HOW OUR DIET AFFECTS OUR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH

We are always taught that once health is lost, everything is lost. And for maintaining a sound mental and physical health, we do not need just food, but a balanced diet. A balanced diet fulfills our nutritional requirements proportionately and helps in improving our cognitive & physical efficiency. Conversely, a poor diet results in early physical or mental fatigue, impaired decision-making abilities, delayed reactions, and lethargy. In fact, an inadequate diet may aggravate stress and depression also.

Various studies claim that our diet is a very important external decisive factor affecting our body’s response to various disease-causing agents. Moreover, it helps in comprehensive conditioning and balancing of our mood swings. Even a study named “food-mood connection” highlights the importance of diet in diminishing depression.

Poor dietary habits, like having junk food frequently, have left no space for health maintenance, leaving a healthy and fit lifestyle as a herculean job. Daily fulfillment of nutritional needs should be our regular pursuit for a sound mind and healthy body. It is said that most processed foods stimulate certain centers of our brain that are associated with the feeling of pleasure and reward. This consequently enhances our cravings for such unhealthy foods that contain added sugars and refined carbs. So, the only way out is to say complete no to junk food and welcome a balanced diet in our lifestyle.

GIVE A HEALTHY START TO YOUR DAY

Sticking to a great eating routine consistently from day to day may help in weight reduction, body & mental energizing, and eliminating risk factors causing certain long-standing diseases.

Let’s learn the best eating schedule:

• BREAKFAST
  • Wake up and eat something healthy within 30 minutes
  • Have breakfast at around 7AM ideally
  • Prefer to have more and more protein in your breakfast plate
• LUNCH
  • Ideal time for lunch is 12:45PM
  • Try to keep a time lapse of 4 hours between two meals
  • Try not to delay lunch beyond 4pm.
• DINNER
  • Ideally, have your dinner before 7PM
  • Try to keep a time lapse of 4 hours between lunch & dinner
  • Try not to delay dinner beyond 10pm
  • Bedtime eating may hinder your quality of sleep also

FACTORS AFFECTING OUR DIETARY REQUIREMENTS

The factors that affect the dietary/nutritional needs are:

AGE
Age is a vital determinant factor behind our nutritional needs. For example, in younger age our calcium and phosphorus needs are high but drop down in adulthood and again rise as we go older. On the other hand, Vitamin C demands also keep on increasing with our age due to varied reasons. Furthermore, Vitamin B12 and magnesium absorption gets compromised in older adults. Such individuals are even less capable of producing Vitamin D in their skin. Therefore, we can say that nutritional demands are high in childhood due to growth and in later half of our life due to degenerative changes. Also, our dietary demands increase more in old age because at this age we are at high risk of heart attacks, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, cancer, liver diseases, and many more.

GENDER
Nutrient needs significantly change depending on gender. Women require a higher amount of calcium and iron than men. As vitamin D plays a keen role in calcium absorption, the two nutrients in combination are often medically advised to females. Moreover, it's pregnancy, lactation, and menstrual cycle that bring the major differentiation in these two genders’ needs. The fetal development requires folate, B vitamins, calcium, vitamin D, and iron. So pregnant ladies are prescribed supplements for such nutrients. Additionally, the absorptive capability of pregnant women is high for calcium, iron, and zinc.

Conversely, males and postmenopausal females have much lower iron requirements. High iron-rich diets can risk them for heart ailments. Since men are more prone to heart diseases, they require some other nutrients like vitamin E and folic acid.

DIET
One’s dietary routine acknowledges a lot about his/her potential nutritional lags. For example, a person may have a deficiency of vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, and potassium if his diet lacks fruits and vegetables, whereas a vegetarian person may have lower levels of vitamin B12. Individuals who specifically consume a very low-fat diet may have insufficient levels of certain fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K). This is because the absorption of such vitamins requires fats.

Nutrient interactions also play a vital role in maintaining our body’s nutrient balance. For example, a vitamin C diet enhances iron absorption but the same is downregulated by a calcium diet. Iron absorption is also hindered by polyphenols, which are present in a variety of our regular foods or beverages like tea or coffee. Furthermore, calcium excretion increases due to a protein-rich diet.

