Staying healthy isn’t difficult when you’re informed. A clean bill of healthy can only come from a health conscious lifestyle and no quick fix will keep you healthy for very long. If you have any serious concerns about your health, you should always contact your doctor first. However, to get you on track to making healthy decisions, here are a few tips to leading a healthy life:
Eat well
Eating well is the first step to staying healthy. We need to have all of the right nutrients and vitamins in our diet to keep our body in top shape and functioning properly. The important thing to remember is that food isn’t your enemy or your friend. It’s fuel. Too much of certain foods can be bad for the body (even the foods that are normally healthy for us) and too little can cause just as much damage. The key is moderation. Your diet should consist of carbohydrates (pasta, cereals and potatoes), protein (meat, pulses and fish), vitamins and minerals (fresh fruits and vegetables), fibre and unsaturated fats (dairy, oils, nuts and fish). You should also be drinking plenty of water and not taking in too much salt and sugar.
Exercise
We tend to associate exercise with losing weight or gaining muscle, but the truth is that everyone – no matter your shape or size – needs regular exercise to stay healthy. Exercise improves our lung capacity, stamina, energy, immune system, and brain function and reduces the risk of joint pain, bone diseases, lowers our cholesterol and can even combat certain cancers. It’s one of the most important parts of staying healthy.
Minimise your alcohol intake and avoid smoking
Alcohol is technically toxic to us. Too much can have severe damage on your liver and heart and there are strong links between alcohol and certain types of cancer. Drinking too much alcohol can also lower your immune system, which leaves you vulnerable to all sorts of viruses and illnesses. There isn’t really a safe amount of alcohol to drink, but if you can’t bear to give it up altogether then you should at least reduce the amount you drink to 14 units per week and avoid binge drinking.
Smoking is a similar story. There are strong links between smoking and cancer, as well as heart disease, strokes, bronchitis, pneumonia, and damaged blood vessels and arteries. You can contact your doctor for help on giving up smoking and should do as soon as possible if you are a regular smoker.
Don’t ignore the small problems
We all tend to overlook our small aches and pains. Sometimes, however, these aches, pains and marks could be signs of a severe problem. If you don’t keep track of your body’s changes and persisting problems, you could be missing the opportunity to catch a severe illness in its early stages. However, even if the small problems aren’t linked to bigger problems, they could worsen over time if not addressed early. Varicose veins, for example, are a problem that most people tend to ignore. Usually they only cause a bit of pain, however complications can lead to blood clots and ulcers which can be both painful and dangerous. There are treatments for varicose veins that can prevent these from occurring and contacting your doctor can help you decide whether or not these small problems should be a concern.
Brought to you by our friends at veincentre.com.
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