Health is Wealth. We all know that. Yet we often neglect it owing to our busy schedules or simply put, we are lazy. However, there are certain very basic practices we can adopt that will ensure we have a healthy body, an alert mind and a rejuvenated spirit. Here are 7 easy home-based practices that can be incorporated into your daily routine and over a period of a month, you will feel the difference for yourself. Read on.
1. Drink a litre of water in the morning before brushing: Ideally, the first thing to do when you wake up in the morning is to drink 4 glasses (or a litre) of water on an empty stomach even before brushing or washing your mouth. This has several benefits. First, it rehydrates your body. Second, it nourishes your body cells by flushing out toxins. Third, it stimulates the body metabolism and is an optimal way for weight loss. Fourth, it fuels the brain, which contains 75% water. Having water in the morning leaves you feeling sharp and clear with the ability to think straight throughout the day. Fifth, it promotes bowel movement, a great way to start the day
2. Never skip your breakfast and ensure a balanced diet Breakfast is the fuel to start the day. There is a saying which goes, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.” This is a great way to remember how to eat throughout the day. Breakfast means we are ‘breaking the fast’ – the starvation period while the body was sleeping throughout the night. It should include a full, balanced and a healthy diet. Ensure that you have an intake of 8-10 glasses of water every day. Then, as the day progresses, you should eat light and less of carbohydrates towards the evening. This helps the body metabolism to function progressively. A light dinner ensures that you get to sleep easily without feeling too full. This is because the body keeps functioning throughout the night. The overall result is; you wake up fresh next morning.
3. Make sure you have water 30 minutes prior to a meal and 40 minutes after a meal. The stomach acts like an oven that needs to get warmed before food is processed. Hence, it is best to have water at least 30 minutes before. Likewise, after having a meal, one should avoid having water immediately, and definitely not cold water! One can well imagine the effect of pouring water on a hot oven. In a similar manner, after a meal the digestive process also gets affected and the absorption of nutrients by the stomach is hindered.
4. Avoid fried/oily food. Have warm water after having oily or fried foods. Fried or oily food may be surely tempting but they are unhealthy at the same time as well. If you are having them, make sure to have luke warm water as it doesn’t allow the oil to settle down and convert into fat, which is then subsequently flushed out of the system.
5. Have a cup of green tea daily. It is rich in antioxidants and helps to weight management. Green tea is more than just tea. It is rich in bioactive compounds that are rich in antioxidants and are known to improve health. Besides it makes you alert by improving brain function. It improves fat burning and physical performance. It also lowers the risk of various types of cancer: 22% lower risk of developing breast cancer, the most common cancer in women and 48% lower risk of developing prostate cancer, which is the most common cancer in men. In addition, it reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s as well.
6. Exercise daily Exercising daily improves blood circulation throughout the body by ensuring proper pumping of the cardiovascular system. The cells in the body get more oxygen and the lungs get to function optimally as well. It makes you feel happy and also helps you with weight loss. You get to experience increased energy levels and there is also reduction in the risk of chronic disease. With increased heart rate, there is more blood flow to the brain. It makes you alert and boosts your memory. Finally, due to the tiredness, you get to have a relaxed and peaceful sleep.
7. Keep the mind active & be cheerful Solve puzzles and work out brain teasers. These ensure your mind is not only occupied but help to break free of the regular pattern of operating things or solving problems. Such activities can help to ‘think out of the box’, which can often lead to Eureka moments of finding solutions to problems that you were struggling with. This also helps to stay cheerful and promotes happiness.
You can consult a physician or speak to a doctor online as well for a proper personalized routine.
Thus, a holistic sense of well-being leads to a happy life and one of fulfilment. After all, as the Latin saying goes “Mens sana in corpore sano”- a sound mind in a healthy body! Isn’t it?
