6 Principles That Will Transform Your Health
Taking care of your health is extremely complicated.
That’s at least what the health and wellness industry makes us believe by presenting us with more and more information, options, and products for how to become healthier. It has become impossible to determine which diet is the best and whether a ten-day juice cleanse will be good or bad for us. We’re left confused and overwhelmed. We also start to make the terrible mistake of thinking that if it’s simple, it can’t work.
But the truth is, it is simple. Taking care of our health is not complicated or complex at all. Even though we are highly individual beings with different needs and constitutions, there are six basic principles we all can follow to strongly impact our energy, mood, vitality, and overall health. If we focus on these basic things, we will completely transform our health and wellbeing.
Let’s talk about them.
1. Whole rocks, processed sucks
The elementary rule to follow when it comes to the food we put on our plates is this: Making sure that what we eat is as close to its natural state as possible. The more whole and the less processed, the better. Because the more whole the food is, the more nutrients it contains, and the better it will be for us.
There is no single diet that works for everyone. But as long as we make sure we integrate as many natural and unprocessed foods as possible with some variety and minimize added sugar, we can design our meals according to our preferences, cultures, and health conditions. It’s as simple as that.
2. Don’t be a raisin
One of my favorite analogies when it comes to hydration is this: Imagine a grape and a raisin on a table next to each other. Which one would you rather be, the dry, wrinkled raisin or the juicy, plump grape? Exactly. So this is your reminder to hydrate your body plenty every day to positively impact the way your skin looks and feels.
But water does more than improve the physiology of our skin. We all know that drinking water is essential for survival. It protects our spinal cord, helps our bodies to remove waste, supports our digestion, and it can even help us eat healthier.
Just being mildly dehydrated has a significant impact on our energy levels, brain functions, and mood.
So how much water should we be drinking? For men, 3.7 liters a day are recommended, and for women, 2.7.
3. Letting the ultradian rhythms rule
“We live in a world that has forgotten what rest is.“ — Rubin Naiman
There’s a negative reputation around taking rest, to the extreme that it’s perceived as lazy and unambitious. In today’s work ethic, it’s all about the hustle, the grind, the work. But this couldn’t be further from the truth (and our health).
Rest is crucial for our physical, mental, and emotional health.
By taking rest, it’s not about taking two full weeks of vacation but integrating rest into every single day, throughout the day. Taking breaks is vital because the body functions on so-called “ultradian rhythms.” Like circadian and cardiac rhythms, the ultradian rhythms operate in every one of us throughout day and night. They are responsible for our performance. Like waves, they rise and drop our concentration and energy levels throughout the day, each wave lasting around 90 minutes. When the end of a wave is approaching, we can feel it through signs like fatigue, distraction, hunger, or cravings.
As soon as you notice one or more of these signs, take a conscious break from whatever you’re doing. This break can look completely different from person to person. You can go for a walk, make yourself a nice cup of tea and savor it, close your eyes, meditate or do a breathing exercise, lie down in a dark, quiet space, or whatever else feels relaxing and pleasant for you.
The most effective length is around 20 minutes, but anything is better than nothing if that’s too long. However, the longer and more relaxing your break, the more it will allow your body and mind to renew and replenish.
If we ignore the signs our body gives us to take breaks, the consequences can be enormous. In the short term, it will cause us to feel exhausted, unmotivated, and distracted in the afternoon. But ignoring our ultradian rhythms in the long term can lead to inflammation, accelerated aging, hair loss, slowed metabolism, and much, much more.
It’s as important to take rests throughout the day as it is to prioritize sleep at night. Adults need, on average, 7–9 hours of sleep per night. Some of the ways to improve sleep and help with insomnia are: going to bed and waking up every day at the same time, being exposed to natural light during the day, eliminating the exposure to blue light in the evening, eating at the latest 3 hours before going to bed, and keeping the bedroom cool, dark, and quiet.
4. Move it
One of the best things we can do to improve our health is to move our bodies. The benefits are innumerable, and movement can take many different forms. Every kind of movement has substantial positive impacts on our bodies and minds.
Therefore, try to integrate ways of moving you enjoy the most into every day. It can be as simple as going for regular walks, which boosts immune function, reduces cravings, counteracts the effects of weight-promoting genes, and much more.
5. Family & friends first
“Loneliness kills. It’s as powerful as smoking or alcoholism.” — Robert Waldinger.
This might sound too dramatic to be true, but several studies show that satisfaction with relationships is a stronger predictor of physical health than cholesterol levels.
It’s essential to take care of our bodies, but it’s just as (if not even more) important to have strong and healthy relationships. According to Waldinger, the director of a Harvard Study on Adult Development, keeping warm relationships leads to a longer and happier life.
One of the reasons for that is that feeling lonely and having no support causes tremendous stress, which is highly toxic to the heart.
In so many ways, prioritizing our relationships is one of the most essential and best things we can do.
6. One with nature
The last one of the basic principles for optimal health is spending time in nature.
“Nature is not only nice to have, but it’s a have-to-have for physical health and cognitive functioning.” — Richard Louv
Various studies have shown that being in nature is one of the best remedies for stress. It lowers our blood pressure and stress levels, enhances our immune system, reduces anxiety, improves our mood, and more.
The recommended time to spend in nature is a minimum of 2 hours, which can be spread over an entire week. However, it has been found that less than 2 hours has no significant benefits, so we want to make sure we reach or even surpass that minimum.
Make it a habit to spend time each week, ideally even each day, in nature. Take a walk in the park, breathe in fresh air, bask yourself in sunlight, watch birds, or look at trees.
Taking care of our health is not complicated. The most important things we all can do are:
- Nourish our bodies with food that is as whole and as little processed as possible
- Hydrating our bodies plenty
- Taking conscious rests throughout the day
- Moving our bodies daily
- Prioritizing our relationships
- Spending minimum 2 hours per week in nature
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