10 Basic Health Habits That Will Actually Improve Your Health

basic health habits

Good health is something we all want. But at times living healthy might seem difficult and full of sacrifices. Having simple and basic health habits that are easy to implement in any lifestyle will set you on a good path to better health.

 

1. Keep a good posture

If you often wake up in the morning tired and with pain all over your body, it might be because of the bad posture.

Sitting or standing with a bad posture leads to exhaustion, back and neck pain and wear and tear of ligaments. 

On the other hand, sitting or standing with a good posture improves blood flow, relieves stress from bones and joints and reduces fatigue. 

Not to mention standing upright makes you look and feel more confident.

Make a habit of checking your posture throughout the day to become aware of it, and little by little start improving it.

 

2. Have stretch breaks

Every morning, evening and few times during the day take two minutes to stretch. Stretch your whole body or focus on part of the body where you experience tightness. Stretching relieves tension in joints, relaxes muscles, improves posture and brings a feeling of lightness in the body. 

Stretching in the morning will help you wake up energetic by increasing circulation in muscles. While stretching in the evening will help you relax by releasing tension from the muscles.

Oxygenated muscles and flexible joints require less energy for movement. Meaning a good stretch will allow you to move more energy-efficiently and get less tired.

 

3. Walk every day

Walking is the best form of physical activity. It raises heart rate just enough to improve the blood flow, boost metabolism and improve your mood.

There is an ancient Chinese saying “If you take 100 steps after each meal, you’ll live to 99.”. It might be an old saying, but modern medicine confirmed its value. Because walking lowers blood sugar levels and blood pressure.

Whether you choose to walk right after a meal or any other time of the day, walking will be equally beneficial.

Walking every day at least 15 minutes will improve your health in many ways.

 

4. Drink enough water

More than 50% of the human body is made up of water. You can survive longer without food than without water, it is crucial for life. But no, there is no need to drink 8 cups of water a day. Unless it’s a hot summer day or you are sweating excessively, you probably can’t drink that much in a day.

Just drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning and then a few sips regularly during the day will have a big impact on your health. 

5. Consume enough fiber

While eating healthy should be a normality. Let’s be real, comfort food is just too big a temptation to resist.

So if you are like most of the people, and you don’t want to ditch your edible comforts. There is a small change you can do in your diet that will give you good results. That is to increase fiber intake. Fibers are like superheroes, they clean up the mess we make with our not-so-healthy food choices. 

Fibers have few very important roles in the body: 

  • maintain balanced blood sugar level
  • lower cholesterol in the blood
  • clean out intestines
  • maintain healthy intestinal flora

Depending on gender and age, the body needs 20-30g of, both soluble and insoluble, fiber daily. Best sources of fibers are green leafy vegetables, legumes and whole grains.

 

6. Vitamin D

Vitamin D is the most common vitamin deficiency. Because it’s hard to get it only from food and many don’t get often and enough sun exposure.

If you are experiencing fatigue, muscle weakness or mood changes, it might be because of unregistered vitamin D deficiency. 

Increasing sun exposure by spending enough time outside in the fresh air and eating some oily fish and egg yolks is a simple way of restocking on vitamin D. 

 

7. Personal hygiene

Hygiene is two-thirds of health. Washing hands, brushing teeth, showering, keeping your belongings clean are all parts of essential personal hygiene for good health. And they should never be skipped or overlooked. 

 

8. Limit screen time

Majority of the day we are spending looking at some screen, be it your phone, computer or tv. Too much screen time is straining your eyes and damaging vision. Take regular breaks from screens. 

If you must look at the screen for work, then I would suggest you set an alarm for every hour. When the alarm rings, close your eyes for just one minute. This mini break will help your eyes rest. 

What else you should do is make a habit of turning off all screens at least one hour before bed. Your eyes will recover and you will sleep better.

 

9. Relax before bed

For a deep, relaxing and restorative sleep it’s good to have a bedtime routine. Brain loves routines, it thrives on certainty and predictability. If you are battling stress and have a hard time unwinding and relaxing before sleep. Then bedtime routine is just what you need. Routine can be anything. You can drink a cup of warm and calming bedtime tea while reading a book. If your days are physically exhausting, then maybe a few bedtime yoga poses to relax the body and mind are just what you need. Any calming activity you can easily do every evening will make a perfect bedtime routine.

10. Get enough sleep

How much sleep is enough varies from person to person and also from day to day. But there is one habit that will help you to get enough sleep every night. 

That is to wake up every morning at the same time. After having a habit for a while your body will establish a rhythm. You will notice that you don’t need an alarm to wake up any more. And in the evening, you will feel sleepy at just the right time so you can get enough sleep until your wake up time. Your body will function more efficiently. For example, your digestion will improve, immunity will get stronger and concentration will improve.

 


 

Which of these basic health habit will you start first?

 

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