matters
From an evolutionary perspective, survival depends less on “absence of disease” and more on the speed, efficiency, and intensity of response:
- Rapid immune responses stop infections before they start.
- Efficient vascular systems deliver oxygen and nutrients where needed.
- Agile metabolic systems replenish ATP quickly, keeping tissues strong.
The healthiest bodies are not those without problems, but those that can detect, adapt, and recover fastest.
Core Thesis About the New Definition of Health
The human body is a fortress under constant attack. Health is not ‘well-being’—it is the capacity to detect, respond, and recover rapidly from stressors.
The New Definition of Health
Health is the body’s ability to detect, respond, and recover rapidly from stressors—biological, chemical, or physical.
“New Definition of Health” by Dr. Bomi Joseph. © Deep Health® Inc.
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