Preventative measures that encourages a healthy lifestyle

Preventative measures for a healthy lifestyle

What are the four preventative health measures and how do I implement them? Let's find out:

Preventative measures that encourages healthy lifestyle

1. Avoid excess sugar intake from food and beverages
2. Do not consume alcohol, nicotine and other addictive substances
3. Keep processed food consumption to a minimum
4. Balance out stressful situations to protect your overall health

If you can follow all 4 of the preventative health measures, you can encourage a healthy lifestyle within your daily life. Each of these preventative measures will help you to protect yourself from health complications that occur directly because of unhealthy living.

1. Avoid excess sugar intake

Sugar is the body's primary source of energy. Every cell in the human body needs it to survive. If you took all of the sugar out of the body, you would die. Too much of it, though, can have disastrous effects.

Sugar is not as prevalent in the natural world as it is in today's modern diet. In nature, sugar would be very hard to find.

Our brains are hard-wired to find the best sources of sugar. The sugar content of food is a key indicator of what kind of foods are edible and what foods are not edible. If something had a lot of sugar in it, it was a good source of energy and nutrients.

Sugar triggers the release of a brain hormone called dopamine. It is known as our reward hormone. The brain does this to tell us to return to the place where we found the sugar-filled food so that we can get all of its nutrients before the food source is depleted.

Food with lots of sugar in nature (like fruit and vegetables) is always accompanied with important vitamins and minerals.

Food manufacturers have taken advantage of the dopamine-releasing effects of sugar. They dramatically increase the amount of sugar in their products so that we choose their product over other competitors. This leads to a rapid increase in the sugar content of processed food because products with more sugar are rewarded with higher sales.

Companies add as much sugar as they can to their products - just before the sweetness gets too much and negatively affects the taste. This is known as the bliss point.

Our bodies were never made to handle such high amounts of sugar.

Sugar is hygroscopic. This means that it attracts and holds onto water. Too much sugar in the blood stream will pull water out of cells. Cells then die of dehydration. This is why people with diabetes (too much sugar in the blood) start to have poor blood circulation and, eventually, end up with rotting limbs. Blood sugar prevents cells from getting the water and nutrients that they need because they are stuck to the sugar in the blood stream.

Too much sugar is bad for you.

2. Don't consume alcohol, nicotine and other addictive substances

Addictive substances also cause the release of the reward hormone, dopamine. This will have serious consequences for your mental health and physical health. Your brain will adapt to the constant release of dopamine in two ways. 

Firstly, it will try to control the access release of dopamine by secreting less of it each time. The more often you do something that releases too much dopamine; you will get less and less dopamine. You will need to do more of the activity to get the same amount of dopamine (or pleasure). That is how these substances become addictive.

Secondly, you brain will lower its sensitivity to dopamine in order to restore a state of balance (the body's drive to restore balance by counteracting certain behaviors is called homeostasis). When your sensitivity to dopamine decreases, you don't feel as much pleasure from certain activities as what you used to. You won't enjoy a hot bath, a good conversation with friends or the pleasure of achieving something great in the same way as other people who are still sensitive to dopamine. This is why people who are addicted to substances almost always have less motivational drive than those who aren't.

Low dopamine levels, for the reasons listed above, can lead to depression, disturbed sleep, low energy and a lack of motivation to live your best life.

Addictive substances also have withdrawal symptoms of their own. Did you know that nicotine, for example, throws you into a state of withdrawal within 30 minutes - and can last for over 6 months? Imagine having to go through withdrawal every 30 minutes that you don't smoke - talk about a ball and chain!

You lose more than you gain.

3. Keep unprocessed food consumption to a minimum

Sugar is not the only negative side effect of eating too much processed food. Preservatives in processed food kill your body in the same way that they kill germs. They just take longer to do it because you are much bigger than a germ.

Artificial flavors and artificial colors are unnatural chemicals. Our bodies were made to eat natural food exclusively. These chemicals load our bodies with harmful toxins that block important processes.

Artificial sweeteners are worse than sugar and lead to high blood pressure, obesity, sugar addiction, cholesterol, heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

My life is too important.

Negative health risks from processed food:

1. Heart disease
2. Cancer
3. Diabetes
4. Metabolic syndrome
5. Obesity
6. Insomnia
7. Headaches
8. Depression
9. Lack of energy
10. Low libido
11. Hormone imbalances
12. Weak bones that tend to break more easily
13. Muscle weakness
14. Low immune system that is susceptible to all kinds of illness
15. Early death

Read more about the health risks of processed food.

List of processed food examples:

1. Cereal
2. Canned food
3. Crisps
4. Condiments like ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise
5. Fried food
6. Fast food
7. Sweets and candy
8. Chocolate bars
9. Soda
10. Instant noodles
11. Bread
12. Pies
13. Pasta
14. Processed meat (sausages, corned beef and cold cuts)
15. Sausage rolls
16. Bacon and salami
17. Cheese
18. Cake
19. Biscuits and cookies
20. Sparkling water

Don't hurt your health for convenience.

