With the average global life expectancy at more than 72 years now and constantly improving healthcare, our hopes for a long and happy life can finally be justified. However, relying on statistics and luck is not enough. Good health is our chief asset and taking care of it is a huge responsibility, if we don’t want to suffer from various chronic diseases as we get older. Need some tips on how to be healthy? Then keep reading.

This article aims to cover main aspects that can affect our well-being so that from now on you can make informed choices. For this, we’ll need to look at the wellness wheel, which is a tool that helps assess our wellbeing. According to the wellness wheel, health comprises six main components: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, environmental, and spiritual health.

Tips on How to Be Healthy

Physical Health

Let’s start the list of tips on how to be healthy with physical health and break it into subcategories, namely, nutrition, exercise, sleep, and habits.

Nutrition

How to be healthy without a healthy diet? It’s impossible. Your diet is healthy when it includes essential nutrients such as water, proteins, carbohydrates (including sugar and dietary fiber), fats, vitamins, and minerals. Removing any component from your diet can result in serious health problems. Be very skeptical when it comes to changing your diet. Don’t listen to bloggers and influencers! Do your own research and consult with your doctor. Moreover, what works for one person can have deadly outcomes for another. Bear in mind that you also might have chronic diseases you have no idea about and following some specific popular diet, for example, the keto diet, can do more harm than good.  

Being overweight is not solely a physical, sometimes it’s rather a psychological problem. Keeping to a strict and unhealthy in many ways diet for the sake of losing weight, you sacrifice your good health for nothing as most probably, you’ll regain weight as soon as you return to your regular eating habits.

Is the keto diet safe?

Not for everyone. If you have a gallbladder disease like cholecystitis or biliary dyskinesia, which is a common problem nowadays due to sedentary lifestyle, you should forget about the keto diet as you may need to go on a low-fat diet instead. By the way, people suffering from biliary dyskinesia should avoid intermittent fasting as well.

You should also avoid the keto diet if you have kidney or liver problems. Consult with your doctor if you want to go on the keto diet but you have diabetes as it may be very dangerous for you.

The keto diet may increase your cholesterol levels and put you at risk of developing heart disease or diabetes.

Consuming not enough protein will lead to muscle loss. As you return to your normal diet after you’ve lost some weight, without enough protein intake and exercise, you’re more likely to regain weight in the form of fat than in the form of muscles.

Moreover, according to a study performed by the European Society of Cardiology in 2018 with 25,000 participants, people on low-carb diets have the highest risk of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and cancer mortality.

Verdict: The keto diet is a try to deceive your body instead of leading a healthy lifestyle all the time.

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How to lose weight?

• lead a healthy lifestyle
• eat small portions when you feel hungry (not bored, not craving something tasty but REALLY HUNGRY)
• drink clean water instead of drinking juices, coffee, wine, beer, etc. (consider these beverages meals too)
• avoid processed food
• avoid consuming too much sugar
• consume more dietary fiber – one of the best gluten-free sources of fiber is whole psyllium husks
• consume all vital nutrients which are proteins, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals
• burn more calories than you consume in a day
• if you can’t give up fast food, opt for healthier fast food options and buy an air fryer

RELATED: How Does and Air Fryer Work? An Easy to Understand Guide

How to improve gut health?

One of the most important tips on how to be healthy is to improve gut health. To improve gut health, try consuming more dietary fiber. Dietary fiber is a vital nutrient for our bodies, a carb that our bodies can’t digest. As it can’t be digested, it doesn’t count as calories.

