Everyone aspires to have health and longevity, but longevity alone is not enough, we also want to be able to live a long and healthy life, maintaining a high quality of life, rather than being plagued by illness to the last stage of life.
For example, some people may suffer a cerebral infarction or stroke in their 60s, resulting in paralysis and bedridden, losing the meaning of life even if they live longer. So, how can we live a long and healthy life?
We should develop good habits from a young age, because all diseases do not appear suddenly, they are caused by the accumulation of bad habits over a period of 10, 20 or even 30 years. For example, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, diabetes, emphysema, and various cancers are caused by bad habits.
Therefore, we need to develop good lifestyle habits from now on in order to live a long and healthy life.
1. Brush your teeth carefully
Teeth are essential to our health. When we are young, we may not realize the importance of teeth until they fall out and realize the impact it has on our quality of life. Without teeth, you can't enjoy chewing and can't taste good food, which can lead to problems with your digestive system.
If you have chronic periodontitis or gingivitis at a young age, these inflammations can persist in the teeth for a long time, causing inflammatory cells and inflammatory factors to enter the bloodstream, triggering a systemic inflammatory response. Studies have shown that long-term oral inflammation can cause damage to the pancreas and increase the risk of diabetes.
Therefore, please brush your teeth carefully 2~3 times a day for 3 minutes each time, and you can use dental floss to maintain oral hygiene. If the tooth has been damaged, it should be repaired by medical attention promptly.
2. Use your brain more
Using the brain more can prevent Alzheimer's disease. When a person is over 70 years old, his thinking skills may deteriorate, leading to sluggishness and helplessness. However, some people are still quick thinking and articulate in their 80s and 90s. Therefore, when you have nothing to do, you can avoid Alzheimer's disease by using your brain, reading your favorite books, listening to some relaxing music, and even playing mahjong and square dancing.
3. Pay attention to breakfast
The importance of breakfast cannot be overemphasized. Advice on a healthy and nutritious breakfast has been mentioned many times. For example, Dr. Zhang Wenhong advises us to eat more milk, eggs, and sandwiches and drink less porridge. While the science of this approach has yet to be verified, it at least proves that breakfast is very important to us.
A healthy and nutritious breakfast can provide the nutrients you need in the morning, keep your brain active and happy, replenish calcium and vitamins, increase your metabolic rate, and control your weight while reducing the likelihood of eating too much at noon.
4. Eat a balanced diet
A balanced diet is the key to a long and healthy life. We should eat a variety of foods, including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, protein (e.g., fish, meat, legumes), healthy fats (e.g., nuts, olive oil), and moderate amounts of dairy products. Avoid excessive intake of salt, sugar, and processed foods. Eat moderately and avoid overeating.
5. Get more sun
Exposure to the sun can ensure that we have enough calcium to prevent osteoporosis. We can see many elderly people in their sixties and seventies who break their legs after a slight fall on the ground, and then die after lying in bed for three months.
Why? Because of osteoporosis. Our body's calcium begins to slowly lose after the age of 40, especially after women's menopause, the loss of calcium is faster, if you don't pay attention to calcium supplementation at this time, don't pay attention to the sun, then it will soon lead to osteoporosis.
Therefore, in addition to drinking milk and eating nuts every day, more sunlight can also help us absorb the calcium we eat and prevent osteoporosis. This can prevent the loss of strength in the body in the future, and accidentally fall and cause fractures.
6. Drink more flower tea
Flower tea is rich in tea polyphenols, which have many benefits, and some even claim that they have anti-cancer ingredients. Therefore, if drinking tea has no effect on your sleep and can ensure a good night's sleep, drinking flower tea in moderation every day is also beneficial. We call it health tea.
However, many people can't sleep after drinking tea, or they are busy with work during the day and don't have time to drink tea, and they are worried about insomnia at night, which is a tricky problem.
7. Exercise regularly
Exercise is essential for our health and longevity. Doing aerobic exercise at least three days a week, such as tai chi, square dancing, Baduanjin, jogging or cycling, is a good way to exercise. If you know how to swim, that's even better.
Academician Zhong Nanshan, who is in his 80s, is very healthy, which is inseparable from his insistence on exercising when he was young.
8. Maintain a calm mind
Be sure to relax and maintain a calm and slow state of mind, and never be anxious, nervous or depressed. Because mood is closely linked to many diseases, including many types of cancer. When you are in a bad mood, prolonged stress can lead to an increase in blood pressure, triggering high blood pressure; gastrointestinal disorders, leading to gastritis and enteritis; Women are also susceptible to gynecologic cancers such as breast and ovarian cancer. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain a peaceful mind and never bring too many negative emotions to yourself, which is definitely not good for your health.
9. Reduce staying up late
Staying up late has almost become the norm for modern people. Usually, before going to bed, everyone will hold their mobile phones, browse the news, watch short videos, and read novels. Are you the same?
However, staying up late for long periods of time is very harmful to our health. It can lead to a deterioration in our appearance, damage to the liver, deterioration of the skin and easy aging. So, try to stay up late.
10. Quit smoking and drinking
The dangers of tobacco and alcohol to our health are widely recognized, and no one thinks that smoking and drinking alcohol are good. They are harmful to our entire body, from head to toe, every hair, and every cell. One out of every two smokers leaves this world because of a tobacco-related disease.
Lung cancer is currently one of the most prevalent cancers and is closely related to smoking. So, quit smoking and bar bars from now on.
The above 10 points are the goals we strive for for a long and healthy life. If you can't do it all right now, hopefully you can work in this direction gradually in the future.
If you've done it, congratulations, there's a good chance you'll be able to live a long and healthy life.