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Visions of sugar plums may be dancing in your children’s heads this holiday season, but when visions become reality, the children themselves can be dancing and bouncing as they take in the sugar. Holiday treats are great for memory-making, area medical experts said, and there …
Open enrollment is underway and now is the time of year when you can enroll on a health plan. Outside of this timeframe, you can only enroll if you have a qualifying life event. Knowing how to navigate the enrollment process can alleviate any stress …
Supercharging one’s health is about taking up beneficial habits that lead to lasting improvements in personal wellbeing. Not every health approach works for every person, but some fundamental principles are pretty effective for most people, if not everyone. These shared healthy habits include activities that promote both mental and physical wellness.
In this article, we will go over five hallmark tips for great health so that you can give your wellbeing a boost.
The antioxidants and brain-boosting compounds in green tea are too good to pass up. Green teas like matcha and Asian pear all provide brain-boosting power so you can think more clearly throughout the day. Green tea is also remarkable at reducing oxidative stress, improving your skin, and reducing inflammation in the body.
For a full mind and body health boost, start incorporating green tea into your daily health regime! Aim to drink at least one mug of jasmine tea every day to reap some amazing health benefits.
Even a ten-minute walk around the neighborhood can work wonders for your mental and physical health. Getting exercise outdoors is the best way to get your workout in, as you’re combining fresh air and sunlight with natural movements like walking, jogging, or running. If exercising at home is preferred, that is still great!
Participating in exercise as nature intended gives your body and your brain the care they need to thrive. Gentle and restorative practices like yoga and stretching should also be included in your exercise routine, as these are essential for stress relief and recovery.
To take care of ourselves, we must prioritize sleep. We are blissfully unaware of just how hard our minds and bodies work each day. To prevent burnout, fatigue, and other challenges, get at least eight hours of sleep each night to give yourself the break you genuinely need.
If you have trouble staying asleep, try cutting back on the amount of caffeine you consume every day, or, at the very least, have your last cup of coffee earlier in the day so your body can adequately wind down for bed.
Everyone needs one or two healthy outlets to let go of stress. Without permission to feel your feelings and release them productively, you are causing emotional build-up, which is destructive to your wellbeing.
Find stress relief outlets that are most effective for you. You could consider journaling, meditating, counseling, or spending time with your pet as possible options. Do what works the best for you.
Self-soothing is an integral part of taking care of yourself. Take up self-care rituals that make you feel ready to receive mental and physical health benefits.
Take a bubble bath and relax at night, get a weekly massage, use aromatherapy techniques, or simply talk with a close friend over coffee. These are just some of the ways you can incorporate self-care rituals into your life.
If you are unsure which practices may be most effective for you, keep a log of different things you try, and then reflect after a week to see what went well. Trial and error in self-care is important for people new to making time to care for themselves.
To boost your health for the long-haul, you need to consider holistic approaches that cater to mind and body wellness. If you’re unsure where to begin, review the suggestions above and see what works best for you! To enjoy lasting health boosts, prioritize your mind, body, and soul as often as possible.
This article is an excerpt from a newly released white paper from Home Health Care News and PlayMaker Health. A link to download the paper is at the end of this article. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a lot of unknowns for care services providers …
With Thanksgiving dinner just around the corner, health officials across the Gulf South are urging residents to be mindful of COVID-19 precautions while also planning out their menus and activities. After a deadly surge in COVID-19 cases brought on from the Delta variant, hospitalizations and …
Living a heart healthy lifestyle is important—we know this. Still, in the United States, cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death, which means heart disease prevention should be at the top of everyone’s priority list.
Fortunately, we learned a lot this year from cardiologists, heart health experts, new research, and the American Health Association (AHA) about what you can do to keep your ticker in tip-top shape.
Ahead, our top learnings this year, each of which can help decrease your risk of health disease and improve your overall well-being.
