A Complete Guide on How to Live Longer and Happier
Have you ever wondered if you can have a long and happy life? Then, this is no longer a myth but a real possibility if you give yourself the means to do so.
For many years, we have studied the human body and its proper functioning. Now, we can now how a healthy lifestyle can help to reach that goal. So, let’s see the main tips and so a complete guide about how to live longer and happier.
Eat healthy
A healthy diet is one of the key to live longer and happier thanks to the many advantages to your health. So, what do you have to do for a healthy diet?
Eat a fresh, varied and well-balanced diet
Firstly, eat a fresh, varied and well-balanced daily diet to meet the required nutriments and vitamins for your body. Eat vegetables, fruits, dairy foods (milk, yogurt, cheese…), grains foods (bread, cereal, pasta, rice…) and finally foods with good fat and proteins (meat, beans, nuts…).
Vegetables and fruits are both excellent sources of vitamins and minerals that your body needs to stay healthy for a long and happy life. A protein diet is also essential because proteins allow your body to create new cells and to be regenerated. From each of these foods, you can prepare different and varied meals. You can also provide your body the right amount of key nutriments such as protein, calcium and key vitamins (vitamins C, E, D).
You can read our article about how to organise and build a healthy meal to help you in the kitchen.
Avoid processed and junk foods
Easy and rapid to get, to prepare and to eat, processed and junk foods are however dangerous for your health. Indeed, some ingredients such as salt, sugar and fat are sometimes added to multiple foods. They are therefore too sweet, rich in bad fats, and very low in required and important nutriments for your body.
Moreover, they contain many adjuvants, colours and preservatives, which are also harmful. Little by little, avoid these meals that bring nothing good for your health.
As for many people it sounds hard to find the time to cook a healthy meal. Here a quick healthy recipe for you to try that you can do in minutes.
Avoid GMOs foods
Even though they are relatively new in human daily consumption, there are still many concerns about the noxiousness of GMO.
GMOs are often used because they allow to increase food yields, to create lager and bigger foods and to make foods resilient to pests. Nonetheless, these advantages are not without a risk. In fact, they can lead to several diseases such as allergic reactions, antibiotic resistance, loss of nutrition and cancer. That’s why, you need to eat organic foods, labeled free-GMOs food and to favour local foods.
We know that he can be hard to do all of this at the same time. So implement it little by little. Cause this one is also how to live a longer and happier life. Don’t rush then you have time.
Reduce your sugar diet
A good diet for a good health contains very little sugar. The problem with a high sweet meal is that it creates a vicious circle. Firstly, as soon as you eat very sweet meal, your body react to it by immediately regulating your glucose levels. But then, it brings blood glucose levels to a low level which doesn’t allow a proper functioning of your body.
That’s why, your body demands a higher and higher need for sugar. Furthermore, sugar is one of the main causes of tooth decay, heart deceases, diabetes and weight gain. It is therefore important to avoid foods that are too high in sugar as much as possible.
If you need help for that you can read this way by Pret a Train on How to eat healthy and avoid sugar.
Drink much water
After seeing which foods are required for your health, we have to tackle the water necessity. Indeed, if some foods are full of water, they don’t completely meet your daily need of liquid; hence, the absolute need to drink water.
Drinking enough water will bring you many advantages such as the strength of your whole body. Indeed, it will help your most vital organs (kidney, heart, brain, lungs…), your nervous system, your immune system, etc. We therefore advise you to drink at least 1,5L of water per day.
Then if it’s hot or if you do sport, you need to drink more.
Read –> How much water should you drink a day and why?
This was the eating part on how to live longer and happier. Now let’s talk specifically your physical body and what you need to do.
Take care of your body
Everything depends on your body. Your body matters. To aspire to a longer and happier life, you really need to take care of your body thanks to a variety of means.
Be active
To have a good health, you need to be active. The lack of exercise is clearly negative for your health and for your life expectancy. Exercising is essential, especially to achieve or maintain a healthy lifestyle in the long term. Indeed, exercise is good for your mental health, for your heart, for your body, for your physical health.
It will also reduces the risk of diseases, helps to handle stress, anxiety or depression, improves sleep, self-esteem, strengthens bones, muscles and articulations and increases energy. Plus, it helps to make you feel happy. At the end of a sport session, you feel particularly glad because your body naturally releases endorphin the ‘happiness’ hormones.
