10 Tips To Live A Healthy Life

Living a healthy life doesn't have to be hard. If you want to live a healthier lifestyle then please read on. Here are 10 practical health tips to help you get healthy and start healthy.

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One of the first tips and probably the most important tip is to Eat healthy.

Eat a combination of different foods, including fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains.

Try to eat a balanced diet without over eating or over indulging. Adults should eat at least five portions (400g) of fruit and vegetables per day. 

You can improve your intake of fruits and vegetables by always including veggies in your meal; eating fresh fruit and vegetables as snacks; eating a variety of fruits and vegetables; and eating them in season. 

By eating healthy, you will reduce your risk of malnutrition and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.

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Reduce your salt intake to 5g per day, equivalent to about one teaspoon. It’s easier to do this by limiting the amount of salt, soy sauce, fish sauce and other high-sodium condiments when preparing meals; removing salt, seasonings and condiments from your meal table; avoiding salty snacks; and choosing low-sodium products.

Also consuming large amounts of sugars puts you at risk of tooth decay and unhealthy weight gain. In both adults and children we should limit ourselves to 50g or about 12 teaspoons for an adult. WHO recommends consuming less than 5% of total energy intake for additional health benefits. You can reduce your sugar intake by limiting the consumption of sugary snacks, candies and sugar-sweetened beverages

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This should almost go without saying but drinking too much alcohol can cause many different health issues and is highly addictive. 

There is no safe level for drinking alcohol. 

Consuming alcohol can lead to health problems such as mental and behavioural disorders, including alcohol dependence, major NCDs such as liver cirrhosis, some cancers and heart diseases, as well as injuries resulting from violence and road clashes and collisions.

Drink in moderation and no when enough is enough

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There are different types of fats, but unsaturated fats are preferable over saturated fats and trans-fats. 

WHO recommends reducing saturated fats to less than 10% of total energy intake; reducing trans-fats to less than 1% of total energy intake.

The preferable unsaturated fats are found in fish, avocado and nuts, and in sunflower, soybean, canola and olive oils; saturated fats are found in fatty meat, butter, palm and coconut oil, cream, cheese, ghee and lard; and trans-fats are found in baked and fried foods, and pre-packaged snacks and foods, such as frozen pizza, cookies, biscuits, and cooking oils and spreads.

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Another one that should be pretty obvious, stop smoking! It's one of the biggest killers and something that is seriously bad to your health.

Smoking tobacco causes NCDs such as lung disease, heart disease and stroke. Tobacco kills not only the direct smokers but even non-smokers through second-hand exposure. Currently, there are around 15.9 million Filipino adults who smoke tobacco but 7 in 10 smokers are interested or plan to quit.

Quitting isn't easy but people achieve this everyday by trying to replace it with another healthier habit, with help, persistence and time you can quit as well.

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Getting a little exercise and staying active doesn't mean you have to head to your local gym, wear cool gym clothes and start looking like Arnold.

All you need to do is look for times in your day where you can get some exercise but changing up how you do things.

Try taking the stairs, riding a bike to work or walk. Take the dogs or your kids to the park, take up a sport. There are lots of things you can do but most importantly, just stay active.

The amount of physical activity you need depends on your age group but adults aged 18-64 years should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity throughout the week.

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Depression is a common illness worldwide with over 260 million people affected, it is something that can affect people of all ages and can sometime be hard to spot in a friend or relative and sometimes you don't even know if you are suffering from Depression yourself.

Depression can manifest in different ways, but it might make you feel hopeless or worthless, or you might think about negative and disturbing thoughts a lot or have an overwhelming sense of pain. If you’re going through this, remember that you are not alone.

Talk to someone you trust such as a family member, friend, colleague or mental health professional about how you feel.

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Hand hygiene is critical not only for health workers but for everyone. Clean hands can prevent the spread of infectious illnesses.

You should handwash using soap and water when your hands are visibly soiled or handrub using an alcohol-based product.

You should also make sure you are washing your hands before and after eating and when preparing food.

It's also good practice to start using Hand Sanitizer which most good quality hand sanitizers will kill 99.99% of germs.

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Many times you don't even know you are sick or have some sort of long term illness that can be easily medicated or cured before things worsen.

So go for regular checkups with your doctor to maintain a healthy body and mind.

Regular check-ups can help find health problems before they start. Health professionals can help find and diagnose health issues early, when your chances for treatment and cure are better. 

Go to your nearest health facility to check out the the health services, screenings and treatment that are accessible to you.

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Your health is affected by many things that are out of your control but one thing you can control is what you put into your body.

Avoid Drugs at all costs, drug abuse can lead to long term and short term health issues and death, they are addictive and also cause depression and many other mental issues.

When antibiotics lose their power, bacterial infections become harder to treat, leading to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mortality. 

Antibiotics are losing their power because of misuse and overuse in humans and animals. Make sure you only take antibiotics if prescribed by a qualified health professional