Just what is optimal health? Is it merely the absence of disease, or does it go deeper?

Rene Dubos, an American microbiologist, in 1927 described health as: “A measure of each person’s ability to do and become what he wants to become.”

In 1948, the World Health Organisation (WHO) took this idea further and defined health as: “A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

In 1986, the WHO updated their views on health as: “A resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasising social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.”

“True health is only possible when we understand the unity of our minds, emotions, spirits, and physical bodies and stop striving for perfection.” – Christiane Northrup, MD

Whatever it is, health is your resource which you can use to support your function and purpose in the world.

Top 6 factors for optimal health
Physical and mental health are the two primary types of health that we all know about. Other forms of health include, spiritual, emotional and financial. And if you are in good health overall you are able to enjoy all the good things in life, without guilt or shame because you are satisfied and confident in your ability to moderate your behaviours accordingly.

Here are some of the top six factors sighted as being essential for good, all-round health:

Diet
We are constantly bombarded with conflicting information on what to eat and what not to eat. The most important thing to remember is to not jump on every new diet fad, and that different diseases can be affected positively and negatively by what you eat, just as different foods can positively and negatively affect different people. We are ‘bio individuals’ and need to listen to our own bodies.

A healthy balanced diet comprising whole foods such as vegetables, eggs, lean proteins, nuts, fruits and good fats and oils can help you maintain a normal weight as well as provide you with energy and lower your risks for the leading killer diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancers. It is important to stay away from processed foods such as packaged snacks and fast-foods as oily, sugary and refined foods contain little to no benefits for your body.

Water is also an essential part of a healthy diet as it helps the body get rid of waste by flushing out the body’s toxins. In general, it is good to aim to consume 2-3 litres of water per day.

Sleep
A good night’s sleep of 7-8 hours gives you the best chance of being mentally and physically prepared for the following day, as it gives your body a chance to rest, restore, repair and regenerate.

This is because during sleep your body’s proverbial “batteries” are recharged, the days’ activities and learnings are processed, and your body also attends to all of the metabolic functions it requires, such as regenerating old cells, getting rid of wastes and repairing cell damage.

My last post discussed the effect that not getting enough sleep has on your weight.

The keys to improving your sleep are:

• Making it a priority.
• Reducing your exposure to artificial light at night.
• Creating a sleep-friendly environment.
• Eating sleep-promoting foods for dinner in the evening. A small bowl of oats, or sweet potato with some butter, almonds, kiwi and mangos are foods that can help you to fall asleep more easily, as will a cup of camomile tea.
• Taking a magnesium supplement, like Synergy’s ‘body prime’, can also support people’s sleep.

With quality sleep you will be happier and better prepared to attain your peak performance.

Exercise
We are designed to move and be physically active. Unfortunately many of us lead mainly sedentary lifestyles, sitting at work all day and then most of the evening too, either in front of computer or TV. The key to overcoming this is by consciously integrating more physical activity throughout our day – by sitting less, standing and walking more, performing our own chores, and finding opportunities to move whenever possible.

Vigorous physical activity puts demands on all body systems to work harder. The body responds to these demands by becoming stronger and more efficient. Just ten to thirty minutes a day of regular physical activity contributes to good health by reducing the heart rate, decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, and reducing the amount of bone loss that is associated with age and osteoporosis. Other health benefits of exercise include improved metabolism, increased muscle and bone strength, larger lung capacity, tension reduction, and improved sleep.

There are 3 general categories of exercise: aerobic, strength training, and stretching.

• Aerobic exercises – include walking, hiking, swimming and cycling. Aerobic exercise helps your heart and lungs stay healthy and should be ideally performed on a daily basis; at least walking for 30 minutes.
• Strength training – involves using weights but also includes push-ups, sit-ups, etc. This type of training helps build and maintain muscle mass. When your muscles become weak then your bones and joints take the pressure and things can start going wrong.
• Stretching – these exercises keep us flexible and help to maintain mobility. A healthy spine is healthy you! Yoga is an excellent exercise for stretching and mental health.

If you are over 65 it is important to keep active and you may benefit by adding balance exercises and flexibility exercises. As long as we keep active there is no need for our muscles to weaken as we age.

Stress Management
Every threat that our body receives, whether physical or psychological, produces stress and chronic stress profoundly affects our health, which many of us simply ignore.

If you’re not managing your stress you will be at risk for modern degenerative conditions like heart disease, diabetes, thyroid problems, and autoimmune disease. Living in a continuous state of stress also causes the body to lose muscle mass and accumulate more fat.

The key to stress management is to try to have a positive mental attitude. We all have ups and downs, however generally having a positive attitude towards your life is much healthier, as negative thoughts and emotions can actually change your body chemistry and in a sense poison your body.

In our modern fast lives we don’t always know how to pay proper attention to what we are doing, so we miss whole parts of our lives and experiences, and all too easily start over-thinking which damages our well-being and makes us depressed and exhausted.

Meditation and mindfulness are also good for stress management. They increase blood flow, reduce blood pressure, and protect people at risk of developing hypertension: they also reduce the risk and severity of cardiovascular disease, and the risk of dying from it. They are not for everyone, though everyone can give them a try.

By paying attention to your thoughts, feelings and body sensations you become more directly aware of them, and therefore are better able to manage them in your day-to-day life.

You can incorporate meditation with exercise by simply going for a walk outside in nature. Or simply just take 1 minute to do some deep breathing whereby the out-breath is longer than the in-breath, so triggering the ‘relaxation‘ response.

Environment
A good healthy environment includes clean air, pure water, sunshine and an avoidance of environmental stressors such as excess noise and toxic substances.

And you can help yourself to create a healthy environment. The first step to take is to identify areas of potential environmental stress, then develop appropriate strategies to minimise or eliminate those stressors.

• Clean air – is difficult to come by in polluted towns and cities, however by analysing our daily routine we can eliminate a sizeable percentage of our exposure to air pollution. You could purchase an air-purifier for your home or workplace, avoid smoky places, wear a face mask when walking in the city, avoid using toxic cleaning products in the home, and try to get out into the country at the weekends.
• Pure water – fresh clean water.
• Sunshine – is good for the soul! Though we all know over-exposure is bad, everyone needs an adequate amount of sunshine every day, even during winter, to give us a daily dose of vitamin D. We can mitigate exposure to ultra-violet radiation by the use of sunglasses and hats.
• Noise – exposure to excess noise can be reduced by wearing earplugs.

Social Connection
And I believe probably the most important factor of all is feeling connected with others and having a social network. Humans were designed to live in tribes. Loneliness is one of the biggest causes of ill health. Meeting and mixing with other people is essential for good health. Making time to connect with friends in person is important.

If you are feeling socially isolated try:

• Taking up a new hobby.
• Go online and find a ‘meetup event’ in your area that looks of interest.
• See what is going on at your local leisure centre.
• See if you can do some voluntary work.
• Or simply initiate a conversation with someone else who is sitting on their own – the chances are they would enjoy a ‘real live’ conversation too.

If you would like any help to create steps to improve your health and well-being then please contact Helen on 07545 227272, email helen @livewellandprosper.uk or visit www.livewellandprosper.uk

Words: Helen Prosper