Asides

4 Simple Ways To Become Healthier Today

By Andrew ⋅ May 10, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Everyone wants to live a long, healthy life but when it comes down to will power most of us fail. But it’s not as hard as you may think to become twice as healthy in just one day! I’m not saying you’ll turn into superman overnight by doing these four things but your body will certainly thank you for it, I guarantee that.

Become Hydrated
Our bodies are 60-70% water and lovely H20 is required by every cell in our bodies! That’s why it’s so important to stay fully hydrated throughout the day. Our bodies lose around 2 litres of water, or more, on an average day through urinating, breathing and sweating and replacing this water should be a priority.

It’s difficult to say exactly how much water you should consume throughout the day as every person’s daily requirement is affected by both lifestyle and genetics, however, as a general rule you should be drinking at least 2.5 litres of liquid every day. A good way to tell if you’re dehydrated is to take a look at your urine, if it’s a good, clear colour then you’re hydrated and healthy.

Even mild dehydration can lead to easily avoidable discomforts such as; headaches, fatigue, dizziness and muscle weakness. Because water is needed everywhere in the body, people who are unaware of their chronic dehydration often complain of other problems including sinus and nasal problems, constipation and persistent headaches.

A lot of people do not drink enough water simply because they find it inconvenient as it perhaps doesn’t fit in with their lives too well. The best way to get around this is to remember it’s YOUR health, and should be important to you. Besides, how hard is it to carry a water bottle in your bag and take regular sips?

Get Enough Sleep
Unfortunately this is one thing that far too many of us don’t do and it can be rather difficult to do if you live quite an active and busy life, but it’s extremely important that our bodies get enough sleep so they can recover from the long hard day. An average adult should sleep at least 7-8 hours every night, while adolescents and children significantly more.

Many people suffer from insomnia, both in it’s acute and chronic form, in fact it’s estimated that 60 million people in the USA alone suffer with this condition. If you believe you are suffering from insomnia it’s important to know that it can be quite easily treated with medication and more recently cognitive behaviour therapy.

Sleep deprivation in the short term can cause; blurred vision, dizziness, confusion, headache, nausea and decreased concentration while long term or chronic sleep deprivation can cause; clinical depression, weakened immune system, weight loss/gain, memory loss and as some studies have shown, diabetes.

If you have trouble sleeping try to avoid caffeine 2-3 hours before bedtime, as obviously this stimulates the brain and has an anti-sleep effect. And remember that old wive’s tale about warm milk making you sleep? It’s damn true! Milk contains an amino acid called Tryptophan which can increase the levels of serotonin and melatonin in the brain leading to a slowing of brain activity, allowing you to drift off to sleep a lot easier!

Eat Fruit and Nuts
Diet plays a huge role in determining the general health of a person and is one of the main things which people knowingly do wrong in their lives. I’m not asking you to completely throw away all that lovely chocolate and greasy food, but it would be great for your body and general health if some of it was substituted for food such as fruit and nuts.

Fruit and nuts are fantastic for any diet and have high nutritional value. Try to trade you’re Mars bars for cereal bars or an apple, although this may seem a little crappy at first you’ll soon get used to it and realise the benefits.

Exercise
Aha! Exercise! The one word that will make at least half of people reading this cringe with hatred. But come on, it’s really not that bad. Exercise doesn’t necessarily mean sweating it out on the treadmill in a stingy, smelly gym in front of a bunch of roid freaks. There are many, many alternative ways of getting your share of exercise while having fun. For example, walking, that’s physical exercise and actually burns more calories than you think!

Exercise has countless positive effects on the human body, including; better sleeping, higher fitness levels, higher metabolism and better general wellbeing.

Always remember that anything you do which involves moving is exercise and try to be as active as you possibly can. If you’re really having trouble getting enough exercise, because you have an inactive job or lifestyle, then consider joining a gym. It may feel like a chore at first, but in the long term it’s certainly worth it!

Tags: dehydration, diet, exercise, fitness, health, hydration, insomnia, sleep