Maintain your health: 10 simple rules that you can implement today

Maintain your health is one of the most important thing in your life. Without health, you are unable to enjoy optimal well-being and a high quality of life. This can be confirmed by all those individuals who have suffered from physical and/or mental illnesses. However, many people today believe that leading a healthy life is impossible. Due to such and similar beliefs, many people do not take care of their health at all. Instead, they focus on completely different life activities. This is especially true for younger individuals, whose health is in largely part preserved.

Unfortunately, this is no longer a common case, given that more and more illnesses are affecting even the youngest among us. Even though we are mostly familiar with this alarming fact, many of us naively believe that ‘lightning won’t strike us.’ As a result, we usually continue with our old way of life until it’s too late to do anything for our health.

Maintain your health while you have it, not when you lose it, because then you won’t have anything left to maintain.

Also, there are more and more people who follow the philosophy: ‘Something has to be the cause of death.’ Well, death is not the worst thing that can happen to each of us. It is probably much worse to experience physical helplessness while still craving life. At that point, your body limits you from achieving life goals, and unfortunately, all the burden falls on your closest family members. To avoid this unfortunate scenario, it’s essential to know that your body, despite its significant resilience to various illnesses, is not indestructible. Even it requires reinforcement through various methods if you want to lead a healthy and quality life. In the following discussion, we will focus on techniques to help you maintain your health and quality of life, ultimately supporting you in aging as functional and vital individuals.

Do not mask the symptoms of illness if you want to maintain your health!

 

WELL-KNOWN PHENOMENON

Before delving into the promised techniques, it’s necessary to mention a well-known phenomenon in which you will likely find yourself. Many people neglect their health until their bodies start sending disturbing signals. Sometimes it may be a headache or pains in other parts of the body, or other discomforts like dizziness, insomnia, loss of appetite, and the like. Whatever the symptoms, most of us will initially reach for some synthetic medication, and that’s when a significant mistake is made. Here is the main problem: Although synthetic medications may alleviate our symptoms, they won’t succeed in eliminating the root cause of our illness.

However, when it comes to our health, many people indeed do just that – instead of “fixing the leak,” they persistently “scoop up the water.” More precisely, rather than addressing the real cause of the problem, they consistently alleviate the symptoms. Do you now realize how futile that is?

To make matters worse, by alleviating the symptoms, they are essentially masking the real problem. By getting rid of the pain, they haven’t eliminated the true cause of the illness. Consequently, symptoms often return, usually with greater intensity than before, or they shift to another part of the body.

At that point, they repeat the old mistake – reaching once again for synthetic medications. In this way, they unknowingly enter a vicious cycle in which they often end up “earning” a chronic illness. Therefore, it is very dangerous to mask the life-saving signals that clearly indicate that something is wrong with our organism. It’s crucial to adopt a holistic approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root causes for long-term health and well-being. This is actually the right moment to introduce the following life-saving changes if you want to maintain your health:

 

1. EAT HEALTHY, DIVERSIFIED, BUT SIMPLE

Cereals, seeds, fruits, vegetables, so-called superfoods, and nuts are valuable foods. They should be consumed daily, as they are rich in plant proteins, healthy fats, essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals, dietary fibers, and antioxidants. The daily intake of these foods has been proven to reduce the risk of various diseases.

In addition to consuming the mentioned foods, avoid complicated recipes. They unnecessarily require you to spend more time in the kitchen. Instead, turn to simple and healthy recipes where food processing is kept to a minimum. This way, you’ll have more time for other activities.

 

2. INCORPORATE AT LEAST ONE RAW MEAL

One of the main benefits of consuming raw foods is the maximum utilization of enzymes in them. Enzymes aid in the digestion of food. Although our body produces its own enzymes, the quantity is not sufficient, and the body expends a lot of energy in their production. Therefore, fatigue and drowsiness can often occur after consuming large amounts of thermally processed food.

What actually happens? The body directs all its energy to cope with the ingested food and neglects normal functioning. What remains in the stomach rots and poses a significant potential for the onset of various diseases. That’s why it would be ideal to incorporate at least one raw meal during the day, or even more, to maintain more energy for other daily activities.

 

3. AVOID EMPTY CALORIES

Fried foods like french fries, chips, and other fast food are full of fats and lack any other nutritional value.

White bread has high-calorie but low beneficial nutritional value, so it should be avoided or consumed in small quantities.