CLIMATE
Our diets are predominantly governed by the climatic condition of the place where we are residing. People living in colder regions have to include high amounts of proteins in their diets. Since they require high calorie consumption to keep their bodies warm, they may include more fats in their diet. On the other hand, people living in warm regions have to include carbs with low protein in their diets. This is because when carbohydrates are digested, water is produced as a by-product which can keep them hydrated. However, India is a tropical country, where there are many seasons in a year. So, our diets are governed by the current season. In fact, changing seasons open doors to many infections and flu. Therefore, the need for immunity boosters is usually high during those months of the year.

MEDICATIONS
Medications are necessary when it comes to treating or preventing diseases. We all know that medications potentially have a lot of side effects. These can be adverse interactions with certain nutrients. There may be compromised or over-absorption of those nutrients.

DNA
DNA is also known to impact an individual’s nutritional requirements. This is studied under nutrigenomics. These days, this is brought into focus to pave the path of personalized nutrition. There are certain gene variants that show a link with compromised absorption and assimilation of vitamin A, folate, choline, and vitamin D and there are other genetic variants that show a link with alarmingly high iron accumulation in the body.

TAKING DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS DAILY; A SUPER HEALTHY TRICK

We all are very much aware of the fact that detoxification of the body from heavy metals, toxins, and pollutants is equally important as nutrition. Along with this, we need to include more and more antioxidants also in our diet to neutralize the free radicals in our body. These free radicals are formed as the result of our regular activities like respiration, digestion, physical exertion, and mental functioning. But these unstable oxygen species tend to attack cell walls and consequently, may damage skin, blood vessels, muscle, bones, and various organs of the body like the heart.

Although dietary supplements cannot be called a “magic pill for wellness,” these can make our way to achieve wellness easier. The right combination of supplementary nutrition, which varies person to person, can be the super health trick towards our overall well-being. It is a formula of shuttling the right nutrient for the required function. Luckily, science has given such advanced formulas to carry out the measured nutrition, detoxification, and anti-oxidation for our body via supplementation.

But the matter of concern is that the health stores are fluffed with varied types of supplements. Choosing natural dietary supplements is the first step towards superior wellness. This is because the synthetic supplements come with several unmanageable long-term side effects.

We all want a long life full of joys successes and sound health. Unfortunately, today’s fast lifestyle has made people so crazy for success that they often choose shortcuts when it comes to health and ultimately welcome various illnesses. Such conditions are often neglected when they are at treatable or manageable stages without medical aid.

Let’s go through some wise tips to stay healthy even in this scenario full of stress.

1. Exercise regularly
The National Cancer Institute states that regular exercising helps in weight reduction and body strengthening. Moreover, it also helps in preventing the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and heart diseases. However, gut-wrenching exertion or hard work outs may harm your body. So, avoid going for excess workouts as a brisk walk of just 30-minutes is sufficient to keep you healthy. 

2. Never skip breakfast
Studies say that ones who do not skip a timely breakfast everyday, get maximum vitamins and minerals from their diet. Such people also have optimized levels of fat and cholesterol. Well, having a fiber and protein rich diet helps you stay energized throughout the day. For such a diet, one can go for whole-grain cereals or breads, skimmed milk, fruits, and yogurt.

3. Stay away from unhealthy junk food
It has been said very aptly that your eatery habits contribute a lot to your overall personality. The perfect diets include more fruit and nuts with occasional sugary drinks or snacks. The American Heart Association recommends going for a fish meal twice a week. It is a rich source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids which helps in enhancing your heart health

Don’t forget to implement “portion control” in your diet routine. For healthy and long living, go for larger portions of vitamin, fiber and mineral rich fruits/vegetables. Additionally, put a huge cut on high calorie food that contains high sugar and fat content.

Prefer to chew your food well before swallowing! Health experts recommend that chewing food 20-30 times helps in better digestion. It also prevents excess calorie intake by letting you get aware of your stomach fullness early, as it takes your stomach around 20 minutes to message the brain that it is full.

