Our heart is one such body organ which is working around the clock, throughout the day without us knowing. This is the most important muscle of our body since it is responsible for supplying both blood and oxygen to all the other organs of your body. So, it stops working, we stop living!
If we do not provide proper care to our heart as it needs, our body may face serious problems. It is therefore important to understand the conditions that affect your heart and the habits and follow a lifestyle to prevent or manage these issues.
Taking the right action in time will help you keep your ticker in top shape.
The food you eat and the lifestyle you lead can do a lot to keep your heart health under control. Irrespective of the fact that whether you are suffering from any heart-related problems like high cholesterol, high blood pressure etc., you still need to make healthy changes to your daily habits to keep your heart healthy and lower the risk of heart disease in future.
It has been known that eating certain food increases the risk of heart-related problems. Still changing your food habits is also not that easy. When you know which foods to eat more and which foods to limit, you’ll be on your way toward a heart-healthy diet.
Here we are sharing some tips on how to fine-tune your lifestyle and eating habits for better heart health.
Eat healthy
Limit your intake of red meat and sugary foods and drinks. Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products and nuts.
Besides improving your heart health, healthy food will also help you in shedding some weight and lower your cholesterol.
Even if you are eating a good amount of food, it might not suffice your requirements of the nutrients that your body needs. It is important to eat a variety of nutritious foods from all the food groups. Include food which is rich in all kinds of nutrients including minerals, protein, whole grains etc. and lower in calories. These foods help you control your weight, cholesterol and blood pressure and in turn maintain a healthy heart.
Check on the amount
How much you eat is just as important as what you eat. Do not overload your plate. Eating slowly until you feel stuffed. Eating more (even if it is a healthy option) can lead to eating more calories than your body needs.
Control your portions by taking a smaller plate than usual. Keep low-calorie, nutrient-rich foods in a large portion while high-calorie, high-sodium food in smaller portions. This strategy will help you stay in shape, keep your diet optimised and your heart healthy.
Keep moving
Getting and staying active not only reduces your risk of developing heart disease but it can also be a great mood booster and stress buster.
A 150-minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity in a week or a 30-minute of heart-pumping activity 3 to 4 times a week can make your heart achieve the fitness it wants. You can also opt for brisk walking, bicycling or swimming.
Check your intake of unhealthy fats
It is imperative to limit your consumption of saturated and trans fats to manage the cholesterol level in your blood and lower your risk of coronary artery disease. A high blood cholesterol level can increase your risk of heart attack and stroke.
Even when you have several risk factors for heart disease, there are things you can do to improve your chances of avoiding it.
Eat healthy, exercise, and stay happy!
Weight gain is usually considered not so positive making people fat or even obese. However, sometimes, gaining weight is equally important for overall health and well-being. When being overweight or fat looks like a universal problem for every one in three individuals, in reality, being too thin can also cause many health-related issues.
Invariable, body fats have a bad reputation and are mostly taken as a problem. But, not all fats are bad. It is important to have fats in your body for it to function smoothly.
Fats are those nutrients which are broken down by the body and are stored as energy in the form of calorie for the body to consume as and when required. This energy is used by the body to function, heal and grow. Therefore, fats are important nutrients that are responsible for the energy supply to the body.
Being underweight increases the risk of age-related muscle wasting and dementia. Thus, it is necessary for underweight or too thin and skinny people to gain weight.
However, it’s not as easy as it looks!
Gaining weight the healthy way is an extremely tough task. This is because the stomach size of a ‘thin’ person is small and increasing appetite is a challenge.
Besides, a thin person with the right appetite would still not be able to gain weight. Also, many a time they end up gaining unhealthy fat, which is even more harmful to the body than being thin.
Therefore, the right way of gaining weight is a daunting task and one of the primary concerns for the skinny ones. The weight needs to spread evenly in the body and not only get accumulated in the abdominal area.
Reasons for being underweight:
- Wrong eating habits
- Long gaps in between meals
- Poor selection of foods
- Improper amount of calorie in and calorie out
- Malabsorption of foods that is being eaten
- Prolonged diseases
- Eating disorders like anorexia nervosa or bulimia
To have optimum weight is important. Moreover, gaining weight the right way is equally important. Gain weight by eating the right nutrition and not by hogging on unhealthy foods. It will save you from being prone to diseases like diabetes or thyroid.
When you indulge in unhealthy eating, you are creating a nutrition deficiency, which can eventually lead to lifestyle diseases.
How to gain weight healthily?
It is very important to understand your body before starting your weight gain or weight loss journey.
- Know the root cause of your problem.
- Know why your body needs to gain weight.
- Consult 8 Fitness Tips wellness expert or nutrition expert to analyse your body.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind if you are on the journey to healthy weight gain.
