The human body is often compared to an elaborate machine with a multitude of systems and processes performing a range of tasks to support optimal overall function. Like other machines, the body requires a certain level of maintenance and care to ensure proper function. Maintaining this machine with healthy lifestyle management decisions becomes even more important for men and women as they age.
Most people immediately think of diet and exercise when they hear the term “healthy lifestyle management”, because those specific lifestyle management decisions do influence so many aspects of comprehensive wellness. However, a healthy exercise routine and proper diet are just two of the small steps and habits that have the potential to support optimal whole-body health.
Eat Right
A well-balanced diet consisting of fruits, whole grains and vegetables can support comprehensive wellness through multiple avenues. The most obvious aspect that a healthy diet can support is body fat. Maintaining a healthy weight is more than just a cosmetic concern, because excess body fat has been connected to reduced cardiovascular function and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
A healthy diet is also necessary for providing the body with the wide range of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that it needs in order to function at an optimal level.
Calcium
Not only is calcium needed by the body for the formation and development of bones, but it is also required for the maintenance of healthy bone density. Inadequate calcium levels in adults can lead to reduced bone density and an increased risk of osteoporosis.
The best dietary sources of calcium include dairy products like cheese, milk and yogurt. Other sources include cabbage, kale and fortified foods like certain types of cereal and orange juice.
Vitamin D
Unfortunately, calcium is not a highly bioavailable (absorbable) mineral. That’s where vitamin D comes in handy, because this mineral actually helps the body absorb calcium. In addition to possessing strong anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective and antioxidant properties, vitamin D has also been recognized for its ability to support healthy cognitive and cellular function.
The best source of vitamin D is sunlight, because exposure to sunlight triggers a chemical reaction within the body that produces vitamin D. This vitamin can also be obtained from fortified cereal and milk as well as fatty fish, like salmon, sardines and mackerel.
B Vitamins
The Vitamin B Complex is a classification of eight vitamins that support a wide variety of processes and functions that contribute to whole body health. Having eight distinct types of vitamin B means that they can be obtained from a wide array of dietary sources, which also makes it more difficult to provide the body with each one on a regular basis.
Vitamin B6, for example, is required by the body to support healthy cardiovascular function by metabolizing homocysteine. This B vitamin can be found in such dietary sources as cooked sockeye salmon, canned chickpeas and cooked yellowfin tuna.
Vitamin B12, on the other hand, is required to produce DNA and red blood cells. This form of vitamin B can be obtained from cooked Atlantic salmon, ground beef, yogurt and cooked clams.
With each B vitamin coming from a unique range of dietary sources, it can be helpful to take specific dietary supplements to provide the body with the full B Complex.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that helps the body absorb iron, heal wounds and produce collagen. This vitamin has also been recognized for its ability to support optimal cardiovascular and immune function.
While orange juice and oranges are commonly seen as good dietary sources of vitamin C, this vitamin can also be obtained from red and green peppers, spinach, grapefruit, potatoes, strawberries and tomatoes.
Get Some Exercise
It is also crucial to augment healthy eating habits with regular exercise. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults do at least 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75-100 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity every week.
Engaging in a regular exercise routine can help promote healthy weight maintenance, which becomes increasingly crucial for men and women as they age. Hormonal imbalances are a natural part of the aging process for both women and men. Unfortunately, hormonal imbalances can also lead to abdominal weight gain. Combining an exercise routine with a healthy diet has the potential to reduce excess amounts of abdominal fat, supporting optimal heart health in the process.
Reduce Stress and Get Quality Sleep
It is recommended that adults get between seven and nine hours of sleep every night, but roughly 40 percent of American adults get less than six hours of sleep per night. Going a step further, the Institute of Medicine estimates that between 50 and 70 million adults in the US report chronic sleep issues. To further complicate this issue, sleep loss is a common symptom of hormonal imbalance in both women and men.
Obesity has also been connected to an increased risk of insomnia and other sleep issues, making healthy lifestyle management choices even more important for the support of comprehensive wellness. In fact, obesity and sleep loss exist in a negative feedback loop relationship wherein they contribute to one another. The same can also be said about how chronic stress interacts with both sleep loss and increased body fat. During stressful situations, the body’s adrenal glands release cortisol, which is commonly known as the “stress hormone”, into the bloodstream to counteract the effects of increased adrenaline. Over time, repeated and extended periods of stress can cause the body to release too much cortisol, and two of the most common symptoms are increased body fat and sleep loss.
While the cyclical relationships between stress, sleep and increased body fat can make managing them more difficult, they also allow for more opportunities to make noticeable improvements in each area. After all, improving one of these areas has the potential to improve the others. Sleep hygiene describes the habits that contribute to sleep quality. Many of the habits that would be considered good sleep hygiene are environmental, including maintaining a comfortable bedroom temperature and avoiding the use of electronics in the bedroom. However, there are also behavioral habits that can improve sleep quality. These include keeping a consistent sleep-wake schedule, exercising every day and finding ways to reduce stress.
This cyclical relationship also shows up in stress reduction techniques. There are some specific techniques like deep breathing and meditation that have the potential to reduce stress. However, some of the most time-tested stress reduction techniques include eating a balanced diet, exercising daily and getting more quality sleep.
Support a Healthy Lifestyle with Intensive Therapies and Expert Guidance
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle sometimes requires augmenting healthy habits with additional techniques, products and therapies. For years, EVEXIAS Healthy Solutions has provided both education and training in integrative medicine to thousands of practitioners around the country. EvexiPEL Certified Providers can offer expert lifestyle management guidance and professional grade nutraceutical products like Multivitamin Ultra. These certified practitioners also have access to more intensive therapies for the support of healthy weight management and comprehensive wellness, including peptide therapy featuring Semaglutide or tirzepatide. Find the nearest EvexiPEL Certified Provider today to learn more about the best ways to fully embrace a healthy lifestyle and support comprehensive wellness.