The word of caution which should never be ignored is that do not include artificial sweeteners in your diet as these might increase the risk of obesity, heart diseases and various chronic disorders.

Above all, say no to smoking and alcoholic lifestyle to have a long life with healthy organs.

4. Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated
Drinking sufficient amounts of water is very critical for every cell, tissue, and organ functioning. Although, it is said that one must drink at least 8 glasses of water every day, this idea is hardly substantiated. Perhaps a better guide says one must try drinking enough water that enables you to urinate once every 2-4 hours. 

5. Maintain a good oral hygiene
As we eat everything from the mouth, so if we neglect our oral hygiene then we may land up having lots of infections and dysfunctions. Moreover, a theory says that the bacteria causing dental plaque can enter our bloodstream and result in inflammations which can ultimately cause heart associated disorders. So, one must include twice brushing and after meal flossing to maintain proper dental hygiene.

6. Get proper sleep and avoid nightlife
Sleep is vital to our holistic health. It is the time when the brain does its debugging. Moreover, lack of sleep may induce drowsiness, lack of focus, fatigue, and poor memory. However, consequences of sleep deprivation may go far by putting long-lasting adverse effects on your brain. So, one must resist going for night time partying as much as possible.

7. Nourish Your Body
In today’s scenario, the biggest threat is the viral and bacterial infections that are caused by highly mutated and antibiotic resistant microbes. So, one needs to have a very strong immunity to stay away from such diseases and allow our body’s proper nourishment. Moreover, it is very important to have an antioxidant and detoxification drinks or meals in our routine. This is because such agents can support the best metabolism of our body by removing free radicals, heavy metals, and toxins.

One can go for natural or supplementary vitamin C for strong immunity and antioxidant action. Furthermore, dietary or supplementary vitamin E is another very strong antioxidant. Along with this, it can also help in enhancing our heart health and preventing cancer risks.

Summary Note
The most workable mantras that can bring the closest to a healthy lifestyle are Eat Right Live Well, Minimal Exercise, and a Great Eating Routine. A learned man once said very aptly that a sound mind lies in a sound body. So, if we want to live a life with maximum physical productivity and mental activity then we have to move to a rich lifestyle putting all our efforts into giving our body everything it needs. One can go for food-based nutritional supplements if his/her diet is unable to fulfil our body requirements. But one thing should be kept in mind that natural and non-synthetic supplements can serve us with minimal side effects.

Exercise Activates Your Health

It is said very aptly that if you want to feel better, stay energetic and add quality years to your life then convince yourself to exercise every day. Undoubtedly, the myriad health benefits of exercising and staying physically active are hard to ignore. No matter what age, gender, or disease you are suffering from, a right and light regular exercising schedule serves you the best health.

For most of us, when someone says cardio or working out, the glimpse of sweat-filled rooms comes to mind. Running out of oxygen, or giving gasping torture to your body is not the exact way out. Such kinds of training fall under the category of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Although HIIT can be beneficial for one's well-being, it’s not something necessary. Another set of workouts that come under the category of Low-Intensity Steady State Training (LISS) is becoming common these days as the best workout method. It is a kind of cardiovascular exercise in which low to moderate intensity aerobics are performed over an extended period, a low-to-moderate intensity for a continued, or often extended time.

What kind of exercise can benefit us?

Health experts say that one must go for exercises of mild to moderate intensity to stay fit. HIIT may make you feel tired, hinder routine activities and impact badly on your performance. Additionally, “rest” is the counter-half of our training. It helps our body to recover for the next session.
People often consider HIIT as a way of getting the best fitness results in a shorter duration of time by burning maximum calories in a short span. It is said very aptly that “Pushing too hard for too long can backfire”. Let's know more about the LISS cardio that can help you draw the low-intensity training benefits by preventing us from running out of energy:

• Helps in measured fat burning and weight loss

Low impact steady-state workouts such as swimming, cycling, yoga, and walking help in improving the body’s ability to use our fats as fuel to generate energy than glycogen which is the requirement of our muscles. Moreover, it plays a vital role in fat distribution. So, you might not be losing the beautiful morphology of your body by burning fat from every part of your body.

