10 ways to improve your health instantly

Sleep

 

I know, I know. Everyone knows we should get enough sleep. But every time I meet people with kids and a full-time job, they don't get enough sleep.

 

At least 7 hours a day should be considered. Even an afternoon nap doesn't make up for a restful night's sleep, even if it feels good.

 

Your body needs time to regenerate. Thereby the growth hormone HGH is released. This is produced in the brain and "repairs" our body. Muscle, bone and other tissue cells are built up. It also reduces our fat cells.

 

And it is precisely at night when HGH levels are highest. In many cases, women grow older than men because their HGH production does not decrease as much as that of men. This is only one of many reasons for this.

 

Not only our cells, but also our brain needs sufficient rest periods to fully recharge itself. If you do not sleep much one night, this has almost no effect, but if this becomes a regular occurrence, the consequences are scientifically proven. In short, permanent sleep deprivation leads to: 

 

• Overweight
• Stress
• Heart and cardiovascular problems
• Lack of concentration
• muscle and bone atrophy

 

At 20, you will probably not notice anything if you don't sleep for a night, but the older you are, the more you should definitely pay attention to sleep. Make it your priority. Just because you have 7 kids, 3 dogs and a full-time job doesn't mean you shouldn't sleep.

 

 

Vitamins and minerals

 

If you have a vitamin deficiency, you may feel tired and worn out. You are often prone to illness and you are not so full of energy. 

 

A simple thing helps against this. You go to your doctor and have a blood test to check for vitamins and minerals.

 

You almost always have a deficiency of vitamin D, which is not necessarily a vitamin, but rather a hormone. It plays a key role in our body. It is also called the sun vitamin, but usually we do not get enough sun.

It is responsible for metabolism, cell and bone structure, digestion, the immune system and much more. Just have a check-up with your doctor, because that is the quickest way to find out how much of what you should balance. It is by no means necessary and also not health-promoting to use only supplements. It's simply not a 100% natural.

 

Of course you can supplement, especially vitamin D is difficult to get without sun, you just have to pay attention to the quality. Magnesium starch, aspartame, sucralose and all the additives (E314, E328, E???) etc. do not belong in the body and are harmful in quantities. So there is a lot that can be done wrong with supplements, even if you mean it well. Multivitamin tablets in particular usually miss the mark. And fluorides aren't minerals or micronutrients. This is a widespread superstition. They are toxins that have no place in the body or in food except in toothpaste. Now if you are curious, google Fluorid!

 

If you have a deficiency, a balanced diet always helps. Your body can produce some vitamins itself and some it cannot. However, the diet must be right. Here are a few examples:

 

• Zinc - meat, fish, seafood, legumes
• Magnesium - nuts, broccoli
• Vitamin C - Citrus fruits, berries
• Iron - red meat, chocolate, legumes
• Potassium - plums, dates
• Vitamin B - apple, banana, pear

 

Ensure a sufficient and balanced amount of vitamins and minerals. Your body will work better!

 

 

 

Eat dietary fiber

 

Your entire digestion will be affected by this, and for the better. The majority of our immune system lies in our gut. What we eat regulates our energy, our metabolism and our well-being. 

 

We're like cars! Only if the right fuel is inserted, our body can function properly. If our intestines are constantly at work and have difficulties because we feed them with garbage, we will never really feel fit.

 

In this sense, dietary fibers are plant fibers, i.e. the leaves of lettuce and the fibers of green beans, etc. Fibers are therefore: Lettuce, legumes, fruits, vegetables, grains, whole grains. Everything green with a high density of plant fibers.

 

They support our digestion and help our immune system, regulate our blood lipid levels, reduce the risk of colon cancer and help the body to eliminate harmful substances much faster. This does not mean that you should only eat beans and salad, but every day fruit or something green with your meals will improve your well-being in no time.

 

Even if you only eat meat, eat a proper salad at least once a day. It's not just about losing weight, even if the fiber helps with that. It's about promoting your health. You will suddenly feel better because your body is not so busy digesting.

