Our health is extremely important to us. We spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to best live our lives. But, with so much misleading information out there, it can be difficult to figure out just what the right way is. Some people swear by organic food. Others promote a plant-based diet. While more still champion meat consumption. They can’t all be right or wrong, can they? It’s pretty hard to get your head around it all if we’re being honest.
Luckily there are a few simple things we can prescribe to in order to get a fair balance. While we may not know all the answers as to what contributes to perfect health, we, at least, have an idea. And sticking to what we know could get you further than you are now. So, let’s take a look at some of the key ways we could all improve our health tenfold.
Consume Less Salt, Sugar, and Saturated Fat
All three of these things can lead to a myriad of health problems, so it’s important to curb our consumption of them. Especially in western culture, we are all eating far too much of all of them. And they all have clear links to a bunch of diseases, including diabetes and cancer. Of course, that isn’t good news, so reducing your intake now could save you a lot of problems later. Replace artificial fats with healthy fats like avocado and nuts.
Cut Out Alcohol and Nicotine
We’re all aware of the harmful effects that smoking and drinking have on our body. Nobody needs to be preached at in this regard. Smoking should be eliminated as soon as you possibly can though this is certainly easier said than done. Alcohol can be a little more tricky, given that we use it as a social aspect of our lives. You shouldn’t need to cut out alcohol completely. But following the government’s recommended allowance is a good idea.
Drink More Water
While you’re cutting out the alcohol, you need to be picking up more glasses of water. So many of us are dehydrated without even realising it! Did you know that, if you feel thirsty, your body is already dehydrated? Don’t wait around for that to happen. You should try to gradually sip water all day long to make sure that your body gets enough. We need at least eight glasses per day, which is about 2 litres. Be mindful of how much you consume, as water poisoning can happen, though it’s rare. Remember that water comes from many different sources. Even your cup of coffee in the morning counts towards your total!
Eat More Whole Foods
Whether it’s out of convenience or laziness, we’re consuming more processed foods than ever before. There are a lot of people that scrutinise the supposed ‘whole foods’ or ‘superfoods.’ But that’s without really understanding them. Once upon a time, these would simply have been called ‘foods.’ But that was a time before pre-prepared food became readily available. Try to stamp them out gradually, and replace them with homemade meals. Remember, you should be aiming for at least five portions of vegetables per day. You might consider speaking to a qualified nutritionist if you need help with forming a balanced diet.
Get More Exercise
There aren’t many of us that are getting as much exercise as we need to keep our bodies in check. That’s simply because we don’t have much time on our hands, right? If your New Year’s Resolution was to hit the gym up more, make sure you stick to it! You should aim for at least twenty minutes of moderate exercise per day. And that doesn’t include the light activities you would normally do. Try mixing it up a little bit. Walk to work instead of driving. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Whatever you can do to increase your activity.
Exercise is known to ward off depression, as well as increase your metabolism. So, it makes losing weight quicker, and leads to a happier and healthier you. Our cognitive function is impaired by a lack of exercise.
Keeping Your Weight In Check
Weight is often misinterpreted as the most important factor in our health. While it does play a primary role, generally speaking, in terms of our health, it isn’t the only thing to consider. Far from it. Even being a perfect weight doesn’t mean that your body is getting all of the essential vitamins and minerals. Those nutrients that it needs to function at an optimal level. However, weight can be a pretty good indicator for the things that we are getting right.
Your BMI can give you an idea of how you’re generally performing . While things do get skewed when you incorporate things like muscle mass, it gives us something to go on. You can find out where you rank on the scale and make changes to your diet depending on that. It can help you piece together your goals, whether that is gaining or losing weight in the right way.
Reduce Stress
Stress is one of the biggest contributors to heart disease! And so many of our daily lives are filled with constant stress, be it from work or at home. Of course, our culture makes it so that these things can’t be changed so readily, but there is one thing you can do. Learn some good tips for dealing with stress and put them into practice! Your blood pressure will thank you for it.
Sleep More
This is a big one, and one that is often overlooked. Sleep is your body’s most important fuel. And, shockingly, most of us are getting far less than the recommended eight hours per night. Sleep is a refined process, with a bunch of different stages. All of them are as vital as the last. Without a full eight hours, you simply aren’t going through all the stages of sleep, and so your body can’t recover properly. Did you know, though, that more than eight hours can be equally as bothersome? Get your eight hours per night – no more, no less!
