Five Golden Tips to Keep Fit, Healthy and Disease-Free

Keeping fit and healthy is the greatest strength of human body. And keeping fit does not require much, just a little bit of change in our lifestyle. Here’s how. In every family there is always a grandpa story who used to eat at least ten to twelve parathas per day loaded with butter and ghee. Then every family also has an uncle you would bring buckets and buckets of water from a faraway place without feeling tired. And every story would begin or conclude with – ‘those were the days’. Yes, these were the days indeed when being healthy came naturally and people did not have to take extra care to ensure a healthier, fitter body. But with the growing level of pollution, food loaded with pesticides and unhealthy lifestyle, the population of unhealthy human beings is growing by leaps and bounds. Every year millions of deaths are occurring due to diseases which could be averted by simple strategies to keep fit and healthy. Here are a few tips to keep fit and healthy:

1) Bad habits off Radar:

Any good thing should begin by discarding what we know is bad for us. For that, it is important to kick away habits that can kill – smoking and drinking being two primary bad habits. The problem with bad habits is that they are like slow poison. They do not kill overnight but slowly without us being aware of the damage it is causing internally. And the good thing is that we do get the opportunity to think back, reflect and kick off the bad habit as soon as we can. Just by kicking away these two major bad habits we can avoid cardiovascular diseases, a few types of cancers, liver diseases.

2) A healthy and balanced diet:

The basics of a healthy body comes from healthy and balanced food. Even though we have a tendency to avoid fats and carbohydrates totally in the name of ‘eating healthy’, it is absolutely necessary to have food from each food group included in our diet, Also, not every person has the same diet requirement. So, if we are planning to have a healthy diet it is best to consult a dietician who can plan the diet as per our Body Mass Index and other indicators. Having said this, it must be highlighted that vegetables and fruits must be a part of an everyday diet to ensure a good intake of required vitamins. And a balanced diet also needs to be complimented with drinking adequate water every day to keep our body hydrated and flush out toxins.

3) Regular exercise:

Most of the diseases that we end up having with are due to the fact that we do not have adequate exercises to keep the body’s metabolism balanced. Exercises too need to be decided as per the guidance of the experts to ensure that we do not end up injuring ourselves. There are different exercises aimed for different needs. Cardiovascular exercises keep heart and lungs well, strength training strengthens the muscles and stretching exercises helps improve the flexibility of the body. Exercise, on the whole, helps improve the circulation of the body, thus keeping diseases at bay.

4) Adequate sleep:

This is perhaps a major challenge for working professionals today who have a little bit of everything other than sleep. Lack of sleep affects metabolism, it also alters our mood, affects concentration, damages memory, affects motor skills, increases stress hormones thus affecting our overall health. Sleep is definitely required for rejuvenation and repair of the body. And a minimum sleep of 6 to 8 hours is must.

5) Reduced stress:

Stress is a huge contributing factor to erratic body functions because our moods affects our hormonal level, thus affecting our body in whole. Engaging in good hobbies, going out with friends and family, meditation, trekking, playing with pets and babies are all little activities that can help combat stress. But when things go out of hand it is necessary to consult a psychiatrist too. Like five fingers of a hand, these are five golden rules to keep ourselves healthy and disease-free.