9 Mistakes that Sabotage your Health

Take Care of Your Body

Our bodies are quite resilient to the abuse we throw at it, and it has an ability to heal itself, which is pretty amazing! But constant neglect on our bodies can have a long-lasting impact on our health and life.

Do you desire to live a long and healthy life? You may say how can I be happy if I have to give up all the things I love? But I must ask you, how can you live a fully healthy life and really enjoy every day if you are not feeling great?

Why Do We Get Sick?

Who wants to be sick and tired all the time? Are you prone to catching every cold and flu or infection that rolls around? Do you get sick easily? Do you often feel like you have no energy and desire to play with your kids or grandkids or just get out for a walk?

Let’s look at some ways you can overcome this.

9 Mistakes that Affect Your Health

Here are 9 mistakes we all make that sabotage our health. You feel the effects of it daily. Your body has a way of communicating with you when you don’t treat it well. We should listen to those hints and start taking better care of ourselves, so we can have optimal health on a daily basis and be the best we can be!

#1 – Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. Some may need as little as 6 or as much as 10! Teenagers need from 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night, but most teenagers don’t get enough sleep!

If you don’t get enough sleep, this could cause health issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, and obesity. You can also have memory problems, depression, and a weakened immune system, resulting in getting sick easily.

#2 – Is Smoking Bad For Your Health?

Everyone knows that smoking can cause long term health issues. Nicotine is highly addictive and is known to raise blood pressure, heart rate and narrowing of the arteries. Giving up smoking is a sure step towards better health.

If you need help to quit smoking, here is Allen Carr’s best-seller “Easy Way to Quit Smoking Without Willpower”

#3 – Is Alcohol Bad For Your Health?

There are mixed messages about alcohol, but isn’t it safe to say that this highly addictive and toxic substance isn’t needed for our health? You don’t need to drink wine to get antioxidants. You can get these from many whole foods. Regular and excessive alcohol consumption can have adverse effects on your liver, brain, and heart. Alcohol is known to cause depression, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Drink water instead! Health authorities commonly recommend eight 8-ounce glasses, which equals about 2 liters, or half a gallon of daily water intake.

#4 – How Much Exercise Do You Need?

It is recommended to have a half-hour of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity daily for adults. You can vary the things you like to do to get yourself moving every day.

walk
bike
run
follow an exercise video at home
join a gym
join a dance class
swim
join a team
rake leaves
shovel snow
take the dog for a walk

#5 – Is Meat Good or Bad For You?

Animal products carry a lot of toxins and create more work for your immune system. Meat and dairy not only harbor viruses, bacteria, and parasites but also factory-farmed animals are injected with antibiotics and hormones and they eat unnatural GMO feed to fatten them up. They also could be drinking polluted water. If your immune system is overloaded by all the toxic junk that keeps coming in, it has fewer resources available to fight disease in your body. Eliminate meat and dairy, and processed foods, and eat organic fruits and vegetables as much as possible.

Some research has linked vegan diets with lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and lower rates of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer.

Find out more here.

#6 – Are Processed Foods Healthy?

Processed foods are all packaged foods that have been changed from their natural form. Frozen convenient foods, for example, are high in salt and full of ingredients we don’t even know how to pronounce! The more ingredients in your package, the worse it is for you. Minimize the convenience foods and start cooking with the basic ingredients. You will be much healthier for it.

#7 – Should I Avoid Oil in my Diet?

There are many reasons to avoid oil. Oil is 100% fat (no matter what kind of oil it is). One tablespoon of oil contains about 120 calories. Additionally, since oil contains no nutrients, no fiber or water (which helps us to feel full), we have a tendency to over-consume it. Therefore, this hinders our efforts to lose weight.

As oil enters our bloodstream, our blood vessels become damaged over time. Our circulation slows, which in turn raises blood pressure. As oil builds up in our arteries, it forms potentially dangerous plaques that can lead to heart disease, the number-one killer in the U.S.

#8 – Is Sugar Bad For You?

Refined sugar is an empty-calorie food, meaning it has little to no nutrients. It is very easy to over-consume, often leading to weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes.

White sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, golden syrup, coconut sugar are all examples of refined sugars. There is such a thing as natural sugars. As the name suggests, these are not added, processed sugars. Instead, they’re the sweetness you can taste in fruits and even vegetables.

#9 – Is Salt Bad For You?

If you eat too much salt, the extra water stored in your body raises your blood pressure. The higher your blood pressure, the greater the strain on your heart, arteries, kidneys, and brain. This can lead to heart attacks, strokes, dementia, and kidney disease.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends a daily intake of 1500 mg a day, which is equivalent to about half a teaspoon!

For more information on eating SOS Free (Salt, Oil, and Sugar-free), check out this post.

Don’t get discouraged with this list. It can be extremely difficult to be perfect in each of these topics. You can start with one at a time, and once you conquer it, or get close to your goal without worrying about perfection, move on to the next one.

As we are more aware of our body and treat it with love and care, it will compensate us with energy and health.

Recommended Books For Optimal Health

For a great start to healthy eating, try The Plant-Based Diet For Beginners.

q? encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1646110420&Format= SL250 &ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=mylifediver05 20&language=en US

Straight Up Food: Delicious and Easy Plant-based Cooking without Salt, Oil or Sugar. If you are looking to get delicious foods that are SOS Free, this is the perfect cookbook for you!

q? encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0997636904&Format= SL250 &ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=mylifediver05 20&language=en US

There are so many addictions that weigh us down and completely control us in this busy world. You are worth the effort to overcome these addictions in order to have a fuller and healthier life. Here is a list of best-selling books on a variety of addictions. Please look into getting the help you deserve!