Healthy habits

What are considered healthy lifestyle habits?

Healthy lifestyle habits are routines that include time and commitment to a task or lifestyle that are beneficial to health. Thus, to talk about healthy habits is to take into account two important concepts: habits and health, although having good health is not just about flaunting a healthy body free of diseases.

In reality, maintaining healthy lifestyle habits allows you to improve a person's physical, mental, psychological, and social well-being.

What are the advantages of adopting healthy habits?

Maintaining and/or adopting healthy lifestyle habits improves your overall health, helps you take care of your body and keep your mind alert. In other words, the advantages are notorious at different levels:

• prevents the onset of diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases
• Promotes a sense of well-being and fights depression
• Helps prevent and control risky behaviors
• Helps maintain a healthy weight and decreases the risk of becoming obese
• Reduces the risk of premature death

What are the main habits to have a healthy life?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is "the physical, mental, and social well-being, rather than the mere absence of disease...", giving the word a much broader meaning.

Thus, maintaining a life routine that prioritizes these concepts will mean a healthy life. To do this, it is recommended to include the following habits in your day-to-day:

• practice physical activity, avoid a sedentary lifestyle
• Adopt a balanced diet
• avoid the consumption of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and the consumption of any type of drugs
• Prioritise good sleep hygiene
• Maintain your personal hygiene
• avoid stress, do things that give you pleasure and look for the positive side of life
• make a regular visit to the doctor at least once a year

What kind of physical activity should I do?

Physical activity is considered any movement performed by the skeletal muscles that results in an expenditure of energy.

Thus, what is recommended, in general, is to practice physical exercise at least 3 times a week. However, if you don't do any physical activity, to begin with, increase your daily activity. For instance:

• Choose to go up and down stairs and do not use the elevator
• Whenever possible, walk and move around, leave the car parked
• Perform household activities: Sweeping the house, gardening, cleaning, and cooking may not classically be considered physical activity, but they do burn calories
• Combine the useful with the pleasant and go dancing: it is an activity that allows you to lose a lot of calories, in addition to being fun and improving balance and reasoning

What gains do I have from exercising?

Physical activity is essential for keeping fit and strengthening the immune system. It is an excellent protective factor of the cardiovascular system, contributing to increase life expectancy.
At least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity exercise can make all the difference in your health. But remember that doing even a short time of physical activity is always better than not doing it.

So, among the various options, choose and practice activities that you like and that have no contraindications if you suffer from any disease, because they are all positive. The benefits of physical activity are several:

• strengthen muscles, bones, and tendons
• Improve function
respiratory
• Strengthen the immune system
• Provide more resistance
• Improve blood circulation
• reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease
• Prevent the occurrence of heart attack
• Controlling Diabetes and Blood Pressure Values
• Reduce symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety
• Improve sleep quality

What rules for a balanced diet should I follow?

Currently, in Portugal, inadequate eating habits are the third main risk factor that most contributes to the total number of years of healthy life lost, namely due to metabolic diseases, diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms.

To have a a healthy and balanced diet, it is not necessary to make complex diets, since our traditional cuisine has an excellent nutritional quality and brings together the qualities of the so-called Mediterranean diet, based on the consumption of legumes, salads and vegetables, olive oil, fish, pasta, rice and fruit. Therefore, follow the advice:

• Eat a minimum of 3 main meals
• Eat plenty of vegetables
• Eat 1 to 2 pieces of fruit a day
• Drink plenty of water throughout the day
• Consume dairy products 2 times a day
• Give preference to olive oil for cooking and seasoning food
• Avoid consuming too much salt and sugar
• Include fish 2 or more times a week, dried and fresh legumes more than 2 times a week and red meat 1 to 2 times a week
• Eat small amounts of olives, walnuts and almonds, dried figs, lupins and seeds
• Moderate your consumption of wine and/or beer and do so only at main meals

Why should I avoid alcoholic beverages?

The alcoholism has several negative effects on physical and mental health, which most of the time cause serious damage in the various contexts in which the person moves, be they work, family or social. Thus, the main complications are related to:

• Risk of poisoning
• risk of cancer
• sleep disorders
• menstrual disorders
• sexual problems, such as infertility or erectile dysfunction
• liver diseases such as cirrhosis
• weakening of the immune system and potential increase in communicable diseases
• fetal alcohol syndrome, in case of pregnancy
• Risk of intentional and unintentional injury
• risk of depression, dementia, and other conditions that affect mental health

In addition, excessive alcohol consumption is also related to social exclusion, traffic accidents and aggressive behaviour.

What are the benefits of quitting smoking?

The short-term harms caused by tobacco include respiratory problems, nicotine dependence, and the risk associated with the use of other drugs. In the long term, the consequences intensify, with the development of cardiovascular diseases (stroke, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, heart failure or sudden death), different types of cancer (cancer of the lung, larynx, oesophagus, bladder or kidney), and lung diseases.

Quitting smoking has immediate, medium and long-term benefits, not only for the person, but also for those who live with them:

• reducing the risk of lung cancer and many other types of cancer
• Reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease
• reduction in respiratory symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath (although these symptoms may not disappear entirely, they will not continue to progress with the same intensity as those who continue to smoke)
• reducing the risk of developing some lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Reduced risk of infertility

Why is drug use harmful to health?