Alcoholic beverages contain truly empty calories, which is why they are referred to as antinutrients.

Various coffee-based drinks, as well as other beverages, contain a large amount of sugar. You might not have known, but the caffeine in them doesn’t contribute to our alertness as much as the sugar does.

Unhealthy sweets, juices, and carbonated drinks are full of sugar. Consuming them has a lot in common with taking drugs because the longer we consume them, the more our body craves them. Here’s a scientific explanation of what’s actually happening: ‘When refined sugar is consumed in processed food, the body’s energy level will rise sharply, but soon after, it will drop sharply as well. Then the tired body craves sugar again, and headaches or concentration problems can occur. These abrupt changes will occur over and over again because the body strives to establish a balanced state.’ Now it becomes much clearer why most people can’t resist these foods.”

Avoid all industrial products containing artificial colors, sweeteners, flavors, emulsifiers, thickeners, preservatives, and other additives. Numerous studies show that many of them are harmful, even carcinogenic.

 

4. DO NOT SKIP BREAKFAST

Skipping breakfast won’t make you slimmer. On the contrary, if you skip breakfast, you’ll likely get hungry later in the day and then ‘grab’ the first food that comes your way.

Instead of a quality meal, you’ll only intake empty calories, which will do you more harm than good. Similarly, you’ll slow down your metabolism, leading to issues with unburned calories, achieving the opposite effect.

Scientists confirm the same: ‘If you skip breakfast, blood sugar levels drop sharply. After that, fatigue and dizziness occur, and your metabolism slows down, halting the calorie-burning process. The brain enters another state due to anxiety; you become depressed and prone to mood swings.

When you finally intake food at some point during the day, it will be harder for you to feel satiated. By skipping breakfast, you slow down your metabolism, and blood sugar levels will constantly be unstable.

 

5. AVOID SNACKING BETWEEN MEALS

Another unhealthy habit is eating snacking between meals because our stomach needs a break between meals.

If the break between meals is less than 4-5 hours, the stomach muscles have an issue. They stop and don’t expel the old food until the newly arrived food is digested in the stomach. This way, the old food waits in the stomach, and it’s warm, dark, and acidic, causing the food to ferment. It’s like mashing up food on a plate in the morning and going to work. When you come back from work, you’ll find it rotten. The same thing happens with the food waiting in the stomach, thereby affecting your blood negatively.

For food to be digested in your body, it takes 2-3 hours, and then the stomach needs a rest for 2 hours. Therefore, it’s ideal to rest about 4-5 hours between meals because if the break is shorter, the stomach will weaken and not function properly. Similarly, if you eat late at night, stay awake for at least 3 hours before going to sleep. In case you fall asleep earlier, you won’t sleep well and you will probably wake up tired.

 

6. DRINK ENOUGH WATER

The human body consists of 70% water. Therefore, adequate intake of this fluid is essential for its normal functioning, especially during the summer when temperatures are high. While a person can survive without food for several weeks, without water, it’s only a matter of a few days.

The ideal daily water intake for an adult is around 2 liters, and for children, it’s about 1 liter. It is essential for all metabolic processes in the body. Water is crucial for kidney function, participates in the process of digestion, transportation, and elimination of harmful substances, absorption of nutrients, maintaining a constant body temperature, and regulating the body’s thermoregulation.

Do you know: If the body is not accustomed to taking in water, fat tends to accumulate around the ankles, thighs, and waist. The moment you start consuming the recommended amount of water, these deposits will disappear, and you will lose weight. When it comes to drinking water, it’s also essential to consider the following important things:

Do not drink water during meals because you dilute stomach acid and weaken it. Therefore, digestion cannot be efficient, and the nutritional components of the food cannot be properly extracted as water washes everything away.

It’s also not advisable to drink water immediately before meals, but rather at least 15-30 minutes earlier.

You should wait for 1-2 hours after a meal for proper digestion because water can interfere with the process.

 

7. GET ENOUGH SLEEP

We all have varying sleep needs, so there is no universal optimal amount of sleep. While some may function well with six hours, others may require up to ten. Age, season, and physical activity also play a role. The key is to prioritize high-quality sleep, as it revitalizes the body.

Good sleep is closely tied to the secretion of essential hormones for our body’s functioning. Melatonin, for instance, is produced only at night, peaking between 2 and 3 hours after midnight. Its highest concentrations occur between midnight and 8 a.m., reaching levels 5-10 times higher than during the day. Therefore, going to bed earlier can support this process.