Exercise
Exercise and working out is not only for those who want to lose some kilos but it is equally important for those who want to gain some healthy weight to become fit. A mix of cardio, weight training and flexibility enhancing exercises regularly can help gain weight and build some healthy muscle mass.
You can also indulge in some heavy weight lifting workouts like squats, presses, pull-ups, dips etc. which helps in increasing lean body mass. These exercises help in engaging multiple muscles while triggering your hormonal response systems.
Healthy diet
Your body requires the right amount of proteins, fats and carbs. Before you head to the market to stock up on some dietary supplements, which promises weight gain in no time, remember that many of these dietary supplements are full of synthetic nutrients. These may help you gain weight temporarily but ruin your health in the long run. Therefore, consult a health or nutrition expert before consuming anything.
Besides, any supplement will only help when they are consumed as per the requirement of the body. So, it is always advisable to get the right guidance before buying.
Our body needs healthy fats since unhealthy fats will only deplete our health. Include healthy snacks like nuts, dry fruits, fruits, dry snacks like roasted chana in your diet to gain weight healthily. Besides, you can try protein-rich foods, foods rich in fibre for best benefits.
Moreover, it is important to increase the size of your appetite gradually.
Increase protein intake
Protein helps in maintaining a healthy body weight with lean body mass. It is the building block of a human body. If your body starves of proteins, it will never be able to achieve its healthiest best.
Including tofu, paneer, chicken, and vegetables like spinach will help you get through with your daily protein consumption.
Set your weight gain goal for a perfectly toned and curvy body at the right places. Gaining weight around your abdominal area is of no help but a thing to worry and work on. So take help of experts and start your weight gain journey under the right guidance.
Remember, the process can be prolonged. Therefore, it is important to remain patient.
Your food and lifestyle have a huge impact on your digestive health. What you eat and the lifestyle you live plays an important role in determining your digestive health. This is because foods and lifestyle habits have a direct impact on your digestion.
Digestive health is determined by the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. It transports food from your mouth to stomach, breaks it down into nutrients and stored energy. If the gastrointestinal tract does not function properly, it will affect your digestive health. Your body will not be able to absorb the essential nutrients.
Besides, improper functioning of gastrointestinal tract can also lead to low immunity, emotional stress and even chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes.
It is therefore important to take care of your digestive health because when the digestive system functions efficiently it improves your overall health and sense of well-being.
What affects your digestive health?
- Food you eat
- Emotional stress
- OTC drugs
How to determine your digestive health?
Some of the signs of improper digestive health include:
- Bloating
- Gas
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Stomach ache
How to maintain a healthy gut?
Not sure how to take care of your digestive health? Incorporate the tips given below to keep your gut feeling healthy:
Eat a fibre-rich diet
Eating foods which are high in fibre can improve your digestive health. Fibre helps to move the food through your digestive tract, which in turns avoid you getting constipated.
A fibre-rich diet also helps in preventing or treating various digestive conditions like diverticulosis, haemorrhoids, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) while helping you maintain a healthy weight.
Consume soluble and insoluble fibre both
Both soluble and insoluble fibre helps the digestive system in different ways. Therefore it is important to consume both types of fibre.
Roughage is an insoluble fibre which cannot be digested by the body. This roughage, therefore, helps clean the gut. Whereas soluble fibre dissolves in water to form a gel-like material. It can help lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels.
Avoid foods that are high in fat
Fatty foods slow down the digestive process, making the gut prone to constipation. While it is important to consume some healthy fat, you can try pairing fatty foods with high-fibre foods. It will help things move along more smoothly.
Take help of probiotics and prebiotics
Probiotics are the healthy bacteria and yeasts which are naturally present in the digestive tract. They combat the effects of a poor diet, stress and help keep the body healthy. They also enhance the absorption of nutrients in the body, help break down lactose, strengthen your immune system and treat IBS.
Similarly, prebiotics help in maintaining good digestive health. They help probiotics in supporting healthy bacteria in the gut.
Eat on schedule
Apart from what you eat, your time to eat also plays an equally important role in keeping your digestive system in top shape. Try to have your meals at the same time every day. And also, do not keep yourself starved for a long time.
Stay hydrated
Drink lots of water sing water is good for your digestive health. Fibre pulls water into the colon thereby helping to keep your gut clean.
Exercise regularly
Exercise helps in keeping the movement of food smooth throughout your digestive system while also treating constipation. Staying active also helps in maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy body means the healthy digestive system and vice-versa.
Manage stress
Stress or anxiety is as harmful to your body as any other junk. These can cause your digestive system to go into overdrive. Indulge yourself in some stress-reducing activities which you can enjoy and practise regularly.
