Healthy Living: Get Out What You Put In

The human body is a remarkable and complicated thing! There are 206 bones in every adult, a heart pumping around 5 liters of blood, a system of nerves, some 650 muscles, and a bunch of major organs that all help keep you healthy and active. It is important to remember that like anything else, your body needs maintenance and care so that it keeps working as well as it possibly can, and the best way to help your system out is to make sure that you get regular exercise and that you are aware of what you are putting into your body. By knowing how different substances are going to affect your health, you can make informed and sensible choices about keeping your body in good working order.

Essential Things Your Body Needs
To maintain your health, it crucial that you find time for regular exercise. Now, this can be tricky for many of us nowadays, because some days we may lack the time or motivation, but as the Harvard School of Public Health Recommends even if “you don’t currently exercise and aren’t very active during the day, any increase in exercise or physical activity is good for you.” You don’t have to suddenly start running marathons – even aiming to go for a short walk everyday can help make a start at providing the exercise you need to stay fit. If you aren’t currently doing much to improve your fitness, it’s fine to start small and build up as you become more comfortable with regular exercise. At the same time, it’s also important to try and find forms of exercise that are fun to help motivate you to keep it up. If you can join in an enjoyable activity that also gives you a chance to spend time with other people, all the better – spending time playing sports or outdoor games with friends will also help maintain your motivation along with your fitness.
Regular exercise helps keep your body running, but what about the fuel we use? According to the last published Dietary Guidelines “Americans currently consume too much sodium and too many calories from solid fats, added sugars, and refined grains”. Just as it is important to maintain your fitness, you also need to make sure you are conscious of what you are putting inside your body. In particular, we need to make sure that we are eating enough fruit, vegetables – ChooseMyPlate.gov recommends making sure that half your plate is made up of these healthy alternatives. This is because fruit and vegetables help keep our weight at an appropriate level and prevent obesity, while also providing essential minerals and vitamins that help the body stay in good shape. At the same time by making sure that you are using fruit and vegetables as a major part of your meals and snacks, you will be reducing your risk of contracting disease like cancer.

Taking on Damage: Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs
Of course, not everything we put into our bodies is actually helpful for us – and some things can be downright harmful for our health. We might know that drugs can cause us a lot of harm – even a relatively common drug like marijuana, which drugtreatment.com says “is often referred to as a gateway drug” can have harmful effects on the body. According to drugabuse.gov, marijuana smoke can not only cause damage to the lungs, but “A number of studies have linked chronic marijuana use and mental illness.” At the same time, it isn’t just illegal drugs that can affect your health, as legal substances like alcohol and cigarettes can also damage your body.
Like smoking marijuana, cigarettes can cause severe respiratory problems, and as BeTobaccoFree.gov states smoking “damages your breathing and scars your lungs”. Cigarette smoke can significantly raise your risk of contracting cancer, and also lead to problems with your heart, raise blood-pressure and damage your arteries.
Likewise, putting too much alcohol regularly into your body can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. Consuming excessive alcohol can also lead to liver disease, since the liver works hard to process alcohol, but too much drinking exhausts the liver. It is especially important to be aware of how alcohol might be affecting your organs, since those who have damaged their liver from consuming too much alcohol will often not be able to feel any liver damage and as drinksmarter.org says “people often don’t realize it’s suffering until it’s too late.” It is precisely because there is so much going on in our bodies that can’t be seen that we need to make the effort to monitor of how our lifestyle can affect our health.

If you take the time to think about how you are looking after your body and what you are putting into it, with just a little bit of effort, you can keep yourself fit and healthy and help avoid unpleasant diseases. Remember, for a healthier and happier life, keep your body going with exercise, make sure you put in good fuels like fruit and vegetables, and always be aware of the dangers of using substances that can harm you.

Submitted by Lily McCann.