Benefits of dietary fiber:

• dietary fiber stimulates bowel movements
• dietary fiber solves the problem with constipation (if you drink enough water of course)
• dietary fiber improves skin in people with oily skin and acne (as it helps control blood sugar levels)
• dietary fiber decreases the risk to develop hemorrhoids and even colorectal cancer
• dietary fiber has heart-related benefits as if taken regularly, it lowers cholesterol levels
• dietary fiber can reduce blood pressure and inflammation
• dietary fiber helps control blood sugar levels and decreases your chances to develop type 2 diabetes
• dietary fiber can help lose weight as it makes you feel full while consuming few or no calories¹

Adults should aim to take 25-30 grams of dietary fiber per day. For me, it’s difficult to count and meet that number every day. So, I’ve found a perfect solution – whole psyllium husks (see below). Whole psyllium husks is a gluten-free option and can even be used in baking. Whole psyllium husks help good gut bacteria grow, help get rid of toxins, and lower the level of sugar in blood which is super important if you have acne-prone skin. Read more on how food we eat influences acne-prone skin in my article Hormonal Acne Diet vs “Healthy” Recipes on Pinterest.

To improve gut health, also decrease the amount of sugar you consume per day because sugar creates the perfect environment for bad bacteria in the gut to grow. Consider consuming foods rich in probiotics such as yogurt (take ones without added sugar), kefir, kimchi, miso and other fermented foods. Don’t forget to get enough sleep, stress less, drink enough water, and avoid foods you’re allergic to.

Reduction of salt intake

While everyone has been so obsessed with cutting down on sugar lately, let’s not forget about sodium contained in salt. All tips on how to be healthy are important but salt intake is something we often don’t pay much attention to. According to the World Health Organization, people consume 9-12 grams of salt per day on average which is 1.5-2 teaspoons of salt, while the recommended amount is less than 5 grams (1 teaspoon) per day. You may think that you don’t consume so much salt, but bear in mind that sodium glutamate, which is a common condiment, also counts as a source of sodium. High sodium consumption may lead to high blood pressure and development of cardiovascular disease, heart attack or stroke. Sodium is a vital nutrient, so you should still use it but in smaller amounts. Also, make sure the salt you consume is iodized². To reduce your salt intake, avoid processed food.

Reduction of sugar intake

Tips on how to be healthy include reduction of sugar intake. It’s recommended to reduce added sugar consumption to 6 teaspoons a day (which is about 24 grams as one teaspoon of sugar equals 4 grams) for women and 9 teaspoons (36 grams) for men. You should also be very cautious with honey and various syrups like maple syrup because they are just slightly better than sugar.

Even though honey and maple syrup are better than refined sugar or cane syrup because they undergo less processing and contain some vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, as mentioned by experts, honey or maple syrup can’t actually cure infections as you’d have to consume a lot to get the expected result. Note that one tablespoon of honey contains 17 grams of sugar³. One tablespoon of maple syrup contains 14 grams of sugar. Both honey and maple syrup raise blood sugar just like sugar, however they do it slightly slower.

As for agave nectar, according to Healthline⁴, it mostly (85%) consists of fructose which although raises blood sugar much slower than glucose, unlike glucose, can be metabolized only by your liver. So, if you consume too much fructose and your liver can’t cope with that amount, you may develop fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and gain belly fat among other risk factors. Note that whole fruit is not dangerous as it also contains a lot of fiber and it’s difficult to overeat fruit. Added sugar containing fructose is what you should eat less of.

Exercise

Of course, tips on how to be healthy should include some exercise. Recommended walking distance per day is 10,000 steps. 10,000 is about 8 km or 5 miles. It takes about 100 minutes of moderate in intensity walking to reach that number of steps. Walking 10,000 per day, an adult person depending on their weight and height will burn from 200 to 800 calories. The more weight you have, the more you’ll burn.

To better monitor your physical activity and motivate yourself to walk or exercise every day, you may consider buying a water resistant fitness tracker which can count your steps, distance, hourly activity and calories burned, measure your heart rate, estimate your sleep quality, as well as show your incoming phone notifications. A healthy lifestyle has never been so easy! Your activity or fitness tracker knows exactly how to be healthy.

Adding 15 minutes of exercise each day to these 10,000 steps will greatly benefit your health and life expectancy. Scientists have found out that just 15 minutes of moderate exercise per day or 90 minutes throughout a week, can add 3 years to your life expectancy⁵.

For walking long distances every day, you’ll need comfortable cushioned shoes. Good walking shoes are also supposed to be light and flexible.

