Adopting daily healthier habits can reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases and can promote your overall health and by that we mean your physical, mental, and emotional health.
Here are 10 tips for you on how to “Vivre el Hayat” Healthy and Happy.
1. Eat Well
Eating a well balanced and healthy diet is essential to maintain a good health.
Eat more vegetables and fruits:
Vegetables and fruits contain a lot of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fibers that are good for your health.
Eating a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables can help you live a longer life, protect your heart and reduce your risk of cancer and obesity (1, 2).
Eat more fibers:
Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes such as peas and beans are good sources of fiber.
Studies has shown that a diet rich in fiber helps you control your weight by keeping you feeling fuller longer, can regulates your blood sugar levels, reduce cholesterol, and prevent constipation (3).
Eat enough protein:
Try to include protein with every meal. Eating enough protein makes you feel full and reduce cravings also helps you maintain your weight (4) and muscle mass (5).
Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, legumes, and soy products (e.g., tofu or tempeh) are foods that are known to be high in protein.
Eat healthy fats:
Try to choose foods that contains healthy fats like olive oil, nuts and seeds, avocados and fish that contains omega 3 and antioxidants that have anti-inflammatory properties. On the other hand, try to limit artificial foods high in trans fat that are associated with inflammation and heart disease (6).
Consume less salt:
High sodium intake increases the risk of high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke (7,8).
Try to reduce your sodium intake to below 5 g/day (~ 1 teaspoon) (9), by limiting the amount of salt, soy sauce and condiments that are high in sodium while preparing meals and by avoiding salty snacks, choosing products low in sodium and by removing salt, seasonings, and condiments from your meal table. In addition, instead of using salt, try to add some fresh herbs, spices and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to your meals to add more flavors.
Reduce your sugar intake:
A high intake of sugar increases the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease (10,11). The World Health Organization recommends consuming less than 10% of your total daily energy intake and suggests a further reduction to below 5% (25 g ~ 6 teaspoons) for optimal health (12). Try to reduce your sugar intake by limiting the consumption of sugary snacks, candies, and sugar-sweetened drinks.
Avoid processed food:
Processed foods are simply those your grandma wouldn’t recognize!. Chips, fast food, frozen meals, and canned food are examples of processed food. They tend to be higher in calories and usually contain additives like added sugar, highly refined oil, salt, preservatives, colors, and artificial sweeteners. These foods are associated with increased risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases (13, 14).
Just go back to your roots and eat real food!
2. Get adequate sleep
Getting adequate sleep is important for your health. For adults it is recommended to get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night (15).
Several studies have shown that poor sleep may be associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes (16), impaired immune function (17), disruption of appetite and hormones (18) and reduced mental and physical performance (19, 20).
Furthermore, short sleep duration is a risk factor for obesity and weight gain (21). Lack of sleep affects hormones that regulates hunger, by increasing the levels of ghrelin, a hormone that makes us feel hungry and decreasing levels of leptin that makes us feel full which can cause the feeling of hunger and overeating (22). Also, due to lack of energy, short sleep could make you crave more foods that are higher in fat and sugar.
In addition, poor sleep can lead to fatigue which makes you feel unmotivated to move your body and results in reduced physical activity.
3. Stay well hydrated
Staying well hydrated is essential for your body to function optimally. Make sure to drink enough water during the day which can helps your kidneys to function normally and prevent kidney stones and constipation (23).
Also, dehydration can make you feel hungrier when in fact your body just needs fluids.
4. Be More Social
Social connections with friends or family members can have a significant positive effect on your health and can help you live longer (24).
To stay mentally and physically healthy, try to build and maintain social relationships and surround yourself with positive and happy people and with those that you love and love you back. Happiness and positive energy are contagious!.
5. Move your body
Find a physical activity that you enjoy and love to do!. Exercise should never feel like a punishment. Even if you are so busy and don’t have time to exercise you can adopt simple habits that will help you move your body like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or going for a 30 min walk. Moving your body can reduce stress (25), the risk of heart disease (26) and strengthens your muscles.
6. Embrace your imperfections
Simply love yourself as you are. I know it’s hard these days where you feel the pressure from the society to be perfect. How many times you judged your body and life with every scroll on social media seeing people and influencers portraying their “perfect” life? The truth is that nobody is perfect and that’s what makes every one of us perfectly imperfect. To have the right perspective and improve your life and yourself and adopt healthier behaviors you must embrace and accept every part of who you are. There is no such as perfect life or perfect eating it’s all about the process of becoming a better and healthier version of yourself. Seeking perfection all the time will never makes you happy. Just be kind to yourself, you deserve to be happy!.
7. Avoid restrictive diets
Following a restrictive diet and starving yourself never works. They may work for the first few days or weeks but not on the long term. In fact, there is evidence that dieting and restrained eating may be prospective predictors of weight gain (27).
8. Avoid smoking
Smoking is harmful for your health and for people around you. Smoking increases the risk of cancers such as lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases and dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (28).
9. Drink alcohol moderately
It is recommended for healthy adults to drink alcohol moderately which means up to one drink a day for women and up to two drinks a day for men.
Excessive alcohol consumption can have consequences on your short- and long-term health, including increased risk of high blood pressure, impaired cognitive function, violence, and various types of cancers (29).
10. Enjoy consuming coffee moderately
Consuming coffee moderately which is rich in antioxidants is beneficial for your health. It can help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, parkinson’s and alzheimer’s diseases and several other health conditions (30). Excessive caffeine intake can cause insomnia and heart palpitations.
Try to keep your intake to less than 4 cups per day and avoid adding sugar or sweetened creamer to your coffee.
Bottom Line
Health is a journey and a daily focus on several aspects of our life. It’s not just about the foods you eat but it’s also about your social relationships, embracing your imperfections, how much you move your body and sleep do you get.
For a healthier and happier, start simple by introducing small changes in daily habits that can have a positive influence on your overall health.
Things to remember and keep in mind
- Consistency is the key.
- Be kind to yourself.
- Fall in love with the process of becoming a better healthier and happier version of yourself.