Your physical health should be your first priority. If you’re not at your best physically, it’s hard to function in the world. If you’re always getting sick, or you have chronic health issues, life can be a struggle.
Thankfully, it’s easy to make small changes to your lifestyle that will make a big, positive impact on your health. Here are some of those changes:
- Trade dry toilet paper for a bidet
Have you ever used a bidet? If not, you’re missing out. A bidet is one of the best things for your health. It’s far more hygienic than dry toilet paper. For instance, dry toilet paper leaves fecal matter behind, increasing your chances of bacterial infection.
A bidet shoots a gentle stream of water at your bum to get you completely clean, as if you’ve just taken a shower – minus the soap. It’s refreshing and will leave you feeling cleaner than ever.
Best of all, a bidet pretty much eliminates the possibility of transferring feces to other areas of your home. You don’t have to reach around to wipe your bottom – the water does all the work.
- Avoid refined sugar
Sugar consumption is connected to many health problems, including diabetes, obesity, and an overall breakdown of health. Sugar is hard to avoid completely, but you can definitely eliminate some of the worst sources:
- Candy
- Commercial cakes and cookies
- Bakery items
- Sugary sodas
- Sugary blended coffee drinks
- “Raw sugar” – this sugar isn’t really raw; it’s processed
Stevia is a great sugar alternative
If you need a sweet treat, opt for items that aren’t loaded with sugar. The best treats are sweetened with stevia. Stevia isn’t a sugar substitute – it’s actually a green leaf that anyone can grow in their garden. When dried and pulverized, stevia creates a sweet taste on the tongue, just like sugar – but without any effect on blood sugar.
Some studies have even shown that consuming stevia has positive health effects. For example, this study showed stevia to have a positive effect on patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) by reducing Serum uric acid and Microalbumin.
Sugar is an addiction you can break
Once you stop eating sugar for a long enough period of time, you’ll find that your sugar cravings will stop. After a while, your taste buds will change and you won’t find so much pleasure in sugary foods.
- Eat your vegetables
At some point, your parents probably told you, “Eat your vegetables!” This is the best piece of health advice you can get. Vegetables are the ultimate source for nutrition. Ideally, you should be eating a mix of colored vegetables with a focus on leafy greens.
You might be tempted to rely on vitamins, but there are several problems with this approach. First, not all vitamins are bioavailable, which means you’re just peeing them out and wasting your money. Some vitamins aren’t high-quality and come with toxic contaminants.
Vitamins aren’t a replacement for food
It’s hard to find pure, quality vitamins without doing extensive research and reading plenty of lab results. Besides, you might not need all the vitamins you’re taking as a supplement. You need to get a blood test to find out what you aren’t getting from your food and then you’ll know what supplements to get.
Get your nutrition from food first, and supplement only the vitamins and minerals you can’t get from food. This brings up the next item.
- Be selective with your vitamins
Do you take a multivitamin every day? Many people do, but not everyone gets the promised nutritional benefits. Some people end up with worse health from taking vitamins.
This might sound contrary to everything you’ve been taught, but many credible studies have shown that vitamins often do more harm than good. Some vitamins are contaminated, while others are simply not usable by the body. Other problems with vitamins include overdosing – yes, you can overdose on vitamins.
It’s healthier to get your vitamins from food. Many people say you can’t get enough vitamins from food, but low levels aren’t actually a problem. In nature, food naturally contains a lower level of nutrients than concentrated manmade vitamins. Trust nature. Nature knows best.
If you’re unable to get certain vitamins from your diet, then seek out vitamins. However, remember that not all vitamins are created equal, and not all popular brands are high-quality. Do as much research as possible before settling on a particular vitamin brand.
Making incremental lifestyle changes will make a big difference
It doesn’t take much effort to live a healthier life. You only need to make small changes to make a big difference in your overall health.
