People live longer today than in any other part of human history. There are a lot of factors for this, from improved medicine, vaccines, eating healthier, and living in a safer society than in the past, but being more knowledgeable about health doesn’t automatically make someone more healthy.
It takes practice and dedication.
And while people live longer today, the question is, does living longer equate to living better? Are we sacrificing the quality of life for a longer one?
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There are plenty of reasons to live healthier, but by living healthier, you’re also going to be able to live better. Exercise taxes the body, maintaining and strengthening essential functions while also enhancing flexibility, which is a significant component of injury prevention.
Another significant way exercise can boost the quality of life is that regular exercise stimulates the body’s immune system and helps regulate many common diseases such as hypertension, heart attack, stroke, Type-2 Diabetes, depression, anxiety, arthritis, and many forms of cancer.
By exercising regularly, you can help your body regulate and possibly ward off any of the following:
- High-Blood Pressure
- Heart Disease
- Heart Attack
- Stroke
- Falls
- Arthritis
- Metabolic Syndrome
- Cancer
- Depression
- Anxiety
Any of these diseases can significantly impair your quality of life, especially as you age.
Additional Benefits To Regular Exercise
In addition to helping the body maintain critical functions and organs, regular exercise also benefits better living from weight management to improved moods.
Weight Maintenance: Exercise does two primary things. First, it taxes your skeletal-muscular system and your cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Second, exercise requires energy, aka calories, to perform, and exercise speeds up your metabolism of calories in the body, helping maintain weight and prevent excessive weight gain.
Appetite Control: In addition to regulating weight, regular exercise has the added bonus of appetite control, meaning you’ll be less hungry and feel full sooner than if you were inactive.
Improved Mood: Exercise causes the body and brain to release various hormones and neural chemicals. These neurochemicals in the brain boost moods, stimulate the brain, improve cognitive function, and help calm the mind, alleviating depression and anxiety at the same time.
Boosted Energy: Exercise causes the heart and lungs to work more efficiently, pumping more oxygen throughout the body. As you get more oxygen throughout the body, you’re able to perform more tasks easier and longer. As a result, regular exercise actually boosts your energy levels both physically and mentally.
Regulates Sleep: Regular exercise helps control the time of your sleep, making falling asleep easier, longer, and more profound. The longer and deeper we are in a sleep cycle makes for a more rested rest, and exercise is an excellent component of healthy sleep patterns.
Exercise can be both functional and fun. It can be something you do socially, whether in person or online and can be something you carve out time in your schedule for or something you do when you have a free moment in your day.
There are plenty of ways to exercise. You can join a gym, hire a trainer, or subscribe to online workout programs as these are becoming more prevalent.
Health And Wellness Tips
Living better means focusing on the things that make for a healthier life. In addition to exercise, taking time each day to focus on your mental happiness, eating right, and finding time to appreciate loved ones are all pillars of living better.
Tips to living better and improving your health and wellness don’t need to be challenging. Instead, it’s a matter of shifting how you think about fitness and going about your daily activities in a more mindful, healthy way.
Diet: The term diet is tossed around like a bag of potato chips at a football party. In this instance, diet refers to the type of foods you eat, the amount you consume, and the quality of food you choose. To eat well, include vegetables and fruits in every meal, avoid any processed or prefabricated meals, and use little salt and sugars in your food preparation.
Communication: Living well isn’t just focusing your attention on yourself. It’s accepting yourself as part of a whole. This means learning to listen and communicate more effectively in relationships by understanding that while you may have your opinion and point, the others in your life (including children and pets) all have their wills, desires, and needs.
Medical: Scheduling routine medical exams will go a long way toward living healthier and better. Most significant health issues occur slowly and over time. Getting professional diagnoses and examinations can alleviate the slow-buildup of disease or other problems before they become catastrophic.
Paired with regular exercise, diet and nutrition play a significant role in healthy living. Coupled with routine medical examinations, you’re creating a foundation for healthier living, a happier life, and living better as a result.