Sleep

To be healthy, adults need 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Children and teens need more hours of sleep, while elderly people require less (7-8) hours of sleep.

Why is sleep important for health?

Sleep deprivation (not getting enough sleep) leads to health problems including risk of cancer, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, poor immune system, type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, irritability, cognitive impairment, etc.

How to improve sleep?

• try to stick to a schedule (go to bed and wake up at the same time every day)
• don’t stay up late (ideal bedtime is 10PM)
• don’t eat or drink 1-2 hours before you go to bed
• avoid drinking alcohol before sleep, avoid caffeine in the evening
• exercise during the day
• reduce your exposure to noises during your sleep
• try to relax before you go to bed (read a pleasant book, take a shower or bath, listen to relaxing music)
• don’t recall past events
• put aside your phone or laptop at least 30 minutes prior to your bedtime
• make the lights less bright in the evening as release of melatonin (sleep hormone) is suppressed by light
• create a perfect environment for sleep in your room

To improve sleep, change your linens once a week, clean your room from dust at least once a week, buy the most comfortable pillow if you haven’t done so yet (memory foam pillows tend to be the most comfortable as they offer best neck support), maintain optimum temperature for sleeping (60-67 degrees Fahrenheit or 16-20 degrees Celsius), maintain optimum humidity level of 40-50% (you can measure humidity using a hygrometer. If the air in your room is too dry, you’ll need a humidifier, if it’s too wet, you’ll need an air dryer), try essential oils blends for sleep and relaxation.

In case you suffer from insomnia, consider taking the melatonin supplement. However, this is only a short-term solution.

Is a white noise machine bad for you?

White noise machines are quite popular, however, be cautious, as sleeping with sound every night may result in serious negative outcomes. Not only you may develop hearing problems because of the machine, but also it can affect your brain. Studies show that repeated use of a white noise machine, makes your brain age faster⁶.

Even if your mind is unconscious during sleep, it’s still working and perceiving information. Without the much needed silence, you don’t give your brain time to relax. So, what’s the point in that kind of sleep?

Bad habits

Tips on how to be healthy must include eliminating bad habits.

Smoking

If you are a smoker, quit the habit at all costs, as on average, smokers die ten years earlier than people who don’t smoke. More than 40,000 deaths out of 480,000 deaths per year in the USA associated with smoking, are caused by secondhand smoke exposure⁷.

Cigarette smoking is associated with different types of cancer such as mouth, throat, stomach, esophagus, liver, pancreas, trachea, urinary bladder cancer, leukemia, etc.

Is IQOS safe?

No. Even though it’s less harmful than cigarettes, it’s still a tobacco product. Moreover, the risks related to smoking IQOS are unknown, as the product was first presented in 2014⁸.

Drinking alcohol

While excessive consumption of alcohol is associated with a variety of diseases and conditions, including pancreatitis and cancer of mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, breast, liver, rectum, and colon, drinking alcohol occasionally is not safe either⁹.

There is no safe dose of alcohol! According to the Global Burden of Diseases study, 27.1% of deaths caused by cancer in women and 18.9% in men over 50 were linked to drinking¹⁰.

Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people are especially concerned with the question how to be healthy, it’s absolutely necessary to abstain from drinking as people who drink alcohol are more likely to be unable to fight bacteria and viruses, so they are more likely to develop pneumonia or contract tuberculosis.

Emotional Health

Emotional health is just as important part of good health as physical health and should not be neglected or ignored when discussing tips on how to be healthy. Emotional health implies that you are well aware of your feelings, thoughts, actions, and can control them. Emotional health helps you overcome life challenges and achieve goals in life. Don’t underestimate the importance of your mental state, because if neglected, it can ruin your life. Learn How to Relieve Stress Quickly.

Emotional intelligence

What’s emotional intelligence and what does it have to do with tips on how to be healthy? Emotional intelligence stands for the ability to cope with your emotions in a positive way. Emotional intelligence includes self-awareness, self-regulation, internal motivation, empathy, and social skills.

