What does it mean to have healthy habits?
What does it mean to have healthy habits?
First, I will explain what health means. It is believed that for a person to be considered healthy it is only necessary not to have any disease. However, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is the situation of perfect physical, mental and social well-being. There are four fundamental pillars to maintaining a balanced life.
I will start by talking about food. Have you ever stopped to think that every food we eat is nourishing us or feeding a disease? It may seem a little scary to talk about it that way, but it’s reality. It is necessary to understand that your body needs nutrients to stay balanced and functioning optimally. Our bodies are very intelligent and work tirelessly to keep us healthy. If you’re giving him poor quality food, he’ll eventually call for help. That’s how illnesses arise.
Another important habit is physical activity, an essential practice at any age. It’s common for people to work all day sitting down, sprawl on the couch to watch TV after work, and then go to bed. The next day, everything repeats.
It is noteworthy that physical exercise can prevent and/or improve the condition of diseases such as heart problems, obesity, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and even depression, in addition to improving mood and self-esteem. It’s not just physical health that benefits from exercise, but mental health too.
Another essential pillar is sleep, considered as important to good health as the food we eat and the air we breathe. Ideally, we sleep around 10 pm and have 7 to 8 hours of sleep a day. It is also necessary to have a balance between activity and rest. If you stop sleeping to do other things, you are doing a lot of harm to your body. Lack of sleep can reduce your resting metabolic rate, which is the amount of calories your body expends each day just to function. That’s because the body feels that you need to save energy because you haven’t rested properly. Sleep is also an excellent anti-inflammatory. People with chronic sleep deficits have more inflammatory markers in the body.
Last but not least, the habit of managing stress. Emotions are felt by every cell in our body. For this reason, it is very important to make an effort to think positive thoughts, as this will benefit your overall health. More and more studies show that stress and anxiety can cause physical illness.
Did you know that Brazil is the most anxious country in the world? We must take care of our mental health, including habits that make us happy in our routine, such as taking a walk with someone we love, reading a few pages of a book, meditating, doing a physical exercise that brings us pleasure or even being silent and connecting. I really can.