4. Balance out stressful situations to protect your health

Too much stress is harmful to both your physical and mental health. The body responds to stress by reducing some of its bodily functions (like digestion, rest and recovery) and ramping up others (like inflammation, muscle tension and adrenaline) in order to prepare for the stressful situation.

Stress causes the release of a stress hormone called cortisol. It can sharply reduce your brain's ability to do any kind of mental work, decrease testosterone production and stop your muscles from growing.

Stress is one of the leading reasons why people struggle to sleep at night. If your body can't recover from the damage that it goes through during the day, the damage will start to accumulate. This leads to a variety of health complications.

Negative health effects of stress:

1. Headaches
2. Upset stomach
3. Stomach ulcers
4. Digestion issues
5. Insomnia
6. Muscle tension
7. Anxiety
8. Depression
9. Chest pain
10. Lack of motivation
11. Low energy
12. Excessive food cravings
13. High blood pressure
14. Heart disease

Read more about the negative side effects of stress.

Make sure that you do something every day to reduce the negative effects of stress. Exercise regularly, find a hobby that you enjoy, take some time to look after yourself and connect with other people.

Choose happiness.

Activities that reduce stress:

1. Exercise
2. Take a hot bath or a cold shower
3. Spend time with friends and family
4. Write in a journal
5. Play a sport
6. Start a hobby like painting or gardening
7. Take care of a pet
8. Laugh and smile
9. Use essential oils
10. Cut out unimportant tasks to make more time for yourself
11. Don't leave tasks or projects to the last minute
12. Do some prayer, meditation or yoga
13. Read a book
14. Avoid the blue light from screens (that can make anxiety worse)
15. Connect with someone special
16. Talk to someone you can trust
17. Help somebody else out
18. Get involved in your community
19. Listen to music that you enjoy
20. Practice deep breathing

Promotive measures that encourages a healthy lifestyle

1. Eat whole foods
2. Exercise regularly
3. Drink enough water every day

Health is more than simply avoiding the things that are bad for you. It is just as important to do the things that are good for your health. The following promotive measures with dramatically improve your health and encourage you to live a healthy lifestyle because you will feel so good from the first day that you do them.

1. Eat whole foods like fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables have the nutrients that many of us lack. Our bodies desperately need these nutrients to function properly.

Vitamin C, for example, helps to keep the immune system strong and prevent the buildup of cellular damage.

Fiber, on the other hand, feed good gut bacteria that fight off the bad kinds of bacteria that make us sick. It also helps to keep our digestive systems regular by adding bulk to our stool movements. Fiber stabilizes blood sugar because it takes longer to digest.

Antioxidants in fruit and vegetables prevent cellular damage and help to clear out existing damage.

Protein is equally important as a promotive health measure. It is needed for muscle, bone, joint, tissue and brain repair. Proteins are used every time that your brain makes a new memory.

Eat good to feel good.

2. Exercise regularly

Exercise is one of the most important promotive measures that you can take for your health. It strengthens the entire body against disease, weakness, depression and other forms of resistance that we deal with on a daily basis.

Exercise is one of the best ways to fight depression. It clears away stress and promotes the natural release of happy hormones like serotonin, dopamine and endorphins. The release of dopamine from exercise is not as addictive as it is with harmful substances because exercise is completely natural to the body. We were meant to exercise every day - we weren't meant to take any substances besides water and whole food.

Benefits of exercise:

1. Disease and illness prevention
2. Stronger immune system and less chance of getting sick from the flu or the common cold
3. Improved appearance
4. Better concentration and focus
5. Higher quality sleep
6. Better energy levels
7. Fewer cravings for unhealthy food and unhealthy substances
8. More motivation to succeed in life
9. Elated mood
10. Improved confidence
11. Stronger muscles, joints, bones, ligaments and connective tissue
12. Look younger for longer
13. Better skin, hair and nails
14. Faster mental and physical recovery times

Move more. Feel great.

3. Drink enough water

Three quarters of the population in the Western world is chronically dehydrated (according to a study). Almost all of us aren't getting enough water.

One of the biggest reasons why we are so dehydrated is because of the fact that we use non-water beverages to quench our thirst. Soda makes you even more dehydrated. Anything with artificial ingredients will increase the body's need for water because it needs to clear these toxins away.

Dehydration makes fatigue worse than it actually is. Your low energy and lack of ability to concentrate can be the symptom of severe dehydration.

Dehydration can inhibit mental function as much as getting drunk.

Symptoms of dehydration:

1. Lack of energy
2. Inability to concentrate
3. Dry skin
4. Rapid breathing
5. Sunken eyes
6. Headaches
7. Dry mouth and dry tongue
8. Irritability
9. Feelings of anxiety or depression

What if you're just thirsty?

Conclusion

The preventative measure that encourage a healthy lifestyle are avoiding excess sugar, saying no to alcohol and addictive substances, cutting out processed food and balancing out stressful situations with healthy ones. Promotive health measures include eating whole foods that benefit our nutrition, exercising regularly and getting enough good old water.

A little goes a long way.

Small, simple life changes like these will benefit our entire lives in so many ways. We will have more energy and feel better. This will lead to less negative coping behaviors and more of the productive behaviors that will benefit us for years to come. Remember to always practice everything in moderation.

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