Analysis has shown that the average life expectancy for Americans has dropped significantly for the second year in a row – it now stands at 78.7 years. This fact should make you sit up and seriously consider your lifestyle and identify where you can make improvements so that you don’t become part of this sorry statistic.
The research has shown a huge gap between the life expectancies of those who are wealthy and those from the lower income brackets. Education is crucial for social mobility and enables you to climb the career ladder to be able to access medical treatments and interventions. However, education is only part of the solution; more people are dying from prescription pills than from vehicle accidents, so doing everything in your power to avoid the need for medications in the first place has never been so important. Here are some hints and tips to maintain your health.
Be Active
We live increasingly sedentary lives and fail to be as active as our ancestors. You don’t need to set yourself up with unachievable sporting goals, rather make small changes to your daily routine so that you are active for a minimum of 30 minutes per day. A great motivator is to get a pedometer and aim to do 10,000 steps per day – you can go about your daily business as usual but take the stairs instead of the elevator and park your car in a space further away from the office than you would typically use.
Food Choices
Eat a well-balanced diet that is enriched with lots of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. Aim to have a rainbow of colors on your plate – the more colorful your food, the greater amount and variety of nutrients that is them. Choose a diet that is low in processed food and saturated fats and cholesterol, sugar and salt.
Be Body Aware
If you notice changes to your body, get them checked out. Your body is great at giving you signals that it is unwell, you may think that standalone symptoms are manageable but certain combinations of symptoms may indicate that a diagnosable and treatable condition exists. Visit your physician to join the dots of your symptoms. For example, you may suffer from heavy and painful periods and not think that painful urination and fatigue has a linked cause, however, Dr Seckin would investigate whether you suffered from endometriosis.
Sun Protection
The sun’s rays are the strongest between 10 am and 3 pm, and so you should avoid direct sunlight during thee hours. Just because its cloudy does not mean that the sun’s harmful rays will not penetrate the clouds and you are protected. Always use a quality sun cream that protects from both UVA and UVB rays.
Good health is a luxury, and you should invest your time and effort to maintaining the privileged position you are in. You need to maintain your health by fueling your body with wise food choices and strengthening it through regular exercise. By being more body aware, you will be able to identify when unusual symptoms occur so that you reduce the risk if long-term impact.