 

 

 

Fresh juices and smoothies

 

If you want to supply your body with vitamins and energy immediately, then smoothies and fresh juices are just the ideal thing.

 

Everyone knows that fruits are healthy. In the form of juice, you can perfectly mix several varieties or even vegetables and enjoy all the benefits right away.  By juicing, fruit only loses its fibers, but not its vitamins or nutrients.

 

So you can confidently replace your fruit with a juice, but only if it still contains all the healthy substances. So the question is whether to buy it or squeeze it yourself? 

 

This is the crucial point. Freshly squeezed juice is usually only available in a café or juice bar. The supermarket is probably the worst way to get juice. Of course it comes in all shapes and colours, but the vitamins and nutrients are hardly preserved. So, it's best to juice it yourself!

 

Especially smoothies are great, because they still have all the fibers. So if you need a vitamin bomb, why don't you make a smoothie?

 

An excellent Immune-Booster is:

• Ginger,
• Tumeric (Curcuma),
• Lemon and
• Honey.

Mix these 4 ingredients together with a shot of water (be careful, fresh turmeric stains a lot). This is the best gingershot ever. Good for digestion, metabolism, fat burning and your immune system.

 

Smoothies allow you to take a bunch of vitamins in just one glass. Read more in the article Fresh Juices and Smoothies. There you will also find more recipes.

 

 

 

Less alcohol, cigarettes and coffee

 

Actually, it shouldn't even be necessary to list these things, but I do it anyway. Especially in many countries it is common practice to drink alcohol with every meal.

 

From time to time you have a drink or accompany your dinner with a nice red wine. As always the quantity makes the poison. The same goes for coffee. A hot cup of coffee in the morning is fine, but I know that some people drink nothing all day long except coffee. 

 

This overacidifies the body, irritates the stomach, and the caffeine it contains is not exactly beneficial to the cardiovascular system in the long run and increases blood pressure. We will come to the hyperacidity of the body in a moment.

 

Concerning cigarettes, I do not need to explain that they don't have any health benefits. Even one cigarette a day dramatically increases the risk of lung disease and cancer.

 

Everyone should enjoy their life and I don't want to dictate anything to anyone, but I recommend to take care of your own body. If you do not take care of your body, where should your spirit live?

 

So if you ever plan to "cleanse" your body, just leave out all the toxins: alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, pills (of course this doesn't mean vital medication).

 

After a few days you will already notice a huge difference.

 

 

 

More alkaline foods

  

Nowadays we humans eat far too much animal products, wheat products or sweets. All these things are acid-forming foods. Of course, you don't have to renounce on them completely, just create a balance in your body.

 

Alkaline foods, including fruit and vegetables, are considered alkaline by the body, i.e. they produce the opposite of acids.  They protect our gastrointestinal tract and prevent hyperacidity. Permanent acidosis leads to a greatly increased risk of intestinal cancer and generally favors the production of free radicals, which are responsible for the aging of our cells.

 

These are signs of hyperacidity:

 

• Fatigue
• Heartburn
• Frequent burping
• Feeling of fullness
• Bad skin
• Hair Loss
• Immune deficiency

 

That's why you should eat some fruit or vegetables every day and avoid animal products from time to time. Even if a Greek yoghurt is healthy, it is an acid-forming food. However, the acids are also important for the body, you should not neglect either of them. Balance is the key word. You don't have to be vegan, just balanced.

 

Acid-forming foods: alcohol, coffee, rice, pasta ( bakery products, noodles, bread), meat, fish, dairy products, eggs, sugar (soft drinks, sweets), legumes.

 

Alkaline foods: any fruit (even citrus fruits), vegetables (except legumes), mushrooms, herbs

 

 

 

Avoid bakery products, pasta and sweets more often

 

There are several reasons why you should rarely reach for sweet things. The first and simplest one is actually the many calories contained, which makes it easy to gain weight.

 

Since the sugar contained in it causes our blood sugar levels to skyrocket, our body releases insulin to regulate this. If we have insulin in our blood, our body cannot reduce fat because it is an anabolic process (the body stores nutrients or builds cells).

