The Fundamentals of Health
For most people, being “healthy” means living without visible medical conditions. However, a holistic look at the fundamentals of health will highlight that there’s more to being healthy than not living with a medical condition.
These fundamentals encapsulate several vital elements, including nutrition, sleep, regular movement/exercise, and stress management. Healthy individuals explore various approaches to ensure a perfect sync between all these elements.
This article will explore some of the best ways to maintain the right balance and improve your overall well-being.
Self-care Is the Best Healthcare
With the rise of social media, self-care has taken on many meanings. Some people use it to describe self-indulgent or selfish behaviors, but self-care is nothing like that. Self-care refers to any step(s) you take to improve your health and well-being.
From that simple definition, you can see how it’s easy to call almost anything self-care. In truth, self-care can mean many things to different people.
Common examples of self-care include:
- Engaging in your favorite hobbies
- Taking out a few hours per week to get lost in your favorite TV shows
- Spending time outdoors and in nature
- Taking weekly bubble baths
- Spending time in spiritual retreats, meditating, and more.
The common denominator is that any self-care steps or behavior should promote health and happiness inside you.
Eat a Balanced Diet and Drink Plenty of Water
“You are what you eat” is a familiar cliché, but it’s the reality. The efficiency and healthiness of the human body are hugely dependent on nutrition. In order to build around the fundamentals of health, you can’t afford to go without eating a balanced diet.
Eating a balanced diet will:
- Improve your immune system
- Strengthen your muscles and bones
- Improve your digestive and circulatory system
- Reduce the risk of susceptibility to life-threatening conditions like cancer and heart disease
Similarly, you need to drink enough water each day to support cellular function, avoid constipation, reduce the risk of developing kidney stones, and improve your physical appearance.
Exercise Regularly
Regular exercise can have a substantial impact on your overall health. Some of the documented benefits of regular exercise include the following:
- Helps maintain a healthy weight
- Reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases or helps manage existing conditions
- Can improve your mood and mental health
- Strengthens bones and muscles and reduces loss of bone density in older age
- Can improve your sexual health
- Can improve brain function and slow the deterioration of cognitive skills as you age
With so many documented benefits, exercise is vital. Incorporating at least 30 minutes of physical activity into your daily routine can make a significant difference.
Get Enough Sleep
Many boast about their ability to run on less than four hours of sleep per night. Unfortunately, such individuals are on a slow descent into health problems. You need at least seven to eight hours of sleep per day as an adult.
During sleep, your body resets itself through some complex biological processes. Thus, getting enough sleep can improve your mental health, strengthen your immune system, and increase productivity. Make sure you get enough regular sleep to complement the rest of these beneficial health fundamentals.
Manage Stress Levels
Stress management is one of the core fundamentals of health. High levels of stress can endanger your physical and emotional well-being. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to destress from time to time.
If you feel stressed at work, you should take breaks as frequently as possible. If you don’t have any more leave days left, you have to make good use of the weekend.
Unplug from work-related activity entirely at the end of the work day and week. Try to embrace leisurely activities that will take your mind off work and other stress factors.
If you feel stress from everyday life, you should examine aspects of your daily activity to determine what’s causing it. Sometimes, taking a break from reading or watching the news or consuming every bit of information on social media can do wonders for your mental health.
Be Your Best Self | Schedule an Appointment at REACH
Do you need help maintaining a healthy balance in the areas that make up the fundamentals of health? The chiropractic professionals at REACH Rehab + Chiropractic can help.
Book an appointment or contact us today at (734) 530-9134 if you’re looking for a chiropractor in Plymouth, MI, that can provide professional guidance on exercise, stress management, and nutrition.
