Healthy lifestyle tips: Include a variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet to stay fit and healthy
Highlights
- Eat a rainbow diet to stay fit and healthy
- Exercise regularly and be physically active to be disease-free
- Quit smoking and alcohol to control cholesterol and prevent heart disease
Did you know that a healthy lifestyle can do so much in terms of improving your health and keeping you disease-free? Eating healthy, getting a good night's sleep, taking less stress, being physically active and exercising regularly are lifestyle tips that can have magical effects on your health. Talking about some essential lifestyle tips to keep you disease-free is lifestyle coach Luke Coutinho on Instagram. In his video, Coutinho talks about some simple measures like washing hands regularly and getting regular medical check-ups done, which can together help in improving your overall well-being.
Simple lifestyle tips to stay disease-free
1. Move more, sit less
Not only do you need to exercise regularly, you also need to be physically active throughout the day to be fit and healthy. Coutinho is trying to infer that if you are exercising for an hour or two, every day, but are sedentary the rest of the day, your workout routine is going to be useless. The human body is designed to be physically active, and not to sit in one place for long periods of time. Sitting for long periods of time is the top cause of inflammation and poor blood circulation. Inflammation can increase risk of heart attack and poor heart health.
If you are in a desk job, you should stand straight on your feet for three minutes after every 30 minutes of sitting. Take the stairs instead of elevator and walk as much as you can throughout the day to move more and sit less.
Exercise regularly and consume a healthy diet to stay fit and healthy
Photo Credit: iStock
Also read: 3 Effective Yet Underrated Foods For A Healthy Heart
2. Sleep well
According to Coutinho, sleep deprivation and increase in inflammation are directly related to each other. Being constantly sleep deprived or not getting six to eight hours of sleep every night can lead to weight gain, mood swings, irritability and an increase in cravings to name a few.
3. Smoking
Smoking creates inflammation in the arteries and depletes your body of key vitamins which can lower inflammation. It is the number one cause of cancer and heart disease. Make efforts to quit smoking today in order to gain health.
4. Take less stress
Stress can lead to cardiac disease. Being chronically stressed can affect both your physical and your mental health. You need to change your attitude towards every stressful situation that you come across in life. You don't need to act and react towards every situation. Learn the art of ignorance, practice meditation, do yoga and other stress-relieving activities for your own betterment. High levels of stress can put you at risk of weight gain, unintentional weight loss, depression, anxiety, high blood pressure and cause sleep disturbance.
Being chronically stressed can put you at risk of high blood pressure
Photo Credit: iStock
Also read: Diet For Stress: Try These Vitamin-Rich Foods And Drinks To Get Rid Of Stress And Anxiety
5. Maintain a healthy weight
Gaining weight puts you at risk of heart diseases, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high inflammation and obesity. Gaining weight unintentionally is a direct reflection of a poor quality lifestyle.
6. For high blood pressure- lifestyle plus medication
People with high blood pressure need to follow a healthy lifestyle in conjunction with their prescribed medicines. Living a healthy lifestyle can help high BP patients to find out the root cause of it. High blood pressure is dangerous for heart health.
7. Diabetes management
A good lifestyle is the key to manage diabetes. Not managing diabetes can negatively impact both heart health and kidney, says Coutinho.
8. A healthy diet
Foods that you must avoid eating:
- Refined sugar
- Processed food
- Food with trans fats
- Refined oil
- Packaged fruit juices (always prefer eating fresh fruits to get full fibre and nutrients from it)
- Refined carbs in junk and deep-fried foods
Coutinho says that your plate (for each meal) should look like a rainbow. You must include colourful fruits and vegetables in your diet for much-needed diversity. He also recommends on investing in good quality cooking oils like cold pressed coconut oil, mustard oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
9. Wash hands regularly
Make sure you wash your hands regularly, before and after your meals, before you cook food, after using washroom, etc. Regularly washing hands is important to prevent infections like coronavirus and other bacterial and viral infections.
Wash your hands regularly to prevent infections
Photo Credit: iStock
Also read: Tips To Encourage Handwashing Habits In Kids
10. Medications
Whatever medicines that you are prescribed, make sure that you are aware of the side effects associated with it. Discuss them with your doctor and find out what you can do to curb those side effects. After the age of 35, get necessary medical tests regularly for timely diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
(Luke Coutinho, Holistic Lifestyle Coach - Integrative Medicine)
Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.