Our lifestyle and food habits are harming our health
Are we taking care of our health in the true sense and do we know if the food that we eat is healthy? Today we have access to so many health apps, devices, health charts, recommendations from doctors, diet charts, and gymnasiums. Yet, we face serious health challenges and quite a lot of them are due to our lifestyle and the food we eat.
For example, obesity is a major issue in many countries and India too. As per an article in ‘The Hindu’ published in 2019 in the next eight years around 268 million children between the age of 5 and 17 (adolescents) are going to be heavier than normal. Out of this alarming figure, 91 million may be obese.
An article in ‘Science The Wire’ on 12th April 2021 clearly mentioned that obesity among adults in India is projected to triple between 2010 and 2040. Thus, an estimated 30% of our population is most likely to be overweight.
It has been observed that obesity is mainly prominent in urban areas, due to the easy access to fast food and restricted physical activity as compared to rural areas. But surprisingly now their numbers are rising in the countryside too.
India liberalized its economy in 1991 and the country also witnessed a ‘diet liberalization’. Eating habits changed- there was a shift from low-fat, high-fiber food to energy-dense global diets. We shifted to ready-to-eat, chemically-laden food items, eating food that is growing by using excessive fertilizers while farming, eating junk food that has less nutrition and high in fats.
Food joints flourished in cities and then in rural areas that marketed food that is low in nutritional value across the country. Our youth started getting hooked on this food and gradually they moved away from traditional healthy food.
Obesity is just one issue, which draws other health complications like diabetes, blood pressure, and heart issues. The intake of oil and fats increased but fruits and vegetables have gone down critically. WHO -World Health Organization recommends 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily or at least 400 grams/day.
Also, consumption of salt has risen considerably, which leads to high blood pressure.
Ready to eat meals- fast food and junk food:
- Fast food and ready-to-eat meals have an extremely adverse effect on our bodies.
- They are high in sodium leading to more headaches and migraines.
- High sodium levels can make your body retain excess water, resulting in bloating.
- Excessive junk food puts us at risk for depression.
- Junk food has higher amounts of carbohydrates that trigger acne.
- Cold drinks with a high amount of sugar and fast food can cause dental issues.
- Fried foods have a high amount of trans fats that raise LDL cholesterol levels.
- Fast foods have empty carbohydrates leading to high blood sugar levels and insulin resistance.
Another matter of concern is our stressful and unhealthy lifestyle:
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Stress:
Our so-called modern life is not liberated from hassles, frustrations, demands/desires, deadlines, and excessive importance to materialistic goals. This leads to stress, anxiety, skin allergies, fatigue, and also respiratory issues.
Stress and anxiety levels are often high amongst youngsters. Chronic stress affects our health, mood, mental health, hormones, productivity, relationships, and of course quality of life.
It raises our blood pressure, hits our immune system, which can lead to further complications. In fact, it affects our fertility levels and speeds our aging process.
More often our breathing pattern gets hit – as there is a shortage of oxygen in the blood.
Slowly our immune system is hit, which can lead to a lot of health issues. When the immune system is weak it’s susceptible to viral and bacterial infections.
Stress starts to show in the form of weakness, poor digestion, depression, memory loss, fatigue, acidity, irritability.
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Less physical activity:
Today, we are so used to comfort and automation. So physical activity is least – we rarely burn calories. Fats get accumulating in our body and we slowly start becoming obese, without even realizing it. We reach a point where this excess weight starts affecting our overall health.
Lack of physical activity also leads to stress and a decrease of oxygen in the bloodstream entering our cells. So, we start getting attacked by deadly illnesses like cancer, diabetes, stroke, depression, obesity, and decreased immune function.
What can we do about our health condition?
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Walking:
Ensure that you brisk walk 30 minutes daily, it helps to keep yourself activated and healthy. Walking calms your mind and relieves stress.
There isn’t any need for heavy equipment or tools. You can also engage in Yoga and breathing exercises.
Walking improves physical performance, improves blood circulation, and decreases HDL cholesterol. If you walk regularly, it can control hypertension and slow the process of osteoporosis. This is the simplest way by which you can improve your health.
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Sleep well and eat on time:
Discipline your life- most often since we are busy, sleep gets compromised. We have late dinner and sleep late as well. So, obviously, our body doesn’t get the desired rest. Don’t consume caffeine in the evening; its intake should be moderate because it affects your sleep.
Stop watching TV or spending time on your phone, tablet, or laptop 2 hours before you go to sleep. As you sleep just try to relax your entire body and go through every part of your body from your forehead to toes. Slowly the tension in your body will get relieved and you will sleep peacefully.
Pill-induced sleep is the worse and often many don’t get sleep through sleeping pills.
Maintain a disciplined lifestyle where you have food on time and sleep at a scheduled hour.
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Eat healthily:
Apart from all this – eat healthily. As we began sharing our concerns about the present lifestyle and food habits, we mentioned the kind of food we are consuming.
Our lifestyle considering that it has a lot of chemicals it’s but natural to turn towards natural food that is made by avoiding the use of chemicals and preservatives. Natural foods are unprocessed and maintain the natural qualities of food.
So don’t compromise on your food, invest in organic and natural food. Natural food is fresh, with no chemicals and pesticides, better for the environment, and rich in nutrients.
Visit Navmi website www.navmi.co.in to buy pure, original, natural foods as our focus since inception has always been serving customers with natural foods of the best quality. All our products like coconut oil, flaxseed oil, ghee, A2 milk, different types of natural honey, jaggery, turmeric, etc are chemical-free. Unprocessed foods contain higher amounts of antioxidants, they reduce the risk of heart disease, cancers, and other health issues.
Visit our site (Nirlesh Foods Private Limited or Navmi) www.navmi.co.in to know more about nutritionally pure and unprocessed food. Make a conscious and healthy choice of foods.
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