Healthy lifestyles: How to get the best version of yourself

Cultivating healthy lifestyles is essential to enjoy complete well-being, both physical and mental. Although this is something we all want, often, when we take action, we make excuses and end up feeding ourselves inconveniently and leading a sedentary life. This is a shame since to get the best version of ourselves, it is enough to incorporate certain habits into our routine. Like everything, at first, it costs a little, however, the reward is very gratifying, because what is better than taking care of ourselves and those we love the most?

What do we understand by "health"? 

Normally we associate health with the absence of pathologies, however, it is much more than that. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), " health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not just the absence of disease or illness ." 

As you can see, health goes beyond the body, since it also has to do with our mind and our social relationships. Therefore, to achieve a healthy lifestyle it is essential to work on these three aspects. 

In general, the ones we tend to neglect the most are the first two, that is, our body and mind. That is why, in the following sections we give you the keys to take care of them in the best possible way by incorporating some habits. 

Healthy lifestyles: The 4 pillars of physical well-being 

That the mind and body are closely related is something we have known for a long time. The Greeks already coined the expression “ Mens Sana in corpore sana. ” There would be a reason!

And, the basis of good mental health is physical well-being. But what exactly is taking care of our body? Again, the approach is global: it is not enough to exercise, it is also necessary to have a proper diet, sleep well, avoid tobacco and other toxins, and even carry out regular medical check-ups. 

Next, we give you some guidelines to cultivate the four pillars on which physical well-being is sustained: food, physical activity, rest, and the absence of harmful habits for the organism. 

The frenetic pace of life today means that we often turn to ultra-processed: they are comfortable, tasty, and already cooked. It is a big mistake! This type of food is the most harmful due to its high content of sugar, salt, fat, preservatives, dyes, and additives. So whenever you can, say no to the ultra-processed!

Lack of time is not an excuse since replacing them with healthy options is perfectly compatible with a lifestyle in which time is not wasted. For example, instead of having a bun with the mid-morning coffee, you can eat a handful of nuts or a piece of fruit.

The key is to always prioritize natural foods. The less processed what you eat is, the better. There are applications like MyRealFood that let you know if a product is ultra-processed, processed but not very harmful (good processing), or is it healthy food (real food). To know this information about a product, just scan its barcode and voila! We have quick and key information for healthy eating.

Read the labels: avoid harmful additives, added sugar and trans fats

Get used to reading the labels, as they contain essential information to know what we really eat. Many ingredients, such as additives, have nomenclatures from which it is difficult to deduce whether they are harmful or not. To help us in the task of identifying them, today we have such practical tools as www.e-aditives.com that tell us if an additive is "non-harmful", "suspicious" or "dangerous", as well as its origin, which It can be "animal", "vegetable" or "synthetic. To do this, just enter the ingredient code, for example, E-201. In this case, we will see that we are dealing with a preservative, specifically, sodium sorbate, of chemical or synthetic origin, and not harmful.

As a rule, always choose those foods that have less “harmful” additives or, better still, those in which all are “non-harmful”.

In addition to the additives, when you read the label you should also look at the amount of sugars and saturated fats contained in food. The former is added to many products unnecessarily, something that has harmful effects on health. For this reason, always opt for products that do not have added sugars or that, if they do, are in very little proportion. In the same way, try to always discard foods with saturated fats - because they increase blood cholesterol and promote inflammation in the body - and with trans fats, which are even more damaging. The latter is obtained by an artificial process in which liquid oil is transformed into solid fat (such as butter or margarine). Until now, there was no European or Spanish legislation that forced their presence to be declared on the label. Luckily, as of April 2, 2021, no industrial food for sale in the EU will be able to contain more than two grams of trans fat for every 100 grams of fat, as the European Commission recently approved. Until then, if the label says that the product contains vegetable oils and the term “partially hydrogenated” or “hydrogenated” appears, it is trans fat.

Avoid pesticides and artificial substances 

Today, in order to improve productivity, the use of pesticides in agriculture has increased. Although this is regulated, many of the fruits and vegetables that arrive at our table still contain chemical residues. Therefore, it is better to peel the fruit before eating it. When you see an apple in the fruit store that shines a lot, if you buy it, try to peel it before eating it because they have probably added "waxes" to achieve that rare shine in a fruit. For this reason, peel the fruit, wash the vegetables very well, or opt for products of organic origin, free of pesticides. 

Do not forget to include at least five daily servings of fruit and vegetables in your diet

They are loaded with vitamins and antioxidants that will help you fight infections and alleviate the effects of oxidative stress on the body, one of the causes of aging and cell damage. These foods also promote intestinal transit and detoxification of the body, all advantages!

Moderate consumption of red meat

It is not that you eliminate it from your diet, but rather that you limit its consumption since there is evidence that associates the habitual consumption of this type of meat with the risk of colorectal cancer. You can substitute white meat for chicken, turkey, or fish. 

Switch to whole foods

Integral is not synonymous with bland or tasteless. On the contrary! Cereals or wholemeal flours are very tasty and, best of all, contain more vitamins and minerals, promote intestinal transit, and do not cause rapid increases in blood sugar levels, as in the case of refined flours. 

Don abuse alcohol't

As in the case of red meat, it is not about eliminating it from your diet, but consuming it in moderation, since abusing alcohol has proven harmful effects on health.

Drink water

Keep your body hydrated by drinking 2 liters of water a day. This habit will help you purify your body by eliminating waste through urine, perspiration, and intestinal transit.

Your lifestyle habits

Do exercise

Exercise is another way to add to healthy lifestyles. Get at least 2.5 hours of exercise a week, as below that a person is considered to be inactive. Choose an activity that you like and practice it, choose to walk instead of taking public transport or the car, or look for an application to exercise at home, any option is worth it! The important thing is to stay active because the benefits are multiple. For example, did you know that physical activity releases endorphins that make us feel good and activates our immune system?

In addition, regular exercise affects your quality of life, as it provides you with more resistance to physical fatigue and less willingness to fall and break bones. For this reason, it is very important to continue practicing it at advanced ages.

Do not smoke

Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemicals, of which at least 70 are carcinogens ... not much more to say.

Sleep the hours your body needs

If you are one of those who sacrifice hours of sleep to earn extra time a day, you are undermining your health. Lack of sleep has detrimental consequences in the short, medium, and long term. When we sleep, our body recovers from daily activity and our brain rests and is organized. Most of us adults need to rest between 7 and 9 hours to feel good. Getting proper rest improves memory, protects the heart, and even reduces depression. 

Mental well-being, the key to a healthy life 

It is of little use to worry about our physical health if we neglect mental well-being. Therefore:

 Save your daily time for you

Give yourself a moment each day to do what you like or relax, without thinking about anything else: whether it's reading a good book, practicing yoga or boxing, or crocheting. Pampering yourself is the first step in reducing stress and being comfortable with yourself and with the people around you.

Share quality time with your partner or friends

Human beings are "social animals" . By nature we need to interact with our peers and have true and close relationships. Loneliness has negative effects both psychically and physically, so do not neglect your emotional ties and cultivate them as much as you can. In this case, without moderation!

As you can see, the habits that we propose to lead a healthy lifestyle are simple and available to anyone. Incorporating them into our routine may be a bit difficult at first, but they carry so many benefits that it is worth getting down to work and exchanging bad habits for better ones.

The habits we implement at home also help our families improve. In the case of the little ones, this can be of great help, since they are developing their customs and tastes, and therefore guiding them towards the most beneficial will be something that will remain for the rest of life.

Taking care of ourselves and avoiding the appearance of many conditions depends largely on our decisions and behavior. Do you know that according to the AECC (Spanish Association Against Cancer) approximately 50% of cancers could be avoided with healthy lifestyle habits? This does not mean that by adopting these types of habits we will be sure not to present this disease, but surely we will have fewer ballots, so it is worth trying, right?

If you have not already done so, it is time to choose healthy lifestyles and take care of your health and that of your family in a proactive way. Helping you do this is precisely the goal we have at Veritas.