Start Living a Healthy Lifestyle

 How to become healthier? There are so many ways to incorporate healthy diets and exercises to maintain a healthy lifestyle but where do you start? There are so many different aspects that play into becoming healthier, such as, food and beverage intake, amount of activity a person gets, cost of healthy foods, making time to cook and go to the gym, keeping up with cholesterol or blood pressure. A good place to start is increasing your water intake because it has many benefits for your skin, hair and overall health. Eating more fruits and vegetables is a great start to eating healthier because instead of reaching for a bag of chips or cookies, you can grab a handful of fruits or vegetables. A way to implement more physical activity or exercise is by walking or running because a lot of people do not have time to go to the gym or buy a fitness plan, so you are able to still get your exercise for the day. Lastly, health issues such as blood pressure are important to check and make sure it is not too high or low because they create a huge deal of health risk. These four different lifestyle changes are a good way to start on a healthy lifestyle journey.

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           Blood pressure, also known as hypertension is something very important to check because the risk factors that are tied to it can be fatal. If your blood pressure becomes too high it can cause you to develop a disease called atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that can cause strokes, blood clotting, heart failure, etc. (Bunch 2016). There are many factors that cause blood pressure, such as stress, tobacco, alcohol, overweight, little physical activity, too much salt, etc. So, doctors recommend you increase your exercise, decrease or eliminate alcohol and tobacco intake, decrease the amount of salt intake, and try to limit your stress level (AHA, 2017). Implementing these recommendations can improve your overall health, not just preventing/lowering your blood pressure. The benefits of keeping your blood pressure low are, reducing the risk of stroke, improving vision, boosting kidney health, and avoiding heart problems. According to Elizabeth Tumbarello with Livestrong, “A 2010 article in the “American Journal of Cardiology” reports that researchers at the Oklahoma Cardiovascular and Hypertension Center and the University of Oklahoma conclude that there is an inverse relationship between low blood pressure and cardiovascular complications.” (Tumbarello 2017). This emphasizes the importance of keeping up your blood pressure because you reduce the risk of heart complications. Anything lower than 120/80 is considered a normal blood pressure, so checking your blood pressure will always be beneficial because you can know when its low or too high and can consult with your doctor and they can evaluate what changes need to be made and how to get back to an average number.

         A good way to increase your physical activity is by walking or running. Why? Whether you choose to run or walk, they both increase the health of your heart, burn calories, weight control, strengthen your lungs, and it is beneficial to your bone health. Regarding the health of your heart, running and/or walking causes your heart to work harder and you have a lower risk of heart failure than others that are inactive. According to Sally Wadyka, “In a 2013 study that analyzed data from the nearly 50,000 people involved in the National Runners’ Health Study II and National Walkers’ Health Study, researchers found that runners’ risk of cardiovascular disease was 4.5 percent lower than those who were inactive. But walkers who expended the same amount of energy as runners daily—burned the same amount of calories—had a risk level that was 9 percent lower than those who were inactive.” (Wadyka, 2018). This shows that if you walk more and run less, they give you the same effects. Both improve your heart health. Running helps with your bones because “your muscles help your body withstand the stress of running by pulling on your bones, this pulling effect promotes increases in your bone density.” (Hoyle, 2017). These are just a few examples of how running or walking can help increase your health. However, there is some risk to running, such as inflammation, cardiac events, osteoarthritis, other injuries. These risks are normally common if you are a long-distance runner. Overall running and/or walking are a good way to get in your physical activity for the day.

An easy diet change is to replace cookies, chips, fries, etc. with fruits and vegetables. The benefits to adding fruits and vegetables to your diet vary but some examples are, reducing the risk of heart disease, may protect you from certain types of cancers, reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes, etc. These few examples show that eating fruits and vegetables can help your overall health and reduce your changes to having health issues. The nutritional benefits are they do not have cholesterol, low in fat and calories, consist of potassium and fiber, consist of vitamin a and c which help with eyes, skin, teeth, etc. According to Becky Bell with Healthy Eating, “the dietary guidelines, an adult consuming 2,000 calories per day should be eating 2 1/2 cups of vegetables and two cups of fruit per day.” (Bell 2018). You can see from this source that the amount a person should be intaking every day is not much and can easily be implemented into your daily diet. Another benefit to eating fruits and vegetables is that there are no risk factors for eating them, every fruit and vegetables have numerous helpful factors that will help your overall health.

           Water intake is so important because drinking sugary and caffeinated drinks do not have good benefits for your overall health. There are so many benefits to drinking water but here are a few, it clears toxins, weight loss, regulates body temperature, boosts physical performance, promotes breathing, etc. According to Organic Facts, the human body contains two-third water by weight and plays a huge part in maintaining most organ systems in our body (Facts 2018). How do you know if you are drinking enough though? Most doctors recommend drinking eight glasses of water every day. However, according to One Medical, “the NAM recommends letting thirst guide your water consumption habits but set an even higher volume of total daily water intake: 3.7 liters (15 cups) for the average adult male and 2.7 liters (11 cups) for the average adult female.” (Medical 2017). Setting a goal can help you increase your water intake, for example, try to drink 8 cups per day and once you have consistently done that, then try 11 cups and you will see the benefits over time.  A good way to make drinking water more flavorful if you do not like the taste of plain water is by infusing fruits, this makes it easier to drink only water strictly. There are not many risks to drinking only water, just be careful with how quickly you are in taking it. Most people do not down a water in two seconds, however, drinking too much water in a short amount of time can cause you to get water intoxication, hyponatremia, where your cells flood, and this can lead to seizures, comas, or even death (Brouchard 2018). Overall water is very healthy and brings many benefits to your overall health.

           In conclusion becoming healthy is something you must be dedicated to because it takes a lot of time, energy, and willpower. However, the benefits you receive from making these simple changes are greater. Not everyone has time to go to the gym or the money to get a membership but running and walking is free and can easily be fit into your daily schedule. Eating vegetables and fruits can be replaced with the junk food you may reach for during work, at home watching television, or at a restaurant. Drinking consist of so many benefits that you could research it for hours, instead of getting a tea, juice, etc. just reach for a water bottle. Lastly, implementing drinking water, eating fruits and vegetables, and walking or running, can lower your blood pressure. Make sure you regularly check your blood pressure and consult with your doctor on ways to lower it, so you do not have to worry about the risk that comes with it. These four important topics all play into your overall health and can start you on a healthy lifestyle journey.

 References

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