On days or weeks when you’re super busy (which, let’s be honest, is most of the time for many of us), it can be challenging to squeeze in a workout—never mind having the energy to do said workout. The good news is that, according to cardiologists, an easy, breezy, 15-minute walk around the block is enough to contribute to a healthy heart and body as a whole.
The morbidity (illness and disease) and mortality benefits of walking happen regardless of how fast your heart beats per minute while doing it. Of course, increasing your cardiovascular fitness and earning even more morbidity and mortality points requires increasing your heart rate and going longer distances.
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Still, it sure is comforting to know that a 15-minute walk alone can positively impact your heart health.
When you do have the time and energy to exercise, there are three cardiologist-approved types of fitness that reap the most benefits for your ticker. They include aerobic activity such as swimming, spinning, and running, as well as flexibility (aka how much your muscles can stretch) and mobility (the ability for joints and muscles to reach their full ranges of motion) training.
Furthermore, strength training exercises are also great for heart health. In particular, cardiologists recommend incorporating these heart-healthy, strength-training exercises into your routine: squats, lunges, bench and shoulder presses, and planks.
By now you likely know that getting enough sleep each night is a significant contributor to overall health, but it’s also important for leading a heart healthy lifestyle in particular. Poor sleep can negatively impact cardiovascular health by interrupting your body’s natural recovery and recuperation, causing changes in your blood vessels, slowing down metabolism, and putting stress on your immune system. Even more of a reason to work on stepping up your sleep game in 2022.
Speaking of sleep, a new study published in the European Heart Journal suggests that when you fall asleep also matters. According to the study, the ideal, heart-friendly bedtime is sometime within the 10 o’clock hour at night. Researchers looked at over 10K subjects and found that those who fell asleep between 10 pm and 10:59 p.m. had the lowest incidences of cardiovascular disease.
Staying adequately hydrated is vital for, well, everything—breathing, moving, digesting, being alive. Still, chronic dehydration is common, and new research suggests there’s an association between hydration and heart failure.
While more research needs to be done to determine if dehydration is a direct cause of heart failure, this research suggests staying adequately hydrated may have preventative benefits.The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) recommends men drink 128 oz. of water daily and women consume 96 oz.—the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) doesn’t offer guidance on daily water intake.
While one’s entire diet contributes to overall heart health, protein, in particular, plays a big role. The most heart-healthy proteins include those derived from plant (think beans, lentils, chickpeas, and tofu), according to the AHA and cardiologist Alejandro Junger MD, founder and medical director of the Clean Program and bestselling author of Clean ($10). They also happen to be the protein sources of choice in the Blue Zones, five regions around the world where people regularly live to be at least 100 years old in good health. Furthermore, recent research shows that eating a plant-based dinner significantly lowered the risk of heart disease, compared to eating a dinner full of refined carbs and meat.
Additionally, nuts are also great for heart health thanks to antioxidants which help blood flow. And, wild fish is a great source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are linked to decreasing the risk of heart disease.
This year, the AHA released a formal statement covering the 10 key dietary features that promote heart health. On it, it listed liquid, non-tropical plant oils, such as those derived from olives or sunflowers, as the most heart-healthy ones to cook with. Lisa Moskovitz, RD, CDN, CEO of NY Nutrition Group and author of The Core 3 Healthy Eating Plan, previously told Well+Good that this is due to tropical oils like coconut or palm oil having higher amounts of saturated fats, which can increase LDL cholesterol and risk of stroke or heart disease.
While you’re traveling, you’re almost guaranteed to spend long periods sedentary. What’s more, traveling can take a serious toll on your body. Tamanna Singh, MD, a doctor of clinical cardiology and cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, previously told Well+Good that air travel can lead to fatigue, stomach discomfort, and dehydration due to the fluctuations in oxygen levels, air pressure, and temperature.
With that in mind, fueling your body correctly while traveling is super important. Cardiologist-approved travel snacks include water and electrolytes, coconut water, fresh fruit, and high-protein whole foods such as yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, or peanut butter.
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