Being healthy can be From meetings to conference calls to balancing a social life, We trust medical professionals to know what’s best for us and we often assume that whatever they say Health Into Your Own Hands is best we are operating at what feels like 100 percent on most days.
It’s easy to get entangled in this vicious cycle of work, sleep, and more work. But after a while, your body starts screaming in protest and demanding you pay attention to its needs. Start thinking of your food as medicine — because it is the key to your health.
Follow these seven steps to be more in tune with your body and take your health into your hands:
1. Limit Fast Food, Cook Your Meal Instead
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Eating fast food, nutrient void food or processed food as little as three times a week for several years, may increase the risk of developing chronic health problems such as diabetes, obesity or hypertension.
The best way to do so is to prepare your own food at home and control your intake of sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats.
Therefore, make healthier food choices by finding the food that works for the betterment of your body. Make a conscious effort to eat preservative-free foods.
2. Ditch the Soda, Increase Your Water Uptake
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Although, soda is refreshing as an occasional treat, let’s face it, its excessive consumption can be dangerous for your health. Soda, or cola, when it comes to sugar content, it’s downright loaded.
The high amounts of sugar in such drinks contribute to obesity, leading to weight gain and other metabolic syndromes. Therefore, limit such sugar-loaded drinks. Instead, drink more water; water helps carry vital nutrients to our cells and remove toxins from our organs.
Further, sugar can be profoundly found in most processed foods, including healthier ones. Therefore, it’s best to dissuade yourself from sweetness, for artificial sugar substitutes aren’t a better option, either.
3. Let Go Of Stress
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Most diseases result from inflammation, and a major culprit of inflammation is stress. Chill out. Yoga and meditation are great for dealing with stress, but writing in a journal, taking a nature walk, and drawing a hot bath are also excellent substitutions. Find what works for you and let your health-harming stress slip away.
4. Move Your Body
You must have read (or heard) it a million times. But nothing can change the fact that – ‘A body in motion stays in motion’. So, come out of the constant leisure and comfort of modern life and start exercising.
To start with, try doing stretches during TV commercials or walk up the stairs instead of taking that elevator. Most importantly, get 30 minutes of physical activity on most days. Bonus — regular exercising helps lower stress levels too.
5. Go For Routine Screenings To Stay Abreast Of Health Issues
Routine checkups can expose both risks of developing a health problem, or its early existence.
Family medical history and different life stages may call for various screenings, with some highly recommended after certain ages, such as tests for hypertension, bone density, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
So, talk to your physician about which screenings you should be getting and how often you need them.
6. Sleep Deeply
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Simply put, you cannot be healthy without adequate sleep. Sleep deprivation has been linked to heart attack, depression, obesity, metabolic syndrome, stroke, and more.17
- Among other things, sleep:
- Improves cognitive function and memory
- Increases resilience to stress
- Boosts mood and energy
- Improves immune function
- Aim for eight hours of sleep every night, and make it a priority. Create a set bedtime and routine around going to bed.
Do your best to avoid exposure to blue light for at least two hours before bedtime. Exposure to blue light before bed has been shown to reduce levels of melatonin, the sleep hormone, by as much as 50%.18
Install apps like f.lux or Twilight on your devices. These apps sync with your local time and block much of the blue light emitted from screens after the sun sets.
Consider getting a Himalayan salt lamp or a red lamp bulb for night-time lighting.
Try wearing blue-blocking glasses after dusk, especially if you need to use a screen. Yes, they look dorky, but your sleep is worth it!
7. Purchase Health Insurance
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A health emergency can strike anyone, anytime. You must have often heard people saying, “He was in great health last week. Don’t know what happened, all of a sudden”.
That’s how most cases of illnesses are – they come out of nowhere! Hence, it’s vital to have health insurance, to protect yourself financially against such medical emergencies.
If you are healthy and young, you may think you don’t need health insurance. Or that it’s not worth the trouble or is too expensive.
The fact is, even if you are healthy, contracting a serious illness while being uninsured, can lead you down the path of financial strain, especially critical illnesses like cancer and cardiovascular ailments.
Having health insurance to cover against critical illnesses is worth the peace of mind knowing that if any untoward medical situation strikes, you are covered.
Choosing not to have health insurance is a major risk and is not something that recommends doing.
Concluding:
Finally, it’s all about listening and living more harmoniously with your mind and body, to take charge of your health.
Whether it’s a need to control your sugar uptake, weight loss, or stress reduction, the simple act of creating a plan can channelize your mind in the right direction.
Taking care of your health may seem overwhelming at first, therefore, begin with a single health goal and pick up from there.
