Invest in Our Health Today for a Brighter Future

       

                    Phrases such as a good-looking couple, attractive people, a handsome man, and a gorgeous woman are common in our language. Have you ever heard other phrases like, wonderful lungs, a magnificent heart, and graceful bones? I do not think so.  These phrases sound very strange and we do not talk this way. Most of the time, we concentrate on superficial beauty and do not care about inner beauty.

When we buy a new car, we invest money in it and we want to keep it in good condition for ten years or longer. We know that our car will look better and last longer not only with frequent washes, but also with regular oil changes and mileage services.

       When it comes to our future, one day we all start thinking about our retirement and saving money for later. We dream that some day we will be retired and we will have a lot of free time. We will start travelling more and doing many more fun activities. However, we will only be able to do these things if our health is in a good shape. Are we investing in our health today?    

       According to the American Heart Association, preventing heart disease means choosing healthy living now to give us a better chance to stay in a good shape for the rest of our lives. Lack of exercise, poor diet, and unhealthy habits such as smoking, excessive alcohol use, lack of sleep, and too much stress can take a toll over the years and cause health problems in the long run. No matter how young or old we are, we need to keep our body healthy during each decade of our life.

       A study published in the journal Obesity Research & Clinical Practice found that during the present time, it is more difficult for people to maintain their body weight than it was 20 to 30 years ago, with variables such as food intake and exercise remaining unchanged. In the present day, people are about 10 percent heavier than people were in the 1980s.  Scientists are still examining possible causes for this fact. Jennifer Kuk, a professor of kinesiology and health science at Toronto’s York University, states three factors which differentiate present society from 1980s. First, people are now exposed to more chemicals in the environment. Second, people consume elevated levels of prescription drugs such as Prozac and other antidepressants. These drugs can cause weight gain. The third reason is due to gut bacteria. Many animal products are treated with hormones and antibiotics, which may cause some changes to intestinal micro flora; this leads to weight gain, as well.

Four Easy Steps 

       It is hard to change these three factors of modern life. However, we can try to adapt our life to the modern world. We can do it by following four simple steps: a nutritionally balanced diet, adequate physical activity, regular sleep hours, and managing daily stress.

  

Nutritionally Balanced Diet

The right food can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. This food should be low in saturated fat and sodium. Fruits and vegetables, fiber-rich whole grains, fish, nuts, legumes and seeds are important components of a healthy diet. We can control the ingredients by cooking from scratch. Homemade meals should not be complicated and require a minimum time to prepare. Grilling is a good option for cooking meat. A good addition to grilled meat can be a salad or steamed vegetables.

Adequate Physical Activity

Routine physical activity and reduction in a sedentary lifestyle can improve physical fitness, lower many heart disease risk factors such as (bad) LDL cholesterol levels, increase (good) HDL cholesterol levels in the blood, and control high blood pressure. Any aerobic exercise, in which the heart beats faster and the body uses more oxygen than usual, will benefit heart health. Exercise does not always mean going to the gym. It could be jogging outside or even taking a brisk walk. We should also remember that physical activity is any kind of activity, not just exercise. We can stay more active by avoiding an elevator and taking stairs instead, parking the car farther away and walking greater distances to a store, vacuuming the house more often, and engaging in other similar activities.

Regular Sleep Hours

According to Dr. Sachin Patel, who is the founder of The Living Proof Institution, sleep helps our body to heal and repair itself. Our society thinks wrongly that cutting sleep hours will provide more time for activities. Lack of sleep, especially on a regular basis, is associated with long-term chronic medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Regular sleep hours help our body to recharge and give us more energy to function well during the day. Regular sleep hours mean going to bed and waking up at the same time, including weekends as well. It sounds impossible but it will provide great results if you are willing to try.

Managing Daily Stress

Stress can contribute to high blood pressure and other cardiovascular risks. Some people deal with stress by drinking alcohol, smoking, or overeating. These are not healthy ways to manage stress. Learning how to manage stress is the most difficult step, in my opinion. If we learn how to resolve problems and manage our anger or frustration, we will improve our emotional and physical health. The hardest thing for me to learn was that my good mood or positive day depends on me and not on circumstances around me. We cannot change the behavior of other people toward us; rather, we need to change our attitude towards life. The easiest way to calm down is to take three deep breaths, instead of having an emotional response. These breaths help to slow down the accelerating heart rate and provide some time for thinking. They allow us to think of what can be done to get things under control.

Four Steps Challenges

Four steps, which include a nutritionally balanced diet, adequate physical activity, regular sleep hours, and managing daily stress, will lead to a healthy lifestyle, which should become our daily responsibility. The hardest thing to do is to execute this plan. It is an individual process. Some things which work for me may not work for others. It requires some time for searching and adaptation. Some steps like stress management and adequate physical activity could be combined in one.  For me, it is a long walks on a nature trail. The hardest thing is to find the way to follow these four steps daily and commit to a new healthy lifestyle for a long time.

Do you want to challenge yourselves and invest in your health today? Are you willing to try these four steps? I would like to believe that your answer is yes. If your answer is yes, I know that you will be successful in your wellness journey.

Health, Happiness and Harmony

Kay

References

The American Heart Association, (n.d). Retrieved June 28, 2017 from https://onlineaha.org

Bazzano, L., He, J., Ogden, L., Myer, L., & Whelton, P. (2008). Fruits and vegetables intake and risk of cardiovascular disease in US adults. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 76(1). 93-99

Kazan, O. (2015, September 15).Why It was Easier to Be Skinny in the 1980s. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/articale/407974/

Mozaffarian, A., Roger, D., Benjamin, V., E. J., Berry, & Turner, M. (2014). Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics – 2014. The American Heart Association. 129(3).

Patel, S. (2017, March 24). The Diabetes Summit 2017 [Skype interview by Dr. Brian Mowll].   

World Health Organization, (n.d). Retrieved April 18, 2017 from https://who.int/

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