Features of a Healthy Lifestyle

 

What is healthy lifestyle?

A healthy lifestyle, put simply, is a way of life that lowers your risk of developing serious illnesses or shortens your life expectancy. Many dangerous illnesses can be averted by adopting certain practices and avoiding others, even though we cannot completely prevent all diseases.

 

What are the essential features of a healthy lifestyle?

 

A healthy diet

 • Eating a variety of foods in the right amounts and sticking to a calorie intake that supports maintaining a healthy body weight are both components of a balanced diet. Although everyone's situation is different, as a basic guideline, this should contain:

• A third of your daily dietary intake should consist of at least five pieces of fruit and vegetables. According to data, those who achieve this threshold have a lower risk of some malignancies and heart conditions.

• Starchy foods, especially those made with whole grains, which have higher fibre and nutritional contents than white grains. Whole grains have been found to support good gut bacteria and lower the risk of a number of malignancies, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

• Lean proteins are crucial for cellular repair and offer a variety of vitamins and minerals, notably fish, eggs, and white meat.

• Dairy products and products derived from them, which are a good source of calcium and protein.

• Saturated fats in moderation.

 

Physical activity

 

The World Health Organization advises all adults to engage in regular physical activity, including at least two sessions per week of weight-bearing exercise, in addition to at least thirty minutes of moderate aerobic activity daily. Being physically fit helps prevent secondary prevention (i.e., the worsening of symptoms) of diseases like cardiovascular disease, certain malignancies, diabetes mellitus, and osteoporosis.

 

Healthy body weight

 

The importance of maintaining a healthy body weight for overall health and illness prevention cannot be overstated. Body mass index (BMI), a measurement of body fat based on height and weight, is a valuable tool for determining if a person's weight is healthy. A BMI score of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal; a score of 25.0 to 29.9 suggests an individual is overweight; and a score of 30 or higher denotes obesity. BMI score and disease risk are positively connected, with higher scores indicating a higher risk of a number of diseases, such as:

• Diabetes type 2

• Heart condition

• Liver disease

• Hypertension

• Mood issues

• Reproductive disorder

• Cancer risk

 

Obesity and being overweight increase the risk of disease.

 

Tobacco use
 

There is no degree of tobacco usage or smoking that is considered safe. Therefore, never having smoked is correlated with the best health outcomes.

Eight million individuals per year pass away from smoking-related illnesses, with smoking being directly responsible for 70% of lung cancer cases. The esophagus, mouth, throat, pancreas, stomach, and liver are just a few of the numerous bodily parts where it can cause cancer. Smoking harms the heart's tissue and circulation, raising the risk of vascular disease, myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, and stroke.

 

Moderate alcohol intake

 

One to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women constitute a moderate intake of alcohol. Consuming alcohol at these amounts raises the likelihood of bad health effects. For instance, excessive consumption can boost blood triglycerides, which raises the risk of heart attack and stroke. Additionally, it can cause heart arrhythmia, cardiomyopathy, and excessive blood pressure.