Why and how to maintain a healthy life

Life is a precious gift which we have achieved from the God. To maintain our health in a good way is our supreme responsibility. Everyone of us wants to lead an effective life, there is no doubt about this. This life is ours, so we would always have to lead it in a very positive way and to do sowe must follow some guidelines/principles. These are as follows:-

• Follow Healthy Diet

• Doing Exercise

• Fresh Air

• Proper Rest

• Stress free life.

#1. Follow Healthy Diet:

To lead a healthy life style following healthy diet is one of the important factors. Foods like Fresh Fruits, whole grains, Fresh Vegetables, Nuts, Lean Protein etc. must be included in our daily routine. The food from where we will get the nourishment is something very important for our body and mind. 6 basic-elements of nutrition which are available around us are known as Carbohydrates, Fat, Protein, Vitamin, Minerals and Water.

# Uses of Nutrients in human body:

As we all know, Carbohydrate is a great source of energy.It is also a fact that we are getting 60-70% of the total energy getting from the carbohydrates. This total percentage of energy we are either getting from simple carbohydrates like glucose, sugar etc. which are easy to digest and give us the instant energy or from the complex carbohydrates, which takes larger time to digest like all beans, potato, rice, bread, pasta etc.

Fats are also an energy giving substance and will help the body to absorb certain vitamins. In our daily diet, appropriate amount of fats must be there. The fats must be of unsaturated nature for the sake of good health. Avocado, Egg Yolk, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Almond and nuts are rich with this type of fat which is also called as good fat.

When we talk about Protein, it helps in mass building and repairing of the cells.It has been noticed that people are taking protein powder as a general practice for improving the muscle. Generally, it is not a suggested method if it is not done under proper guidance. One of main advantages which we get from protein is that it will boost our immune system. From February 2020, people are facing Corona pandemic all over the world. During this time the greatest way to copewith this situation is to have more and more immune power and protein can surely help in that besides other nutrients.

Drink ample amount of water in a daily-basis. Water carries Minerals which help our body to grow, develop and stay healthy. Our body is made up of 75% of water and that is why it is important to maintain the proportion by taking good amount of water regularly. We must take at least 8 glasses of water daily. It is always good to keep the body hydrated as the day starts as it will help our bladder to fight infections.

The vitamins are organic substances, which the body needs, in small quantities for its normal metabolism and growth. They may not provide energy like carbohydrates and fats, nor do they serve as building materials as proteins and minerals do but are considered as essentials for all cells. Human body synthesises only Vitamins D and K. Each vitamin occurs in a particular kind of food and each one performs a specific function.

Impact of Optimal Nutrition:

For a Layman	For a trained person
1. Reduces the risk of disease	1. Cognitive Function (to improve Focus, concentration, quick decision making while playing)
2. Build the muscle to do daily work	2. Enhance Exercise capacity (higher and longer)
3. Improve the tissue quality (Nail, skin, hair and teeth development)	3. Enhance energy for Endurance activity.
4. Improve the joint health (able to reduce any old joint disorder and Arthritis)	4. Higher strength and power
5. Overall Growth and development	5. Lesser risk of injury

#2. Doing Exercise:

Exercise and nutrition must go hand in hand. There is no substitute to doing exercise regularly. Moreover, there is no one in this world who can do the exercise on behalf of you. It is absolutely the individual job to design his or her daily schedule in a way where atleast basic fitness related workouts are there.

People who are not getting suitable space to move outside or due to some other reasons do not want to go out; they can easily do different varieties of exercises inside the home/room itself. Example of such exercises are as below:-

• On spot Running

• Rope Skipping

• Plyometric exercises

• Squat

• Flexibility building Exercises

• Asanas&Pranayamas etc.

For enjoyingthe exercises, we can add music, we can do some exercises with partners, add a form of competitions or implement many other ideas.We just have to take the initiative. But if you can move outside your home, it is much better as you will get many other extra benefits; especially the sun light which is having a great impact on our health.

#3. Fresh Air:

As we know sunlight is a great source of energy which will also help to generate Vitamin-D and Serotonin (A neurotransmitter that makes the mood positive). In today’s world where work pressure is very high, Serotonin will definitely help to decrease the stress and make us fresh.Sunlight also helps to produce Calcium and Phosphorus in the blood which further helps to make our bone stronger. Morning light is having skin related benefits too.

Fresh Air is very important for our health. Long-time exposure to the toxic air is not at all good for our health whereas in the morning we can get pollution free air (except some highly polluted area where vehicles move even in the night) and it can really help to improve our health highly. In 2019, Delhi Environment Pollution Board had declared Air Pollution as a public health emergency. One important thing which is to be kept in mind is that while walking or running in the morning, the breath should be ‘control breath’ which means that it should be through a proper technique.

#4. Proper Rest:

For proper functioning of our body and mind, we need good rest. Without sound sleep, we can’t perform well in our day to day life. Sleep period of 6 to 8 hours is important for human. Healthy diet and exercise helps us to get that.

#5. Stress Free Life:

In today’s world life has become very much competitive and due to that we take a lot of stress whereas we should stay stress free as it is bad for our health and mind. For staying stress free we must take healthy food, do regular exercises along with meditation/pranayamas.

By balancing diet and exercises, we can surely lead a healthy life. We must remember one thing in life that Health is wealth. If we focus too much on day to day works and skip exercise, we must be ready to take a long gap in work for the treatment and spend hefty amount in later stages of life. Another important point to be mentioned here is that we must avoid junk food as much as we can as it can destroy the body in long time even if we do exercises. Plenty of different types of fruits, vegetables and water are the important items to consume. Stay Healthy, Stay fit .