Healthy living and a long life expectancy stem from our everyday lifestyle habits. Particularly, healthy lifestyle habits are crucial because they can help prevent several diseases through simple changes. Let's explore some simple lifestyle habits recommended by experts to maintain health.
Recalling Three Pleasures
It's crucial to cultivate a habit of recalling three things you're looking forward to each day upon waking up. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for regulating emotions, tends to be more activated by negative emotions, making it easy for the human brain to dwell on negative thoughts. However, having positive thoughts in the morning activates the prefrontal cortex and increases dopamine secretion, enhancing stress resilience and improving brain health.
Morning Fasting Exercise
Maintaining a healthy weight is important for protecting us from risks such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer. Morning fasting exercise is one of the optimal methods for weight loss. According to research, exercising between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. before meals was most effective for weight loss. Exercising on an empty stomach leads to rapid fat burning as there are no carbohydrates in the body.
Reduce Sedentary Behavior
Spending prolonged periods sitting throughout the day can harm heart health. Therefore, reducing sedentary behavior is important. Studies show that replacing 30 minutes of sitting time with other activities leads to decreases in waist circumference, BMI, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels. Thus, it's beneficial to reduce sedentary behavior through simple household chores, walking, or climbing stairs.
Increase Walking Speed
Having a habit of walking briskly can increase our life expectancy and reduce risks such as cancer and heart disease. According to research, people who walk briskly had a lower risk of dying from cancer compared to those who walk slowly. Brisk walking strengthens muscles and supplies oxygen to the body, reducing inflammatory responses.
Slow Down Breathing Rate
Spending 5 minutes each day focusing on breathing can help reduce anxiety and stress. Breathing affects our overall stress response and can be self-regulated. Exhaling should be about twice as long as inhaling, and repeating this process for 5 minutes is beneficial. Slower exhalation activates the parasympathetic nervous system, slowing heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and inducing mental relaxation.
Daily Fiber Intake Increase
Fiber has a positive impact on gut microbiota balance, maintains satiety, and stabilizes blood sugar levels. While consuming about 30g of fiber per day is desirable, most people lack it in their regular diets. Consuming an additional 8g of fiber per day reduces the risk of diabetes and colorectal cancer and lowers the risk of death. Fiber can be found in various foods such as beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits.
Incorporate Strawberries
Adding strawberries to your daily diet can improve brain health. Strawberries contain anthocyanins, which aid in blood circulation, reduce inflammation, and prevent brain aging. Additionally, strawberries are rich in nutrients such as vitamin A and vitamin C, which improve cognitive function.
Soak Up the Sun
Spending 10-15 minutes in the sun between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. aids in vitamin D synthesis in the skin. Vitamin D promotes melatonin secretion and boosts immunity. When basking in the sun, it's advisable to expose your arms and legs without applying sunscreen.
By implementing these healthy lifestyle habits, let's make our lives healthier and happier. These simple changes will bring about future health and abundance.
