Good health is the key to a happy life because no matter what life presents you with, without sound health, nothing seems pleasant. Your choices will greatly impact your overall well-being and satisfaction with life.
With healthy habits, you will live longer, happier, and safer. With a sound mind and good physical health, you can enjoy life, stay active, socialize, stay out of hospitals, and reach great heights in terms of life’s achievements.
Only with a healthy life will you be able to live productively and accomplish things. Your health is largely in your own hands.
Maintain healthy living habits, and you can ensure good physical and mental health. You can maintain a healthy lifestyle with a few positive changes in your daily routines.
Following are some tips that will surely help:
- Eat healthily
As the famous saying goes, you are what you eat. Combining all the different nutrients in your diet is crucial to maintaining good physical health, boosting your immune system, protecting against malnutrition, and avoiding problems like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, and much more.
The ideal intake of energy is such that it balances energy expenditure. A healthy diet includes a good amount of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes.
The recommended intake of fruit and vegetables is at least five portions a day.
A healthy diet is also important to prolong life if you’re battling a terminal illness like mesothelioma, a terminal disease resulting from asbestos exposure.
What you eat affects your body’s recovery since your immune system depends greatly on your diet and nutrient intake.
Protein, in particular, helps boost the body’s immune system and maintain muscle strength.
- Reduce intake of sugar and salts
If you have a sweet tooth and love treats and drinks rich in sugar, it is better to replace them with fresh fruits.
High sugar intake increases the risk of obesity and tooth decay. Ideally, the intake of free sugars should be no more than 10% of the entire energy intake.
This applies to both children and adults. For adults, this is around 12 teaspoons. It is even better to minimize intake to less than 5% of the entire energy intake.
As for salt intake, reduce consumption to 5g per day only. This makes around one teaspoon. High amounts of salt in your diet can cause high blood pressure and increase the likelihood of cardiovascular diseases.
While you may not be consuming as much salt in pure form, much more is taken in via fish sauce, soy sauce, meal seasonings, and other high-sodium flavorings.
If you reduce the intake of such seasonings or replace them with low-sodium alternatives, you can limit your intake of salts.
- Minimize consumption of saturated fat
Ideally, the amount of fat you take in should be less than 30% of the total energy consumption. But this also entails balancing the amount of good fat (unsaturated) with the amount of bad fat (saturated).
According to WHO, recommended intake of saturated fat is less than 10% of total energy consumption because an excess amount of saturated fat can lead to cholesterol deposits in arteries.
This increases the risk of stroke and heart disease. Cutting down on saturated fat consumption will help keep weight in control, maintain good heart health, and minimize the risk of diabetes.
- Eat small portions at regular intervals
The ideal eating habit is to take a varied diet in the right amount and at regular intervals. Keep checking the portion size for each meal, and don’t take in too many calories.
To avoid eating more than necessary in one sitting, prepare only as much food as you intend to eat, use smaller plates and dishes, and monitor calorie values on packaged foods where possible.
If you skip meals, breakfast, in particular, you are likely to overeat at the next meal. In fact, you should include small snacks between breakfast, lunch, and dinner to minimize hunger at mealtime, but make sure not to let snacks replace a proper meal.
Also, be selective in your snacks and choose healthy alternatives like yogurt, fruits, vegetables, or nuts.
- Include physical activity in your daily schedule
As tempting as it might sound to spend the entire day in bed, don’t forget that physical activity is an indispensable component of a healthy lifestyle.
Fortunately, physical activity doesn’t necessarily have to be an intense workout in the gym. You can also opt for outdoor sports like badminton or basketball, traveling, hiking, skiing, etc.
On average, the amount of activity recommended for adults is 150 minutes of moderate-intensity weekly exercise.
Even such small changes as choosing the stairs in place of the elevator and taking a walk during a lunch break can help.
Physical activity improves heart health, promotes blood circulation, and increases muscles. You can also minimize the risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and many cancers by staying active.
Unfortunately, 28% of adults globally above 18 are not active enough. Keep track of your daily activity levels and change your habits where necessary.
- Get tested and vaccinated regularly
Regular check-ups are very important in treating problems before they escalate. Schedule regular visits to the doctor and get tested frequently for diseases like hepatitis B, HIV, tuberculosis, etc.
If left undiagnosed and untreated, these diseases can get more serious and create complications that may even lead to death. You can seek treatment in time if you get a positive test result for any disease.
As for the prevention of such diseases, make sure you are fully vaccinated. Vaccines are very effective in developing the body’s resistance to diseases like influenza, mumps, measles, pneumonia, rubella, tetanus, yellow fever, typhoid, and many more.
Final words
A healthy life is a happy life; without sound health, you will miss out on a lot. Your eating habits, drinking habits, activity levels, and regular check-ups impact your overall physical and mental well-being.
Make sure you develop a healthy lifestyle by eating well and in small portions, staying active, and getting tested and vaccinated frequently.
