Healthy Living Features - Research Paper Example

Healthy Living Introduction Several scientific researchers have proven that eating a healthy diet and frequent exercises help prevent diseases and prolong life. However, questions have always arisen as to which kinds of food composes a healthy diet. Additionally, the kind of exercise that one should take has also been an issue of great concern. This notwithstanding poor eating habits and lack of exercises has been associated with several ailments. It is necessary to investigate some of these diseases and the dietary requirements associated with them. Additionally, outlining some of the foods that comprises a healthy diet and the diseases that are likely be prevented by them is crucial. Healthy Eating contributes to preventing illness Eating healthy foods assist an individual to avoid diseases that are associated with nutritional deficiencies, excesses and the accompanying risks. The preservation of the iron and the levels of Vitamin B in the body assist in maintaining the right blood count in the body. With adequate amount of calcium in the diet, the body can help keep osteoporosis at bay. Additionally, by limiting the amount of salt in blood, the body ensures that the blood pressure is level. These few examples illustrates that good nutrition supports good health and thereby keep diseases at bay. Conventionally, healthy diet requires increased intake of fruits and green leafy fruits (Khatoon 80). Fruits contain minerals, enzymes and vitamins that are vital to the human organs for the health maintenance. Fruits also reduce chances of dehydration as they cleanse one’s digestive system. Particular fruits have specific functions on the body. For instance, antioxidants-high fruits such as blueberries and guavas reduce the chances of acquiring cancer. Therefore, instead of eating high packaged snacks, one should take more fruits to help lose weight. This is because fruits contain low fat energy. As a result, they help to bulk out the extra calories in the body. Interestingly, many people only eat fruits based on their tastes, costs and availability. This implies that fruits with bitter tastes, high costs and readily available are seldom eaten by many people. However, all fruits should be considered as part of the diet. Additionally, the intake of fruits should not be confined to fresh ones only. Canned fruits, dried fruits and frozen fruits contribute to healthy eating as well. However, not all drinks with fruit juices qualify to replace fruits in the provision of nutritional value. Actually, some fruit juices such as Sunny Delight, fruit squash and Ribena are added with sugar and this makes them high in calories (IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Cancer-Preventive Strategies 29). Health scientists recommend that one should eat five vegetable servings in a day. This includes the green vegetables. Apparently, green vegetables have numerous health benefits associated with them. Nonetheless, they must be prepared and cooked appropriately. Leafy green vegetables are known to contain minerals, disease fighting phytochemicals and vitamins. They are also rich in fiber, which is an important component in weight loss and continuation. This is because consumption of vegetables keeps one to feel full most of the time and this plays a role in controlling hunger. Additionally, fiber plays a key role in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Besides, fiber ensures that carbohydrates are absorbed into the blood stream slowly after meals and this aids in tempering the swings in blood sugar levels. In turn, this helps an individual to limit the risks of acquiring type 2 diabetes, as well as cardiovascular diseases. Better still, green leafy vegetables helps ensure that one is always hydrated based on the plenty amounts of water that they contain. This leads to beautiful realignment of the skin and hair. Leafy greens such as kale and collards are specifically rich in calcium that is responsible for strong bones and teeth. This also helps to reduce the chances of developing osteoporosis. Additionally, calcium contributes to the management of blood pressure and muscle function. They also contain potassium that helps to protect the body from osteoporosis. This helps in the management of the levels of blood pressure. The antioxidants such as lutein, vitamin C and zeaxanthin that leafy vegetables contain help to reduce the risk of cataracts, as well as macular disintegration. Vitamin C aids the body while making collagen. Apparently, collagen is a key component of cartilage that is responsible for flexibility besides reducing the risks of acquiring arthritis. It also keeps the skin beautiful and healthy. Further still, vitamin C is known to slow the loss of bones and this helps in the reduction of fracture risks (Bordenave and Bordenave 53). Green leafy vegetables also contain beta-carotene like spinach, Swiss chard and collard greens. These are important in the repair and growth of the tissues in the body. Beta-carotene is also known to protect the skin from damages by the sun. Additionally, Beta-carotene undergoes conversion in the body to become vitamin A. This makes it an important source of vitamin A. leafy green vegetables are also sources of folate that plays an important role in the reduction memory loses and cardiovascular diseases. Folate also helps reduce serotonin production. This in turn helps improve one’s move besides reducing depression. The green leafy vegetables also contain vitamin E that combines with vitamin C to improve the texture of the skin and reduce deterioration of macular and cataracts. It is evident clear that