• It is the right workout plan for all

This kind of workout is suitable for all genders, a larger age group, and even seasonal athletes.

• Enhances mental wellness and concentration abilities

Exercising is not just the key to a healthy body but a healthy mind also. A low-intensity steady-state training contributes greatly to improving brain function, elevating mood, optimizing blood circulation, controlling the increase of heart rate, and balancing hormone levels.

• Supports best body recovery

The low-intensity steady-state exercises allow time to our body for best healing and recovery from any kind of wear and tear that might have occurred while exercising. Moreover, after every workout session, we need a lot of oxygen for our cells for their life longevity. So, such workouts allow our body for relaxation and accurate oxygen distribution in our body cells.

Best exercising routine for a week

The following workout routine is for ones who do exercise regularly. But if someone has to start, then he/she must begin with little workout sessions first.

Monday: A long low intensity steady run for the distance of around 5 kilometers. This should be your longest run of the week.
Tuesday: Yoga session for around 1 to 1.5 hours. It should be done in the right way like beginning from meditation and ending with energy retaining yoga activities.
Wednesday: Going for cycling or biking in an area with varied slopes for 1-1.5 hours. This should be accompanied by arms and abs exercises.
Thursday: Do swimming again for 1-1.5 hours followed by abs exercises. If someone does not know how to swim, then he/she must go to a low-intensity steady run for around 4 kilometers.
Friday: Fridays should be for leg strengthening exercises. One can go for squatting followed by leg weight training exercises.
Saturday: One must go either for swimming or running after the day of leg exercises. The other option is to go for Zumba or any other dance class.
Sunday: On Sundays one should give rest to his/her body for energizing, recovering, and strengthening it for next week.

Why and how to avoid excess exercise?

Some studies have recently shed light on the adverse effects of over-exercising. It has been proven that certain biochemical reactions causing muscle pain and fatigue take place in our bodies when we work out limitlessly. Health experts say that one must go for exercises of mild to moderate intensity to stay fit. Overtraining may make you feel tired, hinder routine activities and impact badly on your performance. Additionally, rest is the counter-half of training. It helps your body to recover for the next session.

The most convenient method to avoid overdoing exercise is to listen to your body and take sufficient rest. Other ways to ensure safe exercising are:

• Take enough calories and nutrients like vitamin B complex, acetyl L carnitine, and alpha lipoic acid according to your level of exercise.
• Decrease your excessively exhaustive sessions before any competition to display your best performance
• Drink plenty of water along with a balanced diet while following any workout routine.
• Ensure 8 hours of sound sleep every night.
• Avoid exercising in extreme weather conditions.
• Avoid or cut back on workouts when you do not feel well or are under extreme work stress.
• Schedule at least 6 hours of rest after every exercise session.
• Keep one day off a week to let your body recover.

Role of taking dietary supplements along with exercising

Our exercising will not benefit us much if we are not following a healthy eating routine properly. Dietary supplements can help to improve our strength and endurance in our journey to achieve set performance goals. A well-balanced nutrition plan and a well-structured & thought-out workout plan together can help you to make excellent progress irrespective of your goal which can be fat loss or muscle strengthening. Without giving proper nutrition to your muscles, your exercising may result in reverse consequences like muscle weakening. One must energize his/her body first before setting any goal for workouts. Moreover, one can consume dietary supplements for immunity and detoxification which are equally important as body strengthening for healthy living.
If you want to enhance your exercise stamina or athletic performance then you must choose 100% natural Acetyl L Carnitine, vitamin B complex, and alpha lipoic acid supplements. These nutrients can help in even losing weight in the best and healthy manner.

Summing Up

Here, a saying fits very aptly, “ Eat Right Live Well”. It means having the right eating to live well is equally important as regular exercising. Exercising is undoubtedly a one-stop solution to naturally cure many health issues by stimulating the body's healing and recovering response naturally. Give a thought and stop binging on High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), as slowing down (LISS) can help you to give a better start to another day session with great freshness and reinvigoration.