Amid the busy lifestyles, long working hours, jam-packed schedules most of the times, most of us end up ignoring our health. So, to give you a wake-up call to rise healthier and live longer, we bring to you ten ways to live healthy….
Go for exercise Regular exercising helps in maintaining or gradually increasing the strength and endurance of heart and other muscles. An exercise program may include a variety of aerobic activities, such as walking, swimming and cycling. If one has a busy and sedentary lifestyle, a walk of 5 minutes after every hour is necessary.
Healthy eating – One may unlock the door to healthy life by eating healthy. Healthy eating never stands for eating less or dieting, but it?s all about eating a nutritious and a well balanced diet. A healthy diet is one which includes a good combination of fruits, vegetables, dairy products. One should go for 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day to stay fit. If you are really interested in maintaining a good health, then prefer not to miss your breakfast because it provides with the energy or fuel required by the body after a gap of long night.
Go for water – Drink plenty of fresh water, to keep your body healthy. One can have 4 liters of liquid per day. (Heart patients who are on fluid restrictive diets, or have a problem with fluid retention should consult a physician before increasing their consumption of fluids)
Salt restriction – Modest salt restriction, which means limiting common salt intake to 6 grams per day, lowers the blood pressure. This effect is particularly important for those who have severe hypertension to begin with. They respond better to salt restriction. Salt restriction is also especially effective in elderly and obese hypertensive patients. The magnitude of reduction in the risk of stroke and coronary heart disease by salt restriction alone is estimated to be 22 percent and 16 percent respectively. Please note, a salt free diet is not advisable in most instances. In fact, very low salt intake may cause marked fall in blood pressure, leading to giddiness and transient impairment of consciousness. Salt restriction may be somewhat relaxed during peak summer when considerable loss of sodium may occur via sweating.
Sleep well – Having proper and apt sleep is one of the most important rationales to keep you fit and fine. It helps you to mark a provisional end to your fears and apprehensions. An adult should have a minimum sleep for 7-8 hours while a child should have 10 hours of sleep.
Maintain ideal weight – Carrying a lot of extra weight as fat can greatly affect your health and increases the risk of life-threatening conditions such as coronary heart disease and diabetes. One can easily calculate their ideal body weight through their Body Mass Index (BMI).
BMI = [Weight (in kilograms) / Height (in inches) * 2] * 703
If your BMI lies in the range of 19 to 25 it means you are healthy, below that range is underweight while from 25 29 is overweight and 30 means obese. If you are overweight or obese, start by making small, but healthy changes to what you eat, and try to become more active.
Manage your stress levels Hectic lifestyles accompanied with ever rising aspirations has become a major cause of stress in our lives. If not managed in a proper way, stress can give rise to emotional, physical, and psychological problems and can even take a toll on your heart. To manage stress one can opt for simple things which help in distressing like getting a pet in their lives, or sparing time for their hobbies, or playing with kids.
Monitor your blood pressure and cholesterol levels – People with high blood pressure run a higher risk of having a stroke or a heart attack. It is ideal to monitor the blood pressure daily and report if there is any change in the reading. Keeping blood pressure on the lower side helps to decrease the strain on the heart.
Keep a tab on your Alcohol intake It is observed that hypertension is more common in people who consume more than 1-2 ounces of alcohol every day. Heavy alcohol intake may increase the BP acutely. Increase in blood pressure may persist up to as long as 1 week after alcohol intake. Reduction in alcohol intake from 440 ml to 66 ml per day has been found to reduce systolic blood pressure by 5 mm Hg and diastolic pressure by 3 mm Hg. Therefore, hypertensive patients should avoid more than 1-2 drinks in a day. Some people, especially women may be more sensitive to alcohol. They should abstain from alcoholic drinks.
Go for preventive health checkups You do not need to go to doctor only for medical emergencies. In times of slow resistance, unhealthy lifestyles we should realize the importance of timely medical check-ups. We should be regular with our check-ups, before there is a serious condition.
