A healthy life trough exercises and diet leading as long, healthy, and carefree a life as possible: that’s what we all want. Genes play a crucial role here, but so does our lifestyle. Diet, exercise, relaxation, and sleep form the four pillars that can have a positive impact on our health. So if you want to do something good for yourself, you should pay special attention to them.
Healthy Lifestyle through Exercise And Diet
The inhabitants of the Japanese island of Okinawa are considered to be the people with the longest average life expectancy. The diet of its inhabitants can play a special role: high consumption of fruits and vegetables, seafood, algae, bitter lemon, many vegetable proteins, few red meats, fats, and sugars, and almost no consumption of processed foods.
For its part, Mediterranean cuisine, also known as the Mediterranean diet, is one of the healthiest diets in the world. Not surprisingly, it’s not that different from the eating habits of the Okinawan islanders. The cuisine, originally from southern Italy and Greece, is especially typical: many vegetables, fruits, and legumes, nuts and seeds, virgin olive oil, few dairy products, and a preference for white meat.
Nutritionists have been updating their food recommendations for many years, adapting them to the changing needs of the population, however, the essence of their recommendations has not changed that much over the years:
- Daily intake of at least 5 portions a day of vegetables, legumes, and fruits, that is, plant foods, represent one of the healthiest food sources at our disposal.
- Opt for the use of vegetable oils, cold-pressed such as olive oil.
- White meats, especially those of maritime origin, contain less fat and provide high-quality protein.
- Legumes such as lentils and chickpeas provide vegetable protein and help promote satiety for longer, they also provide vitamins and minerals.
- Whole foods such as bread and rice should not be missing from a balanced diet
Exercise is Life
Incorporating physical activity into your life significantly improves your health. Sport strengthens the immune system, reduces stress, and prevents cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Physical activity to stay healthy is not linked to high-performance exercise, on the contrary, even a short walk every day is enough to significantly increase life expectancy.
Recent research associates a sedentary lifestyle not only with an unhealthy lifestyle but also with lower life expectancy and even sudden death. Regular physical activity not only helps reduce the risk of developing diseases such as hypertension and obesity, it also promotes mental health, since it reduces the risk of depression and anxiety. All this is based on a simple physical activity such as easy walks of 40 minutes duration, on average 3 times a week.
Incorporate exercise into your daily life in a simple and effective way:
- Resistance training such as swimming or cycling is the ideal sport for beginners. Protects the joints and strengthens the cardiovascular system.
- Walking in nature, such as hiking, not only ensures sufficient exercise but also provides fresh air to the body and helps clear the mind.
- Spending a few minutes during the workday to perform simple muscle stretches slightly increases mobility during the work routine. In addition, muscle stretching promotes the strengthening of the back muscles, this, in particular, has a positive effect on the entire posture and prevents musculoskeletal problems such as neck pain or shoulder tension.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator to strengthen your muscles. This also improves balance and helps reduce the risk of falls in old age.
- Use a pedometer: Almost all cell phones have a built-in pedometer that keeps track of how much you’ve moved throughout the day. Try to walk around 10,000 steps a day, this would be the equivalent of walking around half an hour a day.
- Find people with similar objectives, they can be your co-workers. Sports activities are much more fun in a group. This way you can motivate each other and also strengthen your social contacts because they are also part of a healthy lifestyle.
Martial Arts: A Complete Physical and Mental Exercise
Among the martial arts that you can learn, Jiu-Jitsu is one of the most promising ones that you can learn. Over the years it has evolved and become a way of life for some people. Practicing Jiu-Jitsu has many benefits for physical and mental health. This martial art was developed by Brazilian brothers Carlos, Oswaldo, Gastao Jr., and George Gracie in the 1920s.
They were inspired to create martial arts when they visited Japan and trained under Mitsuo Maeda at Kodokan Judo. Over the years, the brothers developed their moves and became Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.
Eventually, over the years, through enthusiast innovation and customization, it became Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. So, if you want to know more about the benefits of this sport for your health and your life, here is everything you need to know:
1. Promotes Weight Loss
Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art that requires you to perform body movements that allow you to train your muscles and bones to develop greater strength and endurance. During your first few weeks of Jiu-Jitsu, you will experience some body aches, but they are only a sign that your muscles will strengthen and develop. If you combine a healthy diet, exercises with practice Jiu-Jitsu for a long time, you will notice that your body shape will change, it will become slimmer and more athletic than it used to be.
2. Helps Reduce Stress
Another benefit of Jiu-Jitsu is that it is a good stress reliever. Stress is one of the most common causes of weight gain, poor skin appearance, fatigue, moodiness, and lack of energy. When you practice jiu-jitsu, your mind and body are forced to become more active and focused, at the same time the brain increases the release of endorphins, which can significantly reduce your stress levels. Also, making jiu-jitsu a habit gives you a healthy way to vent your frustrations.
3. Improve your Cardiovascular Health
One of the things Jiu-Jitsu does for your body increases your cardiovascular performance. As you expend energy during combat, your heart and lungs develop more resistance. This allows you to perform long periods of body movement that will benefit you in the long run. In addition, Jiu-Jitsu will help you improve the general functioning of your body.
4. Strengthen your Bones
Jiu-Jitsu improves the strength of your bones. As you perform movements that require sudden maneuvers, your bones become stronger and more flexible. These strengthen allow to guarantee long-term joint health, in addition, this complemented with foods rich in vitamin C, D, and calcium improve mobility and reduce joint stiffness and pain.
Factors that Interfere with a Healthy Life
Excessive Stress
In hectic everyday life, stress and excessive demands are not uncommon. And this also harms health. Make sure you take regular breaks, relax enough, and keep your stress levels as low as possible.
Because if you are regularly exposed to stress, your body and mind are in a permanent state of alarm. The result: You feel increasingly exhausted, and this only serves to increase your risk of disease and decrease your quality of life.
Poor Sleep Quality
The body needs sleep to regenerate. Insufficient and poor sleep can have serious consequences for our health. Sleep disorders are among the most common complaints with advancing age. Sleep is essential for life, since essential physiological processes of renewal and consolidation run with it.
How can you improve your sleep hygiene?
- Make sure your sleep rhythm is as consistent as possible and set a regular bedtime. This keeps your internal clock balanced.
- Alcohol and nicotine harm sleep. Therefore, avoid these stimulants, especially in the late afternoon and at night.
- Spatial conditions also affect sleep. You sleep better in dark rooms because the sleep hormone melatonin is produced in the dark. So make sure to turn off the lights and close the curtains right before you go to bed.
- It is recommended to limit the use of electronic screens at night, especially in the hours around bedtime, because the blue light they emit interferes with the release of melatonin, however, their use is sometimes unavoidable, therefore, It is best to activate the night mode of these devices, in this way the exposure to blue light is reduced.
Move More and Live Healthier
The four pillars for A healthy life trough exercises and diet: Nutrition, Sleep, Exercise, and Relaxation form the foundation for long and healthy life. However, there are other things you can do to stay in shape as you age. For example, regular physical training will help you stay mentally sharp.
Healthy habits should be encouraged from childhood, taking advantage of children’s instinct for physical activity and the versatility to learn new things, in this way they will be healthier adults and aware of their health and their environment. Practice sports disciplines such as Brazilian Jiujitsu, through places like Active Jiu-Jitsu promoting a healthy, active and disciplined life, and at the same time, you will improve your social skills.