 

When the body has to constantly release insulin, it becomes resistant to it or less sensitive to it, and blood glucose levels usually stay high. This very quickly leads to a high risk of diabetes. In order to avoid this, it is best to eat only 3 meals a day and simply not to eat any snacks or other foods in between. This can lower your blood sugar level and you can lose weight better and reduce the risk of diabetes.

 

On top of getting fat and the risk of diabetes, many products, especially bakery products, contain extremely unhealthy trans fats that contaminate our body. Especially the cheap wheat is bad for the intestines and digestion. As we have already learned, our digestion is crucial for our physical energy and health.

 

Eat sweet things, even fruit at mealtimes and avoid pastries. It is better to have a piece of chocolate after a meal instead of a croissant every morning. Between meals, take breaks in which you only drink water and unsweetened tea. Then your body can decompose harmful substances in peace. Fasting is also a good option.

 

 

 

Intermittent Fasting

 

This has not only become a fitness trend, but is actually advisable. As you have read in the previous section on sweets, the body and your blood sugar level simply needs rest. This allows the liver to work undisturbed and eliminate toxins and harmful substances from the body.

 

The liver is one of the main responsible for burning fat. If your liver and your digestion are constantly having to deal with a constant supply of food, no matter how small it is, the liver will not be able to take care of it properly, cause it's always busy.

 

Especially with Intermittent Fasting you set a certain period of time for eating and for not eating. Especially the 16/8 method is quite simple to practice. For example, you eat from 12 to 8 pm. This gives you a 16 hour break and the body can burn fat, regulate insulin and simply cleanse itself.

 

If you want to read more about the topic, click on the article: What will really help you to loose fat. 

 

 

 

Regular exercise & sport

 

Sport is good! That's a fact! If you aren't doing an extreme sport where you constantly break or tear something in your body, exercise helps you.

 

You don't have to lift dumbbells and hang out at the gym all day. NO! But what you should do, is to integrate regular exercise into your life. It's not just about losing weight, it's about the physical fitness you get. Statistically speaking, exercise makes us 10 years younger than people who don't exercise. Here is the appropriate article: Sport makes us 10 years younger.

 

2-3 times a week you can sweat a little. It is important for our heart, because it's also only a muscle and for our metabolism. If we don't completely exhaust ourselves every day, it increases our energy and we consume our surplus of adrenaline, which otherwise makes us lazy and aggressive. 

 

Especially older people who became very old had a constant activity in their lives. They walked, worked in the garden or rode a bicycle. And this until the bitter end. Sport and exercise strengthens our immune system, builds up new brain cells and thus protects against dementia, gives us more energy and makes us more balanced. Posture problems and back pain can often be corrected.

 

Start to introduce sport or exercise into your life. If you do not know how and where to start then read the article: Sports - Where to start?

 

 

 

Drinking Water

 

Oh, yeah. Just hydrate the body and clean it out. You don't have to overdo it, but a good 2 liters (0,5 gallons) a day should be enough, regardless of height, weight and sex.

 

The body can only absorb about 200-300 ml (1 cup) at once through the intestines. This means that if you drink 1 litre at a time, it will simply discard the remaining ml. So distribute it over the day. Every hour 1 glass of water for example.

 

It is good for the kidneys and unnecessary toxins, bacteria and viruses can be better flushed out of the body. It stimulates the metabolism and also helps in losing weight.

 

Especially if you drink little, you should force yourself to drink enough liquid. It helps to add mint leaves, ginger or slices of lemon and orange to the water to get a little more taste. Sparkling mineral water is also helpful, as it gives the water more structure.

 

Cleanse your body and don't just pour Coke Zero in it. Breathing alone consumes a lot of water. The more you drink, the better your blood flows. It therefore helps with sickness and headaches and cellulite. Your digestion is supported and works better because everything literally slips through.

 

Let the unhealthy drinks be the exception and drink plenty of water or unsweetened tea. Your skin will be better nourished and after a short time will be firmer and less wrinkled. Try it out, this are no empty promises. Water is the elixir of life.