If you’re looking for advice on staying healthy, you’re sure to find a lot of it. In fact, you’ll find too much: you’ll spot quick fixes, trendy cure-alls, and the latest scary news about what makes you get sick or gain weight.
The problem with all this advice isn’t that it’s inaccurate (though it often is); it’s either too granular or too broadly applied. Staying healthy isn’t about devouring lots of the latest “superfood,” because staying healthy is more complicated than that.
And staying healthy isn’t about tracking all of the different things that may or may not cause cancer, because there’s a bigger picture than that. The best way to approach your health is holistically.
Holistic health
“Holistic” here means that you’re taking a broad view of your health. You should recognize that your different health needs and risks are all interrelated. You need to understand that’s it’s not diet or exercise, but diet and exercise; and that it’s not mental or physical health, but mental and physical health.
And you need to put all of this knowledge into building a healthy lifestyle that ditches fads and complicated ideas for simple rules to live by. Below are some building blocks that can get you started.
What to eat
Healthy eating is the foundation of any healthy lifestyle. But there’s so much information out there about what to eat (and what not to) that it can be hard to know what you should be consuming.
There’s nothing wrong with tracking macronutrients or trying to eat “superfoods,” but here’s a simple tip: you’ll get the best results if you eat whole foods, especially vegetables. That’s it. Just eat whole foods (instead of processed foods, which are the opposites of whole foods), and you’ll get lots of nutrients and avoid “empty calories”.
How to get moving
Exercise is vital to your health, and yet most Americans are not getting the recommended amount. Experts say that a mere half-hour of exercise a day on five days of the week is enough to keep us healthy, so there’s no excuse for coming up short.
But how can you make exercise a habit? You need to look at your life holistically, of course. You shouldn’t treat your workouts like medicine that you have to take. Integrate exercise into your life, and make it a hobby. There are lots of great physical hobbies that will get you moving, point out the experts at a dance center in Gaithersburg, MD.
Addressing mental health
Your mental health and your physical health are closely related. So if you wouldn’t go years without seeing a doctor (and, hopefully, you wouldn’t), then you shouldn’t go years without visiting a mental health professional.
And you should consider your mental health in your other routines, including your exercise routine and your eating habits. The same things that are good for your physical health are good for your mental health, too.
Supplements can be a big help here. CBD is popular these days for folks looking to calm their minds and ease symptoms of anxiety. CBD is derived from marijuana, but it’s not the whole drug. It’s just an isolated part that helps calm your mind without getting you high. You can learn more about CBD online from trusted sites that offer CBD reviews and discounts like a Plus CBD Oil coupon.
Your mental health isn’t a separate kind of health — it’s a dimension of your health. Everything that you do matters to your mind and body, so make good decisions and remember to approach your health holistically!
Alex is a professional writer and digital marketing expert.