Therefore, having a physical activity every week to maintain a good healthy lifestyle. Even the smallest daily activities like sweeping or cooking are worth much for your body.
Just by moving daily it will help you to live a healthier life. But if you feel like to do a physical activity you could read this article by Pret a Train on How to get ready for physical activity.
Have a restorative sleep
Another important tip for taking care of your body is a good and restorative sleep. Indeed, try to target a sleep from 7 to 8 hours every night.
Your body and your vital organs will be regenerated and will be able to fight any infections or germs. You will allow your body to have a rest and by the way you will allow yourself to start the day off on the right foot.
Read –> How much sleep you need
Quit smoking
This is an obvious fact that everyone knows: smoking is hurtful for your body and for your health. It increases the risk of lung diseases (including cancer), cancer of mouth, of throat, of kidney, etc. It can provoke heart attacks and respiratory infections.
So unfortunately if you do, quitting smoking will help you to live longer and happier.
Do not put your health at risk and do not shorten your life expectancy by smoking. Even if you have smoked for several years, quitting now will still allow you to improve your health and to live longer.
Here you can see our timeline on what happens after you quit smoking.
After having talk about the way to nourish your body and how to take care of your physical body. There is one essential part to take care on how to live longer and happier.
Take care of your mental health
Another essential point that a lot of people forget is to take care of your mental health. Let’s see how.
Meditate
Meditation can significantly reduce stress, aging, anxiety or depression. It allows you to better understand your health and your emotions and to have more freedom. It does not require special or expensive equipment. Indeed, it requires little time: 10 to 20 minutes a day that allows you to find what you are looking for: relaxation, improved self-confidence, finding meaning in your life, handling stress, or to achieve fullness and true happiness.
We know that meditation for everyone of course. Nonetheless, there is many advantage and health benefits if you do. You can read our article on this topic : Why Meditation is Good for Your Health Backed by Science.
Also, if you don’t feel like yet to meditate, you can relax yourself by doing some deep breathing. Just read or find any activity that will help you to relax your mind like walking.
Handle your stress
Handling stress is important if you aspire to live longer and happier. After seeing that meditation is one of the key to help you decreasing your stress, let’s see how you can handle your stress through different other means.
Yoga and exercise are great ways to handle your stress. Drinking enough water, doing leisure activities or having a restorative sleep are other ways to release and handle your stress.
Careful when you are at work as well as you be confront to a lot of stress. If you do we have this technique for you to relieve your stress in one minute daily.
And if you suffer from anxiety, read our ways to reduce it naturally.
Do leisure activities
Playing music, reading books, attending cultural events, getting out with friends and relatives, listening to music, attending sport events, etc… You have plenty of leisure activities.
Leisure can have a positive impact on you because your brain releases dopamine hormones that fulfil your mind of happiness and joy. It can also able you to meet people and make social connections, to master some disciplines, to practise something you like, etc.
Develop your socialisation
Being social is an important part of a long and happy life. Friends and family can provide you fun and positive feelings when your life is going well. On the contrary, when life is complicated, socialisation can provide you support and distraction.
Loneliness is a factor that can cause sadness, stress, depression and thus a shorten life expectancy. Therefore, develop your socialisation.
By mail, phone, texts or in person, you can maintain your social connections. Social networks are also a big part in today’s lives so that they can allow you to remain connected with people. At short term, a regular socialisation will help you relax and avoid any daily worries and stress from your mind.
Also, doing any sport can help you to socialise with other people. And this one is a top psychological benefits of doing sport.
Conclusion
Finally, you can live longer and happier. Here you got all the keys.
Living longer means being happy. Be happy by doing things that count a lot for you and by having a purpose in life. The key is to take care of your diet, your mental health and your body. Everything is about understanding what is the best for you. Thinking of you and being connected to people which are important to you.
Read –> A complete guide to adopt a healthy lifestyle
–> What does being healthy really mean
Sources and further readings
Health –> https://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20366671,00.html
Entrepreneur –> https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/315636
Photos
Photo of Eat healthy by Brooke Lark on Unsplash.
Photo of Avoid processed and junk foods by Emmy Smith on Unsplash.
Photo of Develop your socialisation by Craig Adderley on Pexels.
