We live in a world filled with unhealthy temptations. With greasy fast food offerings available on every street corner and shops filled with highly processed mulch, it’s easy to question whether it’s possible to live a healthy life in today’s world.
So today, we’re going to take you through some of the most impactful changes you can make to your life if you want to live healthier.
Why Haven’t You Stopped Smoking?
This might not apply to everyone, but smoking cigarettes is the root cause of dozens of serious health issues – heart disease, cancer, and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), just to name a few. Cigarettes contain over 7000 chemicals, 70 of which are known to cause cancer, and smoking them harms almost every organ in the body.
So if you’re a smoker, cutting cigarettes out of your life would make an enormous difference to your health and quality of life, as well as giving you noticeable results. Quitters often report easier breathing and improved sense of taste and smell within days, improved exercise performance within weeks, and after a year, the risk of heart disease is cut in half.
If you’re considering quitting, there are lots of alternatives that can make the process easier. Nicotine patches, Nicopods and nicotine gum will all give you the nicotine that you crave, without all of the harmful chemicals associated with smoking.
Whole Foods – Avoid the Processed Slop
Processed food is everywhere; not just in fast food restaurants, but in cafes, grocery shops – even in your mother’s home-cooked meals. It isn’t inherently evil; when eaten in moderation, it’s still possible to lead a healthy lifestyle. But the problems start to compound when it becomes unavoidable.
Lots of processed foods are high in sugar, packed with unhealthy fats, and overflowing with salt, while lacking nutritional value in the form of fibre, vitamins and minerals. If you’re eating a lot of processed foods, you’re going to have a harder time controlling your weight and have an increased risk of heart disease in the long term, along with higher chances of encountering gut-related conditions, like gallstones and cholecystitis, in the short-medium term.
If you can include more whole foods in your diet – especially when it comes to fibre sources, like fruit and vegetables, your entire digestive system will see the benefits. Your microbiome will thrive on a new, more varied diet of beneficial bacteria, helping reduce inflammation in your gut and regulate bowel movements. In today’s economic climate, it might be tougher to afford a weekly shop that completely avoids processed foods, but as long as most of your meals give you a healthier dose of healthier foods, you should feel the benefits within a matter of days.
Exercise – Improve Your Mental and Physical Health
This article isn’t just about physical health. Right now, more people than ever are struggling (often silently) with mental health issues, which can go on to have a lasting effect on their bodies as well. That’s why I want to shine a light on what I feel is the main benefit of devoting a couple of hours per week to physical exercise. Yes – of course there are an infinite number of health benefits – improving your heart health and circulation, balancing your metabolism, and strengthening muscles and bones – the list goes on.
But when life is at its most stressful, and I feel myself boiling over, I go to the gym. That’s because when I’m holding a heavy weight above my body, there is absolutely nothing else on my mind. It’s completely clear. The same can be applied to running, or competitive sports – they allow you to reach a state of flow that is so all-consuming that it’s meditative.
In Conclusion
Humans are living longer, sure, but, at the same time, we’re becoming unhealthier as a species. A higher quantity of life, with a lower quality of life isn’t exactly what I signed up for. So why not do what you can to make sure that you’re living as well as you can? These recommendations might seem simple, but they all represent huge strides toward improving your health and well-being.
