“Get more exercise. Eat more salads.” You think you know the basics about what it takes to stay fit. However, reading up on health tips for you and your family pays. You never know when you might learn something new that provides a simple way to improve your well-being without spending money or effort.
What often-overlooked factors could impact your daily existence for the better? Here are eight health tips for you and your family, including some you might not have heard.
1. Eat More Seafood
Once upon a time, consumers fried foods in animal lard. It wasn’t until Edwin Kayser discovered that he could transform the cottonseed left over from cotton gins into a usable, shelf-stable alternative that vegetable oils entered the fray. At first, they were laden with trans fats and still can become so in high temperatures. While improved manufacturing techniques have reduced this threat, the new one is omega-6 fatty acids.
You need omega-6 for health. The problem is the proportion. Ideally, you should have a close to equal omega-3 to omega-6 balance, but many American diets are tipped more than 10:1 in the omega-6 favor, thanks to the proliferation of vegetable oils in nearly every prepared food. The result is increased systemic inflammation and disease.
Your solution? Eat more seafood. Seafood is the richest source of omega-3 fatty acids. Eating it at least twice a week slashes your heart disease risk, decreases arthritis pain and boosts your immunity and brainpower.
2. Add Flax to Your Diet
Flax is another wonder food you need more of in your diet. It’s also a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids with a 4:1 ratio heavy in them, and you can restore your balance and increase your fiber intake by sprinkling a bit of the ground seed on soups and salads. Spinach is also omega-3 heavy — perhaps a salad with tuna and flax seeds for lunch?
You can also use flax as a substitute for vegetable oil when baking. Use one cup of ground flax seed for each ⅓ cup of vegetable oil called for in the recipe.
3. Make Friends With Growing Things
Do you have a garden? How about a corner ficus? Inviting a few plants to share your home with you could make a significant health difference.
Why? Way back in the 1980s, NASA scientists discovered that plants remove toxins like formaldehyde from indoor air when trying to find a way to live on other planets. The more houseplants you have, the cleaner the air you breathe. Plus, they slightly lower indoor temperatures by releasing water droplets through transpiration.
Gardening is a relaxing hobby if you have a yard or even a sunny balcony. Decreasing stress is a huge plus for your health, as it worsens the symptoms of nearly every disease. You get more exercise and provide your family with fresh, organic produce.
4. Learn to Breathe
Your breath is your direct line to your parasympathetic nervous system. What’s that? The half of your autonomic nervous system that tells you to relax. Deep breathing can help you regulate your emotions and mood. There are scores of different techniques — try these the next time you feel yourself about to “lose it:”
- Boxed breathing: Inhale for a 4-count, hold your breath for four, then exhale for a 4-count, pausing again before inhaling.
- Opposite-nostril breathing: Close one side of your nose with your finger, inhaling through the other. Then, pinch that side closed as you elongate your exhale out the opposite side.
- 2-to-1 breathing: Elongate your exhales roughly twice as long as your inhales.
5. Enjoy a Morning Cuppa
It doesn’t matter if you like coffee or tea. Both are chock-full of antioxidants, so enjoy your morning cuppa. Just go easy on additives like artificial sweeteners and sugar-laden creamers.
Want to up the health quotient of your brew and fight pain and inflammation all day? Add a dash of turmeric, black pepper and ginger to your grounds or infuser. It adds a lovely chai hint to any pot while easing aches.
6. Mind Your Input
Every other alert on your phone indicates bad news. A steady diet of disaster and war pours from your television as you eat dinner. Yet, you wonder why you feel anxious and depressed.
Our modern connected lives have left us lonelier and sadder than ever. Instead, mind your input. Disconnect from your devices regularly and tune into the real people around you. Chances are, you’ll have a far more pleasant conversation with the local checkout clerk at the grocer than with a social media troll.
7. Brush Up Before Bed
The idea that teeth are luxury bones that don’t matter as much as the rest of your body is an insurance company myth — debunk it, stat. The truth is the bacteria that causes poor oral health increases your risk of deadly diseases like heart disease and Alzheimer’s.
Sadly, not everyone can visit a dentist each year. However, you can brush up before bed to avoid letting germs proliferate while you sleep, entering your bloodstream to do further damage. Make it a full deal with floss and rinse.
8. Change Your Lightbulbs
Do you get a headache in your kitchen? It could be that overhead fluorescent light, which contains invisible pulsing that triggers migraines. Can you replace it with a strip version that illuminates your cookbook?
In general, the further toward blue on the light spectrum, the harsher the light. Switching to soft white or amber bulbs in all your fixtures can instantly make you feel more relaxed.
Health Tips for You and Your Family
The internet and popular magazines abound with health tips. Guess what? Each article is valuable — you’ll never know when you may learn something new.
The above health tips for you and your family improve your well-being without costing much. Try some today to improve how you feel.
