Regular exercise, a balanced diet, less stress, more sleep … are some helpful tips to enjoy a better quality and long lasting life. These are well known to everyone but your quest for a healthier lifestyle should not stop there. The 12 health tips outlined below are based on research evidence, they are easy to follow and above all real and effective.
1. Strengthen your heart
The heart responds to exercise in the same way as other muscles. As you can strengthen your chest with weight lifting, aerobic exercises strengthen your heart. “Regular exercise can reduce your heart rate by 20 beats per minute,” says Dr Paul Thompson (cardiologist).
2. Increase Good Cholesterol
If you don’t have good cholesterol running in your arteries, even small amounts of bad cholesterol can create dangerous obstacles to blood flow.
The best ways to increase your good cholesterol include: drinking three glasses of orange juice a day, jogging or brisk walking and losing weight, if you belong to the category of overweight.
Why do you use your car? Walk to the Metro, get the dog out for a walk, buy a treadmill to use at home and find excuses to put your body in motion!
3. Maintain your blood pressure at steady levels
Academic research on 220 men found that those with normal blood pressure had sex 25% more often than those who had high blood pressure. The reason? Doctors say that men who have normal blood pressure have more testosterone, whose levels affect our sex life.
4. Exercise 11-24 minutes, twice per week
A survey for 12 years, which involved 22,000 men in a hospital in Boston, showed that vigorous exercise for 11 to 24 minutes twice a week reduces the risk of heart attack by 36%. Men who exercised more time had no extra benefits (as regards the risk of heart attack).
5. Avoid hangovers
Prefer to drink white alcoholic drinks such as gin and vodka. These are less likely to cause a hangover than darker drinks (brandy, whiskey, red wine) because they contain fewer ingredients that aid fermentation and aging. Also, always add to your drink orange juice since fructose can increase alcohol metabolism by 25%.
6. Walk for 30 minutes daily
That’s all it takes to reap the huge benefits of exercise and be healthier. It’s beneficial for your cardiovascular system, and “wakes up” the entire body. According to recent surveys by walking (even if you are uncomfortable or tiring due to overweight or joint pains) the body accelerates the flow of blood in the legs, making a natural bypass and improving blood circulation.
7. Overcome depression with exercise
A 40 minute restriction is enough to cause stress and studies have shown that regular exercise can be as effective as antidepressants. Try swimming, biking or running.
8. Eliminate the second cup of coffee
A second cup of caffeine adds 16 beats above your normal heart beat rate in just a minute. The increased beat rate makes you more irritable and anxious.
9. Relax your mind
Exercise besides the physical benefits it also increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain, keep your spirituality at high levels. In addition, it protects you from Alzheimer. (See also: how to relax your brain).
10. Less food, more life
The researchers found that mice that followed a low calorie diet lived longer than those who followed a high calorie diet. They also discovered that changing the diet of mice from high to low calories eliminates about 70% of all genetic indications related to age.
This means that the damage caused by a high calorie diet is not permanent and can be corrected simply by changing the amounts of food you eat.
11. Red or death
Red tomato sauce can help reduce the risk of prostate cancer (by 34%), if consumed 2-4 times per week. Excellent anticancer properties are also found in broccoli.
12. Eat oily fish at least once a week
A meal of salmon per week (or sardines, mackerel, and other fatty fish) can reduce the chances of sudden fatal heart attack. Omega-3 fatty acids are key and salmon has much more of these guards, than any other fish. You need more reasons to eat fish? Two servings a week can combat arthritis, increasing blood flow and reducing any inflammation around your joints.
