Health

Not at the mercy of circumstance

My biggest question of reasoned years is how do I live a healthy life, where I have all the energy I need to keep up with my kids. Actually, where my kids need to keep up with me. My parents thought what they have learned and what was influenced by there parents, which is understandable. What I had learned from my parents was sadly not enough to delivering the live and energy levels I wanted in my life. So, I started doing some research, accepted a challenge and just started trying out things that might help in my journey to finding a healthy life, where I am not limited by my energy, disease or disabilities.

I decided that one blog was not going to do justice to everything I tried and learned on my journey to a healthy life. This blog covers a summery of the most important things and decided I would write multiple blogs to highlighting each topic specifically.

A healthy life starts with a balance of the four key areas of life.

The first two areas of a healthy life should be known by most people, your health is impacted by what you eat and how much and how you move. The second two might be less know but are as important in achieving an overall healthy life. The second two have to do with avoiding toxins from our environment and nurturing the mind.  

The food you consume.

A healthy life is impacted on what we consume and the quantities we consume them in. I am not one who would say that you should not consume some types of food, but rather reduce or avoid them if possible. 

Just to grasp on the topic what is a health plate, the main ingredient is vegetables. Under vegetables I have put the following food types: fruits & vegetables proteins which include beans, peas etc. Second is Herbs and spices here you can think of spices like rosemary, garlic, thyme or curry, third is fats like olive oil. Forth is cereals which include whole food cereals and seeds and optional is the fifth you can add animal proteins. important with animal proteins is the quality if possible, prefer organic, the reason behind this is that organic animal proteins have a better omega 6 and 3 balance.

The quantity and intensity you move.

Moving activates the lymphatic system, the lymphatic system oversees waste deposal and helps reduce toxins and other unwanted materials. That is why moving regularly is important. I would say at least half an hour of walking each day and regular movement let us say a few minutes each hour.

 “The lymphatic system is a network of tissues and organs that help rid the body of toxins, waste and other unwanted materials. The primary function of the lymphatic system is to transport lymph, a fluid containing infection-fighting white blood cells, throughout the body.”

Source: https://www.livescience.com/26983-lymphatic-system.html#:~:text=The%20lymphatic%20system%20is%20a,blood%20cells%2C%20throughout%20the%20body

Reducing toxics in our life.

Our body has the capability to reduce toxins, but if we live in a toxic environment and are exposed to toxin and toxic substances our body might be struggling. Therefore, we should be conscious of what substances we expose our body to and what the impact is on our wellbeing. 

The biggest thing I was a bit shocked about is that many products are tested and approved, but the impact when we use multiple products for example parfums, make-up etc is never tested. There is no holistic review what the impact might be.

What I use of a rule of thumb is to reduce the use of artificial products for health care and avoid contact with chemicals and cleaning products as much as possible.

“A toxin is a harmful substance produced within living cells or organisms; synthetic toxicants created by artificial processes are thus excluded. The term was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919), derived from the word toxic.”

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxin

The way you nurture the mind.

 If our body is constantly “on” and we don’t take “off” time we push ourselves and are reducing our natural defense mechanisms our body has. Therefore, it is important to power down at the end of the day and take time to close the day.  Meaning in the morning you can power up again and start your day full of energy and good spirit. In the evening we should start powering off a few hours before we go to bed. Meaning reducing screen time and maybe practice meditation, breathing exercises of something is gentle yoga.

Power up your immune system.

All mentioned aspects contribute to impowering your immune system. These impower your immune system to be in top shape and reduce or avoid sickness and disease. In the table is a short summarization of what David Servan-Schreiber calls inhibitors and activators of the immune system.