What’s your New Year’s resolution? This year make the decision to take charge of your health for the future. The foods you eat, the amount of water you drink, and your activity level today will impact your life in later decades.
Eating the right foods and the right amount can help you live a longer, healthier life. Many illnesses and conditions such as heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes can be prevented or controlled by eating right. A healthy diet also provides the vitamins, minerals, and anti oxidants that slow down the aging process and help you feel younger.
Staying active can prevent illnesses and control weight. It can also help you concentrate better, help manage stress, and decrease the risk of depression and osteoporosis. Physical activity doesn’t have to be a chore! Taking a brisk walk for just 30 minutes four to five times a week can decrease your risk of a heart attack by 70 percent.
Drinking water helps to regulate body temperature and to provide the means for nutrients to travel to our organs. Water transports oxygen to our cells, removes waste, and protects our joints, organs and tissues. It even helps decrease the appearance of wrinkles. To figure out how much water you need, take your weight in pounds and divide that number in half. That will give you the number of ounces of water per day you need to drink.
It is important to learn about your individual risk factors for certain diseases based on family history and life style risks. Having an annual physical can pick up on early warning signs of disease before it seriously impacts your health. There are health screening recommendations for each decade of life; even if you are in your 20s.
Choosing a healthy lifestyle is a life decision – not a matter of will power or a temporary behavior change. Make it a top priority to protect your health and prevent illness.
To schedule an appointment to start taking charge of your health, please call Caring for You Health Center, Inc. at 661-284-2400.