Have you ever noticed that making a few changes to how you do something can make a huge difference in many things that you do? The same principle holds true for our health. If you tweak some basic health habits, you can often surprise yourself in how much better that you feel. Therefore, I wanted to share a few of my favorite good health habits that matter to improve the quality of your life.
Though there are a lot of good health habits that can improve your life, I found that eating a small afternoon snack can help keep your energy up by steadying depleted blood sugar levels. A piece of fruit like an apple or drinking a small glass of grapefruit juice (about 95 calories each option) can also help curb growing hunger so you eat less later.
Replacing your usual beverage at one meal and maybe during your coffee break with a cup of green tea can help. Green tea has catechins to safeguard against some degenerative diseases, help the immune system, lower blood pressure to prevent strokes, and some cancers. According to some studies, drinking just two cups of green tea daily can provide good health benefits. This particular tea can reduce blood glucose levels for better protection against coronary disease. However, green tea is not recommended for those prescribed blood thinners such as coumadin so check with your physician.
We all get angry and stressed. The longer that those negative emotions remain buried in the back of our minds, the more that you prolong pain. Scream and yell if you must, preferably in a pillow to deafen the noise. You can also take out your feelings in a journal or a diary as another form of release. What I am saying is that you can’t move on when you are consumed with such a powerful emotion as rage, which can dominate your thoughts and everything that you do. Anger is like a cancer that can eat at you gradually until you lose yourself to it like that very disease. Once you try to forgive or block out that anger and stress, you will find more clarity in how to proceed in whatever the problem was.
Speaking of how stressed we all are, especially during this pandemic and with the current political chaos going on in our country, we often can take things for granted and how we treat others. Something as simple as thanking someone when they hand you your cup of coffee or hold the door open at a store entrance is important to do along with a smile. Being polite validates the kind action, making the person bestowing it happy. In response, this positive feeling ricochets back to you, the recipient. Sad to say, kindness and gratitude are like muscles that you need to exercise regularly, not just on occasion for more happiness to set in.
Many more people are now working from home. Another of these good health habits is adding some houseplants to your home office. Not only can houseplants such as chrysanthemums or spider plants help clean your air from pollutants, some research studies have found that they also can help boost productivity by 15%. Therefore, make it a point to keep them watered.
When you unconnect from your computer during your break while working from home or at the office, it is beneficial to get up and stretch, which is another of these good health habits. Otherwise, you risk musculoskeletal imbalances from how your back muscles and core muscles align as well as lower your metabolism and invite blood clots.
One of the last good health habits that I am going to leave you with concerns how you sleep. Believe it or not, your sleeping position matters in regard to the quality of your sleep. If you hope to take some of the strain off of your back, try starting your night this way. Lie on your side, knees bent before placing a pillow between them. Stay in that position as long as you can . This position can help the muscles of your back and better the brain’s circulation from how the blood flows to the head to remove lingering proteins that could cause potential problems.