For the past few years, there has been a new trend in eating for weight-loss and diabetes that has been doing the rounds – eating smaller portions more frequently. While this trend has become an approved topic of conversation, certain people would like to understand the rationale behind it. How eating less more frequently can help improve your health?
Whether you are on your weight-loss journey or trying to control your blood sugar or ensure proper nutritional intake, small meals a day is what your doctor, fitness coach or dietician prescribed.
Together with a good exercise routine, eating 5-6 times a day can transform your body into a lean, toned, fat-burning machine.
Benefits of eating small frequent meals
Here are the major benefits of eating 5-6 times a day:
- It keeps you energised.
- You feel less hungry.
- It reduces your cravings for unhealthy food items.
- It controls blood sugar levels & insulin production.
- It reduces body fat storage.
- It increases and maintains lean muscle mass.
The only rule behind this way of eating is that every meal you eat should contain lean protein, good carbs, and healthy fats in about a 40:30:30 ratio.
Here’s how small meals can help you in sustaining a healthy and fitter lifestyle.
Weight Loss
Eating smaller portions more frequently can prevent the development of becoming overweight or obese.
According to research, people who eat only two or three large meals over a day tend to eat more calories than people who eat smaller portions of five or six meals. This goes as when you eat your breakfast at 8:00 am and lunch at 1:00 pm, your stomach is hungry for almost 4 hours at a stretch. This makes you consume more calories than are necessary to help satiate your hunger or what your body requires. This increased calorie intake is the reason your body gains the extra weight.
Decreased Chance of Nutritional Deficiencies
Eating 5 meals a day may help to ensure you’re getting all of the vitamins and minerals that you need to keep your body in proper working order. Research has found that people who eat several meals through the day tend to vary their diet more than those who simply eat two or three large meals.
Getting the proper amount of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients are essential both for good health in people of all ages and genders.
To summarize, when you eat smaller meals, say five meals a day, you are less hungry and do not overeat, you feel more energised and have a more positive outlook. Smaller frequent meals enable more stable blood sugar and less craving for unhealthy foods.
Tips for eating small healthy meals frequently:
With all said and done, it is important to understand that these smaller meals must be healthy and full of nutrition. Here is how you can ensure this:
- Ensure protein or fibre in every meal.
- Eat a reasonable portion.
- Try eating with your hands to ensure optimum portion size.
- Plan your meals beforehand
- Take help of professionals to ensure optimum nutrient intake and right meal size.
Are you looking for a meal plan that suits your objective? Want a meal plan that can control your hunger, make you feel full and energized? Looking for a meal plan that can help you lose weight? Looking for delicious and convenient meals that will help you achieve your goals?
If you are looking for expert advice to help you plan what to eat and when to eat, talk to our nutrition expert today!
What you eat reflects on your skin. Yes, we have said this before, and we are repeating it!
Healthy eating not only benefits your fitness and weight loss goals, but it also works on your skin, hair and overall looks. So, for healthy glowing skin, eating right is very important.
Whatever you put up on your face, how much ever you visit the beauty salons, unless you feed your body well with the right amount of required nutrition, no beauty product, no salon can bring the radiant glow on your skin.
Nourishing your body from inside gives a healthy, radiant and youthful skin outside. Holistic nourishment involves a properly balanced diet which should include the right amount of proteins, vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates etc.
Here are the top essential nutrients required for glowing skin.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A supports collagen production, a protein that provides structure to your body, including your bones, skin, tendons, and ligaments. The vitamin also controls Keratin production (a substance that makes up most of our skin cells) and helps keep skin strong and healthy.
It supports the skin’s immune system and promotes natural moisturising. Vitamin A keeps the skin hydrated and gives it a radiant glow. It also helps in promoting and maintaining healthy skin layers dermis and epidermis.
Vitamin A is readily available in a wide range of food sources including pumpkin, sweet potato, eggs and leafy greens. Very rarely, it needs to be supplemented to keep up with the required amount.
Vitamin C
Like Vitamin A, Vitamin C also supports collagen production and healing processes in the skin. Collagen and elastin are destroyed by free radicals, leading to the development of wrinkles. Vitamin C is an antioxidant which fights against free radical damage that causes premature ageing. Getting enough Vitamin C will therefore keep you young and glowing.
Vitamin C can be obtained from a balanced diet and rarely need to be supplemented. Citrus fruits including lemons, oranges and berries are a rich source of Vitamin C. It is found in many vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower etc.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E, along with Vitamin C, protects the skin from the damaging effect of ultraviolet (UV) rays. It improves the texture of the skin, slows down the conversion of soluble collagen into insoluble collagen thereby slows down the ageing process.
Vegetable oils, peanuts, various plant seeds, olives, broccoli, spinach and asparagus are rich dietary sources of vitamin E.
