Looking After A Loved One? Don’t Forget To Look After Yourself Too!
Contributed by Ryan Peterson.
Taking care of a loved one with special needs, whether they be physical or mental, is one of the best things you could ever do. However, before helping someone else, you must first learn to help yourself.
After all, ignoring your needs will inevitably take a toll on the body and mind. Use this simple checklist below, and it will be great news for you as well as your loved one.
Embrace Positive Daily Habits:
A healthy lifestyle isn’t simply about eating the right foods and hitting the gym. Poor lifestyle choices can lead to poor health as well as medical conditions. They will disrupt your life as well as the ability to support your loved one. Ensure that your daily habits are in a good place for immediate and long-term benefits including increased energy. If you’re young, the consequences might no show just yet. Keep making those mistakes, though, and reversing the damage will be hard.
How Your Poor Lifestyle Choices Are Really Affecting Your Health
Contributed by Ryan Peterson.
We all know the basics of a healthy lifestyle. Eat well, exercise, and get enough sleep. Don’t put dangerous chemicals into your body and make time for relaxation. However, in practice, it can be a bit more tricky. Our bad habits have been going on for so long that we might not even consider the health effects anymore.
Here are some examples of the ways your poor lifestyle choices are affecting your body.
Sedentary lifestyle
Research shows that the average American sits for around thirteen hours a day, and sleeps for around eight. That’s a massive part of our day, and our lives in general that we’re not getting any activity. A sedentary lifestyle contributes to weight gain and obesity which comes with its own set of significant health issues. It can cause weakness in joints and muscles and make it more likely that you will sustain an injury when you are active.
One example of this is plantar fasciitis, while it’s common in runners it also occurs when sedentary people up their activity levels. This is when the thick band of muscle at the bottom of the foot becomes inflamed and micro tears appear making it very sore in the heel area. Orthotics such as Biopods can help with this, click here for more information. However maintaining an active lifestyle will prevent the body from becoming weak, you’ll keep your fitness levels and exercise in general will benefit every cell in your body.
Berries For Heart Health
Berries are a rich source of phytochemicals, including anthocyanins, polyphenols, and ellagic acid.
These phytochemicals protect cells from oxidative damage caused by free radicals, reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer.
Which berries are in season?
Summer is the optimal season for berries. Berries in season during the summer include:
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Boysenberries
- Currants
- Elderberries
- Marionberries
- Mulberries
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Tayberries
Cranberry season is in the fall.
Blueberry
Fresh blueberries contain…
- Vitamin C
- Fiber
- Anthocyanins
- Resveratrol
- Alpha-tocopherol (a form of Vitamin E)
Delicious fresh and cooked into a compote or dessert.
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3 Awesome Ways To Keep Your Heart Healthy
Contributed by Ryan Peterson.
Heart health is one of those seemingly mythical areas of medicine for the layperson. We cannot see our heart in the same way we can see our skin, our limbs, and our waistlines, so we aren’t sure how best to improve our heart health. When we eat a more nutritious diet, we see our waistline shrink, and if we try out a new moisturizer, we can feel a new softness to our epidermis. With heart health, we may try different ways to lower our risk of cardiovascular problems, but we cannot see the impact. Regardless, you should still do everything in your power to keep your heart healthy.
Eat Well
Although it may seem obvious, the food we put into our bodies has a profound impact on our heart health. We need to eat a variety of antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetables. As a rule of thumb, each color signifies a different antioxidant, so it pays to try and eat the rainbow every day. Nuts are the superfood of choice for the heart. Instead of reaching for a candy bar which is loaded with fat and refined sugars, the unsaturated fats in walnuts and almonds can help keep cholesterol low, decreasing chances of a heart attack.
Oily fish are exceptional sources of omega-3 fatty acids which can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.
If your cholesterol is high, you may be prescribed statins to help it reach a safer level. Taking statin medication does not mean you can eat whatever you want. You must still eat a nutritious and balanced diet. You may also opt to try and change the way you age with new natural supplements to help promote heart health.
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5 Bad Habits That Won’t Help Your Heart
Contributed by Ryan Peterson.
If you care at all about your health and your body, you’ll surely want to take good care of your heart. After all, it’s perhaps the most important organ in your body or one of them at least. And there are also many things that you can do that will impact on the overall health of your heart. This is certainly something you need to think about, so read on to find out about 5 of the bad habits that won’t do anything at all to help your heart.
1. A Salty Diet
Having too much salt in your diet will be really damaging in the long-term, and it’s something that you definitely need to try and avoid if you want to keep your heart healthy. Consuming too much salt is one of the major factors that can lead to high blood pressure, and this is a condition that can take its toll on your heart if it’s left untreated. You should start improving your life by consuming less salt.
2. A Sedentary Approach to Each Day
These days, many people do jobs that involve not much more than sitting in front of a computer. And then they get in the car, drive home and sit on the sofa until they feel like going to bed. The problem with this kind of lifestyle is that it’s incredibly sedentary. You should try to squeeze in at least a little exercise each day so that your lifestyle doesn’t become completely sedentary and lazy.
3. Taking Drugs
Exercising Safely In The Summer Heat
There are many reasons to exercise…
- Chronic disease prevention (i.e. heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, cancers, etc.)
- Manage weight
- Manage stress and mood
- Improve sleep quality
- Build muscle
- Boost immunity
- Improve brain function
- Strengthen bones
The list of benefits goes on.
Whether you are a regular exerciser or just getting started, you need to ensure you take steps to protect your heart when you exercise in the summer heat.
Drink plenty of fluids.
Drink water before, during, and after exercise to ensure you stay well-hydrated. Avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks.
If you dislike drinking plain water, add flavor by adding fruit slices to a pitcher of water and refrigerate for a couple hours. You can try water with berries, cucumber, melon, oranges, or mint.
Dress appropriately.
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