Self-awareness means being aware of your emotional state: what you’re feeling and why; self-regulation is the ability to control your mood and actions; internal motivation is something beyond wealth and status that drives you to achieve more; empathy is the ability to understand what others feel and the ability to act in accordance with this understanding; and social skills imply the ability to build healthy relationships with people.

Stress-free lifestyle

According to Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service, 90% of illness and disease is stress-related. Therefore, the ability to relieve stress or even lead a stress-free lifestyle is essential to your good health. I have found the best way to relieve stress forever: and it’s not relaxation candles. Spoiler: in most cases, it’s your ego that is making you suffer.

You may also experience stress due to lack of confidence. In this case, read how to boost your confidence and succeed in life.

Social anxiety that causes too much stress to 7% of Americans is also closely related to lack of self-confidence.

As a person who suffered from social anxiety for 12 years and managed to cure myself, I have written my own full guide on how to overcome social anxiety based on what helped me.

Social media and Instagram in particular, are major causes of stress nowadays. Here is my story about my relationship with Instagram, why I eventually quit it, and what the benefits are.

Eventually, having changed my perception of reality, having gotten rid of illusions my mind was feeding me, I’ve managed to start living a stress-free lifestyle. If you’re interested, here is my list of 12 things I wish someone has warned me against.

Lack of work-life balance is another cause of stress for many. Read 6 Tips for Work-Life Balance and Stress-free Life.

Manipulative and toxic people also cause a lot of stress. If you know such people, read The Truth You Should Know about Manipulative People and How to Deal with Manipulative and Toxic People.

Mindfulness

This website is mainly dedicated to mindfulness which is a concept that includes many things but if you practice them, it will make you much happier.

I’ve read a lot of literature dedicated to mindfulness, so I’ve created a list of 30 actionable tips with explanations on how to practice mindfulness.

Intellectual Health

What is intellectual health? Intellectual health is associated with being open-minded as well as seeking new knowledge and professional challenges. How is intellectual health related to tips on how to be healthy?

After 25, your brain functions start to decline. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in particular, are linked to decline in brain functioning. And it, in its turn, is linked to lack of involvement in mentally stimulating activities and low level of education¹¹.

Therefore, lifelong learning is vital to intellectual health and health in general.

How to improve intellectual health?

• Read more
• Do crosswords or sudoku
• Play board games
• Take random tests and quizzes
• Learn something new
• Learn a foreign language
• Do the math
• Play a musical instrument
• If you know two languages, translate or interpret
• Write stories, novels, or just write down your thoughts in a diary
• Study history and analyze events that happened

Social Health

Social health implies the ability to build healthy relationships and interact with others in a positive way as well as to quickly and easily adapt in new social situations.

Self-love and self-respect

Without self-love and self-respect, it’s impossible to build healthy relationships with others. You attract the kind of energy you produce. If you hate yourself, people can feel or even see it. It will be difficult for you to find someone who will genuinely love you in this case. We accept the kind of love we think we deserve.

Self-confidence

Self-confidence is key if you want to achieve success in any sphere of your life. Learn what’s the difference between confident and unconfident people.

Strong communication skills

Whether you want to build a career as an employee or start your own business, you require strong communication skills. You should be able to convey your message clearly. You should be able to tell the truth no matter how bitter it may sound. You should be able to get straight to the point. Besides, your communication should be logical, complete, credible, honest, and friendly.

Healthy relationships

A healthy relationship means that you and your partner are loving and supportive; that there is no competition of any sort in your relationship; there is no jealousy; you communicate and discuss your problems; you share your personal problems and worries with each other; you are committed to each other; you can always find a compromise instead of arguing; you are honest with each other; you trust and respect each other; you are independent people who have boundaries; you have common values in life; you feel safe in the relationship: you know that your partner will not hurt you and will protect you in case of troubles. In a healthy relationship, you give love without expecting to get the same amount of affection in return. You are not afraid to show your feelings. In a healthy relationship, you appreciate your partner and every moment spent together. Also, a healthy relationship means encouraging each other.

