20 Best Health Tips
1. Copy your kitty: Learn to do stretching exercises when
you wake up. It boosts circulation and digestion, and eases back pain.
2. Don’t skip breakfast. Studies show that eating a proper
breakfast is one of the most positive things you can do if you are trying to
lose weight. Breakfast skippers tend to gain weight. A balanced breakfast
includes fresh fruit or fruit juice, a high-fibre breakfast cereal, low-fat
milk or yoghurt, wholewheat toast, and a boiled egg.
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3. Brush up on hygiene. Many people don't know how to brush
their teeth properly. Improper brushing can cause as much damage to the teeth
and gums as not brushing at all. Lots of people don’t brush for long enough,
don’t floss and don’t see a dentist regularly. Hold your toothbrush in the same
way that would hold a pencil, and brush for at least two minutes.
This includes brushing the teeth, the junction of the teeth
and gums, the tongue and the roof of the mouth. And you don't need a fancy,
angled toothbrush – just a sturdy, soft-bristled one that you replace each
month.
Brush your teeth with your ‘other’ hand, take a new route to
work or choose your clothes based on sense of touch rather than sight. People
with mental agility tend to have lower rates of Alzheimer's disease and
age-related mental decline.
5. Get what you give! Always giving and never taking? This
is the short road to compassion fatigue. Give to yourself and receive from
others, otherwise you’ll get to a point where you have nothing left to give.
And hey, if you can’t receive from others, how can you expect them to receive
from you?
6. Get spiritual. A study conducted by the formidably sober
and scientific Harvard University found that patients who were prayed for
recovered quicker than those who weren’t, even if they weren’t aware of the
prayer.
7. Get smelly. Garlic, onions, spring onions and leeks all
contain stuff that’s good for you. A study at the Child’s Health Institute in
Cape Town found that eating raw garlic helped fight serious childhood
infections. Heat destroys these properties, so eat yours raw, wash it down with
fruit juice or, if you’re a sissy, have it in tablet form.
8. Knock one back. A glass of red wine a day is good for
you. A number of studies have found this, but a recent one found that the
polyphenols (a type of antioxidant) in green tea, red wine and olives may also
help protect you against breast cancer. It’s thought that the antioxidants help
protect you from environmental carcinogens such as passive tobacco smoke.
9. Bone up daily. Get your daily calcium by popping a tab,
chugging milk or eating yoghurt. It’ll keep your bones strong. Remember that
your bone density declines after the age of 30. You need at least 200
milligrams daily, which you should combine with magnesium, or it simply won’t
be absorbed.
10. Berries for your belly. Blueberries, strawberries and
raspberries contain plant nutrients known as anthocyanidins, which are powerful
antioxidants. Blueberries rival grapes in concentrations of resveratrol – the
antioxidant compound found in red wine that has assumed near mythological
proportions. Resveratrol is believed to help protect against heart disease and
cancer.
11. Curry favour. Hot, spicy foods containing chillies or
cayenne pepper trigger endorphins, the feel-good hormones. Endorphins have a powerful,
almost narcotic, effect and make you feel good after exercising. But go easy on
the lamb, pork and mutton and the high-fat, creamy dishes served in many Indian
restaurants.
12. Cut out herbs before ops. Some herbal supplements – from
the popular St John's Wort and ginkgo biloba to garlic, ginger, ginseng and
feverfew – can cause increased bleeding during surgery, warn surgeons. It may
be wise to stop taking all medication, including herbal supplements, at least
two weeks before surgery, and inform your surgeon about your herbal use.
13. I say tomato. Tomato is a superstar in the fruit and
veggie pantheon. Tomatoes contain lycopene, a powerful cancer fighter. They’re
also rich in vitamin C. The good news is that cooked tomatoes are also
nutritious, so use them in pasta, soups and casseroles, as well as in salads.
The British Thoracic Society says that tomatoes and apples
can reduce your risk of asthma and chronic lung diseases. Both contain the
antioxidant quercetin. To enjoy the benefits, eat five apples a week or a
tomato every other day.
14. Eat your stress away. Prevent low blood sugar as it
stresses you out. Eat regular and small healthy meals and keep fruit and
veggies handy. Herbal teas will also soothe your frazzled nerves.
Eating unrefined carbohydrates, nuts and bananas boosts the
formation of serotonin, another feel-good drug. Small amounts of protein
containing the amino acid tryptamine can give you a boost when stress tires you
out.
15. Load up on vitamin C.We need at least 90 mg of vitamin C
per day and the best way to get this is by eating at least five servings of
fresh fruit and vegetables every day. So hit the oranges and guavas!
16. No folly in folic acid. Folic acid should be taken
regularly by all pregnant mums and people with a low immunity to disease. Folic
acid prevents spina bifida in unborn babies and can play a role in cancer
prevention. It is found in green leafy vegetables, liver, fruit and bran.
17. A for Away. This vitamin, and beta carotene, help to
boost immunity against disease. It also assists in the healing process of
diseases such as measles and is recommended by the WHO. Good natural sources of
vitamin A are kidneys, liver, dairy products, green and yellow vegetables,
pawpaw, mangoes, chilli pepper, red sorrel and red palm oil.
18. Pure water. Don’t have soft drinks or energy drinks
while you're exercising. Stay properly hydrated by drinking enough water during
your workout (just don't overdo things, as drinking too much water can also be
dangerous).
While you might need energy drinks for long-distance
running, in shorter exercise sessions in the gym, your body will burn the
glucose from the soft drink first, before starting to burn body fat. Same goes
for eating sweets.
19. GI, Jane. Carbohydrates with a high glycaemic index,
such as bread, sugar, honey and grain-based food will give instant energy and
accelerate your metabolism. If you’re trying to burn fat, stick to beans, rice,
pasta, lentils, peas, soya beans and oat bran, all of which have a low GI
count.
20. Mindful living. You've probably heard the old adage that
life's too short to stuff a mushroom. But perhaps you should consider the
opposite: that life's simply too short NOT to focus on the simple tasks. By
slowing down and concentrating on basic things, you'll clear your mind of
everything that worries you.
Really concentrate on sensations and experiences again:
observe the rough texture of a strawberry's skin as you touch it, and taste the
sweet-sour juice as you bite into the fruit; when your partner strokes your
hand, pay careful attention to the sensation on your skin; and learn to really
focus on simple tasks while doing them, whether it's flowering plants or
ironing your clothes.
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