Health is a measurement of overall physical well-being. Wilson, Willow, Wendy, Wickerbottom, and Woodie have 150 Health; Wes has 113 Health; and Maxwell has 75 Health. Wolfgang has 200 health by default (his health limit rises to 300 with a full belly and drops to 150 when starving). WX-78 begins with 100 Health and is capable of increasing its health cap up to 400 by eating Gears. From Reign of Giants, Wigfrid has 200 Health, and Webber has 175 Health.
Unlike Hunger (and in many situations Sanity), Health does not drain over time. Health is lost when a character takes damage while attacked, burning, starving, or freezing. Some foods like Monster Meat can also reduce Health. Losing all Health results in death (although not necessarily the loss of the game). Health can be seen on the heart-shaped gauge in the upper-right corner of the screen, which shrivels as the character's Health is depleted.
Restoring Health
Health can be restored in only a few ways. The most basic way to regain health is by eating Food; most of which typically provides 1-3 health when consumed. Cooking food often increases the Health they restore by 1 or 2 points.
Certain food and items provide a greater health boost and are thus very valuable:
Crock Pot
Several crock pot recipes provide substantial healing. Fishsticks [40 HealthMeter] are an easy recipe to make. Pierogi [40 HealthMeter] is also a good recipe. Dragonpie [40 HealthMeter] is excellent if the player manages to get create a Dragon Fruit farm. However, regarding Crock Pot recipes in general, the player must make sure that the individual components (raw or cooked) won't heal more if eaten on their own.
Braised Eggplant / Sliced Pomegranate
When cooked, Eggplants and Pomegranates heal 20 HealthMeter.
Jerky/Small Jerky
Jerky restores a nice amount of health, and lasts for a very long time. If primary concern is health, and only food source is Meats, they should be made into jerky. Jerky can be used in Crock Pot as normal meat, if needed.
Spiders drop Spider Glands that can be used immediately for a small health boost of 8 HealthMeter. In a similar way, Mosquitoes drop their sacks which heals the same amount of health as Spider Glands. Spider Glands can also be made into Healing Salve for a larger boost of 20 HealthMeter. Neither item is food, so they don't spoil.
Bee Boxes
Bee Boxes produce Honey, which can be used to create Honey Poultices [30 HealthMeter], as well as health restoring Crock Pot dishes. Since Honey Poultices are not food, the player can stockpile them without worrying about spoiling.
Butterflies
Butterflies drop Butterfly Wings which restore 8 HealthMeter. Also, butterflies have a 2% chance to drop Butter which heals a massive 40 HealthMeter. Additionally, the wings can be easily used to craft a Butter Muffin, which heals for 20 HealthMeter, while also filling some hunger. The Butter can be used to cook Waffles which heal for 60 HealthMeter. Butterfly farms can be created easily and synergize well with bee boxes.
Blue Mushroom
Eating a raw Blue Mushroom restores 20 HealthMeter, although at the cost of 15 Sanity. Blue mushrooms can only be picked at night and can't be relocated, so large scale farming is usually impractical. Still, they provide a nice boost for players who build their base near them.
Life Giving Amulet
Wearing a Life Giving Amulet will automatically heal the player by 5 HealthMeter in exchange for 5 Hunger and 5% of its durability. Upon death while wearing it, it will automatically restore the players HealthMeter to 50.
Meat Effigy
If the player builds a Meat Effigy then their maximum health is decreased by 30. This health is impossible to regain unless the Meat Effigy is destroyed.
touch Stone
If the player in the world comes across a Touch Stone in the world, and activates it, they may respawn there as well. To identify one, there are 4 Pig Heads around it and wooden turf underneath.
There may be more than one Touch Stone in the world, but the player will respawn at the one closest to their death point. Touch Stones may only be used once and drop Marble, Rocks, and Nightmare Fuel upon doing so.
Trivia
The player can have 0 points of Health and not die. However, they will still take damage, and can die, as this is just less than 1, but in decimals, making any received damage fatal.