In the modern world, our lifestyle is having the worst effect on our health. Late nights, eating at wrong hours, sitting continuously for hours on the same place, eating junk food, all are taking toll on our body. To keep up with this lifestyle, we can take the following few measures to ensure our body keeps fit:
- Cut out on sodium intake: Decrease the content of salt in your food because it causes high blood pressure, one of the most common disease in today’s lifestyle. In addition, try to increase the intake of potassium and calcium, as a lack of potassium is known to increase blood pressure, and several studies indicate that the lower the intake of calcium, the higher the blood pressure. Good sources of calcium and potassium are potatoes, tomatoes, melons and grapes.
- An aspirin a day keeps heart attack at bay: One dose of aspirin in a day is known to prevent heart attack by half. However, as is with other drugs, this pill also has some side effects, so it is better to consult your doctor before you start taking it.
- Don’t sit for longer periods: If you sit for longer hours, you must start walking, and that too, briskly. Walking is the best exercise for a wide range of health problems- ranging from heart ailments to obesity. Also,it is effective for people having knee or joint problems, who can’t jog or run around. You should walk at least half an hour, three days a week.
- Walk to beat stress:If you are stressed, just a few minutes of walk not only calms you down, but also energizes you. So, the next time you are down from a heart break or from the boss’s behavior, just walk to the nearest place possible, and you’ll see the results.
- Include fibre in the diet: Fibres are found in wholegrain cereals, fruits and vegetables, and are known to avoid constipation. A high fibre diet also decreases the risk of colon cancer.
- Eat smaller meals: Eating heavy meals, especially at night, leads to heartburn in many people. The best way to avoid heartburn is having many smaller meals in the day instead of three heavy meals, this helps to digest the food sooner and better, thus producing less acid.
- Don’t take alcohol as an anti-depressant: If you are being treated with drugs for chronic depression, don’t believe that a small dose of alcohol will cure you; on the other side, it interacts negatively with some kinds of medication prescribed for depression.
- Breast feed, ladies!: The female hormone estrogen elevates the risk of breast cancer, and this hormone is lowered during pregnancy and lactation. So, breast feed: it is good not only for the baby, but also for you.
- Move your joints: For those suffering from arthritis, get your joints moving. Do moderate exercise like walk, swim or cycle, this could help to bring oxygen to your joint cartilage, hence preventing the arthritis from getting chronic.
- Give an injury time to heal:Don’t return to full-out activity before an injury has healed, as it can set you up for a  cycle of re-in jury. The new formed tissue over a rip or tear is very susceptible to damage, so it better to take rest before joining work after injury.