On the other hand, an unhealthy or toxic relationship implies the obsessive desire to control your partner including checking his or her phone or social media; lying even about small things; criticizing; blaming; manipulating your partner. An unhealthy relationship is full of fear, anxiousness, despair, and often leads to violence.  

Read more about a healthy vs an unhealthy relationship in this article. Read how to build a healthy relationship here.

Environmental Health

Tips on how to be healthy include environmental health as well. Environmental health is concerned with physical hazards such as natural catastrophes, chemical hazards both natural and man-made; biological hazards such as viruses and bacteria; and social hazards influenced by your cultural background, social status, choices, etc. While we have little control over pandemics, there’s still something we can do when it comes to environmental health as part of our good health.

Clean air

People spend a lot of time at home, to be precise, around 90% of the time. And surprisingly, it turns out that the air indoors is several times worse than the air outdoors. There are biologic and chemical air pollutants in our homes. Biologic ones are viruses, bacteria, dust mites, molds, insects, pollen, animal dander, etc. All of them are allergens that can trigger asthma – a serious chronic disease. Chemical pollutants include lead, heavy metals, carbon dioxide, ozone, volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde which can be found in building materials and furniture, etc.

In case you are susceptible to any allergen, you should be very cautious of mold. According to the Institute of Medicine, 15-50% of people who are genetically susceptible, are allergic to mold of different kinds. Mold develops due to excess moisture in premises, especially in the basement; certain areas like wall joints; and even appliances like dehumidifiers, fridges, and dishwashers. Sometimes mold can’t be seen during a visual inspection as it may grow in hidden spaces or may be not visible until its growth is large¹².

People suffering from asthma, people allergic to dust, and pet owners need to vacuum clean their place with a vacuum with a HEPA filter.

To get the best results, choose a vacuum with water-based filtration, as such vacuums return much cleaner air and you won’t have to deal with dusty containers.

To achieve a new standard in cleaning, use a steam-cleaner machine.

Optimum climate

As we have discussed earlier, excessive moisture can trigger mold growth and lead to allergy, asthma, and pulmonology diseases. Excessive air humidity (more than 50%) not only causes mold growth, but also is a perfect environment for dust mites. However, too dry air makes you prone to viruses and bacteria. Moreover, it can cause a variety of skin problems from dry skin and lips to acne and eczema.

The ideal house temperature is 68-78 degrees Fahrenheit (20-25 degrees Celsius). The ideal humidity is 30-50%.

To maintain perfect humidity, consider buying a humidifier if the air in your house is too dry or a dehumidifier if it’s too wet.

Clean and safe water

Tap water in some areas contains contaminants that not only alter the taste, color, and odor of water, but also pose a threat to good health. Some water sources like Lake Michigan, the Colorado River, and the Potomac River may be vulnerable to contamination¹³. If you are not sure about the quality of your water source or if one or more of your family members is a pregnant woman, a child, an elderly person, a person with a chronic disease, or a person with a weakened immune system, installing a reverse osmosis drinking water filter system is a good idea.

Don’t forget to replace your reverse osmosis filter every 12 months to ensure effectiveness of the system.

Spiritual Health

Spiritual health is a set of values, beliefs, and morals which guarantee growth and progress in life. Read The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams by Deepak Chopra to boost your spiritual health.

“Based on natural laws which govern all of creation, this book shatters the myth that success is the result of hard work, exacting plans, or driving ambition. In The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Deepak Chopra offers a life-altering perspective on the attainment of success: Once we understand our true nature and learn to live in harmony with natural law, a sense of well-being, good health, fulfilling relationships, energy and enthusiasm for life, and material abundance will spring forth easily and effortlessly. Filled with timeless wisdom and practical steps you can apply right away, this is a book you will want to read and refer to again and again.”

– from the back cover of the book

Spiritual health means being at peace with yourself and the world. Spiritual health is about forgiveness, non-violence, compassion, care, calmness, and living a mindful life. Here’s a list of 30 best tips on how to practice mindfulness and be at peace.

As you can see from these tips on how to be healthy, good health is not a gift, it’s rather an outcome of your daily choices.

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