In a time where sedentary lifestyles have become increasingly common and dietary preferences have inclined toward convenience, the significance of developing healthy habits cannot be stressed enough. The common phrase “prevention is better than cure” remains exceptionally relevant to health to prevent chronic illnesses.
Chronic diseases, as described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are health conditions that persist for a year or longer, restrict daily life activities, and require continuous medical attention. Today, these diseases have been growingly prevalent in the US. According to a report, nearly 60% of adults suffer from a chronic illness, while approximately 40% grapple with two or more similar health problems.
Nonetheless, you can prevent these illnesses by addressing and tackling the underlying causes, i.e., daily habits and lifestyle choices. Most chronic health conditions originate from the combined effects of your decisions. You can reduce the risk of developing such health problems by taking a proactive approach to your health and incorporating healthy practices.
Here, we’ve compiled a list of habits that can help prevent chronic illnesses and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
1. Go for Regular Health Checkups
Although you may seem perfectly fine, some chronic illnesses have symptoms that remain unnoticed for a long time. So, visit your physician to rule out any potential disease or ailment. This way, you can stay apprised of your health status, detect potential risks, and enable timely intervention.
Avoiding checkups can inadvertently jeopardize your health and allow underlying diseases to progress silently, such as mesothelioma. The symptoms of this rare and aggressive cancer, stemming from significant asbestos exposure, take ages to appear. Nevertheless, treatment options such as surgeries may improve the condition if detected in the initial stages.
And while we hope you never fall victim to this disease. But if you or your loved one has experienced such a condition, know you can always take legal action. You can file a mesothelioma lawsuit to hold the responsible party accountable and secure financial compensation. In this way, you can cover the expenses of mounting medical bills.
2. Eat a Healthy and Balanced Diet
Most, if not all, people react with unease just at the thought of a balanced diet. However, eating healthy doesn’t necessarily imply giving up on your favorite meals. Instead, the main keyword here is ‘moderation.’
On most days, you should devise a dietary plan that helps manage your weight and enhances your well-being. For instance, this meal plan should include fruits, whole grains, vegetables, lean protein, and sodium. Research shows that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables reduces mortality. Another study shows that a Mediterranean diet – which contains vegetables, olive oil, fruits, whole grains, fish, legumes, and nuts, decreases the likelihood of developing cardiovascular diseases and other chronic illnesses.
That said, also limit the consumption of fats in your diet. Both trans fats (mainly present in animal-based meals) and saturated fats (produced by hydrogenating liquid vegetable oils) tend to shoot up cholesterol levels. Thus, avoiding them can help protect your heart and overall health.
3. Maintain a Proper Sleep Schedule
You probably might have heard the significance of a proper sleep schedule all your life. But you may be curious about the risks of not getting enough sleep. Although insufficient sleep has become increasingly common, various studies have associated it with the onset of chronic illnesses.
A lack of proper sleep can lead to a plethora of health problems. These may include heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Not only this, but it can also negatively affect mental health. While sleep problems don’t give birth to depression, they can aggravate the condition.
Sleep is integral in controlling various body functions, such as regulating metabolic rate and affecting glucose levels. So, aim for seven to nine hours of deep slumber every night. However, if you struggle with getting a restful sleep, fix bedtime and wake time and put away electronic devices.
4. Stay Physically Active
With the convenience of getting out of your bed to head over to your work desk and ordering takeouts frequently, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be a challenging feat. Additionally, with the work-from-home trend on the rise, the physical activity levels have drastically decreased.
However, it’s important to note that these sedentary lifestyle practices can cause various chronic health conditions, including high blood pressure, obesity, osteoporosis, and colon cancer. Therefore, get your body moving to prevent the risk of developing these health problems.
Squeeze out time from your daily routine and engage in a modern-intensity workout. It can either be brisk walking, jogging, or gardening. If you can’t seem to carve out time from your hectic life, in that case, performing muscle-strengthening exercises can be a good decision.
5. Put a Stop to Smoking
It’s no secret that smoking can have detrimental impacts on your well-being. It can lead to myriad chronic illnesses, including strokes, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and emphysema. Also, individuals who smoke are 15 to 30 times more at risk of developing lung cancer than non-smokers.
Indeed, quitting smoking can be an overwhelming task. And if you have been doing it for so long, you might believe there’s no purpose in putting a stop now. But regardless of how much you have smoked in the past, quitting, at any point, can still yield positive health benefits. It can diminish the likelihood of premature death and extend the lifetime by ten years.
In addition, quitting smoking can shield your loved ones, i.e., friends, family members, and co-workers, from the second-hand smoke risks. What’s more? These benefits become apparent right away. As such, giving up on smoking can make your heart rate drop. Also, the nicotine in the bloodstream reaches zero within a day or even less.
Conclusion
Embracing healthy habits is unquestionably one of the most effective ways to prevent chronic health problems. Of course, staying your healthiest doesn’t come easy. It’s challenging to overhaul your habits right away. Nonetheless, you can aim for the small and easiest ones first. For instance, eat a well-balanced diet rich in nutrients, engage in physical workouts, nurture restorative sleep patterns, and go for medical checkups to make a conscious effort to prioritize your well-being. Once you grow accustomed to these habits, you can implement others, such as reducing alcohol consumption and quitting smoking, to decrease the risk of developing chronic illnesses in the long run. Remember, a single healthy change in your lifestyle can put you on the right path and contribute to a future of vitality.
Beth is Cloudmineinc’s senior health editor and a certified personal trainer. She has over 10 years experience as a science journalist and is the author of two books. She deadlifts over 315 lbs.