"The greatest wealth is health," said Virgil. And I think he was dead right because you need to be healthy, to both earn and enjoy what you earn. All of us are prone to health risks for a myriad reasons, but we can minimize our risks by leading a healthy life. The following 10 tips are meant to make that happen.
1. Be on a healthy diet
Eating is a way to nourish your body. If you feed it with junk it would not only result in lowered performance, but might harm it in the long run. So, it makes all the more sense to choose your diet wisely. A balanced diet is a must as is the quantity of what you eat. Some healthy eating options include eating about 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day while minimizing the consumption of saturated fats has a beneficial effect. They not only enhance your health but may also decrease the risk of cancer and several other diseases.
2. Staying active is the way to be
All animals seem to be active in some way or the other, ants, monkeys, flies, butterflies all of them seem to be on the move, except for a portion of humans. Our bodies are perhaps accustomed to activity, I presume that the early men & women, or our ancestors much like the animals were busy gathering food... No more yada, yada... but doctors suggest that adults need about 30 minutes of moderate physical activity preferably on all days of the week. You need to begin slowly, and try to make it enjoyable at the same time, so that you persist to reap the real benefits of physical exercise. Some good activities to get moving are cycling, jogging, gardening, walking, dancing, gardening and swimming.
3. Be wary of obesity and being overweight
Being heavier than what's healthy for you increases the magnitude of risk of several debilitating diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. If you already have a healthy weight, maintain it, but if you're overweight or obese begin right now to set your weight right. Each excess pound that you lose will allow you to stay healthy throughout your life.
4. Vaccinations are important
Vaccination isn't child's play only. There are many professions and lifestyles that might put you at an increased risk of infections. In consultation with a physician, determine which ones you need and get them. Disease are many, and so are the pharmaceutical drugs used to treat them, but vaccines seem to be the first among equals, because they prevent disease and hence a save us from swallowing bad pills.
5. Control Stress
Stress, be it physical or mental can wreck havoc with our health. A balanced lifestyle need to accommodate your professional, personal and social lives. You neglect the need to balance your life at your own risk, it isn't often easy to strike a work-life balance but you need to find a way.
6. Get yourself health screened regularly
Because the need for routine health exams and assessments is different based on your health history, age, lifestyle, etc, you need to consult a physician to decide upon what all screenings you need and how frequently. The reason is simple, for diseases to be diagnosed early results in better outcomes, they can be treated and cure early. Common exams include those for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sexually transmitted diseases, cancers and diabetes. For instance, cancer drugs can effectively treat cancer if it's detected early on.
7. No Smoking Please!
If you don't smoke you're privileged because so many people I know who do, find it quite tough to give it up. But tough doesn't mean that it can't be done. I think you need the motivation to get there, as one of my friends, Martin, quit smoking when his girlfriend encouraged him to do so. I don't mean that you need a girlfriend to tell you to quit, but you do need to be in love with staying healthy. It's difficult, but you can try and you must, seek professional help if need be. Needless to mention, but from head to toe, there isn't a body part that smoking doesn't harm.
8. Is you health at risk?
You need to find an answer to this one based on your work & home environments, heredity, lifestyle, etc. Once you're forewarned of the health risks you harbor, you can minimize that risk by taking the right action. Your health care provider can help you with this exercise.
9. Protection is the key
If you wear seat belts, but don't practice safe sex, you're using different yardsticks. Protection isn't limited to sex and driving but everything from applying sunscreen to brushing your teeth and having fire smoke detectors installed. Whatever you do, wherever you live a proactive approach to protection can save you from a lot of diseases, injuries, hardships, etc.
10. Treat yourself well
This simply means that you pay attention to your health, if you're all about caring for the family for instance and neglecting yourself. Then this isn't treating yourself well. Rest and relax, enjoy and have fun, forgive yourself and let go can go a long way to ensure that you're happier and healthier.
Be healthy and smile would automatically come to you.
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