“Health is wealth”, a famous proverb that we all have heard somewhere in our life once. But have we ever wondered why is that so? To understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle we first need to look at what a healthy lifestyle is. How someone leads his/her life varies from individual to individual. However, there are some atomic habits that are considered to be the absolute essentials for a healthy lifestyle:
- Healthy Eating
- Exercise
- Rest
- Maintaining Hygiene
- Work and Socializing
The benefits of each of these are discussed in detail below.
1. Healthy Eating:
What you eat severely impacts how long you will live or what type of life you may lead. Eating healthy means consuming the right amount of calories that an individual require per day to fulfil the energy needs of the body, taking the complete set of nutrients including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and fiber and keeping the body properly hydrated by drinking sufficient water.
In the modern world this habit is the most undermined by the majority of people. We eat a lot of food today, often significantly exceeding the amounts of our daily calories’ requirement. This results in increased body fats and obesity to become common. Obesity is the root cause of many medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, heart attacks, etc.
We consume processed foods instead of natural organic foods. These are rich in salts and contain preservatives that increases our chances of having cancer. These foods also lack the right amount of nutrients that we require for our bodies to properly thrive. Hence the issues like early aging, bad skin conditions, low sex drives, insomnia, quick fatigue and lack of stamina are becoming pervasive in the society.
On the other hand, eating healthy natural organic foods in the right amounts and adopting it as our lifestyles will lead to benefits like greater life expectancy, better immunity, high sex drive and power, strong and attractive physique and the availability of proper energy to work and grow. Organic foods such as fruits and vegetables carry the essential vitamins and minerals that an individual needs to maintain health. They also carry dietary fiber which helps regulate the bowl movement to keep the intestines healthy and maintain blood cholesterol levels. Consuming organic meat not only provides for the protein needs of the body but unlike processed meat is free from harmful chemicals that may lead to hormonal imbalances in the body.
2. Exercise:
The human body is designed in such a way that a lot of its functionality greatly depends on the amount of physical activity it does. Our body posture, the strength of our muscles and stamina to do work are all build up with our habits. When we use our muscles, they break. The body then repairs and strengthens them. It is a continuous process that occurs daily in our body. However, if our physical activity is low and the muscles stay unused, they tend to become weaker as the body does not strengthen them anymore. This leads to lower muscular strength and bad postures.
Our posture is determined by the different muscle groups in our body. An even posture requires all the muscles to be proportionally strengthened which is not possible without an exercise routine. Hence every individual must exercise daily for at least half an hour. Giving our bodies at least half an hour of exercise daily, is their due to right, that all of must fulfil to live a happy life.
3. Rest:
After all the hard work of the day, every human being requires rest. It is one of the most vital part of a healthy lifestyle. Even if we adopt all the other four healthy habits and only have a lacking in taking proper rest, our lifestyle will not be healthy at all. An average adult requires around eight hours of sleep daily. It is the time when all the maintenance work of our body is carried out. People that lead a lifestyle lacking proper sleep usually faces severe medical issues like hypertension, diabetes, early aging and mood issues including frustration, anxiety and depression. It can even cause low libido and destroy sex life.
Although some believe that caffeinated energy drinks are alternatives to sleep, there is none to date. It is the biggest misconception one can have and can prove to be the costliest one as well, with its cost being a person’s health itself. Energy drinks create an illusion of being an alternative to sleep. They make the person feel energetic and fresh but artificially. Consuming them regularly can severely affect one’s health and may cause irreversible damages to the body.
4. Maintaining Hygiene:
Maintaining a good hygiene have some quite inconspicuous benefits that an individual who practices it, enjoys. The first in the list of maintaining hygiene is taking baths. It is preferable to bath daily but, it is not necessary to do so, as research shows that a human body can benefit more from bathing in every two days instead of daily. Bathing can help prevent bacteria build up on body, which in turn helps us avoid body odors, infections and many diseases. The next in the list is the habit of washing hands regularly, specially before meals. Studies have shown that our chances of getting diseases reduces significantly by washing hands before meals.
Other healthy habits include proper dental care, skin care and wardrobe routines. One should wear nice clean clothes and wear a cool attractive fragrance. It boosts confidence and helps maintain good mood. Dental care and skin care greatly enhances the personality and makes an individual stand out in an audience.
5. Work and Socializing:
Just like exercise is essential to keep the body healthy and fit, our brains also require daily usage in some form to stay healthy. Although as counterintuitive as it might sound, doing work actually helps to keep us fit as our brain generates a feeling of self-satisfaction and importance when we work and gain accomplishments. A healthy working schedule is absolutely necessary to keep the feelings of an individual upright.
As goes by the saying, humans are social animals. To stay mentally healthy, socializing is a need. An average person interacts with about 10 to 12 persons daily. A healthy lifestyle demands maintaining adequate socializing. An individual must build healthy relationships of mutual love and respect with others in the society. He/she must try to spread positivity in his/her social circle and should try to avoid matters that arouse resentment and distress. Socializing helps maintain emotional health and is a key element for a balanced healthy life.