Psychoactive substances, which we commonly call drugs, are substances whose habitual consumption produces tolerance and dependence. Tolerance is characterized by the need to consume an increasing amount of drugs to achieve the same effects, while dependence is manifested by the feeling of physical discomfort and emptiness when it cannot be consumed.

When used occasionally, its consumption can cause temporarily positive effects such as a sense of well-being, happiness and courage. However, a good number of drugs cause addiction and addiction and its long-term consequences cause multiple physical and/or psychological problems:

• Irreversible brain damage
• development of psychiatric illnesses, such as psychosis, depression or schizophrenia
• liver damage, or even development of liver cancer
• development of infectious diseases, such as HIV or hepatitis
• heart problems, such as a heart attack
• early death by overdose
• Isolation from family and society
• Significant increase in accidents and episodes of violence

How is good sleep hygiene characterized?

Sleep hygiene, or good sleep habits, is characterized by a set of appropriate behaviors and habits, associated with environmental conditions, that promote restful sleep and prevent daytime sleepiness.

In practice, sleep is a fundamental part of our lives that helps us feel good, focused and happy. Therefore, good sleep hygiene is essential in maintaining our quality of life. Sleeping well and with quality is not only essential for the recovery of spent energy, but also helps us to maintain healthy other functions:

• general well-being and good quality of life
• Memory Strengthening
• Adequate immunity, helping to fight infections
• Improved intellectual and work capacity
• Prevention of the onset of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases

Thus, for a restful and invigorating sleep, it is recommended:

• Adopt a regular bedtime and wake-up time
• Avoid tobacco, alcohol and caffeinated beverages after 2:00 p.m.
• Engage in regular exercise
• Ensure a good resting environment by controlling brightness, noise and temperature
• Do not take naps, especially if you have difficulty falling asleep
• Avoid heavy meals before bed
• Remove all technology from the room, such as television, tablet and mobile phones
• Free yourself from daily worries before going to sleep

What are the consequences of poor sleep habits?

We've all experienced less than good nights' sleep, but when we don't get enough or good sleep on a regular basis, it can affect how we feel and what we're able to do during the day.

It is proven that lack of sleep and poor quality sleep increase the likelihood of getting sick, as well as being related to other health problems, and have both short- and long-term consequences.

In the short term, it can lead to:

• mood variability, irritability
• changes in behaviour (hyperactivity/aggressiveness)
• decreased learning ability, difficulties with memory and attention
• Increased risk of accidents
• increased risk behaviors – particularly in adolescents
• Decreased productivity and efficiency at work

In the long term, chronic sleep deprivation can contribute to:

• weight gain and
obesity
• diabetes
• high blood pressure
• heart disease
• cerebrovascular accident (CVA)
• weakening of the immune system
• appearance of some types of cancer
• depression
• anxiety
• psychosis

What are the basics of good personal hygiene that I should take into account?

Personal hygiene is about keeping your body clean and healthy. Good personal hygiene makes you less susceptible to illness, improves your appearance, and makes you feel better. Therefore, to promote good personal hygiene, you should pay special attention to the following habits:

• Bathing: You should pay special attention to cleaning the armpits and around the genitals and anus. The hair also needs to be washed, as it accumulates dust and sweat and for it to grow healthy and strong
• Wash your hands regularly: Hands are the part of the body that is in contact with everything around us and through which we can transmit and contract diseases. That's why it's important to wash your hands frequently
• Brushing your teeth: It is recommended to brush your teeth at least 2 or 3 times a day, especially after meals and before bedtime. You should also floss at night before brushing
• Adopt respiratory etiquette:
  • When you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your arm, avoiding the projection of droplets (do not use your hand)
  • After using the disposable tissue, dispose of it immediately in the trash
  • If you don't have a tissue, sneeze or cough into the crook of your arm/elbow and not into your hands

What activities should I do to reduce stress?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified stress as the "health epidemic of the 21st century." Although there are experts who say that stress can act in a positive way by keeping us alert to react to different day-to-day situations, it becomes a problem when it becomes chronic and manifests itself in various ways: bad mood, forgetfulness, difficulty sleeping, headaches, dizziness or physical tension are some of the symptoms.

In excess, it can not only lead to serious physical health problems, but it can also alter our relationships at home, work and school, due to the impact it can have on our mental health.

So, if you suffer from chronic or excessive stress, learn to slow down, manage your activities well and intervene early to avoid future complications. Here are some tips to put into practice:

• Do things that give you pleasure: take time for yourself, to take care of yourself, or simply to rest
• Look for the positive side of life: giving meaning and purpose to our life means realizing what is most important to us
• Invest in your relationship with others: don't neglect your family environment, maintain social relationships, don't isolate yourself
• Practice relaxation exercises or meditation
• Evaluate the various dimensions of your life: set new goals or goals to achieve, stay motivated
• Sleep well, maintain a balanced diet and exercise

Why should I have regular check-ups?

Check-ups consist of a routine medical evaluation, associated with complementary exams, which help prevent the onset or worsening of different diseases. In other words, they allow the diagnosis of serious diseases in the early stages, when they do not yet have symptoms, increasing the chances of cure.

Thus, the ideal is to make an appointment once a year, for routine exams, which vary according to the age and gender of the user, but also factors such as personal and family clinical history or their lifestyle habits. If you take into account the healthy habits listed here, the probability of maintaining a quality of life.