7 Tips To Better Health
It’s important to set goals for your health, but you don’t always have to make giant leaps to achieve them. There are many small steps you can take on your daily journey to achieve your goal of improving your overall health and quality of life.
Yahoo Health offers tips that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine, such as switching your dental routine around. For years, dentists have told their patients to brush their teeth first and then floss. Now, some dentists recommend reversing the order—floss first and then brush. Why? Because flossing will remove debris from your teeth so that you can brush it away. In any case, dental hygiene is important for more reasons than just keeping your teeth clean. Good dental health helps lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other major illnesses.
Also recommended is wearing compression socks on your next flight. If you’re planning a long flight, doctors recommend wearing compression socks to reduce the risk of blood clots forming. Dr. Leo Reap, a hematologist at Ascension Michigan, told Health that “Blood flow can become sluggish in the veins, pooling in the lower legs” while on a flight, particularly if it’s more than four hours. The longer the flight, the greater the risk of developing a blood clot. Compression socks are tighter than regular socks. They gently squeeze the legs to improve blood flow and reduce the risk of swelling and clot formation.
Besides compression socks, getting up and moving around the aircraft—even if it’s just stretching in the aisle—is another way of preventing a blood clot, and sipping on a bottle of water works, too. Not only does this help you stay hydrated, but it will cause you to go to the restroom, which also counts as a way of moving around to prevent a blood clot.
Yahoo Health offers 7 more tips to better health:
1. Consider eating prunes
Prunes are an excellent source of fiber and beneficial to your digestive health. However, the advantages of prunes go beyond simply moving things around in your digestive tract. Rich in antioxidants, prunes can help reduce the risk of chronic conditions like heart disease. Additionally, their phenolic compounds, along with vitamin K and potassium, may protect your bone health. There are different ways to incorporate prunes into your diet. Besides eating them whole, you can chop them up and add them to a salad or oatmeal or blend them into smoothies for a natural dose of sweetness.
2. Join A Run Club
Run clubs are groups of individuals who jog together at specific times. While some of these groups may practice for marathons or other competitive events, many runners view these clubs as a fun way to exercise and a great way of meeting people with the same interests.
3. Add short exercises to your nighttime routine
Relaxing before bed is important, yet a recent study published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine suggests that short, intense exercise sessions can enhance your sleep quality. The study involved participants who alternated four hours of sitting and watching TV with three-minute intervals of body weight exercises every half hour. This approach led to the participants sleeping about 30 minutes more than those who remained stationary. Although this was a small study, the researchers think this improvement in sleep duration might be connected to better control of blood sugar levels. So, try incorporating quick and easy exercises, like squats or heel raises, into your routine while watching your favorite TV shows.
4. Do not eat leftover (unrefrigerated) pizza for breakfast
If your guests didn’t finish eating all of the pizza from the night before, you may be tempted to eat a slice for breakfast. But Yahoo Life warns you to stay away from eating leftover pizza that has been sitting in the “danger zone” (between 40°F and 140°F) for too long. This temperature range is ideal for bacteria to grow quickly, raising the chance of getting sick from a food-borne illness. Next time, store the pizza in the refrigerator within two hours of eating it. Store it in an airtight container or wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Wrapping helps prevent your pizza from absorbing odors from other foods in the refrigerator and helps you steer clear of potential food poisoning.
5. Focus on flexibility
A study in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports suggests that being flexible might be linked to living longer. If you’re experiencing some stiffness, there are a few things you can do to improve your flexibility. One way to reduce tightness is foam rolling, a technique that uses a lightweight, cylindrical tube of foam for massaging your muscles. You might also consider joining a Pilates or tai chi class, both of which can help preserve and enhance flexibility. For immediate relief, try a doorway stretch:
- 1. Stand in an open doorway with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- 2. Raise your arms to the sides of the door, positioning them at a 90-degree angle.
- 3. Place your forearms on the doorframe and take a step forward.
- 4. Lean forward until you experience a stretch in your chest and shoulders, hold for 30 seconds, then step back.
- 5. Repeat as necessary.
6. Play video games to reduce stress
A study from Japan, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, suggests that spending a few hours each day playing video games can boost mental health by lowering stress levels and enhancing overall happiness. However, these benefits disappear when the gaming time exceeds three hours. The researchers noted that the study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, it’s possible the results would have been different under other circumstances. Nonetheless, if you already enjoy gaming, this could give you a valid excuse to keep playing—just make sure not to play over three hours.
7. Eat canned fish and vegetables
Regular consumption of fish and vegetables could be the best way to lower the chance of dying, particularly among the elderly, according to a study conducted at Loma Linda University. The investigators discovered that study participants who followed a pesco-vegetarian diet, an eating plan that includes seafood but excludes meat and poultry, had an 18 percent reduced mortality risk compared to those who did not adhere to a pesco-vegetarian diet. Although maintaining a strict vegetarian diet during middle age offers health benefits, relying solely on vegetables is not good for the elderly because it can slightly increase the risk of neurological disorders. However, the study found that adding fish to the diet provided a “small but significant advantage.”
If you’re interested in trying a pesco-vegetarian diet, start by substituting more canned fish for other meats. Canned tuna, salmon, sardines, and anchovies have protein, vitamins, and minerals, such as calcium, which can help protect your bones, and omega-3 fatty acids, which are great for cognitive function. Also, canned fish is convenient, affordable, and has a longer shelf life than fresh fish. You can also add them to various dishes, such as Caesar salads or pasta with anchovies.
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