Many people are getting hung up on which diet to choose (e.g. Keto / vegan / calorie count), how often to go to the gym, how much water to drink, which sleep App….. etc

But how many people have got their basic health nailed?

The basics are:

Sleep – plenty of it.  Go to bed when you are tired.  Your bedroom is a place to sleep, it isn’t a cinema, an office, a dining room or a place to check social media.

Exercise – just move more.  Walk more places, have walking meetings, use the stairs, hoover your house, dig your garden, run around the park with your kids

Fresh air and sunshine (or at least daylight) – move more outside rather than pounding a treadmill in an artificially lit gym. Nature is our best de-stresser.  Don’t slap toxic sunscreen on the moment you see the sun, but don’t burn either.  Vitamin D is really good for us

Fun – do you have enjoy yourself or are wading through stress.  Assess your life so that it’s actually a nice life.  It could be a short one.

Food – whatever your particular choice of meat, veggie or vegan, eat more real live plants (not processed plants), make time to cook from scratch and eat mindfully at a table in the presence of others, ideally, not at your desk, or in front of the TV or in the car.  By taking time to prepare and cook our food from scratch we stimulate digestive juices and help absorb our food better than putting a container in the oven

Water – choose water before caffeine and you’ll feel more energised.  Our café culture is affecting our adrenaline levels, our blood sugar and our sleep

Hunger – listen to it.  Are you hungry or have you grazed all day.  Eating 3 balanced meals should mean you don’t need to snack.  And if you do eat fruit.

Cut through the hype:

  • Quality red meat is not bad for you (processed fast food meat is).
  • Good fat is essential (oily fish, avocados, real butter, extra virgin olive oil) but bad fat is toxic (processed vegetable oils, low fat spreads, roasted snacks, and fried fast food).
  • Veganism does not suit everyone’s digestion.
  • Potatoes are not fattening, but frying them in vegetable oil is.
  • Fruit is good for you, but high fructose corn syrup (which has given fruit a bad name) is not good for you (found mostly in fizzy drinks).
  • Sugar-free is not a good choice, as sweeteners interfere with gut bacteria – bring back water with lemon, ginger, cucumber or mint.
  • Low fat has more sugar or salt to compensate for taste

 

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