preventing obesity is possible with the common ways involving eating healthy and doing frequent exercises. Eating healthy diets require one to include vegetables, fruits and legumes in the diet as frequently as possible while minimizing the intake of red meat and other foods that are rich in calories. Obesity can also be prevented by staying active. One should therefore engage in active lifestyles such as taking a walk quite often and taking the stairs instead of the lift. Additionally, one can visit the gym for regular exercises. These activities help to relax the mind and keep the body fit and healthy. Other ways of preventing obesity include checking the body weight, conducting a physical test occasionally, say a year and avoiding junk foods. One should also drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration that sometimes confuses people with hunger. Additionally, one should only eat when she or he is hungry and in need of food (Östman, Britton and Jonsson 57). This is when the body signals that it is really in need of food. Exercise contributes to a healthy living. Some recent researches show that leisure activities make one to look and feel better and live longer. For instance, walking for a total of seventy-five minutes in a week adds 1.8 years to one’s life expectancy. Conversely, several studies have shown that ailments such as hypertension, osteoporosis, diabetes, certain cancer types, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases are partly because of lack of physical activities. Therefore, physical health not only improves the physical health of an individual but also one’s mental health and the general well being of an individual. Participating in regular exercises help reduce the Alzheimer’s risk together with several dementia forms. Additionally, when one exercises regularly, more oxygen gets into the brain and other body cells. This helps to reduce depression and anxiety. Physical health scientists have often recommended yoga and Pilates are great forms of exercises for losing weight (Iannotti, Cunningham and Ruel 1). Pilates is a form of body exercise that focuses on lengthening and strengthening the body, specifically at the core. Conversely, Yoga involved the total strengthening, breathing, as well as stretching of the body. It comes in different varieties and styles. In terms of lightweight, both Pilates and Yoga cannot offer good weight loss solutions. Nonetheless, Yoga has an upper hand in burning off calories. Indeed many studies have related weight loss to the burning of calories. One must burn more calories that he or she consumes. Apparently, 3,500 calories are only equivalent to one pound of fat. Therefore, burning 500 pounds daily will result in 1 lb. weekly. This implies that a person weighing 160 pounds is likely to burn between 270-460 calories per session of Pilates training. On Yoga, the same person will burn between 200-630 calories per hour. This however is dependent on the type of the style used for the training (IDEA Health & Fitness, IDEA Health & Fitness Association 33). The use of Pilates only as the exercise for losing weight is not wise. Pilates only transforms the body to assume some shapes that can add more strength and make one’s cloths not fit. It is only recommended for seasoned exercisers. For Yoga to guarantee weight loss, it must be complemented with other physical activities. All forms of Yoga will go a long way in helping one to lengthen tone and strengthen the muscles. The form of Yoga that will definitely create results is the vinyasa yoga. However, most people cannot perform this category every day. With all the controversies surrounding the Pilates and Yoga as forms of exercises, other forms of exercises that uses less energy and resources are recommendable. These included taking a walk, jogging and riding a bicycle. Apparently, riding a bicycle 2-3 times a day helps lose weight because it assists along way in the burning of calories (Tasker 27). Conclusion Healthy living is not an issue that should be taken for granted. The recent lifestyles have enabled humans to adopt some of the poorest living and eating habits that have reduced their life spans. Today, with the emergence of chunk foods, fast food restaurants coupled with the scheduled career generation, most people have resorted to eating food rich in calories and keeping away from exercise. From the above discussions, we have discovered the kinds of foods that can help restore our health needs and prolong our lives due to their nutritional composition. Eating plenty of fruits and green leafy vegetables will assist in curbing diseases associated with overweight and obesity. Additionally, doing regular exercises helps cut weight and relieve strength. Works cited Bordenave, Jorge and Jorge Bordenave. Change Your Diet, Change Your Health: How Food Can Maintain Our Health Or Cause Disease. S.l.: AuthorHouse, 2011. Iannotti, Lora, Kenda Cunningham and Marie Ruel. Improving diet quality and micronutrient nutrition: Homestead food production in Bangladesh. Bangladesh: Intl Food Policy Res Inst, n.d. IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Cancer-Preventive Strategies. Fruits And Vegetables. Lyon: IARC, 2003. IDEA Health & Fitness, IDEA Health & Fitness Association. Successful Pilates & Yoga Programs. New York: IDEA Health & Fitness Association, 2004. Khatoon, Naima. Health Psychology. New Delhi: Pearson Education India, n.d. Östman, Jan, Mona Britton and Egon Jonsson. Treating and Preventing Obesity: An Evidence Based Review. Weinheim : John Wiley & Sons, 2006. Tasker, Sandy. Health Education Activities 3. Greenwood, W.A.: Ready-Ed Publications, 2002. Read More