Tips for Staying Healthy

A healthy lifestyle can help you thrive throughout your life. Making healthy choices isn't always easy, however. It can be hard to find the time and energy to exercise regularly or prepare healthy meals. However, your efforts will pay off in many ways, and for the rest of your life.

Steps you can take:

·         Be physically active for 30 minutes most days of the week. Break this up into three 10-minute sessions when pressed for time. Healthy movement may include walking, sports, dancing, yoga, running or other activities you enjoy.

·         Eat a well-balanced, low-fat diet with lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Choose a diet that's low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and moderate in sugar, salt and total fat.

·         Avoid injury by wearing seatbelts and bike helmets, using smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the home, and using street smarts when walking alone. If you own a gun, recognize the dangers of having a gun in your home. Use safety precautions at all times.

·         Don't smoke, or quit if you do. Ask your health care provider for help. UCSF'sTobacco Education Center offers smoking cessation and relapse prevention classes as well as doctor consultations for smokers trying to quit.

·         Drink in moderation if you drink alcohol. Never drink before or while driving, or when pregnant.

·         Ask someone you trust for help if you think you might be addicted to drugs or alcohol.

·         Help prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS by using condoms every time you have sexual contact. Condoms aren't 100 percent foolproof, so discuss STI screening with your provider. Birth control methods other than condoms, such as pills and implants, won't protect you from STIs or HIV.

·         Brush your teeth after meals with a soft or medium bristled toothbrush. Also brush after drinking and before going to bed. Use dental floss daily.

·         Stay out of the sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. when the sun's harmful rays are strongest. You are not protected if it is cloudy or if you are in the water — harmful rays pass through both. Use a broad spectrum sunscreen that guards against both UVA and UVB rays, with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher. Select sunglasses that block 99 to 100 percent of the sun's rays.

Maintaining a Healthy Outlook

Women today have busy, demanding lives. You may feel pulled in different directions and experience stress from dealing with work, family and other matters, leaving little time for yourself. Learning to balance your life with some time for yourself will pay off with big benefits — a healthy outlook and better health.

Steps you can take:

·         Stay in touch with family and friends.

·         Be involved in your community.

·         Maintain a positive attitude and do things that make you happy.

·         Keep your curiosity alive. Lifelong learning is beneficial to your health.

·         Healthy intimacy takes all forms but is always free of coercion.

·         Learn to recognize and manage stress in your life. Signs of stress include trouble sleeping, frequent headaches and stomach problems; being angry a lot; and turning to food, drugs and alcohol to relieve stress.

·         Good ways to deal with stress include regular exercise, healthy eating habits and relaxation exercises, such as deep breathing or meditation. Talking to trusted family members and friends can help a lot. Some women find that interacting with their faith community is helpful in times of stress.

·         Get enough sleep and rest. Adults need around eight hours of sleep a night.

·         Talk to your health care provider if you feel depressed for more than a few days; depression is a treatable illness. Signs of depression include feeling empty and sad, crying a lot, loss of interest in life, and thoughts of death or suicide. If you or someone you know has thoughts of suicide, get help right away. Call 911, a local crisis center or (800) SUICIDE.

Source: http://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/tips_for_staying_healthy

Five lifestyle tips for a healthy tummy

1.Beat stress to ease tummy troubles:

You may have noticed a feeling of unease in your stomach during times of stress. That’s because anxiety and worry can upset the delicate balance of digestion. In some people it slows down digestion, causing bloating, pain and constipation, while in others it speeds it up causing diarrhoea and frequent trips to the loo. Some people lose their appetite completely.

Stress can also worsen digestive conditions like peptic ulcers (on the inside lining of the stomach or small intestine) and irritable bowel syndrome.

One solution is to avoid eating when you're feeling very anxious, stressed or unhappy. It also helps your digestion if you avoid arguing at the dinner table, as getting angry can put you off your food or make eating harder. Try to keep mealtimes happy and relaxed.

For more advice, read our articles on managing stress.

2.Stop smoking to prevent reflux:

Smoking can weaken the muscle that controls the lower end of the oesophagus (gullet) and allow acid from the stomach to travel in the wrong direction back up the oesophagus, a process known as reflux.

Reflux causes the symptoms of heartburn (a burning sensation in the chest) and can bring on or aggravate peptic ulcers and inflammatory conditions of the bowel. Smoking is also an important risk factor for stomach cancer.

Read our articles on how to stop smoking.

3.Eat properly to help your digestion:

It is very easy to spend our working lives eating on the move or at our desks, gulping down food between meetings and then crashing out in front of the TV with a takeaway in the evenings. But eating this way can play havoc with our digestive system.

4.Following some basic rules can prevent problems:

• Don’t rush your food. Take the time to eat slowly. Try putting your fork down between bites and chew each mouthful well.
• Don’t overeat. Reduce the size of your portions at mealtimes, or try eating four to five small meals instead of three large ones.
• Eat regularly and try not to skip meals.
• Avoid eating a big meal just before you go to bed. Eat your last meal at least two to three hours before lying down.
• Make sure you have plenty to drink. Try to have at least one and a half litres (two and a half pints) of liquid a day.

5.Lose excess weight to beat heartburn:

If you’re overweight, your tummy fat puts pressure on your stomach and can cause heartburn. Shedding some pounds may relieve digestive symptoms such as heartburn and other acid-related stomach complaints.

Check your weight using this BMI self-assessment tool and read advice on losing weight.

Binge drinking causes acid-related digestive disorders:

Moderate drinking won’t hurt your digestive system, but binge drinking increases acid production in your stomach and can cause heartburn and aggravate other digestive disorders, warns Dr Anton Emmanuel.

Binge drinking is defined as drinking eight or more units of alcohol in one session for men, and drinking more than six units in one session for women.

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Source:http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/digestivehealth/Pages/lifestyle-tips.aspx