Below, we review the healthy living habits included in the study as well as other tips that will help you understand the importance of healthy living.
How to achieve a healthy life
The healthy living habits listed in the study are 5. Some will be easier for you than others, but all are attainable and necessary. We begin the review:
Balancing the diet and reducing excesses
Food is a fundamental factor in all periods of our lives, and in order for your body to respond, remember that “to sow you must reap”, by acquiring healthy eating habits.
Talking about a balanced diet consists of including all the foods contemplated in the nutritional pyramid in the appropriate proportions according to your energy consumption. The energy value of a food is proportional to the amount of energy it can provide when burned. It is measured in calories.
- The World Health Organization recommends:
- 50-55% carbohydrates.
- 30-35% of lipids or fats.
- 12-15% of protein.
- Certain amounts of fiber, vitamins and minerals
Recent studies have found a certain relationship between the Mediterranean diet and increased life expectancy.
Getting regular physical exercise
Physical activity reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, colon cancer or diabetes. It also helps us prevent overweight and obesity.
Without forgetting that it is our best ally when it comes to strengthening our bones. But what kind of physical activity should we do? It is recommended to choose a physical activity according to your age and metabolism, minimizing the negative impact on the body.
As a general recommendation, it is not necessary to carry out a high intensity activity. But it is considered necessary to walk at least 30 minutes a day at a fast pace. This moderate exercise will already help us to burn off the extra calories we have, as well as helping us to strengthen our muscles and bones.
Maintain a healthy body weight
The key to maintaining a healthy weight should not be related to short-term changes in diet. Achieving a healthy body weight involves precisely following the habits mentioned above, maintaining a lifestyle that includes a balanced diet and regular physical activity, achieving a balance between the amount of calories we consume and those we use.
One way to determine if you are at a healthy weight is to calculate your body mass index (BMI) based on your height/weight ratio.
- Below 18.5: low weight.
- Between 18.5 and 24.9: healthy weight.
- Between 25.0 and 29.9: overweight
- From 30.0 or higher: obesity.
Abandon toxic habits: Don’t drink too much allochol or smoke
Living a healthy lifestyle also means giving up other habits that are toxic to our bodies. These include the use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs. Although it is worth mentioning that not all alcoholic drinks are the same, a prudent and responsible consumption of wine or beer does not have to be against our health.
Conclusions of the study on healthy living habits
Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who analyzed data from more than 70,000 women and 38,000 men, found that women who practiced four or five of these healthy habits by age 50 lived an average of 34.4 years longer free of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. While men who also practiced four or five at age 50 lived 31.1 years free of chronic disease.
On the other hand, the study also found that men who smoked heavily today, and men and women who were obese, had a much lower disease-free life expectancy.
Mental Health
Achieving a state of mental well-being must be a priority every time we talk about healthy living habits. Only when we are mentally strong are we able to properly develop our personal relationships, our professional challenges, and in general to deal with the stress that is generated on a daily basis.
Precisely in our article What causes us more stress and anxiety, we detail those aspects of life that affect us most negatively. It is an interesting review of the conclusions reached by the II Health and Lifestyle Study prepared by Aegon. According to this report, 88.2% of Spaniards admit to having suffered from stress at some point in their lives but only 40% admitted to trying to remedy it.
Among the main consequences of stress shown in the study, they stand out:
- Sleep problems
- Anxiety
- Fatigue and tiredness
- Headaches
Cultivate quality personal relationships
We have all gone through stages in which we have met people who have marked us and helped us to forge our personality; but we have also met toxic people, whose relationships do not help us to grow.
Achieving healthy living habits also involves discovering the kind of people who truly add value to us and we must keep them by our side.
Maintain a good social activity and enjoy the present
Maintaining a varied social activity influences our health and well-being much more than we think. Because social relations are a fundamental aspect for human beings, who through them are able to work their mental and physical capacities at a higher level.
Sometimes it is inevitable to fall into nostalgia and remember the experiences we have lived in other stages, comparing them with the present. Don’t get stuck in the past and build new experiences that fill the moment you are living with joy. A healthy life also involves knowing how to look ahead.
Making your goals a reality
Maybe you hadn’t thought about it, but materializing your life project should also be part of your list of healthy living habits.
Set yourself achievable goals, they don’t have to be big changes, but they do have to help you improve your day-to-day life and generate good feelings. Satisfaction with what you have achieved is priceless, and many times it is in small gestures that we achieve that great feeling of well-being.
Taking care of hygiene
The importance of a healthy life also includes taking care of personal and domestic hygiene. This is the number one rule in the prevention of many infection-related health problems. Among the hygiene care habits we refer to are
- Washing your hands before eating or after going to the bathroom.
- Dental hygiene.
- Intimate hygiene.
- Clean clothes.
- Clean house and ventilation.
- Sun protection and hydration.
- Etc.
Importance of healthy living Where do I start?
Coming up with such an extensive list of advice can be a first sense of frustration, making us realize that we may be far from complying with each and every one of these good habits.
Therefore, it is important to scale up the information and consider a gradual improvement. Take a calendar and draw those goals that you will start working on according to the quarter of the year. We recommend that you combine those that are easier with others that are more complicated.
In much less time than you think you will be able to achieve these healthy lifestyle habits.
If you think you need medical help to achieve any of the objectives, consult our medical team to find the best specialists who can help you.