Healthy Living

Healthy living" to most people means both physical and mental health are in balance or functioning well together in a person. In many instances, physical and mental healths are closely linked, so that a in one directly affects the other. A healthy life implies looking good and feeling good, but needs commitments. Some of the areas that need monitoring for a healthy lifestyle includes proper dietary habits, good exercise and a positive attitude. 

A healthy diet is essential for a healthy life. This does not mean eating only healthy foods. It means, keeping to a diet as much as possible. A healthy diet not only helps improve a healthy lifestyle, but also helps maintain an ideal weight. Eating smaller portions, including more vegetables in a meal, switching to healthier salad dressings, and eating more fruits is the way to enter a healthy lifestyle through foods. Healthy eating is not only important for your diet, it's also important as a part of your personal well-being. Eating healthy can drastically improve your physical fitness, allow you to feel better about yourself, and do wonders for your health. Combining a balanced diet with physical activity will help you to live a long and healthy life. 

Exercising today is very important to a person’s health and gently improves your health. Some of the dominant health benefits of exercise are helping weight management, improve your quality of life, reducing the feelings of depression and anxiety, boosts energy and combats even health conditions and diseases. The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. Exercise is the miracle cure we’ve always had, but for too long we’ve neglected to take our recommended dose.

Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. Positive thinking helps you give your best even when the situations are worst. Positive thinking protects you against mental troubles such as depression, Increases your life span, lowers the levels of distress, increases body immunity, provides better psychological and physical well-being and a better cardiovascular health. It’s also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and don't smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

A healthy lifestyle may not be easy to commit to. However, the trick to staying committed to a healthy lifestyle is making small changes and not big ones. Doing one thing that leads to a healthy lifestyle every day is the first phase of commitment. Avoiding extra servings of food, drinking an extra glass of water, taking stairs, making efforts to smile are just some things that can help make the road to a healthy life begin. However, there are so many more things that can be considered to ensure a healthy life. Making just a few changes in your lifestyle can help you live longer. 

Antioxidants! A Younger Healthier You…

In this stressful framework of life healthy eating is one very important facet of healthy living. To keep a healthy balance diet a person should try to eat daily at least a portion of the six major food groups. One of the major elements that need to be incorporated in ones’ food is antioxidants. Antioxidants replenish and minimize the damage to our cells; for example, these cells help us contain a strong immune system to fight infection. They also decrease the aging process our body goes through. 

WHAT ARE ANTIOXIDANTS 

Your body is in a constant battle against infection, diseases and the formation of free radicals. However, there's a secret weapon that can help you fight against these things: antioxidants! Antioxidants are elements such as vitamins A, C and E that counteract the damage caused by free radicals and help protect your healthy cells. Free radicals are molecules that contain unpaired electrons, which make them highly reactive. In this form, they can cause damage by attacking healthy cells, and when these cells grow weakened, you become more vulnerable to disease.

Free radicals may be produced from normal body functions such as breathing or physical activity, but they are mainly formed from your exposure to environmental hazards, such as pesticides, air pollution and cigarette smoke. Antioxidants work to disable the disease-causing free radicals, thus preventing the damage from occurring. Although your body naturally produces antioxidants, it doesn't produce enough to protect you from free radicals, so that is why it is important to include antioxidant-rich foods in your diet on a regular basis.

BENEFITS OF ANTIOXIDANTS

Increasing one's antioxidant intake is essential for optimum health, especially in today's polluted world. Because the body just can't keep up with antioxidant production, a good amount of these vitamins, minerals, phytochemical, and enzymes must come from one's daily diet. Boosting the antioxidant intake can help provide added protection for the body against, heart problems, eye problems, memory problems, mood disorders, immune system problems, ageing, etc. Antioxidants may play a role in the management or prevention of some medical conditions, such as some cancers, macular degeneration, Alzheimer's disease, and some arthritis-related conditions.

SOURCE OF ANTIOXIDANTS

Antioxidants occur naturally in plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, coffee, tea, wine, and chocolate. While there are thousands of antioxidant compounds are found in foods like chocolate, wine, and tomatoes. Other popular food containing high levels of antioxidants are Goji berries (25,000 ORAC score), Wild blueberries (14,000 ORAC score), Dark chocolate (21,000 ORAC score, Pecans (17,000 ORAC score), Artichoke: 9,400 ORAC score, Elderberries (14,000 ORAC score), Kidney beans (8,400 ORAC score), Cranberries (9,500 ORAC score), Blackberries (5,300 ORAC score) and Cilantro (5,100 ORAC score).

So next time you go to your grocery store to buy food, don’t forget to add these antioxidants rich food items to your cart. Take time to avail these precious gifts from the natures’ bounty and serve your loved ones with healthy yet savory diet.