This post shares practical lifestyle adjustments to help you prevent lifestyle diseases. Read on to discover more and keep yourself safe.
Make These Adjustments to Avoid Lifestyle Diseases
The old adage goes that prevention is better than cure, and that is true regarding the lifestyle diseases that are bedeviling our generation. With people adopting lifestyles that are addicted to convenience, lifestyle diseases are taking a fatal toll on this generation than ever before. Moreover, the cost of taming and treating these diseases is soaring higher than ever. Before proceeding to order coursework and learn how you can prevent them in your personal life, let us look at these figures from the Centers for Disease Control.
- In 2010 alone, the cost of treating heart diseases and strokes was $315.4 billion, out of which $193.4 billion went to direct medical expenses
- In 2010, the cost of caring for cancer patients was $157 billion
- In 2012, diabetes cost was $245 billion, out of which $176 went to direct medical expenses
- In 2008, the cost of treating obesity stood at $147 billion
- Arthritis cost $128 billion, out of which $80 dollars went to direct medical expenses
Hydrate Yourself
With the above figures, you should take action and start hydrating yourself with at least 8 to 10 glasses of water daily. This way, you rid your body of toxins that can lead to diseases such as cancer.
Check Your Weight
To avoid being a part of the unhealthy and fatal statistics, you need to check your weight and differentiate between being fat and fit. This way, you will keep off obesity and other diseases that accompany it such as heart disease. Also, check your BMI and follow it as per age, weight, and height. Therefore, manage your dietary habits.
Deal with Stress
Stress is another cause of lifestyle diseases in the lives of many people. If you don’t want to plunge into lifestyle diseases, such as hypertension, pay attention to how you manage your stress levels. For instance, take time to meditate, read inspiration books, and listen to soothing music.
Mind Your Diet
What you eat could be killing you, and hence, be careful with your diet. You need to avoid unhealthy foods such as fast and canned foods because they are high in fats and sodium. Their high levels of sodium and fats are good facilitators of heart failure, stroke, and high blood pressure. So, take time and prepare healthy meals at home to avoid dependency on fast foods.
Quit Smoking
By the way, what benefit does smoking add to your body? Nothing. Therefore, it is prudent to quit smoking if you want to keep off the list of lifestyle disease victims. By exposing yourself to smoking, you become vulnerable to heart attack and other respiratory diseases related to lung infection. When you quit the smoke, your heart rate, which was abnormal due to smoking, drops after 20 minutes of smoking your last cigarette. Moreover, you reduce your risk of heart attack by 50 percent after the first year of quitting smoking.
Exercise Regularly
Due to the busy life most people live in our day, we hardly get or make enough time to exercise. Our modern lifestyle is conditioned in a way that does not favor vigorous activities, and hence, people lack avenues to vent out their physical energies. You need to get out of this matrix by crating time to walk around, ride a bike, or even walk to or from your workplace.
Since you now know the adjustments you need to make to avoid lifestyle diseases, the ball is in your court to act accordingly. We hope that these insights have opened your eyes to the possibilities of protecting yourself.