Also, you should turn off all possible sources of light when going to sleep because artificial lighting can disrupt melatonin synthesis, affecting the quality of your sleep. Melatonin is believed to prevent the growth of cancer cells, making it crucial to prioritize timely bedtime.

 

8. STAY PHYSICALLY ACTIVE AND SPEND MORE TIME OUTDOORS

Fresh air has a positive impact on our mood and immunity, while moderate exercise is excellent for our body. Choose the ones that suit you the most and perform them in nature on fresh air.

You should exercise at least 3 times a week because during exercise, your metabolism increases (known as BMR), and it should stay that way for 48 hours. If you take a longer break, metabolism decreases again. It needs to stay at a level for you to always have energy and be strong. That’s why it’s recommended to exercise at least every other day.

If the weather is bad outside, you can also exercise indoors. The benefits of physical activity are numerous. People who exercise regularly have more energy, better fitness, improved mood, balanced body weight, improved blood sugar levels, increased levels of protective HDL cholesterol, reduced blood pressure, reduced risk of blood clot formation in blood vessels, reduced stress levels, and even some assistance in quitting smoking.

 

9. AVOID STRESS AND STRESSFUL SITUATIONS

People often say, ‘As our thoughts, so is our life,’ and it’s true. If you’re frequently down or in a bad mood, it will definitely affect the quality of your life. Negative feelings and thoughts will accompany you, and you may often transmit them to other people in your environment.

In such a state, you’ll tend to evaluate every situation negatively, and then you’ll react negatively accordingly. This way, you’ll enter a vicious circle that is hard to break. Therefore, it’s necessary to arm yourself with positive thoughts if you want to lead a healthy and quality life.

In this state, you’ll tend to perceive every situation negatively, and then you’ll react accordingly. This will lead you into a cycle that is hard to break. Therefore, it’s important to equip yourself with positive thoughts if you want to live a healthy and fulfilling life. However, you probably often lack the means to stay positive because from time to time, you experience stressful situations where it’s hard to control your own thoughts. Even in such situations, you can apply a simple exercise to make it easier for you.

This exercise releases positive endorphins in the brain, making you feel good. They are released when you say: ‘Please,’ ‘Thank you,’ and ‘I love you.’ On the other hand, your brain can also release negative endorphins when you yell or curse. This hinders the immune system from functioning properly, making you susceptible to illness.

However, if you want to achieve the most effective impact, it’s essential to shift your focus away from yourself and your own problems and dedicate yourself to helping others. Giving someone a glance, a smile, a kind word, a hug, a kiss, a small token of attention, or something more doesn’t cost you much, almost nothing, but it can mean a lot to the other person, sometimes everything. This way, you’ll always be doing double the good because a smiling face from another person will surely bring a smile to your face as well.

 

10. TAKE CARE OF YOUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH

Each of us is composed of two components: 1) the physical, which consists of our body, and 2) the spiritual, which consists of our spirit. In order to lead a healthy and quality life, it is essential to achieve an ideal balance between these components. This balance can be achieved in the following way: You should ‘nourish’ your spirit every day, just as you nourish your body every day. You can do this with the help of various spiritual books, articles, lectures, documentaries, movies, songs, etc.

If each person dedicated at least 10% of the time they spend on their body daily to their spirit, they would notice significant changes in their life. As we all know, the average person consumes at least 3 physical meals a day.

Moreover, an increasing number of people train their bodies, but when it comes to our spiritual life, many neglect its functioning, making a significant mistake. Therefore, you should pay attention to what you watch, listen to, the environment you live in, the people you associate with, and how you spend your free time. All these factors shape your personality and, consequently, determine the quality of your life.

 

10 RULES ARE A SURE FORMULA ON HOW YOU CAN MANTAIN YOUR HEALTH!

Following these simple rules, you will get a sure formula on how to maintain your health and achieve maximum benefits. It may currently seem impossible to follow all the steps mentioned. But if you were to walk these simple guidelines every day, you would surely experience an incredible rejuvenation. Your body would be eternally grateful for everything you’ve done for it and would serve you throughout your life in a harmonious and useful way.

It is crucial to remember that your health is priceless, and there is no pleasure in this world for which you should sacrifice it. Whether it’s the “irresistible” tastes of sweets, unhealthy drinks, or unhealthy habits like smoking, excessive caffeine intake, alcohol consumption, etc. – we truly believe: health remains the top priority!