A healthy person who takes care of themselves generally doesn’t smoke, seeks to keep a healthy weight, consumes nutritious meals, exercises often, gets enough sleep each night, does not drink excessively, and does not sit excessively. Basically, a healthy person makes healthy decisions and does everything in moderation all of the time. When you consider everything that may potentially go into a healthy lifestyle, you can realize how difficult all of those things are in today’s environment.
The good news is that you don’t have to change everything at once. In reality, the key to healthy living is to make little changes like adding fruit to your porridge, declining that second serving of buttery mashed potatoes, taking the stairs instead of the lift, etc. The following are some practical health tips to get you started on the road to better health.
Cut Sugar
Australians are consuming way too much refined sweeteners in the form of white sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). These sweeteners are commonly used in sugary cereals, sweet snacks, and desserts. Although sweets are delightful, consuming too much added sugar can be harmful to your health. If you simply can’t give up your sweets, then why not try to substitute the refined sugars with natural sweeteners that are actually good for you.
Diets heavy in added sugar, for example, are closely associated with medical disorders such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and fatty liver disease. While eating foods with a small amount of added sugar on occasion is entirely acceptable, limiting your total sugar intake may help minimize your risk of certain disorders and enhance your health in other ways. In order to reduce your sugar intake, there are several natural sugar alternatives you can try. Some great options to try to include are:
Monk Fruit
Monk fruit extract is one of the best natural sugar alternatives available. It’s a natural sweetener with no calories, carbs, salt, or fat and no influence on blood sugar levels. Because monk fruit sweetener is 150 to 200 times sweeter than refined sugar, less is more.
Date Sugar
Date sugar looks like brown sugar, but it’s actually prepared from granulated dried dates. It also has more fibre and antioxidants than ordinary sugar because it is prepared from the whole fruit.
Coconut Sugar
Coconut sugar has more antioxidants and minerals than refined sugar, as well as inulin, a prebiotic that promotes intestinal health. It’s a lower-glycaemic sweetener, like honey, but it’s still mainly sugar and should be used sparingly.
Sugar Alcohol
Sorbitol, xylitol, and erythritol are sugar alcohols with less calories than sugar. Although they include carbs, they reduce blood sugar rises because they are more difficult for the body to digest. Sugar alcohols are frequently found in goods labelled “sugar-free” or “no added sugar.” It’s vital to know that eating too much sugar alcohol-containing meals might induce digestive issues including flatulence and diarrhoea.
Use Plenty of Herbs and Spices
Herbs and spices not only provide taste to your food but can also have some health advantages. The unique components in herbs and spices help combat free radicals (the reactive chemicals that harm your cells), reduce oxidative stress (the damage caused by free radicals), lower inflammation, prevent tumour development, protect your DNA, and regulate your blood sugar, and improve digestion. That said, including culinary herbs and spices in your daily diet can help you stay healthy in the long run by lowering your risk of cardiovascular, brain, metabolic, and digestive issues.
Drink Plenty of Water
Make sure you drink 8 glasses of water every day. Water makes up 80% of your body and is required for proper bowel function, good muscular performance, and immunological and skin health. Dehydration, weariness, headaches, dry skin, and reduced immunity can all result from not drinking enough water.
Consider carrying a quality stainless steel water bottle with you all the time so that you can have fresh water available whenever you may need it.
Increase Daily Steps
Walking is the most basic kind of exercise and one of the simplest methods to enhance your health. Walking has several mental and physical health advantages, including weight loss, increased metabolism, improved mood, increased creativity, and improved sleep. But knowing you should walk more is one thing; really doing it is quite another.
However, obtaining extra steps in your day does not have to be difficult or tedious. Small strategies that you can use to walk more include taking a stroll around the block when you get the mail, taking the dog for an extra walk each day, or walking on your treadmill for five minutes before getting ready for work. Pace around or perhaps do some cleaning while talking on the phone to make it feel like less of an exercise or obligation. This is an excellent way to be active while doing something you like.
Use Natural Products
If you’re really seeking a healthy lifestyle, choosing natural products should be a top priority. People often don’t hesitate to test out the new, ‘cooler’ skin care product that everyone is raving about. However, if we just turn the product pack over, read the contents, and search for their qualities online, we are sure to receive the shock of our lives.
Most cosmetics and skin care products contain chemicals including sodium lauryl sulphate, phthalates, and parabens. These substances have the ability to harm our fundamental health by interfering with our reproductive, endocrine, and immunological systems. Natural products do not harm our overall health and, in fact, promote its functioning since the body identifies natural substances as nutrients. Natural substances also increase moisture retention, promote cell regeneration, and have no harmful effects on the immune system.
The following are some of the best strategies for buying safe and effective natural products (https://www.shopnaturally.com.au/):
- Avoid unidentified or difficult-to-pronounce components.
- Look for items with the fewest components.
- Look for items with a small ingredient list.
- Read the labels carefully and double-check the ingredient list.
It’s important that you understand the difference between naturally derived and naturally occurring ingredients. Natural ingredients can nevertheless be chemically modified, effectively defeating the purpose. When shopping, be certain that the items include natural components rather than organically produced compounds. Natural ingredients you’ll want to see in your natural products include:
- Vitamin C: this is a potent antioxidant that promotes and stimulates collagen and elastin formation. It also safeguards cells from free radical damage.
- Zinc: as an anti-inflammatory, zinc soothes skin irritations and is an ideal component for acne-prone skin that struggles to recover.
- Hyaluronic Acid: a potent hydrator with abilities to attract and retain 1,000 times its weight in water.
- Botanicals: their names are written in Latin, making them easier to identify. Aloe barbadensis (Aloe Vera), Persea gratissima (Avocado) oil, and Chamomilla recutita (Chamomile) flower extract are a few examples.
