Learn Hardcore Chinese: Yīshēng shuō rúguǒ wǒmen xiǎng shēntǐ gèng hǎo, jiù bìxū duō guānxīn zìjǐ de jiànkāng. - The doctor said that if we want our health to be better, we must pay more attention to our own health.

想 is more about desire or wish, often softer:
如果我们想身体更好…… → If we want our health to be better…
要 is stronger, closer to if we are going to / if we intend to / if we really want to:
如果我们要身体更好…… can sound more goal‑oriented or determined.

Both are grammatically okay, but 想 fits the tone of general advice from a doctor very well.

Why is it 想身体更好 and not 想我们的身体更好 or 想身体更好一点?

Chinese often leaves out possessives like 我们的 when the context is clear. Since 我们 is already mentioned, 身体 is naturally understood as our body / our health, so 我们的身体 would be redundant in everyday speech.

You could say:

如果我们想我们的身体更好 – grammatically fine, but a bit wordy.
如果我们想身体好一点 / 更好一点 – also fine; 一点 softens the statement (a bit better).

The original 想身体更好 is natural, concise, and sounds like standard advice.

How does the structure 如果……就…… work here? Do I always need both 如果 and 就?

如果……就…… is a very common if … then … pattern:

如果我们想身体更好，就必须多关心自己的健康。
→ If we want our health to be better, then we must pay more attention to our own health.

Points to know:

如果 introduces the condition (if part).
就 introduces the result or consequence (then part).

In everyday speech:

You can often drop 如果 and keep 就:
我们想身体更好，就必须多关心自己的健康。
Or drop 就 and keep 如果:
如果我们想身体更好，必须多关心自己的健康。

Both shortened versions are natural. Using both 如果 and 就 together just makes the logical relationship extra clear.

What exactly is 就 doing in 就必须多关心自己的健康? Is it necessary?

Here, 就 marks the result or consequence. It connects the condition and what follows from it:

Condition: 如果我们想身体更好
Result: 就必须多关心自己的健康

Nuances of 就 here:

Emphasizes a logical link: then, in that case.
Sometimes adds a slight sense of immediacy or direct consequence.

You can drop 就:

如果我们想身体更好，必须多关心自己的健康。

This is still correct. With 就, the sentence feels a bit more structured and natural in spoken and written Chinese.

What is the difference between 身体 and 健康 in this sentence?

Both relate to health, but in different ways:

身体 = body, also loosely physical condition.
健康 = health, or healthy when used as an adjective.

In this sentence:

身体更好 = (our) body / physical condition is better, i.e., we are healthier.
关心自己的健康 = to care about / pay attention to our own health.

So 身体 is the thing whose state changes (better body condition), and 健康 is the general concept of health that we should care about.

Why do we say 更好 instead of just 好? What does 更 add?

更 means more, even more, or -er in comparisons.

身体好 – the body is good / healthy.
身体更好 – the body is better, or even healthier (than before or than some other state).

In context, the doctor is talking about improving health, not just being healthy:

如果我们想身体更好 → If we want to be healthier / for our health to improve.

So 更 signals improvement or comparison with the current state.

What is 多 doing in 必须多关心自己的健康? Why is it before 关心?

Here 多 is an adverb meaning more or to a greater extent / more often.

关心自己的健康 – care about / pay attention to your health.
多关心自己的健康 – care about / pay attention to your health more (often / more seriously).

In Chinese, adverbs like 多 usually go before the verb:

多关心 (more care about)
Not 关心多自己的健康.

So 必须多关心自己的健康 means must pay more attention to our own health.

Why is it 自己的健康 and not just 健康 or just 自己?

Each part adds a layer of meaning:

健康 – health (in general).
自己的健康 – one’s own health specifically.

自己 is a reflexive pronoun (self / own), and 的 links 自己 to 健康, forming one’s own health.

关心健康 – care about health (could be general, like public health).
关心自己的健康 – care about your own health.

In context, the doctor is advising you to look after your own health, so 自己的健康 is the most precise and natural choice.

What exactly is 的 doing in 自己的健康?

的 is a structural particle that links a modifier to what it modifies. The pattern is:

modifier + 的 + noun

Here:

Modifier: 自己 (self / own)
Noun: 健康 (health)

So:

自己的健康 = one’s own health.

Without 的, 自己健康 would be odd in this position; 的 is needed to make the phrase grammatical as a noun phrase.

What is the difference between 关心, 照顾, and 注意 when talking about health?

All three can relate to health, but they focus on different aspects:

关心 – to care about, to be concerned about
Emotional concern + practical attention.
多关心自己的健康 → care more about / pay more attention to your health.
照顾 – to look after, to take care of
More hands‑on, often used for people, not abstract health.
照顾身体 is possible, but sounds like caring for your body in a more concrete way (rest, food, etc.).
注意 – to pay attention to, to be careful about
Often used with specific aspects: 注意饮食, 注意休息, 注意安全.

Here 多关心自己的健康 is very natural because it combines emotional concern and ongoing attention, not just being careful about one detail.

Why is it 必须多关心 instead of 多必须关心 or 必须关心多?

Chinese word order for this type of structure is:

[modal / degree] + [adverb] + [main verb]

In this case:

必须 – modal: must
多 – adverb: more
关心 – main verb: to care about

So the natural order is:

必须多关心

The other orders are ungrammatical or very unnatural:

多必须关心 – wrong order.
必须关心多自己的健康 – breaks the usual pattern; 多 should stay before 关心.

What is the difference between 必须, 要, and 得 for must / have to here?

All three can express obligation, but with different strength and tone:

必须 – strong, formal, non‑negotiable: must
就必须多关心自己的健康 → then we absolutely must pay more attention to our health.
要 – have to / need to / should, often slightly softer, very common in speech:
就要多关心自己的健康 – still strong, but can feel a bit less strict than 必须.
得 (děi) – colloquial have to / gotta:
就得多关心自己的健康 – natural in everyday speech, sounds spoken and less formal.

The doctor’s advice sentence sounds more like written or careful speech, so 必须 fits well.

Why is it 身体更好 and not 更好的身体 in this sentence?

It is about the grammar role of 好:

身体更好 – 好 is a predicative adjective, describing the state of the body:
(our) body / health is better.
更好的身体 – 好 is an attributive adjective modifying 身体, like a better body.

In this sentence, we are saying:

If we want (our) health to be better… → a state of being.

So 身体更好 (body is better) is natural as the resulting condition, not 更好的身体 (a better body as a noun phrase).

Could this sentence be direct speech with quotation marks, like the doctor’s exact words? Does that change the structure?

Yes, you could write it as direct speech:

医生说：如果我们想身体更好，就必须多关心自己的健康。

This simply adds a colon to make it look like a quote. The internal structure:

如果我们想身体更好，就必须多关心自己的健康 does not change at all.

So:

医生说 + sentence (indirect / reported speech style), or
医生说： + sentence (direct speech style in writing)

Both are acceptable; the grammar of the Chinese if … then … part stays the same.