To get the required amount of Vitamin E, you can also consider supplementation. However, it is always advisable to take expert advice since overdose of Vitamin can be harmful.
Vitamin B Complex
Vitamin B Complex means different forms of Vitamin Bs including Vitamin B-3, Vitamin B-5, Vitamin B-6 etc. All the B Vitamins are essential for healthy skin.
Vitamin B7 (biotin) is one of the most important vitamins found in the skin. Lack of this vitamin can cause itchy and scaly skin. Bananas, eggs, oatmeal and rice are a rich source of biotin. The human body can also produce its biotin.
Vitamin B3 (niacin) helps the skin to retain moisture. Therefore creams containing niacin help your complexion look plumper and younger. Niacin also has anti-inflammatory properties. It helps in soothing dry and irritated skin.
With the help of Vitamin B Complex, the skin regulates cell turnover and sebum production. Besides, it also helps in utilising the Essential Fatty Acids, efficiently.
Meat, eggs, seafood, nuts and seeds are some of the sources of Vitamin B. However, the vitamin can be tricky to get from diet alone and often needs to be supplemented.
Zinc
Zinc is another essential skin-friendly mineral required for optimal skin health. The deficiency of the mineral can be determined if you have acne-prone skin. It is therefore advised to take zinc supplements if you are suffering from acne, eczema or any other inflammatory skin condition.
Healthy Fats
Fats give a glow to your skin! Avoiding fats in your diet can make your skin dry, wrinkles and dull.
However, it is important to focus on monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats from plants and avoid unhealthy fats for healthy skin.
Nuts, seeds, avocados and fats from fish are all types of healthy fats. They help your skin stay moist, firm, and flexible.
Polyunsaturated fats also help in blocking a chemical which can cause growing and spreading of skin cancer. Omega-3 fatty acids are a kind of polyunsaturated fat. Our body needs to build cell walls but cannot make it on its own. which your body can’t make but needs to build cell walls.
Protein
The proteins our body consumes are turned into amino acids, the building blocks of the body. It is then reused to make collagen and keratin. Amino acids also help slough off old skin. Some amino acids are antioxidants that protect skin cells against UV rays and from free radicals.
So, in a nutshell, we can say that proper nutrition is the key for glowing skin. The nutrients listed above will give a healthy and radiant glow to our skin besides keeping our body and mind fit.
Leading a healthy and fit life is no big challenge when you start right. When it comes to healthy living, a right morning routine is must to stay fit and active throughout the day and eventually throughout your life.
How do you make your mornings fresh and the rest of the day active?
This question attracts much attention because how you start your day affects how your body functions the rest of the day.
Here’s how you can do it!
- Sleep on time and wake up on time – Get around 7 to 9 hours of sleep for a refreshing morning.
- Avoid gadgets and witness sunrises – Try to stay away from mobiles, laptops immediately after getting up. Watch the sunrise instead.
- Take a walk, do yoga or meditate – It helps regulate your emotions and and keep your body active.
- Eat something healthy – A healthy drink followed by a healthy breakfast.
Sounds interesting and easy?
Below, we have elaborated a few habits or lifestyle changes that you can incorporate in your daily morning routine and lead a happy, healthy life.
Wake-up early
Early risers reap many benefits like going through their morning routine in a calm and leisurely manner. They get more time for introspection and planning and preparing for the day ahead. Some peaceful time in the morning hours is a great time to connect with self. They can get an early start on their goals like daily exercising or 30-day weight loss challenge.
Start your day with water
Drinking water is one of the most healthy habits irrespective of the time of the day. However, consuming water the first thing in the morning works wonders for your weight loss or fitness goal.
Drinking a glass or two of water right when you wake up will rehydrate your body and will also increase your level of alertness.
Stretch your body
Gentle stretching in the morning will reduce the aches which develop in joints and muscles. Stretching also improves posture and brings flexibility to the body. Morning stretching also improves the blood flow to the muscles. A 5-10 minute yoga stretching will connect your body to your mind and soul.
Have a healthy breakfast
The most cliched habit yet the most important one. A healthy breakfast in the morning is important for a healthy day and healthy life ahead. Start your morning with fruits, lean protein, whole grains, and healthy fats.
Besides giving the body the nutrients it requires, a healthy breakfast also keeps you to have a better focus and concentration and have a more energised day.
Meditate for better mental health
Meditating in the morning is one of the healthy habits to have. It is not only a stress buster but also increases the concentration power. It improves your emotional stability and prevents common health ailments.
Start by simply focussing on your breathing movements. Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes and focus on your breaths.
Starting with healthy morning habits is easy but following them daily needs conviction. So, make a promise to yourself for a better, healthier body and mind with these above-mentioned tips. Organise your morning schedule and make it a ritual for yourself.