Countdown: 8 steps toward a healthy body

Everyone wants to have a healthy, hardy and strong body, but it is impossible to achieve this without being systematic. And it is provided by the right habits, many of which we have heard about, but did not know why they are really necessary. Let’s share simple daily rituals that can completely change your health.

8 hours of sleep

According to the American organization National Sleep Foundation, people from 18 to 64 years old need to sleep 7-9 hours a day. With the current pace of life, this length of sleep seems like an unacceptable luxury. Nevertheless, if you spend more time sleeping and adhere to this norm, your efficiency will increase significantly. You will also find it easier to maintain a stable weight, disappear mood swings, improve memory, attention and thinking.

Sleeping less and getting more done is a fairy tale that can turn out to have serious health consequences. American doctor and researcher Anthony L. Komarov says that during recent scientific experiments, he found that during sleep our brain is cleansed of waste products. This includes getting rid of proteins involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. And constant sleep deprivation leads to worsening of atherosclerosis.

7 glasses of water

In addition to drinking various beverages throughout the day, a person should drink a certain amount of clean water. 7 glasses of water is approximately 1.5 liters. Drinking this amount of liquid every day helps the entire body to function properly.

Water is essential for blood circulation, metabolism, digestion maintaining youthful skin and removing toxins from the body. This is a basic guideline that everyone should follow. Depending on individual characteristics, the figure may increase.

6 minutes of meditation

It seems that this time is not enough to comprehend new truths or completely put your thoughts in order. And it really is. But this practice will help you take a break from routine activities, slow down, feel the moment and reduce anxiety and tension.

It was recently found that such a short meditation can even improve the functioning of the immune system.You can meditate in between work, in the morning or late at night. The important thing is that nothing distracts you at that moment.

5 servings of fruits or vegetables

To eat right, WHO recommends eating at least 400 grams of fruits and vegetables daily. This is because it reduces the likelihood of developing many non-communicable diseases. Eating plant-based foods daily also provides fiber, vitamins and many nutrients and minerals.

4 thousand steps

It’s no secret that a sedentary lifestyle is bad for your health. If we ask ourselves how many steps to take a day, the Internet will give us a number of 10 thousand. It has already become canonical, but in fact has no scientific confirmation, and is only part of the marketing campaign.

“In 1965, a Japanese company was selling pedometers, and gave them a name that means ‘10,000-step meter’ in Japanese,” explains Yi-Min Lee, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard University. In reality, this number varies depending on a person’s health and lifestyle. But if you have the opportunity, don’t be lazy and walk an extra stop.

A recent study looking at the impact of walking on longevity found that even 4,000 steps a day significantly prolongs longevity.

3 meals

There is a lot of debate as to whether three meals a day or a split meal, which includes 5-6 meals, is better. Mette Flaaten, an integrative practitioner, is of the opinion that it is better to eat three meals a day. Her reasoning is based on a study on the mechanisms of autophagy by scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi, for which he won the Nobel Prize in 2016.

Autophagy is the body’s cell regeneration process. It can prevent the development of cancerous tumors, infections. Reduces the risk of developing diabetes by maintaining a healthy metabolism.

This process Mette Flaaten also connects with the digestion of food. So, if a person eats three times a day, the body has time to process food and its own cleansing. And with more frequent meals, according to the doctor, we violate the alternation of processes of consumption and cleavage, which can be dangerous to health.

2 hours without the phone before going to bed

In the evening, the body produces melatonin – a hormone that regulates the cycle of sleep and wakefulness. The blue light emitted by all the gadgets suppresses its production. Added to this are emotional and social factors: you consume certain content online and react to it in one way or another. All this affects your sleep quality and disrupts your sleep patterns.

If you want to solve your sleep problems, you can start with 30 minutes without gadgets before going to bed and gradually increase this time to two hours.

1 workout per week.

At least once a week, you should get in some extra physical activity. It would seem that with this frequency, it doesn’t make sense. But there is a study that confirms that training once a week is very effective in developing strength.

And if in more regular exercise, it is recommended to load individual parts of the body on different days, in this case you need a comprehensive workout that involves all muscle groups.