Have you ever wondered? With improvement in medical field and technology, we should have a longer and healthier life. But why do cancer rate keeps climbing every year? And why childhood disease keeps increasing? Why do we have new and deadlier diseases every now and then? Why do human keep contradicting diseases at an earlier age?
The reasons beside due to environment factors from human evolution, are Diet, Emotional Health and Lifestyle.
Today, we can no longer rely on doctors to look after our health problems. Till we stepped into the clinic, it may too too late as not all diseases are curable. Taking medicines only control the symptoms temporarily. And most people simply underestimate the side effects of medications.
So what is the solution? While taking medicines or health supplements, you must also control your diet, emotional health and lifestyle. Only then you can really improve your health in long term.
Control Your Diet
This is the root cause for poor health. As the old saying: "病从口入，祸从口出". You are what you eat. In short, below is the food you should avoid or limit yourself to:
- Food high in salt and sugar
- Food high in saturated and trans fats
- Intake of Meat
- Barbecued or grilled food
- Charred food
- Preserved or processed food
- Deep fried food
- Intake of alcohol
But then again there're people who love eating so much so that they would rather die eating these delicious but unhealthy food. My grandfather is such a person. He passed away in agony from colon cancer at the age of 55.
Look After Your Emotional Health
Mental illness is becoming more common and is fast becoming one of the main cause for health problems. Negative emotions, depression, anger, stress do affect and cause great harm to your body and is more difficult to treat then physical illnesses.
Being emotionally and mentally healthy doesn't mean never going through bad times or experiencing emotional problems. We all go through disappointments, loss, and change. And while these are normal parts of life, they can still cause sadness, anxiety, and stress.
The difference is that people with good emotional health have an ability to bounce back from adversity, trauma, and stress. This ability is called resilience. People who are emotionally and mentally healthy have the tools for coping with difficult situations and maintaining a positive outlook. They remain focused, flexible, and creative in bad times as well as good.
Building your resilience
Letting yourself experience strong emotions, and also realizing when you may need to avoid experiencing them at times in order to continue functioning
Stepping forward and taking action to deal with your problems and meet the demands of daily living, and also stepping back to rest and reenergize yourself
Spending time with loved ones to gain support and encouragement, and also nurturing yourself
Relying on others, and also relying on yourself
Taking care of yourself by:
- Get enough rest
- Exercise to relieve stress and lift your mood
- Get a dose of sunlight every day
- Engage in meaningful, creative work
- Get a pet
- Make leisure time a priority
- Make time for contemplation and appreciation
- Socialise yourself and be a volunteer
- Participate in religious activities
Do things that make you feel good. Go to a funny movie, take a walk on the beach, listen to music, read a good book, or talk to a friend.
Think about the things you're grateful for. Mediate, pray, enjoy the sunset, or simply take a moment to pay attention to what is good, positive, and beautiful as you go about your day.
Doing something that benefit others. The meaning and purpose you find in helping others will not only enrich and expand your life but also make you happier. You may also find someone with common interest.
Improve Your Lifestyle
Our lifestyle, the way we live is closely related to our health. A change of lifestyle can in fact lengthen our life span. Changing of life style is difficult as most of us have been living with bad habits for a long time.
- Early to bed, early to rise (10pm - 6am)
- Avoid over eating
- Exercise regularly
- Quit smoking and alcohol
- Avoid unhealthy social activities
- Learn to cook healthier food
- Spend quality time with family
Our health lies in our hand. No one can determine how healthy we want to be. Each of us are responsible for our own health. It is our heaviest responsibility for without health, we'll not be able to fulfill all other responsibilities.
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