Many are not aware that medications for specific illnesses are not a treatment, they are strictly a form used to mask symptoms or to prolong your life, but you will have to RELY on these medications for the rest of your life. In that time those medications can cause cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, kidney failure, and etc. Is it really worth doing this to your body if you can start now in the prevention or to help lower you numbers so you take in less medications at lowest dosages? Well, here is some information for you to read and help you understand exactly what healthy nutrition and exercise can do for you.
Improvement of Quality of Life
Consistent physical exercise helps to relieve tension, anxiety, depression, and anger. Most individuals get a sensation that creates a good feeling directly after working out. This, over-time helps to improve how one feels as they make exercise a routine in their life. The routine would be getting 30 minute works out in 5 days a week. This could be 3-10 minute workouts a day, if you don’t have time for a full 30 minute workout.
When an individual is not physically active they tend to be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and more. There was a study done with adults that watched more than 4 hours of television a day, they showed to have a 45% chance of an increased risk of death from any health cause and an 80% increase risk of death from cardiovascular disease. When you choose to become more active you can lower your blood pressure and raise your good cholesterol levels.
When an individual does not partake in physical exercise regularly many things happen to the body, in negative ways. The human body slowly loses strength, stamina, and the ability to properly function with age in one that is not active. Individuals that are physically active and at a healthy weight tend to live about 7 years longer than an individuals that DOES NOT exercise regularly and that are obese.
Bone Health
Many times individuals are not concerned about bone health until it is too late. Exercise has been proven to help treat and prevent osteoporosis. Bones, like our muscles, are also living tissue which responds to exercise by growing stronger. Men and women that begin exercising at younger ages generally have great bone mass than those that do not. Bone mass tends to peak during our thirties. After this time our bodies can start to lose bone. Individuals older than 20 are able to prevent bone loss through regular exercise. With exercise we are able to maintain or gain muscle strength, coordination, and balance which helps us in the prevention of falls and fractures.
Childhood Obesity
According to research, after only 3 months, there was a significant difference in changes within the body weight, body fat percentage, serum total cholesterol levels, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and fitness in the intervention group. At the 1 year follow up there were major differences between the intervention group and control group in their body weight, BMI, and a large increase in the leisure-time physical activity among the intervention group as compared to a decrease in the control group. The findings showed that both short and long term physical exercise is beneficial among obese children.
Obesity in Adults
Prevention and treatment of obesity can be simple with just the change of a healthy diet, proper portion control, and physical exercise. The physical activity is known to reduce body fat and increase muscle mass, therefore it improves your body’s ability to burn more calories. Remember, the more muscle, the more calories are burned even when resting. One can treat obesity by simply reducing their caloric intake making sure to get in 30 minutes of physical exercise 5 days a week. Being able to control obesity is crucial, since it is causes one to be at a higher risk of other diseases. By simply lowering your BMI you can reduce the risk of death and give yourself more years of life.
Cardiovascular Health (Stroke, Blood Pressure, and Heart Disease)
According to research fitness programs are more successful then nutrition alone, particularly for women. For women there was a reduction of the diastolic blood pressure, less obesity, and increased fitness translated into a substantial reduction in cardiovascular risk in life.
Physical exercise done regularly helps to keep the heart muscle strong, lowers blood pressure, increases the good cholesterol (LDL’s) and lowers the bad cholesterol (HDL’s), increases the blood flow, and assists the heart to function more efficiently. All of this helps in the reduction of stroke, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
Type II Diabetes
Type II Diabetes has risen by about 62% since 1990, which is not something we should brag about as it affects about 17 million Americans. Physical exercise is known to help with weight loss and therefore will help with the prevention or control of this disease. By simply losing weight one can increase their sensitivity to insulin, improve their blood sugar levels, improve their cholesterol levels, and help reduce their blood pressure. All of these things are very important to control in an individual with diabetes. According to a study by Frank Hy, MD, it was found that simply walking briskly for one hour a day helped to reduce the risk of Type II Diabetes by 34%.
Back Pain
By simply incorporating physical exercise that increases muscle strengthening and flexibility into your daily routine you can prevent or manage chronic back pain. Having good posture and a strong core (abdomen) is one of the best ways to fight off back pain.
Psychological Issues
Regular physical exercise is known to improve self-esteem, but it also causes your body to release endorphins which have been proven to improve mood. This feeling is often described as euphoric and followed by a positive outlook. Stress, depression, and anxiety can all be prevented or treated with daily exercise. When we look at the nutrition side of things, anxiety can be prevented and treated by simply adding more fresh fruits, vegetables, water, tryptophan rich foods, foods rich in magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids. Be cautious of, and stay away from foods that are fried, alcohol, coffee (things with lots of caffeine), dairy products, refined sugars, and acid forming foods (eg., yogurt, pickles, eggs, wine, and sour cream).
As you have read, there are many health benefits of exercise and nutrition, not only in prevention, but in treatment of several diseases. Recently many individuals that are trying to lose fat are turning to procedures to shrink their stomach, all this does is simply cause you to eat less, which is not always good either. Our bodies need a specific amount of nutrients that are better absorbed through foods (vegetables and fruits). Then there are others that turn to the “easy” and “quick” way to lose weight, diet pills.
This topic is something that I have been hearing about more and more. These “fixes” create more health issues than you could know. Many are packed with more caffeine than the human heart can handle, which over time will cause one to suffer from a stroke or heart attack. Many of these pills have been known to cause issues with the thyroid, or destroy it all together, making weight loss even harder. The BEST and SAFEST way to get HEALTHY is through proper diet and exercise. If you are unsure where to start, please feel free to contact me. I would love to help you get started and learn more about what you can do to start changing your health and body.