Your Health Check - It's Time To Change

Pretty much everyone could be looking after themselves better.  It might take a few days of headaches for you to drink water, or perhaps you’ve felt tired and then you’ll take a supplement, and typically when you have a cold, you’ll take vitamin C to boost your immune system.

But like most things prevention is better than cure. So get a jump start and turn your health around with a good old top-to-toe overhaul.

Photo by Luke Michael on Unsplash

Teeth

Flossing, brushing (for the right amount of time) and mouthwash is a basic.  Moving on from that, you should be thinking about what you eat and drink.  Green tea is said to help right off plaque bacteria and help keep your gums healthy.

If you find you have trouble remembering to floss, set a reminder on your phone to go off at the same time every day.  It will take a little while to build your routine and make it a habit, but in 12 weeks you won’t be able to feel your day was complete without flossing.

Skin

Ditch the sugar, or at least take a nutrition course so that you really understand what you’re eating and the impact it can have on your skin.

Eating a rainbow is the best advice here.  The more vibrant and lush the fruits and veggies are the better.  Oranges, yellows, purples, and greens should fill up your plate.

If you’re looking to reduce the number of wrinkles you’re going to be getting, train yourself to sleep on your back.  When you lay on your side or stomach, you naturally relax your head and face into a pillow.  So apply a night cream and start sleeping on your back as much as possible.

Legs

Much like most things, proper usage will keep them fighting fitter for longer.  Joints naturally take a lot of wear and tear over the course of your life, but your knees carry your weight all the time.

Keeping your limbs strong and flexible is essential.  Each morning and evening spend some time balancing on one leg.  This little act helps improve your stability and reduces your risk of falls later on in life.

Inflammation wrecks havoc on your knees. Something you can do to reduce inflammation is to be mindful of what you’re eating.  Some foods are rich in inflammation-fighting free radicals:

* Red grapes
* Apple
* Garlic
* Onions
* Orange and yellow fruits
* Extra-virgin olive oil
* Oily and fatty fish
* Berries
* Green tea

So have some of those in your daily intake and give your body a hand in protecting those knees.

Heart

Get more rest.  Your heart works hard all day every day.  You need to take care of your blood pressure and stress levels.  Both of which you can lower by merely heading to bed an hour earlier than you usually do.

Eat heart-healthy foods, and try to eat less fatty foods.  It goes without saying that smoking is going to have a really big and negative impact on you too.

Grey Matter

Your brain needs some love too.  Studies have found that an oily fish dinner once a week can slow down brain shrinkage.  Considering that shrinkage is responsible for mental decline as we age.

Salmon, mackerel and other oily fish are laden with omega-3 fats, and they do wonders for a healthy brain.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but two can fend off the sticky plaque that is found in the cells of dementia sufferers.  So try drinking two glasses of freshly squeezed apple juice a day.

Solving puzzles keeps your brain active.  Sudoku, crosswords and other brain teasers can keep your memory and brain activity in great form.

Eyes

Protect them as much as possible.  Getting regular eye checks is just the start of looking after your eyes.

Sunglasses should be your best friend.  Over the space of your life, your eyes get exposed to a lot of UV rays.  The more time you spend unprotected, the higher the chances are of causing irreversible damage to your retina.  Not only that but the skin around your eyes is particularly thin, and the UV rays damage the skin with lasting issues.

Wear sunglasses to reduce all of those problems.

Give your eyes a break.

Driving, reading, watching TV, and working or playing at a computer all cause a lot of tension for your eyes.  Whenever possible give your eyes a rest.  Just close them and relax.

Work them out too!  As much as the need to have periods of relaxation you can get tension headaches and eye strain by staring at something like a screen that remains the same distance away all day. Switch up your focal points during the day for a few minutes and when you have time, picture the infinity symbol floating about 10 feet away.  Slowly trace your eyes around the shape for a few minutes, and then do it backwards too.

Ears

Enjoy the silence.  Literally.  Between headphones, live music, street noise, and even day-to-day TV noise our ears are never getting the rest they need.  If you wear headphones a lot, then it’s time to set some volume limits.

Over time our ears do take damage and deterioration does happen.  But controlling how much you use your ears and how often is essential to curb the speed in which it occurs.

Ear plugs, swapping in-ear buds for cans, and turning the TV down will help your ears stay healthier for longer.

Feet

Arguably the hardest working thing.  Baring the entirety of our weight all day every day.  You can grab a tennis ball and roll your feet around on it for approximately 15 minutes per foot.  It’s much cheaper than booking a foot massage, and you can do it in the comfort of your own home.

If you need a deeper stretch, you can downsize to a golf ball.  This will give some relief from things like plantar fascia which is very painful and extremely common.

Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash

Stomach

Make some smart swaps.  Cutting down on full-fat milk, and swapping it for skimmed or semi-skimmed will make a difference without much effort at all.

Dancing around to your favourite music is not only great for your mood but will give you a full body workout too.  Some studies even suggest that women who listen to music while they exercised lost more weight than those who don’t.  Not only is it motivational but up-tempo music encourages us to move in time to the music too.

Tasty potassium!  This miracle mineral helps us regulate the fluid we store around our bodies, much of which can help around the stomach area.  So stock up on bananas, asparagus, spinach, nuts, and tomatoes.

Small changes in how you take care of yourself like wearing sunglasses or eating an extra banana a day (and those two apple juices of course) can make a seriously significant impact.  So if you’re interested in changing your health for the better, you